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Okay, everyone,
so Happy New Year, first of all.

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I forgot to say that before, 
so I need to do it now.

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So very wonderful to see you all here.
And today I am going to talk

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about one of the perennial
themes of Buddhism, I think it is,

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which is about 'going against the stream'.

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Have you heard about the idea of 
going against the stream?

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It is a thing that you find in a number
of places in the suttas, this idea,

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and I just want to talk a little bit 
about what it actually means,

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various angles on this idea, 
and also how we can use this idea

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to actually enhance our 
spiritual practice.

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So the idea on the Buddhist
teachings about stream,

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stream is like a metaphor,

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it's like something which points 
to something else,

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and the metaphor, the thing it points to, 
one of the most important things

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is all the habits of our mind.

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The habits of a mind is like a stream, 
something that flows on,

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it's like self perpetuating,

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that's the nature of a habit, just kind of
goes on whether you want to or not.

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And you discover that in
meditation practice, right,

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you close your eyes, and you see
these blooming habits following you along.

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And you think about all kinds of things 
whether you want to or not,

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actually you want to of course deep down,
but whether you want to or not,

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it seems like these habits
just take over the mind.

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And this is a very important part of this
idea of the stream,

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the habits of the mind that drive you on.

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And you can feel this in your 
meditation practice,

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the stream of the mind, this forced 
inside of you that drives on by itself.

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This is one of the ideas of "stream"
in the suttas,

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these kinds of innate habits that we have,

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not really innate, because they can be 
stopped,

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but very fundamental habits of the mind.

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Another interesting idea of the 'stream'
in the suttas

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is the thing called 'viññāṇa sota',

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it's a Pali word, I like to use some 
fancy terminology always.

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So viññāṇa sota means..
the stream of consciousness,

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according to the suttas, this idea 
that the stream of consciousness

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is the mind basically which goes on from 
one life to another one,

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carries on into the future,
established in this life,

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then gets established in the
future existence.

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That's another stream, which is 
problematic, right,

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the stream of habits is problematic,
you want to go against that.

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The stream of consciousness is going on
from life to life,

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that's another really problematic one.

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So all of these things are things that we 
try to, kind of, slow down to begin with,

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and eventually hopefully, 
cut those streams entirely.

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But of all these things,

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the most important kind of stream 
is a stream of craving.

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Craving is actually part of the 
mental habits that we have,

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the first thing I mentioned,

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mental habits are much more 
than craving,

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but craving is a very important 
part of it.

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It’s this desire that always kind of 
goes on and on and on,

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the stream of desire, the mind kind of 
moving on to something else, continuously,

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all the time, never really stopping,

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never really standing still, 
even in your meditation

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it's very rare that the mind becomes 
completely still,

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it's actually very difficult to do.

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There's always a little bit of 
movement there,

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going somewhere, looking for 
something deeper,

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once you finally get really happy in your
meditation, you think, 'What's next?'

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That's the stream of craving in action 
right there.

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So this craving, this desire to find 
something more,

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something additional in this world
is really, really problematic.

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Now there is a few suttas, 
a few discourses of the Buddha

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that I thought I would bring up,

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I always bring up some suttas, that's 
kind of what I've become famous,

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not famous for, 
I wouldn't call myself famous,

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but that's kind of what I am known for 
among some people here anyway.

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And this sutta is from one of the
very nice collections in the Pali Suttas,

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called the Itivuttaka, have you
heard about the Itivuttaka?

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I know some of you have, some of you
maybe not.

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Itivuttaka literally means 
'thus-saidness' or something like that,

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Iti-vuttaka; vuttaka - saidness,
thus-saidness,

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and this collection of suttas is part 
of the Khuddakanikāya,

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the shorter collection, which actually 
is the longest collection.

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It is called the shorter
just to confuse you.

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So, but in this collection is the
Itivuttaka,

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and the very interesting thing about 
the Itivuttaka,

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that it was a collection of discourses 
that was transmitted by a lay woman,

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which is kind of fascinating,

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because sometimes we think about 
Buddhism as very kind of hierarchical

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with the monks and the nuns and 
then laymen, laywomen,

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but actually sometimes you find that it 
doesn't matter so much in Buddhism

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who you are, what matters is the qualities
of your mind, the qualities of your heart,

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and if you have good teachings
that people should remember,

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that we should keep for posterity,

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then you are worthwhile listening to, 
we should listen to you,

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what have you got to say? 
Did you hear the teachings of Buddha?

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lease come, we want to hear 
those teachings.

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And this is exactly what happened 
with this Itivuttaka,

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it was taught or transmitted by this 
laywoman,

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and then it was somehow given 
to the monks,

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and the monks will then carry on the 
chanting, maybe the nuns as well,

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I'm not sure,

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carry on the chanting of these suttas.

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So this is very fascinating.

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Sometimes we have a slightly 
one-sided idea of Buddhism,

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I think sometimes it
is more inclusive than we think it is.

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Anyway, so one of the suttas, I think
it is the109 of this collection,

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according to this sutta, it starts off 
with the Buddha saying,

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suppose there was a person who was 
going down a stream that seemed

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pleasant and delightful.

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A person going down a stream 
maybe sitting on a raft or something;

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I don't know what they're doing.

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Kind of Robinson cruiser of India 
on this river.

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So very happy, the stream is pleasant,
the water is the right temperature,

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the wind is just right,

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maybe there is some food on this raft, 
I don't know what, but very pleasant,

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the river, going downstream.

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And this is kind of exactly what 
our lives are like.

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As you carry on in this stream of 
craving in your life,

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it seems pleasant, right?

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We think of it as pleasant.

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We think of the things in our life,

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our relationships, 
the things that we own,

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the pleasures that we kind of enjoy 
in our daily basis.

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They seem great. 
They seem marvelous, right?

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They seem wonderful.
What is there to fear?

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There's nothing to fear, right?

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We're on this beautiful raft 
going down the stream,

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we have no idea where it's going,

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but it's a good river,
it must be going into a good place.

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This is how our minds work.

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If you think about how your mind works,

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when you talk about the craving 
and going on the stream of craving,

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it always looks good in the future, right?

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When you think about where you're heading,

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it never looks bad, because if it
were looking bad, you wouldn't go there.

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It always looks good.

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This is kind of the interesting thing 
about the idea of craving.

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When you follow that arrow of craving,

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the direction of craving, the result 
always seems positive.

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It always looks like you're going 
to a good place.

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This kind of relationship, that's the
right person for me,

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that's going to be a really good one.

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And you stop at the point 
where the relationship starts,

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you don't go beyond that,

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you forget to ask "and then what?"

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The "and then what?", 
that's the interesting one, right?

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That's one of my favorite teachings 
from Ajahn Brahm.

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I remember that when I first came
to Bodhinyana Monastery,

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and he taught
the "and then what" teaching.

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I think we should write a sub commentary
on the "and then what" teaching,

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because I don't think it was 
ever written,

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the Buddha never mentioned that.
Maybe he did actually,

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but maybe not precisely in those terms.

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I think he did. Yeah,

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because this is exactly the point of
some of the similes of the Buddha,

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is like this "and then what" idea.

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So this is a problem in our life,

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it looks like we're heading towards 
a positive goal.

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When we crave, we look to the future,
where this is all going,

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it looks beautiful,
it looks delightful,

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but we're not seeing things clearly.

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We are on this river,

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we don't really know whether the river 
turns right or left,

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what's going to be around the corner,
we have no idea, but it looks good,

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so we hold on to it. And then as we
are going down this river,

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there is a man who looks on 
and sees what is going on.

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So who is this man, do you think,
in the suttas?

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Okay, I'm going to tell you... 
you don't have to answer.

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The man is the Buddha.

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The Buddha looks on, because 
the Buddha sees what is going on.

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The Buddha is looking on at humanity,
and he is seeing all of us

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on this river of craving, 
going full speed ahead with desires,

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with all of these kinds of things,
blind, like moles,

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no idea where this tunnel
is gonna go underground.

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And we just carry on, digging that
tunnel, carrying on in the stream,

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and no idea what's happening.

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The Buddha says, actually, 
where are you going?

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He says, if you carry on in this stream,

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you're going to this pool, 
there's a pool down there,

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and in that pool, what do you find?

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Whirlpools, waves, saltwater crocodiles, 
not freshwater, saltwater crocodiles.

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The salties is not the freshies
because the salties are the scary ones.

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And then monsters. 
Monsters are kind of the fourth one.

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I'm not sure whether it's the monsters 
or the sharks or something like that.

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I am Australian now, so I have to know 
the difference between

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the salties and the freshies.

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And the fellow who did this translation, 
he's an Australian monk, Ajahn Sujato.

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So, he did this and he knew the 
difference between

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saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, 
he deliberately put saltwater crocodiles,

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so we knew this was really dangerous,

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not some kind of small, minor, cute 
crocodile like the freshwater crocodiles.

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So that's what he sees.

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If he carries-on, that's where 
he's gonna go.

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And of course, if you meet up with a 
saltwater crocodile,

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and it's lunchtime for that 
saltwater crocodile;

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that's it, you're finished.

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And so this is kind of fascinating, right?

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You're on this beautiful trip, 
going down this stream,

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everything seems so beautiful,

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and there's all these saltwater crocodiles
waiting for you around the corner.

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What happens if you know that there are 
saltwater crocodiles around the corner?

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You get pretty scared, right?

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These are very scary beasts, 
these saltwater crocodiles,

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they are really scary, and so 
you become very worried about this.

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And of course what happens 
once you get worried

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is that you start paddling for life 
with your hands and feet

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to go against the stream.

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Hopefully the current isn't so strong,
hopefully it's quite weak,

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so you can paddle faster than the stream 
will take you down

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to the saltwater crocodiles.

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So this is the idea;

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once you understand the 
danger of craving,

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why is craving so dangerous?

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Let's just stay with that just for a 
couple of moments before I carry on..

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What is it about craving that is 
so dangerous?

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What is it about this sweet thing that we 
have in our life

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that seems to give us so much happiness;
how can that be dangerous?

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And the first reason of course is that 
craving makes us attached,

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it makes us hold onto things 
in the world.

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And the moment you hold on to 
things in the world,

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you're asking for suffering.
You're saying, please, may I suffer!

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You may not actually be saying that,

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but you should be saying that,
that's what I'm saying.

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Because the moment you hold onto things,

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you know that those things 
are impermanent,

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you know that they are unreliable,

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you know you can't hold on to them.

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So if you grasp things that are 
inherently ungraspable,

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you have a problem.

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And that problem is called suffering.

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This is a small one, this doesn't really 
sound like saltwater crocodiles,

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maybe whirlpool, may be a wave 
but not really a salty,

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salties are too, kind of, scary for that.

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But it's worse than that, right?

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And what is worse is that in our pursuit 
of all the sensual pleasures in the world,

229
00:12:21,263 --> 00:12:24,094
we tend to do stupid things.

230
00:12:24,094 --> 00:12:27,915
If you look at your life when you have 
done something unwholesome,

231
00:12:27,915 --> 00:12:30,928
if I look at my life when I have done 
something unwholesome,

232
00:12:30,928 --> 00:12:34,247
very often it was in connection with 
some kind of sensual pleasures

233
00:12:34,247 --> 00:12:36,751
that didn't go my way or 
something like that,

234
00:12:36,751 --> 00:12:38,799
and you start doing things, 
saying things,

235
00:12:38,799 --> 00:12:42,260
acting in ways that are terrible,
certainly thinking in bad ways.

236
00:12:42,260 --> 00:12:46,999
So this is the part of the problem, is 
that external world of the five senses,

237
00:12:46,999 --> 00:12:52,162
this craving that we are pursuing
is inherently connected to violence

238
00:12:52,162 --> 00:12:56,080
and to all of these problems that we 
call immorality;

239
00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,198
violence, conflict, and all of these 
kinds of things in the world.

240
00:13:00,198 --> 00:13:04,347
Because we share that 
whole external world with other people.

241
00:13:04,347 --> 00:13:06,168
Because we share with others,

242
00:13:06,168 --> 00:13:08,781
it's inherently going to be a 
conflicting world,

243
00:13:08,781 --> 00:13:10,745
that world of the five senses.

244
00:13:10,745 --> 00:13:16,230
And because it is inherently involved with
conflict, it is really problematic.

245
00:13:16,230 --> 00:13:21,247
I think this was one of those really 
interesting insights I had in my practice

246
00:13:21,247 --> 00:13:25,368
when I saw that. I thought ‘wow, this is 
what the sensory realm really is like.

247
00:13:25,368 --> 00:13:27,195
It is a realm of conflict’.

248
00:13:27,195 --> 00:13:30,935
You cannot divide the sensory realm, 
you cannot separate it

249
00:13:30,935 --> 00:13:35,016
from the idea of conflict, of ill will, 
and all of these kinds of things.

250
00:13:35,016 --> 00:13:38,114
They have to go together by definition,

251
00:13:38,114 --> 00:13:41,346
because we share a world where 
everyone wants more;

252
00:13:41,346 --> 00:13:44,665
conflict has to arise as a consequence.

253
00:13:44,665 --> 00:13:49,917
And once you see that, that whole world 
actually looks far less attractive,

254
00:13:49,917 --> 00:13:53,831
because you know that the moment 
you buy into that,

255
00:13:53,831 --> 00:13:58,347
you also buy into all the problems,
all the immorality, all the conflict,

256
00:13:58,347 --> 00:14:01,581
all the pain that also comes
with that world,

257
00:14:01,581 --> 00:14:04,212
and then you start to shift 
in a different direction.

258
00:14:04,212 --> 00:14:06,433
You think about life in a different way.

259
00:14:06,433 --> 00:14:10,833
You think about your goals in life 
in a new way because of that.

260
00:14:10,833 --> 00:14:15,013
So then your paddle, and you paddle,
and paddle and paddle as crazy

261
00:14:15,013 --> 00:14:16,215
as far as you can.

262
00:14:16,215 --> 00:14:18,050
Where do you go when you paddle?

263
00:14:18,050 --> 00:14:20,913
Okay, this is the next part.
Where do you go when you paddle?

264
00:14:20,913 --> 00:14:23,480
The first thing is that 
you can't just paddle.

265
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:25,866
The Buddhist idea is 
you want to cross the stream.

266
00:14:25,866 --> 00:14:29,256
So first of all you paddle a little bit,
and then you eventually realize

267
00:14:29,256 --> 00:14:32,586
you want to cross this blooming stream,
but initially you paddle.

268
00:14:32,586 --> 00:14:38,562
So one of the other interesting suttas 
I'm going to bring up now,

269
00:14:38,562 --> 00:14:42,634
which kind of I think illustrates 
this point a little bit.

270
00:14:42,634 --> 00:14:47,734
And this is the idea, not just that
the stream is dangerous,

271
00:14:47,734 --> 00:14:54,818
but as we go into this stream, we tend
to become coarser gradually over time.

272
00:14:54,818 --> 00:14:58,584
It gets worse and worse, 
as if the stream goes faster and faster

273
00:14:58,584 --> 00:15:01,996
becomes more and more dangerous 
as we carry on.

274
00:15:01,996 --> 00:15:04,701
So it's not just that we are going 
in a stream,

275
00:15:04,701 --> 00:15:08,113
but the stream actually gets worse also 
as we go along.

276
00:15:08,113 --> 00:15:12,399
And I'm sure you can probably relate
to that to some extent, yeah.

277
00:15:12,399 --> 00:15:16,718
In craving in life, sometimes we
have kind of craving for refined things;

278
00:15:16,718 --> 00:15:20,419
and sometimes that craving kind of 
becomes more and more obsessive,

279
00:15:20,419 --> 00:15:22,055
it goes in the wrong direction,

280
00:15:22,055 --> 00:15:24,915
we don't really find the satisfaction
that we're looking for.

281
00:15:24,915 --> 00:15:27,100
And because we don't find 
the satisfaction,

282
00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:30,136
we try something that's more coarse, 
goes further,

283
00:15:30,136 --> 00:15:33,250
takes the whole thing to another level,

284
00:15:33,250 --> 00:15:36,083
and as we take this craving further 
to another level,

285
00:15:36,083 --> 00:15:41,400
we are coarsening our minds,
and we're kind of on a downward slope,

286
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,971
making things worse and worse basically.

287
00:15:44,971 --> 00:15:48,400
And we can see this in the world, 
people are never really satisfied.

288
00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,133
People never really feel that sense of
okay, I’ve reached a limit.

289
00:15:52,133 --> 00:15:55,937
And there's a beautiful sutta about 
this as well.

290
00:15:55,937 --> 00:16:03,216
And this is a sutta which is slightly 
kind of mythological in content,

291
00:16:03,216 --> 00:16:05,083
it's called the Aggañña Sutta,

292
00:16:05,083 --> 00:16:08,113
found in the long discourses 
of the Buddha, number 27.

293
00:16:08,113 --> 00:16:12,867
And this particular sutta is a sutta 
about beginnings.

294
00:16:12,867 --> 00:16:17,382
It shows how the world kind of 
slides down from the beginning.

295
00:16:17,382 --> 00:16:20,801
And of course, the world sliding down 
from the beginning

296
00:16:20,801 --> 00:16:24,653
is another metaphor 
for the mind also sliding down,

297
00:16:24,653 --> 00:16:30,033
becoming coarser, more obsessed, 
increasing these cravings as we go along.

298
00:16:30,033 --> 00:16:33,533
One of the kind of beautiful things
about this sutta,

299
00:16:33,533 --> 00:16:37,733
it starts off by saying, 
this is about beginnings, right?

300
00:16:37,733 --> 00:16:41,933
So beginnings is usually in religion 
means the beginning of the world.

301
00:16:41,933 --> 00:16:46,733
So in Buddhism, what is the 
beginning of the world in Buddhism?

302
00:16:46,733 --> 00:16:51,469
The beginning of the world is
the end of the previous world, right?

303
00:16:51,469 --> 00:16:52,919
That is the Buddhist idea.

304
00:16:52,919 --> 00:16:57,132
So this sutta begins with the ending.
This is kind of cool, this is

305
00:16:57,132 --> 00:17:00,783
the way Buddhism talks about 
beginnings, it starts with endings.

306
00:17:00,783 --> 00:17:05,850
So the previous world comes to an end.

307
00:17:05,850 --> 00:17:08,167
And because the previous world 
comes to an end,

308
00:17:08,167 --> 00:17:12,822
you have all these beings that exist
in a very elevated and beautiful state,

309
00:17:12,822 --> 00:17:16,703
because that is what happens when 
the world comes to an end in this way.

310
00:17:16,703 --> 00:17:19,438
They exist in a very beautiful, 
elevated state,

311
00:17:19,438 --> 00:17:23,133
where there is no craving,
there's no desire.

312
00:17:23,133 --> 00:17:29,102
The beautiful idea here is that 
they are feeding on bliss, pītibhakkhā

313
00:17:29,102 --> 00:17:33,385
Isn't that a beautiful idea, 
feeding on bliss?

314
00:17:33,385 --> 00:17:36,803
It’s this idea you don't need any 
nutriment from the outside,

315
00:17:36,803 --> 00:17:39,416
you don't need any nutriment 
to support your body,

316
00:17:39,416 --> 00:17:41,318
because you feed on bliss.

317
00:17:41,318 --> 00:17:45,251
Bliss is what sustains you, 
bliss is what gives life meaning.

318
00:17:45,251 --> 00:17:48,003
Forget about all this coarse stuff 
in the human realm.

319
00:17:48,003 --> 00:17:50,070
This is the really refined stuff.

320
00:17:50,070 --> 00:17:55,622
How does it go again? I can't remember.

321
00:17:55,622 --> 00:18:00,549
Anyway, so starting in this very 
high realm, but then

322
00:18:00,549 --> 00:18:04,292
as the previous universe comes to an end, 
the new universe starts.

323
00:18:04,292 --> 00:18:07,196
It's like, kind of, one big bang 
after the other if you like.

324
00:18:07,196 --> 00:18:09,151
It's kind of the Buddhist idea of things.

325
00:18:09,151 --> 00:18:11,368
And then as the new world evolves,

326
00:18:11,368 --> 00:18:15,285
yeah, these beings, when kind of
the world becomes available,

327
00:18:15,285 --> 00:18:18,805
they start to get reborn in
slightly lower destinations.

328
00:18:18,805 --> 00:18:21,622
And in this lower destinations, 
because the world evolves,

329
00:18:21,622 --> 00:18:24,214
there is material things.

330
00:18:24,214 --> 00:18:26,569
And when the material things
of that world evolve,

331
00:18:26,569 --> 00:18:30,518
part of those material things will seem 
delightful to these people.

332
00:18:30,518 --> 00:18:32,185
Or these beings,

333
00:18:32,185 --> 00:18:34,849
they are not people at this point, 
they are just beings,

334
00:18:34,849 --> 00:18:36,386
feeding on bliss or whatever.

335
00:18:36,386 --> 00:18:39,383
Most people don't feed on bliss, 
at least not all the time.

336
00:18:39,383 --> 00:18:41,803
Maybe hopefully sometimes, 
not all the time.

337
00:18:41,803 --> 00:18:48,068
And so the earth kind of appears, 
and all these material things appear,

338
00:18:48,068 --> 00:18:50,087
and as these things appear,

339
00:18:50,087 --> 00:18:53,451
they start to look out, and see 
''Oh what might this be?

340
00:18:53,451 --> 00:18:55,053
"What is going on here?"

341
00:18:55,053 --> 00:18:58,989
And they go down to this earth, 
to this material substance,

342
00:18:58,989 --> 00:19:02,791
and they break a piece off, 
and they think what might this be?

343
00:19:02,791 --> 00:19:04,533
and they taste it.

344
00:19:04,533 --> 00:19:07,957
And the moment they taste it, 
because the taste is so beautiful;

345
00:19:07,957 --> 00:19:13,105
it's like.. the translation says, 
it's sweet like wild Manuka Honey,

346
00:19:13,105 --> 00:19:16,152
or something like that.
Beautiful taste.

347
00:19:16,152 --> 00:19:20,152
At that moment, 
craving is born in that being.

348
00:19:20,152 --> 00:19:24,288
And that's kind of extraordinary
when you think about it.

349
00:19:24,288 --> 00:19:28,174
Because here you have these beings who
are completely content,

350
00:19:28,174 --> 00:19:33,336
completely happy, feeding on bliss, 
but because the sense of self,

351
00:19:33,336 --> 00:19:36,740
because there is a doer inside
that makes people act,

352
00:19:36,740 --> 00:19:40,836
even though there's nothing to act for, 
but the identifying with that doer

353
00:19:40,836 --> 00:19:43,370
drives you on to do things.

354
00:19:43,370 --> 00:19:49,650
And that activity that you do then 
gives rise to craving as a consequence.

355
00:19:49,650 --> 00:19:53,607
So a person that had no craving, 
that was perfectly content,

356
00:19:53,607 --> 00:19:55,835
that didn't needs anything in the 
whole world,

357
00:19:55,835 --> 00:20:02,718
because of the restless nature
of people or beings, craving arises.

358
00:20:02,718 --> 00:20:06,384
And once that craving arises, 
because craving is coarse

359
00:20:06,384 --> 00:20:09,536
compared to the very
contented state of human beings,

360
00:20:09,536 --> 00:20:12,004
their body becomes more coarse.

361
00:20:12,004 --> 00:20:16,567
And as their body becomes coarse,
the world around them becomes coarse.

362
00:20:16,567 --> 00:20:22,154
Because the world around us is just a 
reflection of our own minds, in large part

363
00:20:22,154 --> 00:20:25,300
depending on how you're reborn, 
and all these kinds of things,

364
00:20:25,300 --> 00:20:28,483
but our experience of the world 
is reflected in our minds.

365
00:20:28,483 --> 00:20:32,087
So the world becomes more coarse.
And when the world becomes more coarse,

366
00:20:32,087 --> 00:20:35,701
they get more craving, and it builds up,
more and more craving,

367
00:20:35,701 --> 00:20:39,373
eating new things, eventually they 
start putting up boundaries,

368
00:20:39,373 --> 00:20:41,614
this is my stuff, I want to eat this.

369
00:20:41,614 --> 00:20:44,907
And once they put up boundaries, 
they start stealing from each other,

370
00:20:44,907 --> 00:20:47,628
when they start stealing from each other 
they start lying

371
00:20:47,628 --> 00:20:49,349
because they're gonna get penalized.

372
00:20:49,349 --> 00:20:53,169
You can see the coarseness is
becoming worse and worse and worse,

373
00:20:53,169 --> 00:20:58,287
driving on, until one day they say
the lifespan has declined to five years,

374
00:20:58,287 --> 00:21:01,737
and there's this sword, 
what they call the sword interval,

375
00:21:01,737 --> 00:21:04,684
that is when they run after each other
like wild beasts,

376
00:21:04,684 --> 00:21:06,956
cutting each other down 
and killing each other,

377
00:21:06,956 --> 00:21:08,618
kind of reach rock bottom,

378
00:21:08,618 --> 00:21:11,771
and then things start to turn around 
and it goes up again.

379
00:21:11,771 --> 00:21:14,785
But the nature of the mind is 
kind of going downwards,

380
00:21:14,785 --> 00:21:16,743
spiraling out of control,

381
00:21:16,743 --> 00:21:20,986
not really understanding that things are 
heading in the wrong direction,

382
00:21:20,986 --> 00:21:25,852
trying to find satisfaction, when 
no satisfaction can really be found.

383
00:21:25,852 --> 00:21:30,703
So this is an important aspect 
of this idea of the stream.

384
00:21:30,703 --> 00:21:34,008
Notice that in yourself, because it can
sometimes be easy to see

385
00:21:34,008 --> 00:21:37,684
if you are too fixed on craving.

386
00:21:37,684 --> 00:21:39,126
If you are not like that,

387
00:21:39,126 --> 00:21:42,690
you can see it in people around us 
in the world very often.

388
00:21:42,690 --> 00:21:49,118
So these are two ideas about the idea 
of going... this is the flow,

389
00:21:49,118 --> 00:21:52,952
but I'm going to come to 
'going against the flow' very soon.

390
00:21:52,952 --> 00:21:54,300
That's really what this is all about.

391
00:21:54,300 --> 00:21:57,554
It’s just kind of setting the scene 
for going against the flow.

392
00:21:57,554 --> 00:22:02,154
So there's one more sutta 
that kind of illustrate, this point

393
00:22:02,154 --> 00:22:05,369
about the flow of craving quite nicely,

394
00:22:05,369 --> 00:22:07,204
in a slightly different way.

395
00:22:07,204 --> 00:22:10,606
And this is one of my 
really favorite suttas.

396
00:22:10,606 --> 00:22:13,669
Every sutta is my favorite;
this is my kind of favorite favorite.

397
00:22:13,669 --> 00:22:16,388
Not really, they are all favorites.

398
00:22:16,388 --> 00:22:20,409
So this sutta is called 
the Raṭṭhapāla Sutta.

399
00:22:20,409 --> 00:22:23,387
Raṭṭhapāla is a name of a person, 
he was called Raṭṭhapāla,

400
00:22:23,387 --> 00:22:27,768
and in this Sutta this monk called 
Raṭṭhapāla, he goes to meet a king.

401
00:22:27,768 --> 00:22:29,585
This king is called Koravya,

402
00:22:29,585 --> 00:22:34,220
and so he meets this king, and this king 
is really old, he is about to die,

403
00:22:34,220 --> 00:22:38,307
and he looks at Raṭṭhapāla, Raṭṭhapāla 
is a young man, he is already an Arahant.

404
00:22:38,307 --> 00:22:40,545
And this King looks at this young men 
and asks

405
00:22:40,545 --> 00:22:42,005
'Why have you gone forth?

406
00:22:42,005 --> 00:22:45,120
You're young, you're healthy,
you're in the prime of life,

407
00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:47,604
your family is wealthy,
you have all these relatives,

408
00:22:47,604 --> 00:22:50,559
you have everything, everything
anyone could want in life.

409
00:22:50,559 --> 00:22:52,687
Why have you gone forth?

410
00:22:52,687 --> 00:22:57,575
I would like to hear the secret behind 
this magic of the Buddha.”

411
00:22:57,575 --> 00:23:02,724
The magic of the Buddha,
that's what they call it, the magic,

412
00:23:02,724 --> 00:23:05,019
they call it the converting magic 
of the Buddha,

413
00:23:05,019 --> 00:23:07,538
because when the Buddha speaks, 
it's like, wow, okay,

414
00:23:07,538 --> 00:23:11,204
I better become a monk straight away,
or a nun.

415
00:23:11,204 --> 00:23:14,321
So if you don't want to become a 
monk or nun after this talk,

416
00:23:14,321 --> 00:23:19,387
it means that I have a long way to go
before I reach the level of the Buddha!

417
00:23:19,387 --> 00:23:21,921
Probably a very long way, actually.

418
00:23:21,921 --> 00:23:30,522
So he speaks to Raṭṭhapāla,
this king, and he says,

419
00:23:30,522 --> 00:23:33,289
why on earth did you go forth?

420
00:23:33,289 --> 00:23:36,608
This is kind of really fascinating,
because if we get these teachings,

421
00:23:36,608 --> 00:23:40,005
then maybe the chances are 
that we follow suit.

422
00:23:40,005 --> 00:23:43,111
And the Buddha, not the Buddha,
Raṭṭhapāla says,

423
00:23:43,111 --> 00:23:48,273
"Well, there are four summaries of the 
Dhamma that made me become a monastic,

424
00:23:48,273 --> 00:23:51,062
that made me go forth, and eventually
becoming an Arahant,

425
00:23:51,062 --> 00:23:53,526
a fully awakened person.

426
00:23:53,526 --> 00:23:59,888
And he says, one of these summaries of the
Dhamma is that the world is incomplete,

427
00:23:59,888 --> 00:24:05,972
it is insatiate, it is a slave to craving.

428
00:24:05,972 --> 00:24:11,772
The world is incomplete, insatiate, 
a slave to craving.

429
00:24:11,772 --> 00:24:16,429
So what does that mean? What does it 
mean 'the world is incomplete?'

430
00:24:16,429 --> 00:24:17,971
Well, the world is us.

431
00:24:17,971 --> 00:24:21,190
Each one of us is like the world, 
the world is our world.

432
00:24:21,190 --> 00:24:24,946
So beings are incomplete. 
What does that mean?

433
00:24:24,946 --> 00:24:28,335
It means that we feel like 
we are not fulfilled, right?

434
00:24:28,335 --> 00:24:30,861
It feels like there's something 
missing inside of us.

435
00:24:30,861 --> 00:24:34,655
It feels like there is a hole that 
we need to fill up somehow within us.

436
00:24:34,655 --> 00:24:37,288
And this is why we go out into the world.

437
00:24:37,288 --> 00:24:39,544
This is why we get into relationships,

438
00:24:39,544 --> 00:24:45,609
Relationship is precisely the idea of kind
of forming something more than ourselves.

439
00:24:45,609 --> 00:24:50,139
It is kind of a very important aspect 
of this idea of falling in love and

440
00:24:50,139 --> 00:24:51,556
having a relationship.

441
00:24:51,556 --> 00:24:53,589
It is an idea of feeling more complete

442
00:24:53,589 --> 00:24:57,106
through someone else, 
with the help of someone else,

443
00:24:57,106 --> 00:24:59,454
even though that obviously is 
quite dangerous,

444
00:24:59,454 --> 00:25:03,527
because a relationships have to have
an end to it, still that's what we do.

445
00:25:03,527 --> 00:25:05,848
So all of these things that 
we're doing in life,

446
00:25:05,848 --> 00:25:09,921
getting the right house, the right job, 
which is going to be really satisfactory,

447
00:25:09,921 --> 00:25:11,889
the right kind of career,

448
00:25:11,889 --> 00:25:14,605
all these things; 
getting popular in the world,

449
00:25:14,605 --> 00:25:18,689
a very important one,
all of these things, building up,

450
00:25:18,689 --> 00:25:21,139
this is how we're going to feel 
complete.

451
00:25:21,139 --> 00:25:24,254
This is kind of the idea in the world.

452
00:25:24,254 --> 00:25:27,573
But here, Raṭṭhapāla says, 
the world is incomplete.

453
00:25:27,573 --> 00:25:30,489
All of those things that we're 
seeking in the world

454
00:25:30,489 --> 00:25:32,793
are never going to
make us feel complete.

455
00:25:32,793 --> 00:25:35,576
There's always going to be 
another desire behind that one.

456
00:25:35,576 --> 00:25:38,626
There's always going to be more
going on into the future.

457
00:25:38,626 --> 00:25:41,755
There is no final satisfaction 
in that world.

458
00:25:41,755 --> 00:25:44,176
In fact, there isn't any real 
satisfaction at all.

459
00:25:44,176 --> 00:25:47,804
Often it's the opposite, 
there's actually more dissatisfaction,

460
00:25:47,804 --> 00:25:51,138
because when you realize that 
it actually doesn't work out,

461
00:25:51,138 --> 00:25:53,906
you just crave even more,
for even more things,

462
00:25:53,906 --> 00:25:57,876
things that are even more coarse, 
and you don't actually get anywhere.

463
00:25:57,876 --> 00:26:00,994
The world is incomplete.

464
00:26:00,994 --> 00:26:02,774
It is insatiate.

465
00:26:02,774 --> 00:26:05,989
There is no satisfaction, 
because there is no completion.

466
00:26:05,989 --> 00:26:08,408
There is no satisfaction.

467
00:26:08,408 --> 00:26:11,440
We are the slave of craving.

468
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:16,097
It is a beautiful little saying,
'you are the slave of craving'.

469
00:26:16,097 --> 00:26:19,740
Very often, we think the exact opposite.

470
00:26:19,740 --> 00:26:21,650
We think we are the masters of craving.

471
00:26:21,650 --> 00:26:23,170
Actually we enjoy craving,

472
00:26:23,170 --> 00:26:27,016
because craving will get us 
what we want, right?

473
00:26:27,016 --> 00:26:30,692
If we crave, we will go into the world, 
we will fulfill ourselves,

474
00:26:30,692 --> 00:26:33,829
and we'll get what we actually want 
in this life.

475
00:26:33,829 --> 00:26:35,844
So craving is good.

476
00:26:35,844 --> 00:26:39,510
One of the really beautiful things the
Buddha points out in another sutta,

477
00:26:39,510 --> 00:26:45,409
I think it's called Chachakkasutta MN 146
I think (148) if you want to look it up.

478
00:26:45,409 --> 00:26:50,473
And in that Sutta, the Buddha says 
that not only do we enjoy craving,

479
00:26:50,473 --> 00:26:55,824
we identify with craving.
We think that we are craving.

480
00:26:55,824 --> 00:27:00,490
How can that be, when craving is 
often so painful and so restless?

481
00:27:00,490 --> 00:27:03,624
And the reason is 
why we identify with craving

482
00:27:03,624 --> 00:27:08,340
is because we are doers,
we identify with doing.

483
00:27:08,340 --> 00:27:10,775
Have you ever noticed how you
identify with doing,

484
00:27:10,775 --> 00:27:12,624
how you feel alive when you do,

485
00:27:12,624 --> 00:27:15,942
how you feel you are expressing 
yourself when you do things?

486
00:27:15,942 --> 00:27:19,044
This is a very important part in our 
modern culture,

487
00:27:19,044 --> 00:27:21,210
the idea of expressing ourselves,

488
00:27:21,210 --> 00:27:23,978
because what you are doing there is
you're expressing,

489
00:27:23,978 --> 00:27:28,973
you are using a side of the ego that 
indulges in the activity of doing.

490
00:27:28,973 --> 00:27:31,606
We identify with the doing itself.

491
00:27:31,606 --> 00:27:36,130
And because you identify with the 
doing, craving is your friend.

492
00:27:36,130 --> 00:27:38,741
Because craving is what makes you do.

493
00:27:38,741 --> 00:27:41,492
Doing and craving are two sides 
of the same coin.

494
00:27:41,492 --> 00:27:44,791
Without the craving you can't
really do very much.

495
00:27:44,791 --> 00:27:48,528
So that's why we also identify with the
craving itself.

496
00:27:48,528 --> 00:27:52,209
But the Buddha turns it around, 
instead of identifying with craving,

497
00:27:52,209 --> 00:27:55,391
craving is the slave driver.

498
00:27:55,391 --> 00:27:58,058
Craving is the thing that makes 
you restless.

499
00:27:58,058 --> 00:28:00,659
Craving is the thing that always 
drives you on

500
00:28:00,659 --> 00:28:03,218
from one thing to the other one, 
without end.

501
00:28:03,218 --> 00:28:05,692
You can never rest when there is craving.

502
00:28:05,692 --> 00:28:09,160
Craving says, do this, and 
you says, yes, master, please,

503
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,508
let me run quickly to this goal, 
whatever it might be.

504
00:28:12,508 --> 00:28:16,084
And you follow along with craving 
without really stopping and thinking

505
00:28:16,084 --> 00:28:18,175
whether it's a good idea.

506
00:28:18,175 --> 00:28:22,358
You are the slave of craving.
And how can we understand that?

507
00:28:22,358 --> 00:28:25,426
Well, the one of the ways of 
understanding that, of course,

508
00:28:25,426 --> 00:28:27,443
is through meditation practice.

509
00:28:27,443 --> 00:28:31,815
As you become peaceful in meditation,
as things start to calm down,

510
00:28:31,815 --> 00:28:36,229
you start to understand this
duality of craving and peace,

511
00:28:36,229 --> 00:28:38,427
and how they are two opposites.

512
00:28:38,427 --> 00:28:40,764
How one is really delightful,

513
00:28:40,764 --> 00:28:44,461
while the other one is 
inherently just agitated,

514
00:28:44,461 --> 00:28:48,345
restlessness, driving on, 
never being able to rest,

515
00:28:48,345 --> 00:28:50,714
thinking that you're going
somewhere worthwhile,

516
00:28:50,714 --> 00:28:53,592
when actually it is just more of the 
same down the road

517
00:28:53,592 --> 00:28:55,958
again and again and again.

518
00:28:55,958 --> 00:28:58,110
Just occurred to me

519
00:28:58,110 --> 00:29:03,026
how we often get complaints that 
Buddhism is so pessimistic,

520
00:29:03,026 --> 00:29:08,252
maybe I should stop talking like this, 
this is kind of going really ........

521
00:29:08,252 --> 00:29:10,110
We have to come to the 
solution, right?

522
00:29:10,110 --> 00:29:12,923
So much negativity, wow, 
that's really bad.

523
00:29:12,923 --> 00:29:15,276
So how do we resolve all of this?

524
00:29:15,276 --> 00:29:18,258
How do we kind of.. what can we do
about all of this?

525
00:29:18,258 --> 00:29:25,160
The slave, this idea of a stream going 
on and kind of moving us into the future.

526
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:26,760
How can we deal with this?

527
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:28,891
And how to deal with this, actually,

528
00:29:28,891 --> 00:29:32,909
first of all, we have to kind of 
understand some of these streams,

529
00:29:32,909 --> 00:29:35,575
and how to think about them.

530
00:29:35,575 --> 00:29:39,450
So, I'll talk a little bit about
kind of streams from different angles,

531
00:29:39,450 --> 00:29:41,676
and then see what we can do about them.

532
00:29:41,676 --> 00:29:43,789
And then I'm going to look 
at the very end,

533
00:29:43,789 --> 00:29:46,391
towards how we can enter an 
alternative stream.

534
00:29:46,391 --> 00:29:48,238
That's where it gets really exciting.

535
00:29:48,238 --> 00:29:49,716
What is the alternative stream?

536
00:29:49,716 --> 00:29:53,201
Is there a different stream that maybe
not heading towards the crocodiles,

537
00:29:53,201 --> 00:29:59,010
but it's heading towards happiness, 
joy, bliss, insight, understanding,

538
00:29:59,010 --> 00:30:02,462
wisdom, all of these kinds of things.

539
00:30:02,462 --> 00:30:05,577
That is the cool kind of stream 
where we really want to go.

540
00:30:05,577 --> 00:30:09,680
So one of the ways of thinking about 
the streams of the Dhamma

541
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:14,294
is what is sometimes called in the Suttas 
the Aṭṭha-loka-dhamma;

542
00:30:14,294 --> 00:30:17,966
the eight worldly conditions, or the 
eight worldly things.

543
00:30:17,966 --> 00:30:22,692
And these things are, 
one of these things is like

544
00:30:22,692 --> 00:30:27,860
praise and blame is one of them, 
praise and blame,

545
00:30:27,860 --> 00:30:31,194
popularity, unpopularity, 
happiness and suffering,

546
00:30:31,194 --> 00:30:34,426
gain and loss. 
So these are the eight of them.

547
00:30:34,426 --> 00:30:39,362
So these are eight aspects 
of the streams of the world.

548
00:30:39,362 --> 00:30:43,712
And they're kind of very interesting,
because they basically summarize

549
00:30:43,712 --> 00:30:47,344
the sort of things that we are 
interested in the world

550
00:30:47,344 --> 00:30:50,494
that make the world 
come alive for us.

551
00:30:50,494 --> 00:30:53,462
And the first one of those is 
praise and blame.

552
00:30:53,462 --> 00:30:57,283
And this is a very interesting one,

553
00:30:57,283 --> 00:31:02,279
because it is so addictive to be praised, 
and people often live to be praised,

554
00:31:02,279 --> 00:31:04,765
and that's what they want 
in their life.

555
00:31:04,765 --> 00:31:06,562
But of course, you realize very soon

556
00:31:06,562 --> 00:31:09,943
if you're trying to get praised 
all the time that you can't control it,

557
00:31:09,943 --> 00:31:12,148
and actually the world doesn't 
work like that.

558
00:31:12,148 --> 00:31:16,669
So if you are on this boat kind of
rejoicing and being praised or whatever,

559
00:31:16,669 --> 00:31:19,546
soon enough you're going to have 
suffering as a consequence,

560
00:31:19,546 --> 00:31:22,278
because there's no way you're going 
to be able to sustain

561
00:31:22,278 --> 00:31:25,246
all that praise all the time.

562
00:31:25,246 --> 00:31:28,032
So one of the ways that I like 
to think about the idea of

563
00:31:28,032 --> 00:31:30,830
praise and blame
in my own life is the idea that

564
00:31:30,830 --> 00:31:33,945
most people who praise me 
or who blame me,

565
00:31:33,945 --> 00:31:38,183
actually often that is for 
such superficial, irrelevant things.

566
00:31:38,183 --> 00:31:40,695
And most of the people who praise

567
00:31:40,695 --> 00:31:42,941
and blame you, what do they
understand anyway

568
00:31:42,941 --> 00:31:46,344
about what is really worthwhile 
in the world?

569
00:31:46,344 --> 00:31:47,724
That's what I think..

570
00:31:47,724 --> 00:31:50,978
I never say it, but I think it. 
I just said it right now. I forgot.

571
00:31:50,978 --> 00:31:54,443
But these are things you can think,

572
00:31:54,443 --> 00:31:56,579
but you have to be careful with 
saying them;

573
00:31:56,579 --> 00:31:58,845
otherwise it might become problematic.

574
00:31:58,845 --> 00:32:02,044
There are things in Buddhism you have 
to keep kind of private.

575
00:32:02,044 --> 00:32:04,427
But it is true though, isn't it?

576
00:32:04,427 --> 00:32:06,928
Most people in the world don't really
understand

577
00:32:06,928 --> 00:32:10,228
what is really praiseworthy, 
and what is really blameworthy.

578
00:32:10,228 --> 00:32:12,715
So, very often we get praised for things 
and blamed

579
00:32:12,715 --> 00:32:16,314
that are completely irrelevant,
that don't really matter at all.

580
00:32:16,314 --> 00:32:20,577
So why do we get attached to all of these 
things that don’t really matter?

581
00:32:20,577 --> 00:32:27,946
Someone praises you for, oh, that's a 
beautiful shawl you have,

582
00:32:27,946 --> 00:32:30,262
it is quite nice, actually.

583
00:32:30,262 --> 00:32:34,061
So don't attach, right?

584
00:32:34,061 --> 00:32:38,329
So we say these things and

585
00:32:38,329 --> 00:32:41,972
actually it doesn't really matter whether 
you have a beautiful shawl or not.

586
00:32:41,972 --> 00:32:43,995
It doesn't matter whatever you are doing,

587
00:32:43,995 --> 00:32:45,866
oh, you got a nice new car or whatever.

588
00:32:45,866 --> 00:32:48,147
These things are kind of 
completely irrelevant,

589
00:32:48,147 --> 00:32:50,436
yet we attach to these kinds of things.

590
00:32:50,436 --> 00:32:53,961
So the first thing to understand is that 
most people don't understand

591
00:32:53,961 --> 00:32:57,427
what is really praiseworthy, or 
what is blameworthy.

592
00:32:57,427 --> 00:33:02,167
And because of that, most of the time, 
just forget about it. It doesn't matter.

593
00:33:02,167 --> 00:33:04,324
What you should ask yourself, 
you should ask,

594
00:33:04,324 --> 00:33:07,581
is the praise something really useful 
and really good?

595
00:33:07,581 --> 00:33:09,764
And if it is, okay, then fine,

596
00:33:09,764 --> 00:33:12,014
and if it is true. Okay? No, issue.

597
00:33:12,014 --> 00:33:15,980
If you get blamed, ask yourself, 
Is there something going on there

598
00:33:15,980 --> 00:33:18,276
which is worthwhile, 
okay, then take it on board

599
00:33:18,276 --> 00:33:20,762
and maybe correct your direction 
a little bit.

600
00:33:20,762 --> 00:33:27,213
But lot of the time, there's no need 
to pay much attention to these things.

601
00:33:27,213 --> 00:33:30,151
The only time you really 
should pay attention

602
00:33:30,151 --> 00:33:33,697
is if someone like the Buddha 
praises you.

603
00:33:33,697 --> 00:33:37,748
If the Buddha says, 'Good on you'.

604
00:33:37,748 --> 00:33:40,330
He wouldn't say that, but something 
similar like that,

605
00:33:40,330 --> 00:33:42,578
'you're practicing well', 
then, of course,

606
00:33:42,578 --> 00:33:44,798
that's when you should listen,

607
00:33:44,798 --> 00:33:49,249
because that is someone who
understands what is worthwhile.

608
00:33:49,249 --> 00:33:53,356
But what you find is some of the most 
famous teachers in the world,

609
00:33:53,356 --> 00:33:57,015
teachers you may think 
might be Arahants,

610
00:33:57,015 --> 00:34:00,468
might be stream enterers, 
might have some deep insight,

611
00:34:00,468 --> 00:34:04,969
they don't praise very much at all, 
nor do they blame very much.

612
00:34:04,969 --> 00:34:08,830
They encourage you more just by 
being kind, by being gentle,

613
00:34:08,830 --> 00:34:12,746
by kind of saying things that .....
sometimes they might praise you,

614
00:34:12,746 --> 00:34:14,837
but it's not a lot of praise coming out,

615
00:34:14,837 --> 00:34:18,720
nor is there much blame. 
It’s just a gentle kind of encouragement.

616
00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:20,986
How is your meditation going?

617
00:34:20,986 --> 00:34:23,412
Oh, I'm getting some happiness and joy.

618
00:34:23,412 --> 00:34:26,212
Okay, very good carry on.

619
00:34:26,212 --> 00:34:28,795
Ajahn Brahm says that, right? 
Very good, carry on!

620
00:34:28,795 --> 00:34:30,663
He says that all the time.

621
00:34:30,663 --> 00:34:32,370
So this is kind of the idea,

622
00:34:32,370 --> 00:34:36,095
because I think they know that if you get 
praised too much, or blame too much,

623
00:34:36,095 --> 00:34:40,062
you just attach to these things,
you don't use those things too much.

624
00:34:40,062 --> 00:34:45,979
So, this is kind of the idea, how we deal 
with praise and blame in the world.

625
00:34:45,979 --> 00:34:49,246
We look at the person who's 
blaming us, or praising us,

626
00:34:49,246 --> 00:34:51,981
are they really worthwhile, taking them 
seriously or not?

627
00:34:51,981 --> 00:34:54,279
Most of the time, not necessarily.

628
00:34:54,279 --> 00:34:58,248
Let's praise each other instead for
the things that are really worthwhile.

629
00:34:58,248 --> 00:35:02,096
So if you see people in the community 
who are doing well, who are being kind,

630
00:35:02,096 --> 00:35:05,065
that is a good opportunity to praise them

631
00:35:05,065 --> 00:35:08,800
for practicing the spiritual life, 
for doing the right thing.

632
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,933
That is a great opportunity.

633
00:35:10,933 --> 00:35:14,765
I mean, praise each other for the nice
shawls as well, absolutely.

634
00:35:14,765 --> 00:35:15,930
Be kind to each other,

635
00:35:15,930 --> 00:35:18,683
then it is really up to the person 
who is receiving it to decide

636
00:35:18,683 --> 00:35:20,253
whether it's important or not.

637
00:35:20,253 --> 00:35:23,786
Don't be afraid of praise, 
praising others, please do so,

638
00:35:23,786 --> 00:35:25,182
it's a beautiful thing to do,

639
00:35:25,182 --> 00:35:28,016
when we do it in the right way 
without any ego involved.

640
00:35:28,016 --> 00:35:32,183
But it's also our job to know 
when the praise really matters or not.

641
00:35:32,183 --> 00:35:36,717
The other thing of these eight worldly 
dhammas is the idea of

642
00:35:36,717 --> 00:35:42,821
being popular or unpopular,
or being famous or living in obscurity.

643
00:35:42,821 --> 00:35:44,448
This is another one.

644
00:35:44,448 --> 00:35:50,246
And again, the idea in Buddhism is that 
a lot of the things that we think of

645
00:35:50,246 --> 00:35:54,666
popularity in the world, 
again, is very superficial.

646
00:35:54,666 --> 00:35:57,897
People are popular for kind of 
crazy things in the world.

647
00:35:57,897 --> 00:36:00,764
Some people are famous 
for being famous, as they say.

648
00:36:00,764 --> 00:36:03,426
They don't really have any 
good reasons for it.

649
00:36:03,426 --> 00:36:05,622
Or they are famous just for being
a movie star.

650
00:36:05,622 --> 00:36:08,532
Ok, you are a movie star, so you become 
famous automatically.

651
00:36:08,532 --> 00:36:11,549
Or you are rich, if you're rich
you become famous.

652
00:36:11,549 --> 00:36:13,990
If you're very poor, 
you also become famous, right?

653
00:36:13,990 --> 00:36:15,848
Like us, we are

654
00:36:15,848 --> 00:36:19,137
either very rich, or very poor, 
the two ends of the kind of scale.

655
00:36:19,137 --> 00:36:22,193
So someone like Ajahn Brahm, 
very famous, not because he's rich,

656
00:36:22,193 --> 00:36:27,069
but actually, in part because he's
poor, right? Yes, that's true, isn't it?

657
00:36:27,069 --> 00:36:28,790
It's actually true that because.....

658
00:36:28,790 --> 00:36:34,327
he has nothing, and yet he is one of the 
most happiest persons imaginable,

659
00:36:34,327 --> 00:36:36,355
at least that I know,
always very happy.

660
00:36:36,355 --> 00:36:39,137
That's kind of what makes life 
interesting,

661
00:36:39,137 --> 00:36:43,105
when you see that contrast
between the absolute having nothing,

662
00:36:43,105 --> 00:36:45,077
and the happiness on the other side.

663
00:36:45,077 --> 00:36:49,010
That's what makes the dhamma 
so interesting.

664
00:36:49,010 --> 00:36:52,685
So again, all of this popularity is 
often so superficial.

665
00:36:52,685 --> 00:36:54,709
So if we want to be popular,

666
00:36:54,709 --> 00:36:57,386
you should become popular 
because you are a good person,

667
00:36:57,386 --> 00:36:59,838
because you have metta, 
because you have kindness,

668
00:36:59,838 --> 00:37:02,292
because you have compassion for
people in the world.

669
00:37:02,292 --> 00:37:04,688
That is the kind of popularity 
we should seek for.

670
00:37:04,688 --> 00:37:07,372
And if you don't become popular 
when you live like that,

671
00:37:07,372 --> 00:37:09,464
then popularity is irrelevant,

672
00:37:09,464 --> 00:37:11,959
it doesn't matter. 
Let the popularity go,

673
00:37:11,959 --> 00:37:14,359
because actually, it doesn't matter.

674
00:37:14,359 --> 00:37:18,445
There are some beautiful verses in the
suttas that says something like,

675
00:37:18,445 --> 00:37:24,494
if you can find a wise companion, 
then you should travel together

676
00:37:24,494 --> 00:37:27,546
and kind of develop together
in the practice.

677
00:37:27,546 --> 00:37:32,076
But if you cannot find a wise companion, 
if all you can find is a fool,

678
00:37:32,076 --> 00:37:38,845
then it's better to go alone, like an 
elephant in the forest

679
00:37:38,845 --> 00:37:40,544
or something like that.

680
00:37:40,544 --> 00:37:44,210
This idea that all this popularity 
is really irrelevant.

681
00:37:44,210 --> 00:37:48,510
In fact, when you really understand 
what the dhamma is about,

682
00:37:48,510 --> 00:37:50,995
popularity is a hassle.

683
00:37:50,995 --> 00:37:55,431
You want to be more unpopular. 
Not me, I'm not so advanced yet,

684
00:37:55,431 --> 00:37:57,027
but some other people, right?

685
00:37:57,027 --> 00:38:01,095
Sometimes I listen to Ajahn Brahm, 
sometimes he says things that

686
00:38:01,095 --> 00:38:04,264
people would think he's crazy, 
it's kind of completely upside down

687
00:38:04,264 --> 00:38:06,379
of what you normally would think.

688
00:38:06,379 --> 00:38:07,864
So Ajahn Brahm says,

689
00:38:07,864 --> 00:38:13,029
if we do this, there will be fewer people 
coming to the monastery. Let's do this!

690
00:38:13,029 --> 00:38:14,628
(laughs)

691
00:38:14,628 --> 00:38:18,014
And I said "No, Ajahn don't, that's bad. 
We shouldn't do that.

692
00:38:18,014 --> 00:38:20,123
It's good that people come
to the monastery".

693
00:38:20,123 --> 00:38:22,477
He said, no, we should have fewer people.

694
00:38:22,477 --> 00:38:26,728
He doesn't actually mean it 100%, right?
He wants people to come to the monastery

695
00:38:26,728 --> 00:38:30,745
to be able to share the dhamma and, 
rejoice and offering together.

696
00:38:30,745 --> 00:38:31,977
Of course he does.

697
00:38:31,977 --> 00:38:36,442
But he's making a point that a lot
of people is often kind of problematic

698
00:38:36,442 --> 00:38:38,080
from a dhamma point of view.

699
00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:41,060
If your meditation is really deep, 
you want to be in solitude.

700
00:38:41,060 --> 00:38:44,314
In the suttas you find cases 
where the Buddha says,

701
00:38:44,314 --> 00:38:46,865
when I come out of a deep meditation,

702
00:38:46,865 --> 00:38:52,712
when people come to visit me, I talk to 
them in a way that puts them off.

703
00:38:52,712 --> 00:38:55,064
Yeah, that's what the Buddha says,

704
00:38:55,064 --> 00:38:57,560
actually, he wants them to leave 
as quickly as possible

705
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,395
because of the happiness of solitude.

706
00:39:00,395 --> 00:39:05,512
So, that's kind of the ultimate point of 
the idea of popularity and being famous.

707
00:39:05,512 --> 00:39:07,794
Actually, it is a hassle.

708
00:39:07,794 --> 00:39:10,639
There are some other beautiful suttas
where the Buddha says,

709
00:39:10,639 --> 00:39:13,010
let me never become famous.

710
00:39:13,010 --> 00:39:18,612
Fame is kind of bad all the way down, 
because it just leads to problems.

711
00:39:18,612 --> 00:39:21,679
And what happened? He became famous.

712
00:39:21,679 --> 00:39:25,034
That's how you become famous, 
because you don't want to become famous.

713
00:39:25,034 --> 00:39:29,095
Because that is so counterintuitive. 
That's kind of the thing about the Buddha.

714
00:39:29,095 --> 00:39:33,846
So, again, understand that popularity 
is not really all it is cracked up to be.

715
00:39:33,846 --> 00:39:38,500
So how can we deal with a life? 
and I mentioned this here the other week,

716
00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:40,116
when I was here last time.

717
00:39:40,116 --> 00:39:45,129
How can we live a life ..
we kind of are in solitude maybe,

718
00:39:45,129 --> 00:39:47,794
we become less dependent on
people around us,

719
00:39:47,794 --> 00:39:50,246
we don't care about popularity so much,

720
00:39:50,246 --> 00:39:55,846
and we know that in the present day 
there's a lot of loneliness in the world.

721
00:39:55,846 --> 00:39:58,148
During the pandemic it was quite bad.

722
00:39:58,148 --> 00:40:00,296
Many young people being lonely 
apparently,

723
00:40:00,296 --> 00:40:04,267
old people being lonely
sitting in an old age homes,

724
00:40:04,267 --> 00:40:06,411
not knowing what to do with themselves.

725
00:40:06,411 --> 00:40:08,667
And the answer to that is very simple.

726
00:40:08,667 --> 00:40:11,935
The answer is we have to develop 
more metta, more kindness.

727
00:40:11,935 --> 00:40:15,746
Because loneliness is a feeling of not
being connected.

728
00:40:15,746 --> 00:40:17,014
That's what loneliness is.

729
00:40:17,014 --> 00:40:19,933
You're sitting by yourself; 
this small little world of mine,

730
00:40:19,933 --> 00:40:22,235
not connected to the world outside.

731
00:40:22,235 --> 00:40:26,995
But the best way of being connected to 
the world is not by being popular.

732
00:40:26,995 --> 00:40:29,461
It is not by having large 
amounts of friends.

733
00:40:29,461 --> 00:40:32,515
Because all of those things will 
eventually let you down.

734
00:40:32,515 --> 00:40:34,763
Eventually, you are with people,

735
00:40:34,763 --> 00:40:36,866
and sometimes they say
the wrong thing,

736
00:40:36,866 --> 00:40:38,600
they're not kind to you or whatever.

737
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:43,530
The best way of never being lonely 
is to have metta, the kindness,

738
00:40:43,530 --> 00:40:47,448
the goodness, the love, compassion 
in your heart.

739
00:40:47,448 --> 00:40:51,385
If you have that, you never feel lonely, 
because you don't feel separated.

740
00:40:51,385 --> 00:40:54,248
The idea of love is the opposite 
of being separated.

741
00:40:54,248 --> 00:40:56,862
You always feel connected 
to the whole world,

742
00:40:56,862 --> 00:41:01,494
even when you sit in your little kuti, 
your little hut, all by yourself.

743
00:41:01,494 --> 00:41:03,247
So please do that.

744
00:41:03,247 --> 00:41:07,381
Practice that metta and you become 
independent, you become powerful,

745
00:41:07,381 --> 00:41:11,397
you gain the ability to just be 
completely by yourself.

746
00:41:11,397 --> 00:41:12,875
Isn't that a beautiful idea?

747
00:41:12,875 --> 00:41:15,006
Instead of depending on people 
all the time,

748
00:41:15,006 --> 00:41:18,384
depending on relationships, 
depending on being popular or whatever,

749
00:41:18,384 --> 00:41:21,434
you can actually hang out by yourself 
and be completely content,

750
00:41:21,434 --> 00:41:24,702
actually more content than when you 
hangout with other people.

751
00:41:24,702 --> 00:41:28,468
So develop that kindness; 
is what the Buddha is saying.

752
00:41:28,468 --> 00:41:32,964
It starts off by having metta, 
kindness by body and speech,

753
00:41:32,964 --> 00:41:36,586
then kindness in thoughts, 
then kindness in meditation.

754
00:41:36,586 --> 00:41:38,980
It builds up, one upon the other,

755
00:41:38,980 --> 00:41:42,663
until you start to feel connected 
with the whole world around you.

756
00:41:42,663 --> 00:41:44,064
That is where you want to go.

757
00:41:44,064 --> 00:41:48,349
Then you are popular in a really deep 
sense of the word.

758
00:41:48,349 --> 00:41:52,850
So what about the last four of these;

759
00:41:52,850 --> 00:41:56,269
the happiness and suffering and 
gain and loss?

760
00:41:56,269 --> 00:41:58,516
Maybe we can look at those together.

761
00:41:58,516 --> 00:42:02,346
And, again, the way to think about 
gain and loss,

762
00:42:02,346 --> 00:42:05,917
which I really like, the idea of 
kind of getting things in life,

763
00:42:05,917 --> 00:42:11,246
material things or relationships, 
or status or whatever it is.

764
00:42:11,246 --> 00:42:13,580
One of the beautiful similes 
of the Buddha,

765
00:42:13,580 --> 00:42:16,417
which I always found very, very powerful;

766
00:42:16,417 --> 00:42:22,287
is the idea, actually it is the idea 
that all of these things are borrowed.

767
00:42:22,287 --> 00:42:24,180
These are borrowed things.

768
00:42:24,180 --> 00:42:27,667
We have them for a time and
then they will go.

769
00:42:27,667 --> 00:42:33,262
There's one nice sutta which has been
translated as 'themes' into English.

770
00:42:33,262 --> 00:42:39,719
There’s five themes, five themes, 
that a monk or a nun;

771
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:44,488
or actually a nun or a monk,
no, actually a lay woman and a lay man,

772
00:42:44,488 --> 00:42:47,712
a nun or a monk
or a monastic whatever.

773
00:42:47,712 --> 00:42:50,368
That's how it goes, 
a laywoman and a layman.

774
00:42:50,368 --> 00:42:54,737
and then I think it says one gone-forth,
I don't think it says nun,

775
00:42:54,737 --> 00:42:58,913
i think it says one gone forth,
should reflect on, all the time.

776
00:42:58,913 --> 00:43:01,416
Abhiṇha means frequently. 
Five things,

777
00:43:01,416 --> 00:43:03,451
And one of those things,
those five things;

778
00:43:03,451 --> 00:43:07,047
the rest of the five, 
they would come another time

779
00:43:07,047 --> 00:43:10,555
so that you will have a reason to come 
back to the Buddhist center here.

780
00:43:10,555 --> 00:43:13,081
So this is just ... 
So I will tell you one of them.

781
00:43:13,081 --> 00:43:14,732
One of them is that

782
00:43:14,732 --> 00:43:19,685
'everything that is dear and beloved 
to me must become otherwise,

783
00:43:19,685 --> 00:43:22,415
must become separated from me'.

784
00:43:22,415 --> 00:43:27,954
Everything that is dear and beloved to me 
must become otherwise,

785
00:43:27,954 --> 00:43:31,120
must become separated from me.

786
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,049
It's very powerful saying.

787
00:43:33,049 --> 00:43:35,319
What is it that is dear and 
beloved to you?

788
00:43:35,319 --> 00:43:39,416
What are the things in your life that
would be most difficult to lose?

789
00:43:39,416 --> 00:43:44,567
And, of course, one of them very often 
is like our closest relationships.

790
00:43:44,567 --> 00:43:48,444
If you have a good relationship with your
boyfriend, or girlfriend

791
00:43:48,444 --> 00:43:51,403
or your husband and wife, 
if that relationship is really good,

792
00:43:51,403 --> 00:43:55,597
then of course, it also means
very strong kind of bonding very often.

793
00:43:55,597 --> 00:43:58,454
And therefore the consequences 
down the track are often also

794
00:43:58,454 --> 00:44:00,421
going to be quite difficult to deal with.

795
00:44:00,421 --> 00:44:04,616
So what are the things that you are
afraid to lose?

796
00:44:04,616 --> 00:44:08,147
Look at that. And then when you look at
that, and you understand

797
00:44:08,147 --> 00:44:11,378
the problem that arises from
that, you actually...

798
00:44:11,378 --> 00:44:16,181
and the way to do that is to have this 
idea of the idea of the borrowed goods.

799
00:44:16,181 --> 00:44:19,786
The idea of how all of these things 
now in our lives are actually borrowed.

800
00:44:19,786 --> 00:44:21,484
I only have it for a time.

801
00:44:21,484 --> 00:44:25,285
This is my beautiful relationship 
with this woman or this man

802
00:44:25,285 --> 00:44:30,049
or this daughter or son or this mother 
and father, this friend or whatever it is.

803
00:44:30,049 --> 00:44:33,866
It's a wonderful relationship, 
but it's a borrowed relationship.

804
00:44:33,866 --> 00:44:38,152
It will only last for so long, 
and then it will be gone.

805
00:44:38,152 --> 00:44:41,653
How do we treat 
borrowed things in the world?

806
00:44:41,653 --> 00:44:45,137
Borrowed things, you think
about them in a different way, right?

807
00:44:45,137 --> 00:44:49,364
If you borrow a car, you rent a car 
compared to actually buying one,

808
00:44:49,364 --> 00:44:50,797
it's a different feeling.

809
00:44:50,797 --> 00:44:55,299
You treat a rented car different from
one that...I was going to say 'is yours'

810
00:44:55,299 --> 00:44:59,816
but 'you think is your own' 
is a much better way of putting it.

811
00:44:59,816 --> 00:45:01,181
You treat it differently.

812
00:45:01,181 --> 00:45:04,516
So all the things in that world that we 
actually are borrowed,

813
00:45:04,516 --> 00:45:06,730
once you start to look at it like that,

814
00:45:06,730 --> 00:45:09,369
your relationship to those things 
is different.

815
00:45:09,369 --> 00:45:11,775
You don't hold on so much anymore.

816
00:45:11,775 --> 00:45:13,400
You look at it in a different way.

817
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:17,651
You realize you're going to have to find 
a deeper satisfaction and happiness

818
00:45:17,651 --> 00:45:19,184
somewhere else,

819
00:45:19,184 --> 00:45:22,131
because those borrowed goods are 
inherently unreliable.

820
00:45:22,131 --> 00:45:25,587
The things in your life, 
your house, your car, everything you own,

821
00:45:25,587 --> 00:45:28,200
your career, your status in this world,

822
00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:30,484
all the people that are
closest to you,

823
00:45:30,484 --> 00:45:34,585
all of those things are ultimately 
borrowed goods.

824
00:45:34,585 --> 00:45:36,668
And once you start to see that,

825
00:45:36,668 --> 00:45:39,131
you start to treat these 
things in a different way.

826
00:45:39,131 --> 00:45:43,835
You start to look for real meaning, 
completeness, satisfaction, contentment,

827
00:45:43,835 --> 00:45:45,718
somewhere else in life.

828
00:45:45,718 --> 00:45:48,453
You start to lean towards the
spiritual path.

829
00:45:48,453 --> 00:45:51,302
And of course, the power of the 
spiritual path is that

830
00:45:51,302 --> 00:45:54,454
all of those things that are 
borrowed goods,

831
00:45:54,454 --> 00:45:58,349
they become more meaningful as well,
as you practice a spiritual path,

832
00:45:58,349 --> 00:46:02,284
because we're able to treat them 
more from a spiritual point of view.

833
00:46:02,284 --> 00:46:04,187
It makes them more meaningful.

834
00:46:04,187 --> 00:46:07,386
It makes the relationships better 
actually down the track.

835
00:46:07,386 --> 00:46:11,798
It makes your ability even to enjoy the 
worldly goods around you

836
00:46:11,798 --> 00:46:15,981
more wholesome, more pure, and 
therefore better as a consequence.

837
00:46:15,981 --> 00:46:18,989
This is the paradox of the 
spiritual path.

838
00:46:18,989 --> 00:46:21,816
It looks like I'm saying all of these 
negative things

839
00:46:21,816 --> 00:46:23,652
about all the things in the world,

840
00:46:23,652 --> 00:46:27,115
but actually, if you practice the 
spiritual path in the right way,

841
00:46:27,115 --> 00:46:30,588
the things of the world actually
become more meaningful.

842
00:46:30,588 --> 00:46:34,417
They start to take on a new lease of
life, so to speak,

843
00:46:34,417 --> 00:46:37,685
and they actually start to be able to use
them in a proper way,

844
00:46:37,685 --> 00:46:41,415
a way that does not lead to just problems
down the track.

845
00:46:41,415 --> 00:46:43,617
So you start living with kindness.

846
00:46:43,617 --> 00:46:47,768
You start living a life where you really 
care for the people around you.

847
00:46:47,768 --> 00:46:52,071
You try to say good things, 
kinds things, gentle things,

848
00:46:52,071 --> 00:46:56,119
things that unify people,
things that are meaningful, purposeful,

849
00:46:56,119 --> 00:46:58,454
that actually go somewhere.

850
00:46:58,454 --> 00:47:01,472
You start to treat people with 
compassion and understanding.

851
00:47:01,472 --> 00:47:02,933
When you have an opportunity,

852
00:47:02,933 --> 00:47:05,348
you always do an act of kindness
around you.

853
00:47:05,348 --> 00:47:08,469
I must admit that I'm very impressed 
with our president,

854
00:47:08,469 --> 00:47:12,920
because I'm part of the Committee of this 
Buddhist Society, I get all the emails

855
00:47:12,920 --> 00:47:14,767
being sent by the committee
members.

856
00:47:14,767 --> 00:47:17,303
And he's really good with his 
words and his emails,

857
00:47:17,303 --> 00:47:20,334
I always think, wow, I should 
kind of up my game a little bit

858
00:47:20,334 --> 00:47:23,670
to be as good as Hock Chin.

859
00:47:23,670 --> 00:47:25,297
Very nice emails.

860
00:47:25,297 --> 00:47:26,963
If you get an email from Hock Chin…

861
00:47:26,963 --> 00:47:30,092
ask him, please send me an email
because it's gonna make your day.

862
00:47:30,092 --> 00:47:33,166
Sorry, Hock Chin.... (Ajahn laughs),

863
00:47:33,166 --> 00:47:35,638
I'm being naughty now.

864
00:47:35,638 --> 00:47:40,204
We start to think in the right way 
about how to use speech,

865
00:47:40,204 --> 00:47:43,195
how to use emails; all of these things 
in a positive way,

866
00:47:43,195 --> 00:47:44,939
to give other people a gift.

867
00:47:44,939 --> 00:47:49,967
I really like this idea, how speech can 
give gifts to people all the time.

868
00:47:49,967 --> 00:47:51,788
If we use speech wisely,

869
00:47:51,788 --> 00:47:54,838
saying something nice, 
saying something gentle,

870
00:47:54,838 --> 00:47:57,489
something that goes to the 
heart of other people,

871
00:47:57,489 --> 00:47:59,386
there's something beautiful about that.

872
00:47:59,386 --> 00:48:02,191
So often we speak, 
we have that opportunity.

873
00:48:02,191 --> 00:48:06,606
If that desire to speak gently is not 
there, hold back, don't speak now.

874
00:48:06,606 --> 00:48:09,691
Wait till desire actually arises.

875
00:48:09,691 --> 00:48:13,701
And this is how, gradually,
things start to change.

876
00:48:13,701 --> 00:48:15,572
Things start to become meaningful.

877
00:48:15,572 --> 00:48:17,884
You start to think about the world
in a new way.

878
00:48:17,884 --> 00:48:20,033
You start to think about people 
in a new way,

879
00:48:20,033 --> 00:48:22,705
More compassion because you understand 
we're all trapped

880
00:48:22,705 --> 00:48:25,384
in this suffering together.
Everyone is there.

881
00:48:25,384 --> 00:48:27,587
And it's no wonder people do bad things,

882
00:48:27,587 --> 00:48:29,823
when they have so much suffering
in their life..

883
00:48:29,823 --> 00:48:31,238
Of course they do bad things.

884
00:48:31,238 --> 00:48:34,056
Come here, I'll give you a hug. 
Not me, someone else.

885
00:48:34,056 --> 00:48:36,151
I don't usually hug people.

886
00:48:36,151 --> 00:48:38,855
Well, really, I hug my mother, 
that's about it.

887
00:48:38,855 --> 00:48:44,302
So we do the right thing in this way. 
Thinking about the world in the right way.

888
00:48:44,302 --> 00:48:48,353
As we do that, this is what it means 
to paddle against that stream.

889
00:48:48,353 --> 00:48:50,169
Remember the stream in the beginning,

890
00:48:50,169 --> 00:48:52,614
leading to the saltwater crocodiles 
right?

891
00:48:52,614 --> 00:48:55,716
Now we're paddling away from the 
saltwater crocodiles.

892
00:48:55,716 --> 00:48:59,307
The saltwater crocodiles are fading away 
in the rear mirror.

893
00:48:59,307 --> 00:49:02,054
I'm not sure if the rafts have mirrors
these days,

894
00:49:02,054 --> 00:49:05,486
but if it has a mirror, they're kind of 
fading away in the rear mirror.

895
00:49:05,486 --> 00:49:08,332
(Ajahn making a gesture of relief)
Phew! Saltwater crocodiles.

896
00:49:08,332 --> 00:49:10,533
I’m getting close, that was 
like a close call.

897
00:49:10,533 --> 00:49:14,007
But anyway, so you have just made it. 
And you paddle against the stream.

898
00:49:14,007 --> 00:49:18,240
And as you paddle against the stream, 
the current becomes weaker.

899
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:21,254
The current becomes
weaker and weaker and weaker

900
00:49:21,254 --> 00:49:24,840
as you paddle against it...
because you are reducing your defilements.

901
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:26,320
You're becoming more kind,

902
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:31,801
the craving, the anger, the normal habits 
of your mind are weakening as you do this.

903
00:49:31,801 --> 00:49:34,086
I don't know if you have seen this 
in your life,

904
00:49:34,086 --> 00:49:36,511
if you have lived a spiritual life 
for a long time,

905
00:49:36,511 --> 00:49:38,889
but I've seen it very clearly 
in my own life,

906
00:49:38,889 --> 00:49:41,037
how these things weaken over time,

907
00:49:41,037 --> 00:49:44,123
and actually you become a
more good-hearted person over time,

908
00:49:44,123 --> 00:49:46,137
gradually, gradually developing.

909
00:49:46,137 --> 00:49:48,622
And then eventually there comes a day,

910
00:49:48,622 --> 00:49:52,483
when eventually you are so pure, 
it's almost no effort at all

911
00:49:52,483 --> 00:49:54,569
to paddle that raft anymore.

912
00:49:54,569 --> 00:49:58,985
And suddenly one day, you have a
deep meditation, a deep insight

913
00:49:58,985 --> 00:50:03,023
into the nature of reality. 
And boom! you enter a new stream,

914
00:50:03,023 --> 00:50:07,021
going in exactly the opposite
direction, going towards, not a

915
00:50:07,021 --> 00:50:12,308
whirlpool, not a shark, not a
monster, not a saltwater crocodile,

916
00:50:12,308 --> 00:50:14,523
not even a freshwater crocodile;

917
00:50:14,523 --> 00:50:18,288
but going towards all the good things 
that you ever wanted in life.

918
00:50:18,288 --> 00:50:22,808
Everything you always were looking for,
you've entered the stream of the Dhamma,

919
00:50:22,808 --> 00:50:26,767
moving in the right direction.
And now there is no turning back.

920
00:50:26,767 --> 00:50:28,773
There's only one goal for you, 
and that is

921
00:50:28,773 --> 00:50:31,223
the highest happiness of the world.

922
00:50:31,223 --> 00:50:35,720
And that is where, that right stream,
the stream of the Dharma

923
00:50:35,720 --> 00:50:38,696
as opposed to the stream 
of defilements,

924
00:50:38,696 --> 00:50:42,048
the stream that we're normally in, 
that is where it's heading for you.

925
00:50:42,048 --> 00:50:44,922
All you have to do is hang out 
on the path,

926
00:50:44,922 --> 00:50:49,937
listen to the beautiful word of the Buddha
again, and again and again,

927
00:50:49,937 --> 00:50:52,354
and gradually make this change.

928
00:50:52,354 --> 00:50:57,320
One day, you too may enter that stream, 
heading for happiness all the way.

929
00:50:57,320 --> 00:51:01,736
Okay, that's the talk for this evening, 
thank you.

930
00:51:01,736 --> 00:51:06,186
Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu

931
00:51:06,186 --> 00:51:14,208
Okay, everyone, so are there any
questions? Yes, please, Mr. President,

932
00:51:18,308 --> 00:51:20,872
Yeah. So for the New Year, 
they set goals,

933
00:51:20,872 --> 00:51:24,236
it can be financial, or whatever,

934
00:51:24,236 --> 00:51:28,724
so what is your advice
from spiritual point of view?

935
00:51:28,724 --> 00:51:33,716
What goal we should have? 
Yes, that is a very, very good point,

936
00:51:33,716 --> 00:51:36,442
I should have talked about New
Year's resolutions tonight.

937
00:51:36,442 --> 00:51:37,885
That was a missed opportunity.

938
00:51:37,885 --> 00:51:40,691
I should have talked about that; 
but now I have the chance,

939
00:51:40,691 --> 00:51:42,551
because you've asked this question.

940
00:51:42,551 --> 00:51:45,196
So what should be our 
New Year's resolution?

941
00:51:45,196 --> 00:51:47,646
What should be our goals as Buddhists?

942
00:51:47,646 --> 00:51:51,683
And increasing your bank account; 
I wouldn't recommend that one.

943
00:51:51,683 --> 00:51:53,770
It's not really a Buddhist kind of way.

944
00:51:53,770 --> 00:51:56,027
I mean, it's fine if your bank
account increase,

945
00:51:56,027 --> 00:51:58,385
but that shouldn't be a goal as such.

946
00:51:58,385 --> 00:52:03,103
But I think, there can be many 
kinds of goals,

947
00:52:03,103 --> 00:52:06,231
but I think one of the important things 
when we have a resolution

948
00:52:06,231 --> 00:52:11,158
is to make it not too arduous, 
so we're actually able to fulfill it.

949
00:52:11,158 --> 00:52:13,462
I mean, one of the things that 
we see every year

950
00:52:13,462 --> 00:52:16,180
when people take up these resolutions, 
is that they fail.

951
00:52:16,180 --> 00:52:18,908
As soon as they start, they can; 
but after a week or two,

952
00:52:18,908 --> 00:52:20,483
too difficult, can't do it.

953
00:52:20,483 --> 00:52:24,532
So if you're going to do a resolution 
like meditation for example,

954
00:52:24,532 --> 00:52:27,667
start really low, put the bar as low 
as you can;

955
00:52:27,667 --> 00:52:31,831
five minutes a week, right?
Everyone can do five minutes a week.

956
00:52:31,831 --> 00:52:34,698
And if you can't do that, okay, give up.

957
00:52:34,698 --> 00:52:38,465
Because the thing is that 
if you start low,

958
00:52:38,465 --> 00:52:41,995
and you have success and you enjoy it, 
it will encourage you, right?

959
00:52:41,995 --> 00:52:44,951
Then you will, of course, 
it's very easy to up that.

960
00:52:44,951 --> 00:52:47,282
And then you can do five minutes 
twice a week.

961
00:52:47,282 --> 00:52:49,579
And eventually we do 10 minutes 
every day maybe,

962
00:52:49,579 --> 00:52:51,682
and you can build up in that way.

963
00:52:51,682 --> 00:52:53,184
So put the bar very low;

964
00:52:53,184 --> 00:52:57,798
that's kind of the obvious thing,
I think for New Year’s resolutions.

965
00:52:57,798 --> 00:53:02,563
But the most important thing 
on the spiritual path,

966
00:53:02,563 --> 00:53:05,551
the thing that kind of 
undergirds everything else.

967
00:53:05,551 --> 00:53:08,329
Actually, there's many different ways 
of looking at this;

968
00:53:08,329 --> 00:53:12,497
but the most important thing in the 
spiritual practice is always kindness.

969
00:53:12,497 --> 00:53:17,916
And the ability to live with kindness
moment to moment,

970
00:53:17,916 --> 00:53:20,280
day in day out, year in year out,

971
00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:23,382
that is what is going to make this
path really progresses.

972
00:53:23,382 --> 00:53:26,180
I'm always surprised when I read the
suttas, how everything

973
00:53:26,180 --> 00:53:28,498
is kind of founded on kindness.

974
00:53:28,498 --> 00:53:33,198
Meditation is, according to the suttas, 
an automatic process.

975
00:53:33,198 --> 00:53:36,115
And you may wonder, how can that 
possibly be, you may wonder,

976
00:53:36,115 --> 00:53:38,321
because you sit down and 
the mind is always...

977
00:53:38,321 --> 00:53:41,577
not an automatic process at all, 
it's not going anywhere very often.

978
00:53:41,577 --> 00:53:43,799
Well, the reason why it isn't 
going anywhere

979
00:53:43,799 --> 00:53:47,969
is because the sīla, the virtue, 
the kindness is not profound enough yet.

980
00:53:47,969 --> 00:53:49,453
That is the reason.

981
00:53:49,453 --> 00:53:51,598
So one of the most important 
things in life

982
00:53:51,598 --> 00:53:54,085
for anyone who's really serious 
about this practice,

983
00:53:54,085 --> 00:53:57,752
is to put a lot of emphasis 
into the idea of kindness,

984
00:53:57,752 --> 00:54:02,467
moment to moment,
verbal, bodily and mental.

985
00:54:02,467 --> 00:54:05,606
As soon as you see that
you get a negative thought about someone,

986
00:54:05,606 --> 00:54:08,144
ask, 'How can I think about this person 
differently?'

987
00:54:08,144 --> 00:54:09,815
How can I see them with compassion?

988
00:54:09,815 --> 00:54:11,801
How can I see their good qualities?

989
00:54:11,801 --> 00:54:16,017
So that is what you should,
that is to me, the most important one.

990
00:54:16,017 --> 00:54:18,623
Get that right, 
everything flows from there.

991
00:54:21,343 --> 00:54:23,849
Anyone else like to say anything here?

992
00:54:24,519 --> 00:54:27,749
Maybe this lady in front here,
first of all.

993
00:54:28,369 --> 00:54:32,809
This lady in the middle, I think, 
in the center of the universe.

994
00:54:34,984 --> 00:54:44,641
(not audible)

995
00:54:48,221 --> 00:54:49,685
Thank you for the talk

996
00:54:49,685 --> 00:54:52,768
When you're talking about the stream,

997
00:54:52,768 --> 00:54:58,434
is it almost like a metaphor for
the links of dependent origination?

998
00:54:58,434 --> 00:55:03,123
Dependent Origination.. yeah, 
I would say it is that as well,

999
00:55:03,123 --> 00:55:07,253
because that kind of shows you 
how the stream works.

1000
00:55:07,253 --> 00:55:11,582
So, there are feelings, 
because we feel the world we crave.

1001
00:55:11,582 --> 00:55:15,016
Because we crave the world 
we pick things up, all kinds of things

1002
00:55:15,016 --> 00:55:16,869
metaphorically and literally.

1003
00:55:16,869 --> 00:55:19,969
And because of that, we make kamma.

1004
00:55:19,969 --> 00:55:23,283
Because we relate to the things that we
pick up we make kamma,

1005
00:55:23,283 --> 00:55:27,100
through that making of kamma we are reborn
according to that kamma and craving.

1006
00:55:27,100 --> 00:55:31,634
So indeed, it is very closely related 
to the idea of a stream; absolutely!

1007
00:55:31,634 --> 00:55:35,868
Yeah, well done. You have passed; 
I was going to say 101,

1008
00:55:35,868 --> 00:55:38,435
but this is like 104 maybe.

1009
00:55:38,435 --> 00:55:41,734
(Ajahn laughs) 
That's good.

1010
00:55:46,024 --> 00:55:49,237
Me again Ajahn Brahmali, 
A very interesting talk.

1011
00:55:49,237 --> 00:55:51,768
Okay, good.

1012
00:55:51,768 --> 00:55:55,335
Ajahn Brahmali, when you
talk about streaming,

1013
00:55:55,335 --> 00:55:59,117
you mentioned about the craving and
the eight winds,

1014
00:55:59,117 --> 00:56:03,151
is that streaming related to the 
stream entrance?

1015
00:56:03,151 --> 00:56:11,207
Yes it is, exactly. Sotāpanna 
'Sotā' is a stream; āpanna means attain;

1016
00:56:11,207 --> 00:56:12,983
one who has attained the stream.

1017
00:56:12,983 --> 00:56:14,755
So once you become a stream-enter,

1018
00:56:14,755 --> 00:56:17,610
that is when you go the 
stream of the dhamma; Dhamma sotā

1019
00:56:17,610 --> 00:56:20,200
and you head to awakening, 
you are heading to Nibbana,

1020
00:56:20,200 --> 00:56:21,883
whether you want to or not.

1021
00:56:21,883 --> 00:56:25,057
But I'm sure you will want to, 
so you'll be fine.

1022
00:56:25,057 --> 00:56:27,437
What came to my mind when talking 
about streaming,

1023
00:56:27,437 --> 00:56:29,305
I was thinking of the Buddha,

1024
00:56:29,305 --> 00:56:33,257
Buddha was telling us 
we can read his teachings;

1025
00:56:33,257 --> 00:56:37,755
we can hear his teaching, 
but that's not enough.

1026
00:56:37,755 --> 00:56:41,769
He asked us to interact 
with his teachings.

1027
00:56:41,769 --> 00:56:44,424
So the interaction is that streaming 
isn't t?

1028
00:56:44,424 --> 00:56:47,437
Interact with the teachings.

1029
00:56:47,437 --> 00:56:52,083
Our mind, our feelings, all these things
that you mentioned about...

1030
00:56:52,083 --> 00:56:54,287
you see what I mean?

1031
00:56:54,287 --> 00:56:55,374
Yes you can interact..

1032
00:56:55,374 --> 00:56:57,738
I think I would just....

1033
00:56:57,738 --> 00:57:02,640
I would say that interaction to me 
is just the idea of doing the teachings,

1034
00:57:02,640 --> 00:57:06,759
of following the teachings. 
That's what I would call that.

1035
00:57:06,759 --> 00:57:08,839
And you can call it interaction 
in one way.

1036
00:57:08,839 --> 00:57:13,104
One of the ways of interacting is to gain
some joy out of the fact

1037
00:57:13,104 --> 00:57:15,469
that you have the Buddha as your teacher.

1038
00:57:15,469 --> 00:57:18,192
We don't fully understand 
who the Buddha is.

1039
00:57:18,192 --> 00:57:20,269
If we really understood 
who the Buddha was,

1040
00:57:20,269 --> 00:57:23,288
you would have such incredible joy 
that we have such a teacher.

1041
00:57:23,288 --> 00:57:27,936
Because it is an extraordinary thing to 
have someone like a Buddha in the world.

1042
00:57:27,936 --> 00:57:32,717
And that is to me, interaction, 
because then you're literally feeding off

1043
00:57:32,717 --> 00:57:37,605
the fact that you have the Buddha
and the Dhamma as your teachings.

1044
00:57:37,605 --> 00:57:41,597
The reason why I asked is I also 
trying to link what you said..streaming...

1045
00:57:43,087 --> 00:57:44,737
An Interesting talk, Thank you

1046
00:57:44,737 --> 00:57:50,002
Excellent Eddy. Thank you. 
Anyone else? No one else?

1047
00:57:50,710 --> 00:57:53,610
Everyone is quiet. Okay. Very good.

1048
00:57:53,610 --> 00:57:58,654
So let's take a few from overseas.

1049
00:57:58,654 --> 00:58:01,956
So we have a question from Gloria Wong.

1050
00:58:01,956 --> 00:58:05,124
People always say that the Buddha is kind

1051
00:58:05,124 --> 00:58:11,755
but I can't feel his kindness 
in the suttas. Why is that?

1052
00:58:11,755 --> 00:58:17,237
Well, I think sometimes you can, sometimes
you can see the kindness in the suttas.

1053
00:58:17,237 --> 00:58:21,107
There are some very touching suttas 
with the Buddha,

1054
00:58:21,107 --> 00:58:25,256
and one of them is where the Buddha
finds a monk with dysentery.

1055
00:58:25,256 --> 00:58:27,536
Dysentery is a very filthy
illness,

1056
00:58:27,536 --> 00:58:29,790
everything kind of comes out of 
your body.

1057
00:58:29,790 --> 00:58:32,153
And the Buddha together with
Venerable Ananda,

1058
00:58:32,153 --> 00:58:36,435
they clean up this monk,
yeah, it's kind of a very powerful sutta.

1059
00:58:36,435 --> 00:58:38,835
So you do see that kindness sometimes.

1060
00:58:38,835 --> 00:58:42,523
But I think a problem with the suttas
is that the suttas are really just ...

1061
00:58:42,523 --> 00:58:47,507
remember they are like 
distilled essence of the Dhamma.

1062
00:58:47,507 --> 00:58:50,086
These have been refined over 
many, many centuries.

1063
00:58:50,086 --> 00:58:53,974
In the beginning, the word of the Buddha 
was what they had,

1064
00:58:53,974 --> 00:58:56,957
and then it was refined and systematized 
to some extent,

1065
00:58:56,957 --> 00:58:59,724
and then we have the
suttas coming from that.

1066
00:58:59,724 --> 00:59:04,053
They have taken away so much of
the human element in the suttas,

1067
00:59:04,053 --> 00:59:07,817
and it has become like a kind of prose,

1068
00:59:07,817 --> 00:59:11,237
the teachings of the Buddha on 
how to practice the path.

1069
00:59:11,237 --> 00:59:15,873
There's very little kind of emotion and 
human interaction in the suttas.

1070
00:59:15,873 --> 00:59:19,442
So, sometimes there is and sometimes you
can see that coming through,

1071
00:59:19,442 --> 00:59:21,124
but very often there is not.

1072
00:59:21,124 --> 00:59:23,124
So they can often seem a bit dry.

1073
00:59:23,124 --> 00:59:27,661
But if you look carefully, I think you 
will see the Buddha, the human being,

1074
00:59:27,661 --> 00:59:29,726
the Buddha underneath the surface,

1075
00:59:29,726 --> 00:59:33,054
and I think you're able to see a lot
of kindness and compassion there,

1076
00:59:33,054 --> 00:59:35,707
if you look at the suttas in the 
right way.

1077
00:59:35,707 --> 00:59:41,208
Remember all the teachings of the suttas 
are an expression of that kindness really,

1078
00:59:41,208 --> 00:59:45,516
because the Buddha is showing 
people the path to the highest happiness.

1079
00:59:45,516 --> 00:59:47,621
What more can you give anyone 
in the world

1080
00:59:47,621 --> 00:59:50,384
than the highest happiness?
It's the highest gift, right? .

1081
00:59:50,384 --> 00:59:53,923
You can't give anyone a higher gift 
than the highest happiness.

1082
00:59:53,923 --> 00:59:57,969
So this is what every sutta is about,
that gift of the highest happiness.

1083
00:59:57,969 --> 01:00:01,674
And once you see that, 
you will see every sutta actually is

1084
01:00:01,674 --> 01:00:05,017
through and through kindness.

1085
01:00:05,017 --> 01:00:12,787
Okay, another one from someone
called Ne Torre mo JD

1086
01:00:12,787 --> 01:00:15,203
that's an interesting name. 
Okay, hello....

1087
01:00:15,203 --> 01:00:20,167
So anyway, your question is 
how to deal with negative cravings?

1088
01:00:20,167 --> 01:00:24,972
Any concrete practices needed to accept 
and have positive thoughts of it?

1089
01:00:24,972 --> 01:00:28,570
Often cravings bring 
satisfaction and happiness.

1090
01:00:28,570 --> 01:00:32,369
I am not sure what you mean by 
negative cravings.

1091
01:00:32,369 --> 01:00:34,901
Do you mean cravings to do bad stuff?

1092
01:00:34,901 --> 01:00:38,486
Or do you mean ... what exactly do you 
mean by negative cravings?

1093
01:00:38,486 --> 01:00:42,223
So I think one of the,

1094
01:00:42,223 --> 01:00:45,356
like so many things on the 
Buddhist path;

1095
01:00:45,356 --> 01:00:50,056
if it really is negative, 
and if it is bad kamma,

1096
01:00:50,056 --> 01:00:53,407
then of course you just have to
restrain yourself

1097
01:00:53,407 --> 01:00:57,170
and you have to see the danger 
in going there

1098
01:00:57,170 --> 01:00:59,368
and look towards the positive things,

1099
01:00:59,368 --> 01:01:02,186
like with so many other things.
Keep the five precepts,

1100
01:01:02,186 --> 01:01:05,669
because if you don't keep the 
five precepts, you're gonna break them.

1101
01:01:05,669 --> 01:01:08,286
It's like your determination to keep them
basically,

1102
01:01:08,286 --> 01:01:10,672
that's what I would call 
a negative craving.

1103
01:01:10,672 --> 01:01:14,923
So if you want to kill someone, please 
don't kill anyone, because bad idea.

1104
01:01:14,923 --> 01:01:17,042
And try to go even further than that,

1105
01:01:17,042 --> 01:01:19,466
because that's not enough, 
just not to kill anyone,

1106
01:01:19,466 --> 01:01:21,505
that's not going to get you 
all that far.

1107
01:01:21,505 --> 01:01:22,710
Try to take it further.

1108
01:01:22,710 --> 01:01:32,224
So first of all, try to kind of 
restrain those negative things.

1109
01:01:32,224 --> 01:01:34,643
Don't follow them, 
know that they are bad.

1110
01:01:34,643 --> 01:01:37,469
If you see them in your mind, 
just leave them in your mind,

1111
01:01:37,469 --> 01:01:40,374
but don't follow those things.
That's the first thing.

1112
01:01:40,374 --> 01:01:42,865
The second thing is not to judge yourself.

1113
01:01:42,865 --> 01:01:45,606
Because very often, when we say we don't
want to go there,

1114
01:01:45,606 --> 01:01:47,350
we judge ourselves very harshly.

1115
01:01:47,350 --> 01:01:49,998
I shouldn't think like this, 
I shouldn't do that.

1116
01:01:49,998 --> 01:01:51,889
But please don't do that.

1117
01:01:51,889 --> 01:01:53,822
Because you, every one of us,

1118
01:01:53,822 --> 01:01:58,858
we are the sum of the conditioning that 
has worked on us

1119
01:01:58,858 --> 01:02:00,687
for innumerable lifetimes.

1120
01:02:00,687 --> 01:02:02,824
We are built up to be like this.

1121
01:02:02,824 --> 01:02:06,456
And because we have become like this, 
we can't really help those things.

1122
01:02:06,456 --> 01:02:09,263
They are there. They're part of
what has actually come to be

1123
01:02:09,263 --> 01:02:11,351
through all these conditioning processes.

1124
01:02:11,351 --> 01:02:14,379
So don't judge yourself. 
Instead be kind to yourself,

1125
01:02:14,379 --> 01:02:17,373
because you are the
victim of those cravings.

1126
01:02:17,373 --> 01:02:22,148
You are the victim of those bad habits. 
Far better to see yourself as a victim.

1127
01:02:22,148 --> 01:02:25,782
It's not anyone else who is 
the perpetrator,

1128
01:02:25,782 --> 01:02:28,621
there is no perpetrator, 
but you are still the victim.

1129
01:02:28,621 --> 01:02:30,349
And we are all a bit like that.

1130
01:02:30,349 --> 01:02:33,515
And once you understand that you 
are the victim of these things,

1131
01:02:33,515 --> 01:02:36,300
then you start to think 
"Well, what is the way out"?

1132
01:02:36,300 --> 01:02:38,287
Then you can look at it neutrally.

1133
01:02:38,287 --> 01:02:42,974
You don't react in a negative way, which 
destroys the ability for having insight.

1134
01:02:42,974 --> 01:02:44,302
Instead you become neutral,

1135
01:02:44,302 --> 01:02:48,118
and you say, let me look at
this thing carefully with mindfulness

1136
01:02:48,118 --> 01:02:50,625
and see what the cause is, 
what the problem is,

1137
01:02:50,625 --> 01:02:53,887
and then when I understand that,
then I can start to shift direction,

1138
01:02:53,887 --> 01:02:58,133
I can start to understand, why is it 
that I have these negative cravings?

1139
01:02:58,133 --> 01:03:00,039
What is driving this process?

1140
01:03:00,039 --> 01:03:01,820
Maybe it's just foolishness.

1141
01:03:01,820 --> 01:03:05,267
And one day it will just switch off 
like that (Ajahn snaps his fingers),

1142
01:03:05,267 --> 01:03:09,187
because you have understood the problem.

1143
01:03:09,187 --> 01:03:11,933
Often cravings bring satisfaction 
and happiness,

1144
01:03:11,933 --> 01:03:15,233
Yes, often they do bring satisfaction 
and happiness,

1145
01:03:15,233 --> 01:03:19,800
and this is part of the problem.
Because this is why we follow them, right?

1146
01:03:19,800 --> 01:03:22,183
So you have to remember the downside.

1147
01:03:22,183 --> 01:03:26,571
It's only when you remember the downside 
that you can steer in the right direction.

1148
01:03:26,571 --> 01:03:29,064
And the Buddha talks about this 
in the suttas,

1149
01:03:29,064 --> 01:03:32,280
he talks about the benefit of something, 
the downside or something

1150
01:03:32,280 --> 01:03:34,020
and then the escape.

1151
01:03:34,020 --> 01:03:36,511
Asadha, adhinava, nissarana;

1152
01:03:36,511 --> 01:03:39,351
three factors that he talks about 
everywhere in the suttas.

1153
01:03:39,351 --> 01:03:42,867
And the downside is always greater 
than the upside.

1154
01:03:42,867 --> 01:03:45,655
That's why we have all those 
saltwater crocodiles.

1155
01:03:45,655 --> 01:03:48,957
I love the saltwater crocodiles. 
Don't you think they're pretty cool?

1156
01:03:48,957 --> 01:03:50,555
I really find that really cool.

1157
01:03:50,555 --> 01:03:53,438
Because you have to be Australian to
understand that.

1158
01:03:53,438 --> 01:03:56,803
I'm Australian enough to
understand the meaning of that.

1159
01:03:56,803 --> 01:04:00,338
I'm really kind of proud of that. 
So I thought that was really cool.

1160
01:04:00,338 --> 01:04:02,737
Okay, anyway. Next one.

1161
01:04:02,737 --> 01:04:09,136
This is someone who calls themselves 
Vegan Kind; Vegan Kind, okay.

1162
01:04:09,136 --> 01:04:14,703
Is that your real name or kind of your 
pen name, so to speak? Anyway..

1163
01:04:14,703 --> 01:04:21,066
The question--when I create, I suffer 
as a result of identification with it,

1164
01:04:21,066 --> 01:04:24,652
and attachment to it; 
the final result of a project?

1165
01:04:24,652 --> 01:04:29,888
How can I think about things more 
wisely in this respect?

1166
01:04:29,888 --> 01:04:32,352
That's a very good question.

1167
01:04:32,352 --> 01:04:36,155
Because you identify with things and you
create things then you

1168
01:04:36,155 --> 01:04:40,803
kind of have a problem down the track.

1169
01:04:40,803 --> 01:04:46,189
So what you have to do is that 
you have to do things

1170
01:04:46,189 --> 01:04:52,723
not because you want to build something, 
but because you want to live well.

1171
01:04:52,723 --> 01:04:58,277
Whenever you do something, do it
because you want to be kind to the world;

1172
01:04:58,277 --> 01:05:00,822
because you want to leave something for 
someone else

1173
01:05:00,822 --> 01:05:02,653
out of generosity or kindness.

1174
01:05:02,653 --> 01:05:04,821
That's why you should do things
in this life.

1175
01:05:04,821 --> 01:05:08,317
Not because it is something 
necessarily for you.

1176
01:05:08,317 --> 01:05:12,351
And the best example for me of this, 
this is in a little book called

1177
01:05:12,351 --> 01:05:16,390
The Karuna Virus 
which we have published in

1178
01:05:16,390 --> 01:05:19,939
connection with the corona pandemic
and has stories about Ajahn Brahm,

1179
01:05:19,939 --> 01:05:22,383
and one of the stories in there about 
Ajahn Brahm,

1180
01:05:22,383 --> 01:05:25,840
which maybe not that many people 
had heard until that book came out.

1181
01:05:25,840 --> 01:05:30,969
This is a story of the fire that we had 
at Bodhinyana Monastery in 1991.

1182
01:05:30,969 --> 01:05:36,436
By 1991, Ajahn Brahm had worked on that 
monastery day and night,

1183
01:05:36,436 --> 01:05:40,672
Ajahn Brahm was, he still is, 
an incredibly hard worker.

1184
01:05:40,672 --> 01:05:42,786
And in those days, even more hard working,

1185
01:05:42,786 --> 01:05:45,671
because his stomach wasn't
in the way for all the hard work,

1186
01:05:45,671 --> 01:05:48,388
so it was easier for him
to kind of work properly.

1187
01:05:48,388 --> 01:05:50,500
So he worked really, really hard.

1188
01:05:50,500 --> 01:05:53,840
Also he is very intelligent, 
he picks up things very fast

1189
01:05:53,840 --> 01:05:57,276
because of his, whatever it is 
background, or kamma or whatever.

1190
01:05:57,276 --> 01:06:01,304
So he built up this monastery,
worked seven days a week, sometimes

1191
01:06:01,304 --> 01:06:06,173
having flood lights to be able to see at 
night, and all these kinds of things.

1192
01:06:06,173 --> 01:06:11,372
Yeah, Main Hall, Dana Sala, 
and this was his life's work.

1193
01:06:11,372 --> 01:06:14,285
Eight years of work in this monastery.

1194
01:06:14,285 --> 01:06:16,222
And then comes the fire.

1195
01:06:16,222 --> 01:06:18,506
Fire comes.. this is like the
biggest bushfire..

1196
01:06:18,506 --> 01:06:24,434
That day was the hottest day so far in 
Perth area, 46 point something degrees,

1197
01:06:24,434 --> 01:06:27,239
super, super hot and the fire comes.

1198
01:06:27,239 --> 01:06:30,932
And of course when a fire comes 
with that heat, in Western Australia,

1199
01:06:30,932 --> 01:06:33,503
in the middle of summer, 
that was the 30th of January.

1200
01:06:33,503 --> 01:06:37,371
In the middle of summer, everything is 
kind of dry as bones.

1201
01:06:37,371 --> 01:06:39,326
And really, really bad.

1202
01:06:39,326 --> 01:06:41,907
And of course, everyone says 
everything is gonna go,

1203
01:06:41,907 --> 01:06:42,906
this is it.

1204
01:06:42,906 --> 01:06:45,905
Everything is going to be kind of gone.

1205
01:06:45,905 --> 01:06:50,570
And of course most people, if your
life's work is going to be gone.

1206
01:06:50,570 --> 01:06:54,136
If you spent eight years or
something, working day and night

1207
01:06:54,136 --> 01:06:58,438
to build something, if that is
gonna go, you feel a sense of despair.

1208
01:06:58,438 --> 01:07:01,573
Oh, no, this is terrible. 
What am I going to do?

1209
01:07:01,573 --> 01:07:04,937
And you kind of go crazy, 
maybe you cry, maybe you shout,

1210
01:07:04,937 --> 01:07:08,307
maybe you do bad things as
a consequence.

1211
01:07:08,307 --> 01:07:10,754
People do bad things when these things
happen.

1212
01:07:10,754 --> 01:07:15,841
And so, what happened with Ajahn Brahm 
was kind of really fascinating.

1213
01:07:15,841 --> 01:07:18,209
This is what he told me personally.

1214
01:07:18,209 --> 01:07:20,736
Of course he might deny 
that is exactly what he said;

1215
01:07:20,736 --> 01:07:23,424
but this is how I remember it anyway.

1216
01:07:23,424 --> 01:07:28,390
What he said was ‘at that moment,
when I realized what was going on,

1217
01:07:28,390 --> 01:07:30,991
I was able to let it go, just like that.
(Ajahn snaps his fingers)

1218
01:07:30,991 --> 01:07:34,741
And when I eventually got out of the 
monastery to a safe place,

1219
01:07:34,741 --> 01:07:38,541
I knew that if the monastery would 
burn down completely

1220
01:07:38,541 --> 01:07:40,472
and be gone on the following day,

1221
01:07:40,472 --> 01:07:43,807
I would just go back and start
from square one.

1222
01:07:43,807 --> 01:07:45,508
And he said the reason is,

1223
01:07:45,508 --> 01:07:48,756
‘because I didn't build the monastery 
to create a monastery,

1224
01:07:48,756 --> 01:07:52,076
I built the monastery to create 
something good in the world,

1225
01:07:52,076 --> 01:07:55,204
out of generosity, out of kindness 
for future generations,

1226
01:07:55,204 --> 01:07:57,449
to build up Buddhism in 
Western Australia.

1227
01:07:57,449 --> 01:07:59,091
It was an act of kindness.

1228
01:07:59,091 --> 01:08:03,052
The result in terms of bricks and mortar 
was not important.

1229
01:08:03,052 --> 01:08:05,285
What was important was the 
act of kindness.

1230
01:08:05,285 --> 01:08:10,219
And that act of kindness could always
be carried on, on the following day.

1231
01:08:10,219 --> 01:08:13,322
That is the kind of attitude, right?

1232
01:08:13,322 --> 01:08:18,419
You're doing things not because they 
mean anything in the material realm.

1233
01:08:18,419 --> 01:08:21,923
You do things because they mean 
something in the spiritual realm.

1234
01:08:21,923 --> 01:08:24,491
They are acts of kindness, 
act of generosity,

1235
01:08:24,491 --> 01:08:26,425
acts of purity of the heart.

1236
01:08:26,425 --> 01:08:29,970
Then you can never go wrong, 
then you never lose out.

1237
01:08:29,970 --> 01:08:34,672
So if you can use a little bit of that 
kind of attitude in your creative work,

1238
01:08:34,672 --> 01:08:38,278
then I think you will gradually 
move in a good direction,

1239
01:08:38,278 --> 01:08:42,956
and you won't attach quite so much 
perhaps. So best of luck.

1240
01:08:42,956 --> 01:08:46,819
A couple of more quick questions.

1241
01:08:46,819 --> 01:08:48,549
Next one is from YC Tan.

1242
01:08:48,549 --> 01:08:53,582
Dear Ajahn, how do we help siblings
and parents who live together,

1243
01:08:53,582 --> 01:08:57,754
but constantly quarrel over
material things?

1244
01:08:57,754 --> 01:09:04,396
We encourage kindness, prayer, 
volunteering, etc. But nothing is working.

1245
01:09:07,176 --> 01:09:10,806
This is a standard question 
I get so often.

1246
01:09:10,806 --> 01:09:13,659
How do we change other people? 
That's kind of the question.

1247
01:09:13,659 --> 01:09:15,457
How do we change other people?

1248
01:09:15,457 --> 01:09:17,508
And that's kind of always the question.

1249
01:09:17,508 --> 01:09:21,730
So then, the best way to change others, 
of course is to change yourself.

1250
01:09:21,745 --> 01:09:27,042
You are the one, the only person
you can really change in the world.

1251
01:09:27,042 --> 01:09:30,508
And this is kind of one of the harsh
realities of life,

1252
01:09:30,508 --> 01:09:35,678
is that our ability even to change
ourselves is so difficult, right?

1253
01:09:35,678 --> 01:09:40,013
If you try to change, try
to be more kind, try to be less whatever,

1254
01:09:40,013 --> 01:09:42,270
actually it's very hard.

1255
01:09:42,270 --> 01:09:44,727
If I say to you 'be less angry',
'OK!'

1256
01:09:44,727 --> 01:09:47,826
It takes time. 
It's difficult to do that.'

1257
01:09:47,826 --> 01:09:51,057
And so even though it is so hard
to change ourselves,

1258
01:09:51,057 --> 01:09:53,206
we demand that other people change.

1259
01:09:53,206 --> 01:09:56,022
But remember that they are in deep ruts,

1260
01:09:56,022 --> 01:09:59,376
they are in deep habits.
It is difficult for them to change too.

1261
01:09:59,376 --> 01:10:01,540
If they are used to arguing 
with each other,

1262
01:10:01,540 --> 01:10:04,155
they probably enjoy that argument
to some extent.

1263
01:10:04,155 --> 01:10:07,575
That's how people are. We enjoy 
an argument; we enjoy being angry,

1264
01:10:07,575 --> 01:10:11,672
we enjoy doing all kinds of crazy stuff
in this world.

1265
01:10:11,672 --> 01:10:15,976
So the most important thing 
for you to do very often

1266
01:10:15,976 --> 01:10:18,778
for other people is to be the example,

1267
01:10:18,778 --> 01:10:20,388
the example of harmony,

1268
01:10:20,388 --> 01:10:24,159
the example person who shows
an alternative way of being.

1269
01:10:24,159 --> 01:10:26,391
That is one of the most important things.

1270
01:10:26,391 --> 01:10:30,741
And then as you do that, gradually, 
gradually, things may turn around.

1271
01:10:30,741 --> 01:10:34,409
And of course, if you have the ability 
to kind of guide them towards

1272
01:10:34,409 --> 01:10:37,010
some kind of dhamma teaching, 
that's wonderful.

1273
01:10:37,010 --> 01:10:40,256
Remember, because you
are the son and the sibling,

1274
01:10:40,256 --> 01:10:43,990
very often as the son and the sibling,
they're not gonna listen to you.

1275
01:10:43,990 --> 01:10:47,339
Because parents don't often listen 
to the children all that much.

1276
01:10:47,339 --> 01:10:50,491
Or siblings... yeah, 
you're just my brother, shut up.

1277
01:10:50,491 --> 01:10:53,446
I don't want to hear from you.
Sometimes it's a bit like that.

1278
01:10:53,446 --> 01:10:55,934
But if you get an authority figure 
that they trust,

1279
01:10:55,934 --> 01:10:58,738
this is one of the critical things.
Get an authority figure,

1280
01:10:58,738 --> 01:11:01,328
get Ajahn Bram, right? 
Invite Ajahn Brahm to a Dana.

1281
01:11:01,328 --> 01:11:03,970
Actually I shouldn't say that 
poor Ajahn Brahm.

1282
01:11:03,970 --> 01:11:09,042
It's very difficult to get Ajahn Brahm 
for danas these days.

1283
01:11:09,042 --> 01:11:12,610
Get some.. get them to listen to an 
authority figure.

1284
01:11:12,610 --> 01:11:17,390
And if you can, invite them to a dana or 
at least come to somewhere

1285
01:11:17,390 --> 01:11:21,790
Ajahn Brahm is available for receiving the
food. And then go up to Ajahn Brahm

1286
01:11:21,790 --> 01:11:24,514
and give a leading question 
to Ajahan Brahm

1287
01:11:24,514 --> 01:11:28,946
''Ajahn, should there be harmony
or quarreling in a family?

1288
01:11:28,946 --> 01:11:32,365
What do you think? Can you talk 
about that? Something like that.

1289
01:11:32,365 --> 01:11:34,244
And let's see what happens.

1290
01:11:34,244 --> 01:11:36,543
And Ajahn will probably crack a few 
good jokes,

1291
01:11:36,543 --> 01:11:40,491
everyone will laugh, maybe that will kind 
of .. and a bit of good dhamma in there.

1292
01:11:40,491 --> 01:11:43,378
And then you might be in business; 
something like that.

1293
01:11:43,378 --> 01:11:46,846
But don't expect change.
I think this is the important thing.

1294
01:11:46,877 --> 01:11:50,328
Try to help them, encourage them, 
but if you expect change,

1295
01:11:50,328 --> 01:11:54,075
you're asking for suffering for yourself.

1296
01:11:54,075 --> 01:11:58,257
Last question, which is good,
because I'm getting a bit tired now.

1297
01:11:58,257 --> 01:12:02,462
This is from Richard Upton Pickman 
from Scotland,

1298
01:12:02,462 --> 01:12:08,987
I listen to you Ajahn, I want to leave
my worldly life behind and become a monk.

1299
01:12:08,987 --> 01:12:14,326
But! ... but .. I am married. And I don't
want to break my commitment.

1300
01:12:14,326 --> 01:12:17,940
How do I reconcile these cravings?

1301
01:12:17,940 --> 01:12:23,295
Okay, so you have to make the most;
if you don't want to break a commitment,

1302
01:12:23,295 --> 01:12:26,660
you have to make the most 
out of your married life. Yeah.

1303
01:12:26,660 --> 01:12:30,575
But the ideal thing to do, and this is 
the ideal thing to do,

1304
01:12:30,575 --> 01:12:35,874
your wife also wants to become a nun.
She becomes a nun, you become a monk.

1305
01:12:35,874 --> 01:12:38,864
That is the ideal.
That's what I really recommend.

1306
01:12:38,864 --> 01:12:44,945
So your main job is now to convince
your wife that nuns are really cool,

1307
01:12:44,945 --> 01:12:46,524
they are the best. Yeah.

1308
01:12:46,524 --> 01:12:49,526
Nuns are kind of.. this is the path 
to the highest happiness.

1309
01:12:49,526 --> 01:12:52,612
And that may be impossible. 
Maybe your wife is not up for that.

1310
01:12:52,612 --> 01:12:54,412
But anyway, that's kind of the ideal.

1311
01:12:54,412 --> 01:12:56,735
And we have some examples of that 
here in Perth.

1312
01:12:56,735 --> 01:13:00,927
We have one monk who was a
monk at Bodhinyana Monastery

1313
01:13:00,927 --> 01:13:04,414
and a Nun at Dhammasara Monastery,
and they decided to do just that,

1314
01:13:04,414 --> 01:13:05,870
they became a monk and a nun,

1315
01:13:05,870 --> 01:13:09,209
and I think they are much more happy
now than they were before.

1316
01:13:09,209 --> 01:13:11,711
That's kind of a good, good news.

1317
01:13:11,711 --> 01:13:14,764
There are some very interesting 
stories from the suttas.

1318
01:13:14,764 --> 01:13:17,884
According to the story, 
Venerable Maha Kassapa,

1319
01:13:17,884 --> 01:13:20,228
one of the great monks at the time of
the Buddha,

1320
01:13:20,228 --> 01:13:25,994
he was married, he had this very wonderful
wife before, he was (married).

1321
01:13:25,994 --> 01:13:29,610
They decided to split up, she became
a nun, he became a monk.

1322
01:13:29,610 --> 01:13:32,980
And I think they both became Arahants, 
fully enlightened.

1323
01:13:32,980 --> 01:13:35,725
So that is what I recommend you to do.

1324
01:13:35,725 --> 01:13:37,118
And if that doesn't work out,

1325
01:13:37,118 --> 01:13:38,615
the kind of the second option,

1326
01:13:38,615 --> 01:13:42,175
this is a low, much, much lower option,
is way down the scale.

1327
01:13:42,175 --> 01:13:46,171
This is what you really should do 
if you have tried everything

1328
01:13:46,171 --> 01:13:47,594
to make your wife into a Nun

1329
01:13:47,594 --> 01:13:50,161
and if that doesn't work, 
you really have to try hard,

1330
01:13:50,161 --> 01:13:52,918
then the second option-
make the most of your married life.

1331
01:13:52,918 --> 01:13:55,992
A married life lived well 
can take you a long way on the path

1332
01:13:55,992 --> 01:13:57,514
if you do it in a good way.

1333
01:13:57,514 --> 01:14:02,057
I see a lot of married people around 
the world who are very, very good people

1334
01:14:02,057 --> 01:14:05,675
and they are using the married life 
to progress in the Dhamma.

1335
01:14:05,675 --> 01:14:09,253
If you do that well, do that in the 
right way, you can go a long way.

1336
01:14:09,253 --> 01:14:11,938
But still better to become a 
monk and nun.

1337
01:14:11,938 --> 01:14:13,320
(Ajahn laughs)

1338
01:14:13,720 --> 01:14:16,246
OK, Thank you everyone for this evening.

1339
01:14:16,246 --> 01:14:18,903
So let's pay respects to the 
Buddha Dhamma Sangha

1340
01:14:18,903 --> 01:14:21,564
before we call it a day.