1
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OK, you're the boss. 
Just please tell me what to do. 

2
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So, yeah, it's nice not to be 
the boss, just to be the slave, 

3
00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:08,039
just to follow along. 
It's really nice, actually. 

4
00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:09,240
Yeah. 
No need to think. 

5
00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:10,480
You don't need to do anything 
like that. 

6
00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:11,800
That's really. 
That's wonderful. 

7
00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,040
Anyway, it's nice to see so many
people here on New Year's Eve. 

8
00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,880
Yeah, New Year's Eve. 
People usually do stupid things,

9
00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:23,720
but but not here. 
He would do smart things on New 

10
00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,200
Year's Eve, which is very nice. 
And I know that Adam Rahm, he 

11
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left back for Perth just last 
night, this morning, actually 

12
00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,120
this morning, and he got 
straight back to the D'ameloca 

13
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Centre in Perth. 
He went straight into D'ameloca 

14
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Centre and they're starting 
their New Year's Eve party right

15
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now in Perth. 
Yeah. 

16
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So it's happening, if it's 
happening here. 

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So it's really nice actually 
that this is going on there. 

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It's so important that we take 
these opportunities to do 

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something good rather than doing
things that are stupid, stupid 

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and foolish, like getting drunk 
or whatever else it is that 

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people do on the day like today.
So I'm very, very happy and very

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pleased to see so many of you 
here. 

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And the title for tonight's talk
is how to make progress on the 

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path, how to overcome obstacles 
and that sort of thing, which is

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a nice, very nice and very good 
title, I think because it's one 

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of those things that we want to 
really try to achieve as 

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Buddhists, to always move 
forward, move forward to 

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something positive, move forward
to greater sense of happiness, 

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greater sense of ease in our 
life, less suffering and less 

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problems. 
This is really what the Buddhist

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path is about, and this is what 
the Buddha promises us. 

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Yeah. 
He says that if we do the 

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practice in the right way, you 
will make progress, You would 

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leave the suffering behind, and 
you will gradually increase in 

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happiness. 
It's not a great message. 

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It's just So what else is there 
to life and that this is what 

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life is all about, isn't it? 
Finding more happiness in life, 

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reducing suffering. 
And this is the promise if we 

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live this life in the right way 
here now, of course, there are 

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sometimes people are quite 
satisfied we're just having an 

41
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even life. 
They're not really looking for 

42
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necessarily an increase in 
happiness. 

43
00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,920
And you can use the Buddhist 
teachings in that way just to 

44
00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,520
have a more even and smooth 
experience in life. 

45
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That is okay. 
But also it is also good 

46
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ultimately to try to actually 
achieve a great state of 

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well-being. 
When we mean, when we talk about

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happiness in Buddhism, we don't 
just mean kind of, you know, 

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00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,680
euphoria or anything like that. 
We mean anything which is good, 

50
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anything which is positive. 
Yeah, anything which is kind of 

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you feel whatever it is that's 
good in life, more contentment, 

52
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more compassion, more kindness, 
more peace. 

53
00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,560
All of these things are what 
we're actually talking about. 

54
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And these are the things that 
are so close to us. 

55
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And ultimately these are the 
things that give life real 

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meaning and real purpose. 
Everything else is kind of 

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secondary here. 
So how do we measure, first of 

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all, how do we measure progress 
in Buddhism? 

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How do we know that what, what 
does actually progress mean? 

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This is kind of the first issue 
we have to deal with. 

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And the Buddha is very explicit 
about this in the suit as he 

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talks about this, because the 
Buddha of course realises that 

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as long as we are making 
progress, as long as we are 

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moving forward, eventually we 
will get to those goals. 

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Yeah, we will get to John as we 
get to Niban and all these kind 

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of things. 
So as long as you are making 

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progress, yeah, then you're 
moving in the right direction. 

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You know, one day, maybe not 
this life, but eventually you'll

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get to these kind of goals that 
we're looking at because that's 

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what happens if you keep making 
progress. 

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So what does it mean? 
And the way the Buddha defines 

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this, and he defines it of 
course, as increase in 

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mindfulness, Yes, your 
mindfulness gets better over 

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time. 
He talks about your Samad, your 

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ability to sustain your 
attention on your meditation 

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object increases. 
But in general it is about 

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increasing in wholesome states, 
the good states, and declining 

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in the bad ones. 
This is basically what it is 

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about. 
And what are these good stats? 

80
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Well, there's obviously 
mindfulness is one of the most 

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important one, but really 
everything, your degree of 

82
00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,640
kindness, your degree of 
compassion in the world, your 

83
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understanding of other people, 
the decrease in ill will, 

84
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,800
decrease in powerful desires, 
decrease in confusion and all of

85
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,279
these kind of things. 
And if you see this happening 

86
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here and you have to measure 
over quite long periods of time,

87
00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,720
it can't just measure from one 
day to the next, right? 

88
00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,760
Because one day happy, next day 
kind of. 

89
00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,040
It kind of goes like go, yo 
sometimes. 

90
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But you measure over a certain 
period of time. 

91
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Six months. 
Yeah. 

92
00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,560
A year, perhaps. 
So you go on a retreat. 

93
00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:34,000
Yeah. 
I don't know. 

94
00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,560
John Mcgrove, perhaps. 
Have many of you been to John 

95
00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:37,520
Mcgrove? 
Yeah. 

96
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:38,960
Yeah. 
Only one. 

97
00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:39,440
OK. 
No. 

98
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:42,680
OK. 
That's that's more like it. 

99
00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:43,240
OK. 
Good. 

100
00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:44,680
I was. 
I was getting word every second.

101
00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:46,560
We've been really bad marketing,
John Mcgrove. 

102
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,720
I'm only one person. 
OK. 

103
00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:51,280
Maybe I should do some more 
marketing tonight. 

104
00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:55,560
So you go on the retreat. 
It doesn't have to be done. 

105
00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,480
I go. 
It can be anywhere where it is 

106
00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,920
nice and peaceful and conducive 
to meditation practice. 

107
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,840
And then from one year to the 
next one, you measure, you feel.

108
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:07,680
Are you feeling any better than 
you did last year here? 

109
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And if you are, then you know 
you're heading in the right 

110
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direction. 
If you're not. 

111
00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:13,720
Yeah. 
If it's the same. 

112
00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:15,560
Yeah, it usually doesn't go 
down. 

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It's very rare for things to go 
down. 

114
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Sometimes maybe a little bit for
a while, but usually doesn't go 

115
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down. 
But if it still stays the same, 

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that is when you have to. 
You have to ask yourself, what 

117
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is the obstacle? 
Is there, is there a problem 

118
00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,680
here? 
Is there a reason why I'm not 

119
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making any progress? 
Because if there is no progress,

120
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it is almost as if you'd lose 
the purpose of the spiritual 

121
00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:37,280
path. 
And if you'd lose the purpose, 

122
00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,400
eventually you're going to be 
fed up with being a Buddhist. 

123
00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,120
Yeah. 
And you're going to end up as a 

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00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,120
Christian maybe. 
Or maybe something else. 

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00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,920
Is anyone here who's thinking 
about giving up on Buddhism? 

126
00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:50,440
You have become a Christian 
instead. 

127
00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,840
No. 
OK, so maybe it doesn't matter, 

128
00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,600
but the point is that to really 
sustain this, to really keep 

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00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,240
your faith and confidence in the
Buddhist teaching going here, 

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00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,320
you're going to have to feel a 
sense of success and 

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accomplishment, that you're 
moving towards a greater 

132
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purpose, a greater aim. 
Yeah, then it's going to work 

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out for you. 
So this is how the Buddha says 

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we measure success. 
And So what do we do then to 

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00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,320
actually enable us to move 
forward all the time? 

136
00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:24,040
And I have just been finishing a
little retreat in Moar Moar up 

137
00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:27,160
in Malaysia, you know, next next
door to in Jahor, but close to 

138
00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,120
Malacca, right next door to 
Malacca, pretty much. 

139
00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,640
And one of the things we did 
there, we had a look at the life

140
00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:34,920
of the Buddha. 
We spoke about the life of the 

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Buddha for a couple of days. 
And the life of the Buddha is 

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00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,080
always a very good starting 
point for deciding how to do our

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00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:46,000
practice, because the way the 
Buddha talks about his own life 

144
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,040
and talks about his own practice
is as an example for all of us 

145
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:51,680
and how we should live as well 
here. 

146
00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:53,920
Yeah, the Buddha says this is 
what I did here. 

147
00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,480
And of course, what the Buddha 
did is precisely practising 

148
00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,880
those things that lead to 
greater happiness, in fact, all 

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00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,560
the way to awakening itself. 
So when we read the suitors, 

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00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,440
when you read the word of the 
Buddha, it is good to remind 

151
00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,200
yourself that the word of the 
Buddha is supposed to be, when 

152
00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,880
he talks about his own practice,
it's supposed to be an 

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00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,880
inspiration for each one of us 
to practice in the same way here

154
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and to be able to do that. 
One of the critical things is 

155
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,400
actually to look at the Buddha 
in the right way here. 

156
00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,800
One of the problems very often 
with a traditional Buddhist 

157
00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:32,960
country here, I know it's 
Singapore, is that a traditional

158
00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,760
Buddhist country here? 
It's kind of, it's a little bit 

159
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:37,200
traditional, a little bit non 
traditional. 

160
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:38,640
Yeah. 
It's kind of a mixed, mixed bag 

161
00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,480
of things. 
But very often what you find in 

162
00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,600
a traditional Buddhist culture 
is that they kind of place the 

163
00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,040
Buddha on the pedestal, which is
so high that the Buddha becomes 

164
00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,920
like different from what it is 
to be an, an ordinary human 

165
00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:52,200
being. 
The Buddha almost becomes like a

166
00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:53,080
God. 
Yeah. 

167
00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,800
And then you pray to the Buddha.
I got to please help me, Buddha.

168
00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,040
It's like, you know, it's really
exactly like a God. 

169
00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,040
There's no difference from the 
Christian God and the Buddha 

170
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:01,880
basically all comes down to the 
same thing here. 

171
00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,880
But this misses the point. 
Yeah, the point of the Buddha is

172
00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,800
that he was a human being. 
He was like the rest of us. 

173
00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,760
And the practice that he did 
because he was a human being is 

174
00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,680
exactly the same practice as we 
should be doing as well. 

175
00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,120
So for the Buddha, the Buddha's 
life, to be meaningful for us, 

176
00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,280
what we have to do is we have to
first of all understand that the

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00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,480
Buddha was a human being just 
like the rest of us. 

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00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,560
But this difference between the 
Buddha and us is that the Buddha

179
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took the human potential to its 
highest possibility. 

180
00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,159
That is really the difference. 
But in essence, we are the same.

181
00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:40,679
And once we get that, then when 
you read the suit, then when you

182
00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,520
start to see how what, how the 
Buddha talks about his own life,

183
00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,760
it becomes an inspiration for 
each one of us. 

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00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,280
You think, wow, this is what the
Buddha did. 

185
00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,400
He was human, he could do it. 
I can do it too. 

186
00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,040
This is what the Buddha's trying
to say. 

187
00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,480
This is how we should read his 
message. 

188
00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,760
Then you understand the Buddha 
in the right way. 

189
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,000
And then you can actually take 
some of that message out of the 

190
00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,840
suitors and then use that in 
your own practice. 

191
00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,680
So what is that message? 
And one of the one of that those

192
00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:10,320
messages has got lots of 
messages. 

193
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,840
But one of those messages is 
that to make progress on the 

194
00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,320
Buddhist path, one of the 
essential thing is, is that you 

195
00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,800
use wisdom in how you look at 
your practice. 

196
00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,800
Yeah. 
Use your ability to reflect, use

197
00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,880
your ability to look at things 
with higher wisdom rather than 

198
00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,800
using willpower or force, all of
these kind of things. 

199
00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:36,360
Wisdom power is far more, far 
better and far more useful, far 

200
00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,920
easier, far less stressful than 
always using willpower here. 

201
00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:44,080
So use wisdom power. 
Don't use use wisdom power in 

202
00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:45,480
your practice. 
Then you'll be on the right 

203
00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:46,000
track. 
Yeah. 

204
00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,640
So what does that mean? 
How does that come out in the 

205
00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:53,920
story of the Buddha and one of 
the places it comes out, and 

206
00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,560
this is before the Buddha 
becomes the Buddha, he's still 

207
00:09:57,560 --> 00:10:00,800
the Buddha to be. 
He's practising or he hasn't 

208
00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,720
actually started practising yet.
And This is why he's still 

209
00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,000
living at home. 
And one of the things that he 

210
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,920
thinks while he's living the 
home life, he thinks that there 

211
00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,560
is a problem in life. 
There is death, there is old 

212
00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:16,840
age, there is suffering, there 
is there is a basic problem. 

213
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,680
And the basic problem is that 
we're all going to die 

214
00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:21,720
eventually. 
That is essentially what it 

215
00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,640
comes down to. 
So the Buddha then uses the idea

216
00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,680
that I'm going to die. 
Not only am I going to die, but 

217
00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:33,320
all the things that I hold onto 
in the world, all the people, 

218
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,360
all the things I have are also 
going to die. 

219
00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,280
They're going to have to be 
taken away from me here. 

220
00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:42,240
And he uses that idea and it 
takes it so deeply understanding

221
00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:46,520
to such a high degree that 
actually that becomes the thing 

222
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,040
that makes him go forth and 
become a monastic. 

223
00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:50,880
That is basically the thing. 
Yeah. 

224
00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,320
Very often we think that the 
Buddha is all about compassion 

225
00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,400
for all beings. 
It's about kind of this big 

226
00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,600
cosmic view about what reality 
is about. 

227
00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:00,840
It's going to help everyone in 
the whole world. 

228
00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:06,680
But no, the Buddha's own story 
about why he went forth, it's 

229
00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:10,160
basically because he understands
that suffering is a problem in 

230
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:13,000
the world. 
How can I overcome suffering for

231
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,840
myself? 
And the main thing there is 

232
00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,600
actually the idea of death. 
Yeah, because death is one of 

233
00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,440
the most difficult things to 
face in life. 

234
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,160
I just went to hospital today 
and saw someone who was very 

235
00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,120
sick with cancer. 
And you can see how hard it is 

236
00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,280
when it comes to that stage in 
your life, It's actually very 

237
00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,560
difficult. 
And one of the reasons why it is

238
00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,400
difficult is because we have 
built up so many attachments, so

239
00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,680
many things in the meantime that
when it comes time to let go, 

240
00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,720
you don't actually able to do 
it. 

241
00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,720
So the difference between US and
the Buddha is that the Buddha 

242
00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,480
took a simple thing like that. 
It's so simple. 

243
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,720
It's so obvious. 
We all know we're going to have 

244
00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,400
to die here. 
Yeah. 

245
00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,200
Is there anyone here who's not 
going to die here? 

246
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:55,680
No. 
This Right? 

247
00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:57,080
Everyone's going to die. 
We know that. 

248
00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:58,760
We know it, but we don't know 
it. 

249
00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,560
We know it superficially. 
We don't know it in a deep way 

250
00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:03,200
here. 
And that is the difference. 

251
00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,680
But the Buddha, he knew it so 
deeply here that he actually 

252
00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,840
decided to go forth. 
And on the basis of that, he 

253
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,840
found awakening itself, that he 
started the Buddhist teachings. 

254
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,560
And now 2 1/2 thousand years 
later, we're still here, still 

255
00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:18,920
reading the suit as of the 
Buddha. 

256
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,160
And the reason we're doing that,
the reason why we still have 

257
00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,160
this teaching 2 1/2 thousand 
years later on, is for one 

258
00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:30,000
simple reason, that one person 
thought about death in such a 

259
00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,840
profound way that this is what 
actually was the outcome of 

260
00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:34,960
that. 
That's amazing, isn't it? 

261
00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,120
And it shows you the difference 
between using wisdom in a really

262
00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,160
profound way and using it in a 
more superficial way. 

263
00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,920
The more deeper, the more 
powerful the wisdom is, the more

264
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,560
ability it has to drive us and 
do something for the path. 

265
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,320
So this is the first example in 
the life of the Buddha where the

266
00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:57,920
Buddha uses wisdom in this way. 
The second example is after he 

267
00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:02,520
goes forth and after he goes 
forth, he has, just like all 

268
00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,640
other human beings, he has 
problem with definements in his 

269
00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:06,560
mind. 
Yeah. 

270
00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:09,560
So if you ever have definements 
in your mind, you are in very 

271
00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:12,120
good company. 
So anyone here who doesn't have 

272
00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,520
any definements ever in their 
mind, it's kind of it's, it's 

273
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:17,920
just the common human 
experience. 

274
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,240
Almost everyone has definements.
So the Buddha has these 

275
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,960
definements, and then what he 
says, he says that the way he 

276
00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,400
decides, the way he overcomes 
these definements is actually 

277
00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:31,720
very interesting here. 
Very often when you have a 

278
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,400
problem in your mind, you might 
kind of push it aside and get 

279
00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,960
rid of it and kind of think, 
yeah, I don't want that, you 

280
00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:38,880
know, this is bad. 
You have kind of, you have ill 

281
00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,320
will and then use more ill will 
to kind of get rid of the ill 

282
00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,000
will. 
And we can see how that doesn't 

283
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,080
really work. 
Yeah. 

284
00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,240
That kind of. 
It's because this makes the 

285
00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:50,000
problem worse in many ways. 
So what Buddha does, what? 

286
00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,280
He sees a problem in his mind. 
Yeah. 

287
00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:56,560
Instead of using willpower, he 
uses wisdom to deal with this 

288
00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:59,240
problem. 
He asks himself, what is the 

289
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,120
result? 
What is the consequence of 

290
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:03,720
having these definements in the 
mind? 

291
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,520
What happens if I have ill will?
Where does it lead? 

292
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,200
And what he says is that when 
you have ill will in your mind, 

293
00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,280
it leads to suffering. 
It leads to suffering for 

294
00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,440
myself. 
It leads to suffering for other 

295
00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:17,560
people. 
It leads to suffering for both. 

296
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,160
Yeah. 
Suffering is unavoidable when 

297
00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,000
you have a mind of ill will. 
And we know that's true, right? 

298
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,400
If you have ill will, usually 
just the ill will itself is 

299
00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:28,000
much. 
It feels much nicer to have a 

300
00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,840
sense of friendliness or matter.
But also the outcome of ill will

301
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,760
is often that we end up doing 
things that we're unhappy with 

302
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,400
later on. 
So it's a double whammy there. 

303
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:39,600
And it's bad for other people, 
it's bad for us. 

304
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,640
It's bad for both. 
And when you see that, and 

305
00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:47,040
Buddha says as soon as he saw 
that he was able, that entire 

306
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,360
defilement just disappeared from
his mind just like that. 

307
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:53,720
Yeah. 
And this is just using wisdom 

308
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,040
power. 
There's no willpower at all. 

309
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,960
It's just a reminder that this 
is problematic. 

310
00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,160
And if I don't deal with this, 
it's going to lead to problems 

311
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,720
down the road, suffering for 
myself, for my family, and for 

312
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,520
other people, whoever it is. 
So wisdom power has this ability

313
00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:11,520
to eliminate a problem. 
Bang, just like that. 

314
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,680
Why is that? 
Why is it that when most of us 

315
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,520
think that ill will is bad or 
suffering, it doesn't go like 

316
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:19,680
that? 
And the reason again, is because

317
00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,640
we haven't really reflected on 
it enough to see the full 

318
00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:27,240
ramifications of ill will, to 
see the full ramifications of 

319
00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,880
other definements. 
And because the reflection isn't

320
00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,760
deep enough, that is why it 
doesn't really disappear just 

321
00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,840
like that. 
If you see that something truly 

322
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:40,000
is suffering, truly is 
problematic, what happens? 

323
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,440
Yeah. 
The the symbol that I always 

324
00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,080
like to use, which is very clear
how this works, is a similar. 

325
00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:48,840
If you have a hot plate in your 
house. 

326
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,840
Yeah, You have a hot plate in 
your house, somebody has turned 

327
00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:53,160
it on. 
You're not aware of that. 

328
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,520
So you go, you put your hand on 
the hot plate. 

329
00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,520
If you put your hand on the hot 
plate, what happens if by 

330
00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:00,360
accident? 
Yeah. 

331
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,600
What happens is that, bang, you 
just withdraw. 

332
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:04,120
Yeah. 
You don't have to think. 

333
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,240
Should I remove it or not? 
Yeah. 

334
00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,080
If you think it's too late 
already, you already burnt 

335
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,360
yourself really badly. 
It just happens automatically 

336
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,560
here. 
And it's exactly the same. 

337
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,600
If you have a defilement in your
mind and you fully understand 

338
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,800
that this is problematic, what 
happens? 

339
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:23,280
The mind withdraws from that by 
itself, just in the same way as 

340
00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,560
the mind withdraws the hand from
the hot plate. 

341
00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:27,320
Why? 
Because it's suffering. 

342
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,960
It's problematic. 
So the reason why we don't 

343
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,520
withdraw our mind from these 
things is because we think there

344
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,440
is some degree of happiness 
there, something to be had from 

345
00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:38,760
ill will. 
Yeah. 

346
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:40,960
And that is why we don't 
withdraw from that. 

347
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,160
So again, it's about using that 
wisdom power, reflecting on 

348
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:48,520
these things, and then 
eventually you, as a consequence

349
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,800
of that, you actually withdraw 
from these things and it's no 

350
00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:53,720
longer a problem in the same way
here. 

351
00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:58,080
So this shows you the potential 
for using wisdom on the Buddhist

352
00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,400
path. 
And if we use it in the right 

353
00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:04,040
way, we're going to have far 
more success in how we deal with

354
00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,440
things. 
So what does this mean in 

355
00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:08,200
practice? 
What does it mean for each one 

356
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,280
of us in terms of how to live 
our lives, in terms for 

357
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,720
improving our own abilities and 
doing in in speeding up the path

358
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,040
or whatever? 
And one, the first example is, 

359
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,720
this may sound like a fairly 
trivial example, but sometimes 

360
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,760
the trivial examples are 
sometimes the best ones because 

361
00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:28,960
often the things we deal have to
do with are quite trivial. 

362
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:30,040
Yeah. 
This is kind of life. 

363
00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,960
Life is like this. 
And one of the the problem is in

364
00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,160
life is things that we get 
addicted to. 

365
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,440
And these days, the thing that 
people get addicted to, one of 

366
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,360
the main things is like 
smartphones. 

367
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:42,920
Yeah. 
Have you seen people getting 

368
00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,000
addicted to smartphones? 
And I have. 

369
00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,760
I think it's I've seen people 
being addicted to this thing. 

370
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,960
I've seen they have, they have 
come to me in Borinana 

371
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,240
Monastery, sitting in front of 
me asking me questions of while 

372
00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:55,920
they're asking questions, 
they're holding the smartphone 

373
00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:59,520
in one fan. 
And I think, you know, there's 

374
00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,760
no focus there. 
And then you talk to them and 

375
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,120
they are really restless. 
They are fully, they are 

376
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,120
agitated. 
You can see that there is no 

377
00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:08,240
peace there. 
And all they're doing is looking

378
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,680
at the smartphone and looking up
and looking around and there's 

379
00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,480
kind of nothing going on. 
And you realise there is a 

380
00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,600
problem with your smartphones. 
And of course you then you also,

381
00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:18,520
you read them out in the 
newspapers as well. 

382
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,720
You realize this is actually a 
quite a serious problem in the 

383
00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,040
modern world. 
This is something that we kind 

384
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:28,000
of have to be careful with. 
So if you find yourself being 

385
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:31,200
slightly addicted to your 
smartphone or addicted to 

386
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,440
anything else, the question is 
how can we deal with these 

387
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,240
addictions in such a way that we
can let them go more easily? 

388
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,000
And a thing like a smartphone? 
Yeah, because it because it 

389
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,320
really is quite addictive. 
What you have to do is not to 

390
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:50,560
rely on your willpower to get 
rid of it because getting using 

391
00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,240
the willpower is never really 
going to work because willpower 

392
00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:54,800
is very weak. 
Yeah. 

393
00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,440
I don't know if there was an 
experiment that was done quite a

394
00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,040
while ago. 
And this was an experiment to 

395
00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,920
show how weak willpower is. 
And this was a bunch of people 

396
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,240
who were supposed to be on. 
They're supposed to be on a diet

397
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:06,920
or something. 
Yeah. 

398
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,920
And then they had them walk past
this pastry shop. 

399
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:10,760
Yeah. 
They were on the diets. 

400
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,280
They're probably quite hungry. 
And when you're on a diet, they 

401
00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,720
walk past the pastry shop. 
And in this pastry shop, they 

402
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,280
had all this beautiful pastries,
and they were all for free. 

403
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:19,880
Yeah. 
All they had to do is walk into 

404
00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,360
the pastry shop and they would 
give you a pastry for free and 

405
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:24,240
you can eat as much as you like.
Yeah. 

406
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,120
And what happened, and this is, 
was the interesting thing, yeah,

407
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,240
what happened is that they were 
not supposed to eat those 

408
00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,680
pastries because they weren't on
a diet, but they had. 

409
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,800
So these people had different 
strategies in how to avoid 

410
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,600
eating the pastries. 
And there were some people, what

411
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:42,920
they did, they said to 
themselves as they were walking 

412
00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:44,400
past. 
Oh, I'm just going to have a 

413
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:45,240
quick look. 
Yeah. 

414
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:46,800
And then I'll walk past 
afterwards. 

415
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,200
And those people, they would 
usually succumb to the 

416
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,480
temptation. 
They would walk inside and then 

417
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,680
they would have that pastry. 
It was just too delicious. 

418
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,160
But those people who were 
successful in avoiding the 

419
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:02,240
pastry and keeping the diet 
going were the ones who realised

420
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,440
the weakness of their willpower.
And because they realised that 

421
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,320
they didn't even look at the 
pastry shop. 

422
00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,400
They pretended it didn't exist. 
And because they pretended it 

423
00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,840
didn't exist, they were actually
able to walk past. 

424
00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,800
They knew the fallibility of 
their own mind. 

425
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,320
They knew the weakness. 
The temptation that was going to

426
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,320
arise as a consequence of going 
there. 

427
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,120
So they avoided even looking at 
it. 

428
00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:27,680
And this is a very good lesson 
in how to deal with temptations 

429
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:28,360
in life. 
Yeah. 

430
00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,480
If you're going to be able to 
give up your smartphone or 

431
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,400
whatever, you have to make it 
inaccessible. 

432
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:35,720
If it's sitting there next to 
you and you're trying to 

433
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,520
meditate and it's kind of there 
you are, it's going to be 

434
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,720
really, really hard. 
It's going to be impossible. 

435
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,920
So what you have to do is after 
a certain time at night, you 

436
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,600
have to actually put it 
somewhere where it isn't 

437
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,920
accessible. 
And when it isn't accessible, 

438
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,600
then it tends to also disappear 
from your mind. 

439
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,200
So get your partner. 
Yeah, your husband or wife or 

440
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,200
your mum or dad or whoever it is
in your family. 

441
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:00,520
And you know that this 
smartphone is not bad for you. 

442
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,360
You say take my smartphone, put 
it somewhere I don't know about.

443
00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:04,760
Yeah. 
Give it back to me tomorrow 

444
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:05,280
morning. 
Yeah. 

445
00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,360
And that is kind of the way that
you can actually deal with these

446
00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:10,000
things. 
You have to make it really hard 

447
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,080
for yourself. 
Then there is a child. 

448
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:13,880
You will be able to deal with 
these things. 

449
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,200
So this is just an example, but 
you can expand this example to 

450
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:22,120
so, so many things in life. 
And you have to be careful to 

451
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:23,680
use wisdom. 
Yeah. 

452
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,200
Don't just try to use willpower.
You're not going to succeed. 

453
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,520
And by using wisdom, you will 
actually succeed in getting rid 

454
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,080
of some of these addictions that
we all succumb to every now and 

455
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,840
again here. 
So this is just a a fairly small

456
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,360
example here. 
A more powerful example of how 

457
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:45,560
to kind of grow in qualities is 
to often use the adversities 

458
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,080
that we have in life. 
Adversities are often, sometimes

459
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,680
when you have adversities in 
life, we kind of wallow in the 

460
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,520
suffering. 
We think, oh, it's so terrible, 

461
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,640
It's so hard, it's so difficult.
But instead of wallowing in the 

462
00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,520
suffering, which is kind of 
useless, we use the experience 

463
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,000
of suffering as a potential for 
growth. 

464
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,200
Yeah. 
And this is so powerful because 

465
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:12,200
what actually what that does, it
gives the suffering a kind of 

466
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:13,880
meaning. 
It gives us something on the 

467
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,400
spiritual path that can help us 
move forward. 

468
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,840
And when suffering has meaning, 
it transforms the suffering for 

469
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:23,560
something unbearable to 
something that actually becomes 

470
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,760
even useful on the spiritual 
path. 

471
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,800
I'll give you an example. 
This is give you a couple of 

472
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:33,320
examples of how this works. 
And one example is sometimes 

473
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,520
when people look at the modern 
world, they look at the politics

474
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:37,640
of the world. 
They look at some of the 

475
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,960
politicians that are around. 
I shall not mention any names, 

476
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,240
of course, but you can have some
ideas. 

477
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,120
Some of the politicians we see 
around the world and some of the

478
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,000
kind of sometimes terrible 
policies that are put in place 

479
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,560
that are so inhuman and 
unfriendly and uncompassionate, 

480
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,000
all these kind of things. 
Or you have a look at the 

481
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:57,560
environment in the world. 
Yeah. 

482
00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,880
You see kind of whales washing 
up on beaches and they're full 

483
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,440
of plastic inside because 
they've eaten so much plastic, 

484
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,200
because there's all this rubbish
everywhere. 

485
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:06,760
The oceans are full of rubbish. 
Yeah. 

486
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,960
One of the biggest rubbish dumps
in the world are the oceans. 

487
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,080
What a terrible thing it is. 
And you look at all the all the 

488
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,840
refugees everywhere who are kind
of from war-torn countries 

489
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,920
desperately trying to get away 
from terrible suffering, but of 

490
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,520
course very often very difficult
because nobody really wants too 

491
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,280
many refugees because it 
overwhelms your own society. 

492
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,920
So some so much suffering, so 
many problems and sometimes so 

493
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:33,800
few solutions. 
Yeah. 

494
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:35,720
Where are the solutions to these
things? 

495
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:39,320
And because it is so hard to 
find the solutions to many of 

496
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,760
these things, what often happens
as a consequence is that people 

497
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:44,800
sometimes become depressed. 
Yeah. 

498
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,920
If you watch too many news on 
TV, it's easy to get depressed 

499
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,480
by the state of the world. 
And many people do that. 

500
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,160
And still they go back and watch
the news. 

501
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:53,840
Yeah, I'm getting depressed. 
Oh, but I got to see the news 

502
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,040
again. 
And we kind of carry on watching

503
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:57,720
the news. 
Sometimes I would really 

504
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,000
recommend you just forget about 
the blooming news. 

505
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:01,280
Yeah. 
Turn it off. 

506
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,240
Don't go back. 
It's not all that useful. 

507
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,160
You know, it's going to be the 
same thing again every day 

508
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:06,240
anyway. 
Yeah. 

509
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,880
A few different actors are 
basically the same plot every 

510
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,360
day here. 
More, more suffering, more 

511
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:13,360
killings, more murders, more bad
things. 

512
00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,000
It's like a Digest kind of all 
the worst thing that happened in

513
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,040
the world put together in 20 
minutes, and that's going to be 

514
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,120
pretty, pretty bad. 
All the good things that 

515
00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:23,800
happened in the world, we never 
hear about it. 

516
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,760
You never hear about people 
coming here to the BF on New 

517
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,560
Year's Eve. 
Yeah, That's really good news. 

518
00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,880
Yeah. 
So it's it's it's actually a 

519
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,280
very distorted outlook on 
humanity, what you see on the 

520
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,280
news. 
So for that reason, I sometimes 

521
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,360
much better just to turn it off,
not worry about it. 

522
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,040
So how can, but how can we use 
this? 

523
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,080
How can we use all this 
suffering and all these things 

524
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,520
that are happening around us in 
a positive way to enhance the 

525
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,280
spiritual path? 
And you can this is kind of the 

526
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,760
point. 
And the way to do that is to 

527
00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:01,160
understand that the world is 
really outside of our control. 

528
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,040
We do our little part. 
We help out a little bit. 

529
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,600
We clean up a little bit around 
our area. 

530
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,440
We give a donation every now and
again to a good cause or 

531
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:11,360
whatever it is. 
We do our part. 

532
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:13,960
But in the end, you cannot 
decide. 

533
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:15,760
It's not up to you who is in the
White House. 

534
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,680
Yeah, it's not going to, you 
know, and all of these things. 

535
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,320
And whether the pollution the 
all the oceans get polluted or 

536
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,640
not, it's really outside of your
control. 

537
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,840
And once you start to understand
that the world is essentially 

538
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,080
out of control, the world is 
basically going to have to go 

539
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,720
its own way. 
The deeper you understand that, 

540
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,240
the more you let go and the less
interest you actually have in 

541
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,120
kind of many of these large 
pictures. 

542
00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:41,480
Yeah. 
And you can let go of the world.

543
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,360
And one of the powerful 
consequences of letting go of 

544
00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:47,680
the world, having a sense of, 
oh, is this too much, is that 

545
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,400
you turn away from that. 
And then when you close your 

546
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,360
eyes and you go into meditation,
actually your meditation works 

547
00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:56,400
so much better. 
Why? 

548
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,920
Because the world is no longer 
of as much interest as it was 

549
00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,280
before. 
The reason why meditation 

550
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,480
doesn't become peaceful is very 
often because we think about the

551
00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,000
things of the world. 
Yeah, we think about the future,

552
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,560
what we're going to do, 
etcetera, about our hopes or 

553
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,840
whatever it is. 
But when you understand that the

554
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,720
world is out of control, the 
more you get that, the less 

555
00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,720
interest you have in worldly 
phenomena, the more you turn 

556
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,040
inwards, the more you can let 
go, and the better is your 

557
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,120
meditation experience as a 
consequence. 

558
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:31,560
So how we look at it is actually
by far the most important thing 

559
00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,840
in how to deal with life. 
So when you look at the news, 

560
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,640
yeah, don't get depressed. 
See it as an opportunity is an 

561
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,520
opportunity in letting go, an 
opportunity in allowing things 

562
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,680
to be. 
And actually you have no control

563
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,080
over here. 
This is really the ideal way of 

564
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:51,560
dealing with this. 
So that is the the world. 

565
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,280
And actually there is in the 
suit, as I always like to quote 

566
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,040
the suit as the other word of 
the Buddha. 

567
00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,600
I said OK, I cannot quit the 
suit as yeah, OK, thank you. 

568
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,560
So the word the Buddha actually 
has a word for this. 

569
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,600
This actually exists right there
in the suit and in the panel is 

570
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,760
called the Sabaloka Anabirati 
Sanya, which means the 

571
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,160
perception of non delight in the
entire world. 

572
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:14,440
Yeah. 
And that perception of non 

573
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,160
delight in the entire world is 
one of the perceptions that 

574
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,400
helps you in your meditation 
practice, seeing that the world 

575
00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,360
is out of control, understanding
you have no idea where it's 

576
00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:24,560
going to go next. 
Yeah. 

577
00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:28,800
And once you see that, you stop 
taking refuge in the world. 

578
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:31,160
What does it mean to take refuge
in the world? 

579
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,520
It means that you expect the 
world to go in a certain way. 

580
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,240
You expect the political 
situation to be stable. 

581
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,160
You expect the environment to be
sorted out. 

582
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,240
And when that doesn't happen, 
you suffer because you're taking

583
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,200
refuge in the world. 
Instead of taking refuge in the 

584
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,760
world, which is out of control. 
You take refuge in the Triple 

585
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,440
Gem like we did before. 
You take refuge in your 

586
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,600
spiritual practice. 
You take refuge in the happiness

587
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,080
and contentment that comes from 
living well, rather than in 

588
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,200
something which by it's very 
nature, is out of control. 

589
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,280
Saba Loka and Abiratisani, I'm 
going to test you on that word 

590
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,880
next time I come here. 
It's a long one. 

591
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:10,240
Yeah, but it's, it's one of 
these nice words that kind of 

592
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,280
give you an idea of what the 
Dhamma is about when it becomes 

593
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,480
very profound and also very 
useful here. 

594
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,800
So this is about letting go a 
little bit of the world. 

595
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,440
Don't worry too much. 
Don't worry too much about it 

596
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,720
withdrawing a little bit, 
closing your eyes. 

597
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,840
When you close your eyes, 
actually, it's so happy to just 

598
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,680
go inside of yourself and let 
all that suffering of the world 

599
00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,600
leave that outside and let that 
kind of go its own way or 

600
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:38,280
whatever here. 
So this is the first thing to 

601
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:39,560
do. 
Yeah. 

602
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,440
That makes sense, everyone. 
Yeah. 

603
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:42,360
Yeah. 
Makes sense. 

604
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:43,320
OK, Good. 
Yeah. 

605
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,440
So try it out. 
And with so many of these 

606
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,280
things, you have to develop it 
over time. 

607
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:49,560
Yeah. 
It only really worries when you 

608
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:51,520
develop it over time. 
So you have to do it again and 

609
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,040
again and again. 
And after a while, it starts to 

610
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,000
sink in, and then it becomes 
something powerful in your 

611
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,560
practice. 
And as you do that, as you let 

612
00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:02,280
go of the worldly things, of 
course, it's going to kind of 

613
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,280
enhance, going to get rid of the
definements, and things are 

614
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,480
going to happen, whatever it is 
that you're doing. 

615
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,400
Yeah. 
The second thing I want to talk 

616
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,120
about briefly is how to deal 
with other people. 

617
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:16,040
Yeah. 
One of the biggest sufferings in

618
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:18,560
life is other people. 
Is that true? 

619
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,400
It's true, isn't it? 
Because people can often be one 

620
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,800
of the greatest sources of joy 
in life, but they're also one of

621
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,560
the greatest sources of 
suffering here. 

622
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,000
So it's important to know how to
deal with it. 

623
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,920
And of course, sometimes our 
people we find very difficult in

624
00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:37,440
our life and need to be able to 
deal with those. 

625
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,880
But sometimes the most important
people to be able to deal with 

626
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,560
in a good way is the people who 
are closest to us. 

627
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,440
Yeah, people like our family 
members, our work colleagues, 

628
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,600
people that are very close to 
our hearts are often very 

629
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,720
important because if we get 
those relationships right, then 

630
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,320
the rest of the relationships we
have tend to be fairly easy to 

631
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,760
sort out. 
And one of the things that 

632
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,560
always struck me when I was 
reading the suit, as again, as I

633
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,880
always kind of refer back to the
suit as the word the Buddha, is 

634
00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:11,160
that where the Buddha talks 
about how to create harmony in 

635
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,440
the Sangha, in the monastic 
Sangha, how do you create 

636
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:17,080
harmony between the monks? 
And perhaps you think that the 

637
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,240
monastic sangha is like a heaven
realm where nobody, everyone is 

638
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,840
just kind of always friendly. 
Yeah, there's no problems. 

639
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:24,960
Of course, it isn't like that. 
There's no such thing. 

640
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,680
As long as you are in the human 
realm, there's always going to 

641
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,160
be disagreements, sometimes 
arguments and sometimes 

642
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,480
problems. 
That's just the nature of human 

643
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,480
beings because we look at things
differently and all of these 

644
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,960
kind of things. 
So what I would say is if you 

645
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,160
want to have harmony in the 
Sangha, the very first thing we 

646
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,720
should do is to obviously have 
meta for each other. 

647
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,120
Meta means loving kindness, 
friendliness. 

648
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:50,960
So how are we going to have this
loving kindness and friendliness

649
00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,000
to each other? 
And sometimes people sit down in

650
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,760
the meditation and say, oh, may 
all beings be happy and well and

651
00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,480
the snore and then kind of 
whatever, wait a minute. 

652
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:00,640
Yeah, may they all be happy and 
well. 

653
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,880
And it doesn't really bite. 
Yeah. 

654
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:04,920
It doesn't really actually work 
all that well here. 

655
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,160
The Buddha says the place to 
start with having meta is not 

656
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,880
just sitting down and kind of 
trying something which doesn't 

657
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:13,800
really have all that much 
effect. 

658
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,720
Do it in your actions. 
Yeah, have meta in your actions.

659
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,120
And so this is a very practical 
way of thinking about meta and 

660
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:24,840
not only having meta in your 
actions, then meta in your 

661
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,680
speech comes afterwards, but the
people who we should have meta 

662
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,440
towards, the Buddha says 
specifically to the monastics, 

663
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,840
the people you should have meta 
towards, the first ones are your

664
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,240
federal monastics. 
Yeah, these are the most 

665
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:41,320
important ones. 
And this is very interesting. 

666
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,120
And it's interesting precisely 
because that the people who are 

667
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,640
closest to us are often the 
people who are most difficult to

668
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,360
have meta towards. 
It's like when you live in a 

669
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,480
family, because the habits are 
so strong, because we know each 

670
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,520
other's weaknesses and bad 
qualities and good qualities, 

671
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:00,840
whatever it is. 
So, well, it's very difficult to

672
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:04,960
have consistent meta and love 
and friendliness for the closest

673
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,520
family members. 
It's easy to have meta towards 

674
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,640
some idealized person in your 
mind. 

675
00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,720
Yeah, is such a St. or may you 
be well and happy, Ajam Bram. 

676
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,720
Yeah, so easy. 
You don't even know Ajam Bram, 

677
00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:17,760
for goodness sake. 
You know you should. 

678
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,960
But the point is that that 
idealized person is far easier. 

679
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,800
And that's why often when you do
metal meditation, you don't 

680
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:27,760
actually do it towards 
individuals. 

681
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,840
You do it maybe towards a 
direction or something like 

682
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,080
that. 
We don't actually have to deal 

683
00:32:33,080 --> 00:32:35,520
with individuals because 
individuals are too hard to deal

684
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,000
with. 
So this is what you do. 

685
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,800
So have meta towards the people 
who are closest to you, towards 

686
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:45,120
your family members, your mum, 
your dad, your kids, your 

687
00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:48,080
husband, your wife. 
And if you're able to be kind to

688
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,640
them, then I guarantee you it is
very likely you will be able to 

689
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:55,360
be kind to almost anyone in this
world there because that is 

690
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:58,920
really the basic ground of 
practice, the people who are 

691
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,240
close to you. 
If we have a harmonious 

692
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,480
monastery at Bodinana Monastery 
down in Perth and usually it's 

693
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,320
very harmonious. 
Yeah, we don't do. 

694
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,040
We don't rarely that you see the
monks arguing about anything. 

695
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:10,880
Yeah. 
I can barely remember last time 

696
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:12,560
it was actually. 
It's very, very rare. 

697
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,120
And that happens precisely 
because you learn to focus on 

698
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,480
the good qualities in the 
monastics around you. 

699
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:20,960
And it's very easy. 
Yeah. 

700
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:23,560
Because the monastics, they're 
at least, at the very least, 

701
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:26,080
they're trying to have a very 
high standard, a very high 

702
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,000
ideal. 
It's very beautiful. 

703
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,360
And the same thing with the 
members here of BF. 

704
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:31,880
Is that right, Eileen here. 
Yeah. 

705
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,280
Yeah, have a very high standard.
Yeah. 

706
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:37,160
People come here. 
Why do they come here? 

707
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,680
Because they want to be good. 
They want to have a good heart. 

708
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,280
At least they want to try. 
The intention is in the right 

709
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,200
place. 
And that is worthy of so much 

710
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,360
respect. 
And if you remember that, you 

711
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,280
remember this all the time, keep
that uppermost in your mind, 

712
00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,560
then you can have have that 
kindness and compassion to the 

713
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,560
people around you. 
Yeah, same in your family. 

714
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,800
It's exactly the same thing. 
Look for the good qualities, the

715
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,280
guarantee. 
There are lots of good 

716
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,000
qualities. 
And the people closest in your 

717
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,560
family, look for those, focus on
those. 

718
00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:09,080
Remember those all the time. 
Let go of those silly habits 

719
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,320
that you have from the past. 
And then you will be able to be 

720
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,159
kind and generous and all those 
things, even to the people who 

721
00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:17,600
are closest to you. 
It's hard work, yeah, but it's 

722
00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:20,960
really, really worthwhile. 
So this is where we start out. 

723
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,600
And once you start out like 
that, you are generous, you are 

724
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,440
kind and body and speech to your
family members. 

725
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,679
Yeah, if you can, sometimes it 
is very, very hard. 

726
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:34,239
If it is, if you are in a family
where it is very difficult, then

727
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,000
it is not. 
You don't. 

728
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:38,639
You don't become a bad person 
just because you can't. 

729
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,960
It's important to recognise that
some people have very difficult 

730
00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,360
family relationships. 
So you just do your best, and if

731
00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:47,600
you're at least you're doing 
your best, that is all you can 

732
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,199
do. 
And then once that is in place, 

733
00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:52,800
then you also start to have meta
in your thoughts. 

734
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:54,120
Yeah. 
Towards these people. 

735
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:57,600
You think about them in kind 
ways, one step at the time, 

736
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,640
bodily action, verbal, how you 
speak, and then how you think 

737
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:03,160
about people. 
Yeah. 

738
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,080
And then eventually, when you 
think about people in the right 

739
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:10,080
way, then you can do the meta 
meditation because then your 

740
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,400
heart is kind of open to the 
people around you. 

741
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,800
Then it's possible to actually 
wish people well in a very 

742
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,320
meaningful and profound way. 
It's getting things right. 

743
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:23,240
So coming back to the 
problematic people in the world,

744
00:35:23,240 --> 00:35:26,040
how do we deal with the really 
problematic people in the world?

745
00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,080
Yeah. 
People that work, for example, 

746
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:31,000
who are just absolutely 
impossible and really kind of so

747
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,160
much got to be around. 
What do we do when someone has 

748
00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,360
no good qualities? 
Yeah, sometimes we come across 

749
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:38,040
people I can't see any good 
qualities in them. 

750
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,280
What do I do? 
Please give me some advice. 

751
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:44,080
And there's actually some very 
simple advice to use when you 

752
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,800
have people who are absolutely 
impossible here. 

753
00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:50,360
And that was to always remember 
that people who are so 

754
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:55,160
difficult, they have also have a
lot of suffering in their life. 

755
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,600
People who are very hard to work
with, people who have lots of 

756
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,880
bad qualities will usually feel 
really bad about themselves. 

757
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,160
And not only do they feel bad 
about themselves now, but they 

758
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,840
carry with them all this backlog
of bad qualities that they will 

759
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:12,880
take with them into the future. 
And they will carry on that 

760
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,760
suffering for a long, long, long
time in the future here. 

761
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,520
So when there is someone that 
you cannot see any good 

762
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,240
qualities in there, all we can 
say is bad qualities have 

763
00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:24,400
compassion. 
Yeah. 

764
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,240
Here is a person who wants to be
happy here. 

765
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,080
Here is someone who thinks 
they're doing what will lead to 

766
00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,200
happiness in the future, but 
actually they are doing things 

767
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:35,040
that will lead to suffering in 
the future here. 

768
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,560
Yeah, they haven't. 
They don't understand. 

769
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,320
They are deluded about reality. 
They don't understand the 

770
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,760
connection between our actions 
and our happiness. 

771
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,880
Because they don't understand 
that connection, they're acting 

772
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,480
in a way which actually leads to
their own suffering. 

773
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,560
The Buddha says in a very nice 
suitor, Well, actually the 

774
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,920
Buddha is actually King Pasena 
who says this to the Buddha. 

775
00:36:55,040 --> 00:37:00,040
He says that those people who 
are acting towards others with 

776
00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:03,560
unfriendliness, they're acting 
is as if they are their own 

777
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,200
enemy. 
Yeah. 

778
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,360
Why is that? 
Because if you act with others 

779
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,720
in an unfriendly and unkind way,
you're causing suffering for 

780
00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:13,400
yourself in the future. 
And that is what your enemies 

781
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:14,240
want for you. 
Yeah. 

782
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,160
So you're acting as if you are 
your own enemy by not being kind

783
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,360
and friendly to other people. 
So be your own friend. 

784
00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:23,280
Yeah. 
Be your own friend by acting 

785
00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:25,920
with kindness towards others. 
It's a beautiful way of thinking

786
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:30,360
about this, this idea that being
kind to others is actually being

787
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:32,320
kind to yourself, being your own
friend. 

788
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:36,080
So this is the way. 
If you look at this, you have 

789
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:39,080
people who really where you 
cannot see any good qualities, 

790
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,520
it doesn't mean they haven't got
any good qualities, that means 

791
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:43,640
that you can't see them. 
Sometimes we are blind to other 

792
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:46,200
people's good qualities. 
People haven't got any good 

793
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:48,960
qualities. 
Remember they are worthy of 

794
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,480
compassion. 
And when you do that, something 

795
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,160
marvellous happens. 
And that marvellous thing that 

796
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:57,640
happens is that instead of being
so self centred, instead of 

797
00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:00,720
always thinking about ourselves,
oh so much suffering, I had to 

798
00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:03,640
be around this person. 
It's so problematic that self 

799
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,400
centeredness is a kind of small 
mind and narrow. 

800
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,520
We feel kind of in our own 
little world. 

801
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,000
Yeah. 
Everyone else is dangerous 

802
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,520
outsider. 
And we kind of, that's what ill 

803
00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:17,040
will and greed feels like. 
It feels like you are confined 

804
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,640
into your own little space. 
Yeah, you're kind of a tiny 

805
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,760
little world. 
But once you turn things around,

806
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,520
instead of thinking about 
yourself, instead of having that

807
00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,520
selfishness there, instead you 
have compassion for the other 

808
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,960
people, suddenly things expand 
out and suddenly the world kind 

809
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,040
of becomes large. 
You include everyone else in 

810
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,440
your world. 
And when you do that, the mental

811
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,880
state that you have is so 
beautiful compared to the state 

812
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:43,680
of ill will or the state of 
greed or whatever it is, which 

813
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,720
is narrow and confined. 
It's a wonderful thing. 

814
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:48,200
Yeah. 
It's a little trick of 

815
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,600
perception. 
Turn your perception around. 

816
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,760
And that little trick of 
perception is enough to change 

817
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:58,160
the feeling from being small, 
narrow, confined to being large 

818
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,680
and expansive and including of 
all other beings around you. 

819
00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:04,480
It's a wonderful thing when you 
see these little things 

820
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:07,360
happening here because these are
the things that make life really

821
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,040
meaningful. 
And you feel that you are really

822
00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:12,480
progressing on the path when 
that when that happens. 

823
00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,680
So this is a nice way of looking
at other people. 

824
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:20,640
Remember when other people do 
bad things, very often they are 

825
00:39:20,640 --> 00:39:23,680
trapped by their bad habits. 
They're trapped by their 

826
00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:26,640
personality. 
They're trapped by things that 

827
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:30,320
they ideas and things that were 
laid down maybe in the past, 

828
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:32,880
life long, long time ago. 
Often they don't have any 

829
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:34,480
choice. 
They have to be like that. 

830
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:37,120
Yeah. 
No point in getting angry if 

831
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:41,320
someone is acting for their own 
suffering, whatever, because of 

832
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:43,680
a program inside of them, 
because they're acting like 

833
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:45,840
robots. 
Your only thing you can have 

834
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:47,840
which makes any sense is 
compassion for them. 

835
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:50,200
Everything else doesn't make any
sense at all. 

836
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:52,600
And then you are on the right 
track. 

837
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,560
Then things start to change in 
your practice. 

838
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:59,320
So all of these things are 
general principles that you use.

839
00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:03,040
And as you apply these general 
principles in life, you actually

840
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,480
start to see things happening, 
things changing. 

841
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:11,800
Yeah. 
So that is that is about other 

842
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,200
people. 
What about our own problems? 

843
00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,240
Yeah. 
What about our own kind of 

844
00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:19,440
things that aren't perfect? 
Is anyone here who is absolutely

845
00:40:19,440 --> 00:40:20,840
perfect? 
Yeah. 

846
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:23,240
OK. 
It would be really funny if 

847
00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:26,480
somebody raised their arm. 
That would be actually, I'm 

848
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:28,960
perfect. 
So. 

849
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:31,800
And this is the thing. 
Yeah, people generally speaking 

850
00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:34,120
aren't perfect. 
And one of the things that in 

851
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,400
this and for that reason, it is 
not painful to admit sometimes 

852
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:40,920
that we have flaws. 
Yeah, it's OK to admit that. 

853
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:43,840
And one of the beautiful little 
passages that you find in the 

854
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:48,440
Dharma Pada is where the Buddha 
says that when somebody points 

855
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:52,040
out a flaw in your character, 
you should see as someone 

856
00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:55,000
pointing out a treasure. 
I think I've probably mentioned 

857
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,640
this here before because it's 
such a nice little, little thing

858
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:01,720
found in the Dharma Pada. 
And the idea is that sometimes 

859
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:04,320
it is very hard to see our own 
flaws. 

860
00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:05,840
Yeah. 
Because we're so close to them 

861
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:07,120
and we don't really want to see 
them. 

862
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:09,120
We don't really want to know 
that we have all these flaws. 

863
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:11,040
So because that we kind of shut 
it out. 

864
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:13,840
And sometimes it takes somebody 
else to point it out. 

865
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:16,160
Yeah. 
So if somebody comes to you and 

866
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:18,000
says to you actually, you know, 
you have a problem. 

867
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,960
Yeah. 
Listen, no, they shouldn't. 

868
00:41:21,240 --> 00:41:23,240
If they say it like that, of 
course, then it's kind of, it's 

869
00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:26,040
already wrong already. 
But if somebody comes out of 

870
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:29,520
compassion and kindness, like a 
spiritual teacher or a close 

871
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:31,360
friend or someone you trust, 
yeah. 

872
00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,960
And they say out of compassion, 
listen, yeah, there is a maybe 

873
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:36,680
there is something that we can 
do here. 

874
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,760
Maybe there's a problem that we 
can resolve and somebody says it

875
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:42,280
in a nice way. 
It is always worthwhile 

876
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:45,080
listening. 
It is always worthwhile seeing 

877
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,200
what they have to say because 
sometimes they point out things 

878
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:51,800
that are so deeply ingrained of 
us, so much the habit of how we 

879
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:55,120
do things that is impossible for
us to see without somebody else 

880
00:41:55,120 --> 00:41:58,520
pointing it out. 
So it's useful to be open to 

881
00:41:58,520 --> 00:41:59,520
these things. 
Yeah. 

882
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:02,920
So next time someone comes to 
you and complaints about you and

883
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,040
say, oh, thank you for pointing 
out the treasure, Yeah. 

884
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:09,400
That's kind of the nice attitude
to have, especially if they're 

885
00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:11,920
coming from the right place. 
They're coming from kindness, 

886
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,720
and that is kind of a good 
attitude. 

887
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:18,320
And it's difficult. 
Sometimes we have to be brutally

888
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:22,000
honest with ourselves. 
Then sometimes it is possible to

889
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:26,080
make progress on this path. 
We have to actually really see 

890
00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,080
what is there. 
If we try to hide from reality, 

891
00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,560
if we try to stick our head in 
the sand like an ostrich, yeah, 

892
00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:35,840
pretending reality goes away by 
sticking your head in the sand, 

893
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,720
then you're not going to succeed
by by being honest, by seeing 

894
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:43,640
things as they actually are, not
stupid, not kind of blaming 

895
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:46,240
ourself, which aren't really 
true, But when there is a 

896
00:42:46,240 --> 00:42:49,400
problem, to accept that there is
a problem and then deal with it 

897
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:53,720
as a consequence, then you're 
going to go a long, long way in 

898
00:42:53,720 --> 00:43:00,520
this practice. 
So these are some of the ways 

899
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:05,840
that you can deal with problems.
I mentioned maybe a couple of 

900
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:08,760
more things because we have a 
little bit more time. 

901
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,400
I don't know how. 
Yeah, it's a couple of more ish 

902
00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:14,520
things that I find very 
inspiring that I use in my own 

903
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,920
practice. 
And sorry, I think yeah, I take 

904
00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:18,760
a drink. 
OK, thank you. 

905
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:24,280
Yeah, you can see that 
compassion and action is very, 

906
00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:32,560
very kind of you. 
OK, so one of the things that I 

907
00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:36,720
like to use and I often talk 
about is the idea of death. 

908
00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:38,440
Yeah, that we're all going to 
die one day. 

909
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:41,600
And it's one thing that I would 
really recommend you to bring 

910
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,880
into your life because it's a 
very, very useful thing to give 

911
00:43:44,880 --> 00:43:48,400
rise to a sense of priorities, 
what actually is important in 

912
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:51,480
life, what really matters. 
And we can use this in many 

913
00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,040
ways. 
But the one the way that I like 

914
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:57,960
to use it is I often think to 
myself that because I could die 

915
00:43:57,960 --> 00:43:59,960
at any time, I don't know when 
it's going to be. 

916
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,800
One day I am going to die. 
And the one day that I'm I'm 

917
00:44:03,800 --> 00:44:06,880
going to die, that day, I have 
no future anymore. 

918
00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:09,760
The future is going to be gone. 
When you die, you don't know 

919
00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:12,600
where you're going next. 
But certainly the future of this

920
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:14,400
life has disappeared. 
Yeah. 

921
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:18,320
So because I don't know when 
it's going to be, the only time 

922
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:22,200
for me to be ready is now. 
So really, the way to be ready 

923
00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:25,440
now is to think of myself now. 
I have no future. 

924
00:44:26,280 --> 00:44:29,000
Yeah, I have. 
And when I think of myself that 

925
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:32,560
I have no future because I want 
to be ready now, what happens? 

926
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,480
And something very beautiful 
happens when you have no future,

927
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,200
there's nothing much more to 
think about. 

928
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:39,960
Yeah. 
If you look at your mind, you 

929
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,440
look at the things that kind of 
are important to you, that you 

930
00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:45,320
think about, it's very often 
things that have to do with your

931
00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:47,480
family. 
It has to do with your work, 

932
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:50,920
perhaps it has to do with duties
that you have to do. 

933
00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:53,560
It's always, very often 
something about the future where

934
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:55,560
you're going to go. 
Nothing much to think about. 

935
00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:57,360
Yeah. 
Your mind goes blank, empty 

936
00:44:57,360 --> 00:45:00,760
here. 
So the idea of of death, 

937
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:03,360
contemplation, of reminding 
yourself that all of these 

938
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:06,120
things have to come to an end 
one day, you're going to have to

939
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,760
give all these things up anyway.
It's all going to have to go. 

940
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:10,800
Yeah. 
How much should we think about 

941
00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:12,760
these things? 
How much should we invest in all

942
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:15,360
the things of the world when 
it's going to have to go one day

943
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,120
anyway? 
Don't make this into something 

944
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,680
heavy and negative. 
Use it only if it works for you 

945
00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:23,800
and it gives you a sense of 
peace and quiet. 

946
00:45:24,560 --> 00:45:28,640
This is very, it's a very 
powerful reflection. 

947
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,360
It is a reflection that the 
Buddha asked us to use again and

948
00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:33,760
again. 
Again in the suiters. 

949
00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:35,520
It occurs so many different 
times. 

950
00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:37,480
Yeah. 
And because it occurs so often 

951
00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,440
in the suiters, it is something 
that is very important in our 

952
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:43,680
lives. 
And I remember a man many years 

953
00:45:43,680 --> 00:45:46,720
ago that I met in Australia. 
He was from Sri Lanka 

954
00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:49,640
originally. 
He was a psychologist, and he 

955
00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:52,760
told me that the way he did the 
death contemplation was to 

956
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,880
remind himself in the morning 
when he left his wife and 

957
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:59,880
children in the morning, he 
would always make sure that he'd

958
00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:01,600
left in a good way. 
Why? 

959
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,480
Because today I could die. 
I don't want to leave my 

960
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,520
children and my wife in a bad 
way. 

961
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:08,920
If I can die, if I could die, 
why? 

962
00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:10,960
Because how do you feel when 
you're dying? 

963
00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:13,000
If you have kind of had an 
argument with somebody or 

964
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:15,480
whatever, you feel bad about it,
you're not ready. 

965
00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:20,200
And because of that, we can 
really, never really afford to 

966
00:46:20,200 --> 00:46:22,360
have an argument with anyone. 
Yeah. 

967
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,280
Because what happens if you die 
afterwards? 

968
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:26,440
You feel bad. 
You don't want to die feeling 

969
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:27,920
bad. 
What a terrible thing that is. 

970
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:32,000
So by keeping in mind the fact 
that you could die means that 

971
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,560
you can never afford to have an 
argument with anyone. 

972
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:37,120
You can never afford to do a bad
action. 

973
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:39,520
You can never even afford to 
have a bad thought. 

974
00:46:41,520 --> 00:46:45,000
Yeah, that's pretty hard. 
Yeah, that's that's difficult. 

975
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,600
You can't really afford it. 
But it's still, it's going to 

976
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:50,160
happen sometimes because it's 
just too hard to avoid that. 

977
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:53,320
But theoretically you can't even
afford to have a bad thought. 

978
00:46:53,720 --> 00:46:56,080
And you can see you're moving in
that way, moving in that 

979
00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:58,880
direction whereby you 
understand, you get your 

980
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:02,080
priorities sorted out. 
You know what is important in 

981
00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:04,280
life. 
You don't allow yourself to be 

982
00:47:04,400 --> 00:47:06,680
carried away by the stream of 
life. 

983
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:09,920
You have the craving which 
carries us forward and such a in

984
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,840
such a fast way that sometimes 
you forget what is up and what 

985
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:16,160
is, what is black and what is 
white, what is good and what is 

986
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:18,640
bad. 
So keeping these things in mind 

987
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:20,440
is so important on the spiritual
path. 

988
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:25,200
The last thing I would like to 
say just very briefly, which is 

989
00:47:25,200 --> 00:47:29,360
a very useful and general 
practical advice, is always to 

990
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:32,680
remember what really matters in 
life, what is important. 

991
00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:36,400
It is so often that we forget 
the things that are really 

992
00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:40,520
crucial, but remember that even 
our ordinary life, your family 

993
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:43,720
life, what is it that makes 
family life useful? 

994
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:46,720
What is it that makes it good? 
It's not just the fact that you 

995
00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:49,920
have parents or children or a 
wife or a husband or whatever it

996
00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:52,360
is, but that fact in itself is 
neutral. 

997
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:56,440
It what makes family life useful
is the quality of those 

998
00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:59,360
relationships. 
If those relationships are based

999
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:03,160
on love, compassion, 
understanding, kindness, 

1000
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:07,360
generosity, wisdom, all of these
good qualities, then they become

1001
00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:10,160
useful, then they become good 
relationships, yes. 

1002
00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:13,200
So it is the spiritual and all 
of these qualities, if you think

1003
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:14,880
about them, they are spiritual 
qualities. 

1004
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:19,160
So it is the spiritual qualities
in our life that make family 

1005
00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:22,440
life actually worthwhile, that 
make it important, make it work 

1006
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:24,760
out. 
It is the same thing with all 

1007
00:48:24,760 --> 00:48:27,080
the relationships in our life, 
Yeah. 

1008
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:29,120
Whether it is going to work or 
whatever it is. 

1009
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:33,200
Even at work, if you just work 
for money and promotion, after a

1010
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:34,800
while it becomes really 
hopeless. 

1011
00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:38,080
It becomes a joyless task of 
going to work every day. 

1012
00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:41,400
If it's just for material 
things, it is how you work, 

1013
00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:43,120
Yeah. 
How you deal with your 

1014
00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:45,440
customers, how you deal with 
your family, workers and all 

1015
00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:47,680
these things. 
That is what makes worth life, 

1016
00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:50,160
work life also happy. 
Yeah. 

1017
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:52,320
My work life is like that too. 
Yeah. 

1018
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:55,280
When I work, I try to do it with
a kind of gentleness and 

1019
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:56,720
kindness and all these kind of 
things. 

1020
00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:58,760
Of course, it's easy when you're
a monk. 

1021
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:00,240
That's what you are. 
You're a monk. 

1022
00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:01,440
Yeah. 
It doesn't really count. 

1023
00:49:01,640 --> 00:49:04,400
It's it's too easy. 
But it's the same idea that 

1024
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:07,320
you're when you're a monk or you
are an ordinary, ordinary job. 

1025
00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:09,720
Same ideas that you have to 
bring to it. 

1026
00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:13,480
Then it makes it meaningful, and
when you start to look at life 

1027
00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:17,120
like that, you start to realise 
what actually matches, what 

1028
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:20,200
makes life worth worthwhile, 
what makes it work out. 

1029
00:49:20,520 --> 00:49:23,640
Spiritual qualities, what is 
about that should always be the 

1030
00:49:23,640 --> 00:49:27,000
priority. 
That should be #1 if you live 

1031
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,160
your life with spiritual 
qualities, you're always going 

1032
00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:33,240
to feel more happy and content 
about things, because that is 

1033
00:49:33,240 --> 00:49:36,320
what spiritual qualities do. 
When you come to the end of your

1034
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:39,000
life, when you die here, you 
feel that you have lived your 

1035
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:42,080
life in a good way here. 
Now you come to the end of your 

1036
00:49:42,080 --> 00:49:43,480
life. 
You have to give up everything 

1037
00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,000
else. 
Everything else has to go in the

1038
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:47,240
world. 
Your family, your relationships,

1039
00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:49,880
all the people you know, all the
things you own in the world have

1040
00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:52,720
to go. 
Your identity in this world has 

1041
00:49:52,720 --> 00:49:54,520
to go. 
Even your body has to go. 

1042
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:57,840
There's only one thing that you 
carry with you into the future. 

1043
00:49:58,040 --> 00:50:01,000
That's your spiritual qualities.
That is what matters again. 

1044
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:04,800
So these are the things that 
ultimately give life meaning 

1045
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:06,800
both in the short run and the 
long run. 

1046
00:50:07,040 --> 00:50:10,000
So make sure you prioritise 
those things that give life 

1047
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:12,200
meaning. 
Don't prioritise those things 

1048
00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:15,200
that actually are temporary, 
that are going to be there for a

1049
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:17,360
while, they're going to 
disappear again afterwards. 

1050
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:22,640
Then you are on the right track.
Then you know what what is, what

1051
00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:24,840
is valuable and what actually 
works in this world. 

1052
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:27,760
And what happens is one of the 
marvellous things that happens 

1053
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:32,520
when you do that, if you live 
the spiritual life, everything 

1054
00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:35,040
else that you do in the world, 
whether it's the family or work 

1055
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:38,800
or whatever, that becomes part 
of a spiritual life, You do 

1056
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:42,280
those in such a way that it 
supports kindness, compassion, 

1057
00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:44,360
it supports your meditation 
practice. 

1058
00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:47,600
Everything is subsumed under the
spiritual life. 

1059
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:49,960
The spiritual life is priority 
number one. 

1060
00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:51,600
Everything else is secondary 
here. 

1061
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:54,840
What happens when you live like 
that is that when you sit down 

1062
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:58,720
to meditate, you know, instead 
of thinking about all those 

1063
00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:01,640
other things in in the world, 
all those things that are you 

1064
00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:05,120
think are important because they
are secondary, you don't think 

1065
00:51:05,120 --> 00:51:07,640
about them anymore. 
Instead, you stay with a 

1066
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:10,960
meditation object because you 
know it is now you're doing your

1067
00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:13,480
spiritual practice. 
This is what matters. 

1068
00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:16,240
Everything else is secondary. 
You don't think about it so 

1069
00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:20,360
much, but in so much of the 
world these days, the idea of 

1070
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:23,480
meditation practice or 
mindfulness or whatever, people 

1071
00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:26,440
do this to improve their 
ordinary life. 

1072
00:51:26,680 --> 00:51:29,840
So your ordinary life is #1 the 
spiritual life or the 

1073
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:31,760
mindfulness or whatever is 
secondary. 

1074
00:51:32,080 --> 00:51:35,000
And because it is secondary, 
because it is there to improve 

1075
00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:37,840
your ordinary life, it means 
that as soon as you close your 

1076
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:40,680
eyes, because everything else is
more important, you're going to 

1077
00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:43,800
think about it. 
Yeah, but turn it around. 

1078
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:45,680
Make the spiritual life more 
important. 

1079
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:49,560
When that is primary, then there
is a possibility of finding 

1080
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:52,880
peace, Peace of Mind. 
And then you can become calm 

1081
00:51:53,040 --> 00:51:55,920
even in the midst of all the 
hustle and bustle, at least 

1082
00:51:55,920 --> 00:51:59,160
sometimes, not always, but 
occasionally you can become calm

1083
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:02,000
even when things are really busy
around you. 

1084
00:52:03,520 --> 00:52:06,880
So this is my suggestion for 
you. 

1085
00:52:06,880 --> 00:52:10,680
If you want to have a kind of a 
New Year's resolution, do you do

1086
00:52:10,680 --> 00:52:14,560
that in Singapore, in New York? 
Resolutions sometimes, sometimes

1087
00:52:14,560 --> 00:52:16,480
if you want to have a new 
resolution, make the resolution 

1088
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:19,720
of putting your spiritual life 
1st and everything else, all the

1089
00:52:19,720 --> 00:52:23,280
other things that you want to 
do, make them secondary because 

1090
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:26,200
that is really the right 
attitude to having a good life 

1091
00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:28,640
now and also for the future 
here. 

1092
00:52:31,440 --> 00:52:35,160
OK, whoa, OK, that's pretty much
an hour talking already. 

1093
00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:39,240
So good, Yeah. 
So if you would like to ask some

1094
00:52:39,240 --> 00:52:42,120
questions or some comments, 
please, please do so now 

1095
00:52:53,510 --> 00:52:56,630
wait, this is a last chance to 
ask questions for 2018 Yeah, 

1096
00:52:56,630 --> 00:52:59,030
this is the end of this 18. 
So please now take the 

1097
00:52:59,030 --> 00:53:05,190
opportunity. 
Yes, I have AI, have a few. 

1098
00:53:05,270 --> 00:53:10,150
Christian friends, yeah. 
So one of them asked me about 

1099
00:53:10,150 --> 00:53:11,710
Buddha. 
Is he a God? 

1100
00:53:11,710 --> 00:53:16,040
As you know, he's a human, just 
like our ancient Confucius. 

1101
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:21,800
So then he said, oh, why don't 
you trust in our Christianity? 

1102
00:53:22,600 --> 00:53:26,560
Our God is almighty. 
I suddenly don't. 

1103
00:53:26,720 --> 00:53:30,280
I don't know how to reply. 
Because my friend I don't want 

1104
00:53:31,720 --> 00:53:35,440
to affect our relationship. 
As you know religion when we 

1105
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:37,600
talk further can affect our 
friendship. 

1106
00:53:38,360 --> 00:53:41,600
So I'm not sure in future if I 
encounter this, how am I 

1107
00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:49,200
supposed to OK? 
Yes, it is very touchy. 

1108
00:53:49,240 --> 00:53:51,520
You know, they're saying that in
English culture you're not 

1109
00:53:51,520 --> 00:53:52,840
supposed to argue about 
anything. 

1110
00:53:52,840 --> 00:53:54,720
So you never talk about religion
and politics. 

1111
00:53:54,720 --> 00:53:56,720
Yeah, because that always ends 
up in an argument. 

1112
00:53:57,400 --> 00:53:58,680
So it is. 
It's a good point. 

1113
00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:00,440
So it depends on what kind of 
friendship it is. 

1114
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:03,680
If the friendship is something 
you value just because it kind 

1115
00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:06,240
of feels good and it's nice and 
it's your good friends and it's 

1116
00:54:06,240 --> 00:54:09,360
good for emotional support or 
whatever, then don't think about

1117
00:54:09,360 --> 00:54:11,000
religion. 
But if it is a friendship that 

1118
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:14,080
is also has kind of an 
intellectual side, a side where 

1119
00:54:14,080 --> 00:54:16,560
you want to talk about serious 
topics, Yeah, and some 

1120
00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:19,640
friendships are like that, then 
it's OK to be honest about 

1121
00:54:19,640 --> 00:54:21,040
things and you have to talk 
about it. 

1122
00:54:21,360 --> 00:54:23,440
Otherwise the friendship itself 
can stagnate. 

1123
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:25,720
It doesn't really have any 
purpose anymore after a while. 

1124
00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:28,240
So I think it is good to talk 
about these things. 

1125
00:54:28,240 --> 00:54:32,200
And if someone says that our God
is almighty, you know, the, the 

1126
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:35,440
problem with that kind of 
argument is that, you know, 

1127
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:38,000
where does this idea come from 
in the 1st place? 

1128
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:42,240
And these are often just ideas. 
And the fact that someone is 

1129
00:54:42,240 --> 00:54:45,480
ordinary human being, well, 
everyone can accept that because

1130
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:47,480
it's just obvious everyone is 
ordinary human beings. 

1131
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:50,560
But that something is almighty 
is actually much more difficult 

1132
00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:54,400
proposition to accept, much more
difficult to, to kind of deal 

1133
00:54:54,400 --> 00:54:56,160
with intellectually. 
And there are. 

1134
00:54:56,360 --> 00:54:58,080
There's not many problems with 
that idea. 

1135
00:54:58,080 --> 00:54:59,920
Yeah. 
When you think about it, if God 

1136
00:54:59,920 --> 00:55:02,240
is almighty, why did he create 
all these problems in the world?

1137
00:55:02,240 --> 00:55:04,200
Yeah, it's an obvious 1, isn't 
it? 

1138
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:06,280
If you're almighty, you'd create
something better. 

1139
00:55:06,360 --> 00:55:08,440
Why did he create me? 
I'm pretty. 

1140
00:55:08,560 --> 00:55:10,320
I'm full of flaws. 
Are you full of flaws? 

1141
00:55:10,320 --> 00:55:12,080
Why did he create someone so 
full of flaws? 

1142
00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:14,200
Ask your friend. 
Well, you have you have all 

1143
00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:15,680
these flaws. 
Why did God create you like 

1144
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:16,760
that? 
See what? 

1145
00:55:16,760 --> 00:55:24,720
See what so and and this is 
actually a very serious 

1146
00:55:24,720 --> 00:55:26,200
philosophical problem. 
Yeah. 

1147
00:55:26,200 --> 00:55:29,560
This fact that actually God is 
supposed to be almighty and all 

1148
00:55:29,560 --> 00:55:32,080
loving and still he created this
big mess. 

1149
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:33,960
It's that's really problematic. 
Yeah. 

1150
00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:37,680
So it's OK to have sometimes 
have a discussion, but I one of 

1151
00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:40,760
the things that I for me, 
Christianity never made any 

1152
00:55:40,760 --> 00:55:42,880
sense at all. 
I found it very, very strange 

1153
00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:46,200
personally. 
And to me, Buddhism was at least

1154
00:55:46,200 --> 00:55:49,880
something that you the very idea
that is all based on faith is 

1155
00:55:49,880 --> 00:55:52,600
problematic already one of the 
beautiful thing about the 

1156
00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:54,680
Buddhist saying that you tried 
out a little bit, you check it 

1157
00:55:54,680 --> 00:55:56,880
out. 
OK, so you Buddha says be kind. 

1158
00:55:56,880 --> 00:55:58,800
OK, kind of makes sense anyway 
to be kind. 

1159
00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:01,040
So you try that, you do a bit of
meditation. 

1160
00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:03,560
You see what happens when you 
might become peaceful. 

1161
00:56:03,960 --> 00:56:06,320
You see what it leads to the 
results the Buddha is talking 

1162
00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:08,360
about. 
And lo and behold, it does. 

1163
00:56:08,680 --> 00:56:10,560
Yeah, wow. 
It actually works. 

1164
00:56:11,120 --> 00:56:14,440
So you have something you can 
actually feel directly and 

1165
00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:18,040
immediately is powerful. 
Whereas when Christianity is far

1166
00:56:18,040 --> 00:56:21,640
more based on just faith, faith 
is often the end all and the be 

1167
00:56:21,640 --> 00:56:25,560
all, be all of Christianity. 
And to me that is problematic. 

1168
00:56:25,560 --> 00:56:28,360
If it is true, it's great, but 
if it isn't true, it's seriously

1169
00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:29,280
problematic. 
Yeah. 

1170
00:56:30,080 --> 00:56:34,360
Anyway, it's just some some 
ideas, but yeah. 

1171
00:56:50,000 --> 00:56:54,280
When you talk about letting the.
World, I mean, the world is a 

1172
00:56:54,280 --> 00:56:57,560
mess, so you just, you cannot do
anything about it and you just 

1173
00:56:57,560 --> 00:57:00,440
have to let it go. 
Yeah, it disturbs me a bit, 

1174
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:03,160
actually. 
You know, it's like our local 

1175
00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:06,280
lingo, you know, you're both up.
You know that means you don't 

1176
00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:09,960
care, OK, right. 
How do you balance between this 

1177
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:15,320
kind of feeling? 
You don't care and yeah, yeah, 

1178
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:17,240
yeah. 
I I I don't really mean that. 

1179
00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:18,680
You should. 
Let go completely. 

1180
00:57:18,680 --> 00:57:20,600
What I mean is that you do your 
part. 

1181
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:23,000
Yeah. 
In society, for the world, in in

1182
00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:25,680
general. 
I don't mean that you, but I the

1183
00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:28,400
point is more like you. 
You know what you can do, and 

1184
00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:30,840
you know what you can't do? 
You know the distinction between

1185
00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:32,720
the two. 
And this is one of the things, 

1186
00:57:32,720 --> 00:57:35,880
one of the signs of wisdom is 
that you work as much as you 

1187
00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:37,080
can. 
And when you have done your 

1188
00:57:37,080 --> 00:57:40,680
part, then at that point you let
go and you allow things to be 

1189
00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:42,200
here. 
This is really the critical 

1190
00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:44,440
thing here. 
But when you, you know, very 

1191
00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:47,400
often what happens when people 
watch too much news on TV, they 

1192
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:50,720
despair and they despair over 
things that actually they can do

1193
00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:52,080
nothing about at all. 
Yeah. 

1194
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:54,360
They think, oh, Donald Trump is 
in the White House. 

1195
00:57:54,360 --> 00:57:55,760
How come? 
How come he ended up in the 

1196
00:57:55,760 --> 00:57:58,080
White House? 
Yeah, You can't do anything 

1197
00:57:58,080 --> 00:57:59,840
about that. 
He's going to be there until he 

1198
00:57:59,840 --> 00:58:01,600
is kind of until his term is 
over. 

1199
00:58:01,920 --> 00:58:04,280
But you can't sit there kind of 
being angry and upset about. 

1200
00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:05,920
It's not going to not going to 
make any difference. 

1201
00:58:06,600 --> 00:58:09,160
And so many things that we are 
disturbed about in the world, 

1202
00:58:09,160 --> 00:58:11,840
make us angry, are things we 
cannot do anything about. 

1203
00:58:11,840 --> 00:58:15,280
So do the good. 
Do those things that you can do 

1204
00:58:15,280 --> 00:58:17,560
something about. 
Be friendly to the people around

1205
00:58:17,560 --> 00:58:19,120
you. 
Be kind and generous to your 

1206
00:58:19,120 --> 00:58:21,720
family members. 
Support the Buddhist fellowship.

1207
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:29,080
Yeah, no, this is this is I 
expect some kind of Commission 

1208
00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:36,880
on that one. 
So and also little things in 

1209
00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:41,000
your kind of in your immediate 
area around you and then you are

1210
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:45,040
doing what you can without being
despairing over the big things 

1211
00:58:45,040 --> 00:58:52,640
in the world then OK, anyone 
else? 

1212
00:59:05,880 --> 00:59:08,800
How does one know when one has 
attained so on? 

1213
00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:10,680
How do you know when it attends?
So on. 

1214
00:59:12,080 --> 00:59:15,600
OK, because that the meaning of 
that question is how do you know

1215
00:59:15,600 --> 00:59:17,240
when you have become a stream 
entry? 

1216
00:59:17,240 --> 00:59:20,720
So one is the similar word for 
stream entry and the stream 

1217
00:59:20,720 --> 00:59:23,800
entry is one of the high 
attainments on the Buddhist 

1218
00:59:23,800 --> 00:59:25,880
path. 
Yeah, when you kind of see the 

1219
00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:30,640
Dumber for the first time and 
one of the ways you, you know 

1220
00:59:30,640 --> 00:59:32,800
that, well, first of all, you 
have to attend to samadhi first 

1221
00:59:32,800 --> 00:59:36,560
of all, because samadhi is the 
root, is a cause for stream 

1222
00:59:36,560 --> 00:59:37,760
mentor to happen. 
Yeah. 

1223
00:59:37,760 --> 00:59:40,440
And so first of all, you know, 
if you haven't attended samadhi,

1224
00:59:40,440 --> 00:59:42,200
there's no way that you are a 
stream mentor. 

1225
00:59:42,520 --> 00:59:44,960
So first of all, you have to 
become incredibly peaceful, 

1226
00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:48,480
incredibly bright, with a very 
powerful mind, lots of happiness

1227
00:59:48,480 --> 00:59:51,920
and joy in the meditation. 
And then there is a possibility 

1228
00:59:52,160 --> 00:59:54,720
that you can make that kind of 
breakthrough, that kind of 

1229
00:59:54,720 --> 00:59:58,560
insight. 
And how you know is, well, one 

1230
00:59:58,560 --> 01:00:02,040
of the ways that you know is 
that something explodes inside 

1231
01:00:02,040 --> 01:00:03,520
of you. 
The whole world gets turned 

1232
01:00:03,520 --> 01:00:06,440
upside down and suddenly you're 
looking at the world in a very 

1233
01:00:06,440 --> 01:00:09,680
different way here. 
One of the one of those ways, of

1234
01:00:09,680 --> 01:00:12,480
course, that you you understand 
the idea of non self, that there

1235
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:15,240
is no inherent essence in here. 
And one of the beautiful 

1236
01:00:15,240 --> 01:00:19,800
teachings in the suitors is this
teaching that whatever ordinary 

1237
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:23,480
people think is happiness. 
You know, as a stream mentor is 

1238
01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:24,600
suffering here. 
Yeah. 

1239
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:27,080
Whatever ordinary people think 
is suffering here. 

1240
01:00:27,200 --> 01:00:29,480
Yeah. 
You know, is actually happiness.

1241
01:00:29,480 --> 01:00:31,360
So the things have really turned
around. 

1242
01:00:31,360 --> 01:00:34,080
Almost absolutely here. 
You see the world in an entirely

1243
01:00:34,080 --> 01:00:36,640
new way here. 
Sometimes the idea of stream 

1244
01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:40,400
mentor is very devalued in in in
modern society, all kind of 

1245
01:00:40,400 --> 01:00:42,640
people claim to be stream 
mentors. 

1246
01:00:42,720 --> 01:00:45,440
Yeah. 
And I have had so many examples 

1247
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:48,320
of people coming to me. 
And then I said, oh, I went on 

1248
01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:50,080
this retreat. 
I was told I was a stream 

1249
01:00:50,080 --> 01:00:54,440
mentor, but I didn't believe it.
Yeah. 

1250
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:56,840
And that's problematic. 
If you don't believe it, then 

1251
01:00:56,840 --> 01:00:59,640
the chances that you're a stream
mentor is just about 0. 

1252
01:00:59,640 --> 01:01:01,720
It's absolutely, you know, it's 
just no way at all. 

1253
01:01:01,720 --> 01:01:04,000
You're a stream mentor. 
You know, something has 

1254
01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:05,480
happened. 
If you are a stream mentor, it's

1255
01:01:05,480 --> 01:01:08,880
a massive experience. 
And it is said in the suit 

1256
01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:11,720
specifically that the place 
where you became a stream mentor

1257
01:01:12,040 --> 01:01:14,200
is a place that you should 
remember for the rest of your 

1258
01:01:14,200 --> 01:01:16,200
life. 
So you know where that was 

1259
01:01:16,200 --> 01:01:18,520
because, you know, that's when 
the revolution happened. 

1260
01:01:18,520 --> 01:01:20,520
Yeah. 
The inner revolution happened at

1261
01:01:20,520 --> 01:01:24,000
that particular place. 
So, you know, So if you have 

1262
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:27,000
any, if something really happens
in a meditation and you are 

1263
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:29,280
completely blissed out for the 
next week, you don't know what 

1264
01:01:29,280 --> 01:01:32,680
to do, then go to Ajam Brahm and
ask him, oh, Ajam, this 

1265
01:01:32,680 --> 01:01:33,760
happened. 
What does it mean? 

1266
01:01:34,040 --> 01:01:48,480
And see what he says, OK? 
OK, sorry, I think my question 

1267
01:01:48,480 --> 01:01:51,160
is. 
Similar to the previous one. 

1268
01:01:52,960 --> 01:02:00,080
OK, sorry. 
Actually, I, I, I know that you 

1269
01:02:00,080 --> 01:02:03,040
have to meditate. 
That's the only way to get to 

1270
01:02:03,040 --> 01:02:08,280
where we want to go. 
But I've been sitting and 

1271
01:02:08,280 --> 01:02:11,960
nothing is happening. 
I I'm. 

1272
01:02:11,960 --> 01:02:16,240
Just you. 
Know like I just feel that it's 

1273
01:02:17,080 --> 01:02:20,800
it's useless, you know I mean, 
I'm sorry to say that, but yeah,

1274
01:02:20,840 --> 01:02:24,040
I know that's the only way yeah,
but I don't seem to see any way 

1275
01:02:24,120 --> 01:02:26,360
OK thanks. 
So the. 

1276
01:02:27,400 --> 01:02:30,320
The answer is that if you're not
going anywhere, it's because you

1277
01:02:30,320 --> 01:02:33,640
haven't really looked carefully 
enough at the causes that 

1278
01:02:33,640 --> 01:02:35,560
actually support meditation 
practice. 

1279
01:02:36,360 --> 01:02:39,280
And one of the things, there's 
two things that support 

1280
01:02:39,280 --> 01:02:41,200
meditation of practice according
to the suitors. 

1281
01:02:41,640 --> 01:02:44,080
One of them, the most important 
one, is cela. 

1282
01:02:44,080 --> 01:02:46,440
Cela means morality. 
It means much more than 

1283
01:02:46,440 --> 01:02:50,120
morality, means your entire 
character development, all of 

1284
01:02:50,120 --> 01:02:52,800
these things. 
And So what you have to do is 

1285
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:55,400
you have to look at your overall
sealer. 

1286
01:02:55,440 --> 01:02:57,480
Yeah. 
Remember, sealer does not just 

1287
01:02:57,480 --> 01:03:00,880
mean keeping the five precepts. 
It means everything to do with 

1288
01:03:01,160 --> 01:03:04,560
how you relate to other people, 
the degree of kindness you have,

1289
01:03:04,600 --> 01:03:07,320
how you think about them. 
All of these things are part of 

1290
01:03:07,320 --> 01:03:09,920
the idea of sealer. 
So ask yourself if you can do 

1291
01:03:09,920 --> 01:03:11,720
something more in the sealer 
area. 

1292
01:03:11,920 --> 01:03:16,280
This is #1 yeah, the second one 
is many of the things I was 

1293
01:03:16,280 --> 01:03:18,680
talking about tonight are things
that have to do with your 

1294
01:03:18,680 --> 01:03:20,880
attitude to the world, how you 
look at the world. 

1295
01:03:20,880 --> 01:03:24,080
And that attitude is really part
of right view. 

1296
01:03:24,200 --> 01:03:26,440
Yeah, it's called udukaditi in 
Parle. 

1297
01:03:26,440 --> 01:03:29,320
It means straight view. 
And it is one of the supports 

1298
01:03:29,320 --> 01:03:32,360
specifically said to be a 
support for meditation practice 

1299
01:03:32,360 --> 01:03:34,320
for Satya Patana, according to 
the suitors. 

1300
01:03:34,840 --> 01:03:36,760
So ask yourself about your view 
of the world. 

1301
01:03:36,880 --> 01:03:39,200
Ask yourself if you can 
straighten it out a bit more. 

1302
01:03:39,560 --> 01:03:42,800
Ask yourself of the 
consequences, what does rebirth 

1303
01:03:42,800 --> 01:03:44,920
actually mean? 
What does it mean in terms of 

1304
01:03:44,920 --> 01:03:47,160
how I look at the world, how I 
relate to things? 

1305
01:03:47,640 --> 01:03:52,840
And one of the things that it 
means is that you start to value

1306
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:55,920
your spiritual life more and you
start to value less the other 

1307
01:03:55,920 --> 01:03:58,960
ordinary things in life. 
It's one of the consequences of,

1308
01:03:59,080 --> 01:04:01,320
of, of having the idea of 
rebirth. 

1309
01:04:01,880 --> 01:04:04,280
So go to those things. 
Read the suit as a bit more the 

1310
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:06,920
suit as it's just one big mass 
of right view. 

1311
01:04:06,920 --> 01:04:09,520
Yeah, there's 10,000 pages of 
right view. 

1312
01:04:10,280 --> 01:04:12,480
Let's start with Page 1 and just
read through it. 

1313
01:04:13,120 --> 01:04:15,400
So very handy. 
Yeah, it's all there. 

1314
01:04:15,400 --> 01:04:17,480
And just read the suit as that 
you enjoy. 

1315
01:04:17,480 --> 01:04:19,320
Read the word of the Buddha. 
If you don't enjoy a suit, I 

1316
01:04:19,320 --> 01:04:22,160
just kind of let it alone go to 
the next suit and not like that 

1317
01:04:22,160 --> 01:04:23,840
one, next one, next one, next 
one, next one. 

1318
01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:24,800
OK, this one is good. 
Yeah. 

1319
01:04:24,800 --> 01:04:27,320
And then you read that one. 
And this is the right attitude 

1320
01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:29,200
to have to the suit, to the word
of the Buddha. 

1321
01:04:29,840 --> 01:04:33,520
So you have to be inquisitive. 
You have to really ask yourself 

1322
01:04:33,520 --> 01:04:36,160
these questions in a deep way. 
What can I do better? 

1323
01:04:36,320 --> 01:04:40,120
How can I be more kind hearted? 
A very kind hearted person is 

1324
01:04:40,120 --> 01:04:43,200
also a person who have success 
in the meditation practice. 

1325
01:04:47,920 --> 01:04:50,520
OK, so we have until midnight, 
is that right? 

1326
01:04:50,520 --> 01:04:55,400
2 1/2 hours of questions. 
Let's see what happens. 

1327
01:05:00,440 --> 01:05:02,160
I'm sorry, I don't know what 
there. 

1328
01:05:04,040 --> 01:05:06,280
Lately, I've been struggling 
between. 

1329
01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:08,800
So there are like 2 questions 
here. 

1330
01:05:09,480 --> 01:05:13,240
The very first one, how like we 
are now living in a worldly 

1331
01:05:13,240 --> 01:05:17,120
situation where we'd go to work,
we perform our best, like 

1332
01:05:17,120 --> 01:05:21,360
everything is measurable, that 
we have to come, you know, like 

1333
01:05:21,360 --> 01:05:22,600
be the best and everything. 
Yeah. 

1334
01:05:22,960 --> 01:05:27,520
So how do I manage to perform 
very well and at the very same 

1335
01:05:27,520 --> 01:05:31,680
time I will have to take care of
the spiritual path. 

1336
01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:35,760
So how do I combine between 
spiritual path and worldly path?

1337
01:05:36,240 --> 01:05:41,160
And at the same time, if I were 
to put like something like more 

1338
01:05:41,160 --> 01:05:44,960
to a spiritual, then I kind of 
like fail on the worldly path. 

1339
01:05:45,720 --> 01:05:48,160
OK. 
Like so yeah, it has been, you 

1340
01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:51,120
know, a confusion there. 
Yeah. 

1341
01:05:51,120 --> 01:05:53,960
Thank you, Adrian. 
OK, OK, so how to how to 

1342
01:05:53,960 --> 01:05:55,680
succeed? 
Both in the world and the 

1343
01:05:55,680 --> 01:05:56,960
spiritual path. 
Yeah, that's the one. 

1344
01:05:56,960 --> 01:06:02,120
Yeah. 
OK, so the one of the, I don't 

1345
01:06:02,160 --> 01:06:04,320
know about you, but one of the 
things that I have found is that

1346
01:06:04,320 --> 01:06:06,160
the people who are most 
successful in life are the 

1347
01:06:06,160 --> 01:06:08,800
people who actually are very 
kind and caring people. 

1348
01:06:08,880 --> 01:06:12,200
I, I don't know if that's true. 
Sometimes you're kind of the 

1349
01:06:12,200 --> 01:06:15,160
scallywags in the world that's 
successful, but the people who 

1350
01:06:15,160 --> 01:06:18,960
really are successful in a very 
kind of honest way where people 

1351
01:06:18,960 --> 01:06:21,640
trust them and people cannot 
carry them forward because they 

1352
01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:25,280
are good people. 
They are precisely those people 

1353
01:06:25,280 --> 01:06:28,000
with good qualities. 
So in the long run, if you are 

1354
01:06:28,040 --> 01:06:30,440
kind to the people around you, 
if you're kind to your 

1355
01:06:30,520 --> 01:06:33,880
coworkers, to your customers or 
whatever, they won't be afraid 

1356
01:06:33,880 --> 01:06:35,400
of you. 
You know, people are often 

1357
01:06:35,400 --> 01:06:37,520
afraid of those people who are 
very competitive. 

1358
01:06:37,520 --> 01:06:40,080
Yeah, I'm competitive because 
I'm going to kind of get the 

1359
01:06:40,240 --> 01:06:42,240
better of everyone else or 
whatever. 

1360
01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:44,680
And people get afraid of you and
they don't want to promote you. 

1361
01:06:45,160 --> 01:06:47,560
But if you are a person who 
doesn't really care so much 

1362
01:06:47,560 --> 01:06:50,040
about promotion, you don't care 
so much about the worldly 

1363
01:06:50,040 --> 01:06:53,200
values, but you just have a kind
heart, you just are a good 

1364
01:06:53,200 --> 01:06:55,320
person. 
Often automatically you would, 

1365
01:06:55,320 --> 01:06:57,800
like, float to the top. 
Yeah, almost automatically. 

1366
01:06:57,960 --> 01:06:59,280
Because people won't be afraid 
of you. 

1367
01:06:59,280 --> 01:07:01,800
They will say, oh, yeah, this 
person, they can kind of be be 

1368
01:07:01,800 --> 01:07:05,000
promoted or whatever. 
So kindness and care, in my 

1369
01:07:05,000 --> 01:07:09,200
experience is actually a very 
powerful tool for success in the

1370
01:07:09,200 --> 01:07:12,680
worldly life. 
So you have to find the balance 

1371
01:07:13,120 --> 01:07:15,040
somewhere. 
You never, you should never 

1372
01:07:15,040 --> 01:07:16,880
throw the kindness out of the 
window. 

1373
01:07:17,160 --> 01:07:19,520
If you feel that you have to 
throw the kindness out of the 

1374
01:07:19,520 --> 01:07:24,000
window, you are you are 
prioritising your short term 

1375
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,720
happiness network over your long
term happiness. 

1376
01:07:26,720 --> 01:07:29,160
It is not worth it. 
It is a crazy thing to do. 

1377
01:07:29,600 --> 01:07:31,680
Do you want to have short term 
happiness but long term 

1378
01:07:31,680 --> 01:07:33,040
suffering? 
It's mad. 

1379
01:07:33,040 --> 01:07:36,640
Yeah, it doesn't make any sense.
So you have to always be able to

1380
01:07:36,640 --> 01:07:40,240
be be kind. 
And if the work is so demanding 

1381
01:07:40,240 --> 01:07:42,600
you can't be kind, you're 
probably better off finding 

1382
01:07:42,600 --> 01:07:45,080
another job, to be honest, 
because otherwise your 

1383
01:07:45,080 --> 01:07:48,160
priorities are all wrong here. 
So that's what I recommend. 

1384
01:07:48,160 --> 01:07:50,920
But it this doesn't mean you 
should be lazy at work. 

1385
01:07:50,920 --> 01:07:53,560
I always recommend people to, 
you know, to do what they have 

1386
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:55,960
to do because you always feel 
better about yourself if you 

1387
01:07:55,960 --> 01:08:01,160
work well but don't work so hard
that you actually destroy your, 

1388
01:08:01,240 --> 01:08:03,320
your, your other things. 
Yeah, find that middle way 

1389
01:08:03,320 --> 01:08:06,560
somewhere and then you have a 
happy life long term and short 

1390
01:08:06,560 --> 01:08:09,880
term and medium term and super 
long term or whatever else. 

1391
01:08:09,880 --> 01:08:13,600
Yeah, Good. 
Yeah. 

1392
01:08:21,930 --> 01:08:23,050
Hi, Jen. 
So I have a. 

1393
01:08:23,050 --> 01:08:26,810
Question regarding spiritual 
practice. 

1394
01:08:27,210 --> 01:08:29,450
So what do you have to say about
laying man? 

1395
01:08:29,450 --> 01:08:34,370
People who comment to listen to,
to know more about Buddhism, but

1396
01:08:34,370 --> 01:08:37,410
to develop psychic abilities. 
OK. 

1397
01:08:38,319 --> 01:08:39,319
Yeah, yeah. 
That's what's happening. 

1398
01:08:39,960 --> 01:08:42,279
That's what's happening, so. 
Someone is coming to Buddhism 

1399
01:08:42,279 --> 01:08:43,319
because. 
They want to learn psychic 

1400
01:08:43,319 --> 01:08:44,800
abilities. 
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 

1401
01:08:44,800 --> 01:08:46,880
Develop yeah. 
Psychic abilities. 

1402
01:08:46,880 --> 01:08:47,200
OK. 
What? 

1403
01:08:47,200 --> 01:08:49,160
What do they want? 
Third eye or like third? 

1404
01:08:49,160 --> 01:08:50,319
Eye. 
OK, OK. 

1405
01:08:50,319 --> 01:08:52,560
Teleport or something? 
OK. 

1406
01:08:52,760 --> 01:08:54,240
Do they? 
Do they want to do black? 

1407
01:08:54,240 --> 01:08:55,760
Magic as well. 
Is that what they want to do? 

1408
01:08:55,760 --> 01:09:00,319
Yeah, that is really bad, Really
bad camera. 

1409
01:09:00,319 --> 01:09:02,920
You know, if you develop kind of
meditation to kind of do black 

1410
01:09:02,920 --> 01:09:05,319
magic, it's actually terrible 
because you want to hurt other 

1411
01:09:05,319 --> 01:09:06,880
people. 
That's really, really bad news 

1412
01:09:07,760 --> 01:09:09,880
and usually it doesn't work out 
because if you have bad 

1413
01:09:09,880 --> 01:09:12,600
intentions, actually some other 
doesn't usually work if you have

1414
01:09:12,600 --> 01:09:14,120
bad intentions, so usually it 
doesn't work. 

1415
01:09:14,120 --> 01:09:18,160
So I would say that if that is 
your motivation for learning 

1416
01:09:18,160 --> 01:09:20,800
meditation practice, chances you
will succeed are actually very 

1417
01:09:20,800 --> 01:09:25,000
small because you have to, you 
have to actually go into all of 

1418
01:09:25,000 --> 01:09:27,200
this with a very high and noble 
intention. 

1419
01:09:27,200 --> 01:09:29,640
The more noble your intention 
is, you have to have the 

1420
01:09:29,640 --> 01:09:31,439
kindness there. 
You have to have the love, the 

1421
01:09:31,439 --> 01:09:34,160
compassion of all people. 
The more noble your intention 

1422
01:09:34,160 --> 01:09:37,279
is, the more chances you have in
a meditation practice if your 

1423
01:09:37,279 --> 01:09:38,960
intention is just to have the 
third eye. 

1424
01:09:39,000 --> 01:09:41,920
Yeah, it's kind of, it's not 
very noble. 

1425
01:09:41,920 --> 01:09:44,120
It's kind of very worldly. 
It's a bit like I want to have a

1426
01:09:44,120 --> 01:09:45,800
higher salary. 
It's a similar kind of thing 

1427
01:09:45,800 --> 01:09:47,200
here. 
It doesn't really actually get 

1428
01:09:47,200 --> 01:09:49,040
you anywhere. 
So I think it's, I think it's a 

1429
01:09:49,040 --> 01:09:51,279
waste of time. 
You know, you can't really stop 

1430
01:09:51,279 --> 01:09:53,120
people from doing it. 
You kind of, you know, whatever,

1431
01:09:53,120 --> 01:09:56,000
shrug your shoulders. 
But they are, they're not 

1432
01:09:56,000 --> 01:09:57,880
actually going to. 
I think it's very unlikely they 

1433
01:09:57,880 --> 01:10:01,640
will succeed. 
So try to kind of sometimes what

1434
01:10:01,640 --> 01:10:04,880
you need to do is that people 
who have an interest in 

1435
01:10:04,880 --> 01:10:07,000
meditation, you kind of OK, come
in. 

1436
01:10:07,040 --> 01:10:08,440
Yeah. 
If that's what you want to do, 

1437
01:10:08,440 --> 01:10:10,760
fine. 
And then sometimes they actually

1438
01:10:10,760 --> 01:10:13,680
learn something later on. 
They learn something about 

1439
01:10:13,680 --> 01:10:15,200
Buddhism. 
They learn something about these

1440
01:10:15,200 --> 01:10:18,480
teachings that is profound. 
And they start to change the 

1441
01:10:18,480 --> 01:10:19,360
attitude. 
Yeah. 

1442
01:10:19,360 --> 01:10:22,440
They come around, They the 
reason why they want to have the

1443
01:10:22,440 --> 01:10:24,520
third eye because they think 
it's going to be cool. 

1444
01:10:24,520 --> 01:10:27,760
Yeah, it's going to be nice. 
It's going to be happiness for 

1445
01:10:27,760 --> 01:10:29,280
me. 
I can go to my mates and I can 

1446
01:10:29,280 --> 01:10:30,880
tell them. 
Yeah, I got the third eye. 

1447
01:10:30,880 --> 01:10:33,680
Yeah, I can see your mind, I can
read your mind or whatever. 

1448
01:10:34,200 --> 01:10:36,720
And I think that's great, but 
actually it doesn't lead to much

1449
01:10:36,720 --> 01:10:39,040
happiness. 
Imagine if you have the third 

1450
01:10:39,040 --> 01:10:40,720
eye and you can read everyone's 
else. 

1451
01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:41,640
Rubbish. 
Rubbish. 

1452
01:10:41,640 --> 01:10:43,440
Thoughts. 
Yeah, it's terrible. 

1453
01:10:43,440 --> 01:10:48,640
There was a story about this 
Indian sadhu, the word sadhu. 

1454
01:10:48,640 --> 01:10:50,240
By the way, Sadhu is like holy 
man. 

1455
01:10:50,240 --> 01:10:53,120
Yeah, or holy person here. 
And if you read the suttas, the 

1456
01:10:53,120 --> 01:10:55,240
word of the Buddha, this was 
already used in India 2 1/2 

1457
01:10:55,240 --> 01:10:56,880
thousand years ago. 
It was already called sadhu. 

1458
01:10:56,880 --> 01:10:58,920
So you can see these words 
continuing across. 

1459
01:10:59,720 --> 01:11:02,640
But there was a story of this 
Indian sadhu and he said that 

1460
01:11:02,640 --> 01:11:05,360
for some reason the third eye, 
or wasn't the third eye, but 

1461
01:11:05,360 --> 01:11:09,120
then mind reading anyway, mind 
reading opened up and he wasn't 

1462
01:11:09,120 --> 01:11:11,480
sure exactly how it happened. 
Certainly he can read everyone's

1463
01:11:11,480 --> 01:11:13,120
thoughts. 
And he said it was. 

1464
01:11:13,120 --> 01:11:16,680
He said it was kind of cool for 
a while, but then it became so 

1465
01:11:16,680 --> 01:11:20,040
oppressive because those 
thoughts were just so terrible 

1466
01:11:20,040 --> 01:11:21,920
usually. 
But then he wasn't able to turn 

1467
01:11:21,920 --> 01:11:23,560
it off anymore. 
He couldn't turn it off. 

1468
01:11:24,040 --> 01:11:25,960
Yeah. 
So he had to read all this 

1469
01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:28,360
terrible thoughts all the time, 
and he had no choice about it. 

1470
01:11:28,360 --> 01:11:32,160
And this is kind of. 
And but what that shows you is 

1471
01:11:32,160 --> 01:11:34,480
that reading other people's 
thoughts, actually it is not 

1472
01:11:34,480 --> 01:11:36,320
really worthwhile. 
Actually, it's not pretty, 

1473
01:11:36,320 --> 01:11:39,480
pretty useless thing to do 
because most of the things that 

1474
01:11:39,480 --> 01:11:42,920
we think about may not be 
terrible, but the kind of, you 

1475
01:11:42,920 --> 01:11:46,320
know, pretty boring stuff. 
Yeah, mundane, ordinary things 

1476
01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:48,600
we think about kind of little 
small things, tiny things. 

1477
01:11:48,640 --> 01:11:51,200
I don't know what you think 
about, but when I look at my own

1478
01:11:51,200 --> 01:11:53,280
mind and I wonder why am I 
thinking about this, this is 

1479
01:11:53,360 --> 01:11:56,840
completely crazy. 
There was a meditator down in 

1480
01:11:56,840 --> 01:12:00,920
our centre in Perth and he said 
that after a while his mind 

1481
01:12:00,920 --> 01:12:03,320
started to kind of, you know, 
after a while he ran out of 

1482
01:12:03,320 --> 01:12:05,360
things to think about because he
had thought about everything 

1483
01:12:05,360 --> 01:12:07,640
pretty much. 
And once he had run out of 

1484
01:12:07,640 --> 01:12:10,680
things to think about, his mind 
started creating new stuff. 

1485
01:12:11,160 --> 01:12:15,520
So he had just washed a shirt or
something and he had hung that 

1486
01:12:15,520 --> 01:12:18,600
shirt on the line outside and 
now he was sitting in 

1487
01:12:18,600 --> 01:12:20,600
meditation. 
He was thinking about what was 

1488
01:12:20,600 --> 01:12:23,200
the best way to hang that shirt 
on the line. 

1489
01:12:23,240 --> 01:12:26,640
He had run out of everything 
else. 

1490
01:12:26,640 --> 01:12:28,640
And I kind of getting back to 
the really stupid stuff. 

1491
01:12:28,640 --> 01:12:30,080
And this is what our minds are 
like. 

1492
01:12:30,200 --> 01:12:33,080
Sometimes we think about things 
that are so pointless and so 

1493
01:12:33,080 --> 01:12:35,920
useless. 
So hopefully your friend, you 

1494
01:12:35,920 --> 01:12:37,280
were able to kind of convert 
him. 

1495
01:12:37,280 --> 01:12:38,840
Yeah, to real Buddhism after a 
while. 

1496
01:12:38,840 --> 01:12:41,480
So allow them to come along. 
It's OK Learn a bit of 

1497
01:12:41,480 --> 01:12:43,440
meditation. 
And hopefully they will kind of 

1498
01:12:43,440 --> 01:12:46,320
see common sense after a while 
and kind of come to something 

1499
01:12:46,320 --> 01:12:49,640
more useful here. 
OK. 

1500
01:13:01,660 --> 01:13:03,380
Thank you, John. 
I really enjoy your talk 

1501
01:13:03,380 --> 01:13:05,220
tonight. 
I'd like to come back to one of 

1502
01:13:05,220 --> 01:13:07,700
the point you talk about having 
compassion for someone. 

1503
01:13:08,080 --> 01:13:10,480
Who's already pre programmed to 
be disagreeable? 

1504
01:13:10,560 --> 01:13:12,240
Yeah. 
So I'm just wondering, in your 

1505
01:13:12,240 --> 01:13:15,480
opinion, how much can we 
reprogram, so to speak, to 

1506
01:13:15,480 --> 01:13:17,600
rewire our brain? 
OK. 

1507
01:13:18,040 --> 01:13:21,800
Oh, we can, we can rewire it. 
That's kind of the that's that's

1508
01:13:21,920 --> 01:13:22,800
that's the good news. 
Yeah. 

1509
01:13:22,800 --> 01:13:24,880
It can be rewired. 
It can be reprogrammed. 

1510
01:13:24,880 --> 01:13:26,720
So the program doesn't mean we 
are stuck. 

1511
01:13:26,720 --> 01:13:28,960
And we kind of, we have to be 
like this forever because that 

1512
01:13:28,960 --> 01:13:31,160
would be like determinism. 
There would be no way out. 

1513
01:13:31,160 --> 01:13:33,440
There would be no way of 
spiritual developing. 

1514
01:13:34,040 --> 01:13:37,440
But the point rather is that at 
this particular moment, yeah, 

1515
01:13:37,440 --> 01:13:40,040
you can only be the person you 
are right now because all the 

1516
01:13:40,040 --> 01:13:43,280
calls and conditions that come 
to you now, you can't really do 

1517
01:13:43,280 --> 01:13:46,720
anything about that. 
But if you over the long term, 

1518
01:13:46,760 --> 01:13:49,880
the person you are tomorrow or 
the person you are the day after

1519
01:13:49,880 --> 01:13:53,600
tomorrow or next year or 
whatever will will depend on how

1520
01:13:53,600 --> 01:13:56,200
you react to what is happening 
to you in the present moment. 

1521
01:13:56,880 --> 01:14:00,280
So who you are now is given, but
how you react to who you are 

1522
01:14:00,280 --> 01:14:03,000
that is not given. 
And you can change that reaction

1523
01:14:03,280 --> 01:14:06,040
if you have good influence on 
your like the Buddhist teachings

1524
01:14:06,040 --> 01:14:09,720
or whatever else it is. 
So there's enormous potential 

1525
01:14:09,720 --> 01:14:12,000
for spiritual developing and 
changing yourself. 

1526
01:14:12,400 --> 01:14:15,280
It just depends on your ability 
to persevere and commit to the 

1527
01:14:15,280 --> 01:14:17,080
practice. 
The more you persevere and 

1528
01:14:17,080 --> 01:14:18,760
commit, the more ability you 
will have. 

1529
01:14:19,320 --> 01:14:22,000
But start with yourself. 
And one of the the kind of 

1530
01:14:22,000 --> 01:14:24,400
interesting thing is when you 
start with yourself and try to 

1531
01:14:24,400 --> 01:14:27,400
change yourself is that you 
learn how difficult it is 

1532
01:14:27,840 --> 01:14:30,040
because that programming is 
often very strong. 

1533
01:14:30,040 --> 01:14:32,320
Yeah. 
If you say to yourself that I'm 

1534
01:14:32,320 --> 01:14:35,080
from now on, I'm not going to 
get angry in this particular 

1535
01:14:35,080 --> 01:14:37,800
situations, it's actually very 
hard to do that. 

1536
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:40,040
Yeah. 
Because there's a certain habit 

1537
01:14:40,040 --> 01:14:41,760
that is so strong. 
You know, whenever your wife 

1538
01:14:41,760 --> 01:14:43,520
says, hey, you always get a bit 
upset. 

1539
01:14:43,520 --> 01:14:45,160
Yeah. 
Because she's done that 1000 

1540
01:14:45,160 --> 01:14:47,360
times before. 
And now you're kind of stuck. 

1541
01:14:47,440 --> 01:14:49,160
You're stuck with that 
perception in a sense. 

1542
01:14:49,960 --> 01:14:51,280
Have you got a wife, by the way?
Yeah. 

1543
01:14:51,520 --> 01:14:51,960
Yeah. 
OK. 

1544
01:14:53,360 --> 01:14:53,680
OK. 
Sorry. 

1545
01:14:53,960 --> 01:14:58,000
Sorry about that. 
OK. 

1546
01:14:58,000 --> 01:14:59,440
It's not the reason why we're 
sitting apart. 

1547
01:15:02,640 --> 01:15:04,880
It's just life. 
I know what life is like, even 

1548
01:15:04,880 --> 01:15:09,480
though I'm one kid. 
So you and but so you know, you,

1549
01:15:09,760 --> 01:15:11,640
you understand that there is 
development. 

1550
01:15:11,640 --> 01:15:13,960
There's also hard to change our 
habits. 

1551
01:15:14,440 --> 01:15:16,680
And one of the things that comes
over that is that you start to 

1552
01:15:16,680 --> 01:15:18,240
have much more compassion for 
other people. 

1553
01:15:18,240 --> 01:15:22,200
Very often we demand other 
people to change, especially 

1554
01:15:22,200 --> 01:15:24,480
husband and wife often demand 
change from each other. 

1555
01:15:24,640 --> 01:15:27,520
But actually, when we understand
how difficult it is to do it, 

1556
01:15:27,520 --> 01:15:30,840
even with our own mind, we start
to become less demanding of the 

1557
01:15:30,840 --> 01:15:32,480
people around us. 
And this is one of the great 

1558
01:15:32,480 --> 01:15:35,040
benefits. 
We're having some insight into, 

1559
01:15:35,120 --> 01:15:37,400
you know, the how conditioned we
actually are. 

1560
01:15:37,960 --> 01:15:39,480
And also it becomes kind of 
scary. 

1561
01:15:39,480 --> 01:15:41,960
You see how conditioned you are.
You see how strong your habits 

1562
01:15:41,960 --> 01:15:43,680
are. 
And then you know that if you 

1563
01:15:43,680 --> 01:15:45,680
don't do anything with that, you
will carry it on into the 

1564
01:15:45,680 --> 01:15:48,160
future. 
So you may carry those same 

1565
01:15:48,160 --> 01:15:51,280
habits into a future life. 
In the future life, there may be

1566
01:15:51,280 --> 01:15:52,920
no BF. 
Yeah. 

1567
01:15:52,920 --> 01:15:54,760
You may not, may not be reborn 
in Singapore. 

1568
01:15:54,760 --> 01:15:56,960
You may be reborn, who knows 
where you get reborn on Mars or 

1569
01:15:56,960 --> 01:15:58,360
something. 
Yeah. 

1570
01:15:58,600 --> 01:16:00,880
There's no guarantee there's 
Buddhism on Mars, even if they 

1571
01:16:00,880 --> 01:16:04,200
have colonies there. 
So because of that, you, you 

1572
01:16:04,360 --> 01:16:07,280
because the uncertainty in the 
future, if you carry these 

1573
01:16:07,280 --> 01:16:10,600
habits with you, you don't know 
how they're going to develop 

1574
01:16:10,640 --> 01:16:13,200
what, under what circumstances 
that make it even worse. 

1575
01:16:13,200 --> 01:16:16,160
And it might kind of sprout out 
and maybe become, you know, you 

1576
01:16:16,160 --> 01:16:18,640
maybe get reborn in a mafia 
family or something like that. 

1577
01:16:19,080 --> 01:16:21,960
And then your definements really
have a chance to play out badly.

1578
01:16:22,560 --> 01:16:25,480
So you understand two things. 
You understand not to place too 

1579
01:16:25,480 --> 01:16:28,320
much demand on other people 
because, you know it's 

1580
01:16:28,360 --> 01:16:30,120
difficult, that is, to change 
your own habits. 

1581
01:16:30,560 --> 01:16:33,960
But you also understand the 
danger in these habits to gain 

1582
01:16:33,960 --> 01:16:37,280
more of a incentive to actually 
do something about them and 

1583
01:16:37,280 --> 01:16:40,040
change yourself so in the 
future, you don't fall under 

1584
01:16:40,040 --> 01:16:41,600
their sway so easily. 
Yeah. 

1585
01:16:41,600 --> 01:16:44,160
Does that answer your question 
or? 

1586
01:16:45,160 --> 01:16:45,800
Yeah. 
OK. 

1587
01:16:45,880 --> 01:16:53,640
OK, Very good. 
Thanks Rajan for the talk just 

1588
01:16:53,640 --> 01:16:57,040
now. 
My question is related to 

1589
01:16:57,040 --> 01:16:59,440
today's topic, how to move 
forward in our practice. 

1590
01:17:00,280 --> 01:17:04,760
So clearly we need to practice 
that's that's number one. 

1591
01:17:05,520 --> 01:17:09,000
And also how to move forward 
rather than in circles. 

1592
01:17:09,000 --> 01:17:10,800
So it goes. 
OK. 

1593
01:17:10,880 --> 01:17:11,520
Yeah. 
So. 

1594
01:17:12,560 --> 01:17:15,080
In my experience. 
Everyone learns a bit 

1595
01:17:15,080 --> 01:17:17,720
differently and that probably 
our paths will be a bit 

1596
01:17:17,720 --> 01:17:23,240
different, even though it's 
based on the formidable truths 

1597
01:17:23,240 --> 01:17:29,000
and the A4 path. 
And also I would think that the 

1598
01:17:29,040 --> 01:17:33,240
gradual training is kind of a 
general structure. 

1599
01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:37,480
Or would you say that it is 
recommended for all? 

1600
01:17:37,600 --> 01:17:42,760
Or do you have other 
recommendations for for better 

1601
01:17:42,760 --> 01:17:45,120
learning? 
OK. 

1602
01:17:46,200 --> 01:17:48,440
I would say the gradual 
training, you know a lot about 

1603
01:17:48,440 --> 01:17:49,480
the suitors already. 
That's pretty. 

1604
01:17:49,480 --> 01:17:51,560
That's pretty good. 
Yeah, that's very nice. 

1605
01:17:52,000 --> 01:17:54,320
The gradual training is 
applicable for everyone. 

1606
01:17:54,320 --> 01:17:56,800
Yeah. 
So you can use that in your own 

1607
01:17:56,800 --> 01:17:59,200
practice to kind of sort of 
figure out where you are. 

1608
01:17:59,200 --> 01:18:00,320
You can see the gradual 
training. 

1609
01:18:00,320 --> 01:18:03,040
You can sort of see where you're
at roughly in that training. 

1610
01:18:03,600 --> 01:18:04,840
Yeah. 
And what you have to do, what 

1611
01:18:04,840 --> 01:18:06,680
you have to focus on. 
You will see your weaknesses 

1612
01:18:06,680 --> 01:18:07,880
there. 
You will see your strengths or 

1613
01:18:07,880 --> 01:18:09,440
whatever in that gradual 
training. 

1614
01:18:09,440 --> 01:18:13,840
So you can always use that. 
And you know, one of the things 

1615
01:18:13,840 --> 01:18:18,160
that I think is important is to,
again, the idea of commitment is

1616
01:18:18,200 --> 01:18:19,560
kind of the really important 
one. 

1617
01:18:20,120 --> 01:18:23,880
And once you gain a sense of 
faith and understanding in the 

1618
01:18:23,880 --> 01:18:25,640
Buddhist Seutas, and obviously 
you have quite a bit of 

1619
01:18:25,640 --> 01:18:28,880
understanding already, and stick
to that which you understand, 

1620
01:18:28,880 --> 01:18:31,320
stick to that where you have 
your faith and confidence. 

1621
01:18:31,800 --> 01:18:35,040
Don't move too much around with 
all kind of different teachings 

1622
01:18:35,040 --> 01:18:36,040
and all kind of things. 
Yeah. 

1623
01:18:36,040 --> 01:18:38,920
Once you feel confident with a 
certain thing, stick with that 

1624
01:18:38,920 --> 01:18:41,800
to a certain degree. 
And once you stick with 

1625
01:18:41,800 --> 01:18:45,160
something and you investigate 
that fully and you use that in a

1626
01:18:45,160 --> 01:18:48,280
very deep sense in your 
practice, then eventually the 

1627
01:18:48,280 --> 01:18:49,960
results will come. 
Yeah. 

1628
01:18:49,960 --> 01:18:52,400
So it's a matter of really 
committing to one particular 

1629
01:18:52,400 --> 01:18:55,320
thing in a deep way, and then 
things will start to start to 

1630
01:18:55,320 --> 01:18:59,160
happen as a consequence. 
But it is, it is not always 

1631
01:18:59,160 --> 01:19:01,840
easy. 
And particularly even in 

1632
01:19:01,840 --> 01:19:05,480
monastic life, sometimes it can 
be hard, but certainly in lay 

1633
01:19:05,480 --> 01:19:07,640
life, much more difficult 
because there's so many more 

1634
01:19:07,640 --> 01:19:09,760
distractions, so many things 
more going on. 

1635
01:19:09,760 --> 01:19:11,920
Yeah. 
So you have to commit even more 

1636
01:19:11,920 --> 01:19:13,400
and you have to be even more 
careful. 

1637
01:19:13,920 --> 01:19:17,080
So make one of the things that 
is the most important thing is, 

1638
01:19:17,080 --> 01:19:20,440
and this is what comes out of 
the idea of Kaliana mita in the 

1639
01:19:20,440 --> 01:19:24,080
Suta, is to make sure you get a 
regular doses of Dhamma. 

1640
01:19:24,080 --> 01:19:26,520
Yeah. 
A regular Suta, a regular talk 

1641
01:19:26,520 --> 01:19:29,640
about the Suta, whatever it is. 
And as you do that, you will 

1642
01:19:29,840 --> 01:19:31,480
gradually it will kind of keep 
you. 

1643
01:19:31,480 --> 01:19:33,040
It will lift you up. 
Yeah. 

1644
01:19:33,040 --> 01:19:36,320
We'll keep you aloft and keep 
you kind of heading in the right

1645
01:19:36,320 --> 01:19:40,800
direction. 
So, but yes, it does take a lot 

1646
01:19:40,800 --> 01:19:44,400
of contemplation and reflection 
and all of these kind of things 

1647
01:19:44,400 --> 01:19:47,120
to sort of to keep you moving in
the right direction. 

1648
01:19:47,120 --> 01:19:50,520
But as you as you do that, it 
will eventually bear fruit. 

1649
01:19:50,520 --> 01:19:53,040
I think so. 
Yeah. 

1650
01:19:53,640 --> 01:20:08,120
OK, very good. 
Thank you, Ajan. 

1651
01:20:08,400 --> 01:20:12,800
I'm asking this question on. 
Behalf of my friend So when is 

1652
01:20:12,800 --> 01:20:17,000
the next Maitreya Buddha coming?
OK. 

1653
01:20:17,520 --> 01:20:21,200
That's the wrong question. 
Yeah, You got the wrong 

1654
01:20:21,200 --> 01:20:22,400
questions. 
If you had the wrong question, 

1655
01:20:22,400 --> 01:20:23,440
there's no good, there's no 
answer. 

1656
01:20:23,440 --> 01:20:25,880
So the Buddha says when you have
the wrong question, he just 

1657
01:20:25,880 --> 01:20:27,840
remains silent. 
So I've already said too much. 

1658
01:20:28,160 --> 01:20:29,280
This is the, this is the 
problem. 

1659
01:20:30,160 --> 01:20:33,680
So this is one of the, the 
things about the one of the 

1660
01:20:33,760 --> 01:20:37,400
biggest problems in Buddhism is 
often looking to a future which 

1661
01:20:37,400 --> 01:20:41,160
is kind of uncertain and 
unreliable and no idea when it's

1662
01:20:41,160 --> 01:20:42,880
going to come and what it is 
about. 

1663
01:20:43,360 --> 01:20:46,560
And there's so much of Buddhism 
around the world is about 

1664
01:20:46,560 --> 01:20:50,640
worshipping Maitreya Buddha, 
this mythological person who may

1665
01:20:50,640 --> 01:20:52,680
come one day and who may not 
come one day. 

1666
01:20:52,680 --> 01:20:55,800
Who knows? 
Yeah, all we know, and this is 

1667
01:20:55,840 --> 01:20:59,040
quite certain, we know that the 
idea of a Buddha arising in the 

1668
01:20:59,040 --> 01:21:01,920
world, that happens at regular 
intervals because that is like a

1669
01:21:01,920 --> 01:21:04,520
natural phenomenon. 
Every now and again the Buddha 

1670
01:21:04,520 --> 01:21:06,760
arise in the world and that sort
of happens. 

1671
01:21:06,760 --> 01:21:08,320
So we know. 
But whether it's going to be 

1672
01:21:08,320 --> 01:21:11,680
Maitreya Buddha or Karuna 
Buddha, Karuna is Compassion 

1673
01:21:11,680 --> 01:21:13,520
Buddha, Maitreya is Meta Buddha.
Yeah. 

1674
01:21:13,800 --> 01:21:16,680
So whether it's going to be 1 or
the Mudita Buddha or Peka Buddha

1675
01:21:16,680 --> 01:21:18,720
or some other Buddha, we don't 
know. 

1676
01:21:18,960 --> 01:21:21,760
Yeah, but the point is it will 
happen at some stage. 

1677
01:21:22,160 --> 01:21:25,440
But actually it is something 
that we cannot say anything 

1678
01:21:25,440 --> 01:21:28,720
about. 
The point is, and the problem is

1679
01:21:28,720 --> 01:21:32,240
that this whole idea of 
worshipping some Buddha in the 

1680
01:21:32,240 --> 01:21:35,960
future, really what it does, it 
takes away the value of the 

1681
01:21:35,960 --> 01:21:38,480
Buddha we have now. 
You have a Buddha now. 

1682
01:21:38,800 --> 01:21:42,760
The teachings are here with that
Buddha reserves respect for 

1683
01:21:42,760 --> 01:21:45,400
having worked so hard to make 
these teachings available for 

1684
01:21:45,400 --> 01:21:47,480
us. 
And then we go worshipping a pie

1685
01:21:47,480 --> 01:21:49,000
in the sky that we have no idea 
about. 

1686
01:21:49,000 --> 01:21:51,320
And that is very, very wrong. 
Yeah. 

1687
01:21:51,320 --> 01:21:52,720
Yeah. 
It's actually, it's been 

1688
01:21:52,720 --> 01:21:55,000
disrespectful, I think to the 
Buddha we have already. 

1689
01:21:55,640 --> 01:21:59,800
So the whole question about 
Maitreya Buddha is really, I 

1690
01:21:59,800 --> 01:22:03,800
think is, is is a flawed 
question to to start with. 

1691
01:22:04,520 --> 01:22:09,000
And the idea of Maitreya Buddha 
in the parli Canon only occurs 

1692
01:22:09,000 --> 01:22:12,160
once in the parli Canon. 
And that particular one 

1693
01:22:12,160 --> 01:22:14,960
occurrence seems to be a late 
addition to the Canon. 

1694
01:22:14,960 --> 01:22:16,800
Yeah, It's not something that 
was actually there from the 

1695
01:22:16,800 --> 01:22:18,920
beginning. 
This has been studied by people 

1696
01:22:18,920 --> 01:22:20,800
who do comparative study of the 
suitors. 

1697
01:22:21,360 --> 01:22:24,360
So really there is no, it's a, 
it's a later myth that came 

1698
01:22:24,360 --> 01:22:26,200
after the Buddha. 
The Buddha never predicted 

1699
01:22:26,200 --> 01:22:28,240
Maitreya Buddha. 
Someone else did that, probably 

1700
01:22:28,240 --> 01:22:30,960
someone who was a scholar or 
something who had no insight. 

1701
01:22:30,960 --> 01:22:32,920
Yeah, yeah. 
OK, We know there's a Buddha, 

1702
01:22:32,960 --> 01:22:34,840
let's call him Maitreya. 
So we had that in there. 

1703
01:22:35,280 --> 01:22:37,880
So we have Maitreya Buddha. 
That's probably what something 

1704
01:22:37,880 --> 01:22:39,160
like that, probably what 
happened there. 

1705
01:22:39,600 --> 01:22:41,640
So it is going down the wrong 
path. 

1706
01:22:41,640 --> 01:22:45,280
And I think it's so important 
that we stop these kind of wrong

1707
01:22:45,280 --> 01:22:49,720
trends in our society because it
is so, such a common thing. 

1708
01:22:49,720 --> 01:22:52,440
You know, you can see this 
enormous temples being built in 

1709
01:22:52,440 --> 01:22:55,080
my Treya Buddha around enormous 
statues. 

1710
01:22:55,480 --> 01:22:58,720
And people are becoming, 
becoming like a God. 

1711
01:22:58,720 --> 01:23:00,520
You worship my Treya Buddha? 
Yeah. 

1712
01:23:00,520 --> 01:23:02,120
He doesn't have any teachings, 
Nothing to you. 

1713
01:23:02,120 --> 01:23:03,520
Can't really practice what he 
says. 

1714
01:23:03,520 --> 01:23:05,280
Yeah. 
So nothing to practice. 

1715
01:23:05,280 --> 01:23:08,440
But you kind of worship my Treya
Buddha or some kind of God or 

1716
01:23:08,440 --> 01:23:11,360
something like that. 
And it whole thing becomes very,

1717
01:23:11,360 --> 01:23:13,400
very problematic as a 
consequence. 

1718
01:23:14,000 --> 01:23:16,600
So tell your friend to come up 
with a better question and then 

1719
01:23:16,600 --> 01:23:23,360
we might might answer it next 
time around, OK? 

1720
01:23:27,360 --> 01:23:33,640
Two last questions. 
Thank you Adrian for for the 

1721
01:23:33,840 --> 01:23:37,200
wonderful talk. 
My question relates to one of 

1722
01:23:37,200 --> 01:23:41,280
the earlier ones where as we we 
go deeper into our practice, 

1723
01:23:41,360 --> 01:23:44,000
we're supposed to feel more 
joyful and, and feel more 

1724
01:23:44,000 --> 01:23:49,400
compassionate. 
And so does that mean that for 

1725
01:23:49,400 --> 01:23:54,640
someone who is practicing but 
doesn't necessarily feel more 

1726
01:23:54,640 --> 01:24:00,120
joyful or or more happy, it's 
regressing in in the practice in

1727
01:24:00,120 --> 01:24:04,680
the sense that, for example, 
when one tries to follow the 

1728
01:24:04,680 --> 01:24:07,240
five precepts, it cannot kill, 
for example. 

1729
01:24:07,240 --> 01:24:11,200
And then you see a cockroach or 
a lizard in the house, for 

1730
01:24:11,200 --> 01:24:13,480
example. 
And then that urge comes and 

1731
01:24:13,480 --> 01:24:16,880
then you're supposed to go and, 
you know, try to follow the 

1732
01:24:16,880 --> 01:24:18,840
precepts. 
It's a bit of Duca there. 

1733
01:24:19,120 --> 01:24:21,360
Yeah. 
OK, So this is just a very. 

1734
01:24:21,360 --> 01:24:24,520
Trivial example, but it's. 
Also in a sense, like how you 

1735
01:24:24,520 --> 01:24:28,920
deal with other people, 
especially like parents, if you,

1736
01:24:29,480 --> 01:24:32,360
if one finds that certain 
behavior of the parents, it's 

1737
01:24:32,640 --> 01:24:35,240
exactly what Buddhist should not
do. 

1738
01:24:35,600 --> 01:24:39,480
And you see that in the parent 
and, and you, you, you know, 

1739
01:24:39,480 --> 01:24:42,120
it's wrong and you're very 
worried that you, you don't want

1740
01:24:42,120 --> 01:24:47,840
to be influenced into becoming, 
you know, influenced by people 

1741
01:24:47,840 --> 01:24:52,440
around you. 
So, so then there becomes this, 

1742
01:24:52,440 --> 01:24:58,000
this pain as well, because you 
see in others what someone who's

1743
01:24:58,000 --> 01:25:00,920
very close to you, but it goes 
against the teaching of the 

1744
01:25:00,920 --> 01:25:07,120
Dharma. 
And so how, how does 1 I mean, 

1745
01:25:07,440 --> 01:25:12,120
how does one, how should one 
think about such things being 

1746
01:25:12,200 --> 01:25:15,320
true, wanting to be true to to 
the Dharma and the teachings, 

1747
01:25:15,320 --> 01:25:19,040
and yet, you know, not not 
wanting to feel that that pain 

1748
01:25:19,040 --> 01:25:23,000
and dukkha as well. 
So, yeah, I need some advice. 

1749
01:25:23,000 --> 01:25:24,120
Aja, thank. 
You OK? 

1750
01:25:24,120 --> 01:25:29,000
Yeah. 
You know, one of the the things 

1751
01:25:29,000 --> 01:25:31,440
is that sometimes there is going
to be pain. 

1752
01:25:31,440 --> 01:25:33,640
There is pain that comes from, 
you know, the spiritual 

1753
01:25:33,640 --> 01:25:36,080
practice. 
And it is sometimes that is 

1754
01:25:36,080 --> 01:25:38,600
unavoidable. 
But so really what it is about 

1755
01:25:38,600 --> 01:25:42,120
is using that pain in a skilful 
way to then again to advance 

1756
01:25:42,160 --> 01:25:45,040
your understanding of things. 
And it's always difficult. 

1757
01:25:45,040 --> 01:25:47,120
You know, you see the all the 
pain in the world, you see the 

1758
01:25:47,120 --> 01:25:48,720
you. 
You can look on TV, you see all 

1759
01:25:48,720 --> 01:25:50,600
the refugees and it kind of 
feels terrible. 

1760
01:25:51,240 --> 01:25:53,520
The world is is there is a lot 
of pain in the world. 

1761
01:25:53,520 --> 01:25:56,360
That's the reality. 
But there's also a lot of joy in

1762
01:25:56,360 --> 01:25:58,560
the world at the same time. 
There are happy people out 

1763
01:25:58,560 --> 01:25:59,640
there. 
There are people who practice 

1764
01:25:59,640 --> 01:26:01,200
the spiritual, practice the 
path. 

1765
01:26:01,680 --> 01:26:03,480
So you've tried to find that 
balance. 

1766
01:26:03,480 --> 01:26:06,200
And when you find a balance, 
then you can carry on because, 

1767
01:26:06,200 --> 01:26:09,000
you know, there is hope on the 
one hand, even though there's 

1768
01:26:09,000 --> 01:26:10,480
also a lot of suffering in the 
world there. 

1769
01:26:11,160 --> 01:26:14,640
So that suffering is, you know, 
you you do your best to 

1770
01:26:14,640 --> 01:26:17,680
influence the people around you 
to kind of give them a chance to

1771
01:26:17,680 --> 01:26:20,720
see something better, whether 
it's your parents or whoever it 

1772
01:26:20,720 --> 01:26:23,160
is that kind of are doing doing 
the kind of the wrong thing. 

1773
01:26:24,000 --> 01:26:26,240
But the, the, the ultimate 
lesson in so many of these 

1774
01:26:26,240 --> 01:26:29,000
things is sometimes you just 
have to shrug your shoulders and

1775
01:26:29,000 --> 01:26:31,600
say, I can't do anything more. 
I've done my very best and you 

1776
01:26:31,600 --> 01:26:33,280
have to let go at a certain 
point. 

1777
01:26:33,840 --> 01:26:35,840
Yeah, you can support your 
parents now. 

1778
01:26:35,840 --> 01:26:38,640
One day they're going to die. 
So what are you going to do when

1779
01:26:38,640 --> 01:26:39,960
they die? 
You definitely have to let go. 

1780
01:26:39,960 --> 01:26:42,680
You can't do anything more than,
yeah, they could have died 

1781
01:26:42,680 --> 01:26:44,680
already, in which case you 
already kind of they would have 

1782
01:26:44,680 --> 01:26:46,800
moved on and you wouldn't worry 
so much about it. 

1783
01:26:47,360 --> 01:26:50,480
So just remember this. 
You do so much as you can while 

1784
01:26:50,480 --> 01:26:54,480
they're here, but also you 
understand the limits of what 

1785
01:26:54,480 --> 01:26:56,320
you can do. 
And at that comes a point where 

1786
01:26:56,320 --> 01:26:58,200
you have to learn to let go. 
You have no choice. 

1787
01:26:58,200 --> 01:27:00,880
And because you understand you 
have no choice when you 

1788
01:27:00,880 --> 01:27:03,040
understand that it actually 
helps you to do that. 

1789
01:27:03,880 --> 01:27:04,880
Yeah. 
With the cockroach. 

1790
01:27:05,640 --> 01:27:09,040
The idea with a cockroach is 
that you have to try to see the 

1791
01:27:09,040 --> 01:27:10,880
world from the cockroach's point
of view. 

1792
01:27:11,680 --> 01:27:13,760
Yeah. 
It's very hard. 

1793
01:27:13,760 --> 01:27:15,040
Yeah. 
But it can be done. 

1794
01:27:15,280 --> 01:27:16,880
What is the cockroach's point of
view? 

1795
01:27:16,880 --> 01:27:18,240
He wants to live. 
Yeah. 

1796
01:27:18,240 --> 01:27:19,840
I want to live. 
I just want to run around. 

1797
01:27:19,840 --> 01:27:22,000
I want to eat a little bit here,
eat a little bit there. 

1798
01:27:22,040 --> 01:27:24,720
Yeah, even cockroaches have 
feelings. 

1799
01:27:24,720 --> 01:27:26,240
Yeah, this is kind of the 
important point. 

1800
01:27:26,720 --> 01:27:29,240
So if you're able to see the 
world a little bit from the 

1801
01:27:29,240 --> 01:27:31,840
cockroaches point of view, just 
knowing that they want to live, 

1802
01:27:31,840 --> 01:27:34,480
knowing that what they want to 
do straight away, you have more 

1803
01:27:34,480 --> 01:27:36,480
compassion towards them. 
Yeah. 

1804
01:27:36,480 --> 01:27:39,120
Same thing with the mosquito. 
Mosquito comes and wants to bite

1805
01:27:39,120 --> 01:27:41,240
you. 
It's one of the kind of really 

1806
01:27:41,240 --> 01:27:43,880
hard things when you have the if
you want to sleep at night, then

1807
01:27:43,880 --> 01:27:45,720
there's a mosquito in your room 
buzzing around. 

1808
01:27:45,720 --> 01:27:47,120
It's very hard to sleep 
sometimes. 

1809
01:27:47,680 --> 01:27:50,720
But remember mosquito also, they
just kind of want to do their 

1810
01:27:50,720 --> 01:27:52,320
own thing. 
They want to liver, they want to

1811
01:27:52,320 --> 01:27:53,320
just want to have a meal. 
Yeah. 

1812
01:27:53,320 --> 01:27:54,920
They want to have some blood or 
whatever. 

1813
01:27:54,960 --> 01:27:57,840
Yeah. 
And actually, so you have to put

1814
01:27:57,840 --> 01:28:00,920
yourself in other other beings 
position. 

1815
01:28:01,000 --> 01:28:03,400
And when you do that, you 
actually are able to have much 

1816
01:28:03,400 --> 01:28:07,040
more compassion for the minute 
you try to catch that cockroach 

1817
01:28:07,040 --> 01:28:10,520
in a humane way, in a humane 
cockroachy way, whatever it is. 

1818
01:28:12,280 --> 01:28:15,960
So that is the kind of, this is 
one of the things that makes 

1819
01:28:15,960 --> 01:28:18,280
these things possible. 
I remember when some of the, you

1820
01:28:18,480 --> 01:28:20,520
know, even in the Christian 
tradition, some of the great 

1821
01:28:20,520 --> 01:28:25,440
Saints like Saint Francis of 
Assisi, he was a very famous St.

1822
01:28:25,600 --> 01:28:27,920
in the Catholic tradition in the
13th century or whatever. 

1823
01:28:28,320 --> 01:28:31,160
And he was famous for having, he
had lice in his hair. 

1824
01:28:31,160 --> 01:28:34,160
Yeah, people would have at those
times and he would kind of leave

1825
01:28:34,160 --> 01:28:36,120
them there because he realised, 
actually, I don't want to kill 

1826
01:28:36,120 --> 01:28:37,680
those lies. 
They're too much compassion for 

1827
01:28:37,680 --> 01:28:40,160
the lice. 
This is in Christianity where 

1828
01:28:40,160 --> 01:28:43,440
they don't really have this idea
of looking after animals in the 

1829
01:28:43,440 --> 01:28:44,720
same way that we have in 
Buddhism. 

1830
01:28:44,720 --> 01:28:46,560
But he just naturally had 
compassion. 

1831
01:28:46,840 --> 01:28:48,840
He understood the lies. 
They want to live. 

1832
01:28:48,880 --> 01:28:50,320
Yeah. 
They want to kind of have a good

1833
01:28:50,320 --> 01:28:53,520
life as well. 
So you allow them to, you allow 

1834
01:28:53,560 --> 01:28:56,720
them to live as well. 
So you find a balance in your 

1835
01:28:56,720 --> 01:28:57,520
life. 
Yeah. 

1836
01:28:57,520 --> 01:28:59,760
And this is kind of the the 
thing you find this. 

1837
01:29:00,560 --> 01:29:05,240
Sometimes it is on, on on 
occasion, it may be OK to kill 

1838
01:29:05,240 --> 01:29:07,280
if you have some kind of 
intestinal worm. 

1839
01:29:07,280 --> 01:29:10,800
For example, if I had an 
intestinal worm, I probably 

1840
01:29:10,800 --> 01:29:13,320
would go to the doctor and ask 
for something to get rid of it 

1841
01:29:13,560 --> 01:29:16,200
because it's just that's that's 
too much, it's going too far. 

1842
01:29:16,520 --> 01:29:19,920
So occasionally you may break 
your precepts, but you try to 

1843
01:29:19,920 --> 01:29:22,360
the best of your ability to keep
them in those difficult 

1844
01:29:22,360 --> 01:29:24,480
situations. 
And very often it's just a 

1845
01:29:24,480 --> 01:29:27,920
matter of your attitude. 
Yeah, your frame of mind is 

1846
01:29:27,920 --> 01:29:30,200
often going to make the whole 
difference of whether you're 

1847
01:29:30,200 --> 01:29:33,480
able to keep them or not. 
So these things are difficult 

1848
01:29:33,480 --> 01:29:37,280
things. 
But you, you know, if you are 

1849
01:29:37,280 --> 01:29:40,080
wise and you keep on thinking 
about, you know, how to deal 

1850
01:29:40,080 --> 01:29:43,000
with this, I can guarantee you, 
you will find solutions to it 

1851
01:29:43,000 --> 01:29:46,520
that are suitable and 
appropriate in accordance with 

1852
01:29:46,560 --> 01:29:53,040
the Dharma teachings. 
Yeah, We have time for one last 

1853
01:29:53,040 --> 01:29:58,800
question. 
Then we take a break and see if 

1854
01:29:59,040 --> 01:30:02,640
John Bromley is not to come back
at 10:45. 

1855
01:30:03,040 --> 01:30:03,440
Yeah. 
See what? 

1856
01:30:03,520 --> 01:30:09,280
See what happens, Yeah. 
Yeah. 

1857
01:30:09,280 --> 01:30:10,960
Thank you, John Bramley, for the
talk today. 

1858
01:30:10,960 --> 01:30:16,280
Yeah, regarding the topic today 
about practice, one of the 

1859
01:30:16,400 --> 01:30:18,640
Eightfold path is about right 
effort, right. 

1860
01:30:18,640 --> 01:30:21,240
I mean, you want to maintain 
wholesome actions and get rid of

1861
01:30:21,240 --> 01:30:23,640
the wholesome actions. 
Yeah. 

1862
01:30:23,640 --> 01:30:26,320
As you mentioned earlier on, we 
are all, we all have flaws, but 

1863
01:30:26,320 --> 01:30:28,480
imperfect. 
So sometimes we do things that 

1864
01:30:28,480 --> 01:30:29,680
we are, we know what we're 
supposed to do. 

1865
01:30:29,680 --> 01:30:31,880
Yeah. 
So my question to you is like 

1866
01:30:31,880 --> 01:30:36,600
this, is there any practical 
tips or advice that you have for

1867
01:30:36,600 --> 01:30:41,320
people that sometimes you may 
maybe impulse or of without 

1868
01:30:41,520 --> 01:30:44,920
being too mindful that you start
to do some things that are not 

1869
01:30:44,920 --> 01:30:47,960
so wholesome? 
What can we do to stop those 

1870
01:30:47,960 --> 01:30:52,040
thoughts or actions before, you 
know, it comes to becomes, you 

1871
01:30:52,040 --> 01:30:58,640
know, OK, well, the the obvious 
answer is to be mindful. 

1872
01:30:58,640 --> 01:31:00,120
Yeah. 
So that's that's the obvious 

1873
01:31:00,120 --> 01:31:02,280
answer here. 
So the question is how to be 

1874
01:31:02,280 --> 01:31:03,240
mindful. 
That's the question. 

1875
01:31:03,240 --> 01:31:04,440
Yeah. 
How can we actually improve the 

1876
01:31:04,440 --> 01:31:05,880
mindfulness? 
Yeah. 

1877
01:31:05,880 --> 01:31:06,200
Sorry. 
Yeah. 

1878
01:31:08,680 --> 01:31:13,360
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

1879
01:31:13,400 --> 01:31:16,080
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

1880
01:31:16,120 --> 01:31:16,840
Yeah. 
Yeah. 

1881
01:31:17,520 --> 01:31:19,240
Exactly. 
Yeah. 

1882
01:31:20,400 --> 01:31:22,200
Yeah, sure. 
Yeah, exactly. 

1883
01:31:22,200 --> 01:31:25,480
So the so the answer, the answer
is mindfulness, but the question

1884
01:31:25,480 --> 01:31:27,320
is how to be mindful. 
You know, how can we actually be

1885
01:31:27,320 --> 01:31:30,600
mindful when things go, when 
things get difficult or things 

1886
01:31:30,600 --> 01:31:33,800
get very busy or whatever. 
That's kind of the the trick 

1887
01:31:33,800 --> 01:31:35,840
here. 
And the, the the first thing to 

1888
01:31:35,840 --> 01:31:38,280
remember is that you have all 
you really need is enough 

1889
01:31:38,280 --> 01:31:41,000
clarity to know that now I'm not
mindful. 

1890
01:31:41,000 --> 01:31:43,200
And sometimes you know that. 
Sometimes you know that you kind

1891
01:31:43,200 --> 01:31:44,640
of go on the wrong track 
already. 

1892
01:31:44,960 --> 01:31:46,360
You know something isn't quite 
right. 

1893
01:31:46,760 --> 01:31:49,960
So very often when that happens,
you know that now I should act 

1894
01:31:49,960 --> 01:31:52,840
and speak as little as possible 
because whatever is going to 

1895
01:31:52,840 --> 01:31:54,680
come out of my mouth is not 
going to be very good. 

1896
01:31:54,680 --> 01:31:56,320
Yeah. 
So this is the first thing to 

1897
01:31:56,320 --> 01:31:59,240
actually have enough awareness 
simply to know that now I'm 

1898
01:31:59,240 --> 01:32:02,400
something isn't quite right and 
therefore I have to be careful. 

1899
01:32:02,520 --> 01:32:05,200
This is the first thing here. 
But the other thing, which is, 

1900
01:32:05,760 --> 01:32:08,720
is, you know, fundamental to 
mindfulness is one of the things

1901
01:32:08,720 --> 01:32:11,840
I was saying before, is that 
mindfulness arises from two 

1902
01:32:11,840 --> 01:32:14,160
things, and that is your sealer 
in general. 

1903
01:32:14,560 --> 01:32:16,160
But the other thing is your 
view. 

1904
01:32:16,760 --> 01:32:19,640
Yeah. 
And the the view, Udra Kadity 

1905
01:32:19,640 --> 01:32:22,480
the right viewer, the more you 
have a view that is in 

1906
01:32:22,480 --> 01:32:25,760
accordance with the reality, the
more you understand how 

1907
01:32:25,760 --> 01:32:29,640
important the spiritual practice
is, how fundamental that is for 

1908
01:32:29,640 --> 01:32:31,840
all happiness in life, for 
everything to work out. 

1909
01:32:32,200 --> 01:32:35,240
The more you get that, the more 
scared you will be of doing the 

1910
01:32:35,240 --> 01:32:37,320
wrong thing. 
And because you are scared, 

1911
01:32:37,320 --> 01:32:39,640
there will be something at the 
back of your mind that will 

1912
01:32:39,800 --> 01:32:43,200
remind you, yeah, at all times 
like in now I'm about to go 

1913
01:32:43,200 --> 01:32:44,360
wrong. 
Now I'm about to head in the 

1914
01:32:44,360 --> 01:32:46,680
wrong direction. 
So often what you have to do is 

1915
01:32:46,680 --> 01:32:50,760
just to reflect more on what 
really matters in life, what is 

1916
01:32:50,760 --> 01:32:53,000
important. 
These things that we call right 

1917
01:32:53,000 --> 01:32:57,240
view, putting the spiritual life
1st and putting everything else.

1918
01:32:57,240 --> 01:32:58,680
Make everything else secondary 
here. 

1919
01:32:59,320 --> 01:33:02,120
And as you do that, the 
mindfulness will actually arise 

1920
01:33:02,120 --> 01:33:03,880
at the time when you need it. 
Why? 

1921
01:33:03,880 --> 01:33:06,880
Because those things that are 
very important to you, those 

1922
01:33:06,880 --> 01:33:10,360
things that you really value in 
life, yeah, they will be there 

1923
01:33:10,360 --> 01:33:13,440
at the back of your mind and 
they will kick in when you need 

1924
01:33:13,440 --> 01:33:16,800
it in this kind of situations. 
So reflect on it again and 

1925
01:33:16,800 --> 01:33:18,320
again. 
What actually really matters in 

1926
01:33:18,320 --> 01:33:20,760
the world, What really at the 
end of the day, what is it 

1927
01:33:20,960 --> 01:33:24,400
that's really important to me? 
What is it I'm going to be feel 

1928
01:33:24,400 --> 01:33:26,280
good about when I eventually 
have to die? 

1929
01:33:26,280 --> 01:33:29,440
And we all know what that is. 
So make that strong, make it 

1930
01:33:29,440 --> 01:33:33,400
powerful, and then you will tend
not to make this kind of 

1931
01:33:33,400 --> 01:33:37,080
mistakes in the future. 
This is a long term thing. 

1932
01:33:37,080 --> 01:33:38,200
Yeah. 
You have to do it again and 

1933
01:33:38,200 --> 01:33:40,840
again and again. 
But as you do that, eventually 

1934
01:33:40,840 --> 01:33:43,120
it will start to kick in and 
something will start to to 

1935
01:33:43,120 --> 01:33:44,120
happen. 
So. 

1936
01:33:44,440 --> 01:33:47,320
Yeah, OK. 
Thank you. 

1937
01:33:47,360 --> 01:33:55,040
Arjun Bromadi, let's. 
Say 3 SA dus SA du SA du SA du. 

1938
01:33:55,520 --> 01:34:00,760
So we'll let let's pay respect 
and let Arjun go in and rest 

1939
01:34:00,760 --> 01:34:03,120
first while I make some 
announcements. 

1940
01:34:18,240 --> 01:34:20,000
Let's pay respects to the 
Buddha. 

1941
01:34:20,000 --> 01:34:20,680
Together.