1
00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:05,440
OK, so let's start and the talk 
today. 

2
00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,600
The title of the talk is 
something like recognizing 

3
00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,200
mental States and what to do 
about it or how to what to do 

4
00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:15,160
something like that. 
And of course, the idea of 

5
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:18,760
recognizing mental states is 
about understanding what is 

6
00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,000
wholesome and what is 
unwholesome, and then how to 

7
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,880
deal with that, how to increase 
the wholesome and reduced 

8
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,000
unwholesome. 
Yeah, this is pretty much what 

9
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,120
the whole spiritual path is 
about, is about reducing the 

10
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,800
unwholesome things and 
increasing the wholesome things.

11
00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,120
And as you do that, you start to
feel better about yourself. 

12
00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,560
And this is kind of the the 
whole point of the Buddhist 

13
00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,520
path. 
And one of the things, just to 

14
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,840
start off on a kind of an 
overview of how the Buddha 

15
00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,720
talked about this, there's one 
of the very nice verses found in

16
00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,480
the Sangyuta Nikaya. 
How many you know about the 

17
00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:54,560
sangitanic? 
I know some of you do something 

18
00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:56,640
like that. 
They connect the discourses of 

19
00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:57,560
the Buddha. 
Yeah. 

20
00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,680
This is one of the big 
collections of suitors there is 

21
00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,920
about. 
Some people say there's about 8 

22
00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,080
or 9000 suitors in there. 
I think that's an exaggeration, 

23
00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:08,480
but there was certainly a lot of
suitors in there, maybe a couple

24
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,840
of thousand. 
Anyway, substantial suitors. 

25
00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,360
And the very first one in this 
large collection here is a 

26
00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,040
verse. 
And this is a verse where 

27
00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,080
there's a conversation between 
Adeva. 

28
00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,280
Adeva is like the one of the 
gods. 

29
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,800
Yeah, at that time, this deva 
comes down to the Buddha, and 

30
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,720
the Buddha then replies, and 
what this deva asks the Buddha, 

31
00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,000
He asks him, how did you cross 
the flood? 

32
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,480
The flood is like the flood of 
Sangsara, the stream. 

33
00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,880
Yeah, the kind of the stream 
that drives us all, all along, 

34
00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,920
from life to life, just moving 
on, moving on, moving on all the

35
00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,760
time. 
How did you cross this flood? 

36
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,480
Is the answer from this question
from the Deva to the Buddha? 

37
00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:52,840
And then what I reply is the way
I cross this flood is by not 

38
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,960
standing still and not by 
striving here. 

39
00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,720
That makes sense. 
Not standing still, not 

40
00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:01,680
striving. 
What? 

41
00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,720
What do you mean by that? 
And it's actually, it's actually

42
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,320
a very beautiful way of thinking
about the dumb light. 

43
00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,000
If you stand still, obviously 
not going to get anywhere. 

44
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,760
Yeah, we all, we all get that. 
If you stand still, nothing is 

45
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:14,360
going to happen. 
The Buddha says if you stand 

46
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,400
still, you just sink where you 
are. 

47
00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,040
You sink in your defilements, 
you sink in all the problems in 

48
00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,680
the world and things don't 
really work out for you. 

49
00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,600
So that kind of makes sense. 
But what about the not striving 

50
00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:26,240
part? 
How does that make sense? 

51
00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,080
And the Buddha says if you 
strive, you get swept away by 

52
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,720
the flood. 
Yeah. 

53
00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:33,200
Why? 
Because when you strive, 

54
00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,480
basically you're often coming 
from a sense of ego. 

55
00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,640
Perhaps you're coming a sense 
from over exertion yourself, 

56
00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:42,320
pushing yourself forward. 
And because you're coming from 

57
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,760
this ego, the force inside the 
driver that always drives you 

58
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,600
on, it's the same force that 
takes you from life to life. 

59
00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:51,680
Yeah, it takes you from one 
birth to another one. 

60
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,000
And by that you get swept away 
in the same flood as everyone 

61
00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,120
else. 
So what is the alternative? 

62
00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,840
And the alternative in this case
is that. 

63
00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,840
But it simply says by not 
striving and by not standing 

64
00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,240
still, that is how you cross the
floor. 

65
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,240
What does that mean? 
It means that you kind of you, 

66
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,160
you move forward, but without 
actually exerting yourself too 

67
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,280
much. 
And elsewhere the Buddha makes 

68
00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,200
it very clear. 
What this means is using wisdom.

69
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,240
You use the wisdom to understand
things. 

70
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,880
You don't strive so hard, but 
you use your ability to reflect 

71
00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,880
in the right way and to think 
about the world in a skilful 

72
00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:27,920
way. 
And that is actually what takes 

73
00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:31,240
you forward on the path. 
And this is one of those very 

74
00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,360
significant things about the 
Buddhist path. 

75
00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,680
It is a path of insight, of 
understanding, of being wise 

76
00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,320
about things, of reflecting 
about things in the right way 

77
00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,520
here. 
And as you do that, the crossing

78
00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,520
happens all by itself. 
There's a little bit of effort 

79
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,160
there. 
There's the effort to think in 

80
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,440
the right way, but there's not 
that striving that kind of has 

81
00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,560
always LED us on from one life 
to another one here. 

82
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,000
It's a very beautiful. 
It's almost like a Cohen. 

83
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,720
Yeah. 
Don't stand still there. 

84
00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:58,960
Don't. 
Maybe this is where the Cohen 

85
00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,000
started out from. 
Don't stand still, don't strive.

86
00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:03,480
Just cross the floor. 
Wait a minute. 

87
00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:05,560
What does that mean? 
That it kind of your mind goes 

88
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:07,720
still and then you kind of, you 
know, what actually you're 

89
00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,600
supposed to be doing here? 
So it's one of those slightly 

90
00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,600
cryptic little verses. 
And sometimes there's a lot, can

91
00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,200
be a lot of information in those
little cryptic verses. 

92
00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,680
So that is the kind of the 
background use wisdom power. 

93
00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,920
But before we talk about more 
about how to use wisdom to do 

94
00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,120
these things, first of all, I 
have to talk a little bit how to

95
00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,000
recognize these things. 
The question is 2 things, how to

96
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,080
recognize the mental States and 
then what to do about this. 

97
00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,760
First of all, how do we 
recognize these things? 

98
00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,920
And this is actually a very, it 
may sound like a strange kind of

99
00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,240
question to ask because usually 
we think that we know, yeah, OK,

100
00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,000
I'm getting a bit upset now. 
I'm getting a bit kind of dull 

101
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,640
or whatever. 
Often we will know about these 

102
00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:53,440
things. 
But one of the interesting 

103
00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,200
things about the Buddhist 
teaching is that sometimes we 

104
00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,320
don't know. 
We don't actually know what is 

105
00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:02,000
wholesome, what is unwholesome. 
And one of the places to see 

106
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,600
that is when the Buddha talks 
about the five hindrances. 

107
00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,320
Yeah, Everyone knows the five 
hindrances. 

108
00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:09,480
Anyone does not know the five 
entrances. 

109
00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:12,440
Everyone knows the five 
entrances. 

110
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:13,640
OK Wow. 
That's pretty. 

111
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:15,680
That's pretty good. 
Yeah. 

112
00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:17,880
Really educated Buddhist, Right.
That's really. 

113
00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:18,760
That's amazing. 
Yeah. 

114
00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,480
So 5 hindrances. 
OK, just very briefly. 

115
00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,280
The first one is like central 
desire and we have ill will. 

116
00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:26,400
Then you have tiredness and 
lethargy, then you have 

117
00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,240
restlessness and remorse. 
Yeah. 

118
00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,400
And we all know what those 
things are because these are 

119
00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,760
kind of very common things for 
all humans, probably for animals

120
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,920
as well, even for devas probably
have these kind of qualities. 

121
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,280
But the last one is in many ways
the most interesting one. 

122
00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:46,680
The last one is doubt. 
And that doubt, Sometimes people

123
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,760
think that that doubt means 
doubt about the Dhamma. 

124
00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:51,360
Yeah. 
Oh, I'm not sure if I'm a 

125
00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:52,120
Buddhist. 
Yeah. 

126
00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,240
I don't sure if I believe in 
rebirth and all these kind of 

127
00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,160
things. 
Some of people think it means 

128
00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,240
that, and it can perhaps mean 
that in certain contexts. 

129
00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,920
Sometimes people think it means 
doubts about your own ability to

130
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,880
practice the path. 
Yeah, but as I'd like to say, if

131
00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,640
you have a body and you have a 
mind, you can practice the path.

132
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,480
If you haven't got a body in 
mind, maybe you shouldn't be 

133
00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:15,320
here, right? 
Maybe you're a zombie or 

134
00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:17,680
something like that. 
So if you haven't got a mind, 

135
00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:19,480
OK, maybe now is the time to go,
huh? 

136
00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:21,920
Anyone going? 
OK, no zombies here. 

137
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:28,840
OK, 012 zombies over there. 
I'm very, very naughty. 

138
00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,480
So if all you need is a body and
mind, because a body and mind 

139
00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,560
are the things that we have to 
deal with. 

140
00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:36,080
Yeah. 
So if you have that, you can 

141
00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,920
practice this. 
So what does doubt actually mean

142
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,920
in the five entrances? 
And what it means is that we 

143
00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,440
don't understand wholesome and 
unwholesome qualities. 

144
00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,160
That's really what it's 
referring to. 

145
00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,040
Yeah. 
So you can imagine, and this is 

146
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,600
can be sound a little bit 
theoretical perhaps, but I'm 

147
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,960
sure some of your sometimes you 
will see this, you sit down in 

148
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,160
your meditation practice, you 
become a little bit peaceful. 

149
00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,160
Yeah. 
There's no clear desires that 

150
00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,240
you don't really have any ill 
will against anyone. 

151
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,360
You feel quite peaceful, so not 
much restless and you have a 

152
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,120
degree of clarity. 
So not no real kind of tiredness

153
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,360
either. 
But the meditation doesn't go 

154
00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,800
forward. 
It kind of stuck in this thing. 

155
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:18,400
Yeah. 
And then you don't know what to 

156
00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,120
do because there is no problem. 
There's nothing to really 

157
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,200
overcome. 
And I'm here, but it doesn't go 

158
00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:24,480
forward. 
I'm kind of watching. 

159
00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,880
The breath is nice and peaceful.
Yeah. 

160
00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,680
And this is one of those cases 
where you are not seeing fully 

161
00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,320
the defilements and the problems
in the mind. 

162
00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,200
There is something there that 
stops you from going deeper, but

163
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,840
you can't actually see it 
because it is very subtle. 

164
00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,360
What is it that actually stops 
in this particular case? 

165
00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,920
And usually it is things like 
attachments. 

166
00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:47,720
Yeah, you're attached to your 
body. 

167
00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,040
You are attached maybe to the 
five sentences. 

168
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,000
You're attached to thinking, 
maybe a little bit of thinking 

169
00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,680
left perhaps. 
And these are the things, but 

170
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,080
they are so subtle, it can be 
very, very hard to see here. 

171
00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,880
And this is one of the things 
about these definements of the 

172
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,400
unwholesome states that we have.
They are the coarse ones are 

173
00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,640
very obvious, but the subtle 
ones are actually very difficult

174
00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,960
very often to see here. 
Or take another example. 

175
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,720
Another example is that you are 
doing perhaps meta meditation. 

176
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,000
Yeah, I people often like to do 
some meta meditation and I 

177
00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,280
really encourage you to do that 
because it tends to give rise to

178
00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,560
lots of good qualities. 
It's a very happy my instead, 

179
00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,480
yeah, if you have meta towards 
people around you. 

180
00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:30,120
So I would really encourage 
that. 

181
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,919
But one of the problems there is
that sometimes people feel that 

182
00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:38,159
they get attached yeah, you do 
meta towards the people around 

183
00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,400
you, you do meta to your family 
members, meta towards whoever it

184
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,440
is. 
And sometimes they're not sure 

185
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,520
whether is it real meta or is it
attachment to the people around 

186
00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,800
you. 
Yeah, one of those cases of 

187
00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:51,880
doubt again, what is actually 
going on there? 

188
00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,600
So how do we deal with that in 
both of these situations? 

189
00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,920
And there's two things that you 
really you can do in this in 

190
00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,040
this situation. 
The first thing here is to 

191
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:04,920
investigate what is going on 
here. 

192
00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,680
As you investigate, as you look 
at your mind, as you see these 

193
00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:12,160
things again and again, you 
start to be able to separate out

194
00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,280
the real meta from the 
attachment. 

195
00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,880
You start to learn skilful ways 
of having met that towards, 

196
00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,120
instead of just towards the 
people who are close to you in 

197
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,400
your family. 
You have met that towards more 

198
00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,480
neutral people. 
And because they're more 

199
00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,680
neutral. 
Yeah, like maybe Ajam Brahm. 

200
00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:29,120
Yeah, I met that towards Ajam 
Brahm. 

201
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,200
You don't have any attachment to
him or do you? 

202
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:37,200
I don't know. 
Not sure, probably not too much.

203
00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,720
Yeah, he's like the teacher. 
So you have met that towards him

204
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,520
or you have met that towards all
beings or you have met that 

205
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,320
towards the directions, 
something which doesn't give 

206
00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,120
rise to the same kind of 
attachment. 

207
00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,560
And then your family members 
after, while they get included 

208
00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:54,080
anyway because if you have 
attachment, if you have not 

209
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,120
attachment, if you have met 
towards all beings, then of 

210
00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,480
course your family and everyone 
else is going to be included as 

211
00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:02,640
well because they're part of all
beings. 

212
00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,560
So you learn how to overcome 
that, to kind of find a skilful 

213
00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:10,920
way of differentiating between 
the attachment and the meta. 

214
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,280
Meta is far more beautiful than 
attachment. 

215
00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,160
Of course, it's far more aloof, 
far more liberating here because

216
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,720
you're freeing yourself from 
some of the bonds in the world 

217
00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,840
that ultimately will create 
suffering for yourself. 

218
00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:25,640
Yeah. 
So you, this is one of the most 

219
00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:30,080
important thing, is that. 
And the Buddha specifically says

220
00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,200
that the way to overcome 
defilements and hindrances and 

221
00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,440
problems in our meditation 
practice is through reflection, 

222
00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:42,400
through being wise to 
contemplating things, thinking 

223
00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,800
about them in the right way 
here, standing back and watching

224
00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:48,160
what is wholesome, what is not. 
And then through that 

225
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,040
reflection, you're able to 
eventually make progress. 

226
00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,240
But still, it can be difficult. 
Yeah, because we are often 

227
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,640
immersed in these things. 
Particularly delusion can be 

228
00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:00,680
very hard to understand because 
it is so close to our hearts. 

229
00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:03,520
So we need something more as 
well. 

230
00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:07,240
And the other way of dealing 
with this is simply to keep on 

231
00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,080
practicing the Noble Eightfold 
Path. 

232
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,880
And one of the things is that as
you practice this, it's like you

233
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,960
are emerging from the sea of 
delusion. 

234
00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,640
Gradually, gradually, your mind 
is kind of getting lifted up in 

235
00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,320
your move, going beyond before 
you were kind of completely 

236
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,080
immersed in delusion. 
And gradually you're lifting 

237
00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,200
yourself out of the delusion. 
And you're seeing things more 

238
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,760
clearly here simply by practice 
in the noble and full path, 

239
00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,320
simply by being kind, by 
avoiding doing the bad things, 

240
00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,840
by purifying yourself in daily 
life, by going into the 

241
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,360
occasional meditation retreat. 
Yeah, coming maybe down to JAMA 

242
00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,000
Grove every now and again, you 
know, something like that, or 

243
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,400
maybe too much, whatever it is. 
And then gradually you emerge 

244
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,920
and you can see this happening 
year after year. 

245
00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,160
There is like you are coming out
of something, emerging from 

246
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,320
something, getting more 
perspective, standing above the 

247
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,640
jungle, seeing with the bird's 
eye view. 

248
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:03,840
What? 
Before you were just enmeshed 

249
00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,880
inside of that, and now you have
some understanding of what is 

250
00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,680
going on there. 
So this is the idea. 

251
00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:13,160
Yes. 
This is how you gradually start 

252
00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,600
to recognize these things, but 
it's not easy here. 

253
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,000
There is another aspect to this.
When it comes to recognizing, 

254
00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:25,760
one of the most important things
is to remember to have 

255
00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,200
mindfulness. 
Yeah, actually, mindfulness 

256
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,000
means memories. 
So remember to have mindfulness.

257
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,800
I'm not sure about that one. 
But anyway, you have to be 

258
00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,640
mindful. 
And one of the reasons for this 

259
00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,720
is because very often these, 
especially in daily life, the 

260
00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:42,720
defilements of the mind, they 
arise so fast. 

261
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:45,320
Yes, suddenly you find yourself 
angry. 

262
00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,200
Suddenly you are upset with 
somebody. 

263
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,520
So you have to actually have the
mindfulness to see things 

264
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,160
happening, see things coming. 
And the quicker you can see 

265
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:58,320
things coming, the more ability 
you have to overcome the problem

266
00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,120
as it arises. 
Once the anger or the ill will 

267
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,080
or the irritation or whatever it
is is established inside of one,

268
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,520
it is actually very difficult to
get out of it. 

269
00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:11,520
It is almost like self 
perpetuating. 

270
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,800
You see the vadnais and you, the
mind sort of wants to see the 

271
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,960
bad things and it can be very 
hard to pull yourself out again.

272
00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:20,680
So mindfulness is a very 
important part of this. 

273
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,400
So how can we have more 
mindfulness in our daily life? 

274
00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:26,560
This is one of those very 
important questions. 

275
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,160
So how can you do that? 
And one of the ways of doing 

276
00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:36,720
this is to remember that what 
you are doing on the spiritual 

277
00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,880
path, what you're doing as a 
Dumber practice, is far more 

278
00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,720
important than all the other 
things that you do in your life.

279
00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,840
One of the things I were just 
saying to the guided meditation,

280
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:51,800
yeah, to give give kind of 
emphasis to the meditation now 

281
00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,560
and understand everything else 
in life really is a support for 

282
00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,920
the meditation practice. 
So this has to do in a sense 

283
00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,800
with kind of the right outlook 
on life, understanding what 

284
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:04,840
really matters, what really is 
important. 

285
00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:08,560
And when you understand what 
really matters in life, then it 

286
00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:10,720
is much easier to be mindful. 
Why? 

287
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,440
Because you know deep inside of 
you that this is what actually 

288
00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,880
is important. 
Everything else is secondary 

289
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:19,120
here. 
So how can we do that? 

290
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,400
How can we kind of make the 
spiritual part of life more 

291
00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:27,200
powerful and more important and 
kind of make everything else 

292
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,640
like the work and the family 
life, kind of make it secondary 

293
00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:33,640
in a way that I will show you in
a second that secondary doesn't 

294
00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,960
really mean secondary. 
It actually means enhancing that

295
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,600
as well. 
So the way to do that is to 

296
00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,320
remember that even in your 
ordinary life, like your family 

297
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,160
life, of course, family life is 
for most people a very important

298
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,040
part of life. 
It is where we spend so much 

299
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,800
time with our family members. 
It matters enormously here, but 

300
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,720
it's not just having family 
members that is important. 

301
00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,240
What really matters with our 
family is the quality of those 

302
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,040
relationships. 
Yeah, yes, we have a mother and 

303
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,160
father, We have children, we 
have a husband and wife or 

304
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,560
whatever. 
But the quality is far more 

305
00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,840
important than just the fact 
that you have a relationship. 

306
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,720
Just having a relationship, if 
it doesn't have any quality, 

307
00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:18,760
often it's kind of bad. 
Yeah, it's kind of terrible. 

308
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,720
We don't feel, you know, 
enjoying it at all. 

309
00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,080
But it is the quality that we 
put into it that actually makes 

310
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,680
it nice. 
So if you have a husband or a 

311
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:28,800
wife, you want to have a good 
relationship. 

312
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:30,920
You want to have a good 
relationship with your children 

313
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:33,200
if you can. 
And children want to have a good

314
00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:35,160
relationship with their parents 
if possible. 

315
00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:39,040
And when we have that, then it 
becomes really useful and it 

316
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,280
becomes a support in our life, 
something that actually gives it

317
00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,920
meaning. 
The relationship itself is kind 

318
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,480
of meaningless. 
The quality of the relationship,

319
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,480
actually it what makes it 
meaningful. 

320
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,640
And of course, by quality of 
relationship we mean things like

321
00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,240
kindness for each other, 
understanding for each other, 

322
00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,840
caring for each other, having a 
sense of compassion for each 

323
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,920
other. 
Yeah, that's the kind of what is

324
00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,440
in the quality of relationships.
And of course those things are 

325
00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,080
what are they? 
They are really spiritual 

326
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,080
qualities there. 
So it is the spiritual qualities

327
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:15,960
in life that make family 
relationships actually 

328
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,560
meaningful and make them useful.
And This is why you should 

329
00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,640
always put the spiritual 
qualities, give that primary 

330
00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,880
importance, and the other things
kind of then tend to fall into 

331
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,360
place as a consequence. 
Yeah. 

332
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,680
So this is what I mean by 
putting the spiritual life 

333
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:33,720
first. 
It doesn't actually mean that 

334
00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,200
you forget about your family 
life and you become a, you know,

335
00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,960
just get ordained straight away.
It doesn't necessarily mean 

336
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,280
that. 
It means that you understand how

337
00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,320
to deal with your family in such
a way that actually it becomes 

338
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,520
very useful. 
Family life becomes much more 

339
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,880
meaningful as a consequence. 
So in this way what we are 

340
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,920
really doing here is that we are
incorporating and integrating 

341
00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,400
the spiritual life into our 
ordinary existence, into our 

342
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,360
ordinary life. 
And then both sides of the 

343
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:08,960
equation become become more 
powerful, more useful, more 

344
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,640
significant, and they actually 
start to work out as a 

345
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,520
consequence. 
And it's not just family life, 

346
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,800
it's also other aspects in life.
It's like your work life as 

347
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,440
well. 
When is work life good? 

348
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,440
It's it's not just about making 
money. 

349
00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,000
Yeah. 
It's not just about kind of 

350
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,720
having a career or whatever. 
And work life, which is really 

351
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,560
meaningful is also has to do 
with how you, the relationship 

352
00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,960
you have with the people around 
you, your colleagues, Yeah, your

353
00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,680
customers even, you know, your 
boss or the people underneath 

354
00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,120
you or whatever in your company 
here. 

355
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,240
All of these relationships 
matter here. 

356
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,600
And when they are good 
relationships that come from a 

357
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,240
kind of a spiritual 
understanding, that is when it 

358
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,120
becomes useful. 
So again, the spiritual life 

359
00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:59,040
comes first and what you're, 
what I'm starting to see here is

360
00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,800
why the spiritual life actually 
is far more important than 

361
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,240
anything else. 
Why these are the qualities that

362
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,280
make everything else, gives 
everything else value, gives 

363
00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,400
everything else significance. 
Why this is what the true 

364
00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,040
meaning of life is about. 
But it's even more than that. 

365
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:16,960
I'm kind of just touching the 
surface now. 

366
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,640
Even more important, if you 
really want the bird's eye view,

367
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:24,120
if you want the kind of big view
of what is going on, is to 

368
00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:28,160
remember that all the things 
that you do in this life, Yeah, 

369
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,720
all the things that belong to 
this world. 

370
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,760
And by that I mean everything 
you own, all your possessions, 

371
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,480
all your relationships around 
you, your education level, all 

372
00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,400
the people in your life. 
Yeah, Remember, they end when 

373
00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,280
this world ends. 
They belong to this world. 

374
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:48,160
You can't take it with you any 
further. 

375
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:52,000
So remember that this is like a 
bird's eye view of what is going

376
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,080
on. 
The only thing that you can take

377
00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,680
with you out of this life is 
going to be the qualities of 

378
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,360
your mind, what you have 
developed in this very life. 

379
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,280
So when you die, remember that. 
I remember. 

380
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:05,440
Imagine yourself on your 
deathbed. 

381
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,120
Yes. 
If you know that you're about to

382
00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:09,560
die, this is the end of your 
life. 

383
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,960
And it's not that far away. 
It happens very quickly. 

384
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:13,400
Yeah. 
Before you know it, bang, you're

385
00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:15,160
there. 
You know what I mean? 

386
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,600
Life goes so fast. 
You have maybe have a time to 

387
00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,160
breathe and suddenly kind of 
you're already ready to go. 

388
00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,840
But yeah, So what happens when 
you're on a deathbed? 

389
00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,240
Imagine that. 
Imagine being on a deathbed if 

390
00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:29,560
all you have done in your life 
is investing in things that you 

391
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,000
now going to have to let go of. 
Yeah. 

392
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:36,160
If everything you have done is 
invest in your possessions, your

393
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:40,560
friendships, your family, your 
degrees or your your social 

394
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,920
status, whatever it is, 
certainly now all of that is 

395
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,520
going to have to go. 
So how do you feel on your 

396
00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,080
deathbed? 
And perhaps you've done some bad

397
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,080
things on the way because you 
wanted to get these things so 

398
00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,800
badly. 
How are you going to feel? 

399
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,800
And what you feel, you feel like
you have wasted your time. 

400
00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:57,960
Yeah. 
You had this wonderful 

401
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,960
opportunity to be kind, to be 
caring, to do something good for

402
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,400
the world and haven't taken it. 
Instead, you have invested 

403
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,160
everything in things that you 
now have to let go of. 

404
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,320
It's a very, very powerful 
reflection here. 

405
00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,320
But if you feel that you have 
lived your life in such a way 

406
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,360
that you have built up the 
kindness of your heart, you've 

407
00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:19,920
built up a beautiful mind, 
you've built up a sense of 

408
00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,480
clarity and understanding, you 
know, on your deathbed, you 

409
00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,280
haven't wasted your time. 
Why? 

410
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,560
Because this is the only thing 
that you can take with you into 

411
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,120
the future as you pass away, as 
you move on into your next 

412
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:35,120
existence. 
So this is kind of the big 

413
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:39,320
picture and This is why the 
spiritual life is far more 

414
00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,840
significant than anything else 
you do when you live your family

415
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,320
life. 
Remember, the purpose of the 

416
00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,920
family life really is to support
your spiritual life. 

417
00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,560
The purpose of your work life is
to support your spiritual life. 

418
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,800
Everything you do in life is to 
support the spiritual life. 

419
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,640
And what happens when you live 
like that is that your family 

420
00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,600
life also becomes better. 
Your work life also becomes 

421
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,360
better. 
It doesn't mean you neglect 

422
00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:05,240
other people. 
Actually, the two go together. 

423
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,760
The two kind of lift are lifted 
up together in a very, very 

424
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,520
beautiful and powerful way here.
So by thinking like this, what 

425
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,200
you are doing is you are 
prioritizing the spiritual life,

426
00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,320
you are giving value to the 
spiritual life, and you are 

427
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,920
reducing the value of all of 
these other things in in your 

428
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,240
life. 
And what that means is that when

429
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,760
you go about your daily 
activities, because you have 

430
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,160
clarity about what actually 
really matters in life. 

431
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,160
Yeah, it means that as soon as 
there is some development 

432
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,320
arising in your mind because you
know what is important, you 

433
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,080
think, wait a minute, why do, 
why am I getting angry now? 

434
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:41,960
Why am I getting upset about 
this? 

435
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,840
What is an alternative way of 
looking at this particular 

436
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,920
situation? 
And as you do that, you're able 

437
00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,080
to, mindfulness kicks in much 
more quickly precisely because 

438
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,480
you have your priorities, right.
If your priority is to kind of 

439
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,320
seal this contract, if your 
priority is to, you know, make 

440
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,960
more money or whatever, if that 
is number 1 and spiritual life 

441
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,120
is number 2. 
If you practice meditation so 

442
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,840
you can make more money, some 
people do that. 

443
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:08,960
Yeah. 
Because I've not become really 

444
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:10,400
cool. 
I can kind of think more 

445
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,320
clearly. 
I can kind of get. 

446
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:14,640
Yeah. 
If you have that, if that is 

447
00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,200
your kind of your priorities, 
then of course it's gonna make 

448
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:18,360
it very. 
It's not gonna work. 

449
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,200
Yeah. 
So you have to think differently

450
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:21,720
here. 
And as you do that, it's 

451
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,360
actually going to start to work 
for you here. 

452
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,400
This is one way of making 
yourself more mindful. 

453
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,520
But you will notice it's not 
just about mindfulness. 

454
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:34,440
It's about a particular way of 
using mindfulness. 

455
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,160
Mindfulness on his own right is 
not enough. 

456
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:39,680
We have to direct it in a 
particular way. 

457
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,240
And when it is imbued with that 
wisdom, that is when mindfulness

458
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:47,080
becomes powerful because that is
when it has the ability to see 

459
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,120
what needs to be done in the 
present moment. 

460
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,080
So that is about recognising the
problem. 

461
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:56,880
Yeah. 
So when we recognise the 

462
00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,480
problem, and then of course once
we have recognised it, then we 

463
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,760
have to do something about it. 
Yeah, we have to deal with it. 

464
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,920
That's the next thing here. 
So how do we deal with it once 

465
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,880
we see that, once we have 
recognised it. 

466
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,960
And one of the things I was, as 
I was saying at the very 

467
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,080
beginning of the talk, the way 
the Buddha deals with these 

468
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,600
problems is through wisdom is 
one of the things that you see 

469
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:23,560
throughout the suit. 
As I already told you, this 

470
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,800
verse between the Buddha and the
devata. 

471
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,440
But actually so many suitors 
talks about talk about using 

472
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,120
wisdom rather than using 
willpower in dealing with 

473
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,240
problems in life. 
And two suitors that straight 

474
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,840
away are very obviously about, 
this is 1 called the Veda Vitaka

475
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:41,680
Suta, which means the two kinds 
of thought. 

476
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,000
And the Buddha specifically says
in there, when you have a bad 

477
00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,800
thought, a defilement arising in
the mind, the way to deal with 

478
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,160
that is to reflect on it in the 
right way here. 

479
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,600
Yeah, reflect. 
It leads to suffering here. 

480
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,440
It leads to problems, it leads 
away. 

481
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,840
It leads away from nirbana, it 
leads to more suffering in the 

482
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:00,600
world. 
Yeah. 

483
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,280
And by reflecting like that, 
understanding this in a deep 

484
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,760
sense, you might automatically 
withdraws because you know that 

485
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,400
is not going to lead to anything
positive. 

486
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,320
The reason why we have 
defilements in the mind is 

487
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,920
because we think it's going to 
lead to something positive. 

488
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,360
That's why we desire things. 
But the Buddha says, no, it 

489
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:19,920
doesn't go there. 
It leads in the exact opposite 

490
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,240
direction of what each and every
one of us actually wants. 

491
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,120
It always leads to suffering. 
So you withdraw from that. 

492
00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,920
Yeah. 
Using wisdom, not any, not 

493
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,160
willpower. 
Another obvious famous suit as 

494
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,880
the Buddha talks about. 
This is it, It's the Ubakalesa 

495
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,360
suit, The corruptions of the 
mind or the defilements of the 

496
00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:41,280
mind. 
And again, this is when the 

497
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,520
Buddha, this is actually the 
Buddha's biography, talks about 

498
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,400
his own practice, which is kind 
of nice, isn't it? 

499
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,280
I love that when the Buddha 
talks about his own practice, it

500
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,360
talks about his own defilements 
of the mind. 

501
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,800
Actually, not the Buddha is the 
Buddha to be before he becomes 

502
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:56,520
the Buddha. 
It talks about his own 

503
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:58,240
defilements and his own 
problems. 

504
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:00,840
It's kind of nice. 
The Buddha had the same problems

505
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:02,160
as we have. 
Yeah. 

506
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,920
It's that kind of neat. 
It's kind of, it's kind of nice 

507
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,280
because it means that we are all
in the same boat. 

508
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,000
And it means that if the if the 
Buddha had those problems. 

509
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:14,920
Yeah. 
And he was able to overcome 

510
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,000
them, it means we can do it too,
because we are no different from

511
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:19,840
the Buddha. 
The Buddha was struggling with 

512
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,880
similar kind of things that we 
were struggling with and in the 

513
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,200
Ubakalesa. 
So he talks about his meditation

514
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:29,400
practice. 
He talks about seeing forms and 

515
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:33,200
light. 
Yeah, Rupa and obasa in the and 

516
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,640
these are very similar to what 
we probably called nimitas. 

517
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,400
Now these are mental things. 
These are, this is the kind of 

518
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,600
the last thing before the Buddha
entered Jana. 

519
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,280
So it's very likely to mean, 
like, nimitas of some kind. 

520
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,560
And he talks about it, says, oh,
I was having all these problems.

521
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,320
Yeah. 
We're having a tiredness of the 

522
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,600
mind, excess of energy and lack 
of energy, too much 

523
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:57,440
contemplation of forms, doubt 
and all of these kind of things.

524
00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,480
Exactly the same kind of 
problems people have these days 

525
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,800
in meditation practice. 
And what does he do? 

526
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,120
He reflects on it. 
Why is this happening? 

527
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:08,160
Why is my meditation not working
here? 

528
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,160
Yeah. 
Why can't I go further? 

529
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,400
Why can't I attain these? 
Jana states that is his 

530
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:14,440
reflection. 
Once again. 

531
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,520
It's a bad wisdom power. 
So we always need to use wisdom 

532
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,520
in our meditation practice. 
Wisdom just often means 

533
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,920
reflecting wisely. 
Yeah, being careful in how we 

534
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:30,600
reflect the bad things. 
So how do we do this in 

535
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,360
practice? 
So good qualities and bad 

536
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:36,800
qualities. 
Let me start with the good 

537
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,040
qualities, because we always 
talk about bad qualities, kind 

538
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,160
of depressive, isn't it? 
The Buddhist way was talking 

539
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:43,760
about the negative things, how 
to omit. 

540
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,080
It's good to talk about the 
positive things as well. 

541
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,880
So what happens if you have a 
good quality in mind? 

542
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,320
How do you deal with that? 
Do you know how to deal with the

543
00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,720
good qualities but actually 
don't, don't have to do very 

544
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:56,200
much. 
Yeah. 

545
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,600
If you have good qualities, you 
can pretty much just relax. 

546
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,200
And this is one of those nice 
little symbolism, the suitors. 

547
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,880
This is also from the debate of 
a taka suit. 

548
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,280
I was just talking about before 
the two kinds of thoughts and 

549
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,440
what the Buddha says that if you
have good qualities in the mind,

550
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,320
you can be like the cow herd. 
And when the cow herd when, when

551
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,360
there is no crops around, the 
and the, and the cows are not 

552
00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:20,320
going to kind of eat the 
farmer's crops. 

553
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,480
Yeah. 
If if you are a cow herd and the

554
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,560
cows eat the farmer's crops or 
you're in serious trouble, 

555
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,120
you're going to get fined and 
punished. 

556
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,320
Yeah, because that's your job. 
But if there are no crops around

557
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,280
and the cat like kind of was 
walking around grazing, you can 

558
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:34,520
just chillax. 
Yeah. 

559
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,200
You sit down at the root of a 
tree and you just have 

560
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,440
mindfulness that the cows are 
there. 

561
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,680
In the same way, if you have 
good qualities, you can just sit

562
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:44,640
back. 
You don't have to do very much. 

563
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,400
It's quite nice, isn't it? 
It's one of the benefits of 

564
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,040
having good qualities. 
You can just really. 

565
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:51,960
OK now, finally getting there. 
Yeah. 

566
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:53,440
Now we can really relax about 
things. 

567
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,280
This is one of the good things 
about good qualities in the 

568
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:57,480
mind. 
So. 

569
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,360
But remember one of the there's 
more to it than just that. 

570
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,720
There's also the fact that if 
you feel that you have some good

571
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,440
qualities, you're feeling 
generous and kind towards other 

572
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,440
people. 
Remember also not to get 

573
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,640
complacent about it. 
One of the things when we feel 

574
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,560
like life is going well, it's 
very easy to get complacent. 

575
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,360
Now I finally got it, I've 
understood what is going on. 

576
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,440
And before you go it, bang, the 
departments come back again. 

577
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,960
Yeah, They hit you over the head
much harder than they did 

578
00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:28,320
before. 
So important point is always to 

579
00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,960
remember that whatever good 
state that we have acquired, it 

580
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,080
is going to be impermanent. 
Yeah. 

581
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,440
It is not going to be something 
that we can sustain. 

582
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,600
And when you do that, you don't 
take it for granted. 

583
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:44,120
You don't kind of hold on to it 
and think, yeah, I finally got 

584
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:45,280
it. 
And then when it disappears 

585
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:48,400
again after you start, Oh no, I 
had all this good states, now 

586
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:50,320
it's all gone. 
I went on this retreat. 

587
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,280
I had a beautiful state of meta 
in my heart, and now it's all 

588
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,120
gone. 
I can't kind of sustain it here 

589
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,000
in Singapore in the same way. 
Yeah, too many people all the 

590
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,120
time around me here. 
And that, that is true. 

591
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,760
But so remember that when you go
on a RIP, remember it is 

592
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,880
temporary here. 
You do this to gain more 

593
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,400
insight, to have a more 
understanding of what the what 

594
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,120
the potential of the mind is 
like. 

595
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,400
But you don't do it to be able 
to sustain it at all times. 

596
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,240
You know that these things too 
are going to have to fall away 

597
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,080
again. 
And in a sense that makes you 

598
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,240
more careful with the with this,
with these states. 

599
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,280
It means you don't grasp them so
hard you see them. 

600
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,520
You start to go with the flow of
things instead. 

601
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,560
Yeah, You know, going with the 
flow, this is one of the kind of

602
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:36,320
things they have in them in 
sports these days. 

603
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,160
People play golf, for example. 
Yeah, you get into the kind of 

604
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,840
the flow of things. 
And of course, the flow of 

605
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,400
things is precisely when you 
just move along. 

606
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:45,720
You follow whatever is 
happening. 

607
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,680
You don't put in too much effort
and things kind of flow 

608
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,240
beautifully along and you play 
your best at that particular 

609
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,240
point. 
Yeah, In the same way, you don't

610
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,240
really attach to the happy 
states. 

611
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,440
You just go with the flow. 
If they have to disappear, they 

612
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,400
have to disappear. 
So be it. 

613
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:03,840
No point in actually holding 
onto these things. 

614
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:06,920
And then when the bad qualities 
come back, you do exactly the 

615
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,160
same thing. 
Yeah, these two will pass. 

616
00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:12,160
You go with the flow. 
You don't kind of adhere to 

617
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,040
these things. 
You don't crave for things to be

618
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:16,320
different. 
You go with the flow and you 

619
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,640
allow things gradually to come 
back again to a better level 

620
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,960
afterwards. 
And what happens when you do 

621
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,560
that? 
What happens that the good 

622
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,680
qualities tend to last longer 
and the bad qualities, the bad 

623
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,400
states, tend to last less. 
So this is what happens if you 

624
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,240
cling on to these things. 
Actually, you tend to destroy 

625
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:38,600
things and the bad times tend to
be longer as a consequence. 

626
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,760
So this is the way to deal with 
good qualities of the mind. 

627
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:45,160
Yeah, allow them to be like 
that. 

628
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,840
And the last thing how to deal 
with these things is, for 

629
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,640
goodness sake, act on these good
qualities. 

630
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,480
If you feel that you want to be 
kind, if you feel that you want 

631
00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,360
to be generous in something, act
on that. 

632
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,320
Sometimes it's like the heart 
opens up to the world and you 

633
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,680
just want to be kind. 
You, you know that feeling. 

634
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:05,600
Sometimes you just want to be 
kind to someone. 

635
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,680
Please be kind if you want to be
kind, because it's a wonderful 

636
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,560
opportunity to do something 
positive. 

637
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,560
Don't just think about it. 
Yeah, actually do something as 

638
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:15,160
well there. 
So remember that. 

639
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,760
Use the good qualities inside of
you in a positive way here, not 

640
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,960
in a stupid way. 
Not like if you know, you go to 

641
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:22,920
someone you know who's going to 
be nasty back. 

642
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:24,120
Don't. 
Don't go to those. 

643
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,160
Go to those who appreciate your 
kindness a little bit. 

644
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:28,720
Yeah. 
Like the members of the Buddhist

645
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:32,120
Fellowship or whoever it is. 
Then you will get something out 

646
00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,120
of it. 
But please act on those things. 

647
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,000
Yeah. 
And don't be too cynical. 

648
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:37,600
Don't think that it's not going 
to work. 

649
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,440
These things are always so 
powerful and so beautiful. 

650
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,760
So this is how to deal with the 
good states on mind. 

651
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,320
That's kind of the. 
If you like the easy part. 

652
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,640
Yeah. 
But how do we deal with the 

653
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,000
negative states on mind? 
And this is in somewhere. 

654
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,440
Is it getting boring? 
Yeah. 

655
00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:59,320
No. 
OK, Sorry about that. 

656
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,960
So how do we deal with the 
negative states of mind? 

657
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,840
And this is, in many ways, some 
of the most interesting things 

658
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,920
in the suitors because this 
shows us what can be done with 

659
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,640
things like ill will and upset. 
Yeah. 

660
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,680
And to me, I think these, and 
it's not that hard to do. 

661
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:19,320
This is what is so interesting 
about it. 

662
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,280
We think that anger may well, we
have to have it. 

663
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,040
It's very difficult to get out 
of it. 

664
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:28,480
But the reality is each one of 
us is able to reduce the anger 

665
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:30,200
and ill will. 
Yeah. 

666
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:31,920
I know that because I've done it
myself. 

667
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:33,440
Yeah. 
I I actually practice this 

668
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,440
teaching. 
I've been doing it for over 20 

669
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,160
years now as a monkey. 
And it. 

670
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:38,480
It works. 
Yeah. 

671
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,600
Granted, over time, you become 
more cool in both meanings of 

672
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:47,240
the word. 
Yeah, so, and, and what a 

673
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,200
wonderful thing that is when you
see these things actually work, 

674
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,120
when you see the anger going 
down, you have more time for 

675
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,040
other people, you have more care
for them. 

676
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,680
You don't actually allow 
yourself to get upset so easily.

677
00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,160
It's a wonderful thing about 
happens. 

678
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,320
And it's almost like you are 
more aloof. 

679
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,440
You're standing back more. 
You're seeing life kind of 

680
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,840
moving along around you without 
really being drawn into the 

681
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,400
stream so much as it was as you 
were before. 

682
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,160
It's such a beautiful thing when
that happens. 

683
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,320
So how do we do this? 
And, and these are the kind of 

684
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,440
standard things I talk about 
every time I give a talk. 

685
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,520
I talk about these things, yeah,
because I think they're so 

686
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,840
important. 
And this is the Buddha. 

687
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,000
Actress vendor Bhasari Buddha 
talks about how to overcome 

688
00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:29,760
resentment, how to overcome ill 
will and one of the most 

689
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:34,480
important things that he talks 
about is the ability when ill 

690
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,800
will is about to arise in your 
mind, you catch it early because

691
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,640
you have that mindfulness. 
You know what really matters in 

692
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,320
life and getting rid of ill will
is something that really matters

693
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,640
in life. 
So you are mindful about that. 

694
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:50,800
You catch yourself early. 
And then when the Bosari put us 

695
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,160
says what you do is your first 
thing you do is to remind 

696
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,560
yourself of the good qualities 
in the person who is irritating 

697
00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,360
you or who is being not or 
whatever it is. 

698
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,800
Yeah. 
You see the other side of that 

699
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,040
person. 
And this is very, very useful. 

700
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,480
And it's very, very useful in a 
place like the Buddhist 

701
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:09,560
Fellowship. 
Yeah. 

702
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,679
Because you know that everyone 
who comes here is basically a 

703
00:34:13,679 --> 00:34:16,480
good person here. 
Is anyone here who's not a good 

704
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,719
person here who's not a good 
person? 

705
00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,560
See, everyone is a good person. 
Yeah, but you can be, 

706
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:24,520
Absolutely. 
So what's the point of coming to

707
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,280
the BF unless you are a good 
person? 

708
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,360
You wouldn't want to come here. 
What's the point of sitting down

709
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,080
15 minutes, closing your eyes 
and watching the blooming breath

710
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:33,840
if you're not a good person? 
Yeah. 

711
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,800
It's like torture if you're a 
bad person. 

712
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:39,520
So you can almost guarantee that
everyone who comes here, and if 

713
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,360
they're not perfectly good, at 
the very least they have the 

714
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:44,920
intention of becoming good. 
They want to move in that 

715
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:45,760
direction. 
Yeah. 

716
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,719
This is kind of, this is the 
sort of people you have here. 

717
00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:52,480
So remember that. 
And that just the very fact that

718
00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,679
someone has the intention to be 
kind is where they are 

719
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,640
celebrating here, because at 
least then you're moving in the 

720
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,120
right direction. 
Sometimes we can't do more than 

721
00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,960
having the intention because we 
are starting from somewhere. 

722
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,000
Yeah, but at least we have the 
intention here. 

723
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:09,520
So remember that when you see 
someone in the Buddhist 

724
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,280
Fellowship. 
And all Buddhist organisations 

725
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,400
have their share of disharmony. 
Yeah, it's just the weight of 

726
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,000
the world. 
There's always going to be a 

727
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,400
degree of disharmony. 
So when that happens, remember 

728
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,520
these are really good people. 
These are people who are trying 

729
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:24,560
their best. 
Yeah. 

730
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,840
And kind of move your mind in 
that direction. 

731
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:33,280
And as you do that, you start to
appreciate the big picture 

732
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:38,160
rather than being trapped by the
small picture, which we tend to 

733
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,480
be so often. 
And the border has a very 

734
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,600
beautiful simile for this, 
actually has a couple of 

735
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,080
similars. 
And one of the simile is of the 

736
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,640
rag robed monk. 
Yeah. 

737
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:50,880
I don't have a rag rob, 
unfortunately here, but it's a 

738
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:52,480
rag rob monk. 
Yeah. 

739
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,840
And the rag rob monk was always 
on the outlook for rags. 

740
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:57,120
Yeah. 
It goes along the road. 

741
00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,120
Maybe we have rag rob nuns as 
well. 

742
00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,480
Not sure, but yeah, rag rob. 
So you look out for the rags. 

743
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,480
And when you see a rag on the 
roadside, if you're a rag rob 

744
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:06,680
monk, you're very happy. 
Yeah. 

745
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:07,720
Rag. 
Hooray. 

746
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:09,400
Yeah. 
You see a rag. 

747
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:11,760
Most people say, OK, don't, 
don't touch the rag. 

748
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,160
But for rag monks, very, very 
happy when they see a rag. 

749
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,600
Guess what? 
You kind of you, you, you live 

750
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:17,880
on that. 
You have to kind of have that to

751
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:20,160
survive in a sense. 
So you see a rag. 

752
00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:21,640
So what does the rag rope monk 
do? 

753
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:27,200
Well, what he does, he he puts 
his foot down on one side and he

754
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,080
spreads it out with his other 
foot. 

755
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:31,400
Yeah. 
So that he gets the overview of 

756
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,200
the rag and he sees which parts 
are good, which parts are bad, 

757
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,600
and the same thing. 
When you see a person, you kind 

758
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,520
of put out all the qualities. 
You spread out all the qualities

759
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,600
of this person in your mind. 
You see the good qualities and 

760
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,840
you see the bad ones. 
Then after spreading out the 

761
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,000
rag, you're seeing the good part
and the bad part. 

762
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,840
You tear off the bad stuff. 
And what you do with the bad 

763
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,720
stuff, you throw it out. 
Because it is rubbish. 

764
00:36:53,720 --> 00:36:55,320
You can't use it in your rag, 
Rob. 

765
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,600
If it is really dirty or really 
rotten or whatever, you have to 

766
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,440
throw it out. 
And it's exactly the same thing 

767
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,280
with the people around you. 
When you have the good qualities

768
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,600
and bad qualities there, you 
tear off the side with the bad 

769
00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,600
qualities and you throw it out 
because it is rubbish. 

770
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,200
It is useless. 
It's not going to help you in 

771
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,600
your meditation practice or 
spiritual life. 

772
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:20,280
You let it go and you throw it 
away here and then you take the 

773
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,760
rag with you and then eventually
you incorporate it into your rag

774
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,720
robber in the same way. 
You take those good qualities, 

775
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:30,240
you take them into your heart 
and you carry them with you into

776
00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:33,160
the future. 
So if ever in the future you see

777
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,080
the negative perception of that 
person coming up in your mind, 

778
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:39,440
you turn your mind to those good
qualities that you are carrying 

779
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,720
around in your heart, and you 
remember that. 

780
00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:45,000
And you remember that is far 
more important than those little

781
00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,080
negative qualities that are 
actually there. 

782
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:49,480
Yeah. 
And then you can really start to

783
00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,440
appreciate your fellow 
Buddhists, your fellow BF 

784
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,880
members, your fellow monastics. 
Yeah. 

785
00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:56,800
Have to do the same thing in 
monastic life as well. 

786
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,080
You know, everyone gets on a 
nerve sometimes, let's face it. 

787
00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:01,200
Yeah. 
So you have to use it 

788
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:03,200
everywhere. 
So you use it everywhere, even 

789
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,440
in monastic life. 
I don't know if you think 

790
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,120
monastic life is like living in 
heaven, but sometimes it is, but

791
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:09,280
not always. 
Yeah. 

792
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,400
So. 
So you use this innocent, very 

793
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:18,040
powerful way. 
And the idea here is always to 

794
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:21,040
emphasize meta. 
Meta is seeing the good 

795
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:24,200
qualities in others. 
Always emphasize meta if we 

796
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:29,160
possibly can. 
And sometimes people argue and 

797
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:33,760
they say that, well, if you tear
away the bad qualities and just 

798
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,040
look at the bad ones, aren't you
just deluding yourself? 

799
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,600
Surely this person has bad 
qualities as well. 

800
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,920
Aren't we supposed to see 
reality as it actually is? 

801
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:44,440
Yeah. 
See both the good and the bad, 

802
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:45,640
is that right? 
Yeah. 

803
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:47,840
OK. 
So you agree with that one, Sir.

804
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,160
We supposed to see everything 
reality as actually. 

805
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:51,440
So see both the good and the 
bad. 

806
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,960
But the point here, and this is 
really what is the critical 

807
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:59,400
issue to remember, is that we 
never actually know the reality.

808
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:01,760
Yeah, we think that we know the 
reality. 

809
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,680
We think, oh, yeah, I can see 
the good qualities of this 

810
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,640
person, see the bad ones. 
But then you ask someone else 

811
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:09,280
and they have a completely 
different view of that person. 

812
00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:12,400
So who is right? 
What are the good qualities in 

813
00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:13,880
this person? 
What are the bad ones? 

814
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,440
There is no neutral. 
There is no point of reference 

815
00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,920
that is final, which we can say 
these are the qualities in this 

816
00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,520
person and these other good 
ones, these are the bad ones. 

817
00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:25,640
We can't do that. 
Why is that? 

818
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:29,080
Well, one of the reasons is 
because there is no self, Yeah, 

819
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,600
there is no essence, there is 
nothing stable there which we 

820
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:34,960
can always look at and say this 
is the person. 

821
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:36,760
The person is always changing 
here. 

822
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,600
So which person are you judging?
The one from yesterday, the one 

823
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,840
from last year, the one next 
year, the 1-2 lifetimes ago? 

824
00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:48,400
You can't say here. 
So because there is impossible 

825
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:51,400
to really pin people down 
because there's always going to 

826
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,080
be a degree of uncertainty. 
What are what are the good 

827
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:55,760
qualities? 
What are the bad qualities? 

828
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,240
Because that can't be done. 
We have to forget about seeing 

829
00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:01,600
things according to reality. 
When it comes to people's 

830
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,680
qualities, seeing things 
according to reality is actually

831
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:07,640
something completely different. 
That is to understand suffering 

832
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:11,360
in permanence and non self, 
which are all ever present 

833
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:13,760
realities. 
Yeah, that is where we should 

834
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:17,720
see things according to reality.
But seeing people's qualities is

835
00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:20,960
not one of those places. 
So there's a different question 

836
00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:24,400
we need to ask instead. 
Instead of asking and what the 

837
00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:27,920
person actually is like, we need
to ask the question, what is 

838
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,960
useful? 
Yeah, what is actually going to 

839
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,720
make us progress on the path? 
That is what we should ask. 

840
00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:37,800
That is what matters. 
So what is useful in our 

841
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:42,680
practice and what is useful in 
our practice is having meta 

842
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:45,240
towards others. 
If you have meta towards others,

843
00:40:45,240 --> 00:40:47,720
you're building up your good 
qualities and you're reducing 

844
00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:50,200
your bad ones, and you're going 
to be moving in the right 

845
00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:53,200
direction as a consequence. 
That is what matters. 

846
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:57,480
And once you get that, once you 
get that, the purpose here is to

847
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:01,040
move you forward on the path. 
The purpose is not to see things

848
00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:03,360
according to reality because it 
can't be done anyway. 

849
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:07,320
Then you're able to let go of 
those bad qualities and you're 

850
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:10,680
able to focus only on the good 
ones because you know that's 

851
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:13,280
what matters. 
Yeah. 

852
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:18,680
So this is one way of dealing 
with seeing someone's negative 

853
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:20,760
qualities. 
Now, it is not always that you 

854
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,920
are around the BF members. 
Yeah, the BF members are good 

855
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:25,960
people, but not everyone is like
BF members. 

856
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:27,920
Yeah, those people who didn't 
come today. 

857
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,640
Yeah. 
Or you know, but you know what I

858
00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:33,720
mean, some of those people 
anyway, there's there's always 

859
00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:35,800
some people who are really 
difficult. 

860
00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,680
Some people that is very 
difficult for us to see the good

861
00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:40,960
qualities in here. 
And if you can't see the good 

862
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:43,520
qualities in someone, you need a
different strategy here. 

863
00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:46,480
And that different strategy is 1
of compassion. 

864
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,960
Compassion always works. 
If you can't have meta, you can 

865
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:53,400
always have compassion instead. 
So how does this work? 

866
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:56,640
And again, the Buddha has a 
beautiful simile to explain how 

867
00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:00,000
this works. 
And this is a simile of this 

868
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:03,560
person who is walking alone, a 
desert Rd. 

869
00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,040
Yeah. 
Not only is this person walking 

870
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,080
along the desert Rd. they are 
sick. 

871
00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:10,240
They have some kind of bad 
sickness. 

872
00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:13,360
But because it's a desert Rd. 
there's no medicine, there's no 

873
00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,320
water, there's no doctor, 
there's no one to help them. 

874
00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:19,720
So they're walking along this 
desert Rd., but there's no help 

875
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,680
at hand if you are sick. 
And there's no help at hand, 

876
00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:25,880
especially if it is a serious 
illness, you're going to die. 

877
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:27,760
Yeah. 
No one is there to help you. 

878
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:33,120
So when you see someone who is 
living a bad life, someone who 

879
00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:36,080
cannot see any good qualities in
there, what should you do? 

880
00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:38,200
You should see them like a sick 
person. 

881
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,160
Yeah. 
They're like this person walking

882
00:42:40,160 --> 00:42:43,920
along this road, walking towards
death, walking towards very 

883
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,880
serious suffering. 
Yeah, that is the right way of 

884
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,360
looking at someone who doesn't 
have any good qualities. 

885
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:53,400
Why is that? 
Because if you, if this person 

886
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:55,920
really doesn't have any good 
qualities, what's going to 

887
00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:57,960
happen to them? 
What's going to happen to them 

888
00:42:57,960 --> 00:42:59,560
if they're going to suffer in 
the future? 

889
00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:01,280
They're going to suffer very 
seriously. 

890
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:03,680
Yes. 
If you, you know what it's like 

891
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,560
if sometimes you do 1 bad deed 
and if you're bad about it 

892
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,160
afterwards, you know what I 
mean? 

893
00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:09,160
Yeah, sometimes you do something
bad. 

894
00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:11,080
I think, oh, watch not then that
you feel really bad about 

895
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,440
yourself afterwards, but the 
person who habitually does bad 

896
00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:17,280
deeds, they're dragging 
themselves down. 

897
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:20,440
They're kind of leading towards 
less and less happiness, less 

898
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,200
and less brightness in the mind,
and of course that you're going 

899
00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:25,400
to carry with you also into the 
future life. 

900
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,960
They're moving towards 
suffering, big time suffering. 

901
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:32,240
And they may be hurting you a 
little bit because of the bad, 

902
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:36,200
bad actions, but they're hurting
themselves far, far more than 

903
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:38,160
they're hurting you. 
And they're kind of heading 

904
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:42,200
towards darkness in the future. 
If you focus on the other person

905
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:45,960
this way, instead of focusing on
your suffering, you focus on 

906
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,240
their suffering instead, where 
they're heading. 

907
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:52,280
Then compassion starts to rise 
in your heart, even with the 

908
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,360
most difficult people, because 
you know that actually they are 

909
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:56,840
deluded. 
They're blind. 

910
00:43:57,000 --> 00:43:58,240
They don't know what they're 
doing. 

911
00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:01,720
They want to be happy, but 
they're walking down the path 

912
00:44:01,720 --> 00:44:04,040
towards unhappiness. 
Yeah. 

913
00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:05,440
They're walking towards the 
casino. 

914
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,360
Yeah. 
You know what? 

915
00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:11,760
So this is the this is the 
problem. 

916
00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:14,280
Yeah, the icon heading in the 
wrong direction. 

917
00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:18,000
And once you do that, something 
very beautiful happens. 

918
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,480
When you focus on yourself, you 
think, oh, they are being bad 

919
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:23,840
towards me. 
We get this self-centered 

920
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,880
feeling, this negative feel, 
this kind of small feeling. 

921
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,600
When you think too much about 
yourself and you are too greedy 

922
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:33,720
and selfish, you feel small. 
You like your own little world. 

923
00:44:33,720 --> 00:44:35,360
Yeah. 
You don't have this expansive 

924
00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:36,920
mind that goes out to other 
people. 

925
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:38,800
You're trapped in your own 
little world. 

926
00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:41,720
There's a barrier between you 
and others because if you are 

927
00:44:41,720 --> 00:44:44,040
greedy, you don't want other 
people to get it. 

928
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:45,600
Yeah, this is mine. 
Stay away. 

929
00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:47,600
This is my stuff. 
Yeah, Don't. 

930
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:50,160
Don't even look at my water 
because it's in my water. 

931
00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:57,440
And so it feels small, it feels 
confined. 

932
00:44:57,440 --> 00:45:00,320
It feels like your mind is 
really trapped inside of itself.

933
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:03,320
But the mind which is 
compassionate, the mind would 

934
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:05,600
have met that embraces other 
people. 

935
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:07,160
It embraces the world around 
you. 

936
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,840
And because it embraces it, it 
feels large, it feels expansive,

937
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:13,200
It feels beautiful. 
Yeah. 

938
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:16,880
People think that greed is good.
You've heard that before that 

939
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:19,040
greed is good. 
What was that, a Gordon Gekko or

940
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,120
something like that in the, in 
the kind of the Wall Street. 

941
00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:23,400
And also apparently people 
actually said that back in the 

942
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:24,280
night. 
They still say it. 

943
00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:27,640
I think greed is good, but of 
course, completely, utterly 

944
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:29,160
misguided. 
Greed is bad. 

945
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:32,040
It makes you suffer, it makes 
you small, it makes you 

946
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:34,080
contracts your mind inside of 
yourself. 

947
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:38,480
So you turn around instead of 
thinking about yourself, you 

948
00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:41,040
turn the tables and you start 
looking at the other person 

949
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:43,600
instead and you understand their
suffering here. 

950
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,320
And as you do that, something 
opens up inside of you. 

951
00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:50,280
You start to have compassion. 
It enables you to see the entire

952
00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:54,320
world in a different way here. 
So this is how you develop the 

953
00:45:54,320 --> 00:46:01,120
meta and compassion in in your 
life, how you overcome the these

954
00:46:01,120 --> 00:46:04,480
particular definements of anger 
and I'll will etcetera. 

955
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,480
Remember, one of the very useful
techniques that is really is an 

956
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,360
important part of is that I, I 
always use one of the reasons 

957
00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:15,000
why we get angry with others is 
because we think that they have 

958
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,080
free will to do whatever they 
want. 

959
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:20,400
Yeah, So if they do something 
bad, they have a choice. 

960
00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:22,400
They could have done it 
differently, but they are 

961
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,640
choosing to be evil. 
Yeah, you're choosing evil. 

962
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:28,280
Anyone don't choose to be evil. 
Choose nice instead. 

963
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:32,720
But it is not as simple as that.
If you look at yourself and who 

964
00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:36,240
you are as a person, you start 
to recognise that a very large 

965
00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:39,920
part of you, maybe everything, 
what you are, is conditioned. 

966
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:43,400
You're acting on habits, you're 
acting on the way you have been 

967
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:46,280
brought up, maybe acting on the 
way you were in the past life 

968
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:47,840
and all these kind of things. 
Yeah. 

969
00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:50,520
And it's not just you, it is 
other people too. 

970
00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:54,480
Essentially, to a very large 
degree, perhaps fully, we are 

971
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,560
like robots. 
We have a programme that has 

972
00:46:57,560 --> 00:47:01,400
been written into US, written 
into US in a life or many 

973
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:03,720
lifetimes, a long, long time 
into the past. 

974
00:47:03,720 --> 00:47:07,160
And because we are now, we're 
just playing out that programme 

975
00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,040
that was written down in the 
past, and we don't really have 

976
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:11,920
much choice in the way we do 
things. 

977
00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:16,160
So remember that when someone 
comes to you, when someone does 

978
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:19,200
something which isn't nice, when
someone does something which is 

979
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:23,200
even hurtful, remember they are 
like a red traffic lighter. 

980
00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:25,720
Yeah. 
With a red traffic lighter, you 

981
00:47:25,720 --> 00:47:27,480
don't get, maybe you do get 
angry. 

982
00:47:27,480 --> 00:47:30,320
I'm not sure you get angry with 
the red traffic lighter if you 

983
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:31,920
do. 
Yeah, we all get crazy 

984
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:33,320
sometimes. 
And sometimes maybe you get 

985
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:35,480
angry. 
But usually we try not to get 

986
00:47:35,480 --> 00:47:37,960
angry with the red traffic light
because we know it is really 

987
00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:40,040
stupid to get angry with the red
traffic lights. 

988
00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:43,680
We kind of accept it, Yeah. 
People are like red traffic 

989
00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:44,440
lights. 
Yeah. 

990
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,600
Sometimes they go red, sometimes
they go green, sometimes they're

991
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:49,240
in between, they're yellow, 
whatever. 

992
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:52,360
But because they are following a
programme just like a red 

993
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:54,960
traffic light, don't get angry 
with the people. 

994
00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:58,400
Yeah, Understand, they are 
conditioned by what they are. 

995
00:47:58,600 --> 00:48:01,800
They are bearing the largest 
brand of the suffering that 

996
00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:03,000
comes from the conditioning 
here. 

997
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:06,080
And we can have compassion 
rather than focusing on 

998
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:11,360
ourselves. 
So this is how to think in a 

999
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:13,480
good way. 
This is what I mean by wisdom, 

1000
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:15,080
power rather than willpower. 
Yeah. 

1001
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:18,680
And as you develop these ideas, 
there comes a point when you 

1002
00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:21,560
don't have much anger anymore 
here because you're able to see 

1003
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,800
the people around you with 
wisdom rather than with being 

1004
00:48:24,800 --> 00:48:27,000
just reacting to the world as it
is. 

1005
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:29,760
And you start flowing through 
the world in a very beautiful 

1006
00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:33,200
way here, that really being 
always being pulled and pushed 

1007
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,200
back and forth by your emotions.
Yeah. 

1008
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:38,160
And that is a very nice way of 
living here. 

1009
00:48:39,480 --> 00:48:44,840
So that is the how to deal with 
the anger and ill will. 

1010
00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:48,320
I would also just very briefly 
be talking for quite a while 

1011
00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:52,720
already, but maybe just 2-5 more
minutes and also very, very 

1012
00:48:52,720 --> 00:48:59,000
briefly about how to deal. 
Think about the definement of 

1013
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:01,360
greed. 
Yeah, or, or, or craving and all

1014
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:03,960
these kind of things, which 
often can be a bit more 

1015
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:07,600
challenging because it is more 
obviously greed tends to be or 

1016
00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:10,520
craving is more related to 
happiness. 

1017
00:49:10,520 --> 00:49:12,720
Yeah, in our life. 
And one of the ways to 

1018
00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:16,720
understand this is the beautiful
suit, which I always like to 

1019
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:18,360
talk about when I give them my 
talks. 

1020
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:22,640
And this is a suit I called the 
Samida suit I found in the 

1021
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:25,440
Sangyuta Nikaya, very close to 
the other suit I was talking 

1022
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:27,920
about before. 
And this is the suitor of this 

1023
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:30,840
devata. 
It's a deva God coming down to 

1024
00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:36,840
venerable Samidi, who is a monk.
And this deva says to Samidi, 

1025
00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:38,480
you are a young man, for 
goodness sake. 

1026
00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:40,280
He was still a young monk. 
Yeah, maybe in his 20s. 

1027
00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:43,120
But you're a good young man. 
What are you wasting your time 

1028
00:49:43,120 --> 00:49:45,760
being a monk when you can live, 
lay life and just enjoy 

1029
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:46,720
yourself? 
Yeah. 

1030
00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:50,360
Enjoy essential pleasures. 
Have a wife, go to the casino. 

1031
00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:51,240
Yeah. 
Eat. 

1032
00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:52,880
Eat in nice restaurants, 
whatever it is. 

1033
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:54,920
Yeah. 
Or do all these nice things, 

1034
00:49:55,400 --> 00:49:59,360
stupid. 
You are chasing nirbana, this 

1035
00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:03,040
thing in the future, while you 
are relinquishing all the 

1036
00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:04,960
happiness that is present right 
here and now. 

1037
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:08,120
In other words, you're not doing
this stuff, but we can get right

1038
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:10,280
away. 
And you're chasing this mirage 

1039
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:13,360
in the future called Jana's, 
called, called nirbana, all 

1040
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:16,000
these kind of things. 
And some of the things. 

1041
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:17,280
Yeah. 
Maybe you have a point. 

1042
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:23,080
Yeah, actually, he doesn't think
that somebody is too wise to 

1043
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:24,520
think that, but it's kind of 
easy. 

1044
00:50:24,520 --> 00:50:26,480
It kind of sounds reasonable. 
Yeah. 

1045
00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:29,360
What am I doing being a monk? 
And I should be sitting there 

1046
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:30,600
next to you and this thing is 
there. 

1047
00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:36,600
Yes, you can give the talk here.
So what is what is going on 

1048
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:38,400
here? 
And somebody says, no, it's 

1049
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,320
actually the other way around. 
I'm not chasing what is in the 

1050
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:43,520
future. 
I'm chasing those things that 

1051
00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:46,440
actually are right here in the 
present moment. 

1052
00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:50,280
It is the pleasures of the 
world, the relationships, the 

1053
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:53,240
food, the whatever it is. 
That is what is always in the 

1054
00:50:53,240 --> 00:50:54,960
future. 
That is what is not in the here 

1055
00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:56,600
and now. 
It is Dumber. 

1056
00:50:56,720 --> 00:50:59,360
The happiness of the Dumber is 
actually in the present moment. 

1057
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:03,480
And he is not entirely sure how 
to explain this to the devatas. 

1058
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:05,720
So he goes to the Buddha and he 
goes, yes, you're quite right, 

1059
00:51:05,720 --> 00:51:08,080
that is exactly how it is. 
And the Buddha explains it in 

1060
00:51:08,080 --> 00:51:10,920
more detail. 
But why is that the case? 

1061
00:51:11,440 --> 00:51:14,240
And this one, once you get this,
you start to understand the 

1062
00:51:14,240 --> 00:51:17,640
value of the spiritual life. 
It is like a conundrum. 

1063
00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:19,120
Yeah. 
It's like a kind of another kind

1064
00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:22,000
of little Cohen almost. 
It's like cryptic passage. 

1065
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:25,080
It seems to make sense that all 
the other happiness are 

1066
00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:26,960
available now, but actually it's
the other way around. 

1067
00:51:27,120 --> 00:51:29,960
Why is that? 
And the reason why that is is 

1068
00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:32,240
because all the happiness is of 
the world. 

1069
00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:35,520
All the things that we're always
chasing after in the world. 

1070
00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:38,080
Yeah. 
Is always imbued with craving. 

1071
00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:41,320
There's always craving. 
Part of sensual pleasure is 

1072
00:51:41,320 --> 00:51:44,320
craving the running after things
and never really finding real 

1073
00:51:44,320 --> 00:51:46,280
satisfaction. 
And because you never really 

1074
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:49,600
find real satisfaction, there is
more craving arising afterwards.

1075
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,920
And there is no end to that. 
You just keep on going and going

1076
00:51:52,920 --> 00:51:55,840
and going, and you never find 
the satisfaction, the 

1077
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:59,280
contentment, the final sense of 
completeness that you're 

1078
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:01,200
actually looking for. 
It never comes. 

1079
00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:04,120
Instead, you go on and on and on
in the world. 

1080
00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:07,080
And if you look at your daily 
life, yeah, how we live our 

1081
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:09,920
lives, it is basically always 
look going for something more, 

1082
00:52:10,080 --> 00:52:13,040
chasing after something else, 
even if it's just kind of the 

1083
00:52:13,040 --> 00:52:16,360
ordinary things of life. 
That too is imbued with that 

1084
00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:19,440
desire, with that craving 
driving us forward towards 

1085
00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:22,000
something else, whatever that 
might be. 

1086
00:52:22,560 --> 00:52:24,640
But the happiness of the Dhamma 
is different. 

1087
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:28,480
Forget about the Janas and Ibana
for a while, but remember that 

1088
00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:32,560
whenever you turn your mind in 
the right direction, if you're 

1089
00:52:32,560 --> 00:52:36,160
able right now to turn your mind
towards kindness, towards 

1090
00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:39,800
compassion, towards generosity, 
and if you use your mind in the 

1091
00:52:39,800 --> 00:52:42,720
right way, you can do that right
now, right here. 

1092
00:52:42,720 --> 00:52:46,200
Yeah, But thinking in the right 
way, straight away, you feel a 

1093
00:52:46,200 --> 00:52:50,760
sense of satisfaction, a sense 
of peace, a happiness that arise

1094
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:54,160
in the present moment. 
If you are kind now, that 

1095
00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:56,600
kindness that you have now has 
nothing to do with craving. 

1096
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,720
It is a satisfying happiness 
that actually exists right in 

1097
00:53:00,720 --> 00:53:04,520
the present moment. 
And I will encourage you to 

1098
00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:07,360
notice that distinction between 
the worldly happiness is 

1099
00:53:07,360 --> 00:53:10,800
essential pleasures compared to 
the happiness of the path. 

1100
00:53:11,360 --> 00:53:14,600
Whenever you feel a sense of joy
in your meditation practice, 

1101
00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:17,680
whenever you feel a sense of 
simple happiness just by doing 

1102
00:53:17,680 --> 00:53:20,720
an act of kindness, it is in the
present moment. 

1103
00:53:20,720 --> 00:53:22,440
It's got nothing to do with 
craving here. 

1104
00:53:22,720 --> 00:53:25,760
Whereas all the worldly 
happiness are always about the 

1105
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:29,600
future, always something you're 
chasing after her and not really

1106
00:53:29,600 --> 00:53:32,680
ever in the present moment. 
That is the important 

1107
00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:35,280
distinction. 
And once you get that, you start

1108
00:53:35,280 --> 00:53:38,920
to see what is really valuable 
in this world, what actually is 

1109
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:41,360
worth following, what is worth 
going after. 

1110
00:53:41,680 --> 00:53:45,360
There is no end to the worldly 
pleasures never actually reached

1111
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:49,320
the point where you want to go. 
The only place to do that is in 

1112
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:55,640
the spiritual practice. 
So just to very briefly 

1113
00:53:56,040 --> 00:54:00,440
summarize for you here, the 
purpose of the spiritual life is

1114
00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:02,800
to always improve in good 
qualities. 

1115
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:07,040
Yeah, this is kind of behind the
the theme for for today's talk, 

1116
00:54:07,600 --> 00:54:11,080
always improving good qualities 
decline and the bad ones. 

1117
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:15,080
And remember, I really recommend
you at least once a year, maybe 

1118
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:17,760
when you go on a retreat or 
whenever you have an opportunity

1119
00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:21,080
to reflect, are you really 
improving in good qualities or 

1120
00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:23,120
not? 
Because this is what the path of

1121
00:54:23,120 --> 00:54:27,120
spirituality is all about. 
If you are are improving in good

1122
00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:30,920
qualities and you are declining 
in the bad ones, it means you're

1123
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:33,720
heading in the right direction. 
You're heading towards light, 

1124
00:54:33,720 --> 00:54:35,800
you're heading towards 
happiness, you're heading 

1125
00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:38,640
towards all the good things in 
life, all the things that you 

1126
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:41,800
really want, all the things that
you thought you were going to 

1127
00:54:41,800 --> 00:54:44,120
get by following, following 
central pleasures. 

1128
00:54:44,120 --> 00:54:46,800
Actually, you find in a 
completely different way here, 

1129
00:54:47,120 --> 00:54:48,680
all of those things are getting 
there. 

1130
00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:51,720
And because it is happening 
here, you know you're moving 

1131
00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:54,280
towards the goal of the 
spiritual life as well. 

1132
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:57,080
Eventually you will get there. 
Eventually you will get there. 

1133
00:54:57,120 --> 00:54:59,480
Samadhi, eventually a meditation
will come together. 

1134
00:54:59,720 --> 00:55:01,640
Eventually we even go to 
Nirvana. 

1135
00:55:01,640 --> 00:55:04,000
Why? 
Because you are heading in that 

1136
00:55:04,000 --> 00:55:06,200
direction. 
This is the most important thing

1137
00:55:06,200 --> 00:55:08,000
here. 
So ask yourself this question 

1138
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,960
every now and again. 
And if you find that you are not

1139
00:55:11,160 --> 00:55:14,400
making the progress that you 
want to do, ask yourself why. 

1140
00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:16,720
Because there's going to be a 
reason there why you're not 

1141
00:55:16,720 --> 00:55:18,360
moving forward. 
And you have. 

1142
00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:20,720
Sometimes you have to be 
brutally honest with yourself. 

1143
00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:23,240
Yeah. 
It is not enough just to say, 

1144
00:55:23,840 --> 00:55:26,760
you know, to If you're not going
to be honest with yourself, 

1145
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:28,720
often, you won't actually make 
that progress. 

1146
00:55:29,040 --> 00:55:31,800
You have to really look at your 
good qualities and bad qualities

1147
00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:33,920
as they are here. 
And then you have the 

1148
00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:37,200
possibility to recharge that 
path and to practice more into 

1149
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:39,640
the future. 
And then life becomes so 

1150
00:55:39,640 --> 00:55:41,040
meaningful. 
Yeah. 

1151
00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:42,880
You feel you're doing something 
that really matters. 

1152
00:55:43,040 --> 00:55:45,120
You have a real purpose. 
You have a real aim. 

1153
00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:48,160
Your life is no longer just 
about the central pleasures, the

1154
00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:50,320
BMWs or whatever it is in the 
world. 

1155
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:54,000
Yeah, it's kind of despairing. 
If your life is about BMWs, it's

1156
00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:57,040
also empty at the same time. 
It's an empty life. 

1157
00:55:57,440 --> 00:55:59,840
Do you want to have a life 
fulfilled or do you want to have

1158
00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:02,200
an empty life? 
Well, everyone of us wants to 

1159
00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:05,120
have a life fulfilled there. 
So remember that by practising 

1160
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:09,160
in this way, this is how you 
find real purpose, real meaning 

1161
00:56:09,160 --> 00:56:11,320
in life. 
And this is the most important 

1162
00:56:11,320 --> 00:56:14,080
thing about the Buddhist path 
and the Buddhist teachings. 

1163
00:56:14,160 --> 00:56:18,160
It actually is meaningful in a 
very, very profound way here. 

1164
00:56:18,440 --> 00:56:20,360
And this is what is so beautiful
about it. 

1165
00:56:20,520 --> 00:56:25,640
So please keep on practising for
a long time and maybe I don't 

1166
00:56:25,640 --> 00:56:28,840
know, see what happens. 
But then if, if things aren't 

1167
00:56:28,840 --> 00:56:32,040
going well, then not sure what 
to say about that. 

1168
00:56:32,040 --> 00:56:35,200
If things like, oh, well, now 
you know what to do and keep on 

1169
00:56:35,240 --> 00:56:38,680
encouraging yourself, keep on 
doing good things and gradually,

1170
00:56:38,680 --> 00:56:40,840
gradually you're moving in the 
right direction. 

1171
00:56:41,560 --> 00:56:49,520
Anyway, that is enough for now. 
So I think we have a little bit 

1172
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:51,360
more time. 
So if there are any questions or

1173
00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:54,160
comments, please please feel 
free to to ask you. 

1174
00:56:55,640 --> 00:56:59,560
Before I open the Q&A to the 
floor, for those who is too 

1175
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:02,960
stride to ask question in the 
public, we have our pen and 

1176
00:57:02,960 --> 00:57:05,680
paper at the back. 
You can write it down and then 

1177
00:57:05,680 --> 00:57:09,640
you can pass it to me. 
I can ask on your behalf and I 

1178
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:11,320
have one burning question here. 
Please. 

1179
00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:12,080
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

1180
00:57:12,080 --> 00:57:12,640
Is it burning? 
Yeah. 

1181
00:57:12,680 --> 00:57:16,320
OK, we'll ask. 
My boyfriend? 

1182
00:57:20,440 --> 00:57:22,280
The person asks. 
That sounds very burning, I 

1183
00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:27,360
agree. 
The person has my boyfriend 

1184
00:57:27,360 --> 00:57:33,160
suffer from a very specific form
of OCD called retroactive 

1185
00:57:33,360 --> 00:57:36,160
jealousy. 
Retroactive, OK. 

1186
00:57:36,400 --> 00:57:40,960
Basically it means he is jealous
of my past history within with 

1187
00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:44,200
other guys. 
It's a very anxious and painful 

1188
00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:48,120
mindset. 
He knows it as a delusion but he

1189
00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:51,200
can't seem to move past it. 
Any advice for him? 

1190
00:57:57,320 --> 00:58:00,800
OK, OK, Very good. 
That's a very. 

1191
00:58:00,800 --> 00:58:02,040
That's a very difficult 1, isn't
it? 

1192
00:58:02,240 --> 00:58:05,680
Yeah, So retroactive. 
Obviously I've learned something

1193
00:58:05,680 --> 00:58:07,600
new today. 
That's very, that's really good.

1194
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:10,320
Any advice? 
Is it the boyfriend? 

1195
00:58:10,320 --> 00:58:14,920
Is he here today anyway? 
Don't have to, don't have to 

1196
00:58:14,920 --> 00:58:19,160
say. 
I think I, Yeah. 

1197
00:58:19,880 --> 00:58:21,880
What, you know, one of the 
important things about Buddhism,

1198
00:58:21,880 --> 00:58:23,440
obviously, is to let go of the 
past. 

1199
00:58:23,440 --> 00:58:24,760
Yeah. 
So here you're certainly not 

1200
00:58:24,840 --> 00:58:27,200
letting go of the past. 
You're holding onto it a lot. 

1201
00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:31,920
And I think one of the things is
that the whole world probably 

1202
00:58:31,920 --> 00:58:35,960
has this, this kind of past if 
you take into account the idea 

1203
00:58:35,960 --> 00:58:37,200
of past lives. 
Yeah. 

1204
00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:40,360
We all have kind of, you know, 
we all had relationships that we

1205
00:58:40,360 --> 00:58:42,080
might be jealous about in the 
past. 

1206
00:58:42,600 --> 00:58:45,160
So basically, if that is the 
case, really you should be 

1207
00:58:45,160 --> 00:58:47,680
jealous about the whole world. 
Yeah, because everyone has had 

1208
00:58:47,840 --> 00:58:49,680
relationships that you could be 
jealous about. 

1209
00:58:50,080 --> 00:58:52,680
So really, you start to 
understand that the whole idea 

1210
00:58:52,680 --> 00:58:56,920
of being jealous about the past 
is actually, it's silly because 

1211
00:58:57,120 --> 00:58:59,760
really there is no end to that. 
You can actually go on and be 

1212
00:58:59,760 --> 00:59:02,960
jealous towards anyone because 
everyone has had maybe some 

1213
00:59:03,680 --> 00:59:06,520
relationship that you know you 
you have grounds for being 

1214
00:59:06,520 --> 00:59:09,680
jealous about. 
So just kind of pull back a 

1215
00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:12,680
little bit, see the big picture,
make it look a little bit 

1216
00:59:12,680 --> 00:59:15,000
ridiculous. 
And when you are when it all 

1217
00:59:15,000 --> 00:59:18,560
looks a bit ridiculous, then you
can perhaps let's go over a 

1218
00:59:18,560 --> 00:59:27,200
little bit as a consequence. 
So and the other thing is that I

1219
00:59:27,200 --> 00:59:30,080
think one of the things that we 
often do is that we tend to 

1220
00:59:30,080 --> 00:59:32,600
glorify the relationships of 
other people. 

1221
00:59:33,040 --> 00:59:35,720
Sometimes it may seem that other
people have the really good 

1222
00:59:35,720 --> 00:59:36,760
relationships. 
Yeah. 

1223
00:59:37,120 --> 00:59:40,040
And these days, I don't know. 
I I I'm just told about it. 

1224
00:59:40,040 --> 00:59:42,520
I don't know anything about it. 
This talk about Instagram, is 

1225
00:59:42,520 --> 00:59:43,680
that something called Instagram?
Yeah. 

1226
00:59:44,080 --> 00:59:45,360
Yeah. 
I, I've never even been on. 

1227
00:59:45,400 --> 00:59:46,600
I don't know anything about 
Instagram. 

1228
00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:49,040
But they said that everyone on 
Instagram tries to kind of 

1229
00:59:49,040 --> 00:59:50,840
create the perfect life. 
Yeah. 

1230
00:59:50,840 --> 00:59:53,080
As if everything is absolutely. 
Yeah. 

1231
00:59:53,080 --> 00:59:55,360
And everyone else thinks, oh, 
everyone else has a perfect life

1232
00:59:55,400 --> 00:59:57,880
except for me, but everyone 
thinks that. 

1233
00:59:57,880 --> 01:00:00,120
Yeah, everyone thinks that 
everyone has a perfect life. 

1234
01:00:00,120 --> 01:00:04,280
So the problem is that we tend 
to glorify other relationships, 

1235
01:00:04,320 --> 01:00:07,200
other people's life of thinking 
they are better than ours and we

1236
01:00:07,200 --> 01:00:09,120
somehow have to live up to their
standard. 

1237
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:11,520
But actually, it isn't really 
like that. 

1238
01:00:11,880 --> 01:00:14,240
Most people's life are exactly 
like our life. 

1239
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:15,640
That's the problem. 
Yeah. 

1240
01:00:15,640 --> 01:00:17,960
They just kind of show us all 
the good side, don't see the bad

1241
01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:19,680
sides. 
But actually, it's exactly like 

1242
01:00:19,680 --> 01:00:22,280
our life. 
And when you So when your 

1243
01:00:22,280 --> 01:00:25,800
boyfriend thinks backs in those 
relationships, tell him about 

1244
01:00:25,840 --> 01:00:27,640
all the bad things in those 
relationships. 

1245
01:00:27,640 --> 01:00:30,320
Yeah, tell him about all the 
times it failed, all the time 

1246
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:32,600
you had an argument, all the 
time it didn't work out. 

1247
01:00:32,960 --> 01:00:36,440
Remind him that what he is 
thinking about is some kind of 

1248
01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:39,280
fantasy, some kind of non 
reality that never was there in 

1249
01:00:39,280 --> 01:00:42,040
the 1st place. 
He's probably misunderstanding 

1250
01:00:42,040 --> 01:00:44,080
the nature of those 
relationships. 

1251
01:00:44,560 --> 01:00:46,840
Otherwise why would you be with 
him now? 

1252
01:00:47,360 --> 01:00:49,400
Yeah, there must be a reason why
you're with him. 

1253
01:00:49,400 --> 01:00:52,280
So presumably that is because it
actually is a decent 

1254
01:00:52,280 --> 01:00:55,360
relationship in the 1st place. 
And maybe in this way you can 

1255
01:00:55,360 --> 01:00:58,920
encourage him to kind of let go 
of this fantasy of something 

1256
01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:00,520
that never existed in the 1st 
place. 

1257
01:01:01,040 --> 01:01:03,440
Anyway, that's the best I can 
do, I'm afraid. 

1258
01:01:06,240 --> 01:01:35,840
OK. 
You mentioned that when we live 

1259
01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:40,120
this life, it's only the quality
of mind that we will bring with 

1260
01:01:40,120 --> 01:01:42,600
us. 
So quality of mind, does that 

1261
01:01:42,600 --> 01:01:45,480
mean that if I'm highly 
intelligent in this world, are 

1262
01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:49,840
we so in the next World? 
Or does it mean the, the value 

1263
01:01:49,840 --> 01:01:54,800
system that we have, but value 
system change with time? 

1264
01:01:55,320 --> 01:01:59,040
Or are you talking about the 
habits that we we have acquired 

1265
01:01:59,040 --> 01:02:02,240
the the general habits that we 
have acquired or the clarity of 

1266
01:02:02,240 --> 01:02:02,960
mind? 
Thank you. 

1267
01:02:03,000 --> 01:02:05,840
Yeah. 
Well, these habits I think may 

1268
01:02:05,840 --> 01:02:07,160
be the best way to think about 
it. 

1269
01:02:07,560 --> 01:02:09,400
But many of those things that 
you're talking about are 

1270
01:02:09,400 --> 01:02:11,400
basically habits. 
Intelligence is like a habit. 

1271
01:02:11,440 --> 01:02:12,880
Yeah. 
You're, you're used to doing 

1272
01:02:12,880 --> 01:02:14,800
things in a certain way. 
So you are intelligent. 

1273
01:02:15,520 --> 01:02:19,080
Your, your Peace of Mind or your
kindness or whatever of heart is

1274
01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:22,720
also habits that we developed. 
So in a sense, it is it comes 

1275
01:02:22,720 --> 01:02:26,120
down to habits. 
And so you, and this is kind of 

1276
01:02:26,120 --> 01:02:29,400
very interesting because if you 
don't do something about the 

1277
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:31,800
habits you have in this life and
some of those habits are going 

1278
01:02:31,800 --> 01:02:33,240
to be bad. 
Is that right? 

1279
01:02:33,240 --> 01:02:34,760
Or have you got just good? 
Have you got some? 

1280
01:02:35,240 --> 01:02:36,640
Most people have got some bad 
habits. 

1281
01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:38,880
If you don't deal with them now,
you're going to carry with them 

1282
01:02:38,880 --> 01:02:40,160
with you in the future. 
Yeah. 

1283
01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:44,440
And that's kind of scary because
eventually bad habits, they come

1284
01:02:44,440 --> 01:02:47,200
out again in action and speech. 
So if you don't take the 

1285
01:02:47,200 --> 01:02:49,320
opportunity now, you're going to
carry them with you in the 

1286
01:02:49,320 --> 01:02:51,120
future. 
And the same thing with the good

1287
01:02:51,120 --> 01:02:53,400
qualities. 
So intelligence is part of it 

1288
01:02:53,400 --> 01:02:56,240
because intelligence is just a 
particular way of using our mind

1289
01:02:56,240 --> 01:02:58,000
of being. 
You know, we develop a certain 

1290
01:02:58,000 --> 01:03:01,960
sharpness, clarity, mindfulness 
in being investigative in a 

1291
01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:04,320
certain way here. 
That's part of it as well. 

1292
01:03:04,600 --> 01:03:06,440
But I wouldn't be too worried 
about intelligence. 

1293
01:03:06,440 --> 01:03:08,360
Much more important to be wise 
than to be intelligent. 

1294
01:03:08,360 --> 01:03:10,880
It's nice to be intelligent, but
much more important to be wise 

1295
01:03:11,400 --> 01:03:14,040
because you can really abuse 
your intelligence in some of the

1296
01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:15,840
different ways and use it 
stupidly. 

1297
01:03:15,840 --> 01:03:19,840
And then it becomes a source for
your, you know, for your 

1298
01:03:20,320 --> 01:03:22,240
suffering instead of source for 
something positive. 

1299
01:03:22,800 --> 01:03:28,880
Yeah, OK. 
I have one question here and the

1300
01:03:28,880 --> 01:03:32,440
person asks how can we make 
progress in our careers when the

1301
01:03:32,440 --> 01:03:35,200
Dharma encouraged us to let go 
in our practice? 

1302
01:03:36,960 --> 01:03:42,680
OK, it, it, it depends. 
I, I think, you know, if I were 

1303
01:03:42,680 --> 01:03:46,320
you, I you have to get your 
priorities right. 

1304
01:03:46,320 --> 01:03:48,000
This is the one thing, one of 
the first things. 

1305
01:03:48,560 --> 01:03:52,160
And if your priority is to have 
your career, then there's going 

1306
01:03:52,160 --> 01:03:53,800
to be a problem. 
Once you sit down to meditate, 

1307
01:03:53,800 --> 01:03:55,480
you're going to think about what
you're going to do at work. 

1308
01:03:55,480 --> 01:03:57,120
Yeah. 
And this is actually going to 

1309
01:03:57,120 --> 01:03:59,880
destroy your spiritual life. 
And it's not going to give you 

1310
01:03:59,880 --> 01:04:02,520
that boost that actually makes 
your career work in the first 

1311
01:04:02,520 --> 01:04:05,000
place. 
So very often by not 

1312
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:08,360
prioritizing your career, but 
make it a secondary thing. 

1313
01:04:08,680 --> 01:04:12,240
Yeah, you actually, sometimes 
that actually helps you boost 

1314
01:04:12,240 --> 01:04:14,760
your career because you're 
letting it go because you don't 

1315
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:19,600
make it so important. 
So and remember that in the end,

1316
01:04:19,600 --> 01:04:23,000
if you are very attached to your
career, yeah, you cannot really 

1317
01:04:23,000 --> 01:04:24,840
control it. 
You don't know where you might 

1318
01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:26,800
get fired soon. 
You don't know where you're 

1319
01:04:26,800 --> 01:04:29,760
going to get that promotion that
you want to get because you have

1320
01:04:29,760 --> 01:04:33,200
no control over these things. 
You may get very disappointed if

1321
01:04:33,200 --> 01:04:35,080
your career is everything you 
have in life. 

1322
01:04:35,240 --> 01:04:37,440
Disappointment very often comes 
as a consequence. 

1323
01:04:38,080 --> 01:04:41,720
But if you don't prioritize your
career, if you put priority into

1324
01:04:41,720 --> 01:04:45,240
your spiritual life, then even 
if your career fails, you have 

1325
01:04:45,240 --> 01:04:48,000
done something else, something 
more profound that gives you the

1326
01:04:48,000 --> 01:04:50,760
degree of happiness, that gives 
you something more profound. 

1327
01:04:51,200 --> 01:04:53,000
So you have something to take 
with you. 

1328
01:04:53,480 --> 01:04:56,200
And if your career fails, well, 
actually, you can deal with it 

1329
01:04:56,200 --> 01:04:59,680
much better if your career is 
everything and it fails very, 

1330
01:04:59,680 --> 01:05:02,000
very hard to deal with and you 
end up jumping off one of the 

1331
01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:03,800
high buildings downtown. 
Yeah. 

1332
01:05:04,320 --> 01:05:06,160
And because you had enough. 
We shouldn't joke about those 

1333
01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:07,720
things. 
But, you know, you know what I'm

1334
01:05:07,720 --> 01:05:10,320
talking about. 
And one of the strange things 

1335
01:05:10,320 --> 01:05:13,840
that I have found in my life, 
the most successful people are 

1336
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:17,280
often the ones who don't really 
try too hard for getting 

1337
01:05:17,280 --> 01:05:19,240
promotions, for actually moving 
forward. 

1338
01:05:19,600 --> 01:05:22,720
The most successful people are 
the people who are almost like, 

1339
01:05:22,720 --> 01:05:26,080
naturally happy here, who have a
degree of care for the people 

1340
01:05:26,080 --> 01:05:27,040
around them. 
Yeah. 

1341
01:05:27,280 --> 01:05:29,280
And the career kind of just 
comes their way. 

1342
01:05:29,400 --> 01:05:31,000
Yeah. 
People want them around because 

1343
01:05:31,000 --> 01:05:33,920
they know they're good people 
and career just happens to them.

1344
01:05:34,560 --> 01:05:37,840
And for those people, even if 
the career doesn't happen again,

1345
01:05:38,120 --> 01:05:41,640
they will be happy regardless. 
So get your again your 

1346
01:05:41,640 --> 01:05:43,960
priorities right. 
And I think that if you really 

1347
01:05:44,240 --> 01:05:48,400
put the spiritual life first, 
the career will often tend to 

1348
01:05:48,400 --> 01:06:05,990
happen as a consequence. 
Thank you Banti for insightful 

1349
01:06:05,990 --> 01:06:10,630
thought. 
So what I'd like to ask is about

1350
01:06:10,630 --> 01:06:17,390
the part about our cravings and 
between the spiritual path. 

1351
01:06:17,510 --> 01:06:24,590
The last part that you mentioned
in your talk, so I do not get, 

1352
01:06:26,630 --> 01:06:31,840
I'm not, I do not understand 
what you mean by why we should 

1353
01:06:31,840 --> 01:06:38,640
prioritize our spiritual path 
and as in as a result and not 

1354
01:06:39,280 --> 01:06:45,240
convinced. 
So could you could you simplify 

1355
01:06:45,240 --> 01:06:47,640
it or give another example 
about? 

1356
01:06:47,720 --> 01:06:52,360
OK, sure. 
What what I'm saying, and this 

1357
01:06:52,360 --> 01:06:54,240
is kind of, these are some of 
the symbols that the Buddha 

1358
01:06:54,240 --> 01:06:57,360
gives all the time, is that 
there is no final satisfaction 

1359
01:06:57,360 --> 01:06:59,480
with craving here. 
Yeah. 

1360
01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:03,120
Even if you get a relation, you 
get into a relationship and you 

1361
01:07:03,120 --> 01:07:05,800
have a nice job and you have a 
good education, you have good 

1362
01:07:05,800 --> 01:07:08,040
social status and all of these 
kind of things, you have enough 

1363
01:07:08,040 --> 01:07:11,640
money or whatever, it will never
actually satisfy that hunger 

1364
01:07:11,640 --> 01:07:14,480
which is inside of you. 
And the reason it won't satisfy 

1365
01:07:14,480 --> 01:07:17,320
you is because the hunger comes 
from a psychological lack. 

1366
01:07:17,320 --> 01:07:19,760
Yeah, there was something 
missing inside of you. 

1367
01:07:19,880 --> 01:07:21,880
You don't feel psychologically 
fulfilled. 

1368
01:07:21,880 --> 01:07:26,080
Now, that psychological lack, 
that lack of happiness, if you 

1369
01:07:26,080 --> 01:07:29,400
like inside of you cannot be 
fulfilled by external things. 

1370
01:07:30,320 --> 01:07:33,280
So regardless of how wealthy you
are, regardless of how many nice

1371
01:07:33,280 --> 01:07:35,760
relationships you have, 
regardless of the degrees you 

1372
01:07:35,760 --> 01:07:39,320
have, regardless of the social 
status, that can never fill the 

1373
01:07:39,320 --> 01:07:42,480
psychological need or 
psychological absence a hole 

1374
01:07:42,480 --> 01:07:44,920
inside of you. 
The only way to do that is to 

1375
01:07:44,920 --> 01:07:49,080
develop your mind. 
So if you feel genuine happiness

1376
01:07:49,080 --> 01:07:53,240
inside of you, that is where 
that whole, that incompleteness 

1377
01:07:53,240 --> 01:07:57,040
starts to be filled up. 
Otherwise, you're just going to 

1378
01:07:57,040 --> 01:07:59,120
keep on craving. 
You keep running after the same 

1379
01:07:59,120 --> 01:08:01,760
thing again and again. 
And every time the craving is 

1380
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:04,280
going to whisper in your ear and
say, oh, if you get this, then 

1381
01:08:04,280 --> 01:08:06,400
you'll be happy. 
This relationship didn't work 

1382
01:08:06,400 --> 01:08:07,960
out, but the next one is going 
to be perfect. 

1383
01:08:07,960 --> 01:08:09,880
Yeah, actually that one didn't 
work out either, but the next 

1384
01:08:09,880 --> 01:08:12,200
one is going to be perfect. 
And you've already done that a 

1385
01:08:12,200 --> 01:08:14,040
million times before. 
Yeah. 

1386
01:08:14,280 --> 01:08:17,080
Past lives, whatever. 
And still you're here looking 

1387
01:08:17,080 --> 01:08:18,560
for another one. 
Are you looking for another one?

1388
01:08:21,000 --> 01:08:24,080
So it carries on like that and 
you never find that real 

1389
01:08:24,080 --> 01:08:26,760
satisfaction. 
So you stand back and you start 

1390
01:08:26,760 --> 01:08:30,640
to ask yourself, how can I feel 
the psychological lack that is 

1391
01:08:30,640 --> 01:08:33,479
inside of me here? 
So you start to be kind towards 

1392
01:08:33,479 --> 01:08:36,600
others, and that's suddenly when
you just say something kind to 

1393
01:08:36,600 --> 01:08:39,439
someone else and you feel 
something inside of yourself. 

1394
01:08:39,439 --> 01:08:42,960
This is real happiness, this is 
peaceful, this is nice. 

1395
01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:46,279
And you take that further and 
further and further until you 

1396
01:08:46,279 --> 01:08:49,279
get to a happiness that is 
completely devoid of craving, 

1397
01:08:49,680 --> 01:08:51,359
but it's also completely 
fulfilling. 

1398
01:08:51,359 --> 01:08:54,920
And this is what you can find 
through meditation practice and 

1399
01:08:54,920 --> 01:08:57,560
one day in the meditation 
practice, because you find the 

1400
01:08:57,560 --> 01:09:00,399
completely fulfilling happiness,
there's no more craving. 

1401
01:09:00,399 --> 01:09:02,760
When there's no more craving, 
you can sit there for the rest 

1402
01:09:02,760 --> 01:09:05,520
of eternity because nothing. 
What you do when there's no 

1403
01:09:05,520 --> 01:09:06,880
desire, there's nothing to be 
done. 

1404
01:09:07,200 --> 01:09:10,200
And that is by definition 
finding the answer to the 

1405
01:09:10,200 --> 01:09:12,640
meaning of life. 
If you don't want to do anything

1406
01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:14,920
more, you don't want to go any 
further, you have actually found

1407
01:09:14,920 --> 01:09:16,800
the meaning of life. 
By definition, that's the 

1408
01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:20,399
meaning here. 
So you, unfortunately, that 

1409
01:09:20,399 --> 01:09:22,800
doesn't actually end there. 
The path still goes further 

1410
01:09:22,800 --> 01:09:25,479
because you have to somehow make
that permanent, otherwise you 

1411
01:09:25,479 --> 01:09:28,520
come out of it again. 
But that gives you an idea of 

1412
01:09:28,520 --> 01:09:30,479
the difference between the 
spiritual happiness and the 

1413
01:09:30,479 --> 01:09:33,359
worldly happiness. 
Make sense? 

1414
01:09:33,520 --> 01:09:36,439
Are you still not convinced? 
Are you a little bit more 

1415
01:09:36,439 --> 01:09:38,840
convinced? 
OK, very good. 

1416
01:09:40,359 --> 01:09:43,399
PJ, Hi. 
I have a question about the 

1417
01:09:43,520 --> 01:09:47,520
first suitor that you mentioned 
about the Buddha saying that the

1418
01:09:47,520 --> 01:09:51,000
path is about not standing still
and not striving. 

1419
01:09:51,840 --> 01:09:55,360
The question that I have is that
how do we ensure that we are 

1420
01:09:55,360 --> 01:09:59,280
when our actions then are not 
actually tainted by delusion 

1421
01:09:59,280 --> 01:10:02,040
actually? 
Because if we were to go about 

1422
01:10:02,040 --> 01:10:05,360
our daily lives and we think, 
OK, I will not strive or I will 

1423
01:10:05,360 --> 01:10:08,400
not stand still. 
So there's a very strong chance 

1424
01:10:08,400 --> 01:10:11,200
that actually our minds being as
impure as they are, that 

1425
01:10:11,200 --> 01:10:12,840
actually that's the strong 
delusion there. 

1426
01:10:12,840 --> 01:10:15,600
So how do we ensure that our 
actions are not actually like 

1427
01:10:15,920 --> 01:10:18,360
strongly influenced by delusion 
that then causes us to go back 

1428
01:10:18,360 --> 01:10:19,880
into the whole cycle or some? 
Sure. 

1429
01:10:19,960 --> 01:10:23,960
Yeah, yeah, yeah. 
That, that is, that is a 

1430
01:10:23,960 --> 01:10:24,800
problem. 
Yeah. 

1431
01:10:24,800 --> 01:10:27,240
And it's something you can't 
really get out of 100%. 

1432
01:10:27,240 --> 01:10:29,040
There's always going to be that 
there's some some degree, 

1433
01:10:29,280 --> 01:10:31,600
obviously. 
So what you have, what you have 

1434
01:10:31,600 --> 01:10:35,440
to do is you just have to 
basically use whatever wisdom 

1435
01:10:35,440 --> 01:10:37,360
you already have. 
But instead of striving too 

1436
01:10:37,360 --> 01:10:39,720
hard, you try to use whatever 
wisdom you have already and you 

1437
01:10:39,720 --> 01:10:42,400
apply that. 
And then with that wisdom also 

1438
01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:43,880
comes feedback. 
Does it work or not? 

1439
01:10:43,920 --> 01:10:45,520
Yeah. 
And then you build up, you kind 

1440
01:10:45,520 --> 01:10:48,160
of gradually dig yourself out of
the hole, dig yourself out of 

1441
01:10:48,160 --> 01:10:50,880
the delusion and gradually lift 
yourself out of this whole thing

1442
01:10:50,880 --> 01:10:53,120
here. 
So this is this is basically 

1443
01:10:53,120 --> 01:10:55,120
it's a gradual process of coming
out of this. 

1444
01:10:55,320 --> 01:10:58,560
And then as you as you do that, 
you, you know, you emerge in a 

1445
01:10:58,560 --> 01:11:04,080
sense and one I think important 
point here. 

1446
01:11:04,080 --> 01:11:06,480
And one of the things, one of 
the questions you very often get

1447
01:11:06,480 --> 01:11:08,600
as a monastic is how to make 
decisions in life. 

1448
01:11:08,680 --> 01:11:14,040
People often ask this, and one 
of the very simple answers to 

1449
01:11:14,040 --> 01:11:16,840
that question is that don't make
a decision when your mind is 

1450
01:11:17,080 --> 01:11:18,480
under the influence of 
definements. 

1451
01:11:18,480 --> 01:11:21,080
Because yes, there is always 
going to be a degree of delusion

1452
01:11:21,080 --> 01:11:24,040
there, but that delusion is far 
stronger when the definements 

1453
01:11:24,040 --> 01:11:25,760
are stronger. 
So if you have a degree of 

1454
01:11:25,760 --> 01:11:29,080
desire or ill will in your mind,
of course, it's a very bad time 

1455
01:11:29,080 --> 01:11:32,920
to make any choices. 
So be careful when you have 

1456
01:11:32,920 --> 01:11:35,680
those qualities in the mind and 
then stand back, allow your mind

1457
01:11:35,680 --> 01:11:38,360
to become peaceful, and then 
there is less delusion in the 

1458
01:11:38,360 --> 01:11:41,040
mind. 
This is a fairly objective way 

1459
01:11:41,040 --> 01:11:43,160
of knowing whether you have much
lot of delusion or not. 

1460
01:11:43,520 --> 01:11:46,720
Then you can make choices. 
Something like that. 

1461
01:11:46,720 --> 01:11:56,600
Yeah, OK. 45, I still have, I 
have a couple of question here. 

1462
01:11:56,880 --> 01:11:59,760
I think maybe we can keep it 
until 1:30 because AJAM will 

1463
01:11:59,760 --> 01:12:03,120
still have another talk at 1:30.
OK, you may like to stay back 

1464
01:12:03,600 --> 01:12:06,320
and thank you Ajam for the 
enlightening talks. 

1465
01:12:06,560 --> 01:12:12,880
Shall we say 3 big sadu to AJAM 
SA do SA do SA very good.