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OK, maybe we can get started. 
So tonight's talk is going to be

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on the idea of karma. 
Karma, also known as Karma 1, is

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a Poly word. 
The other one is a Sanskrit 

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word, and it's a very 
fundamental idea in the Buddhist

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teachings. 
Yeah, really important, really 

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core idea. 
You find that when the Buddha 

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talks about karma, it is an 
aspect of right view. 

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Yeah. 
To think about the world in 

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terms of karma. 
And it's also part of what 

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awakening is about. 
Yeah. 

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When you come to the very end of
the path and you have the deep 

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insights into the nature of the 
world, one of the insights you 

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have is the insight into karma. 
So this very fundamental part of

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the correct understanding of how
the world operates, The basic 

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meaning of comma is action. 
Yeah, it does not mean result. 

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Yeah, there's action and there's
a result. 

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It does not mean the result and 
actually means the action 

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itself. 
I don't know if you have noticed

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that very often when people talk
about comma, they say that's my 

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comma. 
And very often they mean like, 

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oh, I'm experiencing this bad 
result and that's kind of comma.

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That's not what it means 
according to the Buddha. 

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It means the actions that then 
lead to something later on. 

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It is not the result. 
It is the cause of something 

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that comes later on there. 
So comma means action there. 

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It's how we live our lives. 
It's all the activities that we 

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do. 
Body, speech and mind. 

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Also mind, right? 
Mind is also comma. 

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That's kind of really 
interesting because if comma is 

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very important, it means that we
also have to deal with the mind 

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as well. 
This is part and parcel of the 

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Buddhist practice. 
And without that, you won't 

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actually really get anywhere on 
the Buddhist part. 

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That's why we meditate in all of
these kind of things, because we

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have to somehow deal with the 
mind. 

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So I'm going to talk about karma
because it is quite a complex 

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topic. 
There's lots of 

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misunderstandings in the world, 
in the especially also in the 

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Buddhist world about what karma,
how it really works. 

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And of course, very importantly,
how can we make use of karma in 

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our practice to make it a 
powerful aspect of how we live 

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our lives, to actually increase.
If you like the, you know, the 

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speed of the path and how to 
make the path work properly. 

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So this is kind of the idea 
behind this talk. 

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Clarify some of the issues, 
understand what is going on, and

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then see how we can use that to 
actually improve our spiritual 

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practice if you like. 
Yeah. 

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So is that OK? 
Yeah. 

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If you're not OK, then it's 
going to be that anyway. 

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So you, you got to deal with 
that somehow. 

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So we'll see what happens if 
you're not OK. 

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Yeah. 
OK. 

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So this is the, this is what 
it's all about. 

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So I want to start to talk about
karma a little bit from a 

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historical perspective because 
obviously the word karma existed

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before the time of the Buddha. 
Yeah. 

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It's a kind of one of these 
ancient Indian words, karma or 

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karma. 
And the Buddha took it on and he

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gave it kind of a new meaning. 
Yeah, often mentioned that here 

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when I come on this Friday night
talks, that one of the kind of 

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revolutionary things about the 
Buddha, he took the Indian 

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culture at the time, which 
included a certain language and 

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certain ways of doing things, 
and then he kind of reinvented 

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it. 
He gave everything a new meaning

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thing didn't have. 
After the Buddha came along, 

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everything changed in India. 
Buddhism became a very powerful 

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religion in India later on. 
It was probably the most 

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powerful religion in terms of 
numbers and effect on society 

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for hundreds of years until 
Hinduism or Brahmanism kind of 

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made its way back in again. 
And Buddhism got kind of a 

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little bit on the sidelines 
after that. 

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So it had a very, very powerful 
impact on Indian religion in 

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general and and and Indian 
society in general. 

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So what did it mean before 
Buddhism and before Buddhism 

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come up basically referred to 
ritual. 

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Yeah, the rituals or what the 
Brahmins did is what the 

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Brahmins are very famous for. 
When you go to the you know, you

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want to get have a funeral rites
or whatever, especially funeral 

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rides or married rides or any 
kind of passage in life. 

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Yeah, you have to go through, 
you will go to the Brahmins of 

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India, the kind of the priestly 
caste these days, they consider 

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that themselves the highest 
caste. 

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In those days they were kind of 
a little bit lower down, but 

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basically some of that on the 
top caste in India. 

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And so you go to the Brahmins, 
you ask for the funeral rights, 

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because if you do the funeral 
rights in the right way, then 

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your mum or dad is going to go 
to heaven. 

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Yeah. 
Then they go to the right place,

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You get the funeral rights 
wrong, you may go down instead 

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of going up. 
Yeah. 

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You don't want your mum and dad 
to go down. 

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You want them to rise up. 
It's the Brahmins. 

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They had this monopoly on the 
right rituals. 

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They're doing the rituals in the
right order, knowing the right 

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verses and spells to proclaim 
during the ritual. 

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And because they had a monopoly 
on that, yeah, they made a lot 

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of money that way. 
That's kind of how they live 

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their life. 
That's kind of how the Brahmins 

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survived. 
And I think many, even today, 

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they probably are Brahmins to 
survive in that part. 

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So they had the monopoly in 
rituals. 

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And that was the idea of kamma. 
Perform the ritual in the right 

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way. 
Your mum and dad goes to heaven,

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get the dodgy priest. 
And your mum and dad are in 

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serious trouble. 
Yeah, that's kind of what what 

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how these things are here. 
And then. 

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So that was how it was. 
And then the Buddha comes along 

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here and the Buddha says, well, 
it's not really as simple as 

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that. 
It's not just really about 

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rituals. 
Yeah, OK, rituals may be nice. 

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And I would recommend all the 
way to do a little bit of 

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rituals. 
It's nice to do rituals. 

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Yeah. 
Rituals often give life meaning.

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We do rituals anyway. 
Every society has its rituals. 

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You shake hands or whatever it 
is. 

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It's like a ritual. 
When you do small talk, it's a 

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bit like a ritual. 
And then the dummer, we also 

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have rituals, but rituals have 
to have meaning. 

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They have to be used in a 
positive way to be powerful. 

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And when you use them in a good 
way, they become really useful 

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part of the spiritual path. 
But it shouldn't be empty. 

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And this was the problems with 
his brahmatical rituals. 

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They weren't necessarily 
meaningful in that particular 

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way. 
And so the Buddha said rituals 

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is all kind of OK. 
But comma in the Buddhism, 

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actually it means something very
different. 

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And what it means in Buddhism, 
it basically means the intention

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that lies behind the action. 
Intention is what is important. 

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It is not whether you step on 
that Ant. 

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If you step on an Ant by 
accident, OK, it's not a big 

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deal. 
But if you deliberately step on 

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that Ant, well, then it is a 
problem. 

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Then you have done something 
bad. 

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Intention is a critical thing. 
Yeah, and the Buddha says in the

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suit, as he says, Chaitana hang 
bikave kamang Vadami here. 

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Yeah, This is one of these 
polyphrases that you will hear 

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quite often because it kind of 
defines what kamma means. 

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Chaitana hang bikave kamang 
vadami. 

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It is intention, monks, that I 
call kamaha. 

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And this is straight out of the 
suit as out of the word of the 

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Buddha. 
And so this changes things. 

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Yeah. 
It kind of, instead of this 

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focus on rituals, it changes the
whole idea of action to 

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morality. 
Instead, once we are dealing 

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with intention, we are dealing 
with morality. 

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Actions are either moral or 
immoral, depending on the 

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intention that drives that 
action. 

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This is what the Buddha is 
saying, going from ritual to an 

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ethical code that then the 
Buddha said was kind of the 

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core, one of the cores or part 
of the backbone of the Buddha's 

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teachings. 
So what then does that actually 

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mean? 
In what sense is intention an 

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ethical or intentional actions? 
In what sense are they ethical? 

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It depends on the quality of 
that intention he has. 

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So intentions can come from a 
good place or from a bad place. 

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And that place that we are 
coming from is usually called 

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motivation. 
You're motivated by something. 

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You can be motivated by positive
things. 

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You can be motivated by 
compassion, by kindness, by 

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generosity, or you can be 
motivated by negative things. 

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Yeah, by ill will or greed or 
delusion or ang or fear or these

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kind of things. 
And if it's motivated by 

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something negative, it's called 
bad comma. 

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And if it's motivated by 
something positive, it is called

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good comma. 
And the point that the Buddha is

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making is that these things have
results in the future. 

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The comma is not the result, the
comma is the cause. 

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But there will be future result 
of these things. 

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And those results are, if you're
making bad comma, it will have a

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negative result in the future. 
It will experience the result as

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painful feelings, as negative 
mind states, some kind of 

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suffering in your life. 
Whereas if you live in the good 

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way, yeah, you will feel 
positive results from that 

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karma, from that volitional 
action. 

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That's the basic idea of karma 
is the relationship between your

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intention and later how you 
feel. 

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Intention and feeling very 
closely related to each other. 

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That is the basic idea of karma.
Yeah. 

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And can you know that people 
will sometimes say, oh, yeah, 

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OK, that sounds good. 
But, you know, do I have to 

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believe that? 
Maybe it's true? 

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Maybe not. 
But you can actually feel that 

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right here and now. 
This is one of the points I 

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often like to make about the 
idea of khamma. 

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The Buddha talks about khamma 
that ripens in your next life or

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ripens in future lives. 
But he also says that to some 

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extent, the comma ripens right 
here and now in this very life. 

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Yeah. 
If you look at your mind, if you

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feel what happens when you do 
something good or something bad,

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straight away, there will be an 
emotional response or a feeling 

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response to what you're doing. 
Yeah, do something a bit not 

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very nice to somebody. 
Yeah, Tell someone off at the 

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wrong time or whatever. 
Yeah. 

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Or act in a way, even have a bad
thought sometimes. 

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Yeah, I hate that person who 
are, they're always bad. 

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Wait. 
And then you feel what that 

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feels like. 
And actually, it doesn't feel 

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good. 
It drains your energy. 

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And afterwards, you might think,
why did I think that's the silly

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thought, and you feel kind of 
bad about it. 

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00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:37,960
And so there is this immediate 
feeling. 

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00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:43,360
Usually that is a immediate 
repercussion of how we live, how

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we act, or how we think. 
And if you understand that 

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connection right here in this 
life, you also understand how 

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that connection works in the 
larger scope of things. 

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Yeah, even maybe from one life 
to the next one, or carrying on 

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for a long time into the future.
Yeah. 

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00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:05,320
It is not that hard to 
understand why your intention 

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00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:08,560
must be related to how you feel 
about yourself. 

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00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,880
Investigate that. 
Because when you investigate 

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that, you start to understand 
what these laws of karma really 

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are about, and you get motivated
to be a better person. 

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00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:23,080
Yeah. 
Would you like to feel more 

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happy feelings or would you like
to have more suffering in your 

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00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,000
life? 
This is your choice. 

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00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:32,640
And usually when I ask this 
question, very few people raise 

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00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:35,240
their hand if I cannot, please 
have some more suffering. 

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00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:37,840
Yeah, usually plenty enough 
suffering already. 

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Most people want to be more 
happy. 

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And so if you can see that 
connection between your 

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intention and how you feel about
yourself, it motivates you to 

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live better. 
And the more you accumulate 

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these negative intentions, 
building things up, it's like 

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you are accumulating suffering. 
And often it leads to very 

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00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:01,360
painful results in the long run.
This is what the Buddha really 

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00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,680
is talking about. 
So this is the idea of karma in 

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00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:10,320
Buddhism. 
But the Buddha had many reasons 

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00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,400
for teaching this doctrine of 
kamma, and I want to go through 

229
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,080
some of these reasons. 
Yeah. 

230
00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:19,400
So we can understand the kind of
the broader idea of why this is 

231
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,200
such an important teaching in 
the suitors in the world of the 

232
00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:26,560
Buddha. 
And one of the reasons why the 

233
00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,200
Buddha talks about kamma is, of 
course, because it's true. 

234
00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:33,320
Yeah, it is. 
According to the Buddha, this is

235
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,520
how the world works. 
And the Buddha always starts by 

236
00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:42,200
talking about things that relate
to reality, relate to the way 

237
00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,680
the world works. 
So it has to be true. 

238
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:46,640
Yeah, this is kind of the 
starting point. 

239
00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,080
So this is always the Buddha. 
Everything he says, he says for 

240
00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,040
himself is true. 
It is not otherwise. 

241
00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:54,200
Yeah. 
So this is kind of an important 

242
00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,560
point. 
But that is not enough for the 

243
00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,400
Buddha to teach. 
It also has to be useful there. 

244
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,320
Truth is itself, there's not a 
sufficient reason for giving a 

245
00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,160
particular teaching. 
Yeah, it also has to be useful 

246
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,600
there. 
So how is it useful there? 

247
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,040
Now the obvious thing that many 
of you will kind of know 

248
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,440
straight away, the very often 
the main reason why we talk 

249
00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:21,640
about karma in Buddhism and why 
many people understand it is 

250
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,080
because it leads to a good 
rebirth. 

251
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:28,880
Yeah. 
It leads to if you put together 

252
00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,760
a lot of good karma, it leads to
a good future existence. 

253
00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,560
So is that a good reason to live
well because you want to be have

254
00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,800
a good rebirth? 
What if you can become a deva 

255
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,160
Devas? 
Are these kind of Buddhist? 

256
00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:48,760
Kind of gods or godlings or 
spirits or angels or whatever 

257
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:50,320
you want to call them. 
We don't really have a kind of 

258
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,280
perfect English translation for 
these party words. 

259
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:54,800
Yeah. 
But they're kind of higher kind 

260
00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,120
of beings. 
They're a bit like all of us 

261
00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:58,440
here. 
There's not very different from 

262
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,400
us except that they have more 
happiness and they, you know, 

263
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,200
they shine and they kind of have
transparent bodies and have a 

264
00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,680
bit more power. 
And they come down sometimes to 

265
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,880
help human beings. 
Would you like to have some help

266
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,120
from the day of ANSWER like, 
I'll tell you how. 

267
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,640
Yeah, Be kind, be good. 
And then the devas might help 

268
00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:21,200
you sometimes. 
So yeah, most people would like 

269
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:24,320
to have a good rebirth. 
Yeah. 

270
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,600
To become a deva, Yeah. 
Wouldn't that be cool to be kind

271
00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,400
of this kind of God? 
Yeah. 

272
00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,960
And you kind of fare around and 
you are happy and you enjoy 

273
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:34,960
yourself. 
You have a lot of pleasures and 

274
00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:36,360
you have kind of all kind of 
things. 

275
00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,400
Yeah. 
Wouldn't that be fun sometimes? 

276
00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,840
One of the problems in Buddhism 
is that we think that having the

277
00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:47,800
idea of being reborn as a Daver 
is somehow inferior here. 

278
00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,080
Yeah. 
I don't want to be a daver in my

279
00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,440
next life. 
I've been told by my kind of 

280
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,080
Buddhist group that being a 
daver is bad. 

281
00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:56,640
Yeah. 
You want to dream on as a human 

282
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,920
being because then you can come 
back to Damaloa, can practice 

283
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,520
more. 
Yeah, actually one lifetime in 

284
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,960
the Amaloca is enough, right? 
You don't want to have to come 

285
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,480
back to the Amaloca again. 
There's a limit how many times 

286
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:09,920
you want to be at Amaloca 
Centre. 

287
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,400
It's a great place, but still 
the other is a limit how often 

288
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,760
you want to come back here. 
So and that is one of those kind

289
00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:21,720
of strange legends and myths in 
Buddhism that somehow it is bad 

290
00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:25,320
to get reborn as a daver, but 
actually we should be reborn as 

291
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,840
human beings because then we can
practice better. 

292
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:30,600
But there isn't really much 
evidence for that. 

293
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,840
If you read the suit as the word
of the Buddha, he doesn't say 

294
00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:37,080
that. 
Yeah, he says, OK, You know, 

295
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,760
sometimes it teaches the gods 
and the gods become enlightened 

296
00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,280
because he teaches them. 
There are a few stories like 

297
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,400
that in the suit as or he 
teaches the humans, and they 

298
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,120
have really good results from 
that. 

299
00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,960
So there isn't really much 
reason to think that, you know, 

300
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,200
we should. 
We have to come back as human 

301
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,280
beings. 
Much better, I think, is just to

302
00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:02,120
allow your coma to mature in its
own way. 

303
00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,839
Don't try on your deathbed to 
kind of guide yourself in the 

304
00:17:05,839 --> 00:17:08,160
right direction. 
I want to be a human being. 

305
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:08,680
Yeah. 
OK. 

306
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,520
How can I be a human being? 
Human being. 

307
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:11,319
Human being. 
Yeah. 

308
00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:14,000
And you kind of try to guide 
yourself and you mess it all up 

309
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:15,599
and you end up kind of somewhere
worse. 

310
00:17:15,599 --> 00:17:17,040
Yeah. 
Because you have no idea what 

311
00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:18,680
you're doing. 
You're kind of missing. 

312
00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,079
This is the problem of we have 
no idea what we're doing anyway.

313
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:24,560
We try to do something with. 
It becomes worse. 

314
00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:31,240
So enjoy your death, relax on 
your deathbed. 

315
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,640
Yeah. 
Enjoy kind of the journey on 

316
00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,480
where there's a far better way 
of doing it. 

317
00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,680
Just be peaceful. 
Don't try too hard to be this or

318
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,720
to be that, because usually we 
don't know how to do these 

319
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,720
things anyway. 
And then wherever you go, you 

320
00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,080
carry on practising in that 
particular place. 

321
00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,520
That's kind of the ideal way. 
And then you get reborn in 

322
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,760
heaven. 
Yeah. 

323
00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:54,400
If that's your, if that's what 
happens to you. 

324
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,760
And then what do you do once 
you're reborn in heaven? 

325
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:01,160
But once you're there, you have 
to go to the Buddhist corner of 

326
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:02,160
heaven. 
Right there. 

327
00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,880
So heaven has like, the 
Christian corner, the Muslim 

328
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,080
corner, the atheist corner and 
the Buddhist corner. 

329
00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,680
You go to the Buddhist corner, 
and then you go there and you 

330
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,640
listen to the gods. 
Yeah. 

331
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,200
They're kind of talking to each 
other. 

332
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,200
And then you hear, wow, what is 
this God saying? 

333
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:17,920
Yeah. 
And then you recognise the 

334
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:18,840
Buddhist teaching. 
Yeah. 

335
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,840
Because lo and behold, they're 
teaching the Buddhist teaching 

336
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,920
in heaven. 
Wow. 

337
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:25,360
That's the Buddhist teaching. 
OK. 

338
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,360
And then, you know, you're in 
the right corner of heaven, and 

339
00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,360
then you carry on there 
practising there. 

340
00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:35,000
That's kind of how it works. 
Do you believe me? 

341
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,440
Yeah. 
Basically, that's what it says 

342
00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:39,720
in the suit is. 
Yeah. 

343
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,240
I'm not claiming any supernormal
powers, anything. 

344
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,320
I'm just saying this is what the
Buddha said, how it works. 

345
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:49,360
If the Buddha said so, it must 
be true, right? 

346
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,480
Why would the would I say it if 
it wasn't true? 

347
00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,240
So I reckon it must be true 
because I'm very kind of, I'm a 

348
00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,320
very see, very faithful disciple
of the Buddha. 

349
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:01,520
If the would I said so must be 
true. 

350
00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:02,640
Yeah. 
That's kind of how I look at 

351
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,080
things. 
Why wouldn't it? 

352
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,480
If the would, I really was 
enlightened the way we think it 

353
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:11,520
was, obviously it would be true.
So we shouldn't really, yeah, 

354
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,360
kind of look upon the idea of 
wanting a good rebirth. 

355
00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:17,480
We shouldn't look down upon that
idea. 

356
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,160
Everyone of us probably wants 
that deep down. 

357
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:25,360
If you enjoy the pleasures of 
the world, if you enjoy nice 

358
00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:29,560
food, if you enjoy occasional 
good entertainment, if you enjoy

359
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,480
a nice relationship with 
somebody here, if you enjoy 

360
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:36,200
those things, you are already 
inclining towards heaven because

361
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,440
it is that kind of enjoyment 
which actually leads to heavenly

362
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,600
rebirth because you get more of 
those kind of enjoyments. 

363
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:44,920
So we should never look down 
upon that. 

364
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:50,240
It's a natural human desire to 
be reborn in these realms, but 

365
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:55,920
still it is limited. 
This is not really ultimately 

366
00:19:55,920 --> 00:20:00,760
why the Buddha talks about Kama.
Yeah, this is one kind of sub 

367
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,920
aspect of why it talks about it,
but far more important reason 

368
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,560
why it talks about Kama is 
because it shows you the 

369
00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:13,520
mechanism of the idea of rebirth
in the big scope of things. 

370
00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:17,840
And what I show is you that in 
the big scope of things, yeah, 

371
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,200
you get reborn here, we get 
reborn there in various places. 

372
00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,680
Sometimes they go up because you
have good comma, sometimes they 

373
00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:26,680
go down because you have bad 
comma. 

374
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,840
This is like the large scope of 
existence, what it looks like 

375
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,080
over numerous lifetimes. 
And when you see that, how 

376
00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:36,880
you're kind of like a yo-yo, 
yeah. 

377
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,600
Ricocheting around Sangsara, 
going up this way, staying there

378
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,640
for a while, then going down. 
Yeah. 

379
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,880
And this is driven by this force
or by this law of comma. 

380
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,600
That's what drives this kind of 
perpetual moving around for one 

381
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,960
place, another one. 
You start to understand what 

382
00:20:54,960 --> 00:21:00,680
this idea of sansaric existence,
Sansara is, the kind of round of

383
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,480
birth and death, what it really 
is about. 

384
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,800
And this is really why the 
Buddha teachers come to 

385
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,440
understand how this sansaric 
existence actually works. 

386
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:14,880
So. 
And that is kind of off putting.

387
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,040
Yeah. 
When you see that, do you really

388
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,840
want to ricochet around Sangsara
in this way, kind of moving back

389
00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,200
and forth, seemingly largely out
of control? 

390
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,680
Because you might think that if 
there is coma and if I do good 

391
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,560
things, I will have good 
results, and if I do bad things,

392
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,280
I will have bad results. 
You might think, well, in that 

393
00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:42,840
case, I will just make sure I 
always do good things, so no 

394
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:44,720
worries. 
I would cheat the system. 

395
00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:47,400
It's like going to the casino. 
Yeah. 

396
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:49,240
And all annoying. 
Yeah, I'm going to get the 

397
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,440
better of the casino. 
Yeah, easy. 

398
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,840
I just place my chips on red all
the time. 

399
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,760
And eventually it must land on 
red when the roulette wheel 

400
00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,040
turns. 
You can see I've been to casinos

401
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:00,520
before. 
Yeah, I know all these things. 

402
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,000
Yeah. 
And eventually I will win. 

403
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,440
It doesn't work like that. 
The casino always wins, right? 

404
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,480
That's why they otherwise they 
wouldn't be in business. 

405
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,560
So guaranteed casinos always 
win. 

406
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,680
That's just the way it is. 
And in Sangsara is the same 

407
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,000
thing. 
You can't cheat the system. 

408
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,120
And the reason why you can't 
cheat the system is that whether

409
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:26,160
you do good comma or bad comma 
is not really in your control. 

410
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,560
And this is the last idea on the
Buddha's night of awakening is 

411
00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,640
understanding of how this whole 
system of comma making is 

412
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,960
actually out of control. 
It depends on who your friends 

413
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,000
are. 
It depends on how you've been 

414
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,520
conditioned. 
If you come to the Buddha 

415
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,600
Society and you have good 
spiritual friends, you have 

416
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,400
Kaliana Mitas, then you're 
probably going to make good 

417
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,960
comma and you're going to be 
heading in the right direction. 

418
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,600
But your next life, you may have
bad friends, Papa Mita, evil 

419
00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,880
friends that take you in the 
wrong direction. 

420
00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:02,560
Yeah. 
And it's not really under your 

421
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,120
control. 
It depends which country you get

422
00:23:05,120 --> 00:23:08,760
born into, depend what kind of 
family you have, depends on who 

423
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,720
your friends are. 
Because we are conditioned human

424
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,440
beings. 
And ultimately, actually, not 

425
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,080
even ultimately, really, we're 
not really in charge of these 

426
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,680
things. 
And so you understand this 

427
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,880
larger picture of things with 
how come a drives rebirth, how 

428
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,000
it all ultimately is out of 
control and it changes your 

429
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,480
attitude to the world. 
It is no longer enough for you 

430
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,200
just to be reborn in heaven. 
But you understand the spiritual

431
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,040
path is about far more than 
that. 

432
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,320
It is about understanding the 
nature of reality and eventually

433
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:47,240
escaping from this whole thing. 
Yeah, this whole up and down 

434
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,160
movement in Sanghsaric 
existence. 

435
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,360
That is ultimately what it is 
about. 

436
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,240
And This is why far more 
important reason why the Buddha 

437
00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:01,960
taught the laws of karma. 
So that is the big picture. 

438
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,080
Now, coming back to the small 
picture again, why the Buddha 

439
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:11,080
taught karma is because karma, 
good karma is also part of the 

440
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,000
spiritual path. 
Yeah. 

441
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,840
So if you want to practice the 
spiritual path, well, part of 

442
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,520
that is making good karma. 
Yeah. 

443
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:26,720
There's a beautiful line in the 
Mahamangala Sutta, Pube Chakata 

444
00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:31,280
Punyata having previously made 
good merit or previously made 

445
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,080
good coma. 
Yeah. 

446
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,880
Previous coma is required for 
the spiritual path to work. 

447
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:43,840
So if we want the spiritual path
to work fast, the more good coma

448
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,480
you make, the more powerful is a
spiritual path going to be here.

449
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:49,720
Yeah. 
So then it becomes really 

450
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,960
important, this idea of comma. 
And now I want to move this talk

451
00:24:53,960 --> 00:25:02,000
on to the ideas of comma, how we
can make the most of comma, how 

452
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,480
we can make the best possible 
comma to make the spiritual path

453
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,600
work better to our own 
advantage. 

454
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,440
And so this is where I want to 
move on to next. 

455
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:17,760
Now to start this, yeah, how we 
can kind of think about Khamma 

456
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,520
to make the most of it. 
I want to just say one very kind

457
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,200
of interesting thing that the 
Buddha says in the suit is that 

458
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,320
I'm not sure if you have heard 
before, maybe some of you have. 

459
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,920
And the Buddha says in the this 
is in the Anguta Nikaya 

460
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:36,640
somewhere, the Anguta Nikaya 
threes #60 Suta 61, I think it's

461
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:41,920
called the Tita Yatana Suta. 
And in that suta the Buddha says

462
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:47,720
that if everything in the world 
was due to karma, if all your 

463
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,120
experiences you have now in 
terms of pleasure, pain and 

464
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,720
neutral feeling were due to 
karma you have done in the past,

465
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,960
there would be no escape from 
sansaric existence. 

466
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:05,160
We would be trapped. 
That's really interesting. 

467
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,760
Yeah, yeah. 
If everything is due to come, 

468
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,400
there is no escape. 
How can that be? 

469
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,200
Why is there no escape? 
But the reason why there is no 

470
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:18,880
escape is because if all your 
present experiences are because 

471
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,480
of things in the past, then your
reaction now, because we always 

472
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,360
react to our experiences, we 
always react to our feelings. 

473
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:32,600
We are trapped in the loop by 
these past actions and we will 

474
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:36,120
react according to those past 
actions and we won't won't be 

475
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,480
able to act according to 
anything else. 

476
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:43,520
The past actions would trap us 
and they will always determine 

477
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,880
our future. 
And so the word I say is, and 

478
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,680
this is therefore very important
to understand how the laws of 

479
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,680
coma work. 
Everything is not due to past 

480
00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,240
coma. 
Coma is only one factor in what 

481
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,640
determines how we experience the
world and how we feel the world.

482
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:02,880
And this matters enormously 
here. 

483
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,080
Yeah. 
Sometimes as Buddhists, we think

484
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,280
that everything is because of 
past coma. 

485
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,720
Oh, it's not going well for me. 
This is happening in my life. 

486
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:16,320
Please, Venerable, tell me that 
this was, you know, what kind of

487
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,200
bad coma did I do in the past to
deserve this? 

488
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:23,120
This is a kind of thing I hear 
all the time as a Buddhist monk.

489
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,320
People come to our monastery. 
Why do they come to us? 

490
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:30,440
Because they suffer very often. 
Why do you all come here? 

491
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,760
Probably because you have some 
suffering in your life. 

492
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,320
Yeah. 
This is part of the reasons why 

493
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,000
we seek out a spiritual power to
overcome these things. 

494
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,320
And then the question very often
is, what did I do? 

495
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,960
Yeah, people say, oh, what I may
have done in the past, my 

496
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,360
husband left me, or my wife is 
cheating on me, or I'd lost my 

497
00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:54,040
job and everything is going 
haywire and my kids are not 

498
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,160
behaving properly and they are 
doing bad things. 

499
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,120
Or why is everything going 
wrong? 

500
00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:01,760
I must have done some bad karma 
in the past, right? 

501
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,360
Right. 
No, not necessarily. 

502
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,960
And so when we talk about karma,
we need to understand not 

503
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,760
everything is karma. 
And this is a fundamental thing 

504
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,960
to understand about how to 
understand our reality. 

505
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:22,280
And it opens up possibilities 
for us to live in a different 

506
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,560
way when karma does not 
determine all the outcomes in 

507
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:33,920
our existence. 
And so one of the ways of 

508
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,600
thinking about this, and one of 
the ways that the Buddha talks 

509
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:41,280
about is in the suit is, is to 
say that karma is only one 

510
00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,480
factor. 
Many other things in our life 

511
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,840
are things like are just 
accidents. 

512
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:48,960
Yeah. 
Accidents just happen. 

513
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,040
Yeah. 
You go out and a car hits you in

514
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,800
the street or you, you kind of 
you, you stumble over something 

515
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,040
or whatever, and you kind of hit
yourself against the ceiling or 

516
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,280
whatever. 
Accidents just happen. 

517
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:04,200
This is part of life. 
Sometimes you get sick, yeah, 

518
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:05,960
the body doesn't function 
properly. 

519
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,200
You get cancer. 
Whatever illnesses is just part 

520
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,480
of being human. 
It is not necessarily a comma 

521
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,520
from the past. 
And so a large number of things 

522
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:20,760
that happened in our life are 
not necessarily related to 

523
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,200
comma. 
They are related to the fact 

524
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,440
that you are a human being. 
Yeah. 

525
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,160
Being human is kind of tough. 
Yeah. 

526
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:31,680
Human beings can expect 
illnesses every now and again. 

527
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,160
Human beings can expect divorces
every now and again. 

528
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,240
Human beings can expect your 
children to misbehave. 

529
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,720
That's what children do. 
They misbehave. 

530
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:43,880
I know that from personal 
experience. 

531
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,760
When I was a child, I misbehaved
as well, Right. 

532
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,240
So I know that's very close to 
home. 

533
00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:55,240
And so all of these things is 
what life really is about. 

534
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,600
Yeah. 
It is not due necessarily to 

535
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,320
pass comma. 
And so when people come to the 

536
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,360
monastery and they say, oh, what
comma did I do? 

537
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,240
Very often the reason why 
they're asked that question is 

538
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:10,160
because they want to be in 
control. 

539
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,800
They want some kind of closure. 
They want some feeling that 

540
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,840
there is a good explanation in 
the universe for why things are 

541
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:18,440
happening. 
Because if there was a good 

542
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:22,280
explanation, then maybe we can 
avoid the causes in the future 

543
00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:25,800
and we can do something to avoid
the same problem in the future. 

544
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,240
And that is a natural human 
feeling. 

545
00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,120
We want to be in charge. 
You want to feel that we are in 

546
00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:33,200
control. 
Yeah. 

547
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:38,560
And so we ask these questions, 
and then the problem is that it 

548
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,000
is often deluding. 
Yeah, the problem is that you 

549
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,080
cannot just change the way you 
live and change the way you are 

550
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,200
and then start to become a good 
person and avoid doing the same 

551
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,280
mistakes and then you won't have
the problem in the future. 

552
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,560
Actually, you will still have 
the problem in the future. 

553
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,520
And the reason is because if you
get reborn as a human being, 

554
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:04,600
this is what you can expect. 
And so it changes your attitude.

555
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,440
Instead of coming and saying 
what come did I do actually, 

556
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,800
this is human existence, this is
human experience. 

557
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,640
Instead of thinking I just need 
to change this little habits. 

558
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,040
No, it is much worse than that. 
It's a much more problematic. 

559
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,200
I need to get out of this 
Sansaric existence. 

560
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,800
Just as like I was saying 
before, because the problem is 

561
00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,280
not what you have done 
specifically. 

562
00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:34,280
The problem is that you got 
reborn in the 1st place. 

563
00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:37,920
That is the real problem. 
Yeah. 

564
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:42,160
And it kind of sounds funny, but
it's not really all that funny. 

565
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:49,240
I shouldn't be laughing if it 
isn't funny. 

566
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:55,280
So this is kind of the idea. 
You can see how little ways of 

567
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,640
reframing, how what these things
are about changes your entire 

568
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,160
attitude. 
Yeah, to how we deal with these 

569
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,520
kind of things. 
And this is one of those ways of

570
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:10,640
rethinking things, another very 
important way. 

571
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:13,160
And I want to bring this in now 
before I forget about it. 

572
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,560
One of the kind of dangers that 
sometimes, one of the mistakes 

573
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,640
we sometimes make in the 
Buddhist world, we see someone 

574
00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:22,200
who is really unfortunate, who 
is suffering a lot. 

575
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,280
Yeah. 
Maybe they are handicapped or 

576
00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:28,080
they are not very intelligent or
they have a car accident. 

577
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,000
Yeah. 
It's the bad Comer from the 

578
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,600
past. 
And now they're reaping the 

579
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:33,120
result. 
It's their own fault. 

580
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,520
I'm not going to have any 
compassion there. 

581
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,280
Does that sound like a Buddhist 
response? 

582
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:41,760
No. 
Yeah. 

583
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:43,600
No, you're quite right. 
You're shaking your head. 

584
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:44,720
Well done. 
Yeah. 

585
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,480
You have kind of got the right 
idea there. 

586
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,920
It is not the Buddhist response 
at all, right? 

587
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:53,840
It's a terrible response, but 
this is very common in kind of 

588
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,440
Buddhist communities. 
People think in this particular 

589
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,400
way. 
Yeah, They made a mistake in the

590
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:00,600
past. 
It's their problem. 

591
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:02,640
So, you know, I'm not going to 
deal with it. 

592
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,560
Yeah, They're going to have to 
sort it out themselves. 

593
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,880
It's completely the way, wrong 
way to think about things. 

594
00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,120
If you think like that, you 
become become a hard hearted 

595
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:12,000
human being. 
Yeah. 

596
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,560
Because it means you will always
say that it's people's own 

597
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:17,120
fault, that they have 
misfortune. 

598
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:22,960
But the problem is that maybe 
someone else's bad comma is 

599
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,600
ripening right now. 
Or maybe it isn't even bad 

600
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:28,080
comma, as I mentioned a minute 
ago. 

601
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,240
Maybe it's just the fact that 
they are a human being. 

602
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,880
Tomorrow, your bad comma may 
ripen there. 

603
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,360
Tomorrow, your human nature is 
going to show itself because you

604
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,400
go to the wrong place at the 
wrong time. 

605
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:45,320
You step in front of a car or 
whatever it is, and suddenly you

606
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:47,320
are going to be the one who 
suffers. 

607
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,400
So it is completely misguided to
think that these people are 

608
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,960
somehow different from you. 
We're all in the same boat. 

609
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,800
We have all made bad karma in 
the past. 

610
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:03,160
We're all vulnerable human 
beings right now. 

611
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:06,560
It can happen to any one of us. 
You. 

612
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,920
We need to have compassion for 
everyone in the world who 

613
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,840
suffers. 
And when you have compassion for

614
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,800
other people's, when they 
suffer, you will also be able to

615
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,880
have compassion for yourself 
when you fall into suffering, 

616
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,360
which inevitably you will. 
Why? 

617
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:26,920
Because you are a human being. 
Yeah, that is the right way to 

618
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,360
think about things. 
These are not things that are in

619
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,480
our control. 
If they really were under your 

620
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,960
control, well, then maybe we 
could blame other people for the

621
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:40,000
stupidity or whatever, but they 
are not really in under our 

622
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,199
control. 
We all end do end up doing 

623
00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:45,120
stupid things. 
Why? 

624
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,040
Because of conditioning, because
of circumstances. 

625
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:52,639
Not because we want to be evil. 
We want to do bad things. 

626
00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,239
So have compassion for goodness 
sake. 

627
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,920
Yeah, when you see someone in 
the world, that one of the 

628
00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:02,640
things I always love to do when 
I see another person who is 

629
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:04,400
different from me. 
Yeah. 

630
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,200
And this is a very powerful 
reflection that I try to use all

631
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:09,640
the time. 
I see someone who is suffering 

632
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,120
here. 
I see someone maybe in Perth who

633
00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:15,560
is kind of sleeping rough, 
someone who was a drug addict, 

634
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,400
someone who is mentally 
unstable, maybe suffering 

635
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:21,160
psychologically in a very deep 
way. 

636
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:25,680
I look at the person and I try 
to think that is me here. 

637
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:28,680
I have been like that in the 
past. 

638
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,400
I will be like that in the 
future unless I get out of this 

639
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:35,600
whole idea of rebirth or 
suffering. 

640
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:41,280
And when I see myself in that 
other person suddenly changes 

641
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,040
things dramatically. 
Here then you make a human 

642
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:45,640
connection with the other 
person. 

643
00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:47,680
You no longer dismiss them. 
You. 

644
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:51,040
It's no longer possible not to 
have compassion, because if it 

645
00:35:51,040 --> 00:35:53,800
is you, you have to have 
compassion for that person. 

646
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,800
Otherwise, you have no 
compassion for yourself. 

647
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:00,920
And so you do that with 
everyone, regardless of which 

648
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,080
country they come from, 
regardless of the culture, 

649
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,840
regardless of the gender, 
regardless of whether they are 

650
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,240
intelligent or stupid or 
whatever they are. 

651
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,560
And it opens up the door of 
compassion in a very beautiful 

652
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,320
way. 
And I try to the best of my 

653
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,040
ability. 
Of course, I fail because I'm 

654
00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:23,240
human after all. 
So I felt that I try to look at 

655
00:36:23,240 --> 00:36:26,520
the world in this way and it 
creates much more connection in 

656
00:36:26,520 --> 00:36:28,400
the world than otherwise it 
would. 

657
00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:33,440
So always have compassion, 
always have understanding, 

658
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,960
always have Meta and Karuna, 
this beautiful qualities. 

659
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:45,360
So there is a third way I want 
to talk about the idea of how 

660
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,600
come is not really 
deterministic. 

661
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,280
Yeah. 
It is much more open to change 

662
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:52,480
than what you may think. 
Yeah. 

663
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:57,920
And one of the reasons why it is
not deterministic is because 

664
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:02,560
often we don't distinguish 
between, on the one hand, karma 

665
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,640
and on the other hand, habits. 
Habits and karma are not the 

666
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:08,360
same thing. 
Yeah. 

667
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,600
So sometimes people come and 
they come and say, well, I have 

668
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,040
been, you know, born in this 
family. 

669
00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,280
Why have I been reborn in this 
family? 

670
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:19,400
And they will say, oh, must be 
my coma. 

671
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,840
Yeah, maybe we did bad coma 
together in the past, and we did

672
00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:24,560
bad coma together. 
It ripens. 

673
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:28,560
Now we have to live together. 
But you will be surprised to 

674
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:34,240
hear that the idea of making 
karma together is not a Buddhist

675
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:37,920
way of thinking about things. 
We don't make karma together. 

676
00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,360
Karma is individual. 
Intentions are within you. 

677
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,920
You cannot make. 
You don't have a common 

678
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:47,240
intention with someone else. 
They may happen to have the same

679
00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:49,920
intention as you have right now,
but maybe not. 

680
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,920
It's very, very hard to know. 
Karma is individual. 

681
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,920
We don't have karma that brings 
us together in that way. 

682
00:37:56,720 --> 00:38:01,000
However, we have habits, we have
attachments to people. 

683
00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:05,320
Because you have attachments to 
people in one life, when you get

684
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:09,960
reborn, quite possibly you get 
reborn in that same family in 

685
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,920
the future, because attachments 
bring us together. 

686
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:17,080
Yeah. 
People we feel something in 

687
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,080
common with, we tend to hang out
with. 

688
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:22,320
And that's why Buddhists hang 
out with Buddhists and etcetera,

689
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:23,880
etcetera. 
We hang out with the kind of 

690
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,480
people we are like that are 
similar to us. 

691
00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,160
And so karma and habit are quite
different. 

692
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:36,320
So even though you cannot change
your karma from the past, yeah, 

693
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,360
you can always change your 
habits. 

694
00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:43,200
And this is one of the most 
important things that we do in 

695
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:47,400
Buddhism is changing our habits,
because sometimes our habits are

696
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,080
a wholesome. 
Sometimes we have been brought 

697
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,440
up to kind of think in a certain
stupid way. 

698
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,440
Yeah. 
Sometimes we have been brought 

699
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,800
up to have anger towards certain
people. 

700
00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:00,120
Sometimes we have been brought 
up to be greedy because we all 

701
00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:04,520
know that greed is good, right? 
You know, those kind of silly 

702
00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:06,160
kind of ideas they sometimes 
have. 

703
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:09,680
Greed is good. 
That was a movie called Wall 

704
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:10,720
Street. 
Yeah. 

705
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:13,840
Gordon Gekko or something like 
that, who said greed is good? 

706
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:17,080
It was actually based apparently
on the real life example. 

707
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:19,520
It was a fellow called Ivan 
Boesky. 

708
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,920
I think it was kind of one of 
these Wall Street traders back 

709
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:24,920
in the 1980s. 
This shows you how old I am. 

710
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:28,720
Yeah, and he apparently coined 
this phrase. 

711
00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:32,480
Greed is good. 
He toured around the American 

712
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,880
University polluting the young 
American minds. 

713
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,240
That's bad, right? 
Polluting the young minds. 

714
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:42,880
He were trying to, he were 
trying to detoxify. 

715
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:44,840
Yeah. 
The the all minds actually, 

716
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:46,600
young and old and middle age or 
whatever. 

717
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,680
He was going around doing the 
opposite, polluting the mind. 

718
00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:52,840
Greed is good. 
This was kind of the idea. 

719
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:54,840
Greed is bad. 
Yeah. 

720
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:59,200
It's a really bad idea. 
And it's kind of hard to imagine

721
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,120
how people can say this kind of 
things and how deluded that 

722
00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:05,440
actually is. 
So these are the habits we need 

723
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:08,320
to change. 
Greed is very unhelpful. 

724
00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:11,960
Greed is small. 
It leads to a small mind. 

725
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,280
It leads to fear, it leads to me
against others. 

726
00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:19,000
That's what greeds lead to. 
If you want to have a broad mind

727
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,640
where it encompasses other 
people around you, greed is your

728
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,120
enemy. 
Greed is a very negative thing. 

729
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,160
Anger is a negative thing. 
So we need to change these 

730
00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,560
habits. 
It's a fundamental thing and 

731
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,960
they can be changed. 
They are not the result of coma 

732
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,560
in the past. 
They are just a result of 

733
00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,200
conditioning. 
And conditioning can always be 

734
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,080
changed. 
It is hard work. 

735
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:45,800
You need to exert yourself again
and again and again to able to 

736
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:49,600
do that, but it can be done down
the line if you do it. 

737
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,440
That is the good news about 
overcoming habits. 

738
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,880
So distinction between habit and
coma is actually very useful 

739
00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:01,640
because it allows you to change.
It allows you to become a 

740
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:09,440
different kind of person. 
So these are some of the ideas. 

741
00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:11,440
They're some of the 
distinctions, some of the 

742
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:13,280
different ways of thinking about
things. 

743
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:16,480
I'm not sure what that is. 
Maybe a ghost. 

744
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:24,200
I'm not sure. 
Anyway, so how what can we do 

745
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:26,160
then? 
The last thing the Buddha said, 

746
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:29,560
remember I mentioned before, 
yeah, about Khamma, is that it 

747
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:33,200
helps us on the spiritual path 
there and not talked about some 

748
00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,360
of the misconceptions of karma, 
some of the dangers we fall 

749
00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:38,680
into. 
It is not deterministic. 

750
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,920
There's a lot of things that we 
can do to dilute that karma to 

751
00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:46,960
move forward in various ways. 
So how can we really move 

752
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:48,960
forward in the best possible 
way? 

753
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:53,120
How can we make use of that? 
Buddha's last argument, the idea

754
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:58,560
make good karma to enable the 
spiritual path to enhance your 

755
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:01,000
spiritual practice. 
How can we do that? 

756
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:06,960
Well, obviously we want to do 
good things by body, speech and 

757
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,560
mind, right? 
As I mentioned before, it is the

758
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,360
intention that matters. 
It is not do. 

759
00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,320
It's not just doing the right 
thing, but your intention is 

760
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,360
very important. 
And so that means that if you 

761
00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:25,400
make those intentions more clear
in your mind, more powerful, it 

762
00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:28,880
will also increase the amount of
good karma that you're making. 

763
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:33,000
And if you reduce the intentions
behind any bad acts, it means 

764
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,280
even your bad actions won't be 
as powerful. 

765
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:41,160
So how can we do that? 
Well, come back to the idea of 

766
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:45,000
what motivates you, what drives 
the intention, which then in 

767
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,920
turn drives the action. 
So purify those motivations. 

768
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,720
And as you purify your 
motivations in life, you will 

769
00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:58,680
purify your intentions, which 
then will purify your actions. 

770
00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:04,120
So whatever you do in life, when
you do an act of kindness, when 

771
00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:07,720
you say something beautiful to 
someone else, if you do an act 

772
00:43:07,720 --> 00:43:12,360
of generosity to someone, put 
more love into it. 

773
00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:17,080
Put more compassion into it. 
Put more kindness into it. 

774
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,680
Yeah, I really want to give 
this. 

775
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:23,640
Understand that the recipient 
you're giving to is worthy of 

776
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:26,400
your kindness. 
Why are they worthy of a kind? 

777
00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:28,760
Because everyone is worthy of 
your kindness. 

778
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:31,080
Everyone wants to have a better 
life. 

779
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,920
Everyone wants to be happy. 
Put a lot of kindness into it, 

780
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:40,080
and the more meta and corona and
kindness and compassion you put 

781
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:43,720
into your actions, the more you 
imbue them with these beautiful 

782
00:43:43,720 --> 00:43:47,720
qualities, the more powerful is 
your good karma because you're 

783
00:43:47,720 --> 00:43:52,160
purifying the motivation, which 
is at the very source of what 

784
00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:57,000
good karma is about. 
So imbue all your life with 

785
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:01,200
these qualities. 
Make your life into a path of 

786
00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,640
kindness. 
Meta Meta is really mean 

787
00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,800
something like kindness or 
friendliness or love. 

788
00:44:08,240 --> 00:44:10,920
All of these words are really 
translations of the word meta. 

789
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:13,520
Make that the mainstay of your 
life. 

790
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,000
Imbue everything you do with 
that. 

791
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:19,800
Ultimately, you want to imbue 
your thoughts and with these 

792
00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:23,320
things so that when you think 
about other people, you're 

793
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:26,720
coming from a sense that you 
want to be kind towards others. 

794
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,480
And if you cannot be kind 
because someone is really 

795
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:32,240
difficult, at least you can have
compassion for them. 

796
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:38,440
Kindness and compassion should 
ideally be the only motivating 

797
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:42,240
forces in your life. 
Never coming from greed, never 

798
00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:45,720
coming from ill will, always 
some kindness and compassion. 

799
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,840
And the more you imbue your life
with these beautiful qualities, 

800
00:44:50,160 --> 00:44:53,280
the more powerful your coma is 
going to be here. 

801
00:44:54,200 --> 00:45:00,240
So when you come here to Dama 
Loca, learn to imbue your life 

802
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:04,320
with these beautiful qualities. 
And part of that can be to do 

803
00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:07,080
some meditation, some meta 
meditation. 

804
00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:11,000
Sometimes people find it very 
hard to do ordinary breath 

805
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,920
meditation because the breath is
very subtle, can be very hard to

806
00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:17,600
follow, and you may end up 
falling asleep. 

807
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:20,040
Or you meant end up thinking 
about all kind of things. 

808
00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:22,680
Before you know it, you're all 
over the world except for here 

809
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:24,600
in Tamaloca. 
Even though this is where you 

810
00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:25,960
actually are. 
Yeah. 

811
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,400
Your mind is kind of. 
Who knows where your mind is. 

812
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:30,760
Have you ever had that 
experience before? 

813
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:32,040
Probably. 
If you haven't. 

814
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:33,240
Wow. 
Miracle. 

815
00:45:33,240 --> 00:45:33,920
Yeah. 
Well done. 

816
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:37,720
That would be really impressive.
Actually it is impossible, so I 

817
00:45:37,720 --> 00:45:39,800
wouldn't even probably wouldn't 
believe you if you said that. 

818
00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:44,840
So. 
So do some of that meta 

819
00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:49,440
meditation. 
Learn the idea of wishing 

820
00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:51,960
everyone in the world happiness 
and well-being. 

821
00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:56,920
Sit down, close your eyes, wish 
everyone in the world. 

822
00:45:57,120 --> 00:46:00,960
May everyone in the world. 
May all beings be happier. 

823
00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:05,000
May all beings be well. 
Allow that to come from your 

824
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,480
heart. 
And when you turn your mind in 

825
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:11,280
this direction, actually wishing
all beings happiness and 

826
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:15,000
well-being, it is something 
transformative happens inside of

827
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,440
you. 
You understand you can't really 

828
00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:19,920
have any enemies anymore, 
because if you have enemies, 

829
00:46:19,920 --> 00:46:22,400
it's impossible to wish everyone
well-being. 

830
00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:25,400
It transforms your attitude to 
the world. 

831
00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:31,000
You understand that all beings 
are worthy of this well wishing 

832
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:33,640
because everyone in the world 
wants to be happy. 

833
00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:37,680
And if someone is living in a 
stupid way, it's because they 

834
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:42,000
don't understand, not because 
they want to suffer or because 

835
00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,760
they are deliberately stupid. 
They're just deluded, just 

836
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:48,400
stupid. 
And so they still deserve our 

837
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:53,520
compassion for that reason. 
And so this is kind of the final

838
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,880
idea. 
Yeah, of comma, imbue it with as

839
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:01,880
many powerful and beautiful 
motivations as you can, moment 

840
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:07,080
after moment, hour to hour, day 
after day, year after year. 

841
00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:11,320
And if you get reborn lifetime 
after lifetime, and as you do 

842
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:15,480
that, then you are really 
purifying the spiritual path to 

843
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:21,440
the maximum. 
So remember why it is that you 

844
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:26,080
should take the idea of karma 
very seriously in your life. 

845
00:47:26,480 --> 00:47:29,760
First of all, because the Buddha
says it is a description of 

846
00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:32,960
reality. 
This is what the world actually 

847
00:47:32,960 --> 00:47:36,200
looks like from the viewpoint of
an enlightened mind. 

848
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:39,480
Secondly, it will lead to a good
rebirth. 

849
00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:44,080
Don't dismiss the idea of a good
rebirth as some kind of lesser 

850
00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:45,640
desire. 
It's OK. 

851
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:48,960
It is human to want a good 
rebirth, and because you're 

852
00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:51,160
human, it's perfectly 
acceptable. 

853
00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:56,440
Thirdly, it explains to you how 
the larger cycle of death and 

854
00:47:56,440 --> 00:48:00,200
rebirth functions in the long 
run, and how is a system that is

855
00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:04,200
largely out of control. 
And comma shows you how the 

856
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:08,560
system actually works. 
And finally, living in a good 

857
00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:12,960
way, producing good karma is a 
very important aspect of the 

858
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:17,280
spiritual path. 
So please take it really, really

859
00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:20,360
seriously in your life. 
And if you do that, it will be a

860
00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:23,640
great blessing for you and also 
a great blessing for all the 

861
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:27,600
people around you. 
So that is my little talk on 

862
00:48:27,600 --> 00:48:29,040
karma this evening. 
Yeah. 

863
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:40,320
OK, everyone. 
So if you wish to ask any 

864
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:43,040
questions, anything, now is the 
time now. 

865
00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:55,720
Good evening, Venerable. 
OK, where are you? 

866
00:48:55,720 --> 00:48:58,320
I can't see anyone over there. 
OK, good. 

867
00:48:58,360 --> 00:48:59,280
Yeah, please. 
Great. 

868
00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:01,680
Hi. 
When it comes to. 

869
00:49:02,080 --> 00:49:06,160
Thank you. 
Karma and this idea of purifying

870
00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:11,800
your motivations when you were 
training and learning as a monk 

871
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:17,640
and learning these definition of
karma and noticing the wrong 

872
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:23,760
view that you had, was it more 
of the process of going through 

873
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:28,760
your motivation? 
So for example, like why you go 

874
00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:34,480
to work, why you do things and 
then looking at how how that was

875
00:49:34,680 --> 00:49:38,240
ripening, creating fruit, where 
the question essentially I'm 

876
00:49:38,240 --> 00:49:43,960
trying to get to is that how did
you begin to start noticing your

877
00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:51,200
karma and your and your personal
ripening of good and bad in this

878
00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:53,320
purifying process? 
Right. 

879
00:49:53,520 --> 00:49:56,040
Yeah. 
So that was basically what I was

880
00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:58,120
talking about fairly early on in
the talk. 

881
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:01,880
And this is this idea that if 
you, you can almost feel that 

882
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:04,920
when you have a negative thought
or negative do something else, 

883
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,520
you can feel that there's a bad 
feeling that goes with that. 

884
00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:09,560
Yeah. 
And when you do something truly 

885
00:50:09,560 --> 00:50:11,480
kind, actually it's really 
uplifting. 

886
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:13,080
Yeah. 
You tend to feel, have a good 

887
00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:15,480
feeling when you do something 
kind towards someone else. 

888
00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:18,720
And so it's noticed in that 
correlation right in the 

889
00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:19,760
present. 
Yeah. 

890
00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:25,000
Between how you think now, how 
you intend now and the effect it

891
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:27,440
has on you. 
That I think is more from the 

892
00:50:27,440 --> 00:50:29,160
most transformative kind of 
thing. 

893
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:32,240
Yeah. 
I so to me that became very 

894
00:50:32,240 --> 00:50:35,680
obvious very quickly that that's
actually how it works when you 

895
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:38,040
when you sometimes you can do an
act of kindness towards 

896
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:40,200
somebody, like giving someone a 
gift and they can feel 

897
00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:42,760
incredibly uplifting, something 
very simple. 

898
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:45,880
And you think, wow, this is the 
power of these things. 

899
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:50,000
And then you start reading the 
suit is you start to see how the

900
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:53,400
Buddha connects these things. 
Yeah, your actions with your 

901
00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:56,320
meditation practice. 
There's a direct link there. 

902
00:50:56,600 --> 00:50:59,960
And then you start to understand
the connection between karma and

903
00:50:59,960 --> 00:51:02,320
your meditation. 
This is why the Buddha talks 

904
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:05,080
about things like the 
recollection of your generosity 

905
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:09,240
or the recollection of your 
virtue, because that then 

906
00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:13,760
becomes the engine which allows 
you to experience joy in 

907
00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:16,600
meditation, all the and peace 
and all the positive things in 

908
00:51:16,600 --> 00:51:20,000
your meditation practice. 
So you start to see this from 

909
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,480
different angles. 
You see it in your meditation 

910
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:26,320
because you can use the good 
karma in the meditation and you 

911
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:29,840
see a direct connection in the 
here and now between your 

912
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:32,280
intention and how you feel 
straight away here. 

913
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:36,840
So as a practice, actually say 
recording or writing down or 

914
00:51:37,000 --> 00:51:40,640
noticing throughout your day 
those sort of positive thoughts 

915
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:43,080
rightening into positive 
intentions you'd recommend? 

916
00:51:43,440 --> 00:51:45,320
I, I, you don't have to write it
down. 

917
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:48,560
I just just, you know, just I 
can if you want to, I suppose as

918
00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:50,040
a kind of initial like up to 
you. 

919
00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:53,280
But yeah, just noticing it is 
what is the most important, OK? 

920
00:51:54,240 --> 00:51:55,600
Thank you very much. 
Great. 

921
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:11,000
John Bromley, thanks for the 
wonderful deep talk, you know, 

922
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:12,840
on karma. 
Yeah. 

923
00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:18,520
Just now you mentioned that our 
karma cannot be. 

924
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:22,760
What cannot be. 
What is it? 

925
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:26,160
You can't remove the karma. 
OK. 

926
00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:28,920
Yeah, Yeah. 
So that's what I, my 

927
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:32,640
understanding is to learn. 
But John Bromley, you're saying 

928
00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:36,960
to this, if we keep doing good, 
you know, good thing, OK, can 

929
00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:40,320
we, we can delay the negative 
karma, isn't it? 

930
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:42,120
Delay, push, push, push, push it
back. 

931
00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:43,440
Is it right you? 
Can do better. 

932
00:52:43,440 --> 00:52:45,760
You can do better than delaying.
You can dilute it. 

933
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,520
This is what the Buddha says. 
You can dilute it and that's 

934
00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:51,080
what it says in the Zuta. 
So and it's you can dilute it 

935
00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:53,680
like a lot. 
Yeah, I forgot to mention that 

936
00:52:53,680 --> 00:52:56,400
actually. 
But and it has this beautiful 

937
00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:58,320
simile of the lump of salt. 
You know that. 

938
00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:00,640
I'm sure you know that simile 
because you've been, you've been

939
00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:03,560
around for a while, and you put 
a lump of salt in a glass of 

940
00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:06,480
water and the water becomes 
undrinkable because it's so 

941
00:53:06,480 --> 00:53:09,480
incredibly salty. 
And of course, the bitterness of

942
00:53:09,480 --> 00:53:13,520
the saltiness of the water that 
signifies the result of the 

943
00:53:13,520 --> 00:53:15,320
comma. 
The salt is the action, the 

944
00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:18,760
comma and the bitten or the 
saltiness is the result. 

945
00:53:18,760 --> 00:53:22,440
Yeah, very, very salty. 
Take the same lump of salt, the 

946
00:53:22,440 --> 00:53:27,160
same bad comma, and you Chuck it
in the Swan River and you taste 

947
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:28,920
it afterwards. 
Actually, Swan River isn't, 

948
00:53:28,920 --> 00:53:31,400
isn't really freshwater, is it? 
It's kind of, it doesn't really 

949
00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:33,680
work. 
Chuck it in the freshwater 

950
00:53:33,680 --> 00:53:35,720
somewhere. 
Yeah, I had never, I never 

951
00:53:35,720 --> 00:53:38,200
tasted the water from the Swan 
River, but I, I can imagine this

952
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:42,840
must be brackish. 
So but it put it in a, in a 

953
00:53:43,200 --> 00:53:46,920
freshwater large lake or pond 
and it can barely taste it. 

954
00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:49,240
Yeah. 
So it's actually, you can dilute

955
00:53:49,240 --> 00:53:52,560
it enormously. 
And one of those kind of one of 

956
00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:56,040
the places it talks about that 
is in the development of Meta. 

957
00:53:56,480 --> 00:54:00,560
If you develop Meta all the way,
the Buddha says that you 

958
00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:05,640
overcome all limited actions 
that were there beforehand. 

959
00:54:05,720 --> 00:54:09,360
Limited actions are actions that
are related to the sense fear. 

960
00:54:09,640 --> 00:54:12,960
Yeah, actions that kind of ripen
in some kind of pain or 

961
00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:16,680
suffering that is completely 
gone when you develop Meta all 

962
00:54:16,680 --> 00:54:17,400
the way. 
And so on. 

963
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:20,000
In your next life, you will get 
reborn. 

964
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:21,760
None of that will actually 
remain. 

965
00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:23,240
It may come back in later life. 
So. 

966
00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:25,560
But at least in that life it 
will be completely gone. 

967
00:54:26,600 --> 00:54:29,480
Yeah, I was just thinking of 
Angulimala. 

968
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:31,840
Angulimala. 
Yeah, you know the bad hammer. 

969
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:34,160
He killed people to get their 
fingers, and they're pushing 

970
00:54:34,200 --> 00:54:35,760
999. 
OK, Yeah. 

971
00:54:36,000 --> 00:54:38,360
And towards the end, he also 
gained enlightenment. 

972
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:40,840
Yeah. 
You know, I was just thinking he

973
00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:43,840
was pushing it back, this thing 
or maybe it dissolves in it. 

974
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:47,280
Right, so he had he had the bad 
comma. 

975
00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:50,240
He also had very good comma. 
So he he was able to overcome 

976
00:54:50,240 --> 00:54:53,600
that very, very powerful suitor 
and very, very interesting. 

977
00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:57,320
It shows that you should never 
feel or think that you have made

978
00:54:57,320 --> 00:54:59,120
so much bad camera that there's 
no way for. 

979
00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:02,480
There's always a way forward. 
And sometimes I hear people 

980
00:55:02,480 --> 00:55:04,240
despair. 
Oh, I've done so many bad 

981
00:55:04,240 --> 00:55:05,160
things. 
It's terrible. 

982
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:07,000
I'm going to go get a bad 
rebirth. 

983
00:55:07,080 --> 00:55:09,880
Never think like that. 
You have to turn around. 

984
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:13,280
And if you turn around, you can 
overcome that like Angulimala. 

985
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:14,520
So thank you, Eddie. 
Yeah. 

986
00:55:14,760 --> 00:55:17,240
So it's important to build up 
the good karma banks. 

987
00:55:17,240 --> 00:55:18,600
Absolutely. 
Very, very important. 

988
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:20,480
Yeah. 
So carry on with that, Eddie. 

989
00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:21,960
Yeah. 
Thank you very much. 

990
00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:22,920
You'll be OK. 
Yeah. 

991
00:55:33,800 --> 00:55:37,320
Thank you very much for this 
beautiful talk. 

992
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:44,320
My question is, sometimes you 
take an action that the 

993
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:50,200
intention is not to hurt anyone,
but it still does hurt someone. 

994
00:55:50,960 --> 00:55:54,800
So I was wondering how do you 
navigate that? 

995
00:55:56,520 --> 00:55:59,080
OK, so, yeah, this is a, this is
a good question. 

996
00:55:59,080 --> 00:56:03,960
And it's kind of thing that when
the Buddha kind of lays out his 

997
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:07,760
whole ethical scheme, it usually
starts off by saying you 

998
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:11,680
shouldn't do things that hurt 
others or yourself or both. 

999
00:56:11,680 --> 00:56:14,720
You should do things that are 
beneficial for all three, right?

1000
00:56:14,720 --> 00:56:16,320
This is kind of one of the 
things that he says. 

1001
00:56:17,240 --> 00:56:20,400
But then, as you say, sometimes 
we don't know. 

1002
00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:23,080
We do our very best. 
We have really good intentions. 

1003
00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:25,360
Still, sometimes people get 
hurt. 

1004
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:28,320
And so then the Buddha has a 
second way of talking about 

1005
00:56:28,320 --> 00:56:31,640
ethical conduct, and that is 
looking at your motivation. 

1006
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:34,640
The motivation is ultimately 
what what matters. 

1007
00:56:35,280 --> 00:56:38,840
And so your job is really to 
know that you're coming from a 

1008
00:56:38,840 --> 00:56:41,320
good place. 
And if you are coming from a 

1009
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:45,400
good place, it's really all you 
can do at the end of the day. 

1010
00:56:45,640 --> 00:56:49,480
Sometimes it will still hurt 
other people, but in the main, 

1011
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:53,000
for the main part, it will be a 
good result for other people. 

1012
00:56:53,760 --> 00:56:56,360
So I guess you do your very 
best. 

1013
00:56:56,640 --> 00:57:00,000
Come from a pure as place as 
possible you can within. 

1014
00:57:00,040 --> 00:57:03,480
Yeah, as much compassion and 
love that you can muster. 

1015
00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:06,960
And at the same time, try to 
learn from those experience. 

1016
00:57:06,960 --> 00:57:09,200
Or maybe you go wrong. 
So maybe you can also learn 

1017
00:57:09,200 --> 00:57:10,600
something from those at the same
time. 

1018
00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:14,480
But in the end, you will always 
make those kind of mistakes. 

1019
00:57:14,480 --> 00:57:16,920
It's impossible to avoid those 
kind of mistakes. 

1020
00:57:17,320 --> 00:57:19,520
So don't be upset with yourself 
if you do that. 

1021
00:57:19,640 --> 00:57:21,480
Have compassion for yourself as 
well. 

1022
00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:24,320
Yeah, then you're going to be 
doing that the right thing, I 

1023
00:57:24,320 --> 00:57:26,120
reckon. 
Thank you. 

1024
00:57:28,760 --> 00:57:34,520
Thank you. 
My question is when when you are

1025
00:57:35,520 --> 00:57:39,200
choosing or when you are acting 
kindly? 

1026
00:57:40,320 --> 00:57:44,920
Sometimes it can become very 
difficult when you're in a place

1027
00:57:44,920 --> 00:57:47,800
where a lot of kindness is 
needed and you need to make a 

1028
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:51,080
choice about who you make 
kindness to. 

1029
00:57:51,080 --> 00:57:54,280
For example, I worked in a 
developing community with some 

1030
00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:58,240
women who had a great deal of 
suffering through the gender 

1031
00:57:58,240 --> 00:58:03,080
inequality, and I could help 
some of them, but I didn't help 

1032
00:58:03,120 --> 00:58:07,960
others. 
And I always feel like, how did 

1033
00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:10,760
I choose who to help and why 
didn't I help? 

1034
00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:12,840
How? 
Why couldn't I help everyone 

1035
00:58:13,120 --> 00:58:17,440
with my kindness? 
So no matter how much how kind 

1036
00:58:17,440 --> 00:58:19,960
you are, you're always left with
a feeling that you haven't been 

1037
00:58:20,280 --> 00:58:23,160
kind enough. 
Yeah. 

1038
00:58:23,160 --> 00:58:25,720
So the so there is a way out of 
that dilemma. 

1039
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:29,200
Actually, you'd be surprised to 
hear that there is a way out and

1040
00:58:29,200 --> 00:58:32,720
the So you're right, in terms of
actions and speech, we can only 

1041
00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:36,200
be kind to some so many people. 
There's just a limit to what our

1042
00:58:36,240 --> 00:58:38,760
our human capabilities are 
limited. 

1043
00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:43,440
However, what you can do is 
develop the meta as a mental 

1044
00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:44,000
thing. 
Yeah. 

1045
00:58:44,440 --> 00:58:47,640
And that can be unlimited. 
And if you have an unlimited 

1046
00:58:47,640 --> 00:58:52,520
mind in terms of the meta, the 
kindness, the love within, then 

1047
00:58:52,600 --> 00:58:55,720
all your actions and speech will
come out in the right way. 

1048
00:58:55,720 --> 00:58:58,640
As a consequence, you will still
have to choose because you can 

1049
00:58:58,640 --> 00:59:02,880
never reach out to everyone, but
you will never feel inadequate 

1050
00:59:02,880 --> 00:59:04,360
within. 
You will always feel fully 

1051
00:59:04,360 --> 00:59:08,480
adequate because it is your mind
is fully immersed in that 

1052
00:59:08,480 --> 00:59:12,480
feeling of good qualities. 
That is the way forward. 

1053
00:59:15,880 --> 00:59:19,920
OK here. 
Aditi, can you please, please 

1054
00:59:19,960 --> 00:59:22,560
let other people get a chance 
first of all that. 

1055
00:59:22,560 --> 00:59:27,440
Yeah, so. 
Thank you, Arjun. 

1056
00:59:28,760 --> 00:59:33,280
I remember there, there's a 
statement in the sutras, I think

1057
00:59:33,680 --> 00:59:39,760
the Buddha has said rather than 
or better than giving a Dana to 

1058
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:46,920
the Buddha and 500 Dahan's, it's
better to do a meta, send loving

1059
00:59:46,920 --> 00:59:49,080
kindness for a fraction of a 
second. 

1060
00:59:49,080 --> 00:59:51,200
Yeah. 
Something like that, yeah. 

1061
00:59:51,400 --> 00:59:54,800
Yeah, it's the Villama Suta and 
Gudonekai 920, I think. 

1062
00:59:54,800 --> 00:59:56,840
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 
See, a normal suita is pretty 

1063
00:59:56,840 --> 01:00:00,000
well. 
So anyway, please carry on just 

1064
01:00:00,120 --> 01:00:06,280
showing off, that's all. 
Yeah, the general tendency in 

1065
01:00:06,280 --> 01:00:09,880
the Buddhist community here as 
well as everywhere, is to offer 

1066
01:00:09,960 --> 01:00:14,280
dhana to monks and all, 
everybody very, very well. 

1067
01:00:14,280 --> 01:00:19,000
They do it so hard, work hard on
it, and then do their best. 

1068
01:00:19,440 --> 01:00:22,080
So can you give some advice to 
such people? 

1069
01:00:23,720 --> 01:00:28,080
Can you also do some meta either
before that or your focus on 

1070
01:00:28,080 --> 01:00:30,960
your intention? 
So what is the intention of 

1071
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:32,560
that? 
Is it to fill? 

1072
01:00:33,280 --> 01:00:34,200
The you mean? 
Yeah. 

1073
01:00:35,720 --> 01:00:40,240
The monks and nuns? 
Or is it some meta that generate

1074
01:00:40,360 --> 01:00:42,480
that? 
What is the background? 

1075
01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:43,720
Yeah. 
No, thank you for that question 

1076
01:00:43,720 --> 01:00:44,840
there. 
How can? 

1077
01:00:44,960 --> 01:00:48,520
They make better benefit out of.
It, Yeah, yeah. 

1078
01:00:49,000 --> 01:00:51,920
So that's what you're quoting, 
actually goes through a long 

1079
01:00:51,920 --> 01:00:54,080
sequence of various kinds of 
gifts. 

1080
01:00:54,160 --> 01:00:57,440
It starts off, I think, with an 
animal or maybe maybe just, I 

1081
01:00:57,440 --> 01:00:58,840
can't remember exactly where it 
starts off. 

1082
01:00:59,160 --> 01:01:02,600
It goes all the way to the Both 
Sangers headed by the Buddha, 

1083
01:01:03,120 --> 01:01:05,480
and then higher than that is 
going for refuge. 

1084
01:01:05,840 --> 01:01:07,600
That's actually the one that 
comes above that. 

1085
01:01:07,600 --> 01:01:10,960
So if you go for refuge of the 
Triple Gem, it is better than 

1086
01:01:11,000 --> 01:01:15,760
any kind of gift. 
So that's kind of sounds strange

1087
01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:18,160
because sometimes we come in 
here and we bow three times and 

1088
01:01:18,160 --> 01:01:19,960
we think, yeah, now I've made 
more merit than. 

1089
01:01:20,360 --> 01:01:22,480
But that's not also not how it 
works. 

1090
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:26,560
Going for refuge obviously means
really going for refuge. 

1091
01:01:27,000 --> 01:01:29,960
It means like in an emotional 
way where you really are 

1092
01:01:29,960 --> 01:01:32,160
invested in the Buddha 
Dhammasanga. 

1093
01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:35,960
It is not a superficial thing of
just buying the buying, bowing 

1094
01:01:35,960 --> 01:01:40,160
down like a ritual. 
It is a really meaningful actor.

1095
01:01:41,040 --> 01:01:43,600
And then higher than that is the
five precepts. 

1096
01:01:43,920 --> 01:01:46,080
Yeah. 
So that means keeping the five 

1097
01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:47,880
precepts consistently all the 
time. 

1098
01:01:47,920 --> 01:01:49,920
Yeah. 
Even more good come according to

1099
01:01:49,920 --> 01:01:52,520
this. 
Beyond that comes this what 

1100
01:01:52,520 --> 01:01:55,560
you're saying, which is a 
practising meta for a finger 

1101
01:01:55,560 --> 01:01:58,240
snapper. 
There is a higher one still than

1102
01:01:58,240 --> 01:02:00,400
that. 
Seeing impermanence. 

1103
01:02:00,800 --> 01:02:03,160
Yeah, that's even higher because
that, of course, is a deep 

1104
01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:04,880
insight into the nature of 
reality. 

1105
01:02:04,880 --> 01:02:10,360
But so when we talk about meta, 
practising meta for a finger 

1106
01:02:10,360 --> 01:02:13,160
snap there, it doesn't just mean
any old meta. 

1107
01:02:13,440 --> 01:02:16,280
It doesn't just mean may all 
beings be happy and well, it 

1108
01:02:16,280 --> 01:02:18,840
means like a deep state of 
samadhi. 

1109
01:02:18,960 --> 01:02:21,120
That is why it is so powerful 
there, Yeah. 

1110
01:02:21,560 --> 01:02:23,480
So it means a very, very deep 
thing. 

1111
01:02:23,480 --> 01:02:26,160
Yeah. 
So, but you are quite right, it 

1112
01:02:26,160 --> 01:02:29,640
obviously means something for 
how we should offer Dhana, Yeah,

1113
01:02:29,640 --> 01:02:32,320
how we should do, how we should 
live our life in general, in all

1114
01:02:32,320 --> 01:02:36,040
kind of things. 
If we can abuse all our actions 

1115
01:02:36,040 --> 01:02:39,320
with more meta, with more 
kindness and more compassion, 

1116
01:02:39,600 --> 01:02:43,480
our gifts, whatever we do, all 
of that, we would be empowered 

1117
01:02:43,480 --> 01:02:46,880
through that. 
And so if you go to say you come

1118
01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:50,240
to the monastery and you offer 
something to the monks, it is 

1119
01:02:50,240 --> 01:02:52,520
good to reflect about that in 
the right way. 

1120
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:56,720
OK, why am I doing this? 
Well, I'm doing it because when 

1121
01:02:56,720 --> 01:03:00,840
I support the Sangha, I'm 
supporting Buddhism, I'm 

1122
01:03:00,840 --> 01:03:04,040
supporting the spread of this 
amazing teachings by the 

1123
01:03:04,040 --> 01:03:06,640
greatest spiritual master in 
human history. 

1124
01:03:07,280 --> 01:03:09,840
I'm allowing that to continue on
in the world. 

1125
01:03:10,120 --> 01:03:13,360
I'm helping the Sasana, the 
Buddhist religion, to carry on 

1126
01:03:13,360 --> 01:03:16,760
for longer by helping this. 
And if you look at, you know, 

1127
01:03:16,760 --> 01:03:20,920
someone like Ajambram, his talks
with millions of people around 

1128
01:03:20,920 --> 01:03:24,120
the world, literally millions of
people, he's one of the most 

1129
01:03:24,120 --> 01:03:26,680
famous monks in the world, 
basically. 

1130
01:03:27,600 --> 01:03:31,560
And you have a part in that. 
When those teachings reaches 

1131
01:03:31,560 --> 01:03:35,320
those millions of people, they 
get alleviation from suffering. 

1132
01:03:35,720 --> 01:03:39,480
They experience the thing on the
Buddhist path, they become more 

1133
01:03:39,480 --> 01:03:41,840
happy. 
Some of them may get into deep 

1134
01:03:41,840 --> 01:03:44,840
meditation, some may get 
profound insights. 

1135
01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:49,520
And by supporting the monastic 
community, by supporting 

1136
01:03:49,520 --> 01:03:53,600
Ajambra, by supporting the 
Dhamma Osanga in general in the 

1137
01:03:53,600 --> 01:03:57,360
whole world, you support in this
enormous movement that is 

1138
01:03:57,600 --> 01:04:00,520
creating so much happiness, so 
much goodness in the world. 

1139
01:04:00,840 --> 01:04:05,520
Now you have a part in creating 
all that goodness in the world. 

1140
01:04:06,120 --> 01:04:09,880
So build up this idea in your 
mind of compassion for the whole

1141
01:04:09,880 --> 01:04:11,920
world. 
That is really what you're doing

1142
01:04:11,920 --> 01:04:14,160
when you're giving an act of 
generosity like that. 

1143
01:04:14,680 --> 01:04:15,840
Yeah. 
You're doing something really 

1144
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:18,880
beautiful. 
You're supporting, probably 

1145
01:04:18,880 --> 01:04:20,200
supporting the areas. 
Yeah. 

1146
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:23,360
When you come sometimes when you
support some of these people, 

1147
01:04:23,800 --> 01:04:27,680
what an amazing thing that is. 
So this is a nice way of 

1148
01:04:27,680 --> 01:04:30,040
thinking. 
Don't try too hard to think like

1149
01:04:30,040 --> 01:04:32,680
that, because if you try too 
hard, you kind of destroy it a 

1150
01:04:32,680 --> 01:04:34,880
little bit as well. 
Yeah, I must think like this. 

1151
01:04:34,880 --> 01:04:37,400
Must you know, it doesn't really
work if you try too hard. 

1152
01:04:37,400 --> 01:04:41,560
It has to come naturally, has to
incline your mind gently in that

1153
01:04:41,560 --> 01:04:43,800
direction, and then you might be
able to do it. 

1154
01:04:43,800 --> 01:04:44,600
Thank. 
You. 

1155
01:04:48,360 --> 01:04:51,200
All right, let us let us take 
some of the online questions 

1156
01:04:51,200 --> 01:04:56,120
because maybe people online are 
waiting for for the answer. 

1157
01:04:56,120 --> 01:05:01,800
So question #1 the Azam Mali, 
does one typically become less 

1158
01:05:01,800 --> 01:05:07,000
able to enter Jana as they grow 
old and the body deteriorates, 

1159
01:05:07,000 --> 01:05:10,640
becomes deceased? 
Also, how do animals make good 

1160
01:05:10,640 --> 01:05:12,800
come out to be reborn as human 
hair? 

1161
01:05:13,440 --> 01:05:16,960
Do you typically become less 
able to enter Jana as the body 

1162
01:05:16,960 --> 01:05:18,880
grows old and the body 
deteriorates? 

1163
01:05:19,240 --> 01:05:23,880
I would say the answer is yes 
because the body is gets in the 

1164
01:05:23,880 --> 01:05:26,120
way. 
Yeah and the body makes life 

1165
01:05:26,120 --> 01:05:31,560
difficult and the worse state 
you are in the harder it often 

1166
01:05:31,560 --> 01:05:35,800
gets. 
So however, if you are a very 

1167
01:05:36,560 --> 01:05:40,920
solid meditator and you know how
to achieve these Jana states 

1168
01:05:40,920 --> 01:05:44,680
because you've been doing it for
a long time, you can bypass the 

1169
01:05:44,680 --> 01:05:47,680
old age and the illness to a 
very large degree here, but 

1170
01:05:47,680 --> 01:05:50,760
probably not totally. 
There will be some extent to 

1171
01:05:50,760 --> 01:05:53,280
which it makes life more 
difficult for you. 

1172
01:05:54,160 --> 01:05:57,520
How do animals make good karma 
to be reborn as humans? 

1173
01:05:57,520 --> 01:06:02,400
That is a very good question and
there I don't think there is any

1174
01:06:02,560 --> 01:06:03,960
answer. 
Very good question. 

1175
01:06:04,040 --> 01:06:06,080
When I say that, it means I 
don't know what the answer is. 

1176
01:06:06,720 --> 01:06:12,880
And basically the Buddha says 
that there is no making of good 

1177
01:06:12,880 --> 01:06:16,320
karma in those realms. 
So once you are reborn as an 

1178
01:06:16,320 --> 01:06:18,080
animal, you have a serious 
problem. 

1179
01:06:18,080 --> 01:06:20,880
So please don't be reborn as an 
animal. 

1180
01:06:21,480 --> 01:06:23,600
Can you promise not to be reborn
as an animal? 

1181
01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:27,480
You can't promise, right? 
It's very hard to know, but I 

1182
01:06:27,480 --> 01:06:30,880
wouldn't recommend it. 
You may think that being reborn 

1183
01:06:30,880 --> 01:06:34,760
as an animal is really nice. 
You get reborn as the dog or the

1184
01:06:34,760 --> 01:06:37,880
cat in a nice family and they 
will kind of pet you and look 

1185
01:06:37,880 --> 01:06:40,400
after you all the time, but they
don't count on it. 

1186
01:06:40,400 --> 01:06:44,600
There's a lot of unhidden dukkha
in those lives. 

1187
01:06:45,600 --> 01:06:49,920
Question #2 from Germany de 
Arjan, please explain the 

1188
01:06:49,920 --> 01:06:53,400
difference between nature and 
mind. 

1189
01:06:53,840 --> 01:06:55,480
How do they relate to each 
other? 

1190
01:06:55,480 --> 01:07:01,040
How can mind just set the 
conditions for nature to grow? 

1191
01:07:01,520 --> 01:07:08,680
Is the mind nature? 
So not 100% sure what you are 

1192
01:07:09,400 --> 01:07:13,680
what you are asking there. 
Because mind is an aspect of 

1193
01:07:13,680 --> 01:07:16,960
nature. 
Yeah, mind is just nature in a 

1194
01:07:16,960 --> 01:07:19,960
certain way. 
But maybe what you mean is 

1195
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:23,920
nature outside, like vegetation 
or whatever. 

1196
01:07:24,760 --> 01:07:27,920
But there isn't any absolute 
distinction between nature and 

1197
01:07:27,920 --> 01:07:29,640
mind. 
They're closely related to each 

1198
01:07:29,640 --> 01:07:35,120
other. 
How do they relate to each 

1199
01:07:35,120 --> 01:07:38,000
other? 
One way they relate to each 

1200
01:07:38,000 --> 01:07:41,360
other is that if you practice 
the spiritual path really well, 

1201
01:07:42,160 --> 01:07:46,680
nature becomes more beautiful. 
Yeah, if you purify your own 

1202
01:07:46,680 --> 01:07:50,640
mind and then you go out into 
nature, nature looks more 

1203
01:07:50,640 --> 01:07:53,040
beautiful because you are out in
nature. 

1204
01:07:53,240 --> 01:07:55,280
That is one way they relate to 
each other. 

1205
01:07:55,760 --> 01:07:58,760
Another way that they relate to 
each other is that according to 

1206
01:07:58,760 --> 01:08:02,720
some of the suitors, it is 
possible to get reborn in the 

1207
01:08:02,720 --> 01:08:05,440
plant. 
Yeah, you can become some kind 

1208
01:08:05,440 --> 01:08:08,880
of spirit, and spirits can be 
reborn in plants. 

1209
01:08:09,640 --> 01:08:12,800
That means you start to look at 
nature a little bit different. 

1210
01:08:13,360 --> 01:08:14,640
Yeah. 
It means you take a bit more 

1211
01:08:14,640 --> 01:08:16,640
care. 
It means you don't chop down 

1212
01:08:16,640 --> 01:08:19,600
those trees so fast because 
maybe there's a spirit living in

1213
01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:21,800
that tree here. 
And if that spirit sees you 

1214
01:08:21,800 --> 01:08:24,560
chopping down the tree, it may 
not be happy here. 

1215
01:08:24,920 --> 01:08:28,120
And the spirit may say, what 
what am I going to do with this 

1216
01:08:28,120 --> 01:08:32,200
person chopping down my abode? 
I'm just repeating a story from 

1217
01:08:32,200 --> 01:08:34,600
the suitors, by the way, here. 
So actually it is in the 

1218
01:08:34,600 --> 01:08:36,760
suitors. 
So whether that is really 

1219
01:08:36,760 --> 01:08:40,399
happening or not is a bit 
uncertain, but you can see how 

1220
01:08:40,399 --> 01:08:42,960
there are all of these 
connections basically here. 

1221
01:08:45,200 --> 01:08:48,600
Can the mind set the conditions 
for nature to grow? 

1222
01:08:48,600 --> 01:08:51,479
So I guess what you're asking 
for here, can we make trees and 

1223
01:08:51,479 --> 01:08:57,319
plants and things grow faster or
better because of our mind? 

1224
01:08:57,720 --> 01:08:59,760
And I think the answer is 
actually yes. 

1225
01:09:00,520 --> 01:09:04,840
And there is more and more 
evidence I think these days that

1226
01:09:04,840 --> 01:09:07,279
we affected the plants in our 
life. 

1227
01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:11,120
Yeah, there is the idea 
sometimes being done in 

1228
01:09:11,120 --> 01:09:15,560
experiments whereby you say nice
things to your plant where you 

1229
01:09:15,560 --> 01:09:18,880
do kind things and the plant 
reacts in a positive way. 

1230
01:09:18,880 --> 01:09:22,560
Here there's more and more of 
these kind of experiments coming

1231
01:09:22,560 --> 01:09:25,319
out. 
So I think you can so be kind to

1232
01:09:25,319 --> 01:09:27,920
nature, and maybe that will kind
of help nature to grow a bit 

1233
01:09:27,920 --> 01:09:33,240
better here. 
Question #3 Dean Arjen, how to 

1234
01:09:33,240 --> 01:09:36,600
move forward if you're no longer
happy in your job? 

1235
01:09:36,640 --> 01:09:40,640
But another new job opportunity 
is in real estate that is 

1236
01:09:40,640 --> 01:09:45,040
distracted to the environment 
and causes gentrification where 

1237
01:09:45,040 --> 01:09:47,760
we live. 
Wow, so hard. 

1238
01:09:47,760 --> 01:09:49,920
Yeah. 
How to make these choices? 

1239
01:09:50,720 --> 01:09:54,279
So what do you have to ask 
yourself is the following 

1240
01:09:54,279 --> 01:09:56,880
question. 
How can you make? 

1241
01:09:56,880 --> 01:10:01,280
Which job can you make the most 
spiritual progress in your life?

1242
01:10:01,520 --> 01:10:03,120
That is what you should ask 
yourself. 

1243
01:10:03,560 --> 01:10:06,880
So choose the job where you 
think you can make the most 

1244
01:10:06,880 --> 01:10:09,720
spiritual progress. 
That is what the Buddha said is 

1245
01:10:09,720 --> 01:10:11,640
the most important thing in 
life. 

1246
01:10:12,040 --> 01:10:14,480
And so that should be the 
benchmark for how we make these 

1247
01:10:14,480 --> 01:10:17,240
kind of choices. 
So you can become maybe you can 

1248
01:10:17,240 --> 01:10:20,920
become a nice real estate agent 
or whatever it is. 

1249
01:10:20,920 --> 01:10:22,800
It is. 
Yeah, that doesn't minimum 

1250
01:10:22,800 --> 01:10:26,560
destruction and kind of you are 
just kind to the customers. 

1251
01:10:26,560 --> 01:10:28,120
Yeah. 
And you do your little bit. 

1252
01:10:28,680 --> 01:10:33,720
And so maybe it's just, you 
know, maybe that is the way 

1253
01:10:33,720 --> 01:10:36,800
forward. 
If you're other job and you're 

1254
01:10:36,800 --> 01:10:40,720
not happy in that job, then that
can often be very destructive to

1255
01:10:40,720 --> 01:10:43,600
be in an unhappy job. 
It can lead to all kind of 

1256
01:10:43,600 --> 01:10:47,880
problems. 
So I don't know the answer, but 

1257
01:10:47,920 --> 01:10:51,600
ask yourself what is most likely
to lead to spiritual progress 

1258
01:10:51,920 --> 01:10:56,400
and that's where you should go. 
Question #4 Adrian, is it 

1259
01:10:56,400 --> 01:11:00,640
correct to say karma is the way 
we condition our consciousness? 

1260
01:11:00,800 --> 01:11:03,480
Absolutely. 
So karma, conditions of 

1261
01:11:03,480 --> 01:11:06,360
consciousness, if you are 
motivated by positive things, 

1262
01:11:06,800 --> 01:11:10,120
you're conditioning your 
consciousness to experience more

1263
01:11:10,160 --> 01:11:14,280
happiness, more joy, more good 
feelings, basically. 

1264
01:11:15,320 --> 01:11:20,280
Question #5 Adam, how do we deal
with serious illness on your own

1265
01:11:20,680 --> 01:11:24,760
when you are on your own without
much support from people, job, 

1266
01:11:24,760 --> 01:11:26,720
home and health issues coming 
up. 

1267
01:11:27,040 --> 01:11:34,920
Can you please give some advice?
Again, I think very often you 

1268
01:11:34,920 --> 01:11:36,880
just have to have compassion for
yourself. 

1269
01:11:37,080 --> 01:11:39,840
You have to have a sense of meta
and kindness for yourself. 

1270
01:11:40,320 --> 01:11:43,040
This is one of the foundations 
for dealing with serious 

1271
01:11:43,040 --> 01:11:46,680
illness, for dealing with 
anything in life, really. 

1272
01:11:46,680 --> 01:11:48,760
Yeah. 
Because you understand that this

1273
01:11:48,760 --> 01:11:51,720
is human nature. 
This is the way you have to be. 

1274
01:11:51,720 --> 01:11:53,760
This often. 
There is no way around this kind

1275
01:11:53,760 --> 01:11:55,840
of things. 
And so you have compassion for 

1276
01:11:55,840 --> 01:11:58,680
yourself. 
It's also an opportunity when 

1277
01:11:58,680 --> 01:12:01,240
you have these things to learn 
more about other people. 

1278
01:12:01,240 --> 01:12:04,600
If you see the illness in your 
own life, It's also easier to 

1279
01:12:04,600 --> 01:12:07,840
have compassion for others 
because you understand more 

1280
01:12:07,840 --> 01:12:11,080
about human nature when you see 
these things in your own life. 

1281
01:12:11,520 --> 01:12:15,960
So you can grow spiritual 
qualities out of this if you use

1282
01:12:15,960 --> 01:12:18,760
it wisely. 
It's about using it wisely. 

1283
01:12:19,560 --> 01:12:23,240
The Buddha taught us to reflect 
on illness, all age and death. 

1284
01:12:23,560 --> 01:12:27,600
And when you are ill, that is a 
usually a very good opportunity 

1285
01:12:27,600 --> 01:12:30,000
because then you know what it 
actually means. 

1286
01:12:30,560 --> 01:12:34,120
So make it into fuel for your 
spiritual path. 

1287
01:12:34,560 --> 01:12:38,120
Make it into cause to make a 
spiritual path work even better.

1288
01:12:38,640 --> 01:12:41,600
And I think that is often the 
best way to use these things. 

1289
01:12:42,240 --> 01:12:45,520
And as you do that, you will 
become more accepting of your 

1290
01:12:45,520 --> 01:12:47,720
illness. 
When you become more accepting 

1291
01:12:47,720 --> 01:12:50,080
of your illness, it becomes less
of a problem. 

1292
01:12:50,320 --> 01:12:53,480
When it becomes less of a 
problem, it may even start to 

1293
01:12:53,480 --> 01:12:57,760
die down a little bit. 
So yeah, there you are. 

1294
01:13:00,240 --> 01:13:03,280
OK everyone, nice to see you all
tonight. 

1295
01:13:03,280 --> 01:13:07,920
I wish you all a wonderful 
evening and a wonderful few days

1296
01:13:07,920 --> 01:13:09,720
ahead. 
And let us finish off, as we 

1297
01:13:09,720 --> 01:13:12,600
always do, our paying homage to 
the Buddha, Dhamma, Sanga.