1 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:09,080 OK, so I guess we can start then. 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,320 And tonight I'm going to talk about the exciting topic of 3 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,560 delusion. So are you excited about 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,680 delusion? Is that interesting? 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,400 It is one of these very fundamental things in the 6 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,480 Buddhist teaching, the idea of delusion. 7 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,120 Delusion means not seeing things according to reality. 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,439 It means like being in the dark, Yeah, not knowing where you're 9 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,120 going, kind of fumbling around trying to find your way. 10 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:37,720 These are all kind of ideas of delusion. 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,480 And it's one of the fundamental ideas of Buddhism is to move 12 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:45,160 from a state of delusion or not seeing things in the right way, 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,360 to the idea of awakening. Awakening is precisely the idea 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,240 of emerging from delusion, of seeing things according to 15 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,760 reality. So this is really absolutely 16 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,080 fundamental to the Buddhist ideas. 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,000 So for this reason, delusion may not sound very promising, but 18 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,360 actually it is a very basic idea, a part of the Buddhist 19 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,120 path. And for example, if you those of 20 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,160 you who know your Buddhist. Teachings a little bit. 21 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,920 You will know about the 12 steps of dependent origination. 22 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,120 Yeah, Petitsa Samapada. Of course, that starts off with 23 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,000 delusion at the very beginning, Avijah, often translated as 24 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:24,000 ignorance. I think delusion is a far 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,080 preferable translation of that. And from that Avijah, from that 26 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:32,880 delusion, he goes through 12 steps and it ends up with 27 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,760 suffering on the other end. So ultimately, delusion is a 28 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,400 cause of suffering in our lives. Yes. 29 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,680 By removing delusion, by reaching awakening, if like by 30 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,920 turning on the lights, seeing where you are, actually you end 31 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,120 suffering and you attain the highest happiness according to 32 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,200 the Buddhist teachings. So very important. 33 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,040 Yeah. And you, when you look at the 34 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,000 way meditation is described in the suit as by the Buddha, it 35 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:00,680 talks about this is actually very exciting. 36 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,440 This is really exciting. This is because the way the 37 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:06,800 Buddha talks about meditation practice, it's all about 38 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,639 happiness. Yeah. 39 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,960 And you may have, even if you meditate just a little bit, like 40 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,280 you did, you did just now, even if you just feel a bit more 41 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,720 relaxed afterwards, What is that relaxation? 42 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,760 It is a degree of happiness, isn't it? 43 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,760 And that degree of happiness already. 44 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,480 But just by reducing suffering, that is also a kind of 45 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,440 happiness. And the whole Buddhist path is 46 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,440 about increasing happiness. Increasing happiness until you 47 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,160 get to the point your mind is so pure that you're actually able 48 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,840 to avoid breakthrough delusion and see things according to 49 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:45,680 reality. This is the whole purpose, 50 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,680 ultimately, of our meditation practice. 51 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,200 It's a very important aspect of the Buddhist path. 52 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,800 So what does it actually mean? What are we deluded about? 53 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,200 And there's many different angles in which to understand 54 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:05,160 the idea of delusion. One of the interesting ways is 55 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,280 to understand it, of course, avija. 56 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,120 The opposite of avija is vija. So the opposite of delusion, 57 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:15,360 vija is inside in what is may not be obvious, but actually it 58 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,760 really means insight. So what is this insight? 59 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,160 And there's three insights in Buddhism that are absolutely 60 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:25,240 kind of crucial to understanding the nature of reality, and that 61 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,760 is the insight into past lives. Yeah. 62 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,360 The idea of rebirth, the understanding of comma, which is 63 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,160 like the structure or how rebirth actually comes about. 64 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,600 And then lastly is the insight into awakening itself. 65 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,240 Yeah. So these are kind of three 66 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,720 things that are often that I would translate as true insight 67 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,680 on the Buddhist path. Very often when we talk about 68 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,120 insight, we're talking about sitting down in meditation, 69 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,920 becoming peaceful, watching things arising and passing and 70 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,560 all these kind of things. And this is one way of looking 71 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:01,680 at insider. But if you actually look at the 72 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,520 way the Buddha taught these things, far more powerful are 73 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,720 these fundamental insights into the nature of the world, the 74 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:12,480 nature of reality, starting with rebirth, understanding the laws 75 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,800 of comma, and then the awakening experience itself. 76 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,880 And to understand how important these things are, it's very nice 77 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,360 to look at some of the similes that the Buddha uses to actually 78 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,640 explain these things, Very beautiful and powerful similes. 79 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,720 This is reason enough to read the word of the Buddha is 80 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,240 actually to see some of the similes that he talks about 81 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,840 because they're so often so powerful and so kind of direct. 82 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:40,400 You say, wow, now I understand what is going on on. 83 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,480 Yeah, this is really speaks to me in a very powerful way here. 84 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,520 One of those similes that what I says is that it's like turning 85 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:48,040 on the light. Yeah. 86 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,120 Before you have inside you, it's like you are in darkness. 87 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:54,480 What happens if you are in darkness? 88 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,920 You want you're walking around. Yeah, trying to kind of. 89 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,720 Feel your way around the room or or the forest or wherever it is 90 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:01,360 that you are. I'm. 91 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:04,040 And my darkness is often the forest because I live down in 92 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,360 Serpentine, which is really nice kind of darkness. 93 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,760 By the way, I can really recommend the darkness of the 94 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:10,800 forest. That itself is good enough 95 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:12,160 reason to become a monk or a Nan. 96 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:13,920 Yeah. Just to be in a cutie by 97 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,160 yourself in the darkness, see the stars at night, feeling so, 98 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,200 so beautiful at night. You have no idea what you're 99 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:21,880 missing out on by living in the city. 100 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,960 So that itself good enough reason to become a monk and Nan. 101 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,760 So afterwards, if that inspires you, we Venable soon you're 102 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,360 here. We'll help you to shave off your 103 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:30,440 hair. You've got to raise it with your 104 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:31,720 venal in your hair. And we will sort. 105 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,440 That out afterwards. But seriously, actually, it is 106 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,120 very nice and very inspiring here. 107 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,360 But the problem is that if it is too dark, if the moon is now the 108 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:43,440 stars aren't and we can't see anything here. 109 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,200 Even though you're trying to feel your head, feel your way 110 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,360 around, sometimes you bump your head against something. 111 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,040 Yeah. And you kind of end up suffering 112 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:52,840 a lot because you are in darkness. 113 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:54,600 You don't know which way you're going. 114 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:55,600 You don't know which way to head. 115 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:56,680 You don't know where the path is. 116 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,240 You don't know how to get to the toilet block. 117 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,640 Yeah, whatever it is, that is a lot of suffering here. 118 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,840 So then one day somebody turns on the light. 119 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:07,120 Yeah. You find the light switch and 120 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,280 all turn on the light. Now you can see everything. 121 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:11,560 No more suffering, no more problems. 122 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,480 An awakening experience is exactly like that. 123 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,080 It's like the turning on the light. 124 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,080 Now you understand the nature of reality. 125 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,360 This is what rebirth is about, Seeing rebirth like turning. 126 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:23,880 On the light. Wow. 127 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,960 This is what it's like. I had no idea, or maybe I 128 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,080 believed in rebirth. I had some confidence in it, but 129 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,240 I didn't actually know what it really felt like. 130 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:33,880 This is what it feels like. Wow. 131 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:35,160 It's astonishing. Yeah. 132 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:37,200 Yeah. That this is one of the 133 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,120 similars, the Buddha. The other similar I had to use, 134 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,640 which is very, to my mind, very, very powerful and always caught 135 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,720 my eye when I was reading the Discourses of the Buddha, is 136 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,920 where it says it's like a chick, a chick inside the egg shell. 137 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,600 Yeah. You see yourself as a chick 138 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,520 inside the egg shell. It's a very small world, right? 139 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:57,040 The egg shell is very tiny there. 140 00:06:57,440 --> 00:06:59,880 All you can see is the wall right there in front of you. 141 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,200 Maybe there's a bit of light coming through the egg shell. 142 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,360 Sometimes you can maybe see a shadow or something. 143 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:06,840 But it's a very, very tiny world there. 144 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,000 And what I said before awakening, we all like chicks in 145 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,440 an egg shell. We've got a clue what's going on 146 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:14,680 there. You basically have no idea. 147 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,560 And one day you kind of take your little, you've got to have 148 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:18,880 long fingernails for this. Yeah. 149 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,960 But it's like the the little chick takes this little kind of 150 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:23,600 point of his claws. Yeah. 151 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,560 Little little beak that he has, or she has maybe if it's a 152 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,240 female checker. And you break out of that egg 153 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,840 shell and you see. Wow, imagine the difference from 154 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,080 being inside an egg shell to actually breaking out of the egg 155 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:38,960 and then seeing the world around you. 156 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,600 That is the difference, says the Buddha, between being deluded 157 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,200 and actually seeing things according to reality. 158 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,920 Certainly see the vastness of things, the reality of things. 159 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,720 You get an entirely different view of what is going on. 160 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,600 So this, these are real insights that when the light gets turned 161 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,520 on, these things such as seeing your past lives, understanding 162 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,960 the laws of comma, the driving mechanism behind the idea of 163 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,960 rebirth, and then the awakening experience itself. 164 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,280 This is a kind of fundamental Buddhist insights. 165 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,600 This is one way of looking at the idea of of delusion or lack 166 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,040 of delusion. Yeah, the two things obviously 167 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,200 coming together, insights versus delusion. 168 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,600 There is another way, which is very common in the suit is suit 169 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:26,480 does, by the way, means the word of the Buddha. 170 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:27,920 Yeah. The discourses of the Buddha. 171 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,360 I should be very careful with how I, I'm so used to using 172 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:33,039 Pali. Pali is the ancient. 173 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:35,039 I even had to explain that. I should explain that as well. 174 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,360 Pali is the ancient language that was used, has been used for 175 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,880 2 1/2 thousand years, pretty much very similar to the 176 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,320 language by the Buddha. The scriptures we have today are 177 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,200 written in the Pali language as a monkey in the monastery. 178 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:49,040 We kind of use Pali terms all the time. 179 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:50,280 Yeah. So we kind of after a while you 180 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,320 don't think twice. But yeah, I should really be 181 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:56,920 careful about that. So anyway, 4 noble truths, 182 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:02,400 another fundamental way of thinking about either delusion 183 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,160 or non delusion. If you understand the four noble 184 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,680 truths, it means that I mean really through insider you are 185 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:10,840 not deluded. Don't know what's going on with 186 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,240 the four noble truths. That is the very almost the most 187 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,440 important definition of delusion in the suitors. 188 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,360 Now the first noble truth. OK, just again for noble truths. 189 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:24,280 Yeah. The noble truth of suffering. 190 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,760 For those of you who are new noble truth of the origin of 191 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,120 suffering here, this is very interesting, isn't it? 192 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,400 Suffering, If you can really understand what suffering is 193 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,680 about, it means also you have a way of getting out of suffering 194 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:37,480 here. If there's anyone here who 195 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,320 hasn't got any problems in their life, then this talk is not for 196 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:41,520 you. But if you have even the 197 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,960 slightest problem, this is the way out. 198 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,160 Even the slightest problem, the end of suffering, is possible 199 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,520 here. So the suffering, the origin of 200 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,560 suffering, understand why suffering actually arises. 201 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:55,280 Third noble truth, the end of suffering. 202 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:56,760 Here. There is such a thing as the 203 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,120 ending of suffering, the highest happiness. 204 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:02,520 Yeah, this kind of speaks to us as human beings in a very deep 205 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,080 level. It's possible to read something 206 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:07,920 called the highest happiness in the world, where all suffering 207 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:10,520 is eliminated. May be hard to believe, but 208 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,520 according to the Buddha's teachings, it is possible. 4th 209 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,120 Noble truth, the path that leads to the end of suffering here. 210 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,120 Once you understand what these noble truths are about, it's 211 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,160 like, wow, this is really important. 212 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:25,360 It's so significant actually, it is what life really is all 213 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,120 about. But the first noble truth is a 214 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,600 noble truth of suffering here. Now that noble truth can in turn 215 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,120 be understood in a more kind of comprehensive way here. 216 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:40,880 And that more deeper way is to understand that when we talk 217 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,960 about suffering or unsatisfactoriness or dukka, 218 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,200 dukka is the Poly word, which means kind of means things. 219 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,520 When we talk about that, we're also talking about anicha, which 220 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,760 is impermanence or unreliability. 221 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,960 And we're also talking about non self at the same time. 222 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:00,680 These things revolve around each other here. 223 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,560 The reason why the world is problematic is because it is 224 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:06,360 impermanent. Yeah. 225 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,160 You can't hold on to things. Things always change. 226 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,560 You lose what is yours. You lose kind of your aspects of 227 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:14,640 your personality. Perhaps you get depressed or I 228 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,240 was happy before. Now I feel, you know, you feel 229 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:19,440 terrible about that. You lose things that you 230 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,680 consider deeply yours in a certain way here. 231 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,520 So impermanence and reliability very closely related to the idea 232 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,520 of suffering non self also very closely related to that, because 233 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,800 the idea of a self is the idea that we can control the world. 234 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:38,880 But actually the truth is things are generally speaking out of 235 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,480 control, that we can only do so much to shape our future. 236 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,080 But what we certainly in the external world. 237 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,680 But the good news is we can do a lot to shape our inner world. 238 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,160 And that is where the real spiritual work, of course, lies 239 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,880 place inside of us rather than outsider. 240 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:59,160 So these are called the three characteristics of existence in 241 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,680 Buddhism yeah things are impermanent, things are 242 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:07,160 suffering in one way or another. Unsatisfactory things are non 243 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,680 self. 3 characteristics of existence very fundamental to 244 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:14,120 understanding the Buddhist teachings. 245 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,280 And as long as we we don't understand these things 246 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:23,200 properly, as long as we as long as we don't understand suffering 247 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,160 fully, as long as we don't understand impermanence fully, 248 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,120 as long as we don't understand non self fully, as long as that 249 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,440 is the case, we are basically deluded. 250 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,360 Very important part of the idea of avidya of delusion. 251 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,600 I'm mentioning these three things in particular because I 252 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,000 want to base some of the things I'm going to say in a second on 253 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,760 these things. So that is delusion. 254 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:48,520 Yeah. This is the darkness in our 255 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:50,240 lives, Like from the Buddhist point of view. 256 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,200 So what next? What is the causes of delusion? 257 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,480 How does delusion actually come about? 258 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,360 Yeah. And because once you understand 259 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,120 the causes of delusion, you also understand the ending of 260 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,800 delusion. If the causes are removed, then 261 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,800 of course delusion itself will end. 262 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,280 Yeah. So the this is a very important 263 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,640 part of it if you want to understand how to overcome this 264 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,360 problem of darkness. If you're one of those people 265 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,520 who was keen on breaking out of the chick's shell, are you keen 266 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:22,080 on that? Would you like to break out of 267 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:23,440 the shell? It's pretty cool. 268 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:24,920 Yeah. Suddenly you see the world. 269 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,920 Wow, it's pretty cool. Imagine being a chick and 270 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,160 suddenly seeing the seeing the reality outside. 271 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:32,320 Now that would be something astonishing here. 272 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,840 So if you are keen on that, I really recommend being keen on 273 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,080 that. So please be keen on that if you 274 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,240 are. You want to find the causes of 275 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:42,640 delusion. What are the causes of delusion? 276 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:47,080 And the Buddha says in the suitors that actually this is 277 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:51,320 the bad news. There is no real first cause of 278 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,920 delusion. Delusion is a self perpetuating 279 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,840 force that keeps going onwards and onwards and onwards, always 280 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:04,080 kind of bringing itself along. You can't really break out of 281 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:06,880 the delusion very easily because it perpetuates itself. 282 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,360 And so it is in the past. If you go back into the past and 283 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,960 like, let's say that you're able to remember your past lives, 284 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,720 there is no first point of delusion. 285 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,880 There is no ultimate cause why delusion came into existence in 286 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,880 the 1st place. And that's kind of scary, isn't 287 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:25,600 it? If you accept that from the 288 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,280 Buddha and you think that the Buddha might be right about 289 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:31,560 that, it's kind of scary here. There is no kind of ultimate 290 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:33,920 cause of these things. It means that you will keep on 291 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:36,960 being deluded into the future. Except. 292 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:38,920 Except for one thing. Yeah. 293 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,880 And that is you can find the circuit breaker. 294 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,760 The circuit breaker. I can turn this thing off and 295 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,240 make you see things in a different way here. 296 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:49,560 What is that circuit breaker here? 297 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:52,560 That circuit breaker is the teaching of the Buddha. 298 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,600 This is why the Buddha calls himself the eye of the world, 299 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,240 the one who sees 1st. And when somebody has seen, he 300 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,600 sees for the rest of the world. He can pass on that insight onto 301 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,480 the rest of humanity and allow us to to make that breakthrough, 302 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,920 to find the end of that delusion which has always been there. 303 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,120 So This is why the teaching of the Buddha are so important. 304 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,440 This is why the suit I say that what the Buddha say is that the 305 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,040 para togosa. Yeah, I'd like to use a few 306 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,400 party terms because it kind of sounds impressive. 307 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,400 When I say para togosa, you think, wow, what is this? 308 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,880 Patagosa means the voice of another. 309 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:35,040 Yeah. So the voice of another is so 310 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,960 important because without that we are trapped into the self 311 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,120 perpetuating cycle. Once one person has been able to 312 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:44,520 breakthrough, it enables the rest of us, also gives the rest 313 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:46,320 of us also that chance to breakthrough. 314 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:48,560 So This is why it is so important. 315 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:53,960 But before I go on about that, I just want to say this very 316 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:58,480 briefly about this idea that delusion is self perpetuating. 317 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,160 The Buddha says if you go into the past, there is no first 318 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,640 point of delusion. Yeah, and this is very similar 319 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:09,120 to saying that there is no first point of existence because 320 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,880 existence and delusion must always go together. 321 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:14,800 As long as you exist, there will be delusion. 322 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,080 Yeah. It's not the way of saying that. 323 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,760 Is that to say that the universe has always been there. 324 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,200 You go back, the universe was always there. 325 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,160 There was no first point in the universe. 326 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:25,680 Yeah. Or rather the. 327 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:27,880 But that doesn't actually say what he says. 328 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:32,040 To be more precise, he says there is no discoverable first 329 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,720 point of these things, which actually is a big difference. 330 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:36,480 I'm saying that there is no first point. 331 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,640 And what, why is this so interesting? 332 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,160 And the way, the reason why this is so interesting to me, and I 333 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:50,600 think I mentioned this here before, is that the most 334 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,080 philosophies, most religions, most kind of ideas, even science 335 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,440 in the present day, it starts, they all start off with the 336 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,960 first 'cause, the first 'cause that either God created the 337 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,520 universe or in science, the first 'cause is The Big Bang. 338 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:07,560 Yeah. And it's kind of the interesting 339 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:11,160 saying, I've read scientists say this somewhere that yeah, we can 340 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:12,440 explain everything. Yeah. 341 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,119 Once we're given The Big Bang, we can explain everything 342 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,040 afterwards. So all you have to do is give us 343 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,440 1 miracle, and then we can explain everything else. 344 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,280 This was like a scientist saying that taking kind of the Mickey 345 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:26,119 out of his own science, I think. Yeah, but there's something true 346 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,200 about that. They cannot explain the 347 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:29,000 beginning. Yeah. 348 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,280 And then comes the Buddha's teaching here and the Buddha's 349 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,320 teaching. The Buddha actually says that 350 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,440 there is no beginning here. If you go back, you always find 351 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,040 another cause before the previous cause. 352 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:43,840 Yeah. And in one way, I find that so 353 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,480 much more likely. It seems so much more a 354 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,520 reasonable and rational way of looking at the universe that 355 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,360 there always is another first 'cause before the previous one 356 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,400 there is no first beginning. Or rather you can't find the 357 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,360 first beginning, it always goes back to something else. 358 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,520 To me that is a very sensible approach to reality and I I must 359 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,880 personally find that far better explanation of the universe that 360 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:11,680 I can actually find anywhere else. 361 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,760 So anyway, that's just the kind of a little bit of a side side 362 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:18,160 issue. But the other thing which they 363 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,040 would have says there, which also is very interesting, he 364 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,840 doesn't actually say that there is no first 'cause he says there 365 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:29,160 is no discoverable first 'cause that is also quite different. 366 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,680 And the distinction between those two things is that if you 367 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,280 say that there is no first cause, of course that is 368 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,560 something that you can never actually see for yourself. 369 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,320 Yeah. You can never go back infinitely 370 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:45,120 into the past and say that there is no first course. 371 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,280 All you can ever say is that I gone back as far as I think it's 372 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,680 possible to go, or I've gone back as far as I can go. 373 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,000 Yeah, within the limits of time or whatever. 374 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,960 I haven't found the first 'cause there is no discoverable first, 375 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:03,000 'cause the Buddha's teachings are basically pragmatic. 376 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,480 They're based on what can be observed. 377 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,720 They're not based on speculation about reality. 378 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,600 And this is another thing that I love about these teachings of 379 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,440 the Buddha. They tend to be very pragmatic, 380 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,640 based on observable principles rather than speculation. 381 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,160 Actually, I would say there is no real speculation in the 382 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,040 earliest part of the Buddhist teachings. 383 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:28,240 So, so just as a side issue, you have just to kind of have a look 384 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,000 at what it means that there is no beginning with these things. 385 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:36,400 So it is problematic. Delusion is self perpetuating. 386 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,240 So what can we do then, and what we can do? 387 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,600 Would I say that even though there is no first point of 388 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:47,680 delusion, even though there is no absolute cause for delusion, 389 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,680 he says there is still a nutriment for delusion, and a 390 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,840 nutriment is something that feeds something else. 391 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,760 Yeah. If you give a plant a nutriment, 392 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,400 the plant grows. So there is a nutriment to 393 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,280 delusion, and the nutriment are those things that make delusion 394 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,480 more powerful. Or if you withdraw the nutriment 395 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,760 from delusion, they actually take away the power of delusion 396 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,600 and decrease it. So delusion can be seen as a 397 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,000 kind of this curve. Yeah, that goes up and down. 398 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:20,120 Sometimes you're really deluded, Sometimes you're not really 399 00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:21,920 deluded at all. So it kind of varies. 400 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:25,920 It varies depending on the nutriment that feeds this. 401 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,400 So if you don't want to be deluded, if you want to reduce 402 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,920 your delusion in daily life and all these kind of things, what 403 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:38,120 you have to do is to take away the nutriment that feeds our 404 00:20:38,120 --> 00:20:41,120 misapprehension of the world, that feeds the delusion of 405 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:44,160 things. So what is this nutriment of 406 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,720 delusion? And the answer is the nutriment 407 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,120 of delusion are the five hindrances. 408 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:52,040 Yeah. If you've been around the 409 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,480 Buddhist scene for a while, you will know about the 500 and says 410 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,960 these are the things we talk about all the time in meditation 411 00:20:57,960 --> 00:20:59,120 practice. Yeah. 412 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:04,400 Sensual desire, ill will, tiredness and lethargy, 413 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:08,640 restlessness and remorse. And lastly, doubt. 414 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,440 Yeah. So these definements of the 415 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:16,920 mind, these are the things that actually make delusion powerful 416 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,200 in in our lives. So if you are able to reduce the 417 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,040 five hindrances, and so much of the path is precisely about 418 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,880 reducing the five hindrances, if we can reduce those, then 419 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:34,040 delusion also subsides. Why is it that the hindrances 420 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,240 feed delusion? How does this actually work? 421 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,240 And it's very, actually very easy to understand that. 422 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,280 Yeah. When you are angry, do you 423 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,280 really know what you're doing when you're angry? 424 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,200 Think about a time when you're angry. 425 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:49,600 Very often what happens when you're angry? 426 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,280 Anger is a very compelling force inside of us. 427 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,160 Yeah. Once you are angry, you feel 428 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,080 like you have to do something. It's as if you have to act on 429 00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,480 that anger. But often when you act on the 430 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,160 anger, often you feel afterwards a sense of remorse. 431 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,200 I shouldn't have done that. Yeah. 432 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,400 This very powerful compulsive force actually forces you to do 433 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,880 things that ultimately, you know, you shouldn't have done. 434 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,680 So while you are under the sway of anger, you are deluded 435 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,720 because when your mind is clear afterwards, you know it was 436 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:21,840 wrong here. So you can see straight away 437 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,840 that anger is actually a power of delusion, is a delusive force 438 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:30,320 that kind of compels us to do things that we actually should 439 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,720 know we shouldn't be doing it. Yeah. 440 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,680 So anger increases delusion. Whenever you feel a bit of ill 441 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,240 will, a bit of negativity, be very careful because that is 442 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,000 when you are under the sway of these very compulsive force that 443 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,800 drive us to do things that are very unfortunate. 444 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,520 Often the desire is very similar. 445 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:49,960 Yeah. When you have very powerful 446 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,680 desires, yeah, you are. Whatever it is for food or for 447 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,920 whatever it is you have, very often it's very hard to resist 448 00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,000 the desire. Even though you know you 449 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,280 shouldn't be doing something, you do it because the desire is 450 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,880 this delusive force that drives, that distorts reality, that 451 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,320 tells you you should be doing something here. 452 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,680 You should be do. You should do something that you 453 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,440 know, with your better self. You shouldn't really be doing 454 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,640 it. Yeah, it kind of makes sense. 455 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:18,520 Yeah. When you think about it, 456 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,200 Rational. It's actually this so obvious. 457 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,120 Of course, the same thing if you are confused. 458 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:25,120 Yeah. If you are restless, if you have 459 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:28,360 lots of doubt, it's very hard to see things clearly. 460 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,080 You are stuck. You know that you actually are 461 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,480 deluded to some extent at that particular point. 462 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,160 And this is so. These are the forces that Dr. 463 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,240 delusion inside of us make delusion worse and make the 464 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,320 whole thing kind of not work out properly here. 465 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,240 So one of the consequences of this, one of the first things 466 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,760 for lessons for me from this is to I always try to remind myself 467 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,400 if I feel a bit of ill will negativity towards somebody, I 468 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,440 always tell myself now is the wrong time to act. 469 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,800 Yeah, don't talk now, don't do anything because whatever's 470 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,600 going to come out of your mouth is may very well not be very 471 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,800 nice. So I often when that happens, I 472 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:11,120 try to either withdraw or I try not to communicate so much. 473 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:13,520 Yeah. So if you if you ever see me 474 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,960 angry, yeah, tell me, OK, Please don't talk now, as I reminded, 475 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,200 because now is not the right time for you to to talk. 476 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:20,840 Yeah. And I think, well, OK, maybe 477 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:22,640 you're right about that. So I've kind of withdrawn into 478 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,360 my room and kind of lie down and kind of take a break and a cup 479 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:26,480 of tea. And I come out when I feel 480 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,080 better afterwards. And that is a far better way to 481 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,120 react. Yeah. 482 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,960 Whenever you want to make a decision in life, whenever you 483 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,640 want to decide on especially kind of big things, but even 484 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:42,600 minor matters, never make a decision if you have defilements 485 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,200 in your mind because those decisions are always going to 486 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,600 end up being stupid. If I'm in the monastery and I'm 487 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,800 really fed up with my fellow monks, I'm never fed up 488 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:53,800 preventable senior because it's such a nice monkey. 489 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:57,240 But if I'm ever fed up with my fellow monks in the monastery 490 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,920 here, then. And I say, yeah, now is the time 491 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,560 to leave. I had enough of this monastery. 492 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,160 I'm going to move to Mars. Yeah, Mars is much better than 493 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,600 this blooming monastery here, but it's pretty hard to get to 494 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:09,720 Mars. So, you know, you know, straight 495 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,280 away, you know, you're angry because your thoughts are 496 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:15,160 completely unrealistic. But then I I remind myself that 497 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,920 actually this is not the right time to make a matter, to make a 498 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,280 decision about going to Mars or not. 499 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,160 Yeah. First of all, you have to allow 500 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,280 this kind of the, the kind of the, the Rockets to get as far 501 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:27,960 as Mars before you can make that kind of decision. 502 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,120 Now is not the right time. So chill, relax, take it easy. 503 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,600 And then when I take it easy, when I go back to my QT, I relax 504 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,640 my mind, feel clear, feels clear again. 505 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,880 And I ask myself, should I leave this monastery here? 506 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:44,800 Yeah, wherever that might be, the answer is always of course 507 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,680 not. Why not? 508 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,360 Because if I look at my monastic life in this monastery, I've 509 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,680 been living at Bodhinana Monastery for almost 24 years. 510 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,840 Yeah, it's a long time. But when I look at my time in 511 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,520 that monastery, all I see is a gradual movement in the right 512 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,040 direction, a gradual movement away from negative states of 513 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,520 mind towards more positive states of mind. 514 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,600 And when I see that, I think I'm actually fulfilling the very 515 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,920 purpose of monastic life. Why on earth would I want to go 516 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:18,360 somewhere else? So once your mind is clear, once 517 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:20,000 you know what you're doing. Yeah, Yeah. 518 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:22,280 Once you sit back and you're relaxed and you see what's going 519 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,360 on, that is the right time to make decisions in your life 520 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,280 because then you know what you're doing. 521 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,840 You're not swayed by the defilements. 522 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,840 You can trust your intuition. People often ask, can I make, 523 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:37,640 you know, make, can I make decisions based on intuition or 524 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,960 should it be logical? Doesn't really matter. 525 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,960 What matters is that your mind is free of definements. 526 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,320 If your mind is free of definements, your intuition will 527 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,120 be pretty accurate. Your logic also pretty accurate. 528 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:51,760 If your mind has definements, both your logic and your 529 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,880 intuition will be swayed by the definements. 530 00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:55,680 So neither of them will actually work. 531 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,120 Yeah. So that is a it's a very good 532 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:01,960 advice just how to make decisions in life. 533 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:07,440 But coming back to these five hindrances, how, if they are so 534 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,440 important, Yeah, and they are the forces that actually 535 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,720 increase delusion in our mind, how can we get rid of the five 536 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,520 hindrances? Yeah. 537 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,400 And this is what the whole Buddhist path is about. 538 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:24,920 It's all about how to get rid of the five hindrances of the mind. 539 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,440 Yeah. And you do that by, first of 540 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,040 all, being kind. Yeah. 541 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:30,440 You come to the Buddhist society. 542 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,040 I hope it makes you kinder to come to the Buddhist society. 543 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,600 I hope it doesn't make you more kind of angry and negative. 544 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,240 And I, I certainly feel, I always feel very happy when I 545 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,400 come here. I feel very happy because I know 546 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,240 that the people around me are good people. 547 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,840 I feel very blessed to be part of a monastery and a community 548 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,800 where in general people are really good and wholesome. 549 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,200 It's a wonderful thing to be part of that. 550 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,720 And please, I hope you can also feel the same thing here. 551 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:02,240 So by doing that, by thinking in this way, by having a sense of 552 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:06,160 kindness for the world around us, by acting in good ways, by 553 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,360 avoiding the bad ways, this actually just by being virtuous, 554 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:14,080 just by being moral, just by being kind, you're already 555 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,120 reducing the defilements in your mind. 556 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:18,880 The five hindrances are already going down. 557 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:20,920 Yeah, that's really all we have to do. 558 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,160 And then you come here, you do a bit of meditation practice to 559 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,000 calm yourself down. Maybe one day you come to our 560 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,800 wonderful meditation center called Jana, the Grove. 561 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:32,560 Yeah, I think it's one of the best meditation centres in the 562 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,440 world. It happens to be right here in 563 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,600 Perth. If you don't go there, you're 564 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,120 missing out one of the best meditation centres in the world. 565 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,120 So please check it out. One of these days they come for 566 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,960 a weekend retreat and 9 the retreat, whatever it is. 567 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,760 And then you are applying these teachings in such a way that you 568 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,000 are reducing these things that are called the five entrances. 569 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,280 That is what the Buddhist teaching is all about. 570 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,000 And as you do that, clarity starts to arise. 571 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:04,760 Delusion is gradually, gradually diminishing, and clarity comes 572 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:05,960 in its place. Yeah. 573 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,160 And you can feel that happening in your life. 574 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,120 It's such a wonderful feeling when that happens. 575 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,840 Day by day, year by year, clarity is increasing here. 576 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,080 That is my experience. And I can guarantee you if you 577 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,640 practice well, it will be your experience as well here. 578 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:26,880 And then delusion is going down. One day when you get into a 579 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,160 really deep state of meditation, the defilements will be 580 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,840 completely gone, no more 5 hindrances. 581 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:37,040 And that is when delusion has no nutriment anymore. 582 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,240 When delusion has no nutriment, it is very weak, and that is why 583 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:45,120 at that particular point is the point when delusion can be 584 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,520 overthrown and true insight is possible. 585 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,240 It has no supports anymore. So what you need then is this 586 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,520 little thing called little spark, this para togosa, the 587 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:58,320 voice of another, which is the word of the Buddha, that little 588 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,320 spark. Turn your mind in in the right 589 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:04,080 direction and then delusion can be gone once and for all. 590 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:08,720 This is how the causes of delusion, yeah, how these things 591 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,560 actually function, how they work together here. 592 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:17,120 But there is another aspect of this and I also want to mention 593 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:22,480 briefly here, and that is the aspect how delusion actually 594 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,960 works in our lives, why it is a problem, why it leads to 595 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:29,280 suffering, how it actually functions. 596 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:33,600 I mentioned before that delusion stands at the very basis of 597 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,440 dependent origination. Yeah, Vija is is the first 598 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,320 factor of dependent origination. I'm going to talk a bit about 599 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,080 dependent origination. Hope you are ready for that. 600 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,160 If you don't understand what I'm saying, I think you will 601 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:47,240 actually. So I'm not going to start by 602 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:50,080 saying that because it's kind of being a bit negative, but 603 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:52,600 dependent relation is very interesting teaching of the 604 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,440 Buddha and very profound. And it's kind of interesting to 605 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:57,720 get our heads a little bit around what it means. 606 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,080 So it starts off with avija, the second fact, in other words, 607 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,240 delusion. Yeah, the second factor, 608 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,360 dependent origination, is called sankara in Pali. 609 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,920 Sankara means activities. It means that things we do in 610 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:15,920 life, and specifically it means intentional activities. 611 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,240 Yeah, the things that we do, how we live our lives, all the 612 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,400 things we do during our daily life. 613 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,480 And dependent origination says that from delusion comes 614 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,880 activities. Yeah, it may not be very obvious 615 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,800 why that is the case. If the Buddha says that maybe 616 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,480 you cannot shrug your shoulders, Maybe I I don't know. 617 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,360 So what's going on here? What is the connection between 618 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,520 delusion and activities, specifically intentional 619 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,880 activities? I find this really fascinating 620 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,720 and very interesting myself. I find these little 621 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,080 technicalities and things like dependent origination very 622 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:54,280 practical, very useful, and very interesting because it is a core 623 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:56,960 Buddhist way of understanding the world. 624 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:02,840 So the connection here is that, remember Avijah, delusion, when 625 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:07,640 it come back to the basic thing, 3 characteristics of existence. 626 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,640 Yeah, one of them is the characteristic of suffering 627 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,160 here. The problem with delusion is 628 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,960 that we don't understand that. So we think that things that are 629 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,920 suffering in the world, we think that they're actually happiness. 630 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:23,920 And we think that things in the world that actually are 631 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,040 happiness, we think that they are suffering. 632 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:30,000 We don't understand where true happiness is to be found. 633 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,120 We don't understand the things that are really problematic in 634 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,400 the world. And because we don't understand 635 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,680 that what we do, we pursue things that in the end actually 636 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:43,560 are problematic rather than pursuing those things that are 637 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,320 real happiness. Yeah, we don't understand true 638 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:50,240 happiness, and I'm sure you will know a little bit about that 639 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:51,960 already. Yeah, sometimes you pursue 640 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:53,640 things, it doesn't really make you all that happy. 641 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,800 And that's why you come here to the Buddhist society, hopefully 642 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:57,960 to find something, you know, a little bit more meaningful in 643 00:32:57,960 --> 00:32:59,280 life. That's why I am here. 644 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:01,360 And I hope you're here too, because this is what kind of 645 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,440 drives me. To me, this is what lives gives 646 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,400 my life the utmost meaning. The fact that I'm a Buddhist 647 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:10,320 monk here. So why? 648 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,800 So what happens here is that you think that you know what 649 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,000 happiness is. And because you think you know 650 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000 what happiness is, even though it isn't actually the case, you 651 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,040 go into the world and you start acting to create that happiness. 652 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:24,800 And that is the intentional activities. 653 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,280 Yeah. Where do you, where do people 654 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,440 find think that happiness is to be found? 655 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,640 People think that happiness is to be found in possessions. 656 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:34,600 Yeah, you got to have enough possessions. 657 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:39,320 And that's true, of course, but I think generally speaking, 658 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,720 people think that the more possessions you have, the more 659 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,360 happy you will be here. People think that happiness lies 660 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,640 in relationships. People think that happiness lies 661 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,400 in status. Yes, social status. 662 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:54,320 People think that happiness lies in promotion, in the kind of in 663 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,920 your work, whatever that is. Yeah, another kind of status 664 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,800 really here. So we think happiness lies in 665 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,360 all of this worldly things around us. 666 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:06,880 That is where we assume happiness lies. 667 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,920 So because of that, we go out and we try to do those things. 668 00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,400 We work really hard. We kind of pursue possible 669 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,520 partners in life. Yeah, either a girlfriend or a 670 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,280 boyfriend or a man or woman who will be a suitable partner. 671 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,639 We pursue all of these things that we think are going to give 672 00:34:23,639 --> 00:34:27,000 us happiness. And that is what is Sankara's 673 00:34:27,159 --> 00:34:31,600 intentional formation. Intentional activities are all 674 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:38,320 about in that in this pursuit of the worst things of the world, 675 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,639 the worldly things. As we do that, sometimes we do 676 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,920 good actions, sometimes we do bad actions. 677 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:47,520 Yeah. If we really think that our 678 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,080 happiness depends on kind of having the right person as our 679 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:55,000 partner, maybe we will do things to kind of get other, you know, 680 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,640 rivals out of the way here, which may be bad actions. 681 00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,560 Yeah, because that is where happiness is. 682 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,880 Of course, then doing some bad things is OK because we all want 683 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,400 to move towards happiness. And this is how we then end up 684 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:09,640 in the pursuit of worldly things. 685 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,760 We end up doing good things and we also end up doing bad things. 686 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,320 Yeah, this is how it happens because our goal is in the wrong 687 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:21,160 place. Our goal is in securing worldly 688 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,480 happiness. So depending on how many of the 689 00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,320 good things you do, depending on how many of the bad things you 690 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:32,480 do, you will feel accordingly. If you do a lot of bad things 691 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,720 because you have no spiritual life, you have no understanding 692 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:38,440 of the importance of morality, you will feel bad about 693 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,520 yourself. And because you feel bad about 694 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,000 yourself, your consciousness, your mind, your feelings will be 695 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,520 dragged down and you will feel dark and negative and hopeless 696 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,640 about yourself. Insider Yeah. 697 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:53,800 Just think about a time when you have done something bad towards 698 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:55,840 somebody. I'm sure nobody here is 699 00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:57,720 absolutely beyond doing anything bad. 700 00:35:57,720 --> 00:35:59,880 If you are, I would like to meet you afterwards. 701 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:03,720 So please come up there because those people are rare, right? 702 00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:05,240 Well, that would be really cool to meet somebody. 703 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,240 Absolutely nothing bad. But think about it, you don't 704 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,600 know if you have done something wasn't quite right. 705 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,320 How do you feel about that? And the answer is very obvious, 706 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:16,440 at least to me. I know from my own life I feel a 707 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,080 bit rotten about myself. Oh, I shouldn't have done that. 708 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:22,760 That was a bad thing to do. These days I don't do that many 709 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,840 bad things anymore. Hope anyway, I that's, that's 710 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,400 what it feels like. So usually I don't have all that 711 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,920 much remorse about things, but occasionally bad things happen 712 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:33,000 because just the conditioning is so strong. 713 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:36,880 The more of these bad things you do, the more you drag yourself 714 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:38,200 down. You drag down your 715 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,720 consciousness, your mind, and you feel negative about 716 00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:42,880 yourself. If, on the other hand, you do 717 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,280 good things, you do very few bad things, and you are basically a 718 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,680 kind, generous, caring person in this world, how do you feel 719 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:54,000 about yourself when you are kind towards others? 720 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,640 I don't know. I to me it is very obvious that 721 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,440 when I am kind, I feel good about myself. 722 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,160 Afterwards I feel, yeah, I did something good. 723 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:06,320 I feel kind of, you know, it's not a kind of egotistical thing. 724 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,960 It's just an acknowledgement that you know that you're living 725 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,560 your life well. And I think it's impossible not 726 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,480 to feel reasonably good about. Actually, it is impossible, 727 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,920 according to the Buddha, to feel reasonably good about yourself 728 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:19,920 when you live well. Yes. 729 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,120 The more of these good things you do, the more you live your 730 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:26,240 life well, the more caring, kind, compassionate you are as a 731 00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:28,280 person. And the less of the bad things 732 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,600 you do, the more you're brightening up your mind, making 733 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,280 your mind joyous, happy, and light, creating happiness for 734 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,080 yourself. You're lifting up your 735 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,440 consciousness. If you do mostly bad things, 736 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,160 you're dragging your consciousness down. 737 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:44,360 If you do a mix of both, you're kind of staying roughly even. 738 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:47,360 Yeah. This is the third link of 739 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:51,120 dependent origination. From intentional activities 740 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,760 comes consciousness, Vinayana. Our mind, our consciousness is 741 00:37:55,760 --> 00:38:00,160 affected by how what we act, how we live our life. 742 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:04,640 Yeah, it's very interesting. And I would recommend you not to 743 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,680 just to take this as a matter of faith, because the Buddha says 744 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,320 so or because I say so or whatever. 745 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:14,000 Take feel it in your own life. These things actually are 746 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:19,200 experientially possible to ascertain for yourself, to feel 747 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,640 it in your own life. The connection between your 748 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:25,280 intentional activities and how you feel about yourself, your 749 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:27,880 consciousness, your mind and all of these kind of things. 750 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:30,920 It's a very powerful thing that you start to see there. 751 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,960 So what happens then? What happens if we start to have 752 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:39,000 a different outlook in life? If we start to see that actually 753 00:38:39,240 --> 00:38:42,160 these sensual pleasures, yes, there is some degree of 754 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:46,480 happiness there, but actually the being kind, being 755 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,840 compassionate, there is a far greater happiness to be had from 756 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,840 that because that is a true inner happiness. 757 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,800 All these other things are external things that come and 758 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:57,120 go. You can't really rely on them 759 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,040 anyway. The inner happiness is something 760 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,840 you can rely on there. So what happens then is that 761 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:03,960 your delusion is decreasing here. 762 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:07,280 You're starting to see things more according to reality here. 763 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:11,440 As a consequence, you don't pursue all those worldly aims so 764 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,400 much anymore. You start to realise how I live 765 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:18,360 my life is far more important than what I have or what kind of 766 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,440 success I have here. So because of that, that balance 767 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,720 between good and bad acts changes, yeah. 768 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:26,920 You do more of the good stuff, you do less of the bad stuff. 769 00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:30,400 And as a consequence, you're brightening up your mind, making 770 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,320 your life, your life more meaningful and worthwhile, and 771 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:36,800 basically making your life and also the life of people around 772 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:40,640 you far better. As a consequence, delusion is 773 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:43,000 going down, happiness is going up. 774 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,840 And sure, you can start to see the mechanism here, here, but 775 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:48,960 one of the most interesting things about this is one of the 776 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,760 things that you start to realise when you come here to the Maloca 777 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,000 Centre. Yeah, you do a bit of meditation 778 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,560 on Friday night or on Saturday or whenever it is, and you start 779 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,720 to feel peaceful there. What does it feel like when 780 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:04,120 there's less activity going on in your mind? 781 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,360 What does it feel like to be more peaceful? 782 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,440 And in my experience, it feels really good. 783 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:11,560 I was going to say some other words, but it feels really good. 784 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:14,640 Yeah, it feels so nice to be peaceful here. 785 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,720 It feels so nice when the mind starts to calm down. 786 00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,760 It feels so nice when the activities get less. 787 00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,440 So what you are seeing there is that the second factor of 788 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:29,040 dependent origination, which are the intentional activities. 789 00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:33,280 Actually, it's suffering here the less you have of those 790 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,440 activities. When you sit down, you close 791 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:39,080 your eyes, you watch the breath, you just feel so, oh, this is so 792 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,440 nice to sit here and just relax on Friday night. 793 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,280 The more you see that, the more you understand that the very 794 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:49,320 second factor, dependent origination, all these 795 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:53,040 intentional activities that we have, actually that is a 796 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:54,280 problem. Yeah. 797 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:57,120 That itself, all the activities is a problem. 798 00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:02,680 So once you see that, you realise that actually allow all 799 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,640 of those activities to fade away in meditation. 800 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,880 The deeper the meditation is, the less activities there are, 801 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:11,400 the happier you are as a consequence. 802 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:15,320 And now you can start to see another aspect of dependent 803 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:19,120 origination, whereby the second factor, you allow it gradually 804 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,640 to die out. Yeah. 805 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:26,280 And the more it dies out, the more the less actually there is 806 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,840 of the less the whole sequence of dependent origination which 807 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:33,040 comes after that. That too starts to die out as a 808 00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:38,800 consequence until eventually you come to a point where you stop 809 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:43,680 doing any activities at all. Through inside, through your 810 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:46,000 meditation practice, you come to that point. 811 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:48,320 This is called OK ready for this? 812 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,000 This is called Saba sankara samata. 813 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:53,280 OK, You don't have to remember that. 814 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:56,160 That's OK. Something means that the calming 815 00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:58,800 down of all intentional activities, that's what it 816 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,240 means. And that is the goal of the 817 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:04,480 Buddhist path. That is nirbana itself, that is 818 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,520 awakening itself. Yeah. 819 00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,240 Delusion has completely gone. You understand where real 820 00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:12,440 happiness is to be found. You pursue that by action or by 821 00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:14,680 pursuing it at all, by allowing everything to die down. 822 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,640 And eventually you find that deeper sense of happiness 823 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:19,000 through your meditation practice. 824 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:23,920 So this is how this happens, through a misunderstanding of 825 00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:27,240 where happiness is to be found. We pursue those things not 826 00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:29,960 worthy or pursuit, and we don't pursue those things that 827 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:31,520 actually are worthy of being pursued. 828 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:33,120 This is one way of looking at this. 829 00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:35,760 There are many other ways. Another nice way of looking at 830 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:38,800 this. Yeah, is I apologise if this is 831 00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:42,840 getting a bit kind of heavy, but this is just the way I talk 832 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:44,680 sometimes. I, I, but I really apologise, 833 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:48,920 but so another way of looking at this is remember I said the 834 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:51,400 three characteristics. Yeah, 1 The characteristic is 835 00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:54,800 the characteristic of non self. Yeah. 836 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:58,440 But of course the reality is that we have a sense of self. 837 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:02,120 So the reality is non self, but we have a sense of self. 838 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:07,480 There is a clash, again, between reality and how we actually look 839 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:10,120 at things. What that means, because we have 840 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:13,840 a sense of self, it means that we have a sense of agency. 841 00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:17,480 We have a feeling that we can actually influence outcomes in 842 00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:19,840 the world. Not only can we influence 843 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,840 outcomes, but we actually identify with the agent. 844 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:26,640 Yeah. People, when you go into the 845 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,920 world, you act. You feel alive precisely because 846 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:32,920 you're acting. You are the agent in the world, 847 00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:35,200 and this is your sense of identity here. 848 00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:37,520 We all have a little bit of that, I'm sure. 849 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,480 I'm sure you can relate to what I'm talking about being the 850 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,120 agent. Now I'm getting things done. 851 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:43,600 And you feel alive because of that. 852 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:46,160 To be is to do. Yeah. 853 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:47,880 And to do is to be. Once you do. 854 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:49,520 To do is to be. Once you do. 855 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,040 You feel that you exist as a consequence. 856 00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:56,400 So because of this, because we feel that we have capacity, we 857 00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:00,400 have the agency in the world that encourages us to go out and 858 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:04,400 try to create happiness for ourselves, but actually, the 859 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:08,760 world is far less amenable to control than we think it is. 860 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:11,600 The world often goes against our wishes. 861 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:14,480 Yeah, that is why relationships break up. 862 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,720 That is why we have this terrible Bush fires here in WA 863 00:44:17,720 --> 00:44:20,800 burned down our whole village. That's why death comes when it 864 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:23,640 when you least want it. That is why all of these 865 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:27,720 problems in the world happen all the time, because it is actually 866 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:31,040 not within our control. Yeah. 867 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:33,280 So again, you can see two different things here. 868 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,760 You start pursuing things because you feel like the agent, 869 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,640 because you have agency, when in fact actually that is in large 870 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:43,920 part a delusion. So once you understand the idea 871 00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:48,680 of non self, once you overturn the basic delusion at the base 872 00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:53,080 of dependent origination, a lot of that is taken away here. 873 00:44:53,240 --> 00:44:56,840 You no longer identify with being the doer because you no 874 00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,040 longer identify with being the doer. 875 00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:03,200 You don't enjoy the act of doing anymore because you don't enjoy 876 00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,520 the act of doing. And because you know you can't 877 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:09,440 create happiness that way anyway, again, you stop the 878 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:12,920 intentional activities. Yeah, the intentional activities 879 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:14,960 die down. And because the intentional 880 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:18,960 activities die down again, the whole sequence of dependent 881 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:22,880 origination, which leads to suffering, all that dies down to 882 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:24,560 her. And as a consequence you 883 00:45:24,560 --> 00:45:26,760 experience more and more happiness. 884 00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:28,920 This is the outcome of this whole thing here. 885 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:34,560 So my point here is simply to make the point that as long as 886 00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:39,000 we have delusion in our life, as long as we look for happiness in 887 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:42,640 the wrong place, as long as we think that we are agents who 888 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:46,400 have power to actually change the world and also we identify 889 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:49,360 with that agency, we are bound to make mistakes. 890 00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:54,240 And we are in our own life right here, right now, perpetuating 891 00:45:54,240 --> 00:45:57,960 suffering in our own life and also suffering down, down the 892 00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:00,320 line in future lives at the same time. 893 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:07,160 So that is a very brief idea of how dependent origination, the 894 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:10,720 very, the first three factors very briefly explained how they 895 00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:13,720 work on the path. Just to kind of bring that in, I 896 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:15,240 think, I think it's very fascinating. 897 00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:20,120 I like to bring in some of the deeper aspects of Buddhism, even 898 00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:22,920 on this Friday night talks. Yeah, I think it's actually very 899 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:25,680 useful to understand some of these aspects, because when you 900 00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:29,200 understand these things, it actually leads, I think, to 901 00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:33,120 create a confidence in these very powerful teachings of the 902 00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:35,800 Buddha. So just to summarise very 903 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:37,640 briefly what this talk is all about. 904 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:42,080 It is about delusion being the main problem in life. 905 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:44,240 This is what we're trying to overcome. 906 00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:47,520 If you want to overcome delusion, the Noble Eightfold 907 00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:50,440 Path, the Buddhist practice, is the way to overcome that. 908 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:54,160 What is the Buddhist practice? One way of summarising the 909 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:57,000 Buddhist practice, you can summarise it in one word, and 910 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:00,880 that is kindness. Be kind, live well. 911 00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:05,440 And as you do, that delusion declines until one day. 912 00:47:05,640 --> 00:47:07,560 Yeah, You take your little claws. 913 00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:10,280 You take your little beak, The little claws in the beak. 914 00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:12,880 This is kind of a metaphor for the lack of the hindrance 915 00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:14,400 scissor. It's a kind of strange metaphor. 916 00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:16,400 But anyway, that's what it's a metaphor for. 917 00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:18,600 You kind of claw. Get out of the egg. 918 00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:20,120 Yeah, You can make a little hole in the egg. 919 00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:25,240 RIP open the egg shell. And wow, Now you see the world 920 00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:27,000 for what it actually is for the first time. 921 00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:30,000 And that is what you have waiting for you down the line if 922 00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:32,200 you keep on practicing this path there. 923 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:47,210 OK, that is all for tonight. OK, So now is your chance to ask 924 00:47:47,210 --> 00:47:51,050 questions to. If you are confused, that's OK. 925 00:47:51,050 --> 00:47:54,050 It's perfectly acceptable. If you're not confused, that's 926 00:47:54,050 --> 00:47:57,050 also OK. So if you have any comments or 927 00:47:57,050 --> 00:47:59,250 questions, this is the right time. 928 00:48:00,970 --> 00:48:02,730 Everybody wait. Thank you very much. 929 00:48:05,330 --> 00:48:07,210 No comments. Whoa, OK. 930 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:14,560 Oh, over here. This will come over here. 931 00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:22,830 Yeah. So when you said that 932 00:48:22,990 --> 00:48:28,190 activities, ceasing activities means that we'll suffer less, is 933 00:48:28,190 --> 00:48:32,670 that to do with the idea that just being calm or not pursuing 934 00:48:32,670 --> 00:48:36,150 these things are going to? So yeah, I'm just confused about 935 00:48:36,150 --> 00:48:38,350 the whole activities thing. Does that mean we should try and 936 00:48:38,550 --> 00:48:44,120 be more like less reactive and just not do as much and be like 937 00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:48,800 just have a simpler existence? Yeah, that's, that's one way of, 938 00:48:48,840 --> 00:48:50,640 of thinking about that. But I what I was really 939 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:52,960 referring to was more like meditation experiences. 940 00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:56,200 And when you get into a deep state of meditation, what 941 00:48:56,200 --> 00:48:57,600 happens? The mind gets completely 942 00:48:57,600 --> 00:48:59,400 unified. There's no movement in the mind 943 00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:01,320 anymore. There's no activity going on 944 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:03,200 there. And you realize for the first 945 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:05,080 time in another, actually no activity. 946 00:49:05,080 --> 00:49:07,600 It's just so amazingly fantastic. 947 00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:11,000 It feels, you know, the highest bliss you can possibly have is 948 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:13,000 when the mind becomes absolutely still. 949 00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:15,720 So that's what I meant by that. But you're right, you can also 950 00:49:15,720 --> 00:49:17,080 bring it into your ordinary life. 951 00:49:17,560 --> 00:49:21,440 And, you know, one of the ways of, of doing that, as you say, 952 00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:24,560 is trying to flow through life rather than react to things all 953 00:49:24,560 --> 00:49:26,080 the time. Try to go with the flow. 954 00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:27,640 Yeah. When I'm trying to kind of 955 00:49:28,320 --> 00:49:31,440 always control things and trying to kind of make things, the more 956 00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:34,120 you're trying to control things in life, the more problems 957 00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:36,160 you're going to have, the more you're able to go with the flow. 958 00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:40,560 It means that you realise that the world is, is always like 959 00:49:40,560 --> 00:49:41,080 this. Yeah. 960 00:49:41,080 --> 00:49:43,800 And the more you're able to go with the kind of changeability 961 00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,400 of the world, the less resistance that is inside of 962 00:49:46,400 --> 00:49:48,080 you, the easier time you're going to have it. 963 00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:49,240 So you're right about that as well. 964 00:49:49,240 --> 00:49:53,160 Yeah, yeah. OK. 965 00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:55,360 Anyone else, Everyone else happy here? 966 00:49:55,480 --> 00:49:58,040 Yeah, here. Great. 967 00:49:58,040 --> 00:50:02,200 OK, last chance. OK, look, OK, didn't take it. 968 00:50:02,200 --> 00:50:05,280 Sorry. That's so a couple of questions 969 00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:07,520 from overseas. First one is from Volfram in 970 00:50:07,520 --> 00:50:11,400 Germany. Can I say that delusion is all 971 00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:15,720 that disturbs the peace? How can I be sure that my inside 972 00:50:15,720 --> 00:50:19,880 is also not delusion? Do I feel the difference between 973 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:24,360 delusion and inside? OK, very good questions. 974 00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:29,200 Does delusion disturb the peace? Yes, it disturbs the peace. 975 00:50:29,920 --> 00:50:32,400 Because delusion, right, is the craving. 976 00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:35,000 It is the ill will. And of course, ill will and 977 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:37,640 craving by the very nature disturb the peace. 978 00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:40,960 Craving is precisely about not being content in the present 979 00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:42,520 moment, thinking about the future. 980 00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,160 Ill will is about thinking about things that may have happened in 981 00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:47,640 the past. So indeed that's certainly 982 00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:50,600 disturb of the peace. But even when you become very 983 00:50:50,600 --> 00:50:54,400 peaceful, even if you go into a state of full samadhi, yeah, 984 00:50:54,400 --> 00:50:58,400 full meditation, there is still an underlying delusion left at 985 00:50:58,400 --> 00:51:01,440 that particular point. And that is the delusion that 986 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:03,960 you can overthrow through insight. 987 00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:09,000 So you make your mind peaceful as far as you possibly can, then 988 00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:13,240 inside becomes possible from that, and then the delusion will 989 00:51:13,240 --> 00:51:16,480 become completely gone. And that's why once you become 990 00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:19,240 fully awakened, you have a very high degree of peace as a 991 00:51:19,240 --> 00:51:22,360 consequence. How can I be sure that my 992 00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:26,360 insight is not delusion? Well, delusion comes, as I was 993 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:30,640 trying to say, in a large number of degrees. 994 00:51:30,640 --> 00:51:34,920 Yeah, you have the most kind of really powerful delusion of very 995 00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:38,920 strong anger or very strong ill will or being very confused or 996 00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:41,720 whatever, being in darkness and all these kind of things. 997 00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:45,880 Very strong delusion. But then you gain a little bit 998 00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:47,920 of insight, and it may be your insight. 999 00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:49,640 Is that OK? This anger is no good. 1000 00:51:49,640 --> 00:51:53,240 Let me try to have less anger. Or you have some kind of small 1001 00:51:53,240 --> 00:51:56,280 insight in your daily life about where you seek your happiness or 1002 00:51:56,280 --> 00:52:00,160 whatever it is that is less delusion than the previous 1003 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:02,160 delusion. Yeah, it doesn't mean that you 1004 00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:04,880 are entirely free of delusion, but it means that you have the 1005 00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:06,680 less delusion than you had before here. 1006 00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:10,600 In this way, you gradually reduce your delusion until one 1007 00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:12,440 day you are completely free of it. 1008 00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:15,960 But to actually know whether you are completely free or delusion, 1009 00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:18,680 that is the hard one. And many people will tend to 1010 00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:20,600 overestimate themselves. Yeah, I think. 1011 00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,040 Yeah, well, I'm an arrow hunter. Yeah. 1012 00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:25,840 You kind of, you go on the Internet and you see kind of 1013 00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:27,920 these people claim to be fully enlightened. 1014 00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:29,280 Yeah. My, my name is John. 1015 00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:31,640 I'm an arrow hunt. Yeah, kind of on the website. 1016 00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:34,240 And straight away you think, well, maybe not. 1017 00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:36,480 Yeah, there's something slightly fishy about this. 1018 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:40,360 So sometimes people overestimate themselves. 1019 00:52:40,360 --> 00:52:43,680 The hard part is actually to know at what point you are 1020 00:52:43,720 --> 00:52:47,280 entirely free of delusion. And one of the ways of knowing 1021 00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:51,200 that is that you know that actually you have ended rebirth. 1022 00:52:51,720 --> 00:52:54,160 Yeah, you actually know that as a fact that you've ended 1023 00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:55,920 rebirth. You may wonder how that is 1024 00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:58,920 possible, but that is actually one of the consequences of being 1025 00:52:58,920 --> 00:53:00,320 a fully awakened being. Yeah. 1026 00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:04,720 Do I feel the difference between delusion and insight? 1027 00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:06,760 Yes. You feel very easy to feel the 1028 00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:09,120 difference if you have a real insight. 1029 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:12,920 Insight has consequences. One of the main consequences of 1030 00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:14,760 insight is that you feel at peace. 1031 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:18,800 Why? Because insight is precisely 1032 00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:22,400 insight into the three characteristics of suffering. 1033 00:53:22,400 --> 00:53:25,680 Yeah, if you understand if you have an insight into suffering, 1034 00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:29,120 it means you let go of that. When you let go of something, 1035 00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:30,840 you feel more peaceful as a consequence. 1036 00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:34,840 If you have an insight that you know this particular pursuit, 1037 00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:37,440 trying to kind of climb the corporate ladder or whatever, 1038 00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:40,880 suddenly one day this is crazy, what am I doing this for? 1039 00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:43,960 Suddenly you will feel more peaceful as a consequence 1040 00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:46,880 because some of that craving and attachment will die down there. 1041 00:53:47,480 --> 00:53:50,280 So that's how you recognise insight always comes with a 1042 00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:54,160 sense of peace, always comes with a sense of calm delusion 1043 00:53:54,720 --> 00:53:59,360 can is not always restless, but at the very least it is a bit 1044 00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:02,440 confused and a little bit problematic in other ways. 1045 00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:07,480 OK, this is from Anjeev in India. 1046 00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:11,760 Hello Anjeev, what do you advise to someone who understands 1047 00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:15,880 delusion in theory but is still addicted to sensual pleasures? 1048 00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:20,720 OK, so, so theory is a good start. 1049 00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:22,400 Yeah. So be happy that you got the 1050 00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:24,240 theory right. So you should be feel really 1051 00:54:24,560 --> 00:54:27,040 happy with yourself and kind of give yourself a pat on the back. 1052 00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:31,320 I got the theory right. Continue reading The Suitors of 1053 00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:34,240 the Buddha as you do that, that addiction. 1054 00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:38,040 Everyone is addicted to sensual pleasures to some extent, except 1055 00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:41,200 if you have gone a long, long, long way on the Buddhist path. 1056 00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:43,200 Yeah. So first of all, don't worry too 1057 00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:46,280 much about it. But as you start, the more you 1058 00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:48,920 read The Suitors of the Buddha, the more you understand what he 1059 00:54:48,920 --> 00:54:52,360 was we're talking about, the more clear it will be to you why 1060 00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:55,800 this is problematic. And gradually, as you practice 1061 00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:59,480 the Buddhist path, as you practice kindness, it's possible 1062 00:54:59,480 --> 00:55:02,360 to indulge in sensual players and be kind at the same time. 1063 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:06,480 Yeah, as you practice kindness, your source of happiness comes 1064 00:55:06,480 --> 00:55:08,560 from somewhere else. It comes from the inner 1065 00:55:08,560 --> 00:55:10,120 contentment, the inner happiness. 1066 00:55:10,680 --> 00:55:13,800 As your source of happiness comes from somewhere else, your 1067 00:55:13,800 --> 00:55:16,240 addiction to sensual pleasures will decline. 1068 00:55:17,160 --> 00:55:19,080 We get into a really deep state of meditation. 1069 00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:21,720 Essential pleasures will be completely gone because you're 1070 00:55:21,720 --> 00:55:24,160 getting your happiness somewhere completely different. 1071 00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:28,480 But in the meantime, read the word of the Buddha. 1072 00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:31,760 Try to understand the dangers that he talked about in sensual 1073 00:55:31,760 --> 00:55:34,160 pleasures. I believe I have talked about 1074 00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:35,880 the dangers of sensual pleasures here before. 1075 00:55:35,880 --> 00:55:38,640 I can't remember what I talked about anymore now, but I think I 1076 00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:40,600 have, and maybe I will give another talk about that in the 1077 00:55:40,600 --> 00:55:43,120 future. It's very interesting actually 1078 00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:45,200 what Buddha has to say about these things. 1079 00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:49,560 So maybe I will do that, Anjir, and maybe stay tuned in one of 1080 00:55:49,560 --> 00:55:52,200 these days and get another talk on the dangerous essential 1081 00:55:52,200 --> 00:55:54,440 pleasures. In the meantime, good luck. 1082 00:55:54,720 --> 00:55:58,040 Remember, come back to the word of the Buddha again and again 1083 00:55:58,040 --> 00:56:01,120 and again. As you do that, your view, your 1084 00:56:01,120 --> 00:56:04,040 delusion gradually gets straightened out and then you 1085 00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:09,640 are in business, as I say here. OK, very good everyone. 1086 00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:11,440 So let's just pay respect the Buddha Masanga. 1087 00:56:23,320 --> 00:56:23,640 None.