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Okay, so I guess we can start 
this evening's talk. 

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And tonight I'm going to talk 
about impermanence. 

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This word impermanence is a very
central word in the Buddha's 

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teachings. 
A very important part of how we 

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look at the world from a 
Buddhist point of view. 

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And so it's a very core aspect 
of what we do in a sense as 

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Buddhists. 
How we look at the world, how we

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deal with our lives, this idea 
of impermanence. 

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And sometimes the word 
impermanence itself comes from a

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Pali word which is Anicca. 
Pali of course being one of the 

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most original languages that 
Buddhism was original. 

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That Pali proclaimed in pretty 
much very close to how the 

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Buddha himself taught the Dhamma
two and a half thousand years 

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ago. 
And the word he used was Anicca 

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in that language. 
And sometimes when you translate

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a word from Pali into English, 
you lose some of the nuances of 

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that word. 
Right? 

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When you translate in one way 
you call it impermanence. 

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You may lose other aspects 
because words never map one to 

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one from one language to another
one. 

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Right? 
Right? 

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Right? 
Right? 

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Right? 
Right? 

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Right? 
Right? 

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Right? 
Right? 

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Right? 
Right? 

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That's what we're looking at. 
Yeah. 

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It's not just impermanence but 
you have words like being 

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irregular. 
Right? 

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Something which isn't constant. 
And even things like unreliable 

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is actually a good translation 
of the idea of Anicca. 

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Things which are unreliable. 
Right? 

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Things which you can't really, 
can't rely on in this world. 

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And to me the idea of unreliable
is often much more, has a much 

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more powerful emotional ring to 
it. 

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Right? 
Right? 

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Right? 
impermanence. 

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If something is unreliable to 
me, it's bad, right? 

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If you have an unreliable 
friend, how do you feel about 

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that? 
You're not really sure, okay, 

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maybe they're becoming an 
ex-friend at the moment they 

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start to become unreliable, 
right? 

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Friendship is part of that, is 
about reliability, about being 

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able to trust somebody. 
So unreliable to me is very bad.

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So you have this broad spectrum 
of meanings, and they really all

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combine into this term anicca or
impermanence. 

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Uncertainty is another one. 
Things are uncertain. 

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You don't know what's going to 
happen next. 

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Things are always subject to 
change, moving around, ceasing, 

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coming to an end, whatever it 
is. 

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And so this is to give you some 
idea of the spectrum of this 

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word. 
Now, even though anicca, 

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impermanence, is a very 
important part of the Buddhist 

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teaching, very central to 
Buddhism. 

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And I think impermanence in many
ways is very intuitive, right? 

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We grasp impermanence quite 
easily because we can see 

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impermanence in the world around
us with a fair amount of ease if

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you want to. 
But it's also very profound. 

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And this is the difficult part 
of it, is to go from a 

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superficial acceptance of this 
to actually to deepen it in our 

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life and to understand this idea
more profoundly. 

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This is really the hard part. 
And this is what the Buddhist 

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practice is all about. 
It starts off with understanding

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it in a fairly simple way, and 
then integrating it into our 

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life, and eventually 
understanding it in the most 

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profound way possible. 
And that understanding of anicca

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in the most profound way, that 
actually is one of the ways of 

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understanding the idea of 
awakening itself. 

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A full understanding of 
impermanence actually is nothing

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else but awakening. 
Seeing of the world as it 

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actually is. 
Awakening to the truth of 

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existence. 
And before I maybe start to talk

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about how to deal with this in 
ordinary life, how to reflect on

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this, I just want to talk a 
little bit from the viewpoint of

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the Buddha, how the Buddha talks
about impermanence in the 

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suttas. 
Suttas are the word of the 

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Buddha, the discourses of the 
Buddha. 

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And one of the ways of 
understanding this is how it 

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integrates with the other 
factors of the Buddhist path. 

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Now some of the other factors of
the Buddhist path, one of the 

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obviously important ones that we
always hear about in Buddhism, 

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one of the reasons why Buddhism 
is sometimes called pessimistic,

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is the idea of suffering, dukkha
in Pali language. 

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And there's a very close 
relationship between the ideas 

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of anicca, impermanence on the 
one hand, and dukkha on the 

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other hand. 
Suffering and impermanence are 

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very, very closely related. 
And it's important to understand

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that relationship. 
Why is it the Buddha always 

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says, whatever is impermanent is
suffering. 

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So why is that the case? 
Why is what is impermanent 

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suffering? 
And it's actually very simple, 

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right? 
One of the reasons why that is 

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the case is because one of the 
aspects of being a human being 

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is that we attach to things in 
the world. 

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We grasp onto things. 
We pick things up. 

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We take up views in our life. 
We attach to material 

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possessions. 
We attach to relationships. 

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All of these kinds of things. 
But if things are impermanent, 

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if things are always changing, 
if things are always ceasing, if

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things are unreliable, and you 
attach to unreliable things, if 

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you attach to your unreliable 
friend, right? 

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But it's actually not people who
are unreliable. 

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It's nature that is unreliable. 
Nature is changeable. 

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So when you attach to that, you 
suffer as a consequence. 

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Because it gets pulled out of 
your grasp. 

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As soon as you attach to it, not
as soon as you attach to it, but

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once you have attached to it, 
sooner or later it's going to be

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pulled out of your grasp. 
And then you suffer because of 

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that. 
So suffering and impermanence 

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are two sides of the same coin. 
One must lead to the other. 

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As soon as you attach to 
something, you're asking for 

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trouble. 
Right? 

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It's one of those weird things 
because it's kind of very 

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different from how people often 
look at life. 

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But actually, from a Buddhist 
point of view, as soon as you 

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attach to something, you're 
asking for trouble. 

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You're asking for suffering 
somewhere down the line. 

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So suffering and impermanence 
are intertwined like this. 

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But it's also intertwined with 
this other very profound, even 

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more profound perhaps, teaching 
of Buddhism. 

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And this is kind of the 
teaching, again, around which 

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the deepest insights on the 
Buddhist path all revolve around

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this. 
And this is the teaching of 

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Buddhism we call non-self, 
anatta in Pali language. 

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So why is it that anatta and 
impermanence, why is it that 

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they are non-self and 
impermanence, why is it that 

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they are related to each other? 
And the reason is because the 

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whole idea of a sense of self is
the idea, first of all, of being

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able to control things. 
Right? 

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The self is what controls the 
world. 

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We exercise our choices, we 
exercise our ability to do 

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things in the world, to get 
things in a certain way. 

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And then impermanence says, no, 
you're not going to get your 

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way. 
So impermanence undermines that 

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whole sense that we are in 
charge and we can control things

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in the world. 
So whenever you feel that you 

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are in control, in charge, be 
careful. 

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That's a delusion. 
It's an illusion. 

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You're not really in charge. 
And that too is going to be 

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shown to you sooner or later if 
you just keep on looking at it 

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and investigating it. 
And the other aspect is that the

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idea of self revolves around 
this feeling that there is 

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something essential to 
existence. 

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Right? 
There's something essential. 

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Right? 
There's something essential. 

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Which I call me. 
I exist. 

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I am somebody. 
I am... 

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And this sense of I that each 
one of us has inside of us, it 

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actually reflects a certain 
wrong view about something being

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permanent. 
It may not be obvious to you. 

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You may not even be able to see 
that. 

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But that actually is what is the
case from a Buddhist point of 

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view. 
So once you start to see 

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impermanence, this idea of 
non-self also links in with 

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that. 
So this is very powerful. 

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Very powerful stuff. 
And very useful also to start 

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reflecting on because it guides 
you in the right direction on 

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the Buddhist path. 
And the last aspect of the 

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Buddhist teaching that 
impermanence links in with is 

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the idea that things are 
conditioned. 

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Right? 
Things are not... 

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Things don't stand alone like 
something solid, something 

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always existing. 
This is what the sense of self 

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tells us. 
Things are not existing. 

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Things kind of... 
You know, things are solid. 

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They can be kind of relied on 
again. 

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But no, everything is 
conditioned. 

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What we are as human beings, we 
are the sum really of the causes

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and conditions that always 
impinge on us from the outside. 

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We are the sum of all those 
things coming from the past. 

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From a Buddhist point of view, 
even past lives are a part of 

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this. 
Right? 

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All of these things come into 
being. 

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And that is what we are. 
The person we are right now. 

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And this is a very interesting 
way of looking at the world. 

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Because when you understand that
everything is just causality, 

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everything is conditionality, it
does something to you. 

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It changes our outlook. 
It changes the way we deal with 

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the world. 
The way we deal with ourself. 

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And it has very important 
implications for that reason. 

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And I want to talk about some of
those implications here tonight.

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What this actually does to us. 
When we take on board the idea 

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of impermanence in a much more 
deep fashion than perhaps we are

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used to. 
So this is the idea. 

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And as I said, it is really a 
very profound teaching. 

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But it also has some very, it is
also very obvious in a certain 

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way. 
It makes a lot of intuitive 

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sense to us. 
That things are impermanent. 

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Things are changing. 
And very briefly, you know. 

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If you think about society 
around us, kind of the world 

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around us. 
You can see, right, how things 

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are always changing around you. 
The world around us, always 

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changing. 
You look at the, you know, this 

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planet. 
You look at the cities. 

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You look at the city of Perth, 
right. 

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How it is growing and becoming 
larger all the time. 

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And this is true for cities 
around the world. 

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Right. 
I remember seeing a picture of 

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Perth from the 1960s. 
And it was very different from 

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what it is now. 
It was just this little town. 

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Now it is like becoming a large 
city. 

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You can see this transition 
happening all the time. 

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And of course, you see things 
happening in the natural 

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environment. 
Right. 

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You see climate change 
happening. 

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The summers are getting hotter. 
The oceans are rising. 

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You see the, you see all of 
these things happening in the 

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world around us. 
And one of the things, of 

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00:11:06,198 --> 00:11:09,320
course, one of the natural 
responses that we often have. 

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Is that a lot of these things, 
many of these changes are kind 

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of frightening. 
Right. 

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00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,035
And it's just so boring. 
You read about things like 

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00:11:16,035 --> 00:11:17,988
climate change. 
And nobody really knows exactly 

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00:11:17,988 --> 00:11:21,168
what's going to happen. 
If it's going to be very bad or 

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just a little bit bad. 
Or exactly what it is. 

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But it's kind of concerning. 
And one of the things that you 

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start to realize when you do 
that. 

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People start to want to find 
people to blame. 

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Right. 
And this is one of the things 

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that whenever I, often when I 
read the, sometimes when I read 

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the newspaper. 
The West Australian or whatever 

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it is. 
And you see about the failures 

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in our society. 
So called failures. 

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Of course it isn't really a 
failure at all. 

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You know you see things like the
bush fires that devastate so 

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many families. 
You see kind of the power supply

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00:11:53,070 --> 00:11:55,320
does, is not really reliable. 
Right. 

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People are complaining about the
power supply. 

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People are complaining about the
police. 

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The police not doing their job. 
The crime rates are going up. 

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00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,320
And it's always about blaming 
people. 

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00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,320
We have this blame game. 
The world is changing. 

233
00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:12,320
Impermanence is affecting us. 
The world, you know. 

234
00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,013
The natural law of the way 
things have to be is affecting 

235
00:12:16,013 --> 00:12:18,035
us. 
And our response is to blame 

236
00:12:18,035 --> 00:12:20,320
people. 
To blame the world. 

237
00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,320
To say they are not doing the 
job they should be doing. 

238
00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,320
Right. 
This is often the response. 

239
00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,320
And of course one of the 
reasons. 

240
00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,320
There's a couple of reasons why 
we respond like that. 

241
00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:35,909
One of the reasons is because of
you know over the decades and 

242
00:12:35,909 --> 00:12:39,168
the last few centuries. 
You know humanity has been very 

243
00:12:39,168 --> 00:12:41,320
good at building up lots of 
technology. 

244
00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,438
Right. 
And I think a lot of that 

245
00:12:44,438 --> 00:12:47,458
technological prowess that we 
have built up over the last 

246
00:12:47,458 --> 00:12:49,320
couple of centuries or whatever 
it is. 

247
00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,320
Has made us feel a little bit 
kind of invincible. 

248
00:12:52,320 --> 00:12:54,320
This idea that we can do 
anything. 

249
00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,988
We can control nature. 
We have already been controlling

250
00:12:57,988 --> 00:13:00,320
nature quite a bit. 
Right. 

251
00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:01,320
Building massive dams 
everywhere. 

252
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,180
And trying to predict the 
weather and hurricanes and all 

253
00:13:04,180 --> 00:13:07,070
these kind of things. 
And of course some of that is 

254
00:13:07,070 --> 00:13:09,320
good. 
Some of it may not be so good. 

255
00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:10,320
But we have had a lot of good 
things. 

256
00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,420
We have had a lot of success. 
And because of that I think we 

257
00:13:14,420 --> 00:13:17,720
have these expectations. 
That we are going to be able to 

258
00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:19,320
tame nature. 
Tame the world. 

259
00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,770
And control everything. 
So this is perhaps one of the 

260
00:13:23,770 --> 00:13:27,270
obvious reasons why we feel that
kind of impermanence shouldn't 

261
00:13:27,270 --> 00:13:30,320
really be there. 
Things shouldn't be unreliable. 

262
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,320
We should be able to make 
everything. 

263
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,820
To control everything. 
To mold everything into our 

264
00:13:35,820 --> 00:13:38,322
image. 
And the other one is of course 

265
00:13:38,322 --> 00:13:42,323
the sense of self inside of us. 
And this is the ultimate reason 

266
00:13:42,323 --> 00:13:45,320
why we think that we can control
the world. 

267
00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,320
Because we have an innate 
feeling that we are in charge. 

268
00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:53,320
We are in control. 
This is our world. 

269
00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:56,320
Right. 
These are our people out there. 

270
00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,320
These are the cities that we 
have built. 

271
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,035
If we have built all this stuff.
If we have done all these 

272
00:14:01,035 --> 00:14:03,420
things. 
Then surely it means that we are

273
00:14:03,420 --> 00:14:06,266
ultimately in control. 
And because of that we go out 

274
00:14:06,266 --> 00:14:09,320
and we believe that we can 
control everything in the world.

275
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,320
Ultimately. 
And then when things go wrong. 

276
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,320
We blame people. 
Somebody must be at fault. 

277
00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,320
Right. 
If we are in charge. 

278
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,320
If we are the choosers. 
If we are. 

279
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,320
If we have the ability to 
control the world. 

280
00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,945
If things go wrong. 
The blame has to fall back on 

281
00:14:26,945 --> 00:14:28,720
us. 
And this is why you always see 

282
00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,320
in the papers. 
People blaming each other. 

283
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:35,320
This blame game going around. 
Saying who should be fired. 

284
00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,320
For the latest catastrophe. 
For the latest problems. 

285
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,988
For the latest whatever it is. 
Whatever it is that doesn't work

286
00:14:41,988 --> 00:14:45,320
in our society. 
So this is one of the problems. 

287
00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,320
This blame game. 
It's a terrible thing. 

288
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,320
I think often it makes our 
society much more harsh. 

289
00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:53,320
When we are always blaming 
people. 

290
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,320
We are always finding a 
scapegoat. 

291
00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,957
We are assuming that people are 
ultimately responsible for these

292
00:14:58,957 --> 00:15:01,320
things. 
But is that really so? 

293
00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,320
And of course the Buddhist 
answer really is that no. 

294
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,988
In the end it isn't so. 
People too are part of this 

295
00:15:07,988 --> 00:15:11,320
network of causality. 
People are what they are. 

296
00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:13,320
Because of the cause and 
conditions in their life. 

297
00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,320
And then they act in certain 
ways. 

298
00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,320
Because of other causes and 
conditions. 

299
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,320
So in a sense they too are 
victims. 

300
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,320
In a sense they have very 
limited choice in their lives. 

301
00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,320
They are kind of part of this 
stream. 

302
00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,320
It's like this river of humanity
rushing forward. 

303
00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,504
Society moving forward. 
And we are each like a drop, a 

304
00:15:33,504 --> 00:15:35,987
molecule of water. 
In this massive river rushing 

305
00:15:35,987 --> 00:15:38,035
forward. 
And we are conditioned from all 

306
00:15:38,035 --> 00:15:40,320
sides. 
By all the other molecules. 

307
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,320
By the force of this river 
rushing forward. 

308
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,320
And there is actually very 
limited scope for action in us. 

309
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,320
And so this is part of the 
problem. 

310
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,320
This kind of blame game that 
happens. 

311
00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,320
And of course we become risk 
averse. 

312
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,320
If you think that you are going 
to control the whole world. 

313
00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:00,320
Well of course you become risk 
averse. 

314
00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,750
No risk is worth taking anymore.
Because you think you can 

315
00:16:03,750 --> 00:16:06,320
control everything. 
And prices go up. 

316
00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:09,320
Insurance premiums go up. 
Everything becomes expensive. 

317
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,020
This is another perhaps side 
effect of this controlling 

318
00:16:12,020 --> 00:16:14,321
thing. 
But there is another way of 

319
00:16:14,321 --> 00:16:16,520
looking at this. 
There is a better way of 

320
00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,320
understanding all of this. 
Rather than thinking that we can

321
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,504
control everything. 
And that is to remind ourselves 

322
00:16:23,504 --> 00:16:28,178
of this basic Buddhist teaching.
Things are unreliable by the 

323
00:16:28,178 --> 00:16:32,445
very nature. 
Things have come into existence 

324
00:16:32,445 --> 00:16:35,320
through unreliable causes. 
That's why they are there. 

325
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,320
Take away those unreliable 
things. 

326
00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,320
Take away those unreliable 
causes. 

327
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,320
Because they too are 
impermanent. 

328
00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:45,488
And then the results, the 
unreliable results also cease as

329
00:16:45,488 --> 00:16:48,070
a consequence. 
So this is a beautiful way of 

330
00:16:48,070 --> 00:16:50,987
looking at other human beings. 
Instead of blaming other human 

331
00:16:50,987 --> 00:16:54,320
beings. 
Understand that they too are a 

332
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,320
result of all these causes 
working on them. 

333
00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,720
Instead of blaming the person. 
We will try to find the source 

334
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:04,319
of the problem. 
Why did these things happen? 

335
00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:06,319
Why did this person make this 
mistake? 

336
00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:08,319
We can assume it wasn't 
really... 

337
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,319
They didn't really want to make 
that mistake. 

338
00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:14,319
Or even if they wanted to, why 
did they want that? 

339
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,319
So we go to the source of the 
problem. 

340
00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:18,988
And then when we go to the 
source of the problem, then we 

341
00:17:18,988 --> 00:17:22,319
can actually change things. 
Rather than blaming people. 

342
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:26,319
Understand impermanence. 
Things must be unreliable. 

343
00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:28,319
Sometimes you can't change 
things. 

344
00:17:28,319 --> 00:17:32,320
Sometimes disaster will happen. 
And that is okay as well. 

345
00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:38,320
And I think one of the... great 
examples of this. 

346
00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:41,320
I remember reading a few years 
ago a beautiful story. 

347
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:44,320
This was also in the West 
Australian. 

348
00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:48,144
And there was a story about a 
judge who had worked in the 

349
00:17:48,144 --> 00:17:50,920
north of WA for... 
I think he worked up there for a

350
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,320
long time. 
Several decades I think. 

351
00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,320
Maybe in Broome or something 
like that. 

352
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,320
And he had worked up there for a
long time. 

353
00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:01,070
And of course he had seen a lot 
of bad things when you are a 

354
00:18:01,070 --> 00:18:02,970
judge. 
One of the downsides of being a 

355
00:18:02,970 --> 00:18:05,320
judge is seeing all the crime 
and all the negativity. 

356
00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,696
But of course being a judge also
gives you a chance of doing good

357
00:18:10,696 --> 00:18:13,868
for society. 
And this judge, I was very very 

358
00:18:13,868 --> 00:18:17,320
impressed by his attitude. 
And he told this story. 

359
00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:19,320
And he had written it into the 
West Australian. 

360
00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,320
It was published in the West 
Australian. 

361
00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,320
And he told this story of this 
Aboriginal kid. 

362
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:28,320
That one day he was sitting 
presiding in this court. 

363
00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,320
And this Aboriginal kid was 
brought in. 

364
00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,420
Right? 
Kid 10 years old, 12 years old, 

365
00:18:33,420 --> 00:18:35,987
something like that. 
This very shy little kid. 

366
00:18:35,987 --> 00:18:38,720
Right? 
He couldn't really see and look 

367
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,320
anybody in the eye. 
Because he was too shy. 

368
00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,615
And whenever he spoke he kind of
had this very low, very lack of 

369
00:18:45,615 --> 00:18:48,720
confidence in him. 
No confidence in speaking in any

370
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,654
kind of public setting. 
Right? 

371
00:18:50,654 --> 00:18:54,035
When there was anybody around. 
Even though it was just a 

372
00:18:54,035 --> 00:18:56,320
courtroom. 
Still this shyness. 

373
00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,231
Right? 
And we know, as an aside from 

374
00:18:59,231 --> 00:19:02,655
the Buddhist teachings. 
You know that if you live an 

375
00:19:02,655 --> 00:19:06,320
immoral life, a bad life. 
You tend to feel more shy. 

376
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:09,432
You're very withdrawn. 
Not really confident in that 

377
00:19:09,432 --> 00:19:12,320
kind of public situation. 
So he was there. 

378
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,320
And of course as soon as he was 
brought into the court. 

379
00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,320
This judge remembered this kid. 
Right? 

380
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,320
This kid was coming in almost 
every month. 

381
00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,320
Because every month this kid had
done something stupid. 

382
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,035
Right? 
Like stealing something from a 

383
00:19:24,035 --> 00:19:25,920
shop. 
Often just petty little 

384
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,320
offenses. 
But it was so regular. 

385
00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,320
That this kid would come back 
and back and back again. 

386
00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,520
And very often of course the 
prosecution would demand he 

387
00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:36,320
should be put into some kind of 
child detention. 

388
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,720
Right? 
To kind of make sure he didn't 

389
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:41,820
mess around anymore. 
I'm not sure exactly how these 

390
00:19:41,820 --> 00:19:44,320
things work. 
But this judge. 

391
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,654
He knew this child. 
Because he had come so often 

392
00:19:47,654 --> 00:19:50,320
into the court. 
And he knew his history. 

393
00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,398
He knew his background. 
He knew that he had never really

394
00:19:53,398 --> 00:19:56,320
had a father in his life. 
Right? 

395
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,320
And the degree to which he had 
had a father. 

396
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,320
He was just abuse and 
difficulties all the time. 

397
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,320
He knew he had a mother who was 
an alcoholic. 

398
00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,320
Who had never really looked 
after him. 

399
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,320
After him at all throughout his 
whole life. 

400
00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,520
And because he knew that. 
He knew that his childhood had 

401
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,749
been so incredibly difficult. 
What this child needed was more 

402
00:20:13,749 --> 00:20:16,320
punishment. 
This was this judge thinking. 

403
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,432
It wasn't more punishment. 
More punishment was just going 

404
00:20:19,432 --> 00:20:22,320
to make things worse. 
All his life. 

405
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,320
All he had ever received was 
punishment. 

406
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,320
And looked where it had got him.
Absolutely nowhere. 

407
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,320
Except for back into court. 
Again and again and again. 

408
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,320
So the judge thought something 
else is required. 

409
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,820
What can we do? 
And then because he was the 

410
00:20:37,820 --> 00:20:39,594
presiding judge. 
Because he was the one who was 

411
00:20:39,594 --> 00:20:42,320
going to pass judgement. 
And also the penalty. 

412
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,320
He said to this kid. 
I will make a deal with you. 

413
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,320
If you can stay out of trouble 
for one year. 

414
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,320
I will buy you a bicycle. 
Right? 

415
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,320
A bicycle doesn't sound like 
much. 

416
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,320
Kids these days have all kinds 
of stuff. 

417
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,070
Just a bicycle. 
This was back in the 1970s and 

418
00:21:02,070 --> 00:21:03,876
1980s. 
No doubt it was more valuable in

419
00:21:03,876 --> 00:21:06,320
those days. 
But to this kid it meant a lot. 

420
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,320
Somebody showing kindness to 
him. 

421
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,321
Right? 
Somebody doing something 

422
00:21:11,321 --> 00:21:14,320
different for once. 
And the kid said. 

423
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,320
Okay. 
One year I can do that. 

424
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,320
And of course the kid went out. 
A year passed by. 

425
00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:22,320
And then they met up again after
a year passed by. 

426
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,320
And of course that kid had not 
been seen in court in that year.

427
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,320
So the judge then of course. 
Being the man he is. 

428
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,876
A man of honor. 
He says I will honor my promise 

429
00:21:33,876 --> 00:21:36,035
to you. 
And he goes to this bicycle 

430
00:21:36,035 --> 00:21:37,987
shop. 
And this kid chooses his 

431
00:21:37,987 --> 00:21:39,876
bicycle. 
Of course he chooses a nice and 

432
00:21:39,876 --> 00:21:41,987
expensive bicycle. 
That's the way things usually 

433
00:21:41,987 --> 00:21:44,320
go. 
But of course. 

434
00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,656
He does that. 
He is very happy to pay for that

435
00:21:47,656 --> 00:21:50,035
bicycle for this kid. 
And he gives the kid the 

436
00:21:50,035 --> 00:21:52,070
bicycle. 
And then the kid gets on his 

437
00:21:52,070 --> 00:21:54,070
bicycle. 
And sort of rides off into the 

438
00:21:54,070 --> 00:21:56,320
sunset. 
Right? 

439
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,594
And this is the real sunset. 
This is not the sunset of some 

440
00:21:59,594 --> 00:22:02,320
kind of cowboy movie. 
Where everything. 

441
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,320
We have no idea what happens 
afterwards. 

442
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:08,320
This is the real sunset. 
He rides off. 

443
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,320
And the judge said many years 
later on. 

444
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,320
He met this aboriginal kid. 
And he had a steady job. 

445
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,489
And he was doing well. 
And life had been in a sense 

446
00:22:17,489 --> 00:22:20,320
turned around for this kid. 
So this shows you. 

447
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,320
What can be done if we deal with
the unreliability. 

448
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:26,320
And the difficulties in life. 
In the right way. 

449
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,320
It would have been easy for that
judge to say. 

450
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,320
Well lock up that kid in some 
kind of safe place. 

451
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,320
Where he can't mess around 
anymore. 

452
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,070
And he can't go to jail. 
And then of course that would be

453
00:22:36,070 --> 00:22:38,320
like. 
The controller in us. 

454
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,320
Who wants to control things. 
Right? 

455
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,320
These kids need to be 
controlled. 

456
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,820
Okay we put him there. 
He can't do anything bad when 

457
00:22:47,820 --> 00:22:50,320
he's there. 
And that would be the end of it.

458
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,320
But this controller is lying to 
us. 

459
00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,322
It doesn't work. 
And it had been shown already 

460
00:22:55,322 --> 00:22:58,320
for so long with this kid. 
That it wouldn't work. 

461
00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:02,035
So there's another side of it. 
Which says there are causes and 

462
00:23:02,035 --> 00:23:03,876
conditions. 
And there's a way to resolve the

463
00:23:03,876 --> 00:23:06,320
root problem. 
Rather than kind of. 

464
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,320
Try to resolve this in a 
superficial way. 

465
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,320
And of course that is exactly 
what he did. 

466
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,320
He went to the root. 
He showed kindness. 

467
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,320
He showed compassion. 
He opened his heart to somebody.

468
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,139
Who probably had very rarely 
received any kindness in their 

469
00:23:20,139 --> 00:23:21,987
life. 
And when you show people 

470
00:23:21,987 --> 00:23:24,320
kindness. 
You get a response. 

471
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,720
Right? 
The response is you want to live

472
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:29,520
up to that. 
You want to show that you're 

473
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,320
worthy of that kindness. 
Isn't that often the case? 

474
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:35,920
When people are kind to me. 
I feel wow I've got to be worthy

475
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,320
of this. 
If I'm a monk. 

476
00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,320
People come to the monastery 
every day. 

477
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,464
And offer food to the monks. 
And I think wow I've got to live

478
00:23:43,464 --> 00:23:46,035
a good life as a monk. 
I can't just be a scallywag 

479
00:23:46,035 --> 00:23:48,320
monk. 
Right? 

480
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,320
A dodgy character. 
Shady character. 

481
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,167
Kind of hiding my head in shame 
when people aren't around or 

482
00:23:54,167 --> 00:23:56,320
whatever. 
You've got to do a good thing. 

483
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,320
You live up to people's 
expectations. 

484
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,320
When they are kind to you. 
Kindness is incredibly powerful.

485
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,320
And it's a society which 
understands causality more. 

486
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:08,320
Instead of punishing people. 
Instead of fault finding. 

487
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,320
Instead of writing about people 
in the papers. 

488
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,320
Finding scapegoats for all the 
problems in society. 

489
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,320
Firing them. 
Saying you've been a bad person.

490
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,320
Instead search for the root 
problems. 

491
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,320
It's not always going to work. 
We know that. 

492
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,167
Some people are not going to be 
affected by those kind of 

493
00:24:24,167 --> 00:24:26,320
things. 
But very often it will work. 

494
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,070
And if we do that. 
I think we are building up a 

495
00:24:30,070 --> 00:24:32,035
society. 
Which is not always going to 

496
00:24:32,035 --> 00:24:34,320
work. 
Which is more compassionate. 

497
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:38,320
More kind. 
We have a softer heart inside. 

498
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,320
And we don't become so harsh. 
Sometimes I feel disappointed. 

499
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,320
You know you read in the paper 
people's opinions. 

500
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,320
And often it is too harsh in my 
opinion. 

501
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,320
We are not going to create a 
nice society. 

502
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,320
Where we can relax and feel at 
ease. 

503
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:52,320
If we are too harsh with each 
other. 

504
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,464
We need more understanding. 
And with that understanding 

505
00:24:55,464 --> 00:24:58,035
comes the solutions. 
To many of the problems in 

506
00:24:58,035 --> 00:25:00,320
society. 
But anyway. 

507
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,320
That is society. 
Right? 

508
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,320
You can say that with society. 
It's too difficult. 

509
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:12,320
It is too hard. 
I am just one small person. 

510
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,320
I don't know what I can do with 
society. 

511
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:18,320
I think each one of us. 
If we do what is right. 

512
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:20,320
We have an effect on the society
around us. 

513
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,320
So it will help. 
But really even more powerful. 

514
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,035
Than looking at society as such.
Is to embrace the idea of 

515
00:25:28,035 --> 00:25:30,320
unreliability. 
And impermanence. 

516
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,320
In our own lives. 
This is even more powerful. 

517
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:38,320
And again. 
It is very intuitive. 

518
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,070
I am sure you will agree. 
That if you look at your own 

519
00:25:42,070 --> 00:25:43,750
life. 
You will see how unreliable 

520
00:25:43,750 --> 00:25:46,320
things are. 
How impermanent things are. 

521
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,320
How things are always changing 
in your own life. 

522
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:50,320
You know whatever property that 
you own. 

523
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:54,035
Whatever house you have. 
Whatever things you own in your 

524
00:25:54,035 --> 00:25:56,035
life. 
You see how it is always 

525
00:25:56,035 --> 00:25:58,320
deteriorating. 
Always kind of going down. 

526
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:02,320
Always becoming worse. 
You have to kind of prop it up. 

527
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:06,070
To keep it going. 
The house needs a new coat of 

528
00:26:06,070 --> 00:26:07,820
paint. 
Because the paint is falling off

529
00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:09,750
the walls. 
And gradually things are always 

530
00:26:09,750 --> 00:26:12,320
falling apart. 
Around you. 

531
00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,320
I always like to. 
When I look at my. 

532
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,320
I live in this little hut in the
forest. 

533
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:21,656
At the Monastery. 
It is great to live in a little 

534
00:26:21,656 --> 00:26:24,320
hut in the forest. 
I can really recommend that. 

535
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,098
It is a wonderful thing to do. 
But what I like to look at this 

536
00:26:28,098 --> 00:26:30,035
hut. 
It is a double brick concrete 

537
00:26:30,035 --> 00:26:32,320
ceiling. 
Concrete floor. 

538
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:36,320
When you go in there. 
It is like being in this cave. 

539
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,098
Which is part of the idea. 
To have kind of a cave in the 

540
00:26:40,098 --> 00:26:41,552
forest. 
But I also like to look at the 

541
00:26:41,552 --> 00:26:44,320
impermanence of that little hut.
As soon as this hut is built. 

542
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,594
You start to look at it. 
You start to see things kind of 

543
00:26:47,594 --> 00:26:50,320
chipping in the corners. 
A brick is chipped here. 

544
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,070
A brick is getting loose. 
There is a little bit of rust 

545
00:26:54,070 --> 00:26:56,320
perhaps. 
On the steel rafters. 

546
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:58,320
Some of the paint is coming off 
the ceiling. 

547
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:00,320
There is a, you know, the 
gutters aren't working properly.

548
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,320
Whatever it is. 
As soon as it is built. 

549
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,320
You can start to see it falling 
apart. 

550
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,320
And that is this metaphor for 
life. 

551
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,320
The metaphor for everything in 
our lives. 

552
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,894
So notice that. 
Take note of how everything all 

553
00:27:14,894 --> 00:27:18,320
the time is falling apart in 
your life. 

554
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,820
Gradually, gradually eroding. 
Gradually, gradually falling 

555
00:27:21,820 --> 00:27:24,320
apart. 
Right? 

556
00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:28,320
That's life. 
That's how it is. 

557
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,320
You are going to suffer. 
Because if you deny it. 

558
00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,320
You are living in a different 
world from reality. 

559
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,320
If you are living in a different
world from reality. 

560
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,320
It is going to be problematic 
for you. 

561
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,320
There is going to be a clash 
between your ideas. 

562
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,320
And the way the world actually 
is. 

563
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,320
So it is important to be 
realistic. 

564
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,320
This is part of what the idea of
Right View is about. 

565
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:50,320
Being realistic. 
About how the world works. 

566
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:56,320
And of course it is not just the
external things. 

567
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,320
The things in your life which 
are impermanent. 

568
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:00,320
But a lot also of the other 
things in your life. 

569
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:02,320
More of the things that are 
closer to you. 

570
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,320
Your views. 
Your emotions. 

571
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,987
And all of these things. 
The relationships you have in 

572
00:28:07,987 --> 00:28:10,320
life. 
All of that too is impermanent. 

573
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:14,189
Right? 
One of the great things I think 

574
00:28:14,189 --> 00:28:16,320
to remember the impermanence of 
is your views. 

575
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,594
I think this is very powerful. 
I think we often think that our 

576
00:28:19,594 --> 00:28:22,070
views of the world. 
We tend to think that we are 

577
00:28:22,070 --> 00:28:24,320
right. 
Right? 

578
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,320
Fair enough. 
We have to think you are right. 

579
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:30,320
You wouldn't have that view. 
That's fair enough. 

580
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:32,320
But remember that your views 
themselves are conditioned. 

581
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,320
Why do you have a particular 
view? 

582
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:36,320
Why do you come here on a Friday
night? 

583
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,320
Why do you think of yourself as 
a Buddhist? 

584
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,320
Why do you have a certain 
political leaning? 

585
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:44,320
Right? 
Well you think it's right. 

586
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,320
But remember they are 
conditioned. 

587
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,720
These views exist because of how
this network of conditions has 

588
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,320
given rise to them. 
They are not really solid. 

589
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,320
They are not absolute truths as 
such. 

590
00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,320
It depends on how you look at 
things. 

591
00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,570
Look at things slightly 
differently and you stop being a

592
00:28:59,570 --> 00:29:00,320
Buddhist and you become a 
Christian. 

593
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:03,820
Right? 
It's not such a massive change 

594
00:29:03,820 --> 00:29:05,570
in outlook. 
I wouldn't recommend it but 

595
00:29:05,570 --> 00:29:10,320
sometimes it happens. 
So, and remember that. 

596
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:14,820
Because when you remember that 
it makes you a little bit more 

597
00:29:14,820 --> 00:29:18,320
humble about your views. 
I remember when I was young. 

598
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:22,320
You know, I'm now over 50. 
But I remember when I was in my 

599
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:24,320
kind of teenage years, in my 
early twenties. 

600
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,876
Wow, I was so sure of myself. 
I thought I knew exactly how the

601
00:29:27,876 --> 00:29:28,654
world is. 
Right? 

602
00:29:28,654 --> 00:29:31,210
This is the right way. 
Everybody else is wrong. 

603
00:29:31,210 --> 00:29:33,987
I know what it's like. 
And I feel slightly embarrassed 

604
00:29:33,987 --> 00:29:35,922
now. 
But thinking about that, I feel 

605
00:29:35,922 --> 00:29:38,320
cheap as I was really stupid in 
those days. 

606
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,850
And now I see over the last 30 
years how my views have kind of 

607
00:29:41,850 --> 00:29:43,820
changed completely. 
In those days I wasn't a 

608
00:29:43,820 --> 00:29:46,320
Buddhist even. 
I was kind of nothing really. 

609
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,320
And then gradually now I'm a 
Buddhist. 

610
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,320
My political views have changed.
Everything has changed so much 

611
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,320
in that period of time. 
So remember that. 

612
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,320
Your views are impermanent. 
They are unreliable. 

613
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:02,320
They are always changing. 
Yes, they feel true to you. 

614
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,723
But remember when somebody 
challenges you that they are 

615
00:30:04,723 --> 00:30:06,320
not, they are only conditioned 
phenomena. 

616
00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:10,655
It makes you a bit more humble. 
It makes you more able to listen

617
00:30:10,655 --> 00:30:13,412
when somebody else is speaking. 
It makes you not so confident 

618
00:30:13,412 --> 00:30:15,876
about everything you believe in.
And that, I think, is a very 

619
00:30:15,876 --> 00:30:18,168
good thing. 
Too much confidence, I think, is

620
00:30:18,168 --> 00:30:20,320
a sign of ignorance in our 
lives. 

621
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,320
Humility about our views. 
Humility about our beliefs. 

622
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,750
Humility about our understanding
of the world is a positive and a

623
00:30:27,750 --> 00:30:30,320
good thing. 
So that already is very good. 

624
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,320
It means that there are more 
clashes. 

625
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,180
We have less arguments with 
people because we have more 

626
00:30:35,180 --> 00:30:38,465
humility about these things. 
Another idea which we often 

627
00:30:38,465 --> 00:30:42,320
cling to, of course, is the idea
of Buddhism. 

628
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,320
You know, you are perhaps a 
Buddhist. 

629
00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:47,465
I don't know, probably some here
today who don't really consider 

630
00:30:47,465 --> 00:30:50,720
themselves a Buddhist. 
But let's say that you are 

631
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,320
interested in Buddhist 
teachings. 

632
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,320
Let's say you consider yourself 
a Buddhist. 

633
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:58,655
Right? 
And then you look at the state 

634
00:30:58,655 --> 00:31:01,432
of Buddhism in the world. 
And sometimes you think, gee, 

635
00:31:01,432 --> 00:31:04,320
Buddhism is going downhill. 
Right? 

636
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,320
Right here in Perth it's quite 
strong, it's going very well. 

637
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,800
But if you kind of look at the 
general trend of Buddhism, you 

638
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,320
kind of think, wow, this is 
looking scary. 

639
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,320
I don't know where this is 
heading. 

640
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,180
How many more generations we 
have left and maybe Buddhism 

641
00:31:15,180 --> 00:31:19,749
will be completely gone. 
Now, what is our response to 

642
00:31:19,749 --> 00:31:22,320
that? 
When you see that unreliability,

643
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,178
even of something which is maybe
so close to you, which is so 

644
00:31:27,178 --> 00:31:30,168
important to your life, 
something that gives your life a

645
00:31:30,168 --> 00:31:32,320
sense of direction, a sense of 
meaning. 

646
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:35,900
That's what Buddhism is to me. 
It's something that gives my 

647
00:31:35,900 --> 00:31:39,375
life a very clear sense of 
direction and a very powerful 

648
00:31:39,375 --> 00:31:42,168
sense of meaning. 
I feel my life is very 

649
00:31:42,168 --> 00:31:44,892
meaningful, not precisely 
because I'm a Buddhist, and also

650
00:31:44,892 --> 00:31:47,750
perhaps because I'm a monastic. 
But these two things obviously 

651
00:31:47,750 --> 00:31:49,594
go together. 
So what if this thing which is 

652
00:31:49,594 --> 00:31:52,320
so important to me, is not so 
important to me? 

653
00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:56,320
Is it permanent? 
What should I do? 

654
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,398
And of course one response, and 
this is one of the responses 

655
00:31:59,398 --> 00:32:02,320
that you see around the world, 
one response is to say, well, 

656
00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,320
this Buddhism is unreliable, I 
will look to the next Buddha. 

657
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,320
The next Buddha is probably 
coming soon. 

658
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,320
That is what I'm going to 
worship. 

659
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,988
Because then I'm worshipping 
something, I'm honoring 

660
00:32:12,988 --> 00:32:15,322
something that is certain. 
Because we all know that the 

661
00:32:15,322 --> 00:32:17,987
future Buddha will come one day.
Some people call this future 

662
00:32:17,987 --> 00:32:22,320
Buddha, Buddha Maitreya, right? 
So Buddha Maitreya will come. 

663
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,412
I will worship this new savior, 
and then I will get the 

664
00:32:25,412 --> 00:32:26,320
teachings directly from this 
Buddha. 

665
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:28,320
Now I feel kind of a bit in the 
dark. 

666
00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,168
There's no Buddha around, right?
What a wonderful thing to get 

667
00:32:32,168 --> 00:32:34,320
the teaching directly from the 
Buddha himself. 

668
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:38,820
So forget about Buddhism now, 
it's all over anyway, and let's 

669
00:32:38,820 --> 00:32:41,987
kind of look into the future and
worship the future Buddha 

670
00:32:41,987 --> 00:32:45,120
instead. 
And unfortunately, you see a lot

671
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:46,320
of that happening around the 
world. 

672
00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:51,120
You see these Buddha statues 
being built, you know, in so 

673
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:52,320
many different places in the 
world. 

674
00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,987
These enormous Buddha statues 
costing tens of millions of 

675
00:32:55,987 --> 00:32:58,320
dollars, sometimes hundreds of 
millions of dollars. 

676
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,464
Enormous things. 
Sometimes they have shopping 

677
00:33:01,464 --> 00:33:04,320
centers inside, right? 
That shows you how... 

678
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:08,320
That gives you some idea how 
dodgy it is, right? 

679
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:14,606
And this is how a large part of 
the Buddhist population around 

680
00:33:14,606 --> 00:33:18,720
the world is spending their time
honoring, worshipping some 

681
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:22,320
future Buddha that we don't know
anything about. 

682
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,654
Yes, there will of course be a 
future Buddha, because future 

683
00:33:27,654 --> 00:33:30,320
Buddhas, Buddha is just a 
natural phenomenon. 

684
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,320
Every now and again somebody 
reaches awakening through the 

685
00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,098
right practice, through the 
right way of looking at the 

686
00:33:36,098 --> 00:33:37,820
world. 
So every now and again there 

687
00:33:37,820 --> 00:33:40,320
will be a Buddha arising in the 
world. 

688
00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,320
But the next Buddha, when is it 
going to be? 

689
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,320
We don't know when it's going to
be. 

690
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,320
Are we going to be around when 
this Buddha arises? 

691
00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,606
We have no idea. 
But if there is a Buddha, would 

692
00:33:52,606 --> 00:33:56,320
you recognize him as a Buddha? 
Probably not, right? 

693
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,320
You probably dismiss him, yeah, 
yeah, whatever. 

694
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,750
You see this in one of the 
suttas, one of the discourses of

695
00:34:01,750 --> 00:34:04,320
the Buddha. 
This is exactly what happens. 

696
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:08,543
There is this disciple there, 
this Brahmin who talks, and 

697
00:34:08,543 --> 00:34:11,987
somebody wants to show him the 
new Buddha who has arisen in the

698
00:34:11,987 --> 00:34:14,719
world. 
And he says, yeah, whatever, not

699
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:18,320
interested in that nonsense that
this Buddha is talking about. 

700
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:22,654
So these are the problems. 
But we have to say, this 

701
00:34:22,654 --> 00:34:25,570
possible Buddha of the future, 
we worship something we don't 

702
00:34:25,570 --> 00:34:28,320
know anything about. 
It's madness. 

703
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,987
It's absolutely crazy. 
We have the beautiful teachings 

704
00:34:31,987 --> 00:34:35,320
now. 
What impermanence, what 

705
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,431
unreliability, rather should 
teach us is not to look towards 

706
00:34:39,431 --> 00:34:42,987
something in the future we don't
know anything about, but rather 

707
00:34:42,987 --> 00:34:47,120
it should tell us that we have 
the teaching now, at this 

708
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,320
moment, this day, this life, it 
is all available to us. 

709
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,654
Today is my opportunity. 
Today is my opportunity to be 

710
00:34:53,654 --> 00:34:55,520
kind to somebody. 
Today is my opportunity to say 

711
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:57,654
something nice to somebody. 
Today is my opportunity to have 

712
00:34:57,654 --> 00:34:59,654
a kind thought. 
Today is my opportunity to have 

713
00:34:59,654 --> 00:35:01,570
a kind thought. 
To practice these teachings in 

714
00:35:01,570 --> 00:35:05,120
the right way. 
This is the right way of dealing

715
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,320
with that unreliability. 
Not by worshipping something 

716
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,178
which is completely uncertain in
the future. which is completely 

717
00:35:11,178 --> 00:35:14,320
uncertain in the future. 
And also, I think personally, 

718
00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:17,321
when we have these amazing 
teachings of the Buddha, it is a

719
00:35:17,321 --> 00:35:22,320
lack of gratitude to the Buddha.
To our Buddha. 

720
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,320
The Buddha who is already arisen
in the world. 

721
00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,321
It is a lack of gratitude 
towards him when we go 

722
00:35:27,321 --> 00:35:30,320
worshipping something else which
we have no idea about. 

723
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,320
These wonderful teachings are 
there. 

724
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,594
This very beautiful, peaceful 
man who lived in India two and a

725
00:35:35,594 --> 00:35:38,035
half thousand years old. 
Two and a half thousand years 

726
00:35:38,035 --> 00:35:41,320
ago. 
You can imagine him in your 

727
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,720
mind's eye. 
I like this kind of idea of 

728
00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:45,776
imagining the Buddha. 
You see him in the forest in the

729
00:35:45,776 --> 00:35:48,320
north of India sitting at the 
root of a tree. 

730
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,320
He looks like an ordinary man, 
right? 

731
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,654
And then you approach him and 
you come into this presence of 

732
00:35:54,654 --> 00:35:57,987
somebody who is so peaceful. 
Somebody who doesn't talk very 

733
00:35:57,987 --> 00:36:00,820
much. 
But then when you engage this 

734
00:36:00,820 --> 00:36:04,320
person in conversation, you feel
a sense of profound compassion, 

735
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,320
understanding, wisdom. 
It's powerful. 

736
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,320
Just imagine that two and a half
thousand years ago. 

737
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,987
He is the one, this Buddha, who 
bequeathed us all these 

738
00:36:15,987 --> 00:36:18,320
teachings that we now have 
today. 

739
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,820
They are available in the 
library right here at the Paloka

740
00:36:21,820 --> 00:36:24,035
Center. 
Go there, read some of those 

741
00:36:24,035 --> 00:36:26,035
teachings. 
They are very powerful and very 

742
00:36:26,035 --> 00:36:28,543
beautiful. 
And when you remember that, you 

743
00:36:28,543 --> 00:36:30,320
feel a sense of gratitude 
towards this person. 

744
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,820
Somebody with a tremendous 
insight into the human 

745
00:36:33,820 --> 00:36:36,320
condition, into what it is to be
human. 

746
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:40,320
And then, I think, that is when 
you are on the right track. 

747
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:44,320
Forget about the future Buddha. 
If there is a future Buddha, 

748
00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:46,320
allow that Buddha to come when 
time is right. 

749
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:48,320
And then we can talk about that 
Buddha. 

750
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:52,892
Not now. 
So this is some, again, ideas of

751
00:36:52,892 --> 00:36:56,320
how to deal with this idea of 
impermanence in our life. 

752
00:36:56,320 --> 00:37:00,892
It's important to grasp these 
things in the right way, and not

753
00:37:00,892 --> 00:37:06,320
to be silly about it. 
And so all of these things, 

754
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,920
right, in our life, our 
relationships, all our 

755
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:14,570
possessions, all our ideas, all 
the things we take up, our 

756
00:37:14,570 --> 00:37:17,654
status in society, the religion 
we have, everything is 

757
00:37:17,654 --> 00:37:20,320
impermanent. 
Everything is unreliable. 

758
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,320
So what can we do about this? 
What should we do? 

759
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:28,320
How can we live our life to deal
with this in a better way? 

760
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,570
Well, the first thing that we 
perhaps need to ask, is there 

761
00:37:31,570 --> 00:37:35,920
anything at all we can rely on? 
If everything is always 

762
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,320
changing, where can we stand? 
What can we do? 

763
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,987
It's one of those interesting 
things in Buddhism, is this idea

764
00:37:41,987 --> 00:37:45,320
that when you really understand 
impermanence in a profound way, 

765
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:49,520
in a profound sense, it is as if
you understand that it's as if 

766
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:53,820
you're saying, you're standing 
on the carpet that somebody is 

767
00:37:53,820 --> 00:37:56,320
holding, and somebody is going 
to pull out from under your feet

768
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,320
at any one time, right? 
When somebody pulls out the 

769
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:02,320
carpet from under your feet, you
fall, you stumble. 

770
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,820
And this is life. 
Life is like that, because of 

771
00:38:05,820 --> 00:38:08,820
the uncertainty of life, because
everything is always unreliable,

772
00:38:08,820 --> 00:38:13,820
it's as if the carpet is always 
being pulled out from under your

773
00:38:13,820 --> 00:38:15,987
feet. 
You will stumble, because you 

774
00:38:15,987 --> 00:38:19,320
are attached to things, those 
things you are attached to will 

775
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,988
eventually show their 
unreliability and impermanence, 

776
00:38:22,988 --> 00:38:26,320
and then the carpet will be 
pulled away. 

777
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,920
So if the carpet is always being
pulled away, if everything is so

778
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,489
unreliable, what can we do? 
And the answer of course is, and

779
00:38:33,489 --> 00:38:38,320
this is one of the reasons why 
the Buddha's teaching is called 

780
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:42,988
a refuge, because it is 
precisely a refuge from the 

781
00:38:42,988 --> 00:38:46,070
unreliability of the world. 
It's one of the few places you 

782
00:38:46,070 --> 00:38:49,987
can go, and you can get some 
guidance for how to deal with 

783
00:38:49,987 --> 00:38:52,035
this. 
You go to the teaching of 

784
00:38:52,035 --> 00:38:55,987
Buddhism, you go to wherever 
these teachings are found, and 

785
00:38:55,987 --> 00:39:00,320
there you can come to understand
how to deal with these things. 

786
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:04,320
This is why, one of the main 
reasons why we have this. 

787
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,035
And the first thing that the 
Buddha has to say about this is 

788
00:39:08,035 --> 00:39:12,320
that just reflecting on it 
itself is very powerful. 

789
00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:18,320
So remember to remind yourself 
of the problem of impermanence. 

790
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,606
Remember that things really are 
impermanent. 

791
00:39:20,606 --> 00:39:22,320
Remember this in your daily 
life. 

792
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:27,654
The Buddha quite specifically 
says that we need to remember 

793
00:39:27,654 --> 00:39:31,654
that everything that is dear and
agreeable to me will become 

794
00:39:31,654 --> 00:39:34,320
otherwise, will become 
different. 

795
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,654
Everything that is dear and 
agreeable to you will change, 

796
00:39:37,654 --> 00:39:40,320
right? 
This is the first thing. 

797
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,178
And when you do that, every time
you reflect like that, every 

798
00:39:43,178 --> 00:39:46,820
time you take that a little bit 
deeper than before, and you 

799
00:39:46,820 --> 00:39:48,606
remind yourself of all the 
things, right? 

800
00:39:48,606 --> 00:39:50,720
Everything. 
So you can start to understand 

801
00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:56,320
the circle of things that you 
that are unreliable. 

802
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,543
Start with the easy stuff so you
don't feel too challenged and 

803
00:39:58,543 --> 00:40:00,320
gradually move out to the more 
difficult stuff. 

804
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:05,520
But when you think of that you 
start gradually to detach a 

805
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,320
little bit. 
You don't hold onto those things

806
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,987
so strongly anymore because you 
understand that if you do, it 

807
00:40:11,987 --> 00:40:15,570
will give rise to suffering. 
But there's a very important 

808
00:40:15,570 --> 00:40:19,750
counterbalance to that because 
if you do detach from many of 

809
00:40:19,750 --> 00:40:23,654
the things in the world, you 
have to find some other place to

810
00:40:23,654 --> 00:40:26,320
find security, to find 
happiness. 

811
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:29,820
If all our happiness is found in
our belongings and our 

812
00:40:29,820 --> 00:40:32,988
relationships and you see those 
things as impermanent, you see 

813
00:40:32,988 --> 00:40:36,320
those things as problematic, you
have to find your happiness 

814
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:40,320
somewhere else. 
That is where the teachings of 

815
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,720
kindness, of morality, of 
goodness, of thinking kind 

816
00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:48,320
words, of doing meditation 
practice, where all of that 

817
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,988
comes in. 
Because every time you do 

818
00:40:50,988 --> 00:40:54,606
something kind, every time you 
avoid doing something bad, every

819
00:40:54,606 --> 00:40:58,035
time you have a kind thought and
you develop your mind in 

820
00:40:58,035 --> 00:41:00,987
compassion and understanding of 
the people around you, you're 

821
00:41:00,987 --> 00:41:05,120
building up happiness, you're 
building up peace, you're 

822
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:08,820
building up contentment inside 
of you, you're building up a 

823
00:41:08,820 --> 00:41:12,820
sense of independence. 
And this is really a very 

824
00:41:12,820 --> 00:41:16,320
important part of the Buddhist 
path, this independence that you

825
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,320
start to feel inside of you 
after a while. 

826
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:22,035
The world doesn't matter so much
anymore, the world can go this 

827
00:41:22,035 --> 00:41:25,570
way or that way, but I still 
have this inside of me, this 

828
00:41:25,570 --> 00:41:28,988
sense of solidity, this sense of
freedom from the things around 

829
00:41:28,988 --> 00:41:31,321
me. 
This is what you're building up.

830
00:41:31,321 --> 00:41:33,987
So these things have to go 
together, right? 

831
00:41:33,987 --> 00:41:38,988
Reflecting on the one hand, yes,
things, everything that is dear 

832
00:41:38,988 --> 00:41:42,320
and agreeable to me, what are 
these things, right? 

833
00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:46,320
Count them up, they are all 
unreliable. 

834
00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,320
One side of the story, the other
side. 

835
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,920
Act in a good way, and when you 
do those things together, you 

836
00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:55,120
act in a kind and compassionate 
way in the world, and you 

837
00:41:55,120 --> 00:42:00,988
reflect in the wise way, these 
two become two sides of a very 

838
00:42:00,988 --> 00:42:04,820
powerful way of living. 
And it gradually moves you in 

839
00:42:04,820 --> 00:42:08,320
the right direction. 
But sometimes I know people say,

840
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:13,070
it is difficult, how do we 
really bring on board, how do we

841
00:42:13,070 --> 00:42:16,654
really get a good feeling for 
this idea of impermanence, that 

842
00:42:16,654 --> 00:42:20,654
things are unreliable, how can 
we actually get a real gut 

843
00:42:20,654 --> 00:42:23,750
feeling for these things, right?
It's important that these things

844
00:42:23,750 --> 00:42:25,654
become emotional. 
This shouldn't just be 

845
00:42:25,654 --> 00:42:28,320
intellectual ideas that kind of 
swirl around our head. 

846
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,320
How does it go deep inside of 
us? 

847
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:35,820
And one of the ways of doing 
that is to take notice when in 

848
00:42:35,820 --> 00:42:38,320
your life something drastic 
happens. 

849
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:42,988
At a certain point we all 
experience impermanence in a 

850
00:42:42,988 --> 00:42:46,988
very powerful way, right? 
Those are the times to really 

851
00:42:46,988 --> 00:42:50,320
reflect on these things. 
Wow, it really is impermanent. 

852
00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,987
When those things happen 
sometimes we just end up 

853
00:42:53,987 --> 00:42:57,654
grieving, we end up becoming sad
because somebody dear to us has 

854
00:42:57,654 --> 00:43:00,988
passed away or is very ill, some
very difficult thing has 

855
00:43:00,988 --> 00:43:03,820
happened in our life. 
We end up just grieving and 

856
00:43:03,820 --> 00:43:08,320
being sad and we forget to use 
this as an opportunity to also 

857
00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:11,210
grow in wisdom. 
Sure, of course, very often 

858
00:43:11,210 --> 00:43:15,070
there is going to be some grief 
and sadness, but also remember 

859
00:43:15,070 --> 00:43:18,320
that there is a way of dealing 
with this from the point of view

860
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:20,320
of Dhamma, from the point of 
view of Buddhism. 

861
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:24,320
Reflect on this. 
Remember this is a fact of life.

862
00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:28,320
This is the way it is. 
And when you take that on board,

863
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:31,750
when it actually is happening to
you, right here, right now, it 

864
00:43:31,750 --> 00:43:35,520
becomes very powerful. 
We had a very small example of 

865
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,320
this here for the whole Buddhist
society. 

866
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:42,988
That was just a week ago. 
And some of you may know that we

867
00:43:42,988 --> 00:43:47,120
had a very senior Sri Lankan 
monk known as Bhante Gunaratana.

868
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:51,321
He is very beloved around the 
world, a very very old now, 

869
00:43:51,321 --> 00:43:55,321
almost coming to 90 years old. 
When kind of monks and nuns 

870
00:43:55,321 --> 00:43:58,606
become very old, wow, they 
become so venerated, right? 

871
00:43:58,606 --> 00:44:02,035
People really love the really 
old monks and nuns for a good 

872
00:44:02,035 --> 00:44:04,098
reason. 
You have been a monk for a long 

873
00:44:04,098 --> 00:44:05,720
time. 
You have got a lot of wisdom. 

874
00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:08,320
You have shown that you have 
practiced this life well. 

875
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:10,320
Otherwise, you wouldn't have 
lasted so long. 

876
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,892
And he has been a monk for like 
70 years or something, right? 

877
00:44:12,892 --> 00:44:16,320
70 years as a monk. 
You know, I am not even close to

878
00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:21,570
getting that old myself. 
But, so he was supposed to come 

879
00:44:21,570 --> 00:44:24,320
to Perth, right? 
But of course, you are getting 

880
00:44:24,320 --> 00:44:27,120
towards 90 years old. 
It is very uncertain. 

881
00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:29,322
And we all thought he was going 
to come. 

882
00:44:29,322 --> 00:44:31,520
He was going to lead a weekend 
retreat here. 

883
00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:35,654
But then just before the retreat
is to happen, about five or six 

884
00:44:35,654 --> 00:44:39,520
days before, we get to hear, we 
get an email saying, sorry, he 

885
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,035
can't come. 
He has been hospitalized in Sri 

886
00:44:42,035 --> 00:44:43,820
Lanka. 
Supposed to come from Sri Lanka.

887
00:44:43,820 --> 00:44:47,210
He actually lives in the US, but
he was visiting Sri Lanka at the

888
00:44:47,210 --> 00:44:48,543
time. 
He has been hospitalized and 

889
00:44:48,543 --> 00:44:50,320
told not to travel anywhere for 
a week. 

890
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:52,320
Because his health isn't quite 
up to it. 

891
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:56,070
Right? 
And that was because he is a 

892
00:44:56,070 --> 00:44:58,320
very beloved in Buddhist 
circles. 

893
00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,178
Many people in the Buddhist 
society here were looking 

894
00:45:01,178 --> 00:45:03,750
forward to meeting him. 
He has been here before. 

895
00:45:03,750 --> 00:45:06,320
Last time he was here was maybe 
20 years ago or something. 

896
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,048
I remember meeting him myself 
when he was here. 

897
00:45:09,048 --> 00:45:12,320
He is a very nice, very, very 
wonderful old monk. 

898
00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,320
And teaches very good 
meditation. 

899
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,987
And people were very 
disappointed. 

900
00:45:16,987 --> 00:45:21,920
But then, of course, the way, 
the right way, the right 

901
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:25,820
attitude when that happens is to
remember of course it has to be 

902
00:45:25,820 --> 00:45:28,320
like this. 
This is the nature of existence.

903
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:30,987
It's unreliable. 
It's impermanent. 

904
00:45:30,987 --> 00:45:34,070
It's uncertain. 
You have no idea what's going to

905
00:45:34,070 --> 00:45:36,988
happen next. 
I was foolish to think that he 

906
00:45:36,988 --> 00:45:38,320
was going to come in the first 
place. 

907
00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,520
We all fall into that trap all 
the time. 

908
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,320
It's impossible to avoid falling
into that trap. 

909
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,820
Occasionally you may avoid it, 
but generally speaking you have 

910
00:45:47,820 --> 00:45:51,320
to fall into that trap. 
And then you remind yourself, I 

911
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:54,320
was foolish in thinking that. 
That's what I reminded myself. 

912
00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:58,120
And then initially you feel a 
bit of sadness that he can't 

913
00:45:58,120 --> 00:45:59,750
come. 
But then you let go. 

914
00:45:59,750 --> 00:46:01,820
You think it has to be like 
this. 

915
00:46:01,820 --> 00:46:04,720
He will now probably never come 
back to Perth. 

916
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:08,320
He's just too old. 
We'll never see him again. 

917
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:12,035
And when you take it on board, 
when you remember this is the 

918
00:46:12,035 --> 00:46:15,654
nature of life and it sinks into
you, something beautiful 

919
00:46:15,654 --> 00:46:18,320
happens. 
You're letting go. 

920
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:20,820
Right? 
You are letting go you 

921
00:46:20,820 --> 00:46:24,320
understand not only is this true
for this particular situation, 

922
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,654
this is a truth for life in 
general. 

923
00:46:27,654 --> 00:46:30,988
This is always the case. 
When you see one example like 

924
00:46:30,988 --> 00:46:34,320
that, it has ramifications for 
your whole life. 

925
00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:36,320
The letting go becomes quite 
big. 

926
00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:39,920
And when you let go, something 
very amazing and powerful 

927
00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:43,520
happens when you let go. 
When you let go, every time you 

928
00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:46,320
let go, you feel peaceful as a 
consequence. 

929
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,920
Why? 
Because the opposite of letting 

930
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:53,920
go is holding on. 
The opposite of letting go is 

931
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,035
attaching. 
The opposite of letting go is 

932
00:46:56,035 --> 00:46:58,606
desires. 
When you let go, all of that is 

933
00:46:58,606 --> 00:47:00,720
gone. 
When you have no desires, when 

934
00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:04,098
you have no attachments, when 
you have no holding on to the 

935
00:47:04,098 --> 00:47:07,320
things of the world, you 
naturally feel peaceful. 

936
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:11,520
Desire, craving is an unpeaceful
state of mind. 

937
00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:15,321
When that is gone, you feel 
peaceful according to nature. 

938
00:47:15,321 --> 00:47:19,178
It just happens. 
This is the power of letting go.

939
00:47:19,178 --> 00:47:22,606
This is the power of 
understanding impermanence in 

940
00:47:22,606 --> 00:47:25,120
the right way. 
So it's a blessing, right? 

941
00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:30,320
It is not suffering to go around
thinking about impermanence and 

942
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:33,654
unreliability. 
It's not, oh no, everything is 

943
00:47:33,654 --> 00:47:36,035
so unreliable. 
My friends are going to pass 

944
00:47:36,035 --> 00:47:36,720
away. 
No. 

945
00:47:36,720 --> 00:47:40,987
When you think about in the 
right way, it's a beautiful and 

946
00:47:40,987 --> 00:47:44,320
wonderful opportunity to let go 
of the world around you. 

947
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,654
And you start to feel a 
beautiful sense of peace inside 

948
00:47:47,654 --> 00:47:50,070
of you. 
This is the real power of this 

949
00:47:50,070 --> 00:47:52,606
teaching. 
And I would recommend you when 

950
00:47:52,606 --> 00:47:56,070
you come here to the Dhammaloka 
Center, or if you go to Jhana 

951
00:47:56,070 --> 00:47:59,654
Grove or wherever it is, and you
do some meditation practice for 

952
00:47:59,654 --> 00:48:04,320
yourself, see that impermanence 
in action inside of yourself. 

953
00:48:04,320 --> 00:48:06,654
Right? 
You sit down for a while, you 

954
00:48:06,654 --> 00:48:10,320
start to feel more peaceful. 
Why is that? 

955
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,320
The reason is because you have 
let go of stuff. 

956
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:16,892
That's basically the reason. 
And the more peaceful you feel, 

957
00:48:16,892 --> 00:48:19,178
the more stuff you have let go 
of. 

958
00:48:19,178 --> 00:48:22,654
The less things you are thinking
of, it means you have let go of 

959
00:48:22,654 --> 00:48:25,654
those things. 
And when you start to get very, 

960
00:48:25,654 --> 00:48:28,320
very peaceful, it's like you're 
just inside of yourself. 

961
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:32,035
Inside your own little cocoon. 
It's as if the whole world 

962
00:48:32,035 --> 00:48:36,035
outside you has disappeared. 
You know that feeling when that 

963
00:48:36,035 --> 00:48:38,320
happens? 
It feels so safe inside of you. 

964
00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:42,320
This is your real home, right? 
This is where you really belong.

965
00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:46,988
Safe inside of yourself. 
And then, again, you understand 

966
00:48:46,988 --> 00:48:50,720
the power of impermanence. 
All of those things that you 

967
00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:53,876
were holding onto before, all of
those things that were important

968
00:48:53,876 --> 00:48:57,070
to you, you have let go of them.
They are gone. 

969
00:48:57,070 --> 00:49:01,654
And how do you feel? 
Much, much, much better as a 

970
00:49:01,654 --> 00:49:04,320
consequence. 
You start to see that this idea 

971
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:09,070
of things fading away, things 
being impermanent, when it is 

972
00:49:09,070 --> 00:49:12,035
applied in the right way, is an 
incredible blessing in your 

973
00:49:12,035 --> 00:49:14,320
life. 
It is something very beautiful, 

974
00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:18,070
something very powerful. 
And that is the real lesson of 

975
00:49:18,070 --> 00:49:20,320
impermanence. 
It is how we look at things, 

976
00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:23,654
that matters. 
If we look at impermanence in 

977
00:49:23,654 --> 00:49:26,320
the right way, instead of being 
a problem that we have to fight 

978
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:29,432
in society, that we have to 
fight to stay alive because we 

979
00:49:29,432 --> 00:49:33,321
don't want to die, instead we 
understand this is nature. 

980
00:49:33,321 --> 00:49:36,320
We let go. 
We become peaceful. 

981
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:39,178
And our life takes a turn for 
the better. 

982
00:49:39,178 --> 00:49:42,320
And we start to look at life in 
a different way. 

983
00:49:42,320 --> 00:49:44,320
And it becomes very, very 
powerful for us. 

984
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:50,035
Okay. 
That is the talk for this 

985
00:49:50,035 --> 00:49:58,320
evening on impermanence. 
Okay. 

986
00:49:58,320 --> 00:50:02,988
So, are there any questions or 
comments or anything else, 

987
00:50:02,988 --> 00:50:04,320
anything anybody would like to 
say? 

988
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:10,035
There is, of course, a very 
well-known teaching that often 

989
00:50:10,035 --> 00:50:13,520
is mentioned here at this time, 
is that if you want to be wise 

990
00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,320
in the future life, you should 
ask questions, right? 

991
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:21,987
That is the way to do it. 
Anybody want to say anything 

992
00:50:21,987 --> 00:50:23,520
here? 
Oh, over there. 

993
00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:24,320
Okay. 
Great. 

994
00:50:24,320 --> 00:50:26,320
Hi. 
Thank you for the great talk. 

995
00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:34,320
Is the paradox of impermanence 
that there is a permanence of 

996
00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:38,320
peace? 
There is permanence of peace? 

997
00:50:38,320 --> 00:50:42,320
Or being able to return to that 
place? 

998
00:50:42,320 --> 00:50:46,320
Is there any impermanence or 
impermanence? 

999
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:48,320
Okay. 
Okay. 

1000
00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:53,520
There isn't really, because that
peace itself is a conditioned 

1001
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:55,820
thing, right? 
So you, the reason why you 

1002
00:50:55,820 --> 00:50:58,320
become peaceful, you know, you 
might come here to the 

1003
00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:01,320
Dhammaloka Center every week, 
perhaps, take part in the 

1004
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:03,876
meditation, all these things, 
and one thing that you find out 

1005
00:51:03,876 --> 00:51:06,766
is that some weeks, you actually
become quite peaceful. 

1006
00:51:06,766 --> 00:51:08,320
Other weeks, you're all over the
place. 

1007
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:10,320
The mind wants to think about 
all kinds of stuff. 

1008
00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:14,320
It is so variable, right? 
And the reason why it works in 

1009
00:51:14,320 --> 00:51:18,570
certain weeks is because you are
able to touch those right causes

1010
00:51:18,570 --> 00:51:20,320
and conditions that give rise to
peace. 

1011
00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:22,820
So peace itself is a conditioned
phenomenon. 

1012
00:51:22,820 --> 00:51:27,520
It happens because you're 
tapping in to the right things 

1013
00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:30,320
that actually give rise to this 
thing in the first place. 

1014
00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:34,320
So is there any permanence in 
impermanence? 

1015
00:51:34,320 --> 00:51:36,684
It's interesting. 
Is anything at all permanent in 

1016
00:51:36,684 --> 00:51:38,139
this world? 
Is there anything we can rely 

1017
00:51:38,139 --> 00:51:40,320
on? 
And the Buddha actually says 

1018
00:51:40,320 --> 00:51:42,320
there are certain things that 
are permanent. 

1019
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:45,920
And the things that are 
permanent are really the ways 

1020
00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:50,320
that nature functions, the laws 
of nature are really permanent. 

1021
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:54,320
So impermanence itself is, if 
you like, permanent. 

1022
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:56,820
Things are always impermanent, 
right? 

1023
00:51:56,820 --> 00:52:00,606
This is the way it is. 
Another thing which the Buddha 

1024
00:52:00,606 --> 00:52:03,920
says is permanent is this thing 
which is called dependent 

1025
00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:07,464
arising, dependent origination, 
which shows you how things arise

1026
00:52:07,464 --> 00:52:09,920
in the world. 
In particular, how suffering 

1027
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:13,820
arises in the world based on 
delusion and lack of 

1028
00:52:13,820 --> 00:52:16,320
understanding. 
So some of the laws of how 

1029
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:20,320
things work are always there, 
always the same laws. 

1030
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:25,654
But actually, the experiences we
have, the experience of reality 

1031
00:52:25,654 --> 00:52:32,320
is always impermanent. 
Yes? 

1032
00:52:32,320 --> 00:52:37,820
Just a question. 
You talked about being kind and 

1033
00:52:37,820 --> 00:52:41,120
noticing conditioning in 
somebody. 

1034
00:52:41,120 --> 00:52:45,654
You know, noticing the condition
that has caused someone to be 

1035
00:52:45,654 --> 00:52:50,320
cruel or difficult or even 
difficult to you. 

1036
00:52:50,320 --> 00:52:54,035
One of the things I've found is 
even though I can see the 

1037
00:52:54,035 --> 00:52:57,654
conditioning, sometimes there's 
a need to be right in that 

1038
00:52:57,654 --> 00:53:00,320
situation. 
Sure. 

1039
00:53:00,320 --> 00:53:03,987
But there's the ego or whatever 
just, you know, because this 

1040
00:53:03,987 --> 00:53:10,320
person is, in some way, it's 
affecting you or affecting me, 

1041
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:15,320
it's very hard to sort of lean 
on the compassion because you 

1042
00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:18,320
feel attacked. 
Yes. 

1043
00:53:18,320 --> 00:53:23,120
Indeed. 
And I think it's very important 

1044
00:53:23,120 --> 00:53:26,988
to also bring, remind ourselves 
that we too are conditioned, 

1045
00:53:26,988 --> 00:53:28,892
right? 
You are conditioned as well. 

1046
00:53:28,892 --> 00:53:31,320
And your ability to forgive 
somebody who's been very 

1047
00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:35,320
difficult in your life and not 
to feel right about yourself, 

1048
00:53:35,320 --> 00:53:38,866
you know, you have to understand
that this is probably the way 

1049
00:53:38,866 --> 00:53:41,178
you have to be at that 
particular time because of all 

1050
00:53:41,178 --> 00:53:44,035
those causes and conditions. 
And to forgive somebody who has 

1051
00:53:44,035 --> 00:53:46,320
been very difficult towards you 
is going to take time. 

1052
00:53:46,320 --> 00:53:50,320
And you have to give it time and
you have to allow yourself time.

1053
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:52,320
This is about compassion for 
yourself. 

1054
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:54,320
Don't expect too much of 
yourself either. 

1055
00:53:54,320 --> 00:53:56,988
As long as you're moving in the 
right direction, that's really 

1056
00:53:56,988 --> 00:53:59,750
all you can expect. 
You can't change yourself, bang,

1057
00:53:59,750 --> 00:54:02,320
like this in one moment. 
That's almost impossible. 

1058
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:05,654
That is impossible. 
It's a gradual path, a gradual 

1059
00:54:05,654 --> 00:54:08,320
movement. 
So you too are conditioned. 

1060
00:54:08,320 --> 00:54:10,520
The same compassion 
understanding that you show to 

1061
00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:12,320
other people, you also have to 
show to yourself. 

1062
00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:15,987
You're also part of this. 
But sometimes it's so hard, 

1063
00:54:15,987 --> 00:54:18,070
right? 
Because it feels like we are in 

1064
00:54:18,070 --> 00:54:20,320
charge. 
We are responsible. 

1065
00:54:20,320 --> 00:54:23,820
It's very difficult to fully 
grasp the conditioning of 

1066
00:54:23,820 --> 00:54:26,988
ourselves. 
But that is also a very 

1067
00:54:26,988 --> 00:54:30,070
important part of it. 
So yes, you feel that you are 

1068
00:54:30,070 --> 00:54:31,720
right. 
And that is okay to feel that 

1069
00:54:31,720 --> 00:54:34,320
you are right. 
And that's perfectly, you know, 

1070
00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:36,320
at that time, that's what you 
have to feel. 

1071
00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:38,320
Maybe you are right, for 
goodness sake. 

1072
00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:41,920
Might very well be the case. 
But by understanding your 

1073
00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:44,070
conditioning, by understanding 
the conditioning of the other 

1074
00:54:44,070 --> 00:54:47,070
person and gradually deepening 
that, gradually, gradually, all 

1075
00:54:47,070 --> 00:54:50,320
those things will tend to 
disappear over time. 

1076
00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:54,720
Thank you. 
I guess the good thing is, the 

1077
00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:59,654
positive thing is that in those 
cases I've been aware of the 

1078
00:54:59,654 --> 00:55:01,654
conditioning. 
There's some compassion sneaking

1079
00:55:01,654 --> 00:55:04,320
in there, even in a difficult 
situation. 

1080
00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:08,320
It's just hard to sort of go 
completely with the compassion. 

1081
00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:11,654
Sure, indeed. 
Well done. 

1082
00:55:11,654 --> 00:55:14,320
Good. 
Okay. 

1083
00:55:14,320 --> 00:55:18,320
Okay. 
Um... 

1084
00:55:18,320 --> 00:55:22,320
Anything else? 
Anybody else? 

1085
00:55:22,320 --> 00:55:28,320
Everybody happy? 
Everybody is happy. 

1086
00:55:28,320 --> 00:55:29,520
That's good. 
Okay. 

1087
00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:32,320
Thank you. 
Okay. 

1088
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:34,320
So here we have some questions 
from overseas. 

1089
00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:38,320
This is from Chris from Germany.
This is from Chris from Germany.

1090
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:42,987
I would like to know if 
everything is uncertain and 

1091
00:55:42,987 --> 00:55:47,320
falling apart, how to find hope 
and still stay positive through 

1092
00:55:47,320 --> 00:55:50,070
life? 
Well, this is kind of the point,

1093
00:55:50,070 --> 00:55:52,654
right? 
Just because it is really our 

1094
00:55:52,654 --> 00:55:55,654
attitude to things falling 
apart, which is the most 

1095
00:55:55,654 --> 00:55:58,520
important one. 
And with the right attitude, as 

1096
00:55:58,520 --> 00:56:01,750
I was saying towards the end of 
my talk, it becomes a force for 

1097
00:56:01,750 --> 00:56:04,892
good instead. 
Because it means that you can 

1098
00:56:04,892 --> 00:56:08,320
allow you to let go of things in
the world. 

1099
00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:10,320
This is the beautiful thing 
about that. 

1100
00:56:10,320 --> 00:56:13,820
And you find so much more 
contentment and happiness 

1101
00:56:13,820 --> 00:56:18,320
ultimately by understanding that
impermanence, by embracing it, 

1102
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:20,320
and by trying to fight it all 
the time. 

1103
00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:22,892
Our world is almost about 
fighting impermanence. 

1104
00:56:22,892 --> 00:56:26,320
It's not going to work. 
You have to go with the flow. 

1105
00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:30,035
And then as you go with the 
flow, and you allow things to be

1106
00:56:30,035 --> 00:56:33,120
impermanent, boy, you can find 
so much happiness as a 

1107
00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:36,988
consequence of that. 
And also remember that one of 

1108
00:56:36,988 --> 00:56:40,987
the great things is if you are 
somebody who practices the 

1109
00:56:40,987 --> 00:56:43,654
Buddhist teachings, this is 
precisely what the Buddhist 

1110
00:56:43,654 --> 00:56:46,035
teachings are about. 
They are a refuge from these 

1111
00:56:46,035 --> 00:56:48,987
problems. 
That's why they are called the 

1112
00:56:48,987 --> 00:56:52,320
refuges, right? 
Sadhana, sadhanang in Pali. 

1113
00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:55,654
So you go to the Buddhist 
teachings, if you feel a kind of

1114
00:56:55,654 --> 00:56:58,987
sense of despair, just read what
the Buddha has to say about 

1115
00:56:58,987 --> 00:57:01,654
these things. 
Lift up your spirits, you feel 

1116
00:57:01,654 --> 00:57:03,654
so much better. 
It's not actually a cause for 

1117
00:57:03,654 --> 00:57:04,654
despair at all. 
Why? 

1118
00:57:04,654 --> 00:57:07,320
Because there is a solution. 
There is a way out. 

1119
00:57:07,320 --> 00:57:10,320
There is a way forward. 
Choose the way forward. 

1120
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:13,720
And then the opposite happens. 
What happens is that you feel a 

1121
00:57:13,720 --> 00:57:17,750
sense of meaning, a sense of 
purpose, that there is a place 

1122
00:57:17,750 --> 00:57:20,035
to go. 
A place where you can free 

1123
00:57:20,035 --> 00:57:22,320
yourself from all those 
problems. 

1124
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:27,987
So, no sense to despair. 
Instead, do it in a positive 

1125
00:57:27,987 --> 00:57:29,920
way. 
It's an important question 

1126
00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:34,720
though, so thank you for that. 
This is from Indonesia, from 

1127
00:57:34,720 --> 00:57:38,035
Adri Sentosa in Indonesia. 
If all of this world is 

1128
00:57:38,035 --> 00:57:41,987
suffering, and we should let it 
go, should all of us become 

1129
00:57:41,987 --> 00:57:45,120
monks? 
If everyone is a monk, what is 

1130
00:57:45,120 --> 00:57:50,720
the best way to get rid of it? 
What would the world be if 

1131
00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:53,987
everybody becomes a monk? 
Well, if everybody becomes a 

1132
00:57:53,987 --> 00:57:58,320
monk, great! 
Wonderful! 

1133
00:57:58,320 --> 00:58:01,570
That would be great! 
If everybody wanted to practice 

1134
00:58:01,570 --> 00:58:05,654
the spiritual life to the 
maximum, I think it's a 

1135
00:58:05,654 --> 00:58:08,320
wonderful thing. 
Let everybody become a monk. 

1136
00:58:08,320 --> 00:58:12,320
But I challenge you to try to 
persuade everybody in the world 

1137
00:58:12,320 --> 00:58:16,098
to become a monk. 
It is going to be a very tall 

1138
00:58:16,098 --> 00:58:18,320
task in persuasion to be able to
do that. 

1139
00:58:18,320 --> 00:58:20,320
It's never going to happen, 
right? 

1140
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:25,654
People ask this question often, 
what if everybody becomes a 

1141
00:58:25,654 --> 00:58:28,320
monk? 
But really, it's a non-starter 

1142
00:58:28,320 --> 00:58:30,320
because it's never going to 
happen. 

1143
00:58:30,320 --> 00:58:33,750
We're not going to have 
everybody being monks or nuns in

1144
00:58:33,750 --> 00:58:36,320
this world. 
It just doesn't happen that way.

1145
00:58:36,320 --> 00:58:42,070
So, in a sense, you find this 
already in the Buddhist 

1146
00:58:42,070 --> 00:58:43,987
community. 
The Buddhist community is nicely

1147
00:58:43,987 --> 00:58:47,464
divided between monastics on the
one hand and the lay community 

1148
00:58:47,464 --> 00:58:49,464
on the other. 
They're like two pillars 

1149
00:58:49,464 --> 00:58:52,320
supporting each other. 
That's a wonderful thing. 

1150
00:58:52,320 --> 00:58:54,320
Maybe not everybody should be 
monastics. 

1151
00:58:54,320 --> 00:58:56,320
Maybe not everybody should be 
monks or nuns. 

1152
00:58:56,320 --> 00:59:00,320
It depends, right? 
How committed you are. 

1153
00:59:00,320 --> 00:59:02,320
It depends on your ability to 
practice this path. 

1154
00:59:02,320 --> 00:59:06,320
It depends on the commitments 
you have in lay life. 

1155
00:59:06,320 --> 00:59:09,464
So maybe that isn't the best way
anyway that everybody becomes a 

1156
00:59:09,464 --> 00:59:11,820
monk or nun. 
Maybe some people should stay as

1157
00:59:11,820 --> 00:59:14,320
lay people. 
Maybe that is the fastest path 

1158
00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:18,320
for certain people. 
I don't know. 

1159
00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:20,320
I don't know if monastic life is
well lived. 

1160
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:23,820
It is by far the most powerful 
path because you're fully 

1161
00:59:23,820 --> 00:59:28,320
immersed in these teachings and 
fully immersed in the practice. 

1162
00:59:28,320 --> 00:59:32,320
But I'm very glad we have lay 
people to support us, right? 

1163
00:59:32,320 --> 00:59:34,320
Otherwise we'd be very thin up 
at Bodhinyana Monastery. 

1164
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:36,320
We'd be like a bunch of 
skeletons up there. 

1165
00:59:36,320 --> 00:59:40,320
So it's great to see many of you
coming there. 

1166
00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:42,320
Many of you are regulars up 
there. 

1167
00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:46,320
It's a wonderful thing. 
So we support each other. 

1168
00:59:46,320 --> 00:59:50,320
And remember that if you support
the monastics as a lay person, 

1169
00:59:50,320 --> 00:59:53,654
get some joy out of that, right?
It's a wonderful thing to be 

1170
00:59:53,654 --> 00:59:56,320
able to support the monastic 
community in their practice. 

1171
00:59:56,320 --> 01:00:00,070
It's a wonderful thing for me as
a monastic to support the lay 

1172
01:00:00,070 --> 01:00:04,320
people in their practice. 
We are supporting each other. 

1173
01:00:04,320 --> 01:00:08,320
Isn't that a wonderful thing? 
And when we support each other 

1174
01:00:08,320 --> 01:00:11,920
we grow a very strong and 
powerful Buddhist community as a

1175
01:00:11,920 --> 01:00:13,987
consequence. 
So please don't worry about 

1176
01:00:13,987 --> 01:00:17,987
everybody becoming a monk or nun
because it ain't going to 

1177
01:00:17,987 --> 01:00:20,320
happen. 
Last one. 

1178
01:00:20,320 --> 01:00:25,570
This is from Maja from Slovenia.
Dear Ajahn, is it right of you 

1179
01:00:25,570 --> 01:00:34,320
to find good in impermanence? 
It is just nature, right? 

1180
01:00:34,320 --> 01:00:37,987
You can't really say that 
impermanence is good or bad as 

1181
01:00:37,987 --> 01:00:40,320
such. 
It is just the nature of things.

1182
01:00:40,320 --> 01:00:42,320
The world is, things are 
impermanent. 

1183
01:00:42,320 --> 01:00:47,820
So it is just nature. 
And when things are in a certain

1184
01:00:47,820 --> 01:00:53,321
way, we have to accept that. 
If we try to say, oh I don't 

1185
01:00:53,321 --> 01:00:56,766
want to see, oh it's 
impermanent, no, no, then of 

1186
01:00:56,766 --> 01:00:58,320
course we are creating trouble 
for ourselves. 

1187
01:00:58,320 --> 01:01:02,035
We have to open our eyes and see
things in accordance with 

1188
01:01:02,035 --> 01:01:04,320
reality. 
So it is neither good nor bad. 

1189
01:01:04,320 --> 01:01:06,320
We just make the best of the 
situation. 

1190
01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:09,520
When you understand that there 
is impermanence, OK, we deal 

1191
01:01:09,520 --> 01:01:13,876
with that in a different way. 
And one of the ways of dealing 

1192
01:01:13,876 --> 01:01:17,820
with that is by letting go. 
This is the powerful result of 

1193
01:01:17,820 --> 01:01:20,320
seeing impermanence in a deeper 
way. 

1194
01:01:20,320 --> 01:01:22,320
And you let go more and more and
more. 

1195
01:01:22,320 --> 01:01:25,654
And as you let go, you find this
beautiful peace inside of you as

1196
01:01:25,654 --> 01:01:28,320
a consequence. 
So neither good nor bad. 

1197
01:01:28,320 --> 01:01:32,320
Just make sure you take on board
these truths in your life. 

1198
01:01:32,320 --> 01:01:34,320
Then it becomes as good as it 
can be. 

1199
01:01:34,320 --> 01:01:38,320
OK. 
So that is all for tonight. 

1200
01:01:38,320 --> 01:01:42,320
So let's just pay respect to the
Buddha Dhamma Sangha. 

1201
01:01:48,320 --> 01:02:04,320
Svarga Sammasambuddha Bhagavan 
Buddha Bhagavantham Bhagivadhe 

1202
01:02:04,320 --> 01:02:20,320
Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha 
Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha 

1203
01:02:20,320 --> 01:02:36,320
Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha 
Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha 

1204
01:02:36,320 --> 01:03:18,300
Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha Svakkha 
Svakkha Svakkha Thank you. 

1205
01:03:18,320 --> 01:03:48,300
Thank you.