AN10.61 Avijja Sutta - Ignorance (part two) | Ajahn Brahmali | 11 December 2016

AN10.61 Avijja Sutta - Ignorance (part two)
Sutta study of Anguttara Nikaya 61
http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/

Okay, so shall we start?

Yeah?
is now a good time to start?

Okay. [laughing]
Let's start then.

If it's a good time to start,
we shall start.

So, this is the sutta we're going

to do today is a continuation of the sutta

I started—what is it a month ago

or something?

So...was everybody...

was anyone not here at that last sutta?

Yeah, everybody was here?
Not everybody? No?

Okay.
So if some of you were not here...

Okay, Judy, you were not here as well.

Have you got the...?
Can you read the sutta up here?

Have we got the...?

No, it doesn't matter.

I will give a quick...yeah,
doesn't matter.

You'll be fine, I think.

Yeah, I'll give a quick review of

what we did last time
and then we'll

continue with the last part of it.

So this sutta is from the
Anguttara Nikaya,

the tens, number 61.

It's called the Avijjā Sutta in Pali,

which means something like the
sutta on

ignorance, delusion, not understanding,

not seeing things as they actually are,
etc.

And what this sutta does it starts

off with ignorance, and then it traces

back the causes of that ignorance.

So it brings back stage by stage all

the way back to the very beginning.

So what ignorance actually comes from.

And one of the interesting things is
that as

it traces it back, right, it starts off

by saying that ignorance has a nutriment

and the nutriment for ignorance is the

five hindrances.
And it says that

nutriment for the five hindrances

are the three kinds of bad conduct:

body, speech, and mind.
And then the

nutriment for that is...
then it has the

non-restraint of the sense faculties.

Nutriment for that lack of mindfulness

and clear comprehension.
The nutriment

for that is careless attention.
The nutriment for that

lack of faith or lack of confidence.

And the nutriment for that,

not hearing the good Dhamma,
the saddhamma.

In other words, essentially the

Dhamma that the Buddha awakened to—

that particular insight.
And the

nutriment for not hearing the good Dhamma

is not associating with good

persons.

So, this is interesting, this idea of

nutriment, how you kind of you build up

one state and then leading on to the

next one, stage by stage.

And by not associating with the

right people, the good people, those who

see things according to reality,

that is why ignorance or delusion or

lack of seeing things for what they

actually are, how that is built up

over time, it gets worse and worse.

And of course, the reverse is true

that's what we'll see in a minute.

That reverse, of course,
is also the case then

if you hang out with the, you know,

if you associate with the good

people, the superior people—sappurisa

is the Pali word.

And Sappurisa basically means
the Aryans, those who

have real insight into these teachings.

So if you hang out with those, if you

associate with them, then this thing

leads on, stage by stage, all the way to

awakening itself.

It's a beautiful message.
All you really have

to do is to hang out with those good

people, listen to the Dhamma, reflect on

that Dhamma, what does
it actually mean?

And as you do that, you're actually

building up those causes and conditions

that lead you all the way to awakening.

It's such a nice little thing you can

see that what is going on,
that there's

no sense of striving, no sense that

you have to force yourself, use a lot of
willpower.

All you have to do is

establish those first conditions really
well.

And as they get established

well, then everything else almost take

cares of itself by itself.
It just happens

There's nothing more you have to
do.

Sounds kind of easy, right?

Just read the suttas.
Just hang out with the right people.

Hang out with Ajahn Brahm.

Read the suttas.

Reading suttas is like hanging

out with a Buddha and then you hang out

with Ajahn Brahm and you hang out

with other good people, your mates in

the holy life, and then, whoa, it just

goes by itself.
So this is, I think,

a very important message

because it reminds you of what is the

root cause for this whole process to

happen by itself.
This happens like

that if you put in the basic
things here.

Now one of the interesting points
here, of course,

is that ignorance itself,
the idea here of

'avijja', is, of course, the root of

dependent origination.

Dependent origination starts off with
Avijjā

ignorance and delusion and that through

the 12 links of Paṭicca Samuppāda

leads to suffering at the end or

to death and suffering, etc.
So what we are

doing here, in a sense, by this...
what this

series is doing, it's coming in at the

very bottom of dependent origination,

and it undermines that very first link

of dependent arising.

It actually shows you how to
root out Avijjā

the very first thing,
and then that,

of course, then feeds through all the

12 links, and then ends up by

ending suffering itself.
So this whole series

here links in with dependent origination

directly, and then it shows you how

the ending of suffering happens as a

consequence.

Now, one of the...one of the

nice things if you look at the

sequence, in a way you can...one way of

looking at the sequence is to group some

of these factors together,
it gives you

a bit more kind of perspective on what

is going on.
There's so many factors

here, you almost lose track of what is

going on.
But you can start off

with the five hindrances and the three

kinds of misconduct.

So that is about the impurity of the mind.

Right? It comes back to the mind,
always.

So that's about the impurity of

the mind.
And then you have the factors

which are non-restraint of the sense

faculties, lack of mindfulness and clear

comprehension, careless attention.

So these things are really

about, a lot about, how to reflect, how to

look at the world, how to think about

things in the right way, especially

careless attention is about thinking
about

things in the wrong way.

Very closely related also to a lack of
clear

comprehension.
So when you think about

things in the wrong way, when you look

at the world in the wrong way, when you

perceive things in the wrong way, that

leads to the impurity of the mind.

Right, and then the very first parts

here, which are a lack of faith, the lack

of not hearing the good Dhamma, and not

associating with the right people.

That is all about just, you know, about

understanding the suttas, basically.

Seeing the suttas in action by being...

hanging around the right people, hearing

the suttas and then gaining a sense of

confidence as a consequence.

So what you can see here, what's
going on

is that it starts off by associating

with the right people, the ariyas, and

from that, you start reflecting in the

right way.
Right reflection, right

contemplation, right way of thinking,

arises as a consequence of just being

with the aryans, the noble people.

And then because you're thinking in the

right way, that then in turn leads

to the purity of the mind,
so you purify the mind.

Right? Read the suttas.
When you

read the suttas, you get brainwashed,

it's good, right?
Good or bad,

getting brainwashed?

I think it's quite good, actually.

It's good to get brainwashed.
If we get

brainwashed in the right way,
it's great.

Get brainwashed in the wrong way,
it's bad.

So you get brainwashed, which

basically means, here, that
you are

reflecting in a different way, you're

thinking in a different way from

what you're used to.
And because you're

thinking in a different way,
then that

leads to the purity of the mind as a
consequence.

And this is one of those, I think,

important points of the Dhamma is

that how the purity of your

actions, your speech, and also the way

you think, it is based on not so much how

you strive or what you do, etc., it is

based on your ability to reflect in the

right way.
If you think in the

right way, then good conduct comes

as a consequence of that,
including your

mental good conduct.
If you reflect in

the wrong way, the bad conduct comes

from that.
There's a small sutta about

that in the Anguttara Nikaya talks about

two different powers.
And one of the

powers it talks about is the
patisankhanabala.

Bala is like power.
Patisankhana is like reflection.

So the power of reflection.

And what is the purpose of the power of
reflection?

It's good conduct. Right?

So good conduct arises from reflecting in

the right way.
And so this is...

I think it's a very important point,

all we need to do to purify
our mind, or at least

to a very high level, and also

speech and body, whatever, is
to think in

the right way.
And when you think

in the right way, then it happens as a
consequence.

And how do you learn to think in
the right way?

By understanding the Dhamma,
how these things work.

So that shows you

kind of how the path works in a

a large...in a kind of slightly more

bird's eye view
because there's so many

factors here, that otherwise you might

get a bit lost if you see all of those

factors kind of lumped together there.

So then let's move on to the next

paragraph then.

That was just a brief review of the
first main

paragraph there, and we have a look

at this thing in reverse order in a
second.

If you have any questions,

please ask questions as we go along

if you like.
And it says "Thus not

associating with good persons,
the sappurisa

becoming full, fills up not

hearing the good Dhamma.
Not hearing the

good Dhamma, becoming full, fills up lack

of faith or confidence.
Lack of faith,

becoming full, fills up careless
attention.

Careless attention,

becoming full, fills up lack of

mindfulness and clear comprehension.

Lack of mindfulness and clear

comprehension, becoming full, fills
up non-

restraint of the sense faculties.

Non-restraint of the sense faculties,

becoming full, fills up the three kinds

of misconduct.
The three kinds of

misconduct, becoming full, fill up the

five hindrances.
The five hindrances,

becoming full, fill up avijja, ignorance

delusion, not seeing things according to
reality.

Thus there is a nutriment

for ignorance, and in this way it

becomes full."

So it's kind of scary, isn't it?
You see the

three kinds of misconduct becoming

full, the more misconduct you do, the

more hindrances there are,
and the more

deluded, the more stupid and the more

silly, the less you see things according

to reality.
So how these things

are kind of tied together so, so

strongly there.
It's very...it's kind of

a sobering, sobering thought.
And also

very interesting, of course, the fact

that just by being virtuous, just by

living in a good way, you're actually...

that is already diminishing the

hindrances as a consequence, and then

delusion is decreasing.
Every time you

do a good act, every time you avoid

doing something bad, you're becoming

less deluded.
Isn't that kind of a

great additional way of looking at the

idea of kindness?
Usually, we think of

kindness, yeah, making good kamma,

being harmonious, but actually,

it also decreases delusion, you get more

clarity, you understand things

more according to reality.

That's a pretty, pretty powerful,
powerful thing

for the good old morality there and

ethics, just that much.
I think that's

where we got up to last time.
So this is

where we're going to continue on from

here, is that right?
Is that where we were last time?

I can't remember anymore.

It's a month ago since we did this.
But so now

we come to this beautiful simile

which kind of makes the point here

how this works in the...as far as the
similes

are concerned.
And this, I think, is one

of the great things about the Buddha,

his ability to come up with these similes

that are so powerful, so memorable, and

kind of illustrate the point so, so

incredibly well.
And this is one of the

things that make the suttas come
alive to me.

And actually, sometimes when

you read something theoretical,
it's kind

of a bit dry.
But then you see some...

see the simile and it kind of
drives it home,

and you know what's going on.

So this is what he has to say,
"Just as, when

it is raining, and the rain pours down

in thick droplets on a mountaintop,

the water flows down along the

slope and fills the cliffs, the gullies

and the creeks; these, becoming full, fill

up the pools; these, becoming full,

fill up the lakes; these, becoming full,

fill up the streams; these, becoming full,

fill up the rivers; and these, becoming

full, fill up the great ocean; thus there

is nutriment for the great ocean,

and in this way it becomes full.

So too, not associating with the
good persons, etc.,

fills up ignorance, fills up

delusion, fills up a avijja"
at the very end there.

So this great thing, right?

If you just keep on raining on that

mountaintop, keep the water coming,

keep on reading the suttas, keep on

listening to the right kind of Dhamma

talks, keep on hanging out with

the sappurisa—sappurisa means like
the...

is elsewhere translated as the superior

person, right?
This is kind of the idea

of superiority in Buddhism is the

idea of how much insight you have.

We keep on doing that, we keep on raining

and raining and raining and raining.

You do it again and again and again.

You can't avoid this fills up the little

creeks and then that gradually fills up

and fills up and takes you all the way

to the ocean, which here is a

simile for nibbana or liberation or

the ending of the defilements and the

ending of suffering, of course.

So that's all you have to do: keep on

raining at the very top and the rain

here, again, is just basically getting

that inspiration, that understanding that

the suttas give you, allowing yourself

to be gradually brainwashed, right?

People think, oh, brainwashing is really
scary.

I don't want to be brainwashed.

I want to be independent, right?

I want to make my own decisions.

I don't want to be brainwashed.
It is a bit like when

when I become a Buddhist monk, I think

my parents were a bit worried

I might get brainwashed by
this terrible

Buddhist religion.
What's going to

happen to you when you go there too, you

know, and you get brainwashed?

But the point is, and I think this is
kind of

the issue here is that you have

to get brainwashed.
There's no choice.

And this is the whole idea of non-self.

The implication of non-self is that

there is brainwashing, regardless.

Either you get brainwashed by
bad stuff in the

world, or you get brainwashed by

something good.
So you have to choose

the good brainwashing.

So when choose the good brainwashing,
you're fine.

If you choose the bad one,
you're in trouble.

So make sure...the message

here is choose the right kind of
brainwashing

Get the right soap

powder, right, or whatever it is,

and come out the other end and
what comes

out the other end, you come out

awakened, hooray, at the other end.

That's the real brainwashing for you.

So brainwashing is basically just

a function of the fact that there is
no self.

Everything...we're all basically we

are the sum total of the conditions and

circumstances that work on us.

You have to somehow...it's just...
it's a matter

of choosing the right brainwashing.

And as you allow that brainwashing to work

on you...and what is good

brainwashing?
Well, if it makes you

happier, if it takes you where you want

to go, right, that's a good brainwashing.

So that is that beautiful simile and

it's, again, it's fascinating how

everything just starts by, you know,

being with the right kind of people,

and it takes you from there.
That is the kind

of the negative sequence, seeing how

delusion kind of builds up.

And now we're going to
have to look at the

positive sequence.
And this is how this

works: I'll read out the whole thing

and then I will discuss the various points

in a bit more detail afterwards.

"I say, bhikkhus, that true knowledge and

liberation have a nutriment;
they are

not without nutriment.
And what is the

nutriment for true knowledge and

liberation?
It should be said: the seven

factors of awakening.
The seven

factors of awakening, too, I say, have a

nutriment; they are not without

nutriment.
And what is the nutriment

for the seven factors of awakening?

It should be said: the four focuses of
mindfulness.

The four focuses of

mindfulness, too, I say, have a nutriment

And what is that...? The three kinds

of good conduct.
And the three kinds of

good conduct, too, I say,
have a nutriment;

they are not without nutriment.

And that is the restraint of the
sense faculties.

And the restraint of the sense faculties,

too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not

without nutriment.
And what is that?

Mindfulness and clear comprehension.

And that too, has a nutriment.

And what is that?
It's careful attention,

Yoniso Manasikāra.
And careful attention, too,

has a nutriment and that is faith or
confidence.

And faith and confidence, too,

has a nutriment – hearing the good Dhamma,
the saddhamma.

And hearing the good Dhamma,

too, I say, has a nutriment; it is

not without nutriment.
And what is that nutriment?

It is associating with the good

people – the sathpurisha – which is the

nutriment for that."
So here, again, you

can see the forward sequence, how it all

begins with associating with the right

kind of people and it ends up with true

knowledge and liberation at the very top
there.

And so, liberation, of course,

meaning, as always, liberation from

suffering, liberation from all these

oppressions in life, the defilements and

all this kind of stuff.
And the true

knowledge, which is the seeing of

things, seeing things according

to reality, understanding things in the

right way, which includes things like

rebirth, and kamma, and non-self, and all

of that stuff is part of that

dependent arising.
And of course,

liberation and true knowledge, of

course, go together.
If you understand

things according to reality, that is

precisely when there is no more

suffering, which is good news.
So seeing things

is always a good idea from

Buddhist point of view.
So what is it

that leads to this liberation?

And it says here, the seven factors of
awakening.

So I don't know

if you remember the seven factors of

awakening, what they are about, but

essentially the seven factors of

awakening, when you look at them, they

are basically about samadhi practice.

I will have, maybe, a quick look at them in

detail just in a second, but they're
all about

samadhi practice.
And so what you're

seeing here is the thing that you see

throughout the suttas.
There's one of

those extraordinarily important points

that you cannot really make too much

of I think, and that is the fact that

samadhi, samadhi, right, that is the

cause for seeing things according to
reality.

That is the cause for vijja here,

for true knowledge, as they say.

And this is one...this is something
you see

not just in this sutta, this sutta

just kind of reinforces that message.

But it's one of those fundamental things

that you see in the

sequence called dependent liberation,
right?

Dependent liberation you have the

all the happinesses on the path,

the pamujja leads to piti,
which is rapture,

which leads to passaddhi, tranquility, leads

to sukha, happiness, which leads to

Samadhi. Right?
Samadhi, what does that

lead to?
Yathā-bhūta-ñāna-dassana

seeing things according to reality.

And this is one of those things that you

see throughout the suttas,
it's everywhere.

It's absolutely...you know,
it's so fundamental

to the way this path works.

And it's exactly the same thing you see

here, right here, in the sutta.

To be able to reach that final awakening,

samadhi is a crucial factor that you

need to get there.
So...

Yeah, I think this is very important

message because sometimes this is

forgotten about that this is

actually so fundamental in the suttas.

So what are these factors, seven factors

of awakening?
And what they are,

you know, we start off with the

awakening factor of mindfulness, right?

And what we will see in a second here,

we're just reading out is that the four

satipatthanas, the four right

mindfulnesses, they are the cause

or the nutriment for the seven factors

of awakening.
So they are the cause.

That is why the seven factors of

awakening start with sati,

the sati sambojjhanga, the factor of
awakening,

which is mindfulness, because it meshes

in with the four satipatthanas.

That is the first one,
and the second one is the

dhamma vicaya sambojjhanga,
dhamma vicaya

means like investigation of the Dhamma

or dhammas, right?
Investigation of Dhamma

factor of awakening.
What does that mean?

And what it means is that you

understand, basically, the defilements of

the mind, you understand the dark and

the bright states, you understand what

is blameworthy and what is not.

That's basically what it is.
In other words,

you understand those things that are

defiling, you understand the impurities

of the mind, and you understand the

alternative, which are the impure...the

pure factors of the mind, purity and
impurity.

So that is the dhamma vicaya

sambojjhanga, understanding the

mind, down to its kind of last details of

purity and impurity.
And that is almost

the same thing that you find in
satipatthana again.

When you look at satipatthana,

the last one is the
dhamma vipassana,

the investigation or the contemplation

of dhammas, right?
Dhammas, here,

meaning kind of mental factors or mental

states or even, perhaps, causality
itself.

And what that is all about is

understanding the five hindrances,

how they arise, how they are abandoned,

what sustains that abandoning in the
future,

how they come to be completely abandoned.

It's is about causality and

understanding how these things actually

arise in the first place.
Why is it that

desire arises?
Why does ill will arise?

And the Buddha gives the answer to

these things as well in the suttas.

But, you know, you can see this
when you see

this in your own mind, it becomes very
powerful

So this is what dhamma vicaya

and again, it gels, it matches in,

it meshes in with the four

foundations of mindfulness.
You can see

that two different frameworks

for looking at exactly the same thing.

And then the four foundations, or

they're not foundations,
I don't like that,

four focuses of mindfulness, or maybe

the four establishings of
mindfulness.

The next thing to talk about

the seven factors of

awakening, right?
You can see how close

this is related to each other.

So that then they talk about
what are the

causes for these seven factors of

awakening to arise?
How do these things

come into existence?
So you can see

they're almost kind of overlapping with

each other in a strange way.

So that is the second factor of

awakening, the dhamma vicaya

sambojjhanga, the factor of awakening,
which is

the investigation of states or dhammas

or qualities in your mind, and then that

leads to energy.
Is that right?

I hope I have this right. [laughing]
That would

be embarrassing sitting here and saying

all the wrong things. [laughing]
I think that is right.

Energy comes after that.

So the third one is the energy.
That's the

viriya sambojjhanga.
And what is happening

here is that when you

understand the defilements of the mind,

that is when you can abandon them.

And as you abandon those defilements,

the natural energy of the mind
rises to the surface.

The mind is always energetic,

the things that stops the mind from

being energetic, the reason you feel

tired in the morning, right?
The reason

you feel tired after work or tired at

any time, is because there

are defilements there,
and they actually

dampen the mind down.
The less defilemens

you have, the more energy you have.

So as you do the dhamma vicaya, as you do

the investigation of dhammas,
that all dies down

and the energy, the natural energy of the

mind arises.
When the Buddha talks

about viriya, he talks about energy, he

doesn't mean applying yourself.

He doesn't mean willpower.
He doesn't mean

forcing yourself.
He means the natural

energy that is there.
This is the best

thing, right?
When it's natural energy

because it means that it's actually very

natural and forceless.
Yes, Chris?

Chris: Bhante, when you say that we've
got energy in this context

are meaning centred energy as opposed to

to scattered energy?

Ajahn Brahmali: Yeah, yeah, exactly,
centered energy.

Because, already at this point, you're

becoming quite focused, right?

You're already becoming you...
I mean, at this

point, if you're doing if you're

meditating, for example, you're already

be staying quite closely with the

meditation objective, even.
And so, yes,

this will be definitely, definitely

kind of focused kind of energy.
Can be a

little bit scattered, not completely

focused, perhaps, but not the kind of

restless energy that you have when the

mind is scattered, that sort of stuff.

Yeah, it's a natural...it's beautiful

energy because the natural energy of

the mind.
It's just there, you don't have

to put in any effort or any force,
right?

It's just great this kind of

easeful energy, and it's really...

Yeah.
So that is the energy, and from

that comes then...comes the piti,

the piti being the rapture, the gladness,

the happiness in the mind, which

comes in...can come in many different

strengths, and many different qualities,

which comes with energy, and

mindfulness, and rapture or gladness,

joy, these things are very

closely related to each other.
If you're mindful,

if you're really mindful,

you tend to be energetic and joyful
at the same time.

If you have the right kind of

energy, it comes with mindfulness and

and joy at the same time.
These things

are very closely related to each other,

and they arise together and they arise...

why do they arise?
They arise as a

function of the declining of the
defilements.

The less defilements you

have, the more all of these things come
together.

It's all about getting rid

of these defilements and impurities, and

this just happens all by itself.

So that is the always the problem
is these impurities.

So and this is useful

to know, right?
Because what that means that

the path of practice...this is why the

Buddhist path of practice is often called

the visuddhimagga, the path of purity.

The path of purity because it is a

gradual purification, and it leads to

purity at the end of the day .

That's why it's called the...

The path of Buddhism can be called that,

visuddhimagga, it doesn't refer to
that big

work by Buddhaghosa called the
'The Visuddhimagga',

it refers to the natural...

how the Eightfold Path works by itself.

It purifies you, and as you get purified

in this way, these things happen.
So what that

means is that the any kind of exercise

we do, right,?
Sometimes people talk

about samatha, vipassana, and they

kind of divide this is samatha,
this is vipassana.

I don't think that's really

possible to divide things in that way.

The Buddha doesn't talk about samatha

practice and vipassana practice.

These are just aspects, different
aspects,

of basically the same practice.

What matters is that we're doing those

things that overcome the defilements.

If you are doing some something
called

vipassana practice, and it overcomes the

defilements, great!
If you're doing

something called samatha practice

and it overcomes the defilements, great!

If you're doing neither, it's not called

neither of those and you're
overcoming

defilements, wonderful!
If it's both, wonderful!

This is the Buddhist way of logic.

You have one or the other,

both or neither.
So just to kind of

apply that in this situation

as well.
So this is what matters.

So ask yourself, is what you're doing is it

doing the job of overcoming those
defilements?

Gradually, stage by stage,

over time, looking over long periods of

time - weeks, months, years.
If it is

then you know you're doing the
right thing.

So it is really important to

take that...take a kind of charge of your

own spiritual practice, and not just

follow along kind of with brute force or

just blindly, but looking at yourself,

does it actually work?

And then from that piti, now this is where

meditation is really starting to work,

becoming very powerful from the

piti comes the pasadhi, which is the

tranquility, where you are becoming

very, very peaceful.
You just want to

sit there forever and ever and ever.

And then from the pasadhi, comes the

samadhi sambojjhanga, right?
Samadhi.

And of course, in Buddhism,
when we talk about

samadhi, there is one samadhi which is

talked about more than any other samadhi

in the suttas.
And that, of course, is

the four jhanas.
This is what you see

everywhere.
So when you talk about

samadhi without any further kind of

definition, you can take it that it

refers, more than anything else,
to the four

jhanas.
And then that samadhi then leads

to the upekkha sambojjhanga, the evenness

of mind, right?
Often translated as

equanimity, the factor of awakening

which is equanimity or evenness of mind,

or sometimes just looking on, just

looking on without reaction -
that's another

meaning of the word upekkha.
So you stand

back, you just watch without reacting

And so this is the last one.
And that,

of course, refers to the very high

stages of samadhi.
When you get to

samadhi, like the fourth jhana

or whatever, that's when you're

talking about these things.

So the seven factors of awakening
are about the

process of getting into samadhi.

All the factors that are required,
and they're

also about the samadhi itself to the

very highest level.
So this is what they're

all about.
And the sequence I mentioned

before that I call dependent

liberation, which starts off with

actually starts off with virtue and

then goes through very similar kind of steps

is essentially the same thing,

but looked upon from
a different angle.

Right?
Seven factors of awakening, same

thing as dependent liberation. So...

different ways of looking at the same
process.

So that is what then leads you

to...and once you are

established in that samadhi,
that's when

you can actually get to the...
get the full

awakening, right?
The knowledge, true

knowledge and liberation come as a

consequence.
And then we have...yeah,

please. Yeah?
Audience member: I just wanted to

ask you, sir, in spite of doing

the meditational practices - vipassana,

mindfulness activities, if the

defilement keeps on coming repeatedly,

is it that there is something wrong with

the technique that is being adopted

or one has...is because of the kamma or

anything else?

Ajahn Brahmali: Okay. Usually
if they keep...

the defilements keep coming back,
you have to

ask yourself, is there something on the

Eightfold Path you haven't

done properly?
Is there an aspect of the

path you're not practicing? Right?

Very often, you know, remember, one of

the main reasons here it's not the

meditation so much that keeps the

defilements down, it's more how you

think in daily life, right?

So by thinking in the right way
in ordinary

life, that is actually that reflection

is what keeps these defilements down.

And then the meditation functions as a

as a process,
Meditation, itself, it can

help in reducing the defilements,

but it's not enough. This is not...

There are things that are more

basic than that that you need to

establish first of all, and that is

just your right conduct, your right way

of speaking to people, the right way of

thinking about people.
This is the

most important thing.
And only when

we get that integrity of the Noble

Eightfold Path, all the factors coming

together, that's when it starts to work.

So you have to ask yourself, am I

thinking in the right way?
Why am I...

Why am I getting upset with these people?

You're getting upset with somebody,

why is that?
But the reality

is there's no reason really to get

upset with anybody.
So the reason

you get upset with them is because

you're looking at them in the wrong way.

Right? So how do you

look at other people?
Well, it's very simple.

You remember that they are, they are

acting that way because of causes and

conditions, because of their own

conditioning, because of their own

circumstances in the past, maybe even

past lives, right?
That's why they

acting like that.
It's got nothing...It's

not personal, it's not about you,
it's about them.

And even this, even

if they wanted to act in a more

wholesome way, they probably can't

because they are conditioned so
strongly.

So you start to look at

people in this way, using some of these,

you know, basic Buddhist ideas.
And when

you do that, your whole way of looking

and relating to other people changes.

And that's where you, you know, where

things change.
So that is what you have

to do, and then your meditation will

support that kind of aspect
of virtue, if you like.

Yeah?

Audience member: Bhante, when you really
get stillness

or good meditation, does in fact
unearth

an even deeper level of defilement?

In other words, like a lot of people
come here

to the Buddhist Society, and they express
to have learnt practices

and they achieve a state of peace
and tranquility.

They stick around for about 2 and
half years they

really get deepening in to practice
and...

maybe there's a point there where the
intentional focus starts to [inaudible] through

who you are, and release a much deeper

level of collatia into the system.

And that's a time when

a lot of people bolt from this place

because they're actually their sense of

identity of that, you know, basically,

they start to disintegrate and

that's part of the spiritual path.

Those deeper levels of disturbance, collatias

impurities start to come up.

And my experience of them is, you know,

they are precipitated by deep and peaceful

meditation.
Shortly after I have, or if I

have, periods of deep and peaceful

meditation, then shortly after that,

oftentimes, all hell breaks loose.

But I'm okay about that, because I've

got a bit of steadiness.
But it's not

all a bowl of cherries, you know,

It goes backwards and forwards.

What would you say about that?

Ajahn Brahmali: I mean, I think the
thing is that it

depends why people come here.

People come here for all kinds of reasons.

They might come here here to
sought out the

kind of problems in life,

the superficial things that are
going on.

But if you...or you come for a kind

of deeper purpose, actually, because you

see, you know, you see a bigger picture

of what's happening.
And if you

come here to sort out the basic things,

then, you know, you come to that

point, and you're kind of satisfied
with that,

you get a bit of peace in your

meditation or whatever, and you're

satisfied with that, that's great.

If you want to leave, then that's

okay. And you are, you know...

You're already obviously gotten

something out of the Buddhist practice.

But if you are more committed to this

practice, then you have to ask yourself

what's going on?
Okay, this may be

difficult, it's scary, perhaps even

it's disintegrating.
I mean, I think

if you are feeling like you're

disintegrating, probably you have some kind

of mental underlying stuff going on

already. Right?
There's something

something going on there.
So perhaps,

then you might even want to see a

psychologist to help you through

some of that stuff.
But the reality is

that, you know, if...I guess they have to

look at their mind and see, well, you

know, now I'm feeling a little bit more

peaceful.
And there is obviously some

positive aspects with that, and those

positive things that they can develop

those further will be great.
So let me

see if I can find a way through this,

there must be a reason why these

problems are there, what is going on?

And always, if you look, if you're

willing to investigate, you will find

out the causes for what's going on,
and it

will take you further.
So the sense that

you are disintegrating personally just

means you're psychologically perhaps a

bit unstable, perhaps you need to again,

you need to go back to the basic aspects

of the Buddhist path.
The more you can...

the stronger foundation you have in the

basics, the more stable you will be

psychologically as well.

Audience member: Yeah, that's probably
just a word that I

use for myself because I do, it feels

like that I'm disintegrating.

But I'm okay that about that.
I'm okay about sort of

falling apart.
But, you know, this idea

of disturbance, deeper level of

disturbance, that, it seems to me, if

you have a look at all, established

practitioners in lots of different

traditions, if they've been hanging in

for quite some time, they'll go through

these, or even the Christians call it

the dark night of the soul.

That sort of deep stuff where you're...

you really are challenged in
your worldview

and who and what you are, and what you're
on about.

Ajahn Brahmali: Sure.

Audience member: And that's oftentimes
preceded by stillness that's

preceded by stillness, and just, you

know, isn't it beautiful, and blissful,

and all that sort of stuff. And then

bang, this stuff comes up.

Ajahn Brahmali: Yeah, I think it's not just about the

stillness itself is also about how you

use that stillness afterwards, right?

And how you actually reflect on it and

how you use it.
I think that's part

of the problem as well.
And so very

often, you know, you start off the

path just by enjoying the meditation

practice, don't worry too much about

what it actually means or what it what

the kind of its effects are. Just enjoy

the practice.
And this is, I think, one

of the reasons precisely why, you know,

the Buddha talks about this very

profound states of samadhi
because that

gives you the strength of the mind and

the ability to deal with the kind of

insights that may come up later on,

because you are basically like rock

solid at that particular stage.

And this is, you know, and I think
this is

one of the dangers, sometimes, if you

start to use some of these vipassana

techniques, and you're not ready for it,

I've heard of many cases of people going

slightly psychotic because of this

vipasanna.
You're looking at all this

stuff happening, but your mind isn't...

has doesn't have the stability yet,

and then you flip out and you go

overboard, and you end up in hospital

or have to stay in hospital for
weeks afterwards.

And some people are traumatized for years

afterwards, because of these things.

That's terrible because it's exactly

the opposite of what we were
trying to do.

You build up all the good

qualities, you feel more centered, more at

ease with yourself, more complete, right?

Instead of feeling disintegrating, you

feel actually the opposite. You feel

integrated as a person.
And the more

integrated you feel, and the more

strength of mind you have in that in

that case, the easier it is to deal with

those weird stuff and the insights that

come afterwards.
It's all about doing things

in the right order and knowing what

you have to do with yourself.
But very

often just get the basics right, right?

This is so important.

I think this is where...you know, really

focus on the ability to look at other

people in the right way.
Be kind to

other people.
Say the right thing.

Remember every time you open your

mouth, it's an opportunity to do

something kind, right, to be compassionate,

to do something good for others.

If you take every opportunity
you have every

time you open your mouth, wow,

so many opportunities to do good, right?

And after a while, you start to feel that,

you start to feel good about yourself

because you take every opportunity.

So and this is really the
foundation aspect,

[?], these are the most

important things of all, I think, and
often

neglected and that is one of the reasons

why you get this kind of result.

John?
John: Well, just the word samadhi

does that imply meditation in general
or only the four jhanas?

Ajahn Brahmali: I mean, the word samadhi
in the suttas is used a bit more broadly

than just the four jhanas.
It has also some

other usages as well.
But generally

if it is used in a way which is not

specified, then normally it would be in

reference to the four jhanas
as I see

the suttas because the four jhanas
by far

the most common, you know, samadhi that

is mentioned there. Yeah.
Okay, Eddie,

Eddie: Ajahn Brahmali, when defilements
come, when defilements arise

it's a very important thing, you know,
[inaudible]...even for me,

when defilements arise, if you know

they are decreasing risk...[inaudible]

...I quickly refer to the law of dependent

origination. 12 links.
[inaudible]

...we should invest more.
[inaudible]

When there's contact,
then we have a problem...

the defilements are coming through our

six sense doors, you know,
forms arising.

[inaudible]

...we must be aware...
[inaudible]

Ajahn Brahmali: You mean like sense
restraint, basically?

Eddie: Yeah, yeah.

[inaudible]...become strong in you.
It's hard to get rid, you know.

[inaudible]...but now,
it still arise in me,

[inaudible]...I make sure there's
no contact.

When there's contact, that's a problem.
[inaudible]

Ajahn Brahmali: Less contact...yea, yea.

Eddie: The defilement...
[inaudible]

Ajahn Brahmali: Yeah, yeah.

Eddie: Problems arise, yeah.
You could have defilements

[inaudible]

Ajahn Brahmali: Okay, yeah. Okay, yeah.
That's true.

I mean, that's, that's,

I think that's a valid point of view,

using dependent origination to look at

these things.
I would say maybe not so

much dependent origination, but just the

idea that, you know, experiences

arise through the senses.
And that's

when defilements often arise in that

conjunction.
But remember, the point is,

the most important point is how we deal

with that senses when they,

you know, when you have
an experience, how

do you deal with that?
That's the most

important thing.
And often, you

can't just shut it out.
So you don't

look at the experience in a

different way.
And then you

can overcome these things.
Okay, yes?

Audience member: Sorry, I was just going
to say I feel the same when

a defilement arises, surely it's good to
look at it to understand it,

to be able to let it go, to release it

to be able to bring into you the
other good

ways of perhaps living.
And in doing that...

now I've forgotten what I was going to say.
[laughing] But in doing that, quite

often, a person needs guidance and

support to help them understand what's

happening to them.
Maybe in

Buddhism, there isn't that much of that

about.
I haven't seen much of that about.

Ajahn Brahmali: Much guidance, you mean?

Audience member: In allowing that
person to have

perhaps, sessions where they can be with

other psychologists or in a group form

or something where they can release it
out.

And allow the other

understanding to come in through the

guidance of...once they've

understood what's happening.
And again,

it's just ongoing.

Ajahn Brahmali: Yeah. Well, I mean,
you know,

the main psychologist in Buddhism is the

Buddha, right?
He's number one

psychologist.
So part of it, you can

actually get by reading the word of the

Buddha.
This is part of the

thing here is that you start to understand...

Audience member: Sometimes understanding
what the defilement really

is, and where it actually came from,
you need a one

on one or something...a person who has the

empathy or the training or whatever, to

be able to support that person in going

through that process.

Ajahn Brahmali: Okay. I guess
sometimes that's

necessary.
I guess it depends on the

strength of the defilements and what is

going on and your ability to understand

or not.
And if you need that, and often

you will have to go to a psychologist

or something like that, to talk

with them, that's often probably the

best thing to do.
But I think there

comes a point when you're able to take

charge of a lot of this practice

yourself, and you know what's
going on

because the main, the basic things are

the same for everybody, right?

Something negative happens and you get
upset about it

or the opposite is something nice

happens and you desire these things.

These are kind of the main, the kind of

the root kind of things that is going on

in the mind.
And of course, an important

aspect, there is also the confusion and

delusion and not understanding what is

happening.
But once you start to...

once you kind of get up to a certain

threshold, you can start to

really understand your own practice and

look after yourself to a large extent.

But more basic than that, you probably

have, as you say, go to a psychologist or

something to sort it out. Yeah, Wayne?

Wayne: [inaudible]

defilements themselves, surely?
Lord Buddha gave us the aryans.

Ajahn Brahmali: Sure.
Idealy, that's true.

But the thing is I think sometimes

people are so...they cannot can't see.

They don't know what's going on.

They can't...they don't even know...

They can't even see it that they should come

to Buddhism, sometimes, right?
So for that

reason, it can be really hard.
Okay, well let's just...

Nicholas, okay. Yeah?

Nicholas: I think a lot of mental health
issues that people have are

very...a lot of mental health issues

is based on people have very negative

relationships to their own process.

They think they're not good enough
or lovable enough

or not this or that enough.

And I think if you just start off with the

basic gradual path of kindness and

generosity, eventually there's that

transformation, and you
come to a point

where you realize you are good enough

and you are worthy enough.
And your

mental health improves hugely.
I think

sometimes, if people are struggling,

then maybe just start at the basics of a

bit of generosity and care and support

for others.
And it's a natural unfolding,

where you just get more clarity and

freedom from mental suffering.

Ajahn Brahmali: Sure, yeah, I think so.
I think it's very

true.
And I think a lot of people they

do meditation practice, and they think

meditation is kind of the...what Buddhism

is all about.
But I would say that what

Buddhism is more about
than meditation is actually about

sila, it's about your conduct that's

actually more more fundamental than

meditation practice.
So even if you just

become more kind, more generous,

as you say, more kind-hearted, speak

more kindly, and act more kindly, and

then even start thinking more kindly.

If you do that, that is actually much

more important than the meditation

practice. Yeah.
Okay, I think we need to

move on a little bit because otherwise,

this is going to be a very, very long

session. [laughing]
So, okay. So, basically, we're

just having a look at the enlightenment

factors and then saying that the four

focuses of mindfulness, they are the

cause for that. Right?
And why is that?

And the reason for that is because if

you use those establishings of

mindfulness, I mean, we're talking about

very high things here, right?
This is

not basic, this is not basic Buddhism,

this is already very high Buddhism

already.
We're talking about the

very deep states of meditation and

getting very close to awakening

already at this stage.
So that's why

we're going to bring it back.

I think it's nice to kind of see the whole

map.
And when you see the whole map,

you have some idea what's
happening here,

you understand the process, so to speak.

So the idea here is that the four

establishings of mindfulness, they are

really about the overcoming of the

defilements, right?
We're just talking

about that before, about how you do the

dhamma vicaya, the investigation of the

qualities of the mind, and how...etc, to

understand how the mind works.
And that

is what these foundations of mindfulness

really are about.
And that's why they

take you to samadhi, right?
You see it

here, again, how satipatthana leads to

samadhi, it leads to the bojjhangas,

which are all about samadhi, as I said

before.
Satipatthana leads to samadhi.

One of those other very important themes

in the Buddha's teachings, which is

interesting, very often you hear

satipatthana is vipassana, but satipatthana

is just satipatthana.
But where it

goes, it goes to samadhi.
So, and what...

one way of looking at this,

to see how this works is to compare it

to the sequence on the other side of the

page that we looked at before, where in

place of the satipatthana and
the bojjhanga,

you have the five hindrances, right?

So the satipatthanas are the opposite
of the

five hindrances.
They are the opposite of the

bojjhangas.
Yeah, so the hindrances,

I think I got that the wrong way around,

the hindrances are the opposite of

satipatthana and the opposite of the

bojjhangas.
So this shows

you the purpose of these factors when we

get to this point, abandoning all that

negative states of mind, and moving on

to the, to the positive things.

But again, we are dealing with
very refined

things here, more refined than the

majority of people do during their

meditation at any other time.

But anyone, the point, of course, is that

anyone has the potential to get there,

right?
So if you're not there yet, it's

only a matter of time if you get these

things, right.
If you keep on

investigating, and you do those things

that actually work.
So now what is the...

what is the nutriment for the four

focuses of mindfulness?

And this is, again, a very important

thing because when we get to the first

focuses of mindfulness, we are

essentially getting to meditation

practice, the four focuses of mindfulness,

the most important way that these
are practiced

is through the anapanasati, the breath

meditation.
So here we are starting on

meditation practice.
So what this is

telling us now is what is the necessary

condition for meditation practice to

work.
And what it tells you is that you

need the three kinds of good conduct.

Right?
And what that...so, and of course,

this is, this is so important that it

is, again, one of those things that you

see throughout the suttas that

mindfulness for it to really be

powerful, for satipatthana to work, the

only way it's really going to work is if

you have the three kinds of good conduct

in place, first of all. Right?
And this is...

this is quite demanding.
We're talking here

about right action, we're

talking about right speech, we're

talking also about right mental attitude

to a very large extent.
And only when

this is in place, is actually meditation

is possible.
And this is why I think,

Chris, that many of these people have

problems, right?
Because they

haven't established the foundations yet

for the mindfulness to be strong enough

to actually work.
And suddenly

things flood your mind, defilements, or

whatever, and you feel really confused.

I think it's well known that a

lot of people actually try to do

mindfulness and they find it terrible.

They find it absolutely scary

because they see all these things they

don't want to see.
And that is

because mindfulness has been taken

out of context - this is what often we

find in secular Buddhism - things

taken out of context, used in a
completely...

without any kind of... this kind of

framework at all.
And, of course, you're

throwing people in the deep end,
and if

your mind is already unstable,
if you

haven't kind of got a, you know,

positive sense of self, or whatever,

it's going to be very, very challenging.

So that's why I think all of this

needs to be shown in context, understood

as a complete integrated package deal.

It's not a kind of individual factors

that work.
So, very important that

sila, in a very deep sense, has to be

established before satipatthana is

possible.
And, of course, part of this is

mental sila.
So part of this means that

you don't really get all that...you

don't get angry all that much, right?

You don't have very powerful cravings

anymore.
All of that has already died

down to some extent.
Then meditation

becomes really possible.

So that is the three kinds of good

conduct.
I'm not going to go into more

detail on those now.
And then we

move onto sense restraint.
I did talk

about all of these things last

time, a lot so if you haven't heard

last times, the last talk, I would...

maybe you can probably get that on the

internet now, I'm sure.
So sense restraint,

again, is necessary because

if your sense faculties are always out

there, you know, always kind of in the

world and very easily latched on to

objects in the world, then, of course,

very easily aversion and desires are

gonna arise.
So some degree of

mindfulness that makes you...makes your

mind more even, right?
This is necessary

for that virtue to be

possible.
So sense restraint is a

prerequisite for the three kinds of good

conduct.
And then we have the

mindfulness and clear comprehension,

which is largely emphasis on clear

comprehension, which is the idea again,

that, you know you do those things in

life that you know lead you in the

right way on the path.
You have a sense

of purpose in your life, a sense of what

is important, what actually matters.

And then you, you arrange, so to speak,

the rest of your life almost around those

things that are important
You don't do

those things that lead to problems.

And you do those things that encourage

you on the path.
Clear comprehension is

described as...clear comprehension
has two...

four aspects, but the two most important

ones are suitability and purpose.

So is it fulfilling the purpose of your
life?

Is it fulfilling...is it suitable

for that purpose?
Suitability, purpose,

very closely related to each other.

And when you get that right,
then you're

kind of starting to align everything in

your life with the Noble Eightfold Path.

Right?
This is very, again, this is

quite, is high, right?
It's almost like

becoming a monastic because that's

obviously when you really start to...

Well, hopefully anyway, that's
the idea

to start aligning everything
according to

the Dhamma.
But if you have a clear

sense of what actually matters, right?

What is important in life?
Where is real

happiness to be found?
Where is the end

of suffering to be found?
The more

clarity you have about that,
the better

understanding you have of these

teachings, the more...the more

brainwashed you are, right?
The more

brainwashed you are, you start to align

these things in accordance with

that brainwashing.

And you start to make your life...
create a life

which is in accordance with
that.

So this is an important part of

sampajanna.
If you always put yourself

in the wrong position, it's impossible to

have sense restraint because you're

always kind of influenced by all these

things around you.
And then we have

this beautiful thing which is the cause

or the nutriment of clear comprehension

and mindfulness which is careful attention.

Yoniso manasikara, right?

Yoniso manasikara, which is

one of these foundational things on the

Buddhist path, which is always powerful,

always useful.
The moment you kind of get

started on the Buddhist path, the moment

you start out, you say, "Yeah, I want to

practice meditation."
You come to this

centre for the first time, really

confused and really scared of the

monastics, right?
That's what I was like

when I started, I remember.
These monasteries are

really scary places.
But gradually, you

kind of...you chill a little

bit, and things are kind of easier.

And that is the first yoniso manasikara.

You know, actually, that you're going

to a place which is going to be useful

to you.
And then you freak out a

little bit, as Chris was saying,

sometimes when you kind of come back

again, and you gradually, gradually
move forward.

Every time you do something

which leads in the right direction, it's

called yoniso manasikara.

Every time you have a thought which is in

accordance with the path,

it's yoniso manasikara.
When somebody

treats you badly, and you forgive them

straight away because you know
that it's

just their conditioning,

it's yoniso manasikara, right?
Every time

somebody does something bad to you and

you get upset, that's
ayoniso manasikara,

careless attention,
wrong attention.

So this is very easily

defined, yoniso manasikara, defined as...

it is yoniso manasikara if that

whatever attention you have at that time,

aligns with the path and brings you to a

better state afterwards rather than a

worst state.
If it brings you to a worst

state, it's ayoniso manasikara.

It's all about reflection, right?
It's all

about how we think about the world,

how we think about everything.

It's very good.
Yes?

Audience member: About stuff that
doesn't really matter, like daydreaming...

Ajahn Brahmali: Daydreaming? Yeah?

Audience member: How would you apply
careful attention

to something like daydreaming?

Ajahn Brahmali: You apply...you daydream
about

something positive, right?

You daydream about meditating.

Oh, meditation. Wow, so nice!
[laughing] And this is...

this is one of those things that if you

really want to have a daydream, then if

you understand what is important in

life, you daydream about those things,
right?

You think about when can I get

back to my cushion?
I really want

to get back to my cushion and meditate.

That is the ideal.
But I think that, you know

daydreaming is really the opposite

of kind of mindfulness.
Mindfulness

means being present here and now.

Daydreaming means being all over the

place, right?
In some fantasy world

somewhere.
So, ideally, you want to avoid

that, but don't use force.
Understand that

the reason why you're daydreaming

is because you want to find some

happiness somewhere, right?

Right now, it's so boring, or it's so kind

of painful to be here.
I don't want to be here,

so you daydream instead.

And that is part of the problem.
So, but by

doing all the right things, eventually

you are content to be here.
And when

you're content to be here,

the daydreaming kind of stops by itself.

So the ideal way is to make it stop by

itself rather than force it out of the

way.
And this is what this is all

about.
It shows you this is why this

suttas about causality are so

important.
Because when you understand

causality, you understand the basic

things that drive the whole process.

Put in the basic things, everything else

happens as a consequence.

So you don't judge yourself for

daydreaming, it's just part of being

human, you know, everything, everybody

daydreams, at least every now and again,

some people more than others,

but so judge yourself.
But ask yourself, why is

this happening?
And what you will

see is that you're not really happy

where you are.
You're not really content with

where you are.
Okay, so how do I make

myself more content, and then you build

up those basic factors that give rise to

contentment.
And those factors are

basically very simple.
They are just the

factors of kindness.
That's basically

what it is.
If you can...the more you can...

are able to act from kindness in your

life, all the time, and avoid the bad

things, you start...you just start feeling

good about yourself.
And the present

moment becomes very nice.
You don't want

to daydream anymore because it's nice

to hang out here.
Yeah? Okay.

So that is yoniso manasikara,
and this is

something you take with you from the

moment you step onto the path, all the

way to the very end of the path.

Always requires reflecting in the right

way, careful attention, wise attention.

And what is the nutriment for

yoniso manasikara? Very interesting, it is

saddha, which is often translated as

faith or confidence in Buddhism.

And, of course, that faith then
refers to the

faith in the Dhamma, in the teachings of

the Buddha.
So when you have confidence

in that, then yoniso manasikara

arises from that.

Which is interesting because if
you

translate as wise attention, the

wisdom that we have, in the beginning,

it comes from the Buddha.
Right?

That's where the wisdom comes from.
It is not

so much our inherent wisdom, but it's

actually driven by the Buddha.
There is

something inherent because you have to

recognize, of course, that the Buddha is

saying something useful.
But once you

recognize that, the teachings you
take onboard,

you're taking on this wisdom from

the outside.
Like, you know, the Buddha

is called the Eye of the World, the

Buddha has seen, and now you, you accept

that, you have faith that the Buddha has

seen, so you take on board
those teachings,

and then you act accordingly.

So, initially, that yoniso manasikara

is not really so much your own wisdom,

it is the wisdom from the outside.

And gradually, it becomes your own
wisdom.

Gradually, you start to see that this is

indeed correct, and then it
becomes much

more easy to act in that way as a

consequence.
So faith, confidence, leads

to yoniso manasikara, at least

initially.
And eventually it becomes

your own...your own faculty
in your own mind.

And what does faith arise?
Hearing the good Dhamma,

the saddhamma,
the true Dhamma,

which is anything which

teaches according to reality, any

teaching, which is according to reality,

and of course, from our point of view,

Buddhism would be certainly be a kind of

teaching which is accordance with
reality.

So when you hear that,

then faith should arise, right?
Ideally.

If you think, oh, this is terrible

stuff, I don't like this.
Then, of course,

you're not going to get started.

So you have to...you have to kind of

enjoy the good Dhamma, first of all,

and then the faith comes as
a consequence of that,

And, of course, that good Dhamma

comes from associating with those people

who understand that Dhamma, right?

Primarily, that means the Buddha, hanging

out with the Buddha.
I like this idea of

hanging out with a Buddha.
People think

it's kind of some kind of silly idea.

Or maybe they don't, I don't know
what they think.

But maybe they do.
But it's not!

Remember, these things were

actually spoken to by the Buddha.

They were spoken to people like us.
They were

spoken to ordinary people at that time.

They were meant to be practiced.

When you hear the suttas, you're actually

in the presence of the Buddha.

You're hearing his voice. Right?
It's actually

very powerful.
And this actually the

Buddha talking to you when you hear

these things.
And it's very, very, very

powerful to hang out with the Buddha in

that sense.
So when you read the suttas,

don't, you know, be careful,

because, again, this is the Buddha

speaking.
There's something very

profound going on here, take on board,

what you can, try to understand what you

can and then allow it to sink in,

to deepen over time.
Remember, these are

like true gems, these are there for

your own good.
These are there

to help us to overcome suffering

and move towards more happiness
in the world.

They are spoken out of pure compassion.

There's nothing but compassion going

into these things.
So because that, when you

read them, you can, you can actually

trust these teachings.
There's something

very powerful going on there.
So listen

to them, after you listen to them,

reflect on them.
What does this actually mean?

Do I understand this properly?

And as you reflect on that

they start to sink in and they start to

become part of you.
You can integrate it

pretty much into your personality.

Right?
They're sitting there at the

back of your mind, ready to be used at

any moment's notice.
Sometimes, I like

to talk about the idea of building up

perceptions in your mind.
It's so

important to have those perceptions

ready sometimes.
You have, you know, you

may have perceptions about other people

or some people that you really like and

have this really good perceptions about
them.

And you put that that perception

on your shelf, perception shelf

And then when a negative

perception about that person arises, you

bring back that positive perception and

you remind yourself of that.
And in this

way, you can have all this perceptions

there, these ways of looking at the world.

You use the right perception at the

right time to counteract anything

negative that's happening in your mind.

And this is dealing with your mind and

perceptions according to these,

according to these teachings, how the

Buddha taught these things.
So, this way

you hang out with the Buddha.
Of course,

the Buddha is a little bit theoretical.

He is, you know, now he's just words on

the page.
And that kind of doesn't

really drive home the point so much.

So it's also good to have inspiring

examples in our life, people who, you

know, good people who seem to be

practicing the path in the right way,

doing the right thing, to see

people like that, too, I think is also

important.
When you get those two things

together: the real live example, together

with the teachings of the Buddha, then

you have something very, very powerful

to drive you forward on the path.

And this is the basis, right?
This is

the foundation, this is the most basic

thing for this whole sequence,

taking you all the way to liberation.

Although all you have to do, keep on

reading those suttas, keep on listening

to the right kind of Dhamma talks,

hang out with the right people,
do the right

thing.
And inexorably, you know,

naturally, you will incline

in the right direction.
This happens all

by itself.
And it's one of those

wonderful things, you know, I've been a

Buddhist monk now for 21 years, right?

Doesn't seem long at all, actually,

maybe sounds long to you, but to me,

it seems like I became a monk yesterday,

pretty much.
But when I look over that

period of time, I can see a change,

incredible change, over

those years.
Something is actually

happening.
Sometimes I wonder why

it is happening because all I seem to...

all I seem to do is hang around the

monastery, read a few suttas,

listening to Ajahn Brahm, you know...

But, somehow, that is working

and I'm changing, changing, changing.

And you can see that process happening

inside of yourself.
And so this is what

you have to do.
If you keep on doing

this, you will be seeing the same thing.

You get more clarity.
You get

less defilements.
You get more sense of

completeness, right?
The craving dies

down, more sense of completeness
inside of

yourself, more sense of satisfaction.

All of these things are happening.
Why are

they happening?
And mostly just because

you are in the company of the right

people, listening to the right teachings,

reading the suttas, understanding what

is going on.
And then the whole process

happens by itself.
It's a bit like

osmosis, that's what Ajahn Brahm says,
you stay

in the monastery, you get the Dhamma by

osmosis, you just absorb it through your

skin, right? It comes in.
You don't know

how it happens, but it happens somehow.

And then this thing kind of takes off...

happens like that.
It's beautiful, right?

It's so painless.
And it's so easy.

Of course, we have to apply

ourselves as well.
But these teachings,

they make you want to apply

yourself.
When you want to start to

understand the power of virtue, for

example, right?
You see, the Buddha says

that satipatthana is always based on this

idea of sila.
And remember sila in

Buddhism is avoid doing the bad,
do the good.

And also the mental aspect of sila.

But the more you understand how

powerful that is, and how it supports

everything else in the practice, you

start to become very aware, you become

very mindful of everything you do.

Because it's almost like you're a little

bit worried if I make a small, small,

bad step, it will take me backwards.

It will be two steps back and one forqward

instead of two forward and one back.

Right?
Or even one step back kind of sets

you back quite a bit.
So you become very

aware when you understand how important

it is.
You make an extra effort to not

say the wrong thing, but to say the

right thing.
Every time you're around

somebody, you use the opportunity to say

something nice, right?
Can I say

something nice now?
No, okay,

I can't.. I'm going to shut up then.

So you just be quiet.
Either say something nice,

or you don't say anything.
In this way,

it becomes very, you know, this is

this is kind of how this drives you.

Every time you want to do a small act,

how can I do a small act of kindness?

How can I avoid doing small acts of

badness?
This person I find it really

hard with this person.
Actually, to be honest,

I don't really like that person

at all.
I don't really want to say that

because I want to be good Buddhist, but

actually, I don't really like them.

So what can I do?
How can I look at them differently?

Build up some

compassion, understand that person is

having problems just like you have.

They also suffer.
They are conditioned into

the state they are.
Of course, you should

have compassion for them, regardless of

what they are like.
Okay, so you find it

difficult to be around them so you don't

not around them so much.
That is fine,

But at least have that sense of compassion

for them.
And when you start to

understand the urgency of this, right?

This is the foundation of everything.

You put everything into that.
That is

what matters,
and then when you go back,

then when you sit down, you try to do

mindfulness of breathing,
then it becomes

powerful because you have put so much

effort into the foundation stones.

And it starts off just by hanging out with

the Buddha, reading the suttas

and being with people who are practicing

these teachings in the right way.

So it's a beautiful sutta on, you know,

the real, real foundation stones of this

whole practice.

So, now, let's have a look at the last

couple of paragraphs.
"Thus associating

with good persons, becoming full,

fills up hearing the good Dhamma.

Hearing the good Dhamma, becoming full,
fills up saddha, faith and confidence.

Faith and confidence, becoming full,
fills up

careful attention, or wise attention.

Wise attention, becoming full, fills up

mindfulness and clear comprehension.

Mindfulness and clear comprehension,

becoming full, fill up the restraint of

the sense faculties.
Restraint of the

sense faculties, becoming full, fill up

the three kinds of good conduct.

The three kinds of good conduct, becoming

full, fill up the four focuses of

mindfulness.
The four focuses of

mindfulness, becoming full, fill up the

seven factors of awakening.
The seven

factors of awakening, becoming full, fill

up true knowledge and liberation.

Thus there is nutriment for true knowledge

and liberation, and in this way they

become full."
Right?

Gradually, gradually, gradually,
filling up each one

making sure that you associate with

good people as much as possible.

It's interesting, sometimes we think that

we should associate with all kinds of

people, right?
Because we need to help

others who are not kind of
there on the path.

And of course, sometimes that's

true, sometimes we do associate with

people who are not, you know, superior

people, or good persons, whatever you

want to call them.
But the point here is

that we have to be careful with that.

We have to know our limitations,
how much we

can take, and we have to understand that

the more we just hang out with the

superior people, the more we get

conditioned in the right way.

So you fill that up, fill it up.
And then when

you do that, you hear more of the good

Dhamma, you see the example of the

people, which is also an important part

of hearing the message, and then you get

brainwashed, right?
And then this

brainwashing you get is actually part of

that is having getting faith, right?

You get faith in these teachings.
And then

from that brainwashing, you start having

careful attention, and then you think in

the right way, and this whole process

just takes...starts and it works its way

through all the way to the end, to true

knowledge and liberation as a

consequence.
Filling up stage by stage.

But, of course, you know, again, it takes

a lot of filling up for the first one,

because each stage has to be filled up

from the previous one,
so it's like

an exponential curve here.
So it

means that you have to really do a lot

of work at the beginning to get to

the last one.
So it's not kind of...

it takes...it takes still takes a lot of

effort to get there.
And then, again,

the same simile again just to
drive home

the point, right?
"Just as, when it is

raining and the rain pours down in thick

droplets on a mountaintop, the water

flows down along the slopes and fills

the cliffs, the gullies, and the creeks;

these, becoming full, fill up the pools;

these, becoming full, fill up the lakes;

these, becoming full, fill up the streams;

these, becoming full, fill up the rivers;

and these, becoming full, fill up the

great ocean;
thus there is nutriment for

the great ocean, and in this way it

becomes full.
So too, associating with good

persons...fills up all the way to true

knowledge and liberation.

Thus, there is nutriment for true knowledge

and liberation, and in this way they

become full."

Okay. So, there you are.
That is the

sutta done over two sutta classes.

Any last questions about about

this one? Okay.
Yes, John?

John: If we practise the way you
just described in the sutta,

how much do we take that into our
next life?

Ajahn Brahmali: Okay, how much do we take

these things with us into the next life?

You take it all with you, right?
Because...

and the reason is because whatever

development...the only thing that you

take with you from this life to the next

one is your mental development.

Everything else you have to leave
behind

so make sure you invest where it matters,

where you can actually take with
you.

So that mind, whatever you leave

off in this life, you continue from there,

and you keep on developing
your mind,

you know, in the future life.

John: So it's not a start again
from the beginning again?

Ajahn Brahmali: No, it's not to
start from scratch again.

That would be terrible if you had

to start from scratch again.
But it is

precisely because the mind is what you

take with you.
It is really the only

thing that is worth investing in

this life.
Everything else is like

investing in a rented house, right?

Putting heaps of money, all your money,

all your effort, into rented house,

knowing that you will be kicked out in

three months.
That's madness, right?

And you stand, completely bare,
after three months.

You have no money because you gave it

all the way to the land owner who

was a landlord who kind of owned
that flat.

That's basically what you're

doing if you invest everything into

this life and not into the future...

into the kind of bigger
picture of things.

Yeah.
Yes, Nicholas? Thank you.

Nicholas: [inaudible]

I was going to ask, does the mental
development show up

in early childhood or is it something

that sort of shows up later when

people get a bit older? That sort of

thing from previous lives.
I think it shows up

in childhood as well.
It shows up all

the way through.
I remember, you know,

somebody like Ajahn Brahm, he

always tells like when he was a child, he

had all these kinds of times when he was

just completely peaceful at ease and

relaxed.
So I think it's obvious that he

had some good meditation in the past

life, right?
I remember when I was, when

I was a child, I had this idea of living

by myself in a hut in the forest.
I was

12 years old.
I thought, oh, yeah, that

would be really cool to live in a hut by

myself in the forest, you know, where

does it come from?
And that kind of

alerts you to that maybe you've been

doing this and quite likely been doing

this in the past.
So it comes all the

way through.
But of course, it comes in

different ways, right?
It's only when

you're an adult that you
kind of take

your step and become a monastic,
for example,

I would say, yeah.

Nicholas: Thank you.

Ajahn Brahmali: Yes, Eddie?

Eddie: The seven factors of
enlightenment...[inaudible]

...it is mentioned in the sutras that...
[inaudible]

[inaudible]

Cunda chanted for the Buddha? Yeah?

What do I think? [laughing]
It's interesting, isn't it?

It's very interesting, yeah.
Yeah, I don't know.

It just shows you something of
the power of

the Dhamma, which reminds you
of the power

of these things, and when you when you

kind of use that power, you can
overcome...

it kind of overcomes the illness,
I suppose.

That was Maha Cunda.
He was chanting it

for the Buddha.
And the Buddha heard

it, he kind of became better as well.

It sounds...it's almost hard to believe,

isn't it?
But that's what according that sutta.

Eddie: [inaudible]

Oh, yeah.
We do it here as well. Yea, sure.

So when you're in hospital, Eddie,
we'll

chant them, seven factors of awakening,

for you. Up you go.
You're okay, yeah.

That's the theory so we'll

see what happens.
Anybody else want to

say anything here?
Everybody else happy

Everyone's really happy?
Okay, great.

So, a couple of questions. So we have one

from Amelie in Germany.
And she says, "If

we all avoid the bad company, how can

these people experience enlightenment

if no one wants to stay with them? No

one will tell them about the Buddha and

the Dhamma."
Yes, that is...there is some

truth to that.
So, it is not...it's not so

much about avoiding it, but I guess it

is more about, you know, being...
doing it

in the right way.
I mean, one of the

great things is actually to be a teacher,

to be able to teach is a wonderful

thing.
Obviously, you can make a lot of

good kamma that way if you think about

it in the right way.
But also you learn

a lot about the Dhamma when you teach

you know.
So it's not just monastics

that should be teachers, lay people can

be teachers as well.
And it's a great

way of actually doing that.

And sometimes you have no choice. Sometimes,

you have to be around people who are not

perfect.
And when you are around people

who are not perfect,
you practice to the best of

your ability.
But also you know

your limitations.
If you are with people

who drag you down all the time,

eventually you get dragged down

yourself.
You lose your joy, you lose

your happiness, you lose your ability to

actually help them, right?
You can only

help them if you have some sense of

energy inside of yourself.
So you can do

it, but just watch yourself, watch what

was happening in your mind.
And remember

that, you know, you always whenever you

get dragged down, you always come back to

the Dhamma, always come back to the

Buddha again, and that will

lift you up and kind of carry you

forward on the path.
So it's not that we

should avoid anyone who is not
an arayan,

we wouldn't have any friends if all

our friends were arayan.
How many friends

would you have if all your friends were

arayan? Not many.
You have the

Buddha, maybe one or two

others in the world, but not much more.

So, but it's just about finding the right

balance,
so watch your mind and see

how it influences you, how it affects you

and then you will know what is right.

Okay, this is from PJ Tear in Singapore,

"If the satipatthana nutriment are the

three types of conduct, then can

damage people, for example,

psychological brain damage that caused

them to do bad acts, still do mindfulness

practice?"
Again, you know, it

really depends what you mean by

mindfulness practice, and depends what

you mean by satipatthana.
Very often when

we talk about satipatthana in the suttas,

they are actually very high

stages of meditation practice.

They're not the kind of...the way
these words are

used in kind of contemporary society is

one thing, the way it is used in the

suttas is often very, very different.

They talk about mindfulness, but really what

they mean, ordinarily, just mean having

some degree of awareness of what you're

doing, what you're thinking, that's

really all they mean by mindfulness.

When you look at some of those, you

know, contemporary techniques for

dealing with problems, that sort of

thing.
They're not really talking

about the mindfulness of the Buddha in

the suttas, which is a much higher

level kind of mindfulness.
So depends

what you mean, but usually, I think

people with...if you have some kind of

brain damage, or psychological damage

that causes you to do bad acts, then it

is not such a big problem because a lot

of that will not be intentional
when it

comes because of your illness, or

whatever.
And because it becomes...

comes from your illness, it will not

have such a bad negative karmic effect,

you won't feel so bad about it.
So all

you have to do, even with those people,

you have to encourage them to do the

right thing, at least to the best of

their ability, and then maybe, you know,

do what they can.
And when they do that,

then they they will actually be heading

in the right direction.
And hopefully,

that will also then maybe lead those

psychological problems to be reduced

as a consequence.
It also depends on

what kind of psychological problems you

have.
People who are depressed, for

example, or bipolar or whatever, they

can often use meditation with great

advantage.
If you're depressed, you often

need to rest a lot, you need to kind of

just chill out, to get away from people

and to just recharge yourself a

little bit.
And apparently, they can

often be very helped a lot by meditation

practice.
But remember, often for them,

it's a much lower kind of meditation.

It's just a meditation learning to relax,

learning to be at ease, and learning to

kind of just accept yourself for what

you.
Self acceptance is a very

important part of this, as Nicholas

was saying before.
And then it can

be helpful.
Any kind of

act, right?
If you are going to be kind

it, you know, it demands a little

bit of mindfulness.
You need to know

what you're doing.
You need to have some

awareness of what's going on.
So you can

see how mindfulness, itself, has many

many different degrees and strengths to

it.
Okay, I hope that is helpful.

So, good luck.
And that's all for today.

Everybody happy? Yeah?
Everybody, good?

Okay, great. So let's pay
respect to the

Buddha Dhamma Sangha.