1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,540 Okay, everyone, so let's start the talk. 2 00:00:04,540 --> 00:00:10,674 And tonight I thought I was going to talk about identity, a 3 00:00:10,674 --> 00:00:13,340 very important topic in Buddhism. 4 00:00:13,340 --> 00:00:17,318 And the reason why I want to talk about this is because just 5 00:00:17,318 --> 00:00:20,840 under two weeks ago I became an Australian citizen. 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,840 So I'm now an Aussie, a fair-income Aussie. 7 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,965 So it's interesting when you kind of become a citizen like 8 00:00:28,965 --> 00:00:32,769 that because obviously I straight away thought, what 9 00:00:32,769 --> 00:00:35,340 actually doesn't make you an Aussie? 10 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:38,340 Am I supposed to feel like an Aussie now? 11 00:00:38,340 --> 00:00:41,340 What does it mean to feel like an Aussie anyway? 12 00:00:41,340 --> 00:00:44,090 Does it feel different from being a Norwegian or a Sri 13 00:00:44,090 --> 00:00:46,786 Lankan or whatever? Or is it kind of roughly the 14 00:00:46,786 --> 00:00:48,840 same feeling? What does it actually mean? 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,840 And it kind of got me thinking about the idea of identity. 16 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,340 What is this thing we call identity? 17 00:00:55,340 --> 00:01:00,840 And it was a very nice ceremony, a kind of Australian ceremony, 18 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,507 and we sang the Australian national anthem, Advance 19 00:01:04,507 --> 00:01:07,840 Australia Fair, and we had these little Australian flags, 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,840 everyone was waving little Australian flags. 21 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,412 I felt obliged to wave the Australian flag as well, so I 22 00:01:13,412 --> 00:01:16,590 also waved an Australian flag. It was all very sweet and very 23 00:01:16,590 --> 00:01:18,840 nice. And then that was it. 24 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,090 And then I was Australian after that, and suddenly I had changed 25 00:01:22,090 --> 00:01:25,840 from being Norwegian to being dual citizen after that. 26 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,841 And it made me think again, what does it actually mean, this 27 00:01:29,841 --> 00:01:33,090 thing about identity? How does it relate to the 28 00:01:33,090 --> 00:01:35,478 Buddha's teachings? And one of the ways that 29 00:01:35,478 --> 00:01:39,465 occurred to me straight away, or how to decide what is your 30 00:01:39,465 --> 00:01:43,174 identity, at least as far as nationality is concerned, is 31 00:01:43,174 --> 00:01:45,840 what kind of sports team do you support? 32 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,840 That's kind of the usual how we identify who we are. 33 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:56,340 So if you see the Australian cricket team, the cricket team 34 00:01:56,340 --> 00:01:58,840 winning, how do you feel about that? 35 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,590 You feel, yay, Australia won. Maybe if you have a Sri Lankan 36 00:02:02,590 --> 00:02:04,840 background, you don't think like that. 37 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,380 Maybe you think you're still holding on to the Sri Lankan 38 00:02:07,380 --> 00:02:09,840 identity, perhaps, if you're born in Sri Lanka. 39 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,840 But for me, when I hear the Australian cricket team winning, 40 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,840 what do I feel? I feel nothing. 41 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,840 I have no relationship to cricket. 42 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:18,840 I don't know anything about cricket. 43 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:20,840 Cricket doesn't mean anything to me. 44 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,840 And Australia, okay, Australia is kind of neutral. 45 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,840 It's pretty neutral as far as I'm concerned. 46 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,533 But when I hear some Norwegian person winning in some kind of 47 00:02:30,533 --> 00:02:34,478 sport, sometimes I catch myself thinking, yay, Norwegian won, 48 00:02:34,478 --> 00:02:38,150 won the sport. And that is somehow, that is 49 00:02:38,150 --> 00:02:43,341 kind of one way, or any way, of kind of figuring out what kind 50 00:02:43,341 --> 00:02:45,840 of thing you identify with deep down. 51 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,841 But the reality is, I don't really, when I think of myself 52 00:02:49,841 --> 00:02:53,412 as kind of supporting a Norwegian sports person or 53 00:02:53,412 --> 00:02:55,840 whatever, I'm not really proud of that. 54 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,574 I must admit, when I see that in myself, I feel almost a bit 55 00:02:59,574 --> 00:03:01,996 embarrassed. Because I feel it is so limiting 56 00:03:01,996 --> 00:03:06,698 to kind of narrow yourself down to one nationality, to one 57 00:03:06,698 --> 00:03:10,128 particular person. And I know as soon as you narrow 58 00:03:10,128 --> 00:03:11,840 yourself down, you are excluding others. 59 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,042 All the other people there are kind of out of the equation 60 00:03:15,042 --> 00:03:17,556 because of that. If you're supporting the 61 00:03:17,556 --> 00:03:21,128 Australian cricket team, if the Sri Lankans win, or the English 62 00:03:21,128 --> 00:03:24,509 or the New Zealanders or whatever, if they win, you feel 63 00:03:24,509 --> 00:03:26,840 really bad, but they are really happy. 64 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:28,840 But if you win, then you are happy, and they are bad. 65 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,840 And if they feel bad, you couldn't care less. 66 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,090 Isn't that right? If your team wins, you don't 67 00:03:35,090 --> 00:03:37,840 care less about whether the other team feels bad or not. 68 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,533 So it makes us become a bit selfish, we become a bit 69 00:03:41,533 --> 00:03:44,840 self-centered when there is the sense of identity. 70 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,840 We forget about this suffering of the other party. 71 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,840 It's very innocent, it's a sport. 72 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,840 It doesn't really matter all that much, it's not so. 73 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,507 But it says something about our identity, and it's just the 74 00:03:56,507 --> 00:04:01,175 beginning of something which can get far, far worse if we allow 75 00:04:01,175 --> 00:04:03,840 that to develop in unwholesome ways. 76 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,840 This became quite clear to me, I could see that when you support 77 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,568 the Norwegian sports person, but you don't care about everyone 78 00:04:11,568 --> 00:04:14,840 else, you feel your mind narrow down, excluding other people, 79 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,007 and you become this kind of slightly chauvinistic person as 80 00:04:19,007 --> 00:04:22,919 a consequence, which obviously is going to be very, very bad in 81 00:04:22,919 --> 00:04:26,640 the long run. It becomes an us and them thing, 82 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,040 us versus them, and prioritizing always the us versus the other 83 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,709 people outside. And if you keep on doing that, 84 00:04:33,709 --> 00:04:37,508 the more you identify with whatever it is, and of course 85 00:04:37,508 --> 00:04:40,840 identity goes far, far beyond nationality. 86 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:44,270 If you think about all the things that you identify with as 87 00:04:44,270 --> 00:04:47,840 a person, things, obvious things, something like gender, 88 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:53,840 very obvious, social status, education, how wealthy you are, 89 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:58,008 your ethnic background that you have, the culture that you 90 00:04:58,008 --> 00:05:01,840 belong to, whatever that is, and many, many more things as well. 91 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:07,340 These are the things that as a cumulative whole creates our 92 00:05:07,340 --> 00:05:10,952 identities. And the stronger we hold on to 93 00:05:10,952 --> 00:05:14,840 those identities, the more problem actually can arise. 94 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:19,509 When you have this us and them mentality, very often it ends up 95 00:05:19,509 --> 00:05:21,840 with conflict, it ends up with problems. 96 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:25,440 And some of the great intractable problems in the 97 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,840 world, political problems, I'll talk about those in a second, 98 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:33,840 actually arise out of this identity that we have. 99 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:38,340 That is where it comes from. The interpersonal problems, but 100 00:05:38,340 --> 00:05:43,240 large international scale problems actually come from this 101 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,176 root. So, just to kind of talk a 102 00:05:46,176 --> 00:05:50,040 little bit first of all about the Buddha, how the Buddha 103 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,240 analyzes this. And the Buddha says that any 104 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,840 conflict that we have, it arises from one thing. 105 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:03,440 The evil in Buddhism which kind of gives rise to all of the bad 106 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,386 things craving, tanha in Pali, desire, this is the thing that 107 00:06:08,386 --> 00:06:13,840 ultimately gives rise to all problems in the world. 108 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:17,507 And there's two kinds of craving that gives rise to these 109 00:06:17,507 --> 00:06:19,380 problems. When we are aggressive against 110 00:06:19,380 --> 00:06:24,508 others or angry or we go to war or whatever it is, there's two 111 00:06:24,508 --> 00:06:28,840 types of craving, two types of desire that are the problem. 112 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:32,555 And the first one is the kind of typical craving that we talk 113 00:06:32,555 --> 00:06:36,840 about at the time, the craving for sensual pleasures. 114 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:40,370 And I'll get back to that in a second, but this is kind of one 115 00:06:40,370 --> 00:06:44,440 of those very, this is probably the most important of these 116 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,840 cravings and quite hard to overcome. 117 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:50,840 It's very deep seated, the idea of sensual craving. 118 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:54,507 But there's another kind of craving, that is the craving for 119 00:06:54,507 --> 00:06:57,840 existence. It's called the bhava tanha in 120 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:00,840 Pali language. I hope you like Pali. 121 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:02,840 You like Pali? Yeah? 122 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:04,784 Because when you come to my talks you're always going to 123 00:07:04,784 --> 00:07:07,396 hear a little bit of Pali. So if you don't like Pali, close 124 00:07:07,396 --> 00:07:09,840 your ears. That's what I recommend. 125 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,340 Okay, whatever. So bhava tanha, craving for 126 00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:16,090 existence. And this is the problem I'm 127 00:07:16,090 --> 00:07:19,840 talking about now, the craving, the identity that we have. 128 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:24,456 Because once you crave to exist, it means you crave to be 129 00:07:24,456 --> 00:07:29,386 somebody, you crave to be here, then the identity emerges from 130 00:07:29,386 --> 00:07:31,380 that. That craving, that identity, 131 00:07:31,380 --> 00:07:36,205 then leads on to the problems in the world where we have 132 00:07:36,205 --> 00:07:39,386 conflicts with each other because of conflicting 133 00:07:39,386 --> 00:07:41,840 identities and all of these kinds of things. 134 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,533 I'll come back to the problems that arise from identity in a 135 00:07:45,533 --> 00:07:50,640 second, but let me just briefly first of all talk a little bit 136 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:55,340 about the problems that arise from sensual craving, why this 137 00:07:55,340 --> 00:07:59,150 is a problem. I've talked about this here 138 00:07:59,150 --> 00:08:02,840 before, but it's still kind of interesting nonetheless. 139 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:07,508 The idea of course that if we are attached and interested in 140 00:08:07,508 --> 00:08:11,226 the sensual pleasures of the world, then we are not the only 141 00:08:11,226 --> 00:08:13,840 ones who are interested in sensual pleasures, so is 142 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:16,296 everyone else. And because everyone is 143 00:08:16,296 --> 00:08:20,252 interested in roughly the same sensual pleasures, we all want a 144 00:08:20,252 --> 00:08:24,488 larger piece of the cake, a larger kind of cutting of the 145 00:08:24,488 --> 00:08:27,340 pie, everyone wants more, it means someone else is going to 146 00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:29,627 get less. And because we all crave 147 00:08:29,627 --> 00:08:33,932 endlessly and we all want more all the time, it is bound to 148 00:08:33,932 --> 00:08:35,840 give rise to conflict in the world. 149 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,270 And the Buddha gives a nice simile about this, one of my 150 00:08:39,270 --> 00:08:41,840 favourite similes that you find in the suttas. 151 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,840 Suttas by the way are discourses of the Buddha. 152 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,264 And the Buddha says it's like a bird, a bird which has got hold 153 00:08:50,264 --> 00:08:53,976 of a piece of meat. If a bird gets hold of a piece 154 00:08:53,976 --> 00:08:58,090 of meat, the bird is very happy. Meat is difficult to find in 155 00:08:58,090 --> 00:08:59,995 bird world. Bird world usually have worms 156 00:08:59,995 --> 00:09:03,688 and you get kind of bugs and things, but a piece of meat is 157 00:09:03,688 --> 00:09:05,840 like prime food in the bird world. 158 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,723 So somehow this bird gets a piece of meat, perhaps because 159 00:09:09,723 --> 00:09:13,175 the monks are feeding the birds. That's possible because that's 160 00:09:13,175 --> 00:09:16,128 what we do as monks. Sometimes when you go back to 161 00:09:16,128 --> 00:09:19,090 your kuti and we have a nice meal, we may have something left 162 00:09:19,090 --> 00:09:20,840 over, oh, the kangaroos might like this. 163 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,840 So we chuck out some chocolate cake to the kangaroo. 164 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,840 The kangaroo brightens up, whoa, chocolate cake. 165 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,226 You can see, kangaroos are just like humans, they also prefer 166 00:09:31,226 --> 00:09:33,660 chocolate cake. There's no difference, animal 167 00:09:33,660 --> 00:09:36,840 realm, human realm, pretty much the same. 168 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,308 So you can see how sometimes these birds get hold of a piece 169 00:09:40,308 --> 00:09:43,985 of meat, because some monk or whoever it is kind of chucks out 170 00:09:43,985 --> 00:09:46,688 something to them. And then this bird flies off 171 00:09:46,688 --> 00:09:50,765 with this piece of meat, really happy, until it looks behind and 172 00:09:50,765 --> 00:09:54,995 behind it there's another big flock of birds in hot pursuit 173 00:09:54,995 --> 00:09:58,840 trying to get hold of that same piece of meat. 174 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,114 And eventually those other birds, because they are bigger 175 00:10:02,114 --> 00:10:05,340 or whatever, they catch up with that small bird and when they 176 00:10:05,340 --> 00:10:08,840 catch up, they try to rip that piece of meat out of its claws, 177 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,840 because that is the nature of the animal world. 178 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,174 The animal world is brutal. It's interesting, when you come 179 00:10:15,174 --> 00:10:19,440 from Norway, you think that kangaroos are kind of cute and 180 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,024 cuddly. That's what you think in Norway. 181 00:10:22,024 --> 00:10:25,226 We don't have any ideas, real ideas about kangaroos, but they 182 00:10:25,226 --> 00:10:28,627 look kind of really cute and cuddly when you see them on 183 00:10:28,627 --> 00:10:31,483 pictures, all the kind of tourist brochures from 184 00:10:31,483 --> 00:10:35,440 Australia, very nice koalas and kangaroos and this kind of 185 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,176 thing. But when you see them in nature, 186 00:10:38,176 --> 00:10:40,840 you actually realise how brutal it all is. 187 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:45,240 The animal world is a very brutal place, full of desire, 188 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:48,984 full of ill will, no care or concern for anyone. 189 00:10:48,984 --> 00:10:51,840 That is the reality of the animal world. 190 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,090 And so these birds that are chasing after each other, trying 191 00:10:55,090 --> 00:10:57,840 to rip away the piece of meat from the other ones. 192 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:03,040 And that, says the Buddha, is a simile for the nature of the 193 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,442 sensual world. As soon as we have something 194 00:11:05,442 --> 00:11:09,270 nice, as soon as we find a nice partner or someone else you have 195 00:11:09,270 --> 00:11:11,840 a relationship with, someone else wants the same partner. 196 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,533 Does that ever happen to you? You find someone nice and then 197 00:11:15,533 --> 00:11:18,700 eventually you get together and you still feel a bit jealous 198 00:11:18,700 --> 00:11:21,340 because your partner might be interested in someone else, you 199 00:11:21,340 --> 00:11:23,840 still want to hold on to them a little bit. 200 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,508 There's this endless problem with relationships, is that 201 00:11:26,508 --> 00:11:29,996 there's never that full, there cannot be that full sense of 202 00:11:29,996 --> 00:11:31,840 security. That's only one of them. 203 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,840 That's one way in which sensual pleasures is problematic. 204 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:39,456 There are many other ways, how we fight or we compete over 205 00:11:39,456 --> 00:11:43,040 salaries, we compete over promotions in our job as 206 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,340 children, we might fight over a toy, then we fight over the 207 00:11:47,340 --> 00:11:51,052 inheritance when our parents die, and it goes on and on and 208 00:11:51,052 --> 00:11:54,210 on like that. We always want a larger piece of 209 00:11:54,210 --> 00:11:56,128 that pie. The economic pie is only so 210 00:11:56,128 --> 00:11:59,440 large, there's only so much to go around, it doesn't matter how 211 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:03,040 fast the national product increases, every year it's kind 212 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,751 of irrelevant because we always want more and more regardless. 213 00:12:06,751 --> 00:12:09,996 For that reason, it's always going to be competitive, it's 214 00:12:09,996 --> 00:12:11,840 always going to lead to conflict. 215 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:16,072 This is one of those really awful things, when you reflect 216 00:12:16,072 --> 00:12:20,140 on this and you realise that this is true, it kind of makes 217 00:12:20,140 --> 00:12:24,091 you very wary of the whole world around us, the whole sensual 218 00:12:24,091 --> 00:12:27,424 world seems so unpleasant suddenly because it's always 219 00:12:27,424 --> 00:12:31,700 involved in conflict and problems and violence and a lack 220 00:12:31,700 --> 00:12:36,508 of peace for that reason. It's inherent to that world, it 221 00:12:36,508 --> 00:12:39,660 can't be otherwise. We try to create institutions 222 00:12:39,660 --> 00:12:43,627 that create stability in the world, that create a sense of 223 00:12:43,627 --> 00:12:47,104 harmony, a way of mediating between people and nations, we 224 00:12:47,104 --> 00:12:50,788 don't go to war with each other, at least less often than we used 225 00:12:50,788 --> 00:12:53,786 to, still it happens. Many of the large wars in the 226 00:12:53,786 --> 00:12:57,908 world are based on the idea that we want to secure products for 227 00:12:57,908 --> 00:13:03,241 our country, secure resources that our economy can grow and 228 00:13:03,241 --> 00:13:07,698 whatever it is. Ultimately it comes back to 229 00:13:07,698 --> 00:13:11,640 sensual pleasures. That is one craving and why it 230 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,031 leads to problems. But the other one I was just 231 00:13:15,031 --> 00:13:18,507 talking about is the identity, the craving for existence and 232 00:13:18,507 --> 00:13:24,840 what our identity actually is. Again, it is fairly obvious on 233 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:30,698 the surface that when you have the sense of identity you will 234 00:13:30,698 --> 00:13:35,412 have a little, it will have an othering feeling, an othering 235 00:13:35,412 --> 00:13:39,175 result, other people will feel a bit more other, different, there 236 00:13:39,175 --> 00:13:43,024 will be a distance there between yourself and others when you 237 00:13:43,024 --> 00:13:46,984 have a sense of identity. But sometimes when you look at 238 00:13:46,984 --> 00:13:51,296 some of the great problems in the world, some of the very 239 00:13:51,296 --> 00:13:55,380 large problems that are still going on, some of them have been 240 00:13:55,380 --> 00:13:58,340 going on for hundreds and thousands of years, actually 241 00:13:58,340 --> 00:14:02,840 they too are based on that idea of identity. 242 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,592 One of those problems of course that is very well known for 243 00:14:06,592 --> 00:14:10,840 being sourced in identity is the conflict in Northern Ireland. 244 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:14,842 In Northern Ireland you have the Catholics on the one side and 245 00:14:14,842 --> 00:14:18,510 the Protestants on the other side trying to kind of live 246 00:14:18,510 --> 00:14:22,674 together, not very well at all, really messing it up, and the 247 00:14:22,674 --> 00:14:26,840 sense of identity, and this is really an identity conflict. 248 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,968 We are Catholics, Irish, we are Protestants, Unionists, we want 249 00:14:29,968 --> 00:14:34,570 to be part of the UK. And that identity conflict has 250 00:14:34,570 --> 00:14:39,340 caused, I read this somewhere recently, over three thousand 251 00:14:39,340 --> 00:14:45,269 deaths over a few decades. Three thousand deaths in a tiny 252 00:14:45,269 --> 00:14:47,840 community. Ireland has something like one 253 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,841 and a half million inhabitants, it's tiny, it's smaller than the 254 00:14:51,841 --> 00:14:54,106 city of Perth. Perth has, I don't know how 255 00:14:54,106 --> 00:14:56,630 much, it's more than that I think, a couple of million or 256 00:14:56,630 --> 00:15:00,660 something, tiny little place, over three thousand deaths, 257 00:15:00,660 --> 00:15:04,340 fifty thousand people injured. Due to what? 258 00:15:04,340 --> 00:15:09,215 Due to this conflict between people because of identity, and 259 00:15:09,215 --> 00:15:13,709 identity is all there is to it. From this point of view, if you 260 00:15:13,709 --> 00:15:16,659 look at the Catholic religion or the Protestants, the Church of 261 00:15:16,659 --> 00:15:20,840 England, or whatever it is that they are, it seems so marginal, 262 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:24,442 what's the difference anyway? You have the same God, Christian 263 00:15:24,442 --> 00:15:26,840 God, you have the same scriptures for goodness sake, 264 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,840 the same Bible, so what is the difference? 265 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,488 If I were to ask you how many here would even be able to tell 266 00:15:33,488 --> 00:15:35,842 the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant, I 267 00:15:35,842 --> 00:15:38,932 probably couldn't to be honest with you, but there's probably 268 00:15:38,932 --> 00:15:42,508 something to do with how you practice it, the external 269 00:15:42,508 --> 00:15:46,040 rituals and a few things like that, and I don't know, 270 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,205 transubstantiation and these kind of things, some sort of 271 00:15:49,205 --> 00:15:53,674 theology behind it, but the difference is tiny, compared to 272 00:15:53,674 --> 00:15:57,840 from a Buddhist point of view, it seems so ridiculous. 273 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:02,072 Sometimes when the smallest kind of differences are the ones that 274 00:16:02,072 --> 00:16:07,285 make us the most fundamentalist, that lead to the greatest 275 00:16:07,285 --> 00:16:09,842 problems. The people we argue with most as 276 00:16:09,842 --> 00:16:14,064 Theravadan monks, we try to avoid arguments, but if we ever 277 00:16:14,064 --> 00:16:18,270 argue, it's other Theravadan monks, if I ever argue with 278 00:16:18,270 --> 00:16:21,730 people like Venerable Jayako is the one I probably, actually we 279 00:16:21,730 --> 00:16:25,842 never really argue, but that's what happens, because if you 280 00:16:25,842 --> 00:16:29,840 have a tiny difference in view, but you are the same tradition, 281 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,840 that is somehow, that threatens your identity probably more than 282 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,175 anything else. Christians, okay we kind of 283 00:16:37,175 --> 00:16:40,140 write them off, because they are so far away anyway, Muslims 284 00:16:40,140 --> 00:16:44,127 doesn't matter, but those are very close to you, that is where 285 00:16:44,127 --> 00:16:47,508 the problems often arise. Another of these great identity 286 00:16:47,508 --> 00:16:52,074 conflicts in the world, I think is the conflict in Israel 287 00:16:52,074 --> 00:16:54,840 between the Palestinians and the Jews. 288 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:59,457 The Jewish identity is probably very strong because of long 289 00:16:59,457 --> 00:17:03,920 terms of oppression and problems for the Jewish people, and that 290 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,020 creates a very strong identity. And then you have the 291 00:17:07,020 --> 00:17:09,605 Palestinians on the other side who have also a fairly strong 292 00:17:09,605 --> 00:17:12,839 identity probably through Islam and all of that. 293 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:16,839 And that also is a conflict that has been going on for how long? 294 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:19,839 Three thousand years or something like that. 295 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:24,240 It kind of goes back almost to the beginning of history, at 296 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,839 least in the Western world, it's kind of ridiculous. 297 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:30,412 And they are still fighting over it after three and a half 298 00:17:30,412 --> 00:17:33,840 thousand years, because of very strongly felt sense of identity. 299 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,340 We are Jews, we are Muslims, and there is no way that we are 300 00:17:37,340 --> 00:17:40,555 going to be able to cooperate. And of course, then it doesn't 301 00:17:40,555 --> 00:17:42,984 happen. Maybe the way to resolve the 302 00:17:42,984 --> 00:17:47,270 conflict in Israel is to try to reduce that sense of identity a 303 00:17:47,270 --> 00:17:51,040 little bit, to actually instead of looking at the differences 304 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,842 between people, start to see, look at those things that we 305 00:17:54,842 --> 00:17:59,150 have in common as human beings. It's kind of crazy, because what 306 00:17:59,150 --> 00:18:03,984 we have in common as human beings is far more than what 307 00:18:03,984 --> 00:18:07,064 differentiates us. What differentiates us is only 308 00:18:07,064 --> 00:18:08,840 superficial things, marginal things. 309 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,841 But if we look inside our mind and hearts, what we actually 310 00:18:12,841 --> 00:18:17,174 want in life, we all want to have a reduction in problems, we 311 00:18:17,174 --> 00:18:20,508 all want more contentment and satisfaction and peace and all 312 00:18:20,508 --> 00:18:23,457 these kind of things. What we want, what we are aiming 313 00:18:23,457 --> 00:18:26,840 for, where we want to go, we are very similar in so many ways. 314 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,840 The defilements in our hearts are pretty much the same. 315 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,840 It's only the superficial stuff that is different. 316 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,840 So why do we make so much out of these differences? 317 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,340 This is how pernicious the idea of identity is, the reality of 318 00:18:40,340 --> 00:18:43,840 identity is very pernicious. It divides us, where actually 319 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,840 there is a lot of grounds for unifying us instead. 320 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:53,196 But the third one, because I like to kind of bring out also 321 00:18:53,196 --> 00:18:56,709 Buddhist problems as well, not kind of blame everyone else and 322 00:18:56,709 --> 00:18:59,842 kind of think that Buddhists are always better, because we are 323 00:18:59,842 --> 00:19:01,508 not. Sometimes Buddhists also make 324 00:19:01,508 --> 00:19:05,508 similar kind of mistakes. And of course the Buddhist kind 325 00:19:05,508 --> 00:19:09,240 of paramount conflict, where identity has also been a 326 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,840 problem, has probably been in Burma in recent years. 327 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,840 The conflict between the Muslims and the Rohingyas. 328 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,528 That has been essentially, the Buddhists have been saying the 329 00:19:19,528 --> 00:19:23,730 reason why we are afraid of the Rohingya Muslims is basically 330 00:19:23,730 --> 00:19:26,840 because of identity. They are destroying Buddhism. 331 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,840 This is our religion. We want to be Buddhist. 332 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,840 We don't want someone from the outside to destroy what we have. 333 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,700 So instead of practicing the Buddhist teachings, they have 334 00:19:36,700 --> 00:19:38,840 made Buddhism into another identity. 335 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,340 They take pride in that identity and then when they feel that 336 00:19:43,340 --> 00:19:46,842 that identity is threatened, it is as if they themselves are 337 00:19:46,842 --> 00:19:48,840 threatened and then they can't let go. 338 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,840 Again, even Buddhists, we make the same mistake. 339 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:56,750 Even when the Buddha specifically said this is a 340 00:19:56,750 --> 00:20:00,508 dangerous area, maybe because we are not educated well enough 341 00:20:00,508 --> 00:20:04,840 about the Buddhist teachings, we also make that same mistake. 342 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:10,092 And all of these things are really related a little bit to, 343 00:20:10,092 --> 00:20:13,620 you can see here, this is all politics. 344 00:20:13,620 --> 00:20:15,840 Politics and identity coming together. 345 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,840 And this is where it becomes very bad. 346 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:25,002 And in recent years there is one of these kind of politics that 347 00:20:25,002 --> 00:20:29,440 has been promoted around the world, which is called identity 348 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,340 politics. And you may have heard about 349 00:20:31,340 --> 00:20:33,090 that. It has been probably started in 350 00:20:33,090 --> 00:20:36,759 the United States. Many things start in the US and 351 00:20:36,759 --> 00:20:38,840 spread around the world afterwards. 352 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,280 I don't want to blame the Americans, but often it starts 353 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:43,840 there. It spreads around afterwards. 354 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:48,386 But to me, straight away, when you talk about identity 355 00:20:48,386 --> 00:20:51,840 politics, to me it reminds me a little bit of Northern Ireland. 356 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:53,840 It reminds me a little bit of what's happening in Israel, 357 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:58,840 because these are very powerful examples of identity politics. 358 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,574 It makes it kind of scary to me when I hear the term identity 359 00:21:02,574 --> 00:21:05,412 politics. You have to use it very 360 00:21:05,412 --> 00:21:08,128 carefully. If you take it too far, it leads 361 00:21:08,128 --> 00:21:09,840 to division, it leads to conflict. 362 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,533 So you have to be very, very careful with these kind of 363 00:21:13,533 --> 00:21:15,996 tools. And I must admit, I'm always a 364 00:21:15,996 --> 00:21:19,175 little bit concerned about these things, precisely because they 365 00:21:19,175 --> 00:21:23,842 can go in the wrong direction. So, what are we to do? 366 00:21:23,842 --> 00:21:28,465 What can we do about this? How can we reduce the sense of 367 00:21:28,465 --> 00:21:30,976 identity? Or how can we change it in such 368 00:21:30,976 --> 00:21:34,984 a way that we reduce the problem and we actually make a world 369 00:21:34,984 --> 00:21:38,440 that is less conflict-filled, that is more stable, and where 370 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,840 we can have more harmony between each other? 371 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,150 How can we do this? The first thing is to realize 372 00:21:45,150 --> 00:21:49,840 that the sense of identity is something we cannot choose not 373 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,175 to have. We cannot wish it away or sweep 374 00:21:53,175 --> 00:21:56,840 it away under the carpet and no longer have an identity. 375 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,840 You have to have some kind of identity. 376 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,840 The reason for that is because, from a Buddhist point of view, 377 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:07,240 we all have a sense of self. We all feel that we exist in a 378 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,174 certain way. And that sense of self needs to 379 00:22:10,174 --> 00:22:12,765 express itself. It needs some kind of 380 00:22:12,765 --> 00:22:15,840 identification by which it can actually make sense. 381 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,533 It doesn't make sense to have a self unless it has certain 382 00:22:19,533 --> 00:22:22,840 characteristics, certain things that it actually relates to. 383 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,533 So once that sense of self is there, and for the vast 384 00:22:26,533 --> 00:22:29,612 majority, unless you are fully enlightened, and usually at this 385 00:22:29,612 --> 00:22:32,640 point I usually ask how many fully enlightened people there 386 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,725 are in the audience, but I've given up on that because usually 387 00:22:35,725 --> 00:22:37,840 people are too shy to say if they are. 388 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,412 Maybe there are some Arahants at the back, but they never raise 389 00:22:40,412 --> 00:22:50,840 their hands, those Arahants. So it is an aspect of almost all 390 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,090 human beings. And Arahants are very few and 391 00:22:54,090 --> 00:22:57,031 far between. So because of that we have no 392 00:22:57,031 --> 00:22:59,840 choice but to have an identity of some sort. 393 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,840 And this is the first thing to remember. 394 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:04,840 You cannot choose these things away. 395 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,842 So what we have to do instead, what we have to do, we have to 396 00:23:08,842 --> 00:23:13,478 redirect our sense of identity into such a way that it is 397 00:23:13,478 --> 00:23:17,295 supportive of harmony, supportive of the spiritual 398 00:23:17,295 --> 00:23:19,840 practice, supportive of a better world. 399 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:23,952 And if we redirect our sense of identity in that way, then it 400 00:23:23,952 --> 00:23:28,590 becomes far less pernicious, far less problematic, and then 401 00:23:28,590 --> 00:23:32,715 actually it can become useful and even supportive of how we 402 00:23:32,715 --> 00:23:35,840 live our life. So how do we do that? 403 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,440 And instead of identifying with all these superficial things 404 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,340 like, I've just been talking about before, especially 405 00:23:43,340 --> 00:23:46,128 nationality, whether you are Norwegian or Aussie, who cares 406 00:23:46,128 --> 00:23:49,270 whether you are Norwegian or Aussie, who cares anyway, and so 407 00:23:49,270 --> 00:23:51,715 it's irrelevant. Forget about that, forget about 408 00:23:51,715 --> 00:23:55,024 that particular thing. Instead we identify with 409 00:23:55,024 --> 00:24:00,174 something, an aspect of the Buddhist practice, the Buddhist 410 00:24:00,174 --> 00:24:04,730 path. So all of you here are already 411 00:24:04,730 --> 00:24:07,940 good people. If you weren't a good person you 412 00:24:07,940 --> 00:24:10,507 wouldn't be here. You already have the right 413 00:24:10,507 --> 00:24:13,090 inclination. You already have some of the 414 00:24:13,090 --> 00:24:16,090 right attitude. You are already heading in the 415 00:24:16,090 --> 00:24:18,590 right direction. So count the good things in your 416 00:24:18,590 --> 00:24:21,090 life. Count the number of precepts you 417 00:24:21,090 --> 00:24:23,709 are keeping. Many of you here will be keeping 418 00:24:23,709 --> 00:24:25,840 the five precepts pretty much all the time. 419 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:30,076 What a wonderful thing that is, to have that aspiration to live 420 00:24:30,076 --> 00:24:34,535 a life of moral purity. You may not think of yourself as 421 00:24:34,535 --> 00:24:37,740 any kind of super-duper spiritual person, but you are 422 00:24:37,740 --> 00:24:41,040 probably far better than you think sometimes, because you are 423 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,840 already doing many of the right things. 424 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,040 When you think like that, when you think, yeah, actually I am 425 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:51,507 doing quite a few good things, I am kind, I am supportive, I am 426 00:24:51,507 --> 00:24:56,076 generous, I am living a life of kindness and moral purity as far 427 00:24:56,076 --> 00:24:59,340 as I am able to. Don't expect perfection, because 428 00:24:59,340 --> 00:25:02,840 if you expect perfection you are just going to let yourself down. 429 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,568 Don't put the bar too high, instead of rejoice, instead in 430 00:25:05,568 --> 00:25:08,840 the few things that you are able to do. 431 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,626 And then when you start to look at your spiritual life in that 432 00:25:11,626 --> 00:25:15,590 way, and you rejoice quietly within yourself, without making 433 00:25:15,590 --> 00:25:20,465 too much ego out of it, then you start to feel good about 434 00:25:20,465 --> 00:25:22,478 yourself. And when you feel good about 435 00:25:22,478 --> 00:25:25,440 yourself, because how you live, because of your spiritual 436 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,840 qualities, then it is easy to identify with that. 437 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:34,386 Because any identity we have is about feeling good about 438 00:25:34,386 --> 00:25:37,240 ourselves. That's why you feel good about 439 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:41,175 being whatever it is. I am educated, I am whatever it 440 00:25:41,175 --> 00:25:44,840 is that you identify with, you feel good about it. 441 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,590 So you find something to make you happy in the spiritual 442 00:25:47,590 --> 00:25:50,507 practice, to make you feel content and satisfied with 443 00:25:50,507 --> 00:25:54,840 yourself, and that is what you identify with. 444 00:25:54,840 --> 00:26:00,508 So those Buddhists in Burma who identify as Buddhists, and then 445 00:26:00,508 --> 00:26:04,984 they go to war almost, or they do bad things, or whatever it is 446 00:26:04,984 --> 00:26:09,340 to the Rohingyas, they should identify as Buddhists, they 447 00:26:09,340 --> 00:26:13,040 should identify as Buddhist practitioners, as people who are 448 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,840 kind, as people who are caring, as people who support others. 449 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,270 And if you identify with those things, it is almost impossible 450 00:26:20,270 --> 00:26:23,840 to have come into conflict and trouble with other people. 451 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:28,340 Because those very qualities are those that undermine conflict 452 00:26:28,340 --> 00:26:32,841 and problems in the world. And then you keep on practicing 453 00:26:32,841 --> 00:26:36,240 in this way, you keep on identifying as you practice the 454 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,176 spiritual path, you identify more and more with the beautiful 455 00:26:40,176 --> 00:26:43,984 qualities in your heart. The growing sense of compassion 456 00:26:43,984 --> 00:26:47,296 and care, the growing sense of loving kindness for the people 457 00:26:47,296 --> 00:26:50,568 around you, the growing sense of peace that is arising inside of 458 00:26:50,568 --> 00:26:54,576 you. And as you do that, the idea of 459 00:26:54,576 --> 00:26:59,440 harmony and ability to live with others increases all along until 460 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,640 eventually there is no distinction anymore between you 461 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,840 and other people. It's just one mass of beings, 462 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,535 and you can no longer discriminate or even 463 00:27:09,535 --> 00:27:11,840 differentiate between yourself or others. 464 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,090 I'll come back to this in a second, because this is such an 465 00:27:15,090 --> 00:27:18,296 important part of this whole Buddhist path, ending up in a 466 00:27:18,296 --> 00:27:22,040 place where there is absolutely no discrimination or even 467 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:28,126 distinction between people. Everyone is seen roughly as the 468 00:27:28,126 --> 00:27:31,640 same. So this is the first step that 469 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,412 we can do. Start to identify in a different 470 00:27:35,412 --> 00:27:38,198 way, identify with the good qualities of our heart, rather 471 00:27:38,198 --> 00:27:41,769 than all the superficial identities that we tend to have 472 00:27:41,769 --> 00:27:45,698 as human beings. And then everything gets better 473 00:27:45,698 --> 00:27:50,024 from that. But before I come back to the 474 00:27:50,024 --> 00:27:54,840 idea of meditation practice, and how this supports this feeling 475 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,612 of non-identity, I want to look at this from a slightly 476 00:27:58,612 --> 00:28:02,174 different angle as well. This is one of my kind of 477 00:28:02,174 --> 00:28:04,715 favourite suttas. I've got so many favourite 478 00:28:04,715 --> 00:28:08,840 suttas, but anyway, actually the whole Tipitaka is my favourite, 479 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,072 so whatever sutta in the Tipitaka, I quote, is always my 480 00:28:13,072 --> 00:28:16,840 favourite sutta. How many suttas in the Tipitaka? 481 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,477 People count in different ways, but one rough estimate is 482 00:28:20,477 --> 00:28:22,340 10,000. I got 10,000 favourite 483 00:28:22,340 --> 00:28:25,040 discourses by the Buddha. It doesn't mean all that much 484 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,465 when I say favourite, but anyway, it is one of my 485 00:28:28,465 --> 00:28:32,590 favourites. According to this sutta, it 486 00:28:32,590 --> 00:28:40,240 shows you how the mind is refined, how the spiritual path 487 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,556 goes. It starts off from the very 488 00:28:42,556 --> 00:28:45,932 basic, the very beginning of the spiritual path, and it takes it 489 00:28:45,932 --> 00:28:49,841 all the way to the very end. It shows the gradual movement of 490 00:28:49,841 --> 00:28:53,840 the spiritual practice from the beginning to the very end. 491 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:59,556 It has a very beautiful simile in the sutta, the simile of the 492 00:28:59,556 --> 00:29:03,840 refinement of gold. How gold is refined is similar 493 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:08,478 to how we refine the mind. The first thing you will notice 494 00:29:08,478 --> 00:29:12,240 here, which is very nice, is the idea of gold being compared to 495 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:14,709 the mind. You may not be aware that you 496 00:29:14,709 --> 00:29:18,205 have a big lump of gold in here. Can you feel the gold? 497 00:29:18,205 --> 00:29:21,840 They say it's a grey mass, it's a gold that we have in here, 498 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:25,840 that's what I say. Do you agree with that? 499 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,840 Why does the Buddha compare the mind to gold? 500 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:30,840 Actually it's nothing to do with the brain, it's the mind anyway, 501 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,640 I'm just messing around a bit, but why does the Buddha compare 502 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:38,240 the mind to gold? The reason is because gold, if 503 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,024 it is not purified, if it is full of impurities, it doesn't 504 00:29:42,024 --> 00:29:44,508 look very nice. It doesn't shine, it's not 505 00:29:44,508 --> 00:29:47,841 bright, it's just whatever, it looks pretty much like dust, 506 00:29:47,841 --> 00:29:50,841 like everything else. And it's exactly the same thing 507 00:29:50,841 --> 00:29:53,556 with the mind. If the mind is full of 508 00:29:53,556 --> 00:29:57,090 defilements, not so craving and ill-will or whatever, it's not 509 00:29:57,090 --> 00:30:00,840 very nice, it's not very beautiful. 510 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,533 But gold, when you refine it, you get rid of all the 511 00:30:04,533 --> 00:30:08,440 impurities, when it shines and is powerful and bright and 512 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,840 brilliant, it becomes very beautiful. 513 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:13,840 And the Buddha said the mind is just like that. 514 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:17,508 When you purify the mind in the right way, following this 515 00:30:17,508 --> 00:30:20,640 gradual stages that we are talking about, it becomes 516 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,840 brilliant and pure and bright, just like gold. 517 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,126 You have a lump of gold in your heart or in your mind, whatever 518 00:30:27,126 --> 00:30:30,555 you want to say, it's there, it's just waiting to be shined 519 00:30:30,555 --> 00:30:32,940 up. And when it gets shined up, it 520 00:30:32,940 --> 00:30:35,976 becomes so valuable, it becomes the most valuable thing that you 521 00:30:35,976 --> 00:30:37,840 can possibly have in your whole life. 522 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,840 Far, far, far more valuable of course than gold itself. 523 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:47,175 So gold is just the closest we get to an idea how valuable the 524 00:30:47,175 --> 00:30:49,396 mind is. It's super-duper valuable. 525 00:30:49,396 --> 00:30:51,660 Why? Because it is the ultimate 526 00:30:51,660 --> 00:30:55,590 source of happiness in our life. If we do things in the right 527 00:30:55,590 --> 00:30:59,620 way, if we purify it in the right way, we can create this 528 00:30:59,620 --> 00:31:04,090 inner gold in our heart. This is what the Buddha is 529 00:31:04,090 --> 00:31:06,840 talking about. So how do we do that? 530 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:10,840 And the way we do that, it is through a gradual process. 531 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:14,840 And the point of this gradual process is that it has to happen 532 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,440 through certain stages. You have to get the process 533 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,024 right. If you get the process wrong, 534 00:31:21,024 --> 00:31:24,842 it's not going to work. If you have gold, and it's 535 00:31:24,842 --> 00:31:27,784 coming straight out of the ground, you have just been 536 00:31:27,784 --> 00:31:30,605 rinsing it, getting the nuggets out of the river or whatever it 537 00:31:30,605 --> 00:31:32,709 is, you have to get the defilements out. 538 00:31:32,709 --> 00:31:34,840 You have to start with the coarse defilements. 539 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:41,113 You can't start with the most refined sand or whatever, you 540 00:31:41,113 --> 00:31:43,840 have to start with the gravel and the big things. 541 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,840 If you do it in this way, then it might work out. 542 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,000 But if you start to try to get the sand out first, or the very 543 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,380 refined things out first, it's not going to work. 544 00:31:53,380 --> 00:31:56,984 So you start out getting the gravel out, then you get the 545 00:31:56,984 --> 00:32:00,285 coarse sand out, then you get the dust particles out, and 546 00:32:00,285 --> 00:32:05,018 eventually you heat the gold in the furnace, and you kind of 547 00:32:05,018 --> 00:32:08,840 blow out the remnant of dust or whatever is left in that gold. 548 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:12,270 It's a gradual process, and you have to do it in those 549 00:32:12,270 --> 00:32:16,840 particular steps, otherwise it doesn't work. 550 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,840 And the Buddha says it's exactly the same thing with the mind. 551 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,840 You have to start with the very coarse aspects of the mind. 552 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,840 So you have to ask yourself what are the problems that you have? 553 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:30,840 What is the biggest problem in your life? 554 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,296 So you start off by keeping some precepts, some basic things of 555 00:32:34,296 --> 00:32:36,840 morality that make you a better person. 556 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:39,985 This is the first step. So once you have those five 557 00:32:39,985 --> 00:32:44,396 precepts in place, then you ask yourself, can I do something 558 00:32:44,396 --> 00:32:47,612 more? Can I be more kind in the way I 559 00:32:47,612 --> 00:32:51,612 speak to other people? Can I be more kind in the way I 560 00:32:51,612 --> 00:32:54,509 think about other people? That is the next step. 561 00:32:54,509 --> 00:32:58,842 And then the third step then is how to purify your mind even 562 00:32:58,842 --> 00:33:00,840 further. Purify your mind from all 563 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,840 thoughts of ill will and anger. That is the third step. 564 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,840 But you have to get these things in the right order. 565 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,508 And this is a big problem in Buddhism. 566 00:33:11,508 --> 00:33:13,374 Very often people don't understand this. 567 00:33:13,374 --> 00:33:15,776 And because they don't understand this, they get things 568 00:33:15,776 --> 00:33:19,128 in the wrong order, they are really upset and angry, and they 569 00:33:19,128 --> 00:33:22,072 sit down to meditate straight away, think that meditation is 570 00:33:22,072 --> 00:33:24,226 going to help them overcome the anger. 571 00:33:24,226 --> 00:33:27,240 It's not. Meditation is not going to help 572 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,840 you overcome the anger. The anger is overcome by 573 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:35,388 thinking in the right way. Then when your anger or ill will 574 00:33:35,388 --> 00:33:39,024 or your strong desires or whatever it is, subsides through 575 00:33:39,024 --> 00:33:42,440 reflecting and thinking in the right way, then meditation 576 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:44,840 becomes possible. Then you can meditate. 577 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,508 Remember there is a sequence here. 578 00:33:47,508 --> 00:33:51,751 Know what your problem is. Deal with that big problem first 579 00:33:51,751 --> 00:33:54,976 of all, then you can move on to the next step. 580 00:33:54,976 --> 00:33:56,840 These things happen in the right way. 581 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:01,204 So eventually, if you keep on practicing in this way, then 582 00:34:01,204 --> 00:34:05,204 eventually there comes a point when your mind is very pure, 583 00:34:05,204 --> 00:34:09,456 very nice, but still you don't kind of have that absolute sense 584 00:34:09,456 --> 00:34:13,239 of stillness and peace that we are aiming for on the Buddhist 585 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,440 path. And what is it that stops us 586 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:19,340 from achieving that very last stillness? 587 00:34:19,340 --> 00:34:23,507 And the Buddha says very interestingly, the very most 588 00:34:23,507 --> 00:34:27,388 refined of these defilements that stop us from achieving the 589 00:34:27,388 --> 00:34:31,239 full peace, he says, is our nationality. 590 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:35,697 Thoughts about nationality, thoughts about our family, 591 00:34:35,697 --> 00:34:42,174 thoughts about our reputation. In other words, thinking about 592 00:34:42,174 --> 00:34:47,063 our identity. That is in a sense the last 593 00:34:47,063 --> 00:34:51,952 problem, the most subtle of all the defilements that stops you 594 00:34:51,952 --> 00:34:54,840 from actually entering deep meditation states. 595 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:59,175 Of course, the identity problems arise long before that, but it 596 00:34:59,175 --> 00:35:04,269 also is the most subtle things that stop us from meditation 597 00:35:04,269 --> 00:35:06,840 practice. So, very interesting how far 598 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:11,841 this goes and how it stops us at the very end of the Buddhist 599 00:35:11,841 --> 00:35:16,040 path from achieving deep states of meditation. 600 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,240 So, what does this mean in practice? 601 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:24,174 And what it means in practice is that if you do follow this path 602 00:35:24,174 --> 00:35:27,841 in the right way, if you do purify yourself gradually, and 603 00:35:27,841 --> 00:35:31,612 then one day you come to the Dhammaloka center, you take part 604 00:35:31,612 --> 00:35:36,040 in the meditation practices that we do here, and maybe you follow 605 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:39,508 Ajahn Brahm's way of doing meditation, which really is just 606 00:35:39,508 --> 00:35:42,368 the Buddha's way really, he is just following what you find in 607 00:35:42,368 --> 00:35:44,840 the suttas, we are watching the breath and all of these kind of 608 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:46,688 things. One of the interesting things 609 00:35:46,688 --> 00:35:50,620 that you will find in your meditation is of course that 610 00:35:50,620 --> 00:35:54,296 sometimes the mind wants to think about things, often 611 00:35:54,296 --> 00:35:57,374 sometimes it wants to think about things, sometimes it 612 00:35:57,374 --> 00:36:01,148 doesn't want to be quiet at all. And if you start to analyze and 613 00:36:01,148 --> 00:36:05,204 look at the kind of things that the mind is thinking about, you 614 00:36:05,204 --> 00:36:09,507 will see that a substantial portion of the thinking mind has 615 00:36:09,507 --> 00:36:14,590 to do with your identity, has to do with who you are. 616 00:36:14,590 --> 00:36:17,204 You are thinking about yourself in terms of these relationships 617 00:36:17,204 --> 00:36:20,840 that you have to the external world, who you are. 618 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:25,508 In fact, one of the things that you will find is that as the 619 00:36:25,508 --> 00:36:28,840 mind becomes peaceful, sometimes it's almost as if the mind 620 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:33,148 rebels against the peace, because when the peace becomes 621 00:36:33,148 --> 00:36:37,204 too much, you are losing a large part of your sense of identity. 622 00:36:37,204 --> 00:36:41,508 The identity is no longer there, identity is built up by thinking 623 00:36:41,508 --> 00:36:45,312 about these things, thinking, yeah, I am an Aussie now, I got 624 00:36:45,312 --> 00:36:47,665 an Aussie passport, yeah, I got my Aussie passport today. 625 00:36:47,665 --> 00:36:49,730 I did actually, it's true, not joking. 626 00:36:49,730 --> 00:36:54,009 So now I am an Aussie, yeah, and I kind of think, oh, Aussie, 627 00:36:54,009 --> 00:36:56,342 this is really good, now I can do all these kind of things that 628 00:36:56,342 --> 00:36:58,040 Aussies can do. Somebody said to me, oh yeah, 629 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,840 you are going to come down to the pub now and have a beer, 630 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,976 someone said to me, that's what Aussies do. 631 00:37:02,976 --> 00:37:06,840 And I said, oh yeah, I'll think about it, I said. 632 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:11,064 So, but these things actually happen in your meditation 633 00:37:11,064 --> 00:37:14,840 practice, yeah, your mind becomes peaceful, that sense of 634 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,296 identity is subdued, and sometimes the mind doesn't like 635 00:37:18,296 --> 00:37:22,556 that, because it just loses a sense of self, loses a sense of 636 00:37:22,556 --> 00:37:26,175 who you think you are, and the mind rebels, and it will think 637 00:37:26,175 --> 00:37:29,764 about it after all, and it will kind of ruminate about all of 638 00:37:29,764 --> 00:37:33,174 these kind of things. This is part of the problem in 639 00:37:33,174 --> 00:37:36,174 meditation practice. But after a while, you start to 640 00:37:36,174 --> 00:37:39,508 become peaceful anyway. And what I would ask you to 641 00:37:39,508 --> 00:37:43,064 notice in your meditation practice is that when you 642 00:37:43,064 --> 00:37:47,240 actually do overcome that sense of identity, when you don't 643 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:51,240 think about anything anymore, when the mind is peaceful, what 644 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:54,620 does it feel like? Does it feel nice? 645 00:37:54,620 --> 00:37:59,388 It feels beautiful, doesn't it? It feels so nice when you can 646 00:37:59,388 --> 00:38:03,640 leave the whole world to the side, forget about the entire 647 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,590 world, and all you do is have a sense of peace, and have nothing 648 00:38:07,590 --> 00:38:09,640 else, no thoughts going through your mind. 649 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:14,176 And when you realise that, when you see the problem with all 650 00:38:14,176 --> 00:38:17,285 this thinking, all of these things, you understand that 651 00:38:17,285 --> 00:38:21,285 identity actually is a big problem, because identity is 652 00:38:21,285 --> 00:38:24,840 something that hinders the peace inside of you. 653 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:28,590 If you look at the world in this way, if you enjoy the peace of 654 00:38:28,590 --> 00:38:33,240 meditation practice, you get a very high incentive to let go of 655 00:38:33,240 --> 00:38:36,840 your sense of identity. Who cares if I'm Australian, 656 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,477 Norwegian, Sri Lankan, whatever it is, it's kind of utterly 657 00:38:40,477 --> 00:38:42,996 irrelevant. And the more deeper you go in 658 00:38:42,996 --> 00:38:46,620 the meditation, the less sense of your identity there is. 659 00:38:46,620 --> 00:38:50,176 Actually, you stop feeling like any of these things. 660 00:38:50,176 --> 00:38:53,640 There's nothing inside of you, there's no sign they're saying, 661 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:56,840 or Aussie or whatever, it kind of disappears. 662 00:38:56,840 --> 00:39:00,840 Your gender starts to disappear, because in the peace of the mind 663 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:05,204 it's genderless. And all of these other signs as 664 00:39:05,204 --> 00:39:08,840 well of identity that we have, they don't exist anymore 665 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:11,240 anymore. The deeper the meditation is, 666 00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:14,174 the less these things actually exist. 667 00:39:14,174 --> 00:39:17,842 Identity is gradually disappearing and it's so 668 00:39:17,842 --> 00:39:22,556 marvellous, it is so beautiful, it's such a happy state of mind. 669 00:39:22,556 --> 00:39:26,842 All of this self-business, all of this identity that we're 670 00:39:26,842 --> 00:39:29,932 holding onto, clinging onto, it's just dukkha, it's problem, 671 00:39:29,932 --> 00:39:33,174 it's suffering. The less we have of that, the 672 00:39:33,174 --> 00:39:36,507 better it is. And of course, it has the added 673 00:39:36,507 --> 00:39:40,840 advantage as we reduce our sense of identity, as we identify more 674 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:44,477 with just being kind, with just being good-hearted, with being 675 00:39:44,477 --> 00:39:47,751 compassionate we identify with these beautiful states of peace 676 00:39:47,751 --> 00:39:52,174 inside of us it also means that when we come out of the 677 00:39:52,174 --> 00:39:55,508 meditation afterwards we look at people in a different way. 678 00:39:55,508 --> 00:39:59,508 Because we understand that all people, in fact all beings, 679 00:39:59,508 --> 00:40:03,240 whatever they are have these internal states of peace 680 00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:06,842 available inside of them if they practise in the right way. 681 00:40:06,842 --> 00:40:11,388 So you start to see a unity in humanity, you start to see a 682 00:40:11,388 --> 00:40:14,660 unity which goes beyond all the superficial identity business. 683 00:40:14,660 --> 00:40:19,340 And this is one of those beautiful things that you find 684 00:40:19,340 --> 00:40:22,842 in meditation practice. And eventually you keep on, you 685 00:40:22,842 --> 00:40:26,509 take it even deeper, you go deeper and deeper and deeper, 686 00:40:26,509 --> 00:40:30,040 and the deeper you go, the less identity there is. 687 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:34,040 In fact the deepest stages of meditation there are stages 688 00:40:34,040 --> 00:40:37,568 where all the barriers in the world are removed. 689 00:40:37,568 --> 00:40:41,340 There's no barriers between you and other people anymore there's 690 00:40:41,340 --> 00:40:45,842 an expanse of loving kindness, of compassion of peace, or 691 00:40:45,842 --> 00:40:49,507 whatever it is, just radiating across the entire world without 692 00:40:49,507 --> 00:40:52,840 boundary, without limits, without anything. 693 00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:55,304 And you can imagine that kind of state. 694 00:40:55,304 --> 00:40:58,270 Some of you may already have experienced some of these 695 00:40:58,270 --> 00:41:02,840 states, at least a little bit, and you know how powerful it is, 696 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,842 how non-discriminative it is how you bring everyone together into 697 00:41:06,842 --> 00:41:11,840 one feeling, and there's no longer any us and them, me and 698 00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:16,040 other, suddenly you are actually really embracing the whole world 699 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,040 with compassion and loving kindness. 700 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:23,240 And what a wonderful thing that is at that point there is no 701 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:26,620 identity anymore, or identity is universalized, everything is 702 00:41:26,620 --> 00:41:31,240 brought into one identity almost at that point, of course, no 703 00:41:31,240 --> 00:41:35,340 harm can happen anymore no discrimination, no more wars 704 00:41:35,340 --> 00:41:40,440 based on identity in fact all of those qualities are the exact 705 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:44,440 opposite they are qualities that unite, bring us together, create 706 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:48,340 harmony and happiness, contentment and peace in the 707 00:41:48,340 --> 00:41:52,840 world and this is where that is heading here. 708 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:57,984 So, just to very briefly summarize the point of this 709 00:41:57,984 --> 00:42:02,072 talk, and the point of this talk is just to show that the usual 710 00:42:02,072 --> 00:42:05,984 sense of identity that we have in the world is problematic, 711 00:42:05,984 --> 00:42:10,725 intense, to lead to conflict and what we need to do on the 712 00:42:10,725 --> 00:42:14,556 Buddhist path is to shift that sense of identity and shift it 713 00:42:14,556 --> 00:42:18,620 towards qualities that align with the Buddhist path, 714 00:42:18,620 --> 00:42:22,840 qualities of kindness, of care of generosity and compassion, 715 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:28,396 and take that deeper and deeper and deeper in our practice until 716 00:42:28,396 --> 00:42:32,040 eventually identity is almost eliminated entirely, you go into 717 00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:36,226 a deep state of meditation and the world is just one, there is 718 00:42:36,226 --> 00:42:40,040 loving kindness for all beings, wherever they may be, whatever 719 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:45,148 they are and eventually you go even beyond that, eventually on 720 00:42:45,148 --> 00:42:48,533 the Buddhist path you destroy, you do not really destroy, you 721 00:42:48,533 --> 00:42:53,148 eliminate you overcome the sense of identity once and for all and 722 00:42:53,148 --> 00:42:56,533 this is one of the meanings of being fully awakened or 723 00:42:56,533 --> 00:43:00,396 enlightened on the Buddhist path, that the identity is 724 00:43:00,396 --> 00:43:04,840 eliminated once and for all and it never comes back again. 725 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:08,270 When you are in the presence of people like that, who have 726 00:43:08,270 --> 00:43:11,304 eliminated identity once and for all, it's very beautiful because 727 00:43:11,304 --> 00:43:14,688 you feel, they treat everybody the same, everyone is the same 728 00:43:14,688 --> 00:43:18,340 to them, they have kindness for everyone and occasionally you 729 00:43:18,340 --> 00:43:23,090 may meet people like that and I have met a few people like that 730 00:43:23,090 --> 00:43:26,556 in my life who are very special there is a beautiful sense of 731 00:43:26,556 --> 00:43:29,508 acceptance in the presence, there is a feeling that they 732 00:43:29,508 --> 00:43:32,840 will never really discriminate or harm you in any way 733 00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:35,700 regardless of who you are, regardless of where you come 734 00:43:35,700 --> 00:43:40,840 from, regardless of your superficial identity. 735 00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:47,751 Okay, enough for tonight Okay, so that is a little talk on 736 00:43:47,751 --> 00:43:52,840 identity for you Is there any questions from anyone? 737 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,440 Ajahn Brahmami, me again. Thanks for the really wonderful 738 00:43:56,440 --> 00:44:03,340 talk The Buddha was telling us that one of the characteristics 739 00:44:03,340 --> 00:44:09,285 of human existence is that every human being is a human being and 740 00:44:09,285 --> 00:44:13,508 that every human being is a human being The other 741 00:44:13,508 --> 00:44:16,507 characteristic of human existence is that there is no 742 00:44:16,507 --> 00:44:22,296 self and also things are impermanent Now coming back to 743 00:44:22,296 --> 00:44:26,840 identity, what you are saying, it's okay to have identity, but 744 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:32,396 do you think sometimes if the identity goes to be too much 745 00:44:32,396 --> 00:44:38,840 self-cherishing then that's where the problem comes in Yeah, 746 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:44,507 exactly It is impossible not to have an identity, so identity is 747 00:44:44,507 --> 00:44:48,507 always going to be there, it's always going to be in the 748 00:44:48,507 --> 00:44:51,700 background and for that reason you can't just eliminate it, so 749 00:44:51,700 --> 00:44:55,952 we try to have a positive identity, you identify with your 750 00:44:55,952 --> 00:44:59,776 positive traits as a person, and of course we are going to have 751 00:44:59,776 --> 00:45:03,304 other identities as well but we try to move in that direction, 752 00:45:03,304 --> 00:45:08,340 and as we do that we are moving away from the problematic 753 00:45:08,340 --> 00:45:12,396 identity and moving towards a more accepting and positive 754 00:45:12,396 --> 00:45:16,226 identity Also, for us to be great again, our country to be 755 00:45:16,226 --> 00:45:22,040 great again we have to put the others down, you know We are up 756 00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:28,840 in this, that, and they are down Why can't we all be together up 757 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:34,840 instead of that self-cherishing thing and could this have come 758 00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:40,174 from religions too, Jan Pramali? Absolutely, that's a very good 759 00:45:40,174 --> 00:45:45,730 point How do you say, it's only us, the others are down I fully 760 00:45:45,730 --> 00:45:50,620 agree, religion has part of the problem and that's why I 761 00:45:50,620 --> 00:45:53,456 mentioned Buddhism before, sometimes Buddhists have the 762 00:45:53,456 --> 00:45:56,840 same problem as well, and other religions have the same problem 763 00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:59,195 because religion is a very powerful identity, a very strong 764 00:45:59,195 --> 00:46:02,176 one, and I should have mentioned that in my talk, so thank you 765 00:46:02,176 --> 00:46:05,090 for bringing it up, very strong identity, and if we use that in 766 00:46:05,090 --> 00:46:08,090 the wrong way, it can become very destructive, so we have to 767 00:46:08,090 --> 00:46:12,840 use that identity in religion in a positive way to make it work 768 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,533 To a point where it comes true, mistrust in the world now, 769 00:46:16,533 --> 00:46:19,160 mistrust we have to learn the world to trust each other, to 770 00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:26,440 make the world a better place to live Good, yep There's one 771 00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:38,174 question over here So, I was I grew up 35 years in Israel as 772 00:46:38,174 --> 00:46:53,340 you know So, in a way I have an Israeli identity However if you 773 00:46:53,340 --> 00:46:56,590 push a knife through my body, through my head, and you push a 774 00:46:56,590 --> 00:47:04,174 knife imagine you push it, it's pretty cruel I promise not to do 775 00:47:04,174 --> 00:47:08,440 that Where is Israeli? You're not going to find any 776 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:11,612 Israeli You're going to find neurons, synapses in my brain, 777 00:47:11,612 --> 00:47:19,127 organs in my body veins So, where is Israeli? 778 00:47:19,127 --> 00:47:26,175 So, this identity is, I think, is an illusion An illusion we 779 00:47:26,175 --> 00:47:33,285 get maybe by evolution, maybe by conditioning, indoctrination I 780 00:47:33,285 --> 00:47:40,840 don't know if I find the right words Conditioning, maybe? 781 00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:47,240 So, for me, I understand that it doesn't exist really, maybe it 782 00:47:47,240 --> 00:47:52,840 exists in the stream of thoughts that are ever changing anyway 783 00:47:52,840 --> 00:48:00,840 And we can, with the right conditioning, we can change that 784 00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:07,508 but not anywhere in the body But thinking about the 785 00:48:07,508 --> 00:48:11,024 Israeli-Palestinian context the identity over there in the 786 00:48:11,024 --> 00:48:19,240 Middle East is so powerful so strong So, I don't think, if I 787 00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:24,840 need to be practical I'm reducing that sense of identity 788 00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:31,243 I don't see that happening But I do, what I do, for someone that 789 00:48:31,243 --> 00:48:36,840 experienced that conflict on my flesh What I do see happening is 790 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:45,698 changing the narrative So, in a way I'm the Jewish-Israeli, 791 00:48:45,698 --> 00:48:53,640 right, if I need to wear that hat for a second I respect your 792 00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:58,842 identity over the fence I acknowledge your needs, or I 793 00:48:58,842 --> 00:49:06,175 care, but that sort of language I would hope that will happen. 794 00:49:06,175 --> 00:49:12,840 I don't think you will ever Yeah, I largely agree with that 795 00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:16,555 I think the thing is that the reason I just brought up those 796 00:49:16,555 --> 00:49:20,174 points is not so much that I intend to resolve the 797 00:49:20,174 --> 00:49:23,388 Israeli-Palestinian conflict I have no ambition or even thought 798 00:49:23,388 --> 00:49:28,114 that I could possibly make any impact, but I think the point is 799 00:49:28,114 --> 00:49:31,776 more that when we see the problem, it gives rise to it, it 800 00:49:31,776 --> 00:49:35,128 gives us a spur in our own practice to avoid the same 801 00:49:35,128 --> 00:49:38,090 problem in our own personal life That's really what I'm talking 802 00:49:38,090 --> 00:49:40,590 about, I'm talking to individual people rather than trying to 803 00:49:40,590 --> 00:49:43,304 resolve large scale conflicts, but by understanding where those 804 00:49:43,304 --> 00:49:47,508 large scale conflicts come from we can actually enhance our own 805 00:49:47,508 --> 00:49:52,114 ability to ensure that we don't make the same mistakes in our 806 00:49:52,114 --> 00:50:05,508 private practice Okay Okay, so this is from outside the center, 807 00:50:05,508 --> 00:50:12,556 thank you very much So, only two questions tonight This is from 808 00:50:12,556 --> 00:50:18,840 D.Y. from the USA Do you think identity craving for self-image 809 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:25,024 is the same or lesser or more since the time of the Buddha 810 00:50:25,024 --> 00:50:27,840 with the progress of science technology? 811 00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:34,340 Has identity become stronger over time and the craving for 812 00:50:34,340 --> 00:50:37,064 identity become stronger over time perhaps? 813 00:50:37,064 --> 00:50:43,640 Is that the case? That's a good question It may 814 00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:48,509 very well be, and maybe kind of the way we kind of communicate 815 00:50:48,509 --> 00:50:52,380 on the internet now, I'm not really with all the kind of 816 00:50:52,380 --> 00:50:55,412 arguments people have on the internet or whatever maybe that 817 00:50:55,412 --> 00:50:58,555 strengthens a sense of self, you know, the idea that you're 818 00:50:58,555 --> 00:51:01,414 always kind of playing to an audience when you write 819 00:51:01,414 --> 00:51:03,954 something on Facebook or whatever a lot of people would 820 00:51:03,954 --> 00:51:06,618 see what you write, so it's not like you're communicating with a 821 00:51:06,618 --> 00:51:10,340 person it's like you're performing for an audience 822 00:51:10,340 --> 00:51:13,430 instead and of course the more we perform for an audience, the 823 00:51:13,430 --> 00:51:15,508 more sense of self will always be involved. 824 00:51:15,508 --> 00:51:18,840 So perhaps all this internet stuff is actually increasing our 825 00:51:18,840 --> 00:51:24,174 sense of self in that way, that of course can be problematic So, 826 00:51:24,174 --> 00:51:30,840 I think you may have a point, but really the point is that 827 00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:34,840 wherever you are in the world, sometimes, you know, kind of 828 00:51:34,840 --> 00:51:38,396 certain societies are regarded as more individualistic perhaps 829 00:51:38,396 --> 00:51:41,640 than others etc. but these are small differences. 830 00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:47,568 In the end every society, every person has an identity and every 831 00:51:47,568 --> 00:51:51,840 person will tend to satisfy that demand for an identity through 832 00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:56,840 all of these external things like social position or wealth 833 00:51:56,840 --> 00:52:01,508 or education or intelligence or whatever it is, we will try to 834 00:52:01,508 --> 00:52:04,270 satisfy through those things unless we have something more 835 00:52:04,270 --> 00:52:07,340 profound that we can satisfy that sense of identity with 836 00:52:07,340 --> 00:52:11,568 eventually overcoming that sense of identity completely So, you 837 00:52:11,568 --> 00:52:15,840 may be right that it is getting worse, but I don't think it 838 00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:18,590 really matters all that much. It's the same process that we 839 00:52:18,590 --> 00:52:22,440 have to get through. Second question is from Pam from 840 00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:26,840 Scotland Do you think that sometimes people can use 841 00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:31,984 cultural identity as an excuse for bad behaviour? 842 00:52:31,984 --> 00:52:37,508 And I would say absolutely certainly that is the case and 843 00:52:37,508 --> 00:52:41,508 very often the cultural identity, because we want to 844 00:52:41,508 --> 00:52:46,040 preserve our culture culture is often elevated in our society as 845 00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:50,040 being something very important and everyone should be proud of 846 00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:53,340 the culture the moment you are proud of the culture, you are 847 00:52:53,340 --> 00:52:56,688 going to identify with the culture So, I would say all of 848 00:52:56,688 --> 00:53:00,840 this idea of being proud of ourselves proud of our identity, 849 00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:05,304 proud of our culture I don't know how wise that actually is. 850 00:53:05,304 --> 00:53:09,304 I'm not saying we should be kind of the opposite of proud, what 851 00:53:09,304 --> 00:53:12,842 is that, looking down upon our culture, but we should just kind 852 00:53:12,842 --> 00:53:16,270 of try to be neutral without being too puffed up nor being 853 00:53:16,270 --> 00:53:19,240 too depressed about things, but find that middle way whereby 854 00:53:19,240 --> 00:53:23,732 culture, culture is nice, but it's no big deal that is I think 855 00:53:23,732 --> 00:53:25,952 the ideal thing. As long as you are proud about 856 00:53:25,952 --> 00:53:30,040 it or you feel bad about it, eventually you will also fight 857 00:53:30,040 --> 00:53:33,776 for it and maybe do bad things in the name of that culture. 858 00:53:33,776 --> 00:53:38,269 So best to leave all that aside a little bit. 859 00:53:38,269 --> 00:53:42,840 Anyway that is all for tonight. Everyone happy? 860 00:53:42,840 --> 00:53:45,127 Anyone not happy? No? 861 00:53:45,127 --> 00:53:50,840 You're not happy? Yeah, please. 862 00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:55,568 On a nice note, little lighter, now you are an Aussie. 863 00:53:55,568 --> 00:53:58,840 You know what you're supposed to go and do? 864 00:53:58,840 --> 00:54:02,840 What is that? Have a front and a bottom. 865 00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:07,840 Okay, no, yeah, okay. That's what they make you do so 866 00:54:07,840 --> 00:54:12,996 you can belong. Are you a Kiwi by any chance? 867 00:54:12,996 --> 00:54:14,840 No, no. I'm an Aussie too. 868 00:54:14,840 --> 00:54:18,840 Yours as well, okay. Very good. 869 00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:21,340 Okay, very good. So let's just pay respect to the 870 00:54:21,340 --> 00:55:06,840 Buddha Dhamma Sangha to finish off the day. . . . . . . . . . . 871 00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:22,840 . . . .