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OK, so I think we can start. 
OK, good. 

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OK, OK, OK, so we can start 
tonight's talk. 

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And tonight I'm going to talk 
about commitment and 

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perseverance on the Buddhist 
path. 

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And I think for many people, you
will, those of you have been 

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Buddhist for a long time, you 
will know that this is perhaps 

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one of the most difficult thing 
is on the Buddhist path is to 

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really commit yourself and 
persevere in the practice. 

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It's actually one of those 
things that remember the idea of

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Buddhism. 
Buddhism is like this thing 

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which accumulates, accumulates 
over time. 

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And the more you keep on 
practising, the more you keep 

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going on this path, the more 
greater are actually the 

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benefits of this practice. 
If you do a little bit, you get 

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a little bit of benefit. 
But if you keep on doing this 

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for like 20 years, then after a 
while it really, really starts 

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to make a big difference. 
So this idea of committing 

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oneself properly to the maximum 
of 1's ability and then to 

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persevere in that practice, keep
on going and going going. 

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This is one of the most 
important things in the, in the 

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Buddhist teaching, probably 
anything in life, right? 

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If you want to be successful in 
anything, you have to commit and

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you have to persevere. 
And Buddhist teaching is no 

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different from anything else. 
And but what is so strange about

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this is how difficult it 
actually is to really commit and

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to persevere. 
How hard it is to remind 

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yourself of what you're supposed
to do moment for moment, right 

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one moment after the other, one 
day-to-day. 

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It's so easy to be LED astray, 
to go on a sidetrack, do all 

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kind of other things. 
And like mobile phones, right? 

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Big sidetrack in life, mobile 
phones. 

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By the way, I just should tell 
you that if you ever hear a 

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mobile phone ringing during 
meditation, number one, it's 

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unavoidable, right? 
There's always going to be a 

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mobile phone going off during 
meditation. 

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Doesn't matter how many signs 
you have, doesn't matter how big

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the signs are, doesn't matter 
how many times Drew says please 

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turn off your mobile phones. 
There's still going to be mobile

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phones ringing during meditation
practice. 

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So just accept it. 
It's not going to be different 

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from that. 
And what the right attitude I 

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reckon to have if that happens 
is to think, whoa, I feel so 

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much compassion for that person 
whose mobile phone is ringing. 

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It's so embarrassing, right? 
You're sitting there, everybody 

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around is looking almost glaring
and you can feel this there. 

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Oh, this is terrible. 
So please have compassion If 

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somebody mobile phone rings and 
it's very beautiful. 

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If you have compassion, the 
atmosphere in the room stays the

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same and you don't and nothing 
happens in a meditation 

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practice, you don't break the. 
You just continue on, flow on 

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very beautifully. 
That is the right attitude to 

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have. 
So that is part of this idea of 

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commitment, right? 
It's actually very difficult to 

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do this. 
So many other things in Buddhist

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life are easy. 
Sometimes I will talk about some

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of those easy things. 
First of all, before I move on 

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to explain how we are able to 
really commit and persevere in 

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this practice. 
What can we do to ensure that 

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commitment actually is maxed 
out, if you like, at all times? 

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Some of the problem, some of the
things that we often think are 

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difficult in Buddhism is like 
the intellectual side of 

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Buddhism, right? 
We think that understanding all 

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this word of the Buddha 
dependent arising, you know, the

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four noble truths or whatever, 
all of these things, it seems so

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complicated and difficult. 
Surely Buddhism? 

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Is like an intellectual teaching
and we should probably sit 

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around contemplating Buddhism 
for the rest of our lives that 

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probably be be very profitable 
there and this is. 

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One of those ideas that people 
tend to have is that, you know, 

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thinking about this is very 
powerful and useful and of 

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course there is some truth to 
that. 

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Some reflection and 
contemplation is always 

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necessary here. 
But there's a tendency to take 

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that too far here. 
And I think the reason is 

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because it's very kind of 
addictive to think about things.

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Our minds are already restless, 
right? 

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They're always moving around 
already here. 

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So all we do is just kind of 
take that movement onto the 

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Buddhist sphere instead, and 
then we keep on moving there. 

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So we. 
Kind of addicted to thinking 

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already, so just move that 
thinking into that direction 

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here. 
But please don't be too trapped 

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by this intellectual curiosity 
and always roaming about it 

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because in the end, it's not 
going to take you very far here.

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I always think about one of the 
very funny things about Buddhist

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translation. 
I translate quite a bit of sutas

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and that sort of thing. 
Sutas is the word of the Buddha 

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and it translated from the 
original Pali language, Pali 

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language closely related to 
Sanskrit. 

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This is a language that the 
sutas are written down in. 

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And one of these very, very, 
very, very well known words from

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the sutas is a word called Jana.
Many of you have heard of Jana, 

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some of you probably not. 
Jana is a state of very deep. 

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Meditation, right? 
Extremely deep. 

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So deep that there's no thinking
going on there. 

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There's complete stillness and 
absolute bliss in the mind. 

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Very, very profound and 
exceptionally beautiful. 

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And when you get there, you're 
already very, very close to 

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awakening itself. 
And then the early translators 

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who translated these, these 
words, right? 

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This wasn't in the early days. 
So we have to excuse them for 

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the kind of the the lack of 
understanding. 

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They didn't really know anything
about Buddhism. 

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They had all this strange terms 
they had to render into English,

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didn't didn't really know what 
they were doing. 

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And one of the famous 
translations for Jana, which is 

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this very profound non thinking 
state was musing. 

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Amusing. 
Oh, I wonder. 

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Musing, musing. 
Kind of. 

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You take out your pipe sitting 
in front of the fireplace. 

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Dependent origination. 
Avija Pachaya Sankara. 

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Delusion leads to Sankara's 
right. 

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And this you can see here how 
some of the most profound things

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and has all to do with Buddhist 
meditation practice. 

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It's distorted into something 
which is more like an 

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intellectual exercise rather 
than a really deep and profound 

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state of meditation practice. 
So this is a danger, and I think

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that the reason again is because
our minds tend to be inherently 

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restless. 
I think a lot of Buddhist 

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history can be explained by the 
restlessness of the human mind. 

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One of the great beautiful 
things that the Buddha says in 

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the suit, as the Buddha talks 
about the handful of leaves that

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it picks up in the forest, this 
suit, this is from, this is from

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a place called the Gosinga Wood.
Wood. 

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This is where this, this 
particular episode takes place. 

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And it picks up a handful of 
leaves. 

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And it says to the monks, well, 
what is more, the handful of 

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leaves I have here or the leaves
on the forest floor, right? 

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It's a no brainer, of course. 
And the monks dutifully say, oh,

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yeah, yeah, the leaves in your 
hands are few. 

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The ones in the forest floor are
many here, right? 

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That's how it goes in the suit 
is. 

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And the Buddha says, in the same
way, just as the handful of 

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leaves that I have here are few 
compared to the leaves in the 

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forest, in exactly the same way,
what I have taught you is little

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compared to what I actually know
her, right? 

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What I have taught you is 
little. 

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Why is that so little? 
Because the only things that I 

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have taught you are those things
that are conducive to the 

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practice, that lead to the goal 
of happiness and away from 

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suffering, eventually take you 
to full awakening. 

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That is what I have taught you. 
I have not taught you all the 

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extraneous stuff, all the stuff 
which is philosophical, right? 

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Which is like metaphysics, ideas
about the world, which may be 

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true, but they're not really 
related to this. 

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And yet as human beings, we love
philosophy, we love to sit back.

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We put put light our little pipe
and philosophize about the about

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the world. 
Right. 

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We love this and this is kind of
the human state of mind. 

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This how we how we act as human 
beings. 

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And of course from that 
restlessness of the mind, from 

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this philosophising. 
Yeah, the Buddha says don't 

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philosophise. 
These are the practical 

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teaching. 
Forget about all the other 

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stuff. 
And what do the monks do as soon

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as the Buddha has passed away? 
They start philosophising, 

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right? 
The first thing is, OK, the 

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Buddha has passed away. 
Now the problem is with the 

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Buddha's teaching, right? 
OK, he taught all of these 

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things. 
It's all very nice, all very 

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good, and it's all very 
practical, but it's not really 

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complete, right? 
There's little holes here and 

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there. 
He didn't kind of divide 

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everything up into absolute 
final terms. 

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He didn't kind of bring it down 
to the tiniest amount of time. 

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How many millisecond? 
How many bits can you divide a 

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00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,360
second into other? 
Is it billion or a trillion bits

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in one second? 
Like how many bits are there in 

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there, right? 
How many different mind states 

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are possible in this world? 
How do they all relate to each 

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other? 
The Buddha kind of said lots of 

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00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,440
nice stuff, but it didn't lay 
everything down right? 

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So now it is our job to fill in 
all the gaps, fill in all the 

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holes in the teachings. 
And that is exactly what 

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happened after the Buddha passed
away here. 

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And from that, the result of all
this philosophising, trying to 

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fill in all the holes, trying to
fill in all the gaps, result of 

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that is what is now known as the
Abidamma pittaca. 

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Abidamma is sometimes slated 
translate as the higher 

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teachings, but they're not the 
higher teachings. 

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They're just philosophy. 
Here it is monks, nuns, perhaps 

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even some lay people were 
involved, mostly the monks I 

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think because they were the ones
who kind of would dealing with 

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these kind of things, thinking 
about things, working at all out

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right and eventually ending up 
with the Abidam Abpitika. 

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This is Buddhist philosophy for 
you. 

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Buddhism is not a philosophy 
here. 

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It's not meant to be a 
philosophy. 

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It's not meant to describe the 
state of the world in all its 

190
00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,080
aspects and all its kind of 
divisions. 

191
00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,720
The Buddhism is meant to be a 
practical path for how to make 

192
00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,480
your life better. 
There is a reason why the Buddha

193
00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,760
did not philosophize, because 
the Buddha realised that 

194
00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,240
philosophising, it's very 
addictive. 

195
00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:22,720
Philosophising is going to take 
you down the wrong track. 

196
00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,200
It's going to keep on 
philosophising forever. 

197
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,040
There's no end to that. 
And Buddhist history shows us 

198
00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:30,880
there is no end to 
philosophising. 

199
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,840
Because then the the Terevadan 
sect, the Terevadans, they are 

200
00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:39,080
the ones who went to Sri Lanka 
right round the time of Ashoka. 

201
00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,880
They went to Sri Lanka and 
Buddhism has been in Sri Lanka 

202
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,040
ever since. 
It is the most ancient Buddhist 

203
00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,360
culture still alive in the world
today is what you find in Sri 

204
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,240
Lanka. 
It's a very wonderful thing to 

205
00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,840
go to Sri Lanka and see some of 
those amazing ancient Buddhist 

206
00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,880
monuments to have there going 
back over 2000 years. 

207
00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,800
I've been there and it's very 
fascinating and very beautiful 

208
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,720
there. 
But so 1 branch of Buddhist went

209
00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,440
to Sri Lanka, Tervadans, another
one went to the north, north of 

210
00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:12,880
India, Sarvastivadans. 
It means all exists there, all 

211
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,800
exists school, right? 
And then they started to argue 

212
00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:19,760
with each other, because my 
abidamma is this, but your 

213
00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:23,040
abidamma is different. 
Your abidamma must be wrong, 

214
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,280
right? 
Mine is always right, yours is 

215
00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:27,520
always wrong. 
That's how we tend to think as 

216
00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,760
human beings. 
And they argue with each other. 

217
00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:32,200
And I think this is precisely 
the. 

218
00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,400
Problem that the Buddha could 
foresee here. 

219
00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:37,920
Once you start philosophising 
here, there is no end to it. 

220
00:11:38,520 --> 00:11:42,720
So remember, as far as I 
concerned, Buddhism is not a 

221
00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,760
philosophy, right? 
People say it's a philosophy. 

222
00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,560
Well, Buddhism might be a 
philosophy, but the original 

223
00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:52,240
teaching of the Buddha were not 
a philosophy. 

224
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:55,280
Buddhism is what we have now. 
The original teaching of the 

225
00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,640
Buddha are slightly different 
from what we have now. 

226
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,800
They were not a philosophy. 
They were a practical path. 

227
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,880
If Buddhism, I mean, is anything
I would say it's a psychology, 

228
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,440
right? 
It's about finding happiness in 

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the world, moving away from 
suffering towards happiness, How

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to use our mind in a skilful way
to move in that direction. 

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If anything, it's a psychology 
and not certainly not a 

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philosophy. 
So remember that. 

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Don't fall into that trap. 
This does not mean that we 

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should never study anything or 
never listen to any talks or 

235
00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:30,640
never try to understand the word
of the Buddha. 

236
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But the things that you need to 
understand, the things that will

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take you towards awakening, 
towards greater happiness, away 

238
00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,720
from suffering, they're actually
very simple things, right? 

239
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Simple things. 
Be kind, be compassionate, look 

240
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at the world in such a way that 
you don't feel too much too 

241
00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,440
angry, you don't feel jealous, 
you don't have this negative 

242
00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:56,760
states of mind arising in you. 
It's difficult enough already, 

243
00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,400
but it's relatively 
straightforward and simple. 

244
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That is what we need to focus 
on. 

245
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Not so much the philosophy here.
So this is like 1 sidetrack, 

246
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,200
right? 
One way of going wrong, and that

247
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is the wrong kind of commitment 
and perseverance. 

248
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If you like, there's another 
one. 

249
00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,280
And this sidetrack is a 
sidetrack that you find more 

250
00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,480
often in traditional Buddhist 
societies. 

251
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And this is the sidetrack where 
you do endless amount of 

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rituals, right? 
Everything becomes a ritual. 

253
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,160
And you can see that in most 
Buddhist societies that have 

254
00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,800
been there for a long time, that
this is very common. 

255
00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,000
And again, you can see why that 
happens because rituals are 

256
00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:41,280
relatively easy to do compared 
to trying to change your 

257
00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,880
attitude and change the person 
you are. 

258
00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,000
Often that is much more 
challenging here. 

259
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:47,960
So again, that's another 
sidetrack. 

260
00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,760
Too many rituals. 
I think actually, sometimes I 

261
00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,160
think in the West we don't do 
enough rituals, right? 

262
00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,600
You get Westerners coming in 
here, they think, oh, this is 

263
00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,760
really scary. 
This Buddha statue, boy, that is

264
00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,160
frightening. 
Such a large image, right? 

265
00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,200
That's kind of overpowering. 
And then you supposed to bow 

266
00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,200
this bowing business. 
That's pretty, pretty 

267
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,920
frightening. 
I remember when I first had time

268
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,960
to bow, I thought it was pretty 
scary myself. 

269
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:16,760
But remember that rituals are 
part of life, right? 

270
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,800
We all do rituals. 
Everybody has to do rituals. 

271
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,280
Every time you shake somebody's 
hand, for goodness sake, you're 

272
00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,440
doing a ritual. 
Every time you say some polite 

273
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,320
phrases, somebody don't know, 
it's really a ritual. 

274
00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,760
Every time you set your table 
right, fork on the left side, 

275
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,160
knife on the right side, spoon 
facing this way, glass over 

276
00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,400
here, it's like a ritual, right?
Everything has its place. 

277
00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,120
So much of life is ritualized 
anywhere here. 

278
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,280
It's not really that we're doing
anything in Buddhism is just 

279
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,840
slightly different rituals. 
And some of the rituals that we 

280
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,760
do in Buddhism are actually very
meaningful and very beautiful 

281
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,920
and very powerful once we get 
into them in the right way here.

282
00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:00,000
Like for example, coming in here
and bowing down. 

283
00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,080
What is that all about? 
And once we get into the idea of

284
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,640
bowing to something, bowing to 
something that you feel is 

285
00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,240
larger than yourself, right? 
Some values that you are 

286
00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:15,000
aspiring for in life that maybe 
some other people have, but you 

287
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,520
don't. 
We assume the Buddha had these 

288
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,920
qualities, right? 
So when you bow down to this 

289
00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:25,880
piece of metal at the back here,
you're bowing down to something 

290
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,920
which represent those qualities 
that the Buddha had according to

291
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:32,800
the suitors. 
That's what you're bowing down 

292
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:34,880
to. 
There's something very beautiful

293
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,200
and powerful about that. 
Check it out. 

294
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,480
Don't be too frightened about 
these things, right? 

295
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,560
Oh no, too scary. 
Please don't be scared. 

296
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:47,400
And once you get into that, it 
also tends to lower your ego a 

297
00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:49,600
little bit, lower your sense of 
self. 

298
00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,040
And there's something very nice 
about that. 

299
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,960
Not having, taking oneself so 
seriously, right? 

300
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,880
Having your ego always boosted, 
but actually lowering it down a 

301
00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,600
little bit is beautiful. 
It's kind of feels like you're 

302
00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,000
being a bit humble and it's 
something that opens up your 

303
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,640
mind. 
When you're more humble, you're 

304
00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,960
more receptive, you're more 
listening, you're not so full of

305
00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,240
yourself. 
And what a wonderful thing it 

306
00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,640
is. 
You start to realize the ego 

307
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,880
tends to be a burden in life. 
The less ego you have, the more 

308
00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,720
relaxed you are, the less 
vulnerable you are to for other 

309
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:26,200
people challenging you, right? 
The ego can always be 

310
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,560
challenged. 
Less ego means less challenge, 

311
00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,560
and you actually feel so much 
better as a consequence. 

312
00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,840
So check it out. 
Some of these simple rituals, 

313
00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,440
not too much, but some of them 
are very powerful and beautiful 

314
00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,200
there. 
But again, as I'm saying, if 

315
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,720
that's all you do, it is too 
much, right? 

316
00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,840
You can't just do rituals again.
It's the wrong kind of 

317
00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,440
commitment. 
Rituals should have a meaning. 

318
00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,720
They should work for you. 
And when they work for you in 

319
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:53,400
the right way, they have a 
meaning. 

320
00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:56,600
They're very beautiful there. 
That is the second way here. 

321
00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,680
The third way, I think, in which
we sometimes go wrong when we 

322
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:05,400
try to persevere and commit is 
that we just do meditation 

323
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,800
practice. 
This is kind of the thing you 

324
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,079
often find perhaps in the West, 
right? 

325
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,480
People go to one meditation 
retreat after the other, 10 

326
00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:17,359
days, 10 days, 10 days, one 
month, right? 

327
00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:21,160
And sometimes that's all they 
do. 

328
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,760
Their whole life becomes kind of
focused on meditation practice. 

329
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,640
That's all they ever do, and 
they become like meditation 

330
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:30,320
junkies. 
I'm not sure if that is a 

331
00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,560
technical word, but that's kind 
of a word that is used. 

332
00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:34,040
We become meditation junkie 
here. 

333
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,240
All we ever do is meditation 
there. 

334
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:42,440
And the danger with that is that
in Buddhism, meditation is only 

335
00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,440
one aspect of a much broader 
path. 

336
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,400
The meditation actually fits in 
there. 

337
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,360
It has a certain purpose, but 
only when it fits in with these 

338
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:54,760
other aspects does it actually 
really work. 

339
00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,760
You can meditate for your rest 
of your life, right? 

340
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,840
10 day retreat here, 10 day 
retreat there, and never get 

341
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,880
anywhere because you don't 
understand the position, the 

342
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,480
place of meditation on the 
Buddhist path. 

343
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,920
It's only when it fits in with 
all the other factors of the 

344
00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:17,160
noble hateful path, kindness, 
compassion, understanding, right

345
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,160
outlook, right, how to look at 
the world in the right way, 

346
00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,760
right thinking, all of these 
kind of things. 

347
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:24,840
That's when meditation starts to
work. 

348
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,600
If you don't understand that, 
then this meditation is going to

349
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,680
stagnate. 
You're not going to go anywhere.

350
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,240
Doesn't matter how much you 
persevere, right? 

351
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,600
Because you're persevering in 
the wrong way. 

352
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,360
So again, there needs to be a 
degree of intelligence to that 

353
00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:43,520
perseverance, a degree of 
insight, a degree of wisdom, and

354
00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,280
then things start to come 
together very beautifully here, 

355
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,000
right? 
So remember that it's actually 

356
00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:51,120
far. 
I would say it's far more 

357
00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:55,400
important to be a kind, 
wholesome person who thinks 

358
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,880
about other people in a nice and
beautiful way, who has a sense 

359
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,480
of compassion and care for the 
world, right? 

360
00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,840
This is more important because 
it's more basic. 

361
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,480
And when that falls into place 
and you are able to change your 

362
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:13,040
attitudes and become that kind 
of person, then guess what? 

363
00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:18,160
Meditation just happens, right? 
You sit back, you just chill, 

364
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,720
you just woah, so beautiful to 
be here tonight with all these 

365
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,440
wonderful people around me. 
And you really feel that inside 

366
00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,040
of you, right? 
And then when you feel that you 

367
00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:31,320
relax so nicely, and when you 
relax so nicely, meditation just

368
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,760
takes place. 
Meditation is so easy. 

369
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,080
All you have to do is to be 
quiet. 

370
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,040
All you have to do is relax and 
watch your breath. 

371
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,600
And yet for some reason it 
doesn't work. 

372
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,920
And the reason why it doesn't 
work is because all the other 

373
00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:48,200
factors of the path aren't into 
place. 

374
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,840
It's not because you are so 
stupid you can't watch your 

375
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,320
breath, right? 
Nobody is that stupid. 

376
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,240
Everybody can watch the breath. 
If you can breathe, for goodness

377
00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,200
sake, you can watch the breath. 
Can you breathe? 

378
00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:00,600
Anyone here can't breathe. 
Everybody can breathe, right? 

379
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,560
So if you can breathe, you are 
in business, you're in the right

380
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,200
place. 
You can do this so. 

381
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,400
Again, this is another thing 
that we have to be careful of 

382
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,600
just becoming complete 
meditation junkies. 

383
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,400
Sometimes they call that 
spiritual bypassing when you 

384
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,880
don't really want to deal with 
your problems, right? 

385
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,480
Actually, I have a bit of anger.
Remember to try to overcome 

386
00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:22,920
that. 
That's exactly right. 

387
00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:26,320
Try to overcome that. 
If you can overcome your anger, 

388
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,120
overcome your negativities, 
become a more positive and 

389
00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:31,880
wholesome person, bang, 
meditation is going to work. 

390
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,160
It can be so powerful. 
No spiritual bypassing, no 

391
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,440
closing your eyes to your own 
defilements and problems, right?

392
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,360
Please don't close your eyes to 
those things. 

393
00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:43,760
Be honest about yourself. 
We need to see ourselves for who

394
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,840
we are. 
Only when you see yourself for 

395
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,600
who you are can you actually 
deal with your problems. 

396
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:50,720
You've got to be brutally honest
with yourself. 

397
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,280
Sometimes that's painful, but in
the end, it's going to be 

398
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,800
incredibly useful if you can do 
that. 

399
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,760
So how do we then commit and 
persevere in the right way, in a

400
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,480
good way, in a way which 
actually leads to something 

401
00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:08,800
positive in life? 
And to be able to understand 

402
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:13,520
this, what the Buddha gives some
very beautiful teachings on 

403
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,080
this. 
And I'm not going to go into all

404
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,920
the details because if you go 
into all the details, all will 

405
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:22,120
be a very long talk. 
And you will complain next week 

406
00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:24,360
to Ajab Ram, say, oh, this monk,
please send him back to 

407
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,680
Bodhinaya Monastery. 
He talks too much. 

408
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,240
Go back. 
So I'm not going to do that 

409
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,680
because it, it should be simple 
anyway, right? 

410
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:37,000
Basic, simple teachings. 
And one of the things that 

411
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,800
Buddha says is that if you want 
to reach awakening here, that 

412
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,040
I'm putting the bar really, 
really high here, right? 

413
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:46,960
But we know awakening is 
something good. 

414
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,080
It's the supreme happiness. 
So we all want to be more happy,

415
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,200
so we want to at least move 
towards that awakening 

416
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,160
experience. 
So if you want to get to 

417
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,440
awakening, what do we have to 
do? 

418
00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:03,280
And the Buddha teaches us this 
beautiful causal sequence, one 

419
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,040
thing leading to the next one, 
all the way up to awakening 

420
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,400
here. 
This is one of the hallmarks of 

421
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,120
the Buddhist teachings. 
Everything is conditioned, 

422
00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:16,720
everything is caused, everything
relies on something else for its

423
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,760
existence, right? 
Everything has some cause, some 

424
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,440
reason why it exists, the reason
why that is the case. 

425
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:27,560
And this brings us to one of the
most profound aspects and most 

426
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,000
typical aspects, hallmark 
aspects of the Buddhist 

427
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,360
teachings, the idea of non self,
the idea that there is nothing 

428
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,600
there which is always there, 
which stands fast, that you can 

429
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,800
hold onto. 
This is the real me. 

430
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:42,800
The Buddha says that is a 
delusion. 

431
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:47,280
And because that is a if that is
the case, and of course I invite

432
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,360
you to investigate that for 
yourself, of course. 

433
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,720
But if that is the case, it 
means that everything in the 

434
00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,520
world is conditioned by other 
things. 

435
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,520
Nothing stands alone. 
And because of that, everything 

436
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,680
in Buddhism has these sequences,
one thing leading to the next 

437
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,200
one, stage after stage after 
stage. 

438
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,760
So awakening has a 'cause it 
doesn't happen as a miracle, it 

439
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:12,520
doesn't happen as an act of 
will. 

440
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,880
It happens when you put the 
causes into place. 

441
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,160
So what is the cause of 
awakening here? 

442
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,080
But this is already really 
exciting, right? 

443
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,000
Right. 
Really exciting. 

444
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,680
Is that the cause for awakening?
What can be more exciting than 

445
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,760
that? 
This is really, really exciting.

446
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,880
The more you understand the 
Buddhist teachings, you think, 

447
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,920
whoa, this is because this is 
what it's all about as far as 

448
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,480
Buddhism is concerned. 
What is the cause for awakening 

449
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,800
here? 
The answer is deep meditation. 

450
00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:46,280
When you go into a very deep 
state of meditation, samadhi is 

451
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,160
really the word that is used in 
the suit as that is the cause 

452
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,280
for awakening here. 
This, you may think that this is

453
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,600
obvious perhaps, or maybe you 
think really, OK, I didn't know 

454
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,040
anything about this, OK, thank 
you for telling me, but 

455
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,040
whatever. 
Or something like that. 

456
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,560
But this actually is really, 
really important and really 

457
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,040
fundamental according to the 
Buddhist teachings. 

458
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,440
Most people don't realise that 
people can have been Buddhist 

459
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,840
for decades, not really 
understand that. 

460
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,040
And sometimes they think all you
have to do is kind of sit back 

461
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,280
and watch things passing away, 
arising and passing away, and 

462
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,160
that will lead to awakening. 
That may be helper, but really 

463
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,200
it is deep meditation that is 
the answer, the cause for 

464
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,760
awakening to happen. 
See this throughout the suit. 

465
00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,640
And Sir, then the Buddha takes 
it back, right? 

466
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,400
Stage by stage. 
What is the cause for deep 

467
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,000
meditation? 
What is the cause for that? 

468
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,800
I'm not going to go through 
every step now, back and back 

469
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:46,280
and back 10 steps until it comes
to the very first step. 

470
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:50,640
What is the very first step that
leads to awakening ultimately 

471
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,840
here? 
Isn't this exciting? 

472
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,960
Are you excited now? 
Right. 

473
00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,280
This is the beginning. 
This is that leads to everything

474
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,480
else. 
This is really, really cool. 

475
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:07,040
So the very first step is that 
Buddha says to hang out with the

476
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,880
superior people, right? 
Or the good people is not the 

477
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,880
translation there? 
Or the noble ones is not the 

478
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:17,040
translation there. 
That is the very first step. 

479
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:23,280
Noble person number one in this 
world is, is not ajambram, 

480
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,160
right? 
It is the Buddha. 

481
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,280
The Buddha is #1 right? 
So what the Buddha is, because 

482
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,720
the Buddha is number #1 
kalyanamita. 

483
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,640
He is like the eye of the world.
He's the first one who attains 

484
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:41,440
awakening, the first one who 
sees reality as it actually is, 

485
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,240
and because of that, he is the 
eye of the world. 

486
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,680
He tells you the truth as he has
realized it, and that enables 

487
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,560
you to practice the same path. 
If somebody does not awaken to 

488
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,360
the truth, how is that? 
That means we're all in 

489
00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:59,040
darkness, right? 
One person is the forerunner, 

490
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,320
everybody, nobody else comes 
afterwards. 

491
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,440
And that person happens to be 
the Buddha. 

492
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:09,320
So he is this not the only one, 
there may be others as well, but

493
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,240
he is the first and foremost of 
these people right at the very 

494
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,680
beginning of path. 
So you want to hang out with the

495
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,080
Buddha? 
You may think, oh, are you 

496
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,440
kidding? 
What do you mean hang out with 

497
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,000
the Buddha? 
He lived 2 1/2 thousand years 

498
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,120
ago. 
You know what? 

499
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:24,400
How can you hang out with the 
Buddha? 

500
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,520
And I will tell you how you can 
hang out with the Buddha. 

501
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,480
It's not as hard as you may 
think. 

502
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:29,960
Yeah. 
Because the thing about the 

503
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,880
Buddha is that he bequeathed 
this mass of discourses that he 

504
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,720
taught 2 1/2 thousand years ago 
that exists in kind of, what is 

505
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,200
it, 25 volumes or whatever in 
the present day. 

506
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,360
Very, very beautiful teachings 
that are available to the 

507
00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:45,960
present day here. 
And a lot of the things that I 

508
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:50,120
say when I give teachings here, 
the Maloka Centre, are precisely

509
00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,520
from the Buddha himself. 
I've already quoted the Buddha a

510
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,440
number of times already, right? 
And these are the teachings that

511
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:02,000
are so inspiring in my opinion. 
So that is where you go when you

512
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:05,880
read those teachings. 
You are literally in the 

513
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:10,240
presence of the Buddha, right? 
The Buddha is talking to you. 

514
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:12,120
Why is the Buddha talking to 
you? 

515
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,240
Because when the Buddha and I, I
don't know, this is the kind of 

516
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,560
thing which I, how I like to 
think about the Buddha and I've 

517
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,680
taught, talked about these 
things before. 

518
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,320
But remember that when the 
Buddha taught these things 2 1/2

519
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,760
thousand years ago, he was 
saying, I'm setting in motion 

520
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,720
the wheel of the Dhamma. 
The wheel of the Dhamma is this 

521
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,440
teaching that rolls on in the 
world, and it rolls on from 

522
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:41,160
century to century, century, 
from millennia, from Millennium 

523
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,400
to Millennium, right? 
Keeps on rolling until 

524
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,720
eventually one day it runs out 
of momentum and it falls over 

525
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,720
here. 
But he said that he knew that 

526
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,920
these teachings were going to 
keep going for a long, long time

527
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,160
in the future. 
And because he knew that he 

528
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,360
expressed these teachings in a 
way that are not limited to one 

529
00:28:02,360 --> 00:28:05,880
particular culture, limited to 
one particular time. 

530
00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,200
But they are so broad that when 
you read them in the present 

531
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:14,080
day, you can feels like this 
makes just as much sense that to

532
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:18,800
me today as it probably did to 
those ancient Indians 2 1/2 

533
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,880
thousand years ago, right? 
That is the feeling you get when

534
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,760
you read those things. 
And not only do you have that 

535
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,680
feeling, but you know that the 
Buddha was thinking of you, 

536
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:30,760
right? 
He was thinking about the 

537
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,440
future. 
He says this wheel of the Dhamma

538
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:35,640
will keep on rolling down the 
centuries. 

539
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,400
Quite literally. 
He was thinking of each one of 

540
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,360
us. 
Maybe he knew that there would 

541
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:45,520
be an assembly of people coming 
together in a northern suburb of

542
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,400
Perth, in the far away continent
of Australia, in the middle of 

543
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,920
the desert somewhere, right? 
And they will be sitting there 

544
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,520
listening to the Dhamma. 
Imagine. 

545
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:59,920
He probably wouldn't have 
thought exactly that, but 

546
00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:03,000
something like that, right? 
There would be people listening 

547
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,960
to these things. 
So the Buddha was thinking of 

548
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:10,080
us, each one of us, when he gave
those teachings 2 1/2 thousand 

549
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,760
years ago. 
This kind of makes your hair 

550
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:14,760
stand on end, right? 
If you have a hair that is. 

551
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:19,240
But but it's, it's very kind of 
tangible. 

552
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:21,840
So this is one, this is one of 
the ways of actually 

553
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,600
recollecting the Buddha, 
understanding what he's about. 

554
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,160
And then when you read the 
sutas, then when you read his 

555
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,320
word and you know that he was 
thinking of you in particular, 

556
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,960
Whoa, it really comes to life, 
right? 

557
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,200
I have to tell you, when you 
read the sutas, when you read 

558
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,480
the word of the Buddha, don't 
just read page after page as if 

559
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,320
you're reading a novel, right? 
Please don't do that because the

560
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,600
suit does have a very different 
structure. 

561
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,320
You can read whatever you like 
in there, whatever you enjoy. 

562
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,160
That is what you should read. 
So if something makes absolutely

563
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,480
no sense of you or you're 
falling asleep or whatever, then

564
00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,800
just turn a few pages and move 
on to the next one here. 

565
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:05,200
This is not meant to start on 
Page 1 and end on page 5550, 

566
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:06,680
right? 
It's quite long to suit that. 

567
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:11,560
So no, you read whatever you 
enjoy, and when you enjoy it, 

568
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,400
that is when you're able to take
it on board and becomes 

569
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:15,200
powerful. 
For you I. 

570
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,840
Don't know, Adam Braham may have
told you this here before. 

571
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:22,240
Adam Braham always tells the 
story about this Tibetan teach a

572
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,880
llama or something. 
And he told he, he says how 

573
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:27,680
you're supposed to teach the 
Dhamma, right? 

574
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:30,080
And the way you're supposed to 
teach the Dhamma, Ajam Ram is 

575
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,760
really a master of this teach 
Dhamma in this way. 

576
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:36,400
First of all, you make everybody
laugh, right? 

577
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,800
You, you can see how what I 
mean, Ajam Ram is a master of 

578
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:40,040
this. 
You make everybody laugh and 

579
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,120
then when their mouth is a gape,
you Chuck in the pillar of 

580
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,480
wisdom, right? 
It's kind of nice, isn't it? 

581
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,360
And because when you enjoy here 
and when you are relaxed and 

582
00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,560
you're, it is, and the same 
thing with the suiters, when you

583
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,880
relax, that is, that is when you
can take things on board. 

584
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,120
So it's so important to enjoy 
these things. 

585
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:07,000
So this is where it all starts. 
And why is this so important? 

586
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,720
Why is it so incredibly 
fundamental? 

587
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,360
And the reason is, again, coming
back to this idea of non self, 

588
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:17,200
this very profound Buddhist 
idea, but there's nothing 

589
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,640
inherently stable in human 
beings or anyone else, any 

590
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,040
animals or whatever beings for 
that matter, because there's 

591
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,760
nothing stable inside of us. 
I'm just telling you what 

592
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,120
things, how things look from a 
Buddhist point of view. 

593
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,000
You can investigate this for 
yourself. 

594
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:37,560
But because of that, it means 
that we are the product of the 

595
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:41,000
forces and conditions and the 
environment and the 

596
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,040
circumstances that work on us, 
right? 

597
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,760
If there's nothing inherently 
stable in you, it means you are 

598
00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,480
a product of all these things 
that work on you in this life, 

599
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,480
maybe in past lives or whatever 
it is. 

600
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,440
So the, the symbol that I always
use, and I teach this every time

601
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,680
I teach the retreat is a simile 
of imagine yourself that you are

602
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,800
a ship on the ocean, but you are
a ship which has no engine, has 

603
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,760
no rudder, has no sails, has no 
oars. 

604
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,520
All you have is the hull, right?
Just the hull. 

605
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,480
And you're sitting in the ship. 
And because there is no steering

606
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,840
mechanism, you are absolutely at
the mercy of the conditions 

607
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,200
around you. 
The wind comes from the north, 

608
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,920
you go to the South. 
The wind comes from the West, 

609
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,480
you go to the east. 
If the current comes from the 

610
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:30,680
West, again, you go to the east.
You are completely at the mercy 

611
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:35,080
of the conditions around you. 
And human beings, we are like 

612
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,360
that, right? 
We are also at the mercy of the 

613
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,200
conditions around you. 
So right now you are at the 

614
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:46,160
mercy of me, My mercy. 
I'm conditioning you, right? 

615
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,120
Are you scared? 
I don't think you have to be too

616
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:50,480
scared. 
And I'll talk about this a 

617
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,680
little bit afterwards. 
Conditioning also how we 

618
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:56,120
condition things in Buddhism. 
But we are at the mercy of 

619
00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:59,280
things. 
And because we drift around like

620
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:04,000
that, it is so important that we
ensure we get the right kind of 

621
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,120
wind, we get the right kind of 
current because then we will go 

622
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,560
in the direction we want to go. 
If you are in the middle of the 

623
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,320
Indian Ocean, right? 
Sometimes you hear about these 

624
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,440
crazy sailors that sail around 
the world or whatever, they end 

625
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,640
up somewhere in the S Ocean 
somewhere. 

626
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,800
And if you want to get to Perth,
well, you have to hope for an 

627
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,360
easterly wind, right, which 
pushes you towards the east. 

628
00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,280
And if you come get that 
easterly wind, you come to Perth

629
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,440
and OK, you're safe. 
You'll find you'll end up in 

630
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:36,800
Antarctica or whatever. 
And this is exactly what we're 

631
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:41,560
trying to do in Buddhism, get 
that right wind, right, get the 

632
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,320
right currents. 
So we get pushed in the right 

633
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,360
direction towards more 
happiness, towards less 

634
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,840
suffering in life. 
And that wind, that current that

635
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,560
we're trying to get hold of, is 
precisely the Buddha's 

636
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:57,520
teachings. 
Once you get influenced by the 

637
00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:02,440
truth, once you get influenced 
by the by in a proper way of 

638
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,920
looking at the world, a way that
takes you towards well-being and

639
00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,719
happiness, then you will tend to
drift that way. 

640
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,320
First of all, because you 
recognize the truth in those 

641
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,800
things, and secondly, because 
those teachings have inherent 

642
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,199
power to take you in that 
direction. 

643
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:21,239
So, so important, right, to 
actually get that right. 

644
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,880
If you don't, you are like a 
blind person, don't know what 

645
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:26,920
you're doing, don't know where 
you're going. 

646
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:28,760
You have no idea what's 
happening. 

647
00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,280
We've all been searching for 
happiness in the world. 

648
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,480
And very, very often when you 
look around the world, people 

649
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:36,960
suffer, right? 
There's so much suffering in the

650
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,040
world, so many problems going 
on. 

651
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:44,040
And here finally is a path that 
has the potential to take you in

652
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,040
the right direction. 
Get get hold of that path. 

653
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:50,480
Read those suitors, understand 
the word of the Buddha. 

654
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,560
Try it every time you feel a 
little bit down, you feel you're

655
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:55,280
losing contact with his 
teachings. 

656
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,320
Come to dama Loca here, Adam 
Bram, tell a few jokes, right? 

657
00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:02,200
But remember that between the 
jokes, there's some very 

658
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,480
beautiful dama teachings. 
They come together and then this

659
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,920
will lift you up, enable you to 
carry on on this path. 

660
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:14,160
The source is seeing, hearing 
these noble teachings from the 

661
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:18,440
noble beings. 
And that will then next step 

662
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,000
then is that you will listen to 
those teachings from these 

663
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,120
people. 
Two things happening at the same

664
00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:25,680
time. 
You see the noble people and 

665
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,160
when you see them, you get 
inspired just by the sight of 

666
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,760
such people. 
And you get to hear the powerful

667
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:34,040
teachings at the same time, 
very, very powerful combination.

668
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:38,080
And then you get urged in the 
right direction, moved in the 

669
00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:40,920
right direction. 
And when that happens, what 

670
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,760
happens then is that you start 
to get confidence and faith, 

671
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,600
right? 
You think, wow, this is actually

672
00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,120
very beautiful. 
Wow, it works. 

673
00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:52,680
I put this into practice. 
They give results. 

674
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,040
This is why I am still a monk 
after 21 years or whatever it 

675
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:58,760
is. 
Perhaps some of you think you 

676
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:00,080
must be. 
Sometimes people think you're 

677
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,440
nuts to be a monk for 20 years. 
What's the point? 

678
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,720
It's crazy here. 
You're kind of giving up so much

679
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:07,040
in the world. 
This is why I'm a monk after 20 

680
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,640
years, because it is a gradual 
inclination in the right 

681
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:15,440
direction, a gradual moving into
becoming more light, more easy 

682
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:19,400
life, more happy, cutting off 
the burdens right in life and 

683
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,000
soaring up. 
That is what these teachings are

684
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:23,960
about. 
It's so powerful. 

685
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,840
And when you see that happening 
in your own life, combined with 

686
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:31,840
reading these powerful 
teachings, boy, the faith and 

687
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,920
the confidence starts to arise. 
Faith and confidence in Buddhism

688
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,240
is 2 things. 
It is the intellectual 

689
00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:40,680
confidence. 
This really makes sense. 

690
00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,320
It all fits together very 
beautifully. 

691
00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,520
It's like a large jigsaw 
puzzles, all the pieces fitting 

692
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:49,880
nicely together, not in a bad 
way, in a very beautiful way, 

693
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,840
but faith and confidence is. 
Buddhism is also an emotional 

694
00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:56,200
state. 
It's a state that when you bow 

695
00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,720
down to the Buddha, you feel 
that you're bowing down to 

696
00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:02,240
something very, very beautiful 
and very powerful. 

697
00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,920
And sometimes if you have the 
right attitude, it brings tears 

698
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,160
to your eyes because it's so 
powerful, right? 

699
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:13,160
The more spiritual developed you
are, the more easy it is to 

700
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:17,760
become tearful just by bowing 
down to the Buddha or by having 

701
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:19,560
a profound meditation 
experience. 

702
00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,560
It's one of those fascinating 
things when you read The 

703
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,960
Suitors, One of the things that 
the Buddha says in The Suitors 

704
00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:31,200
is that in the in his teachings,
those people in the world who 

705
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,920
have nothing to respect, nothing
to Revere, nothing to defer to, 

706
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,720
they live in suffering, right? 
It's powerful. 

707
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,680
It is gives you happiness to 
have something in life that you 

708
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,920
can respect, that you can look 
up to, that you can aspire for, 

709
00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,040
right? 
This gives life meaning. 

710
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,320
It gives you a feeling of yes, 
there is a purpose in all this. 

711
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,440
It makes you more happy. 
The Buddha said that and then 

712
00:37:57,440 --> 00:38:01,480
the Buddha says right here is 
from a Buddhist point of view, 

713
00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:06,440
the world's number one spiritual
master, the greatest spiritual 

714
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:11,520
genius that has existed as at 
least in known history as far as

715
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,680
Buddhists, Buddhists are 
concerned anyway, right? 

716
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:16,880
He, he has obtained the highest 
happiness. 

717
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:20,240
Let's go of all suffering. 
He has nothing more to be done. 

718
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,280
And what does he say here? 
He says that, well, what should 

719
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:27,080
I respect? 
What should I Revere? 

720
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,440
Right. 
Because if you don't have 

721
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,480
anything to Revere, you live in 
suffering. 

722
00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:35,240
It's what the Buddha says. 
I find it so astonishing when I 

723
00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,680
read that. 
I find it almost hard to wrap my

724
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:40,040
mind around that. 
How can the Buddha say such a 

725
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,680
thing here? 
And it shows you how important 

726
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,480
it is to have something in life 
that we can look up to and 

727
00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:48,120
aspire for her. 
And what the Buddha says is 

728
00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:53,560
that, well, there is no being 
that I know or can see that is 

729
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:57,480
more attained or has a higher 
degree of awakening than me. 

730
00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:01,760
And because there is no such 
being, there is no person I can 

731
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:05,440
respect or Revere in that way. 
But what I can respect and 

732
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:09,520
Revere in that way is this 
Dumber, this discovery I have 

733
00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:13,720
made, this truth that I have 
found that I can respect and 

734
00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:16,840
Revere in this way. 
Even the Buddha says that, 

735
00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:19,920
right? 
He is essentially setting an 

736
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,480
example for all of us that this 
is something very useful and 

737
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:26,680
very powerful to have something 
in life in this way here. 

738
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:31,400
So don't be afraid of faith. 
Don't be afraid of emotions. 

739
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,280
These are incredibly useful on 
the spiritual path. 

740
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:38,000
If you sit down and you meditate
and you can wrap your head 

741
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:43,120
around who the Buddha actually 
was, sometimes you can give give

742
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:45,560
rise to very powerful joy in the
mind. 

743
00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:49,240
You have this teacher who has 
understood everything there is 

744
00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:52,680
to understand about happiness 
and suffering and the path to 

745
00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,560
get there, right? 
He has given you the gift, 

746
00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:00,440
essentially putting it in your 
hands, saying to you, if you do 

747
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:04,360
this, you will be able to attain
the highest happiness that is 

748
00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,320
available in the world. 
Isn't that the powerful? 

749
00:40:07,320 --> 00:40:09,800
It's the highest gift that 
anybody can give you. 

750
00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:13,480
And he has given you that gift. 
It is so. 

751
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,000
You know, it's a such a, of 
course, to be able to grasp all 

752
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,960
that you have to grasp the 
teachings. 

753
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,880
And it's a kind of a slow, not 
necessarily very slow, but it is

754
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,600
a process to get there. 
And as you keep going, it 

755
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:28,720
becomes more and more powerful 
as you move on into the future. 

756
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,720
So remember, there is such a 
thing as faith and confidence 

757
00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:36,040
also in Buddhism, but perhaps 
slightly different from what you

758
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:38,760
find in certain other religions 
perhaps. 

759
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:41,880
But anyway, it's there. 
What happens next? 

760
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:45,000
Well, once you get faith and 
confidence in that Buddhist 

761
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:49,400
teachings, what happens next is 
that you start to think 

762
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:51,440
differently here. 
Why? 

763
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:54,720
Because you start to take on 
board the word of the Buddha. 

764
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,280
If the Buddha says this and you 
have faith and confidence in 

765
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,360
what he's teach, what he's 
teaching, of course you start to

766
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:06,120
apply yourself accordingly here.
If the Buddha says this is how 

767
00:41:06,120 --> 00:41:09,880
you overcome anger, you check it
out, You try to overcome that 

768
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:11,840
anger here. 
I think this is one of those 

769
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:16,480
often far too neglected 
teachings of Buddhism are these 

770
00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:20,440
basic teachings on how to use 
your mind to overcome these bad 

771
00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:23,560
definements like anger. 
And I, if I get a chance, I may 

772
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:27,520
talk about this in, in the near 
future here, right here, because

773
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:30,120
such, there's such powerful and 
beautiful teachings. 

774
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,600
So you start to use your mind 
differently. 

775
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,840
You look at the world 
differently here. 

776
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:40,160
You start to prioritise things 
differently in life, right? 

777
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,800
What is really important in 
life, this certainly starts to 

778
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:45,520
change, right? 
Other things start to take 

779
00:41:45,520 --> 00:41:48,160
priority. 
It's not so much what you do, 

780
00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:51,080
it's more about how you live 
that becomes important. 

781
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:55,360
The what is kind of secondary 
and then everything changes as a

782
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:58,920
consequence, right? 
Your mind is changing here. 

783
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,400
You're thinking differently. 
What is going on? 

784
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:04,480
You're getting brainwashed, 
right? 

785
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,920
That's what's going on there. 
You're thinking differently. 

786
00:42:06,960 --> 00:42:10,080
Brainwashing is happening. 
Remember, this is a beautiful 

787
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:13,240
thing when you get brainwashed 
in the right way here, right? 

788
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,800
This is very nice. 
It's like if you want to wash 

789
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,520
something in a nice way, you got
to get the right washing powder,

790
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:23,440
a nice washing machine, right? 
And you wash it all and it comes

791
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:25,320
out on the other side is nice 
and cleaner. 

792
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:27,680
And this is the same thing with 
a Buddhist idea. 

793
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,680
Remember when we use a word like
brainwashing, it means that we 

794
00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,480
get brainwashed anyway. 
We all get brainwashed, right? 

795
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,400
Every influence on us from the 
outside is a kind of 

796
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,920
brainwashing. 
If you are the product of the 

797
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,240
circumstances and the situations
around you, it means that right 

798
00:42:43,240 --> 00:42:46,880
now you are brainwashed. 
So make sure you get the good 

799
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:49,400
kind of brainwashing. 
Don't get the bad one. 

800
00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:51,920
This is what coming here to 
Damaloca is all about, getting 

801
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:54,280
the good brainwashing. 
And there was about a saying to 

802
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:57,520
you before about how you feeling
kind of scared sitting there 

803
00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:00,200
because now kind of maybe this 
is like brainwashing, right? 

804
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,840
Are you, is that, are you 
worried about that? 

805
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,880
I remember, oh, I remember when 
I first became a monk, my 

806
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:08,440
parents said, oh, now you're 
going to get brainwashed, right?

807
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,400
We're going to, we're going to 
kind of lose sight of you and 

808
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:12,360
never see you again because 
you're going to get brainwashed 

809
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:14,840
and become a Buddhist monk. 
My parents didn't know anything 

810
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:16,800
about Buddhism. 
They thought it was some kind of

811
00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:20,120
crazy cult or something. 
And you kind of end up 

812
00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:22,200
committing suicide like some of 
these cults. 

813
00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:25,920
I don't think they actually 
believe that, but they thought 

814
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,080
that maybe something in that 
direction. 

815
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:30,320
You have to exaggerate a bit for
effect, right? 

816
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:36,960
So, so, but the point is that 
everything in life is really 

817
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:40,160
brainwashing. 
So what we have to do is try to 

818
00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:43,360
choose that brainwashing which 
actually works. 

819
00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,360
Ask yourself what works. 
Ask yourself from your 

820
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:48,560
experience, what actually goes 
on the right way. 

821
00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:50,960
And then allow that brainwashing
to be happen. 

822
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:54,480
It's good, right? 
It's good to be brainwashed if 

823
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:57,160
it leads to happiness. 
It's good to be brainwashed if 

824
00:43:57,160 --> 00:44:00,160
it brings everybody forward. 
It's good to be brainwashed if 

825
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:03,240
the suffering goes down. 
The brainwashing that is no good

826
00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:06,320
is the one where it leads you 
astray, leads you down the 

827
00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:09,440
garden path, and you end up 
suffering far more than it did 

828
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:11,040
before. 
That's the bad stuff. 

829
00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:13,520
So brainwashing. 
Yay. 

830
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:18,520
More brainwashing, please. 
And then when you get 

831
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,480
brainwashed, you start thinking 
in the right way. 

832
00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:26,400
From that comes then a powerful 
commitment to doing the right 

833
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:31,920
things in life, to ethics, to 
kindness, to doing all of those 

834
00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,720
good things that we know are 
part of the Buddhist path. 

835
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:38,640
I've always been astonished when
I travel around sometimes, and I

836
00:44:38,640 --> 00:44:42,840
travel and I see some of the 
great monks in the world, mostly

837
00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:44,720
monks. 
There aren't so many nuns around

838
00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:49,120
yet, but and when you meet some 
of these monks and you ask them 

839
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:51,400
questions, right? 
I think I may have told the 

840
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,080
story here before when I just 
about just 10 months ago, 

841
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,520
something, I went to Thailand 
and I met one of these great 

842
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:01,520
Thai meditation masters and he's
been here to Perth and he's a 

843
00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:03,000
good friend of Ajam Brahm as 
well. 

844
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,800
Whenever you go to see him, he 
always praises Ajam Brahm to the

845
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,240
skies, right? 
It's always quite, it's always 

846
00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:11,440
quite nice when that happens. 
So anyway, I went to meet this 

847
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:14,600
Thai meditation master him. 
And when you meet him, he's like

848
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:18,520
this tiny little man, right? 
And he sits there on his chair, 

849
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:22,400
very, very peaceful, always has 
a smile on his face, always a 

850
00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:24,400
large crowd of people around 
him. 

851
00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:28,200
He's like a magnet writer. 
He draws people to him. 

852
00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:31,040
He doesn't say anything. 
He just sits there and smiles 

853
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:33,360
and people just come to him, 
right? 

854
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:36,320
Isn't that kind of cool? 
It's just it's this feeling of 

855
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:39,000
somebody who's so powerful don't
need to say a word. 

856
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:41,680
You just automatically, you kind
of get drawn towards them. 

857
00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:45,280
You have no choice. 
Again, brainwashing Jukka, you 

858
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:47,920
move forward and you just sit 
down. 

859
00:45:48,080 --> 00:45:50,920
He doesn't have to say anything 
because when you're there, you 

860
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,760
just feel so relaxed. 
That is in His presence, right? 

861
00:45:54,720 --> 00:45:57,640
I can breathe right? 
Usually in life we cannot tense 

862
00:45:57,720 --> 00:46:00,520
a bit, bit nervous, might get 
told off, might not do our work 

863
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:03,320
well enough. 
Here is somebody who accepts you

864
00:46:03,320 --> 00:46:06,640
for you are for who you are, 
100%, no judgement whatsoever. 

865
00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:09,320
For the first time in your life,
you can really breathe easily 

866
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:11,800
here. 
So anyway, I went to see this 

867
00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:16,120
monkey and I was breathing 
easily as well and sitting 

868
00:46:16,120 --> 00:46:17,440
there. 
And when I was sitting there, 

869
00:46:17,440 --> 00:46:20,760
because I was a disciple of Ajam
Brahma, student of Ajam Brahma, 

870
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:24,360
he really looks after me, right?
It's, it's such an astonishing 

871
00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:28,320
thing when you go to this great 
meditation master and he kind of

872
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:30,000
looks after you in a special 
way. 

873
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,400
It feels really almost, almost 
unreal in a sense. 

874
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:37,080
But but, but the strange thing 
about these kind of meditation 

875
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:41,560
masters, they are so simple. 
The way they speak is so down to

876
00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:44,440
earth, right? 
It almost gives you the feeling 

877
00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:47,600
that when somebody is really 
awakened and really have the act

878
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:50,160
together, they don't say 
anything fancy. 

879
00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:53,360
It's almost like the simpler the
language, the more awakened they

880
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:57,120
are in a sense, right? 
So when you hear a corny joke 

881
00:46:57,120 --> 00:46:59,160
from Ajam Braham, wow, he must 
be really awakened. 

882
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,560
Perhaps it's a very simple 
language. 

883
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,800
And I I said, I asked him this 
question because he gave me all 

884
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,240
this time. 
I felt really privileged to be 

885
00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:11,320
honest. 
I felt I didn't really know what

886
00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:15,760
to It was quite remarkable. 
And I asked him very simply, how

887
00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:18,400
do you practice meta? 
Because he has so much meta. 

888
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:22,080
Meta means kindness, right? 
Friendliness, love, if you like.

889
00:47:22,240 --> 00:47:23,920
It's kind of streaming out of 
him. 

890
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:28,160
How do you practice Meta? 
And he's told me, he said what 

891
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:31,680
you have to do is that every 
time when you wake up in the 

892
00:47:31,680 --> 00:47:35,160
morning, you have to ask 
yourself, what can I do for the 

893
00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:39,360
world today, right? 
Nothing about sitting down or 

894
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:41,240
may all beings be happy and 
well, right? 

895
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,040
None of that. 
What can I do for the world 

896
00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:46,040
today? 
That is what you should ask 

897
00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:49,080
yourself. 
And this is not only him, I've 

898
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:50,720
heard other people saying the 
same thing. 

899
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:54,320
This is the essence of what 
kindness and matter and the 

900
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:56,760
Buddhist path is all about, 
right? 

901
00:47:56,880 --> 00:48:00,960
Coming down to this basic, 
simple teachings, how can I be 

902
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:03,520
kind? 
How can I say kind of things? 

903
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:08,400
How can I think kind thoughts 
moment upon moment upon moment, 

904
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:13,120
day upon day upon day, week in, 
week out, year after year, 

905
00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:15,440
sometimes lifetime after 
lifetime? 

906
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:19,000
How can I keep this at the back 
of mind all the time so it's 

907
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:22,080
always there? 
This is one of those crucial 

908
00:48:22,080 --> 00:48:23,800
aspects of the Buddhist 
teachings. 

909
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:28,080
Because if you can do this, what
you're doing is you're changing 

910
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:29,960
your attitude to the people 
around you. 

911
00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:33,000
Because if you have to be kind 
all the time, it means that 

912
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:35,800
whenever you don't feel like 
being kind, you have to start 

913
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:39,600
thinking differently. 
It who changes the way you look 

914
00:48:39,600 --> 00:48:41,960
at people, look at the world 
becomes different. 

915
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:45,360
You're forcing yourself into a 
new track, not forcing because 

916
00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:47,520
that's too, too harsh. 
You are. 

917
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:55,320
You are encouraged to use your 
wisdom to find solutions to the 

918
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,680
problems in life. 
That's what's going on, right? 

919
00:48:59,080 --> 00:49:02,520
So if you do this, and this is 
where the path really starts to 

920
00:49:02,520 --> 00:49:07,320
take off, when you're able to do
this consistently all the time, 

921
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:11,720
always remembering this is what 
life is all about, right? 

922
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:16,360
This is the essence of living 
the spiritual life, living every

923
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:20,160
single moment with kindness, 
with compassion, with the right 

924
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:22,160
outlook. 
At the very least when the 

925
00:49:22,160 --> 00:49:25,600
neutrality here, if the mind 
goes into a negative state, you 

926
00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:29,040
should ask yourself straight 
away, how can I change this 

927
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:31,400
around? 
How can I move this around into 

928
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:33,880
a different way here? 
And then it becomes 

929
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:37,640
extraordinarily powerful. 
And if you do this consistently 

930
00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:41,560
all the time like this, you are 
changing your character very 

931
00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:43,440
fast. 
You're building up all these 

932
00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:46,600
good qualities, right? 
You start to feel really good 

933
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:50,640
about yourself because you know 
inside, deep inside of yourself 

934
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:54,240
that you are a good person, 
you're doing the right things. 

935
00:49:54,720 --> 00:49:57,800
You don't really feel any. 
You don't feel Vadnais about 

936
00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,520
yourself anymore. 
If somebody else tells you all 

937
00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:04,040
or says you're bad or whatever, 
you don't shrug your shoulders. 

938
00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:06,160
It's their problem. 
Nothing to do with me. 

939
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:08,400
They can think whatever they 
like, right? 

940
00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:10,120
People are always going to think
what they like anyway. 

941
00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:12,480
Can't do anything about that. 
It's their problem. 

942
00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:14,160
I know I'm doing the right 
thing. 

943
00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:18,000
It's no issue anymore. 
And then when you sit down, 

944
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:21,800
right then, when you come to 
meditation, you're no longer 

945
00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,280
forcing it. 
You're sitting down. 

946
00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:28,560
Your mind is becoming peaceful. 
No thoughts are going on, or you

947
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:31,160
start to feel happiness and 
gladness inside. 

948
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:33,240
It becomes more and more 
powerful. 

949
00:50:33,560 --> 00:50:37,800
The body calms down and becomes 
so beautiful and so peaceful and

950
00:50:37,800 --> 00:50:41,880
so still, right? 
And then eventually you enter 

951
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:45,920
this powerful states of samadhi.
Actually, what you're doing, 

952
00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:51,360
you're starting to experience, 
to find the answer to the very 

953
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:54,960
meaning of life itself. 
This is what you find in these 

954
00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:58,240
deep states of samadhi. 
You can even take it beyond that

955
00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:00,960
into insight. 
But actually already at that 

956
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:04,280
point, you're finding the answer
to the very meaning of life, 

957
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:07,640
right? 
And it all comes from that 

958
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:11,080
practice of ethics at the basics
basis of the path. 

959
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:13,560
And it all leads you in that 
direction. 

960
00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:18,240
So if you want to find the 
answer to the meaning of life, 

961
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:22,800
if you want to find the highest 
happiness, the commitment, the 

962
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:27,480
perseverance that is required to
get there, it comes basically 

963
00:51:27,480 --> 00:51:30,520
from the discourses, from the 
teachings of the Buddha. 

964
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:34,960
That is the foundation work. 
Hang out with the Buddha, hang 

965
00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:37,920
out with powerful teachers like 
Ajam Brahm, right? 

966
00:51:38,200 --> 00:51:42,120
Or anyone else who is very 
powerful and very has an ability

967
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,040
to convey the Dhamma in the 
right way. 

968
00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:46,320
And there are a few people out 
there like that. 

969
00:51:46,720 --> 00:51:49,960
And as you hang out with that 
and you start to understand what

970
00:51:49,960 --> 00:51:52,960
is going on, there's a very 
beautiful way that the Buddha 

971
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:56,760
has a simile about this. 
And the simile is that it's like

972
00:51:56,760 --> 00:51:59,440
the rain falling on the 
mountaintop, right? 

973
00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:03,800
And as the rain falls on the 
mountaintop, as it rains and 

974
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:08,000
rains and rains, it merges 
together into little streams, 

975
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:11,280
and those streams merge to get 
into larger streams. 

976
00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:15,480
They go into the lakes, and then
those lakes go into the rivers, 

977
00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:18,200
right? 
And eventually the rivers go 

978
00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:21,240
into the ocean. 
The more it rains on that 

979
00:52:21,240 --> 00:52:25,080
mountaintop, the more powerful 
the larger those rivers are. 

980
00:52:25,320 --> 00:52:28,920
And eventually it all goes to 
the sea, which is the similar 

981
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:31,400
here for the awakening 
experience itself. 

982
00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:35,520
So all you have to do is keep it
raining, right? 

983
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,080
Keep raining, keep raining, keep
raining. 

984
00:52:38,480 --> 00:52:42,000
Come back to the Dhamma. 
Contemplate these teachings, 

985
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:44,080
understand what they're all 
about. 

986
00:52:44,080 --> 00:52:45,960
Understand what it is that you 
have to do. 

987
00:52:46,240 --> 00:52:48,880
Whenever you feel a little bit 
down, you don't feel that you 

988
00:52:48,880 --> 00:52:53,280
have that initiative anymore. 
You don't have the inspiration 

989
00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:55,760
anymore. 
Come back here, listen to some 

990
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:58,880
good teaching, take out the 
suitors, try to understand what 

991
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:01,800
they're about. 
Lift yourself up, contemplate 

992
00:53:01,800 --> 00:53:06,960
this, these things, rain, rain, 
rain, larger and larger streams,

993
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:09,160
eventually building up to the 
rivers, right? 

994
00:53:09,280 --> 00:53:12,840
Eventually going to the ocean. 
As long as you keep it raining, 

995
00:53:13,080 --> 00:53:15,200
you will eventually reach that 
goal. 

996
00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:19,400
And that is what the Buddha had 
to say about commitment and 

997
00:53:19,400 --> 00:53:21,200
perseverance on the Buddhist 
path. 

998
00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:25,000
OK, that is enough for this 
evening. 

999
00:53:25,360 --> 00:53:34,000
Thank you very much. 
OK, that's great. 

1000
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:37,840
Thank you so much. 
OK, So are there any questions, 

1001
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:40,000
please from the audience 
tonight? 

1002
00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:41,640
Anybody want to ask something 
here? 

1003
00:53:47,570 --> 00:53:52,650
Over here. 
My oops sorry. 

1004
00:53:52,650 --> 00:53:57,970
My question is to try to access 
the the suitors as a layperson. 

1005
00:53:57,970 --> 00:54:02,000
Do you have like a, a 
recommendation of one that's a 

1006
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:03,920
bit easy to read? 
Sure. 

1007
00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:07,280
Yeah, I do indeed. 
There's a number of things you 

1008
00:54:07,280 --> 00:54:08,920
can do. 
One of the things we can do is a

1009
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:12,120
book called In the Buddhas 
Words, which is an anthology of 

1010
00:54:12,120 --> 00:54:15,600
suites, which is nicely. 
They're nicely put together 

1011
00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:18,400
according to themes and they 
have nice introductions and 

1012
00:54:18,600 --> 00:54:20,440
footnotes at the end explaining 
the suites. 

1013
00:54:21,120 --> 00:54:22,760
Translation by Venerable Biki 
Bodi. 

1014
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,400
He's the number one translator 
of Buddha suit. 

1015
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,200
As in the Buddha as a word is a 
very good place to start. 

1016
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:31,000
Or you can come on my suit, I 
retreat, right? 

1017
00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:33,680
Oh, that is really good 
introduction to the suit as if 

1018
00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:36,120
you wish, if you are really 
committed that is, you can do 

1019
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:40,680
that also. 
Sometimes it is also very nice 

1020
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:43,880
just to start reading something 
like the middle length sayings 

1021
00:54:43,880 --> 00:54:46,680
of the Buddha. 
Very nice suit as in there quite

1022
00:54:46,680 --> 00:54:49,520
long and they have nice context 
to get a feeling for the Buddha 

1023
00:54:49,520 --> 00:54:52,320
was and all this kind of things.
Also very beautiful way of 

1024
00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:54,960
starting to read the suit as you
can. 

1025
00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:58,400
Also we do all kinds of suit 
readings here at the Mallorca as

1026
00:54:58,400 --> 00:54:59,880
well. 
Every Sunday we have a suit 

1027
00:54:59,880 --> 00:55:02,200
reading here. 
Not every Sunday, every other 

1028
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:06,160
Sunday, as you can come here or 
download it on the Internet and 

1029
00:55:06,160 --> 00:55:08,760
you can listen to the 
explanation of the pseudos can 

1030
00:55:08,760 --> 00:55:10,840
be very useful. 
In the beginning, it may seem a 

1031
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:14,040
bit difficult to get into them, 
but once you kind of get a feel 

1032
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:16,320
for how they work, they become 
very useful. 

1033
00:55:17,280 --> 00:55:20,760
So a few a few ideas for you 
have we should do more weekend 

1034
00:55:20,760 --> 00:55:22,920
pseudo retreats. 
I really want to do more weekend

1035
00:55:22,920 --> 00:55:25,600
pseudo retreats. 
That's kind of my my aim. 

1036
00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:28,520
But we only have so many 
retreats per year. 

1037
00:55:28,520 --> 00:55:32,120
You know, it's just as part of 
the problem and we'll see what 

1038
00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:34,960
we can do in the future. 
Anyone else want to ask anything

1039
00:55:34,960 --> 00:55:37,000
here? 
Everywhere else So happy. 

1040
00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:39,240
Oh, OK. 
Yeah, that's great. 

1041
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:41,560
No questions. 
Always peace and stillness. 

1042
00:55:41,560 --> 00:55:44,960
OK. 
Oh, over there. 

1043
00:55:44,960 --> 00:55:52,160
OK, OK. 
Well, yes, the, the suitor I 

1044
00:55:52,480 --> 00:55:56,320
actually tonight talk was based 
on is in the Anguto Nikai 

1045
00:55:56,320 --> 00:56:00,720
attendance #61 or 60 and 61 
Anguto attendance. 

1046
00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:03,320
So if you want to read it. 
But it's, you know, I've added 

1047
00:56:03,320 --> 00:56:07,240
just a little bit, you know, so 
just to kind of flesh it out of 

1048
00:56:07,240 --> 00:56:08,760
it. 
That's basically where it comes 

1049
00:56:08,760 --> 00:56:13,640
from here. 
OK, OK, so let's see what they 

1050
00:56:13,640 --> 00:56:16,440
have from overseas. 
I'm going to have to take out my

1051
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:20,920
glasses these days. 
So I just, it's always nice to 

1052
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:24,800
be reminded that you're getting 
older so you don't actually lose

1053
00:56:24,800 --> 00:56:29,880
that kind of groundedness. 
OK, so question number one, 

1054
00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:31,360
nobody else have a question 
here? 

1055
00:56:31,480 --> 00:56:34,440
OK, so we go to overseas. 
Question number one, this is 

1056
00:56:34,440 --> 00:56:41,520
from Surab Singh. 
How do how do we know our 

1057
00:56:41,520 --> 00:56:45,040
purpose in life and consequently
commit to it? 

1058
00:56:45,440 --> 00:56:48,760
Could one's life's purpose 
change? 

1059
00:56:49,720 --> 00:56:51,800
How do you know your purpose in 
life? 

1060
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:54,760
OK, well it's not that hard 
actually. 

1061
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:58,600
But you, you have to know where 
to look in the 1st place, right?

1062
00:56:59,600 --> 00:57:03,360
Life has a very clear meaning 
and all you have to do is to 

1063
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:06,400
look inside of yourself to see 
what that meaning is. 

1064
00:57:06,440 --> 00:57:09,640
And what you see, what you look 
when you look inside of yourself

1065
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:13,200
is you see all these desires, 
all these cravings, all these 

1066
00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:15,800
things that we want to do right 
now. 

1067
00:57:16,200 --> 00:57:20,160
Ask yourself when you have a 
desire, when you have a craving,

1068
00:57:20,160 --> 00:57:21,800
what does that desire say to 
you? 

1069
00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:25,080
It says when I get into this 
relationship, whoa, that will be

1070
00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:27,640
it, right? 
This person is a perfect fit for

1071
00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:29,760
me and I will be happy ever 
after. 

1072
00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:32,280
That is essentially what craving
and desire says. 

1073
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:36,360
They say you will be satisfied. 
They say you will be content. 

1074
00:57:36,680 --> 00:57:39,880
They say the itch, which is the 
craving, will be abandoned once 

1075
00:57:39,880 --> 00:57:43,600
you get the desire fulfilled. 
But if you are wise and if you 

1076
00:57:43,600 --> 00:57:46,720
really look at yourself, you 
start to realise, no, it doesn't

1077
00:57:46,720 --> 00:57:49,800
actually happen that way. 
Yes, you pursue that craving, 

1078
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:52,680
you pursue the object of the 
desire and it doesn't actually 

1079
00:57:52,680 --> 00:57:55,000
get you there. 
There's more desires afterwards.

1080
00:57:55,520 --> 00:57:58,960
Desire is a liar. 
Craving lies to you, doesn't 

1081
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:02,120
tell you the truth. 
There's another way to finding 

1082
00:58:02,120 --> 00:58:06,520
this happiness That craving and 
desire promises you, and that is

1083
00:58:06,520 --> 00:58:09,960
the spiritual path. 
Kindness, compassion, 

1084
00:58:10,160 --> 00:58:12,600
understanding other people, 
right? 

1085
00:58:12,680 --> 00:58:15,960
This is the way to go if you 
want to find real contentment 

1086
00:58:15,960 --> 00:58:18,720
inside of you. 
That happiness you get from that

1087
00:58:18,720 --> 00:58:21,280
is an immediate happiness in the
present moment. 

1088
00:58:21,560 --> 00:58:24,600
Nothing to do with the future, 
nothing to do with craving, 

1089
00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:27,880
nothing to do with desire. 
And you realize once you start 

1090
00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:32,040
to tap into that happiness, you 
realize I have found the very 

1091
00:58:32,040 --> 00:58:35,640
thing that I was looking, been 
looking for all the time. 

1092
00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:38,280
That craving was promising me 
all the time, time. 

1093
00:58:38,520 --> 00:58:42,880
Now I have found it, but I found
it through different means than 

1094
00:58:42,880 --> 00:58:46,600
what I thought I should be used 
to get there, right. 

1095
00:58:46,600 --> 00:58:48,920
So the meaning of life, the 
purpose of life is not very hard

1096
00:58:48,920 --> 00:58:50,760
to understand. 
We tend to look in the wrong 

1097
00:58:50,760 --> 00:58:55,120
place, look in the right place, 
contemplate what will actually 

1098
00:58:55,120 --> 00:58:58,000
get get you there, and then 
you're on the right track. 

1099
00:58:58,560 --> 00:59:00,720
Can that purpose change? 
No, that purpose can never 

1100
00:59:00,720 --> 00:59:03,720
really change. 
We all want to be happy, right? 

1101
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:06,120
Nobody wants. 
Please give me more depression 

1102
00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:08,440
and sadness. 
Nobody says that, right? 

1103
00:59:08,680 --> 00:59:12,240
Everybody wants more ease, 
relaxation, contentment in life.

1104
00:59:13,320 --> 00:59:19,560
Okay, next one. 
This is from Ajai Mane Mane from

1105
00:59:19,560 --> 00:59:21,440
India. 
I apologize if I'm not 

1106
00:59:21,440 --> 00:59:25,720
pronouncing your name properly, 
but anyway, it is very important

1107
00:59:25,720 --> 00:59:29,840
to know the reason behind it, 
behind the commitment question 

1108
00:59:29,840 --> 00:59:31,680
mark. 
What reason should I give it to 

1109
00:59:31,680 --> 00:59:34,440
my mind to help me commit to the
Buddhist practice? 

1110
00:59:34,840 --> 00:59:39,320
Because you will be happy, you 
will reduce suffering, you will 

1111
00:59:39,320 --> 00:59:42,040
reach the purpose of life, the 
meaning of life. 

1112
00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:44,040
This is what it's all about, 
right? 

1113
00:59:44,320 --> 00:59:47,040
If you commit to something, 
which is the truth, which is 

1114
00:59:47,040 --> 00:59:51,280
reality, which is guides you 
towards happiness, guides you 

1115
00:59:51,280 --> 00:59:54,120
away from suffering. 
Wow, so powerful. 

1116
00:59:54,240 --> 00:59:56,000
This is what I mean by reading 
The Suitors. 

1117
00:59:56,080 --> 00:59:59,600
Once you get that message, you 
can't, you have to commit 

1118
00:59:59,600 --> 01:00:01,600
yourself, right? 
You have no choice anymore. 

1119
01:00:01,800 --> 01:00:05,200
Your mind, your mind will drag 
you along into a commitment 

1120
01:00:05,560 --> 01:00:08,400
because you understand that you 
have found the very purpose of 

1121
01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:10,520
life itself. 
Yeah. 

1122
01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:13,880
So this is kind of the whole 
point here, by studying a little

1123
01:00:13,880 --> 01:00:16,840
bit, the suitors, understanding 
these teachings, that they 

1124
01:00:16,880 --> 01:00:20,800
actually, once you get your mind
around these things, whoa, it is

1125
01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:26,760
so powerful and so beautiful #3 
This is from Chiv in Sydney. 

1126
01:00:28,680 --> 01:00:35,720
When given several options, how 
do we know which action or path 

1127
01:00:35,720 --> 01:00:40,320
in life to commit to? 
OK, when given several options, 

1128
01:00:40,320 --> 01:00:43,080
how what should we do? 
How do we make choices in life? 

1129
01:00:43,560 --> 01:00:46,160
And the Buddha, as always, I 
always go back to the Suit 

1130
01:00:46,160 --> 01:00:48,000
Desert. 
The Buddhas give some beautiful 

1131
01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:52,960
advice on how to make right 
choices in life, right? 

1132
01:00:52,960 --> 01:00:57,760
So the first thing about making 
choices, never make a choice if 

1133
01:00:57,760 --> 01:01:02,680
your mind is clouded, If you are
angry or upset about something, 

1134
01:01:02,960 --> 01:01:05,600
don't do anything. 
Just chill. 

1135
01:01:05,600 --> 01:01:08,160
Just relax, right? 
Wait for the anger to pass. 

1136
01:01:08,160 --> 01:01:11,360
Don't make certainly don't make 
any choices based on anger. 

1137
01:01:11,880 --> 01:01:13,840
If you have strong desires for 
something. 

1138
01:01:13,840 --> 01:01:17,040
Don't make any choices based on 
strong desires. 

1139
01:01:17,400 --> 01:01:21,200
If you feel deluded or confused,
not the right time to make 

1140
01:01:21,200 --> 01:01:23,560
decisions. 
The right time to make decisions

1141
01:01:23,560 --> 01:01:26,040
when you are really relaxed, 
you're at ease. 

1142
01:01:26,040 --> 01:01:28,640
Your mind is clear. 
There's no definements there. 

1143
01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,840
There's none of these things 
which distort the mind one way 

1144
01:01:31,840 --> 01:01:34,520
or the other, right? 
That is the right time to make a

1145
01:01:34,520 --> 01:01:37,200
decision because then you will 
have clarity. 

1146
01:01:37,600 --> 01:01:41,080
We often talk about intuition in
life, right? 

1147
01:01:41,320 --> 01:01:44,160
Intuition is actually a very 
powerful tool to use to make 

1148
01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:47,600
decisions. 
But you have to know when 

1149
01:01:47,840 --> 01:01:51,880
intuition is right. 
And intuition is only right when

1150
01:01:51,880 --> 01:01:55,440
the mind is clear and not 
clouded, when there's no desires

1151
01:01:55,440 --> 01:01:58,680
there, when there's no anger. 
That is when intuition is 

1152
01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:00,600
correct and you can trust that 
intuition. 

1153
01:02:01,600 --> 01:02:04,160
This is very useful advice. 
If you follow that, you're going

1154
01:02:04,160 --> 01:02:06,720
to start making some really, 
really good decisions in life. 

1155
01:02:07,160 --> 01:02:09,000
Only make decisions when your 
mind is clear. 

1156
01:02:09,240 --> 01:02:12,000
Sometimes it's blooming obvious 
what you have to do, right? 

1157
01:02:12,200 --> 01:02:14,720
If the mind is clear, of course,
I have to do this and we'll just

1158
01:02:14,720 --> 01:02:17,280
dilute it before suddenly 
everything becomes very clear to

1159
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:18,880
you. 
This is number one. 

1160
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:24,040
The second grounds for making 
decisions in life is remember 

1161
01:02:24,040 --> 01:02:28,000
that if you really are committed
to spiritual practice, and by 

1162
01:02:28,000 --> 01:02:30,320
that I just mean kindness, 
basically. 

1163
01:02:30,480 --> 01:02:34,360
If you really are committed to 
being kind, compassionate, 

1164
01:02:34,360 --> 01:02:37,760
understanding, thinking in the 
right way, if that is what 

1165
01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:42,360
matters in your life, and I tell
you straight away, please make 

1166
01:02:42,360 --> 01:02:45,080
that the most important thing in
life because everything else 

1167
01:02:45,280 --> 01:02:49,200
really is completely secondary. 
Who cares if you have a nice 

1168
01:02:49,200 --> 01:02:51,960
house, big house? 
Who cares if you climb to the 

1169
01:02:51,960 --> 01:02:53,680
top of the corporate ladder, 
right? 

1170
01:02:54,000 --> 01:02:56,880
It's all the borrowed stuff. 
You're going to have to give it 

1171
01:02:56,880 --> 01:02:59,640
up when you die anyway. 
The only thing you take with you

1172
01:02:59,640 --> 01:03:03,280
beyond death is the goodness of 
your heart and the kindness that

1173
01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:05,400
you have accumulated over a long
life. 

1174
01:03:05,680 --> 01:03:08,560
That is what matters. 
That is where you should invest 

1175
01:03:08,560 --> 01:03:11,360
your time and your the 
resources, not in all the 

1176
01:03:11,360 --> 01:03:13,760
worldly things. 
It is so obvious when you start 

1177
01:03:13,760 --> 01:03:16,520
thinking about it. 
So therefore what that 

1178
01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:19,760
consequence of that is that 
whenever you make a choice, you 

1179
01:03:19,760 --> 01:03:24,640
should ask yourself what is 
going to help me on in my 

1180
01:03:25,280 --> 01:03:29,360
practice of kindness, in my 
practice of generosity, in my 

1181
01:03:29,360 --> 01:03:32,080
practice of meditation, in my 
spiritual path? 

1182
01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:37,200
What is the right choice to make
me move forward on that path in 

1183
01:03:37,200 --> 01:03:39,360
the best way? 
So if you're going to find a 

1184
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:42,760
place to live, right, what is a 
good place to live that is 

1185
01:03:42,760 --> 01:03:47,160
helpful for, you know, for a 
spirit, maybe somewhere a little

1186
01:03:47,160 --> 01:03:50,280
bit peaceful, maybe somewhere 
not too far away from a Buddhist

1187
01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:53,520
centre, somewhere where you have
good kalyanamitas, right? 

1188
01:03:53,520 --> 01:03:56,840
Good friends who can support 
you, this kind of stuff, right? 

1189
01:03:57,080 --> 01:03:58,760
What is the right kind of job to
have? 

1190
01:03:58,960 --> 01:04:01,840
Maybe a job that is not too 
stressful, Maybe a job where you

1191
01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:05,360
have at least a few like minded 
friends, right, who work with 

1192
01:04:05,360 --> 01:04:07,360
you. 
These are the kind of things you

1193
01:04:07,360 --> 01:04:11,280
take into account, and that, 
again, I think is the best way 

1194
01:04:11,280 --> 01:04:14,600
to make a decision. 
Of course, this is only true if 

1195
01:04:14,600 --> 01:04:16,800
you are really committed again, 
right? 

1196
01:04:16,800 --> 01:04:19,600
Commitment again, is the 
essential thing here. 

1197
01:04:19,920 --> 01:04:23,840
But if you really are committed 
to this path, to this practice, 

1198
01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:25,640
that is what you should be doing
here. 

1199
01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:30,720
OK, that is all for tonight. 
So let us pay respected Buddha 

1200
01:04:30,720 --> 01:05:04,760
Masanga. 
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.