Word of the Buddha (part 7) | Ajahn Brahm | 22 October 2017

Can you see over there?

move over to this side

I got my own,
what about you? OK

But anyway just to let
everybody know that this is a

translation of the Venerable Nyanatiloka's
the Word of the Buddha

a compilation of Suttas

its built around the framework of

the Four Noble Truths
and the Eightfold Path

and doing this was because
the translation

which was over 100 years ago
is well pass its use by date

So because of that it was nice
to be able to do a new translation

and also the way that we do
the translation

if you haven't heard this before

is to make sure that you don't
translate word for word

because word for word translations
just make very silly translations

such as it was raining heavily and
you say 'it rained cats and dogs'

and if you translate that into
a foreign language

they think it is really weird

in Australia the cats and dogs
come falling from the sky.

And that's what we call
an idiom

And even Pali has idioms
in which that

these words which is said;
ways in which words are used.

So I take my cue, my advice
from Professor A.K. Warder

who would state

and I thought it was a
very good insight

that we never translate words
we translate sentences or phrases

which are the units of ideas.

So we never think words,
we think sentences

indeed the words are defined,
their meaning is defined by the context

So that gives much more clarity
and also what people say 'punch'

to these translations.

And some of these translations
are again pass their use by date

even by themselves

Such as things like right ....
further down you would see the

right motivation, the second
factor of the Eight-fold Path

instead of right thought.

So I call it Right Motivation.

Now we have Right Action,
Right Livelihood

The sixth of the Eight-fold Path is

I translate it as Right Endeavour
rather than Right Effort.

Because effort again in my
life as a monk

the effort usually tends to
get you tired, it tends to get you tensed

it seems the opposite
of what we are trying to do

And instead by trying
to look for some other

possible translations

so far, using the word
endeavor

So we have like a type of goal
but not which comes from effort

but as you will see in a
few moments

comes from stopping,
letting go, restraining, abandoning

those types of so called effort

really it is a non-effort.

And of course the big one later on
number 8 is Right Stillness

instead of Right Concentration.

So it's good to take these
translations even further

I am never going to say that
this is going to be the

fixed and final translation for ever.

Translations are always
work in progress

So anyway with that in mind

just to get back to what I said before
about these translations

a new translation on the
Word of the Buddha

So I usually start with
paying homage to the Buddha with Namo tassa

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa

Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa

So what now is Right Endeavour

this is the Sixth Factor
of the Eight-fold Path

What, now, is right endeavour?

These are these quotes from the Suttas

There are these four right endeavours:

restraint, abandonment,
development & preservation.

Four Right endeavours:

And what is the endeavour of restraint?

Straight away you can see that word
restraint

means not doing something
but stopping doing something.

restraining and abandoning
and letting go.

You might call it the
effort to let go

but really letting go is the opposite
of trying to get somewhere, effort

So what is the endeavour of restraint?

When you see an object, you do not
let yourself get sucked in

by any characteristics or features
that generate defilements.

You get to see straightaway
'getting sucked in'

that is the word we'll use in English;
it's a modern word

but it's not the word you see in the
translation of 100 years ago.

What is the endeavour of restraint
when you see an object you do not

let yourself get sucked in by any
characteristics or features

that generate defilements.

Since, if you left the
faculty of sight unrestrained,

unskillful states of wanting and
aversion would afflict you.

Instead, you practice wisdom when seeing,

you guard the faculty of sight,
and you undertake the restraint of sight.

So, if you are a monk and you see
some unclad woman coming into the hall

and then you make sure you try and look
at something which

does not arouse lust in you.

If you are a married woman and
you see a hot guy coming in

you don't look at things which would
again create lust or desire.

If you see something you don't like

you don't surround yourself,
just because a person may

have some marks or scars or
not be physically perfect

you don't let yourself get sucked in
with aversion

If you see someone who resembles
Donald Trump coming in

you don't look at those features
which reminds you of Donald Trump

and allows you to
get aversion.

So in other words you control
the faculty of sight

so it doesn't get you upset.

And also even if you see something
you really really like,

like a new iPod, or tablet or dress or car
or something which you see..

wow I really like that:
you actually just restrain

the features of sight.

So you don't allow yourself to
get sucked in

by any characteristics or features
that generate defilements.

Having heard a sound; notice the smell;
sense the taste, felt a bodily feeling

even having cognized in the mind

you do not let yourself get sucked in

by any characteristics or features
that generate defilements.

Since, if you left the mind
faculty unrestrained,

unskillful states of wanting
and aversion would afflict you.

Instead, you practice
wisdom with the mind,

you guard the mind, and you
undertake restraint of the mind.

So this is what we do
with the mindfulness

but we also use the restraint.

So we make sure we do not
get drawn in to features

which make us get lost in what
we see, hear, taste, touch or know.

At the end of every section here
I would give you the opportunity

to ask a question if you need to.

so you can always put
your hand up.

So the second endeavour, the
endeavour to abandon.

And what is the endeavour to abandon?

Here, you do not maintain an
arisen motivation of wanting;

you abandon it. let it go,
renounce it, bring it to cessation.

You do not indulge in
arisen motivation of aversion

an arisen motivation of harming …

whenever bad motivations arise;

you abandon them, let them go, renounce
them, and bring them to cessation.

This is called the
endeavour to abandon.

So restraint-you don't allow
states of mind

which will cause you grief,
struggle and unpleasantness, affliction

so you make sure they don't come
in the first place

and if they have come in
you find ways to abandon

those unpleasant states.

And the most commonly known
method of abandoning

is in the Vitakkasanthana Sutta
the Majjhima 20

When you are mindful of some object,

and there arises in you afflicting
unwholesome motivations

connected with desire, aversion
and delusion, then:

First way is substitution:

You should give attention to
some other object

that generates wholesome mind states.

Thus, unwholesome states are
abandoned and subside.

With their disappearance, your mind
becomes internally steady,

settled, unified and still.

So you are really upset about some..

a good way of substitution is the old
simile of the two bad bricks on the wall

if you just watch the two bad
bricks in the wall

then that gives you feelings of
aversion, wanting to destroy

wanting to start all over again; feelings
of not being competent or whatever.

So instead of just looking at the
two bad bricks

you look at just the 998
good bricks

which means your mind does
become internally steady

settled, unified and still.

or another object which you
might go and look at

I am just relating this to some of the
stories which you have heard on

Friday nights.

Is to go into the forest and look
at crooked trees.

And look at crooked trees and
they become beautiful

So by changing the object from
say your husband, your wife

or your scores in the exam or
other things which happen in your life

and you think;
'oh life is terrible'

Change to some other object
usually in the nature and you think

this is the nature of the world

and you don't have to be perfect.

So by giving attention to some
other object that generate

wholesome mind states

the unwholesome states become
abandoned and subside.

And you become internally
steady and settle, unified and still.

Or you should examine the danger
in those unwholesome motives…

So you might think you want something
or you are trying to get rid of something

what does that do to your mind

that is an example of
Ajahn Chah's

It's not the sound disturb you
it's you who disturb the sound

because if you have what you think
is a loud sound

and you start to worry about
who did that, why did they do that

it may just be that somebody
slammed the door

and the danger in that

thinking about those unwholesome
states is long after the sound

from the slamming door has
subsided

you are still thinking about it.

So the danger is that
sounds stop pretty quickly

but the echo in your head goes
on for ever and ever.

So that's the danger in those
unwholesome motives.

You can't sort of go back in
time and stop that banging door

but you can cease is the thinking
about it, dwelling upon it

is very very dangerous
takes you away from happiness.

You should try to ignore
those unwholesome motives

and do not give attention to them

That is you will find a simile
which I developed

if there is a sound or there is
when you meditating

you are thinking you haven't had
dinner tonight yet

and somebody's going to take you out
to your favourite restaurant tonight

you start thinking about the dinner

when any distracting thought
comes up

you can use a simile of the
TV screen.

I travel a lot on air crafts

and when you look at the safety
demonstration which

comes in front of the screen

there is something I noticed a
long time ago

doesn't matter how big or
small that screen is

after a little while your mind
actually fits into the screen

you may be looking at that
in that big piece of canvass there

and your mind just fits right
into the canvass

so much so you can't see
what's above, below, left or right of it

until I point that out.

When I look at the same teachings
on the screen of this little tablet

again my mind fits into it
and I don't see

I can now see the bell
to my right, see the clock to my left

but after awhile you go right into it
and you can't see the edges.

Now understanding the what is in the
centre of your field of attention remains,

what's in the edges
eventually falls away

just like zooming in on
Google Earth

It's the same with by putting attention

ignore the unwholesome motives
do not give attention to them

Do not put them in the centre
of your screen of attention

So put something more wholesome
in the centre

like you are watching your breath
and somebody makes a noise

or there is the sound of the siren
or somebody revving up a motorbike

for goodness sake don't put that
in the centre

in other words take the attention,
the primary attention away

from that disturbing, distracting
sound or thought

and put the centre on the main object

so that's called like ignoring it
not giving it attention

not giving it primacy in the mind.

it literary is background noise,
but you don't pay attention to it.

and after a small while the
background noise fades away.

Or you should give attention
to stilling the causes of those motives

why do you want something
why we got ill-will

why is that happening

and there is one reason which
I have noticed

that people are afraid of
stillness and peace.

I have seen that
Years and years and years ago

whenever we would go to
very quiet place

just like Bodhinyana monastery

And some visitors
as soon as they go there

so quite they would raise their voices

they would shout louder
than was necessary

I couldn't figure that out psychologically
until I realized that the silence

threatened them.

They had to raise their voices
to destroy something

they weren't familiar with--

the peace and quiet of an
Australian forest.

So what are the causes,

When you are in meditation
and a thought disappear

why is that thoughts come up again?

I always considered that thoughts
just came into my mind from nowhere

and they were stray thoughts

until when my meditation got much
stronger, my mindfulness more sharp

I realized no no no
I went out to look for those thoughts

something to disturb myself.

And of course that was the same as when
you are at home, you have nothing to do

so you flip through the TV channels

you flip through the TV channels
you don't really want to watch something

you just want to distract yourself

because people today is

people do not know how to deal with
resting, silence, doing nothing

or you look in the refrigerator;
you had enough to eat

you want to get
something to eat.

and in the refrigerator, things are
falling out of the refrigerator

but ah! there is nothing to eat
in the refrigerator.

It's just distraction;
wanting something to do,

because doing nothing
challenges us.

literally challenges our
very idea of who we are

So stilling the causes of
those things.

And of course the last thing is causes of
some of these unwholesome thoughts;

anything to do because

again we are uncomfortable
with silence. It's mostly fear.

and exactly the same fear,

the best example which
you can relate to; sort of

is a prisoner who has been in jail
for many years.

now he or she is being
released from jail

and they are very very uncomfortable
in freedom,

they've got used to being
enclosed, being told what to do

being in prison.

And the idea of being free
is a challenge to them.

So many of the causes of
unskillful acts and thoughts

and the motives behind them
often comes from the fears;

so look at what the fear is

find the causes for these things

and then the unwholesome things,
the irritating things can disappear.

And the last is, the very last resort
is you should, for example

if you get so fed-up with
Ajahn Brahm's jokes; you think

Ah I am going to get a chain-saw
and cut off his head.

If it's a very very bad thought
a very bad motive

the last resort

clench your teeth with your tongue
pressed against the roof of your mouth,

and beat down, constrain and crush
any such afflicting unwholesome motives.

So use a little bit of force but only
if it's going to be the last resort.

But anyway with the disappearance
of these unwholesome motives of

greed, hate and delusion;
wanting, aversion, delution

then your mind become internally
steady, settled unified and still.

So this is how one can overcome
unwholesome things

This is restrain first of all
and then abandoning, the second one

yes, the one next to you John

Question--Ajahn you said that we
invite the thoughts in

but I don't think that's always the case
sometimes thoughts come when we

really wouldn't like them
to be there.

Ajahn: Ahh...is that the case?
that's what I also thought

but why would they come in?

if you could; where you live
if people just come into your house

you got to open the door for them
first of all

it's a weird thing but it is the case

that these thoughts only come in
when you are a little bit bored

not content, and they come in and
basically before you even see it

you go out there to
grab a thought

otherwise just why is it that we
go off into future plans

which we know will never happen.

or what you're going to do
when you win the lottery

how you are going to spend it

it's not going to happen.

why do we actually
do stuff like that

or thinking in the past
which we can never ever change

fantasizing, dreaming
why do we do such things?

you know that sometimes we
look for good thoughts first of all

but when we have gone through
our inventory of good thoughts

then any thought would do.

Anything to distract us

It's a weird thing but people
like being distracted

why?

because it's a discomfort,
a fear of being still

and where that comes from,
the underlying reason

is because it challenges
our very existence.

we define ourselves by
not who we are, but by what we do

I am a monk, I am a meditator,

I am a doctor, I am a ... whatever else
I am retired

it's what you do;
your acts define you.

and if did absolutely nothing;
your very sense of being

will actually start to vanish away.

to do, sorry to be

even actually
as a doctor or a medic;

if somebody is lying
on the floor

to find out if they are alive or
dead; you see if they do anything.

If their heart is doing anything

you shout at them to see
whether there is any response.

you shine a light in their eyes
if that does anything

If they don't do anything,
then we assume

they are not there,
they are dead, they are gone.

So this is just an example of the
very essential connection

between doing something
and existing.

You look at a stone outside
or you look at a log, you might kick it

if it bites back, you know it wasn't
a log, it was a snake.

But if it just sites there
does nothing, if it does nothing

it doesn't exist.
No sense of a being.

So when you do nothing
when you are getting still

sometimes the mind is not
happy with that

old habits, you have
to do something.

Does that make sense?
yeah

Question-yes it does but
I still refer back to myself that

somethings that come in
you don't never ever let them in

but they still come.

Ajahn-they come in.

basically you do let them in
otherwise they wouldn't come in at all

and they won't...
sometimes stupid things come in

and you see afterwards it's because
if you really really content

very very peaceful, then there is
no way they can come in

It is a fact that, you see that;
you are leaving openings up

hoping something would
come into distract you.

It's not that these things
come in by themselves;

we go looking for them,
searching for them,

pulling from anywhere, anything
just to distract us.

It's the same with like dramas as well

why do people always
have dramas in their lives,

in their monasteries,
in their homes

because people actually
love dramas.

If they don't get enough
dramas in their real life

they go on the TV and
get dramas from TV somewhere

something to worry about

because to worry is another form
of existing, being

worrying about the football match

why are you doing that for?
something to do.

Anyway yes, young lady

Question-I was just thinking about
what good point,

it challenges your existence
because people say

you might as well be dead if
you got to just sit there

doing nothing, not interested
in anything, you might as well be dead

or why you are putting your
head in the sand what for.

so really that answers it;
doesn't it

You are challenging
your existence.

Ajahn: Exactly

So it's a tough one but
that's the core of all this.

who you think you are.

That's also why sometimes
these people

who have been there done that,
so wealthy;

they can't just disappear.

Old Prime Ministers had to
say something to get on the news

stir things up.

They can't just disappear gracefully
because if they disappear gracefully

you know their....

Tony Abbot should disappear
his whole identity is gone.

That's why he just can't go quietly.
impossible.

Anyway; that's one of the second
of the endeavours.

Going somewhere

The next is the endeavour to
develop

So restrain things which
haven't come up yet.

abandon things which
are already in the mind

and actually develop
good qualities.

Now these aren't separate
because one of the best ways

to develop, to overcome what
they call like unwholesome qualities

is to develop good ones.

One of the best ways to stop
buglers coming into your house

is to have all your friends
in your house

When you have lots and lots of
good people in your house

Then buglers don't; good people are there
so they won't come in

So developing and maintaining
good states is also fulfills the

first two endeavours as well
restraining and abandoning

so what is the endeavour to develop

they don't actually say much what
the endeavour actually is

except the sort of things you
should develop

develop mindfulness
exploring the Dhamma

These are the
Seven Enlightenment Factors

instead of investigating the Dhamma
or contemplating the Dhamma

have you got the same translation
here because this is a newer one

than that one.
there may be a few little changes.

Exploring the Dhamma
instead of investigating the Dhamma

this is that old little simile
I usually use a bottle of water

I have done it many times hear
I think even recently

What is this I am holding up?

and people say
bottle of water,

what else do you see?
It's plastic

What else do you see?
What else do you see?

That is actually exploring
going into it until

you have already used up
all the words and the labels

you have been taught before,

so you can actually go beyond
what you've been taught

and really getting into it
exploration.

Contemplating is always thinking
about it this way and that way

It's going beyond the thought
process, beyond the naming

into something which is much deeper
you explore it

you allow the mind to go
to places it hasn't been before

Or like I said in England recently
remembering the time I used to

watch Star Trek as a young man

That was when Mr. Spock
did have pointy years

Apparently it still goes on these days
Star Trek, different people

but anyway; They used to say
boldly go where no man has been before.

And I adapted that to

(Ajahn touching his bald head)
baldly go where no monk has gone before

And this is what exploration is

you know not going to old places
you looked up before but

going deeper, exploring
the Dhamma

And the Enlightenment Factor
of Energy

Now both those two I think
I mentioned before

they actually work,
no all those three

they all work together
when you are aware, really aware

takes a lot of mindfulness
to be able to see things you have

never seen in this before
(Ajahn looking closely at the bottle)

You explore it and it gives you energy,
that's actually really interesting

And also because of the stillness
your mental energy increases

So whenever you develop
these things

they develop all together

starting with mindfulness,
exploration, energy comes up

more powerful your
mindfulness is

Rapture, the pleasure
and this is an important thing which

in Buddhism as it was in the
very beginning

we actually develop joy
we develop happiness

we don't try and get rid of it

as if like being happy
is a big sin

you are not supposed to be happy
when other people are suffering

you are supposed to suffer
in this world

And of course that is just
so even against Buddhism

Some people even say if you are happy
be careful you get attached to it.

And oh my goodness that's
what you are supposed to do

So here you develop the Rapture,
the pīti, the joy, the happiness.

The Enlightenment Factor
of Tranquility

you don't think that being still
or being tranquil is you are dead

like you were saying Barbara

It's not being dead, it's being actually
more alive than you've ever been before.

And of course stillness;
the Samadhi and Equanimity

Every one which is based upon
seclusion (physical and mental),

in other words to develop these
Seven Enlightenment Factors

we are basing this on being by oneself
reasonably physically

If you can't do that in your rooms, in
monasteries or in Retreat Centres

you can at least build a bubble around
yourself which I often do because

I travel around a lot with
many many people

Just my cave which I carry
around with me

this imaginary bubble around you,

and you are sitting inside and
people and noise and things are outside

when I want to disengage that's what
I really develop over the years.

physical, mental seclusion

things fading away; past and future
thoughts all fading away and ceasing

maturing in the mind's release.

Those are Seven Enlightenment Factors

And if you want to know Buddhism in brief
or meditation in brief

it is to develop these seven and
to overcome their antithesis

their opposite which is the
five hindrances.

That's basically Buddhism is all about.

Do you want to get the microphone?

Question: Could you please define the
factor of energy a little bit more

Ajahn--Energy oh yeah

There is the energy you get
from a cup of coffee

There is energy which you get
when you got a goal

you are trying to reach.

And you are really striving
and you go for it

But those are all energies which
actually are boring energy

you pay for that afterwards with
oh..(Ajahn showing a tired face)

you are really tired and
lacking energy

The other energy which
this is talking about here

is the energy which does come from
developing mindfulness and stillness

It is what happens when people
meditate and just becomes still

it is the observation, the understanding
that when you do become still

you don't do very much

You are sitting still, you are not thinking
about the past and the future.

you are not fantasizing, you are actually...
you are not wasting energy

and just like the metabolism in your
bodies, always creating energy

your mind creates energy all
the time, its wasted very very quickly

by thinking, worrying, planning

But imagine you stop all of that
energy being wasted

you aren't thinking about anything

totally in this moment.
Silent, preserving that energy

it's like getting your weakly payments
from the government or from your job

you don't pay a cent, the money
accumulates and accumulates and accumulates

that's what happens with the energy
when you are still,

when you are not wasting it,
you are not spending energy.

It accumulates and get stronger
and stronger

it feeds into mindfulness

then your mindfulness really starts
energizing

waking up and a sign of that
that energy which comes up

is that after good meditation

it's like you can run a 100 meters
faster than Usain Bolt

Everything you see is brilliant
and beautiful

Your mindfulness is empowered

That's why even people like
Eckhart Tolle - the Power of Now

what it was is the power of
mindfulness and being in this moment

not wasting any energy.

And as you really wake up
you are energized, you are happy Wow

energy and happiness go together

Question: Can I then ask when it
builds up and becomes

a lot stronger, what if you needs to
release or some kind.

Ajahn: why release if you got
millions and millions of dollars

just keep it there

you will find some natural ways
of using it later on

but if it's in the body;
if it stays in the body

then actually you might need
to release of it

because it's uncomfortable there.

But if it stays in the mind
it can be as powerful as you want.

you get incredible powerful
mind-states.

So that energy which I am talking
about comes from stillness

yeah it can be a physical energy
but really it doesn't belong in the body

it belongs in the mind.

That's when people get what we
call the Kundalini stuff

powerful forces in the body but
it's not pleasant

powerful but it's much better
to use that energy in the mind

where it really is much more useful
and where it belongs.

Question: So you can use it perhaps
to either heal yourself or heal

Ajahn: it's much better,

much greater healings come
when you are not aware of your body

If you just go into the realm of the mind
deep meditations

and amazing things happen

It's just well-known that if you have
any fevers or sicknesses

and you go and try and sap them with
loving kindness or with energy

while you are still aware of the body
yes, it does have an effect

But nothing like when the
body totally vanishes and disappears

and you are in that sixth sense,
very powerful mindful

enjoying yourself,

totally unaware of the body.

and when you come out afterwards
body is just incredible

You know it's like
I am getting old now

sometimes while I am meditate for
an hour or two just the knees ache

the back aches or something
doesn't feel good

I am getting old

but I should not getting old
I am old

but if you get into deep meditations
you sit there and can sit there for hours

when you come out afterwards
nothing is wrong

really feel like you have just
had a massage or bath or something

No aches or pains anywhere.

First it didn't make sense to me

why is it you sit for
three or four hours;

this is going to hurt
when I come out.

But then nothing hurts at all.
you feel just so relaxed

So that's one of the things
with the stillness;

and with the body
and the mind....

if you let the body go and
just go into the mind

For the body, that's the best you can
possibly do for your body.

Question: So then the energy of
the mind how would you discern?

Discern it? Ah you are really bliss-ed out
you are happy

Really great, great happiness

One way.. because the energy and the
happiness often go together

That's why people actually take a cup
of coffee in the morning or something

then they are not only energized
they are pleasant to speak to

they are not so grumpy

As I say most of the anger and
grumpiness comes from the

tiredness of the people have
in life. They are exhausted.

That's why if you got a Partner
please don't talk to them

when they come home late.

just give them a cup of
tea or coffee whatever it is

and when that's gone through
their system

If they are really sort of tired
give them an intravenous

and when they come out
afterwards,

then they are human beings again
instead of some monster

just tiredness that's all.
Exhausted

When you have really had a big
great meditation

then ah! nothing will make
you upset at all.

That's a sign of energy.

Question: And you can use it in
not only for yourself for

other beings, solving problems ;
as an example a ball of energy

and you may like to focus
that on something

Ajahn: It's a ball of energy but not
frantic energy like in sort of coffee high

not like stupid energy, like when
people take drugs

natural, beautiful, pure.

OK John had a question first
John was next before you Eddy

Question: The Enlightenment Factors
Do they get developed after

someone has developed Jhānas or
do they start before.

Ajahn: OK this is the same
as the Eight-fold Path

the Severn Enlightenment Factors
this is what you actually develop

with the Eight-fold Path.

It's just like a parallel way of
describing this development.

So you know even for
Right View

you got to know what is Right View

you develop some mindfulness,
you explore the Dhamma

exploring the Dhamma you get
a huge amount of Right View there

and the other factors of the
Eight-fold Path

to be actually mindful, the
Seventh Factor

mindfulness is not just something
which 'I am going to be mindful now'

you develop it, you find its causes and
how it gets stronger and stronger and stronger

One of the problems with the
mindfulness movement is their definition

is not according to Buddhism.

Because they don't even take any
account of just the powerful

mindfulness which you get
after some deep meditation

which is really cool.

And of course the stillness there
is the Jhānas

and equanimity is just
what happens when you get

real right view in the Jhānas
nothing bothers you anymore.

So it is a parallel development.

Yes Eddy.

Question: Ajahn Brahm,
the way I interpret

this Seven Factors of Enlightenment

is you know like, for me OK
like you have the Dhamma

you are reading a book, you feel
like a Dhamma book

you feel happy you know,

It's just like when you
meet your partner

there is an energy comes in
good energy, you become mindful

and all these rapture, tranquility
stillness, equanimity

these are all peaceful, happy
states that arise.

Because the Buddha breaks down
in this .. it happens all in us.

The third to the seventh one
it's the happiness and peace

when you are reading a book
that come with the Dhamma

You see what I mean?

Ajahn: I see; but it doesn't take to
account that every one of these ..

is based upon seclusion,
physical and mental

your eyes are shut, you are not reading a
book or anything.

and things fading away
cessation maturing in release.

So the full meaning of that
is when you are meditating

nothing in front of you.

That's when you get really full
Seven Factors of Enlightenment.

But anyway;

because that's why

these ones if you actually have it
in the Suttas as is usually translated

they have this last phrase;

every one of which is based upon seclusion
(physical and mental), fading away,

and cessation, maturing in release.

They have that after every one, just to
make the point that even if it is

exploring the Dhamma; it's exploring the
Dhamma based on seclusion, fading away

and cessation, maturing in release.

It is actually reading, if you like the
Book of the Heart

and not books like written by monks
like Ajahn Brahm

I was always warned of that;
writing a book

this was one thing which I
heard from a Zen Monk

when I was a lay Buddhist

Never write a book; because anyone
who writes a book has to get the

next seven life times as a donkey.

And I have written so many books now; I think
I have about .. how many books now 6 or 7

I got about 50 life times
as a donkey to get through

(Ajahn Laughs) that's only joking
but it was a powerful saying

the books are there actually to
show a direction

Anyway let's get on to the next
endeavour

This is to develop something; once you've
developed it, you got to maintain it

And what is the endeavour to maintain?

Here, you keep in mind an arisen
meditation object that generates stillness:

such as recollecting the Buddha,
the Dhamma or the Sangha;

or a skeleton; or loving kindness;
or the breath; or a nimitta.

This is called the endeavour to maintain.

So this is where you have
something good, of course

not everybody has the Buddha,
the Dhamma or the Sangha

you choose which one really
mean something for you

because it's not just the Buddha statue,
it's just what it signifies for you

The Dhamma, what you understand
as the Dhamma, whatever creates stillness

the Sangha. Even if it's a skeleton
which is quite weird

Why is a skeleton developing
stillness

But there are many monks, not just monks;
other people do this as well.

which is really quite strange.

They must have been monks
in their previous lives

or nuns in the previous lives

Sometimes when they are meditating
they can visualize the skeleton of mercy

usually a skull

And people say that's really weird you
Buddhists, what do you visualize a skull for

But what actually happens; and this
happens to so many people

that a skull comes up in their meditation

it's so easy to focus on

And it becomes just...
real skulls are not pure white

they are just a bit off colour.

But they come really beautiful whites
whiter than white

and it comes like a Nimitta

Something which they must have been
developing in previous times

and it's just a natural
remembrance for them

and the skull becomes
into a nimitta

and becomes a beautiful thing to do.

The breath or loving kindness
or the breath;

the breath is the most common
of the meditation objects

I've often said because it is
something which you

you knew from the time you were in
your mother's womb

or when you were on her chest
breast feeding.

It's a rhythm which you can
remember as calming, secure, safe

in various earliest times.

And as such it has sort of a
remembrance which you

maybe you can't recall consciously

but from deep in your memory bank
safety and security a very nice rhythm

to be able to observe.

And also it's what happens when
other things disappear

So the breath is a very common
thing to maintain in the mind

or a nimitta which is the beautiful
light which come up in the mind

and of course to maintain those

the endeavour to maintain those
how do you...

you have something like the breath
and keep it in mind

and if you try to focus on the
breath and hold it

it is always, I told that simile
even yesterday afternoon

just holding a glass, you can never
maintain that because you get tired

you put it down.

and then it actually stays there;
it's very easy to keep things still

like growing a tree

you don't make the tree grow, your
job is to push aside or make sure

that there is nothing which damages
or destroys that tree.

So really what we are doing here
the endeavour to maintain

is letting go of all the obstacles,
dangers and stuff which would

destroy the natural growth of your
meditation object.

It's not making it develop, it's
avoiding everything else

For example, developing the
present moment

is not focusing hard on the
present moment;

I got to be on the present moment

It's actually avoiding the past
and avoiding the future

when those other thing are let go of
are warded off

so the present moment is protected
from the past and the future

then of course the present moment
will develop

That is the endeavour to maintain.

Now restraining and abandoning,
developing and maintaining,

These four endeavours were
taught by the Buddha.

By these means a diligent
meditator in this very life,

can attain the destruction of suffering.

I put that down there
because you see by that

Oh!! that's all we need
just the six factors of the Eight-fold path

Restraining and abandoning, developing
and maintaining,

These four endeavours
were taught by the Buddha.

By these means an diligent
meditator in this very life,

Can attain the destruction of suffering.

I say this because in the next one they say
just by mindfulness you can destroy suffering

Every time I give the precepts
when I offer the precepts

We usually chant

Imaani pañca sikkhaa-padaani
Siilena sugating yanti

Siilena bhoga-sampadaa.
Siilena nibbuting yanti.

That this seela leads to Nibhana
Nibbuta--things stopping

Tasmaa siilang visodhaye.
So even the seela it is said leads to Enlightenment

but to do the seela, the precepts
properly you have to have all the factors

of the Eight-fold path

Even this one over here means
all the other factors have to come in.

So it is as if every one of the
Eight-fold Path

needs the other ones to be purified
to be able to do these things.

So you can't just say one factor is
enough, you have to do all the Eight

But just to go back on these ones

you see the big thing which
I have done here

which defers from what you had before

instead of Right Effort
Right Endeavour, restraining

I even like calling it Right Stopping
or Right non-doing

that's very hard

Endeavour to restraint,
the endeavour to abandon

endeavour to develop,
endeavour to maintain

all based on the letting go
stopping and non-doing

Because if you try to do these things
you'll find you just get more tensed

and you won't get anywhere

And I'll just go now with this
one last little thing

which I was mentioning in
England few days ago

That Prof Libet did some marvelous research
to show that there is no such thing as

what you consider to be free will.

He did this little experiment
(Ajahn bring his hand to shoulder level)

which you were..... he had so many
victims or subjects whatever you wish to call them

And they would flex their hands whenever
they wanted to

when they decided to flex their hand
they pressed a bottom (Ajahn demonstrating)

And he could actually reflex time by
pressing the bottom to flexing your hand

so he could actually see

when the person became aware
that they decided, they chose to

flex their wrist; to the millisecond

At the same time at a gizmo
on the brain

which was recording the
readiness potential

parts of the brain lights up

and what he found which is
very confronting

was the brain lights up first then
the thing which you recognize as 'will'

comes next and then the action
follows afterwards

So that which you recognize
assume to be 'will'

is not what starts the process

it's not the origin
of the event

by the time that you think you
willed something

it's already in motion.

The will does not start

something else has made you will..

but he said after the process
(is stopped) is started,

you can interfere and stop it.

He said that can be done.

So in a very wonderful use of the
English language

He wrote, with good proof;

"there is no such thing as free will
but there is free won't"

restraining, stopping
'No I am not going to do that'

No I am not going to say that
No I am not going to act in that way

Question: not audible

Ajahn: It is conditioning

what creates the brain lighting up
it's called conditioning, brain washing

brain washing by hypnosis,
brain washing by advertising

brain washing by peer pressure

a trigger happens and automatically
something comes up and then you will

you think it is your choice

the best example which I ever saw
it was really.. I can never forget this

because it really shook me

When I was a student we had
Psychic Research Society

Every year we have really cool
people coming up

one of them was a witch

Every year a witch will come up
I still remember his name

Trevor Ravenscroft
he must be dead by now.

What a great name for a witch
Trevor Ravenscroft

and he would come up and I
remember his lecture

First time I've seen a witch

and he said there are two types
of witches in the world

white witches and black witches

black witches; they are the
dangerous ones, don't go near those

those are really got to be scary

he said don't worry
I am a white witch, so you are safe

And then he would say; you know
even black witches say they are white.

and he paused and laughed
(Ajahn laughs)

So he is a bit of an entertainer
he has obviously done that

a quite a few times

So he hypnotized (no another one
was a hypnotist).

The hypnotists asked many
people to be hypnotized

it is in the old days

hypnosis has got much better
since then;

more people can be hypnotized

in those days only a few

but there was always one student
in about 100 people in the audience

there is always one;
who get totally hypnotized

and made this stupid things

but the most important part was
when the hypnotist said

Later on when I touched my
right earlobe

you will stand up and sing the
British National Anthem

in full in a loud voice.

What a ridiculous thing to do.

Then of course he took him
out of hypnosis sat down in his seat

Did a few other little demonstrations
then he touched his right earlobe

And this student in the middle of
hauling, I was laughing, wetting my pants almost

because it was so funny

and this fellow he didn't stop
he sang the whole British National Anthem

from beginning to end in a
loud voice

what a ridiculous thing to do.

But then when we stopped laughing

he asked him why did you do that;

when all these people
were laughing at you

And he gave a good reason
for it; a logical reason

and that was scary

because it was clear to all of us

for him, even the most ridiculous
thing he had done

it was his.. just to say

he could not distinguish that
from a freely chosen action.

It appeared same to him although
we all knew he was made to do that

by hypnotic suggestion

but he could not distinguish what
he was made to do

through hypnosis conditioning
to what he assumed to be free will

So how much of your free will
is actually yours

how much have you been
conditioned

but what you can do is
free won't

you can say
"no I am not going to do that"

Question; So then let's as a
hypothetical look at the fact that

maybe someone who hasn't been
conditioned by ... has lived

(I don't know..whatever)
and demand is basically claimed

How that affect...

Ajahn: I think that cannot exist
because we are all

conditioned by different societies but
what it does show you

when you are in a totally society
indigenous societies,

without TV, without sort of ... you are
conditioned by your own peer pressure.

different conditioning but literary
different ways of looking at the world.

I better move on now because
that's the right endeavour

So it's all about stopping..

the free won't, the no, the stop,
restraint, letting go

That's why I call it endeavour
Effort is doing,

this one of the Eight-fold Path
is not doing.

stopping, restraining
say no to stuff.

Anyway we'll get on to the
first part of Right Mindfulness

which is a big one

Obviously there is no way
we can finish it today

but we will get the
introduction to it

What, now, is right mindfulness?

First of all that translation is
absolutely brilliant

As Professor Rhys Davids did this
over 100 years ago

He did also 'concentration' for the
Eighth Factor which was a big mistake

but this one absolutely brilliant.

This is where mindfulness came from
he invented, coined the word.

The Four Focuses of Mindfulness
lead in one direction only,

to the purification of beings,
to going beyond sadness and crying,

to the disappearance of
physical and mental suffering,

for the attainment of the true way,
for the realization of Nibbāna.

What four?

Now there are, and I don't mind
saying this, mischievous monks

who say. the four facts of mindfulness
are the only path

for the purification of beings.

There is no way for anyone who
knows Pali

Anyone who has read the Suttas
even the commentaries

it never means that way.

that is a really mischievous
interpretation

It's not just mindfulness; you need
all the other factors of the

Eight-fold Path as well

Leading in one direction only, that was
only Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation

which is; can't really get better than that;
I think in this context

leading one direction only to
Enlightenment.

So what are these four focuses
of mindfulness?

Having restrained the five hindrances,
you can see how this is following on

from what went before the
Right Endeavour is restraining these things.

Restraining first of all and then we can
actually practice the next factor

the Mindfulness

Having restrained the five hindrances,
you abide aware of the body,

energized, knowing the purpose
of what you are doing,

and mindful.

Having restrained the five hindrances,
you abide aware of experience

this is what I call vedanā.

There are few little translations
new ones which I'll explain afterwards

energized, knowing the purpose of
what you are doing and mindful

Having restrained the five hindrances,
you are aware of the mind, the citta,

energized, knowing the purpose
of what you are doing,

and mindful.

Having restrained the five hindrances,
you abide aware of mind-objects, ,

energized knowing the purpose of what
you are doing, and mindful.

First of all having restrained the
five hindrances

in the Pali it is lōke abhijjhā vineyya
lōke abhijjhā dōmanassam

the usual translation is having abandoned
grief and covetousness for the world

which even as a lay Buddhist
What's the heck does that mean

grief and covetousness for the world

And if you actually look in the Pali
it's a synonym for the first two

of the five hindrances.

lōke abhijjhā is used as an
alternative for kammachanda

first of the five hindrances.

and dōmanassam is used in
two Suttas as an alternative

for the second hindrance.

And if you look for the commentaries
to both Satipaṭṭhāna Suttas

the Maha Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta in the
dīgha Nikāya

the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta in the
Majjhima Nikāya

For both of those the commentaries
say these words means

having abandoned covetousness
lōke abhijjhā dōmanassam vineyya

that means having abandoned
the first two hindrances

the commentators are consistent

and there is ground for that
interpretation

very solid, convincing ground
from the Suttas.

So that's what we have to do.

Restraining the five hindrances
and they also say

this is the idioms of Pali

If you have the first two of a group
all the others in the group

are assumed to be present
as well.

When you say the BSWA and these
monasteries (that's not very good)

you have.. like the .. who is in the
Australian Cricket Team any more.

you have the Captain, the Vice Captain
etc. the et cetera is always included

as the other people playing
in the Cricket Team.

So here when you have five things
and the first two are mentioned

the commentaries always say the
the other things are also included

so this is an accurate description
restraining the five hindrances

you haven't abandoned the
five hindrances yet

you restrain them, lessen them,

especially by what you have
done so far;

the previous factor the Right Effort
previous to that (sorry Right Endeavour)

previous to that was your precepts
which helped also restrain the

hindrances, just by Right Speech,
Right Action, Right Livelihood

before that the Right Motivation

motivation you may have heard me say this
before, make peace, be kind, be gentle

that actually restrains hindrances
and obviously coming from Right View.

These all linked together here.

Restrain the five hindrances first
otherwise you are not mindful

you abide aware of four things; the body,
experience, sometimes it's called feelings.

feelings is not a very good word, it can
be emotional, it can be body sensations

but what it really means is, this thing
which we notice as experience

The Buddha defines experience as
pleasant and unpleasant or in-between

but that is just a way of pointing to
sort of what we are actually looking at

the experience

just as well, you might say; heat, cold
windy that points to weather, the climate

so it's not really feelings, it's not
pleasure, pain and in-between

it's pointing at this thing which
we know as experience

and the mind, the citta

this is when the five senses disappear
you know what that is.

and the mind objects
you will find later on

this was really good work by people like
Ajahn Sujato, Analiyo and Ajahn Brahmali

who actually looked at versions of
the Satipaṭṭhāna and discovered that

in the earliest versions, the mind object
only had two mind objects to focus on

and that was the five hindrances and
the Seven Enlightenment Factors,

just those two

It seems the other ones
were added later on

it's not wrong to add those but it
takes away the focus of these are

being aware of the hindrances which
actually block you from developing the

path and becoming enlightened

or focusing on their opposites, that
which actually develops Enlightenment.

And that's actually a very powerful
understanding of why those two were there;

other ones added later,

they are not wrong; but they take
the focus away from the meaning

of why the Buddha actually chose those
things as part of Satipaṭṭhāna

energized-so you can't do like (Ajahn
makes a tired noise) with sloth and torpor

you do this when you develop
some restrain,

develop the restraint to the
hindrances

as I was saying in the question
...... afterwards

you get energized when you have
restraint

knowing the purpose of
what you are doing and mindful.

so knowing the purpose of
what you are doing

so often I have told people
yeah mindfulness is great

as long as you must remember the
purpose of what you are doing.

So, if you are driving a car in the
busy traffic, you are not

focusing on your breath

Breathing in.....

you get a crash

You focus on the traffic; what's
the purpose of driving

or when you are late for an aircraft

then you don't do slow walking
lifting lifting..... you run

so sometimes it's actually crazy
when you don't follow the Satipaṭṭhāna

What's the purpose of what you are doing?

And of course the other one which
you heard me saying many times

people say ah! Buddhists you always
let go, let go, let go, let go

Excepting from the back of a
motorbike through heavy traffic

Attach, do not let go

otherwise you will fall off and
injure yourself

So why you are doing this
why you are watching the body

why you are watching the experience
why you are aware of the mind

why you are aware of mind objects
why?

and that becomes very clear
in a few moments

and mindful

that is in brief the Satipaṭṭhāna

so how you are mindful of the body

there is many objects in body awareness
breathing, there's the four postures

Comprehension of the Purpose,
The Bodily Parts, Elements

the Charnel Ground meditations

But anyway we will start with
just the breath

You go to a quite secluded place,
sit down comfortably

and give priority to establishing
mindfulness

This is standard Ānāpānasati

Quiet secluded place, if you can
there are secluded places around

it's amazing that even in cities

some of the quietest places can
be an apartment buildings

where you don't hear stuff

here I heard something a few moments ago
I think it was an ice-cream van

you don't hear the ice-cream van when you
are in the 26th story of an apartment block

So sometimes... you wonder like hermits
hermits living in the city

you know, you can actually disappear
in a city

because in the forest you get all
these people just coming to see you ..

and fire officers and other people
making sure you are safe

for the fire season

Sometimes I wonder whether we should
be forest monks in the city

secluded, peaceful

Anyway I always have these ideas

just always think outside the box

So you go to secluded place
sit down comfortably

now that was a translation
just that you don't have to

sit down in full-lotus,
with your back straight

but pain all over the place

sit down comfortably and give
priority to establishing mindfulness

the word is parimukha which means..

some people say in front of you

and that word in front of you

in front of what? where am I

it doesn't say in front of the nose
it doesn't say in front of the belly

It's Parimukha

and it does not mean literally,
physically, spatially in front

it means like the same word as
giving priority, giving it first place

in front, the first thing you
need to do

So that's why give priority to
establishing mindfulness

that's actually what we do.

So before you even watch the breath
you establish mindfulness first of all

it's from that where you get me
monks like me teaching

sit down and just relax the body
be mindful of the body

make sure the body is nice and comfortable
and then present moment awareness

just subdue your thinking
just so that you can

be in this moment.

If you are skill thinking of the
past and the future

or thinking about anything
you are not really being mindful.

So when you are silent in this moment
you have established mindfulness

You know that's one of the reasons
why people who do breath meditation

they think they can't do it.

Or they do it just for a short period
of time and it runs away

because they haven't
done the preparation,

they haven't made the foundation

Do the foundation first, and then
it's so easy afterwards

So anyway that is just giving the
beginning of the mindfulness

which will come the next time I
am sitting here.

But today we just focused on
the Right Endeavour

Any questions from here before
we get the ones from overseas

Yes

Question: I heard it said that the
hindrances can't be restraint unless

one develops the Eight-fold Path
Is that correct?

Ajahn: no what that actually says

it's the Naḷakapāna Sutta 68
I think I got that number right

is that without having experienced
the Jhānas

the five hindrances invade
the mind and remain

together with
weariness and discontent

So that saying of the Buddha
in Naḷakapāna Sutta Majjhima Nikaya

So what we are saying here is that;

to really get those
five hindrances abandoned

it is the Jhānas.

Then they are gone for hours or
even days sometimes

and no discontent, just happy
no matter what happens

no weariness, full of energy

So often you can't sleep at night
which is fine you don't need to

So but to restrain the hindrances
is different than overcoming them

and restraining the hindrances
is done by the other ways of the path

things like stopping, letting go

for example you know lust or something
if you start a fantasy

if you start it, and you don't
stop it quickly, it's got you.

You start anger
a train of thoughts

it's a very beautiful English metaphor
a train of thought

If you can stop the train when it is
just leaving the station

it stops pretty quickly,
within a few feet

but if it is running along the
track at 120 km an hour

it is very hard to stop,
takes a long time

So that is why just the
restraining of the hindrances;

it's enough to be mindful to actually
go deeper and to stop them for hours.

OK let's get some from overseas

here we go

Oh someone living in Thailand

Part 1: Dear Ajahn Brahm; right now I am
confused with terminology especially

with some come from other schools too
these might cover each other

completely or partially. My question at
the moment is would you please

clarify the difference or similarity
between mindfulness, consciousness

awakening and awareness.

Ajahn. OK mindfulness and awareness
are pretty much identical.

so to be aware is like being mindful.

But also sometimes the mindfulness
means something a little bit more than

being aware. It is always
usually accompanied by

knowing what you should be
doing with this.

It's Mindfulness and Wisdom

or Sati Saṃprajanya
or Sati Paññā

and the example of that is a story of a
very wealthy woman;

because you are saying you are
in Thailand here,

in Thailand who goes to
the temple one evening

and she tells the guard of her mansion
at the little gate house in the front

please be mindful this evening
there's many burglars around and

many houses in the district
have been robbed.

And so the guard said
'Yes Madam I would be mindful'

And when she comes back from
the temple she finds that her

mansion has been ransacked.

The robbers have been in there
and taken everything

So she is very upset at her
gate keeper, her guard, her security

"I told you security guard to be mindful"

"But we were madam"
"How come we got robbed"

"Well madam I was very mindful, very
aware, burglars were going into the house

and I noted, burglars going in,
burglar going in, burglar going in

and I saw them coming out of your mansion
carrying all your jewelry and I was noting

jewelry going out, jewelry going out
jewelry going out

I saw them go back in again with their
big truck, their lorry

and I noted; lorry going in, lorry going in

And I saw them the safe, the big safe
I saw the safe being put on to the truck

and gong out. Safe going out, safe going
out; I was mindful all the time madam

I was totally aware.

That's why that's mindfulness
without wisdom.

Awareness without knowing the
consequences of what you are doing.

So in Dhamma it's not just being mindful;
it's actually being aware as well.

And the consciousness being conscious is;

everyone is conscious
unless they are dead.

But the connection between mindfulness
and consciousness is

mindfulness is usually focused on
really important areas of life.

Things like; you are aware of the body
yes, you are conscious of the body

but you are aware in it in the sense that
certain practices which can underline or

uncover the nature of this body.
The nature of experience; the mind.

So that's why these four focuses of
mindfulness are like the

four little mines as they have
in Western Australia

wells we can find really sweet water,
places where you can find treasure

so places to look which are
really important.

So mindfulness focus on places
where you really find something

and awakening that actually has
a very good connection with

mindfulness and awareness.

As mindfulness becomes
empowered, in other words

you are really mindful
as I was saying earlier

because of stillness,

developing mindfulness becomes
more and more energized,

as it becomes more and
more energized you see more,

what you see becomes
more enjoyable, beautiful

so hard to get negative

your awareness get empowered

and it is like you are awakening

You may think you are fully awake now
ha ha ha compared to when you get into

really deep meditations
that come on afterwards

wow; now I am really am awake

you can see so much more,
you can feel more

there is a small breeze coming in
through the door this afternoon here

you can really feel it fully,
you are really awake to it.

multiply that multiply that
that's what being really awake.

And that's actually the meaning of the
word Buddha

it comes from the Pali word buddhajji
which means to wake up

It's not wake up to some idea

Just 'come on stupid, wake up"
(Ajahn knocking on his head)

It's actually naturally

being able to see,
being able to know

being able to feel so fully.

That's what awakening is.

Anyway hopefully that's
helpful for you in Thailand

And from the USA-Non self at times has
caused me to do too little

believing there is no free will anyway
so why even try? How to avoid this danger?

You are willing yourself to be lazy.
So it's not free will, it's free won't

so I won't be lazy, I would do whatever
is necessary because you are being

conditioned not from your own ideas
not from lazy ideas, but from the idea also

of compassion, kindness which
leads to service.

You can take the message from
someone like the Buddha

Someone who is so compassionate
just work your butt-off for other people.

this is when I've ever gone to see
Ajahn Gunha, which many of you know him

great monk, that he was the monk
I don't know last time I told you this story

here we go; the rumour was going around
the monks that he was Fully Enlightened

So that was the rumour, the gossip
going around

So he was there under Ajahn Chah's hut
with all the senior monks

you know many many more senior
than him

So Ajahn Chah started a conversation

and he asked the most senior monk
there I think it was Ajahn Jhan at the time

"Ajahn Jhan are you Enlightened yet?"
he said "No"

Asked the next monk
"how about you" "No"

All the monks.. "Are you"
"No"

He got to Ajahn Gunha
he said "yes"

and that made everyone "wow"
in front of the great teacher

he said he got no more
defilements

What happened next
Ajahn Chah said "come upstairs"

And you'll always wish
you were the fly on the wall

What did Ajahn Chah say?
What did he do? to this monk

And so we didn't know at the time
but we found out afterwards

he said "your job is to do lots
of loving kindness, metta, compassion

develop that"

So that's why he became,
many of you have gone to see him

you can see he's compassionate,
kind monk

that drives you.

So believing there is no free-will
you don't believe it

It's nothing about belief;
it's realization, knowing it

and if you really is, sort of
letting go of the sense of self

then it's the sense of others
me, them all the same

connection between the
two of us

and then what gets replaced
is desire and craving

it's kindness and service

So the sign that you have understood
non self, it's not that you become lazy

you'll be working harder than before

compassion drives you
not what I want

but what is needed for service

So hopefully that makes sense

Anyway any comments or
questions about that

Going.. going... gone!

Ok Very good. So we usually now
pay respects to Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha

Thank you again for those questions
from overseas and the questions here

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu......