(EA18)-01-The-Wrong-Concept-of-Mindfulness

evening. A few days ago, I think last Monday, Brother Ho came with Brother Lau and with their wives. They asked me some questions concerning meditation and all that. So I answered and I showed them an article by Dr. Alan Wallace, which was published in the Tricycle magazine. in spring of this year, where he talked about mindfulness, saying that a lot of people have the wrong idea about mindfulness. And he said that he discussed on this subject, on meditation and mindfulness, with Dr. Wallace, with Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, and another Venerable Analayo, and another or something like that. So based on that, he wrote this article saying that nowadays people have a warped concept of mindfulness and the mindfulness that they are practicing is not the Buddha's mindfulness. Saying that the mindfulness what is being practiced now is being used for psychotherapy. That's why it's very popular in America. And he says that without concentration, mindfulness, you cannot, when your mind is agitated, and you try to observe, you try to see clearly, with all the agitation in the mind, you can never see clearly. And that is why concentration is always stressed in the, in the Buddha's discourses that when the mind is calm and tranquil and no hindrances to disturb you and then when you observe then you can see very clearly. Also he says that nowadays people practice mindfulness and they think that Mindfulness is everything, so that everything else they neglect to study, like the Buddha's discourses and also many other important subjects that the Buddha talked about, like the 37 Bodhipakya Dharmas. So he says all this is going the wrong way, he's trying to bring people back to the real teaching of the Buddha. So I would I urge those of you who have a computer and are able to access the website to look up this article. Either you look up under Dr. Alan Wallace or under Tricycle, spring issue of Tricycle magazine this year.

(EA18)-02-Can-a-Layperson-Enter-Stream-entry

Brothers and sisters, I have studied for a long time about this situation. People like us living in a very busy life, just listen to the Dharma, and understanding the Dharma, and practice the Dharma, without going for further, what is called enlightenment, or living in a forest situation, can we go into stream entry or higher stage? So I think tonight Malti can give us more enlightenment to assist Malti. Okay, so the question is whether a layperson can attain stream entry. We find in the sutras and the Vinaya books, that many people attained stream entry during the Buddha's time and most of them were lay people and some after attaining stream entry they became monks and nuns. Now, how does a person attain stream entry? Stream entry actually is the first path. In the Buddha's teachings, The Buddha talked about eight Aryans, eight types of Aryan people, noble persons. First path, attainer, the first fruit, second path, second fruit, third path, third fruit, and fourth path, fourth fruit. Now, the Burmese like to say, based on the Abhidhamma, that when you attain the path, it immediately the next moment becomes the fruit. This is the Abhidharma teaching. But there is no evidence of this in the Suttas and the Vinaya books. In fact, if you study the Suttas and the Vinaya books, you find it is contradictory to the Suttas and the Vinaya. In the Suttas and the Vinaya, So Buddha said in Samyutta Nikaya, I think Samyutta 25, that when a person attains first path, it takes some time before it becomes fruit. And at the latest, before he passes away, that path will turn into fruit. So how long it takes depends on the person. Now if you say that you attain the first path and then immediately the next moment it becomes a fruit. What it means basically is that you cannot find a path attainer. Because if a person attains a path and immediately becomes a fruit, then he exists only, that path person only exists for such a short time sana, unconscious moment. And so In reality, you don't find the path person. But in the suttas, the Buddha talked about the merit of giving to individual person. If you give an offering to a putujana, an ordinary person, the merit is not much. But actually in the Anguttara Nikaya 9.20, and Majima Nikaya 142, Dakina Wibanga Sutta. The Buddha said that in his previous life, he made a lot of charity, a lot of donations, a lot of offerings, so much at that time when he was a Brahmin. that you could say he gave away 84,000 buckets of gold, 84,000 buckets of silver, 84,000 buckets of precious stones, 84,000 pairs of cattle, 84,000 pairs of pigs, 84,000 pairs of chickens, etc. And the food and the drinks that he gave flowed so much like the river. And the Buddha said, in spite of giving so much, that merit was not much. In fact the Buddha said if he had given because he said why the merit was not much because there was no person with right view to receive it. Not one of the persons he gave to had right view. He said that if he had given to one person with right view the merit would have been more. Now after this the Buddha said Even if he had given to 100 persons with right view, the merit is less than giving to one Sotapanna, the first fruition person. And then after that he said, giving to 100 Sotapanna also the merit is less than making offerings to one second path attainer. In the same way, second fruit, third path, third fruit, fourth path, fourth fruit, in the same way. So from here, what the Buddha means is that you can actually make offerings to a path attainer. Right? So definitely a path attainer exists for you to make offerings to. That being the case, the Abhidhamma teaching is wrong. That person only exists for one conscious moment. If he exists for one conscious moment, he has no chance to make offerings to him. Right? So okay, this is the first thing. Also from this sutta, you find that when the Buddha said, giving to 100 persons with right view is less than giving to one sotapanna. It shows that the person who attains the first path, attains stream entry, is a person with right view. Once you attain right view, you have entered the stream, you are a first path attainer. So if you want to attain stream entry, the criterion is to attain Right View. That is why in the Majjhima Nikaya Sutta 117, the Buddha said, if you want to practice the Noble Eightfold Path, you must start with the first factor, which is Right View. You must start with Right View. After you attain Right View, that will bring you to the second factor, Right Thoughts. And right thoughts will lead you to right speech, which will lead you to right action, which will lead you to right livelihood, which will lead you to right effort, which will lead you to right recollection, which will lead you to right concentration. So it has to go in that way. That is why the Noble Eightfold Path is always stated in that manner. You simply cannot rojak. Start with anyone you like. So that's the important thing to remember, that you have to get Right View to become Arya. Now, how to get Right View? It's very clearly stated in the Majjhima Nikaya Sutta, I think 43, that there are only two conditions for you to attain Right View. The first condition is the voice of another. The second is Yoniso Manasikara. You could simply translate it as proper attention. So you see, to get right view, the first condition is the voice of another. That means another person must teach you the Dhamma, then only you can get right view. You cannot get it by yourself by meditating and think that you can see clearly and get right view. That is impossible. According to this sutta, the voice of another only will give you right view. So in this one also you have to be very careful. That's why the Buddha realized that in the future there will be a lot of wrong views. And even he gave warning about famous monks who are so popular and famous and having a big following. Yet the Buddha says that they can have wrong view. That's why the Buddha says that we should always take the suttas and the Vinaya as our teacher after he is gone. So, the voice of another. So you have to either listen to the Dhamma from another person or read it in the books from another person. We are very lucky actually that the original teachings of the Buddha found in the earliest discourses are still available with us right up to now, to about 2,500 years after the Buddha has passed into Nibbana. So this is not the Dhamma ending age, like some people like to say this is the Dhamma ending age, because the Dhamma is still with us. It's only those people who are lazy to study the Dharma, who are lazy to practice, for them it's the Dharma ending case. Hopeless case. Even with the Buddha around also, you cannot help such people. There were a lot of such people even during the Buddha's time. That's why when the Buddha was in India, he was not as popular as we would have expected. During the Buddha's time, there were a few external sect teachers, and some of them were actually teaching nonsense, like there's no kamma vipaka. And yet, in spite of teaching nonsense, some of them were very popular. So, the Dhamma actually is very profound, very deep. Only people with wisdom can appreciate the Dhamma. That's why 99.99% of Buddhas refuse to teach the Dharma. Because they find that they are wasting their breath. Very few people actually can fathom the Dharma. So okay, coming back to this stream entry. So... It is from actually listening to the Dhamma that you can attain stream entry. That is why if the Buddha does not teach the Dhamma in this world, you cannot find any Arya. You cannot find. Even you might be a great meditator like Jesus Christ or some of these Hindu yogis, they meditate until they have all kinds of psychic power. And yet, as long as they don't hear the Dhamma, they can never become an Arya. You see, they can meditate until they have all the Jhanas and the mind is so clear. The Buddha says, in that state, they have great wisdom. They have great wisdom. That's why a person like Jesus Christ, you see, his teachings are actually signs of a holy person. And yet, to us, he's not an Arya as long as he has not heard the Dhamma. Only when you hear the Dhamma can you become an Arya. Now there is another Sutta that corroborates this, it's called the Sarakani Sutta in the Samyutta Nikaya. In that Sutta, there was a Sakyan by the name of Sarakani. He used to drink liquor, and then one day he passed away. But he was a follower of the Buddha. Then people came to ask the Buddha, where has Sarakani taken rebirth? Then the Buddha said that Sarakani has gone for a good rebirth because he was a Sotapanna. So when many people heard that the Buddha said that Sarakani was a Sotapanna, many people were annoyed. Why? They said this Sarakani is a drinker. How can he be a Sotapanna? If he can be a Sotapanna, all of us can be Sotapanna. So when the monks heard that, they reported this to the Buddha. So when the Buddha heard that, the Buddha said, why shouldn't Sarakani be a Suttapanna? He has followed the Dhamma for a long time. And then the Buddha said, not to say Sarakani, the Buddha said, even these trees, these big trees, if they can understand What I say, they can differentiate between what is wholesome and what is not wholesome. Even these trees can become Sotapanna. You see, the Buddha did not say, if these trees can meditate, even they can become a Sotapanna. No. The Buddha said, if these trees can understand my words, they can become a Sotapanna. So becoming a Sotapanna is from listening to the words of the Buddha. Just like just now, We heard that right view is from listening to the voice of another person. So this is very important because nowadays some monks teach that only by meditation that you can attain Shreem Entry or can become a Sutta Panna. But this is not what the Buddha says. So if you just meditate and you don't want to study the suttas, and then you can never get right view. Several years ago in Penang, we had a lady who was practicing Vipassana meditation for 20 over years and was a committee member of this meditation center. And then after so many years of meditation, she gave up Buddhism, changed her religion. that shows the basic understanding of the Dhamma was not there because the Buddha says that if you have attained stream entry then you have unshakable faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. You will never desert the Dhamma. So that's why nowadays you have all these various types of meditation teachers and sometimes they say contradictory things I know some of the things they said, but it's not nice to say in public. Recently, we had one Samatha teacher come, and then Vipassana yogi asked him something, and then he contradicted that yogi. And then he gave his own view of how to become Arya. But then when I listened to what he says, it's not what the Buddha says. So you have to be very careful.

(EA18)-03-Regarding-the-Figures-Used-in-the-Suttas

Okay, so the question is whether these figures, 84,500 and all that, they are exact or they are just, how do you call it, metaphoric or symbolic? I would say they are symbolic. Because in India, they have certain figures like this which they quote all the time. It's not like 83,950. It's always 84,000. So what they mean is a big number. Sometimes they say 500. It's also not exactly 500. Yeah, but even though you don't know exactly the figure that is meant, but you have an idea that it is a certain amount Say for example, when the Buddha says 500, you can take it maybe to vary from 100 to 1000. So it doesn't affect our practice, our understanding. We have other aspects, like the story of the chanakya one, where a hundred years coming in and out and things like that. So my way of looking at it is to emphasize the point of how difficult it is to be born as a human being. Yes, yes. And I take that as an inspiration. Yes, yes. Definitely. In the sutras, the Buddha says that there are two rebirths which you fall into, two realms of rebirth. You'll be there for extremely long time and very difficult to get back the human form. That is if you are reborn in hell and you are reborn in the animal realm. Because these are the two worst places of rebirth you can go to. In fact, in hell, you'll be there for so long. That's why, like in Christianity and in Islam, they say that if you fall into hell, you'll be there for eternity. It's almost eternity, but eventually one day you'll come back. Also, if you're reborn in the animal realm, you'll be pretty wild there. Animals eat each other, and always very fierce. There's no chance to do good, no chance to improve yourself, no chance to learn the Dharma. no chance to do charity, etc. That's why it's very difficult to get up from the animal world also. So if all you did is two, then that simile of the blind turtle in the ocean, that would be very true.

(EA18)-04-About-Homosexuality

homosexuality It's a difficult topic but from the Vinaya point of view at one time there was a certain monk who came to ordain and he was accepted to become a monk then he was practicing homosexuality then he asked the monks to make love to him and the monks refused Then he went outside and asked these workers, these low workers, kulis, to make love to him and then they did. So from there, the monks got a bad reputation. So when the Buddha heard of this, the Buddha said that Pandakka cannot be ordained. Now this word Pandakka is one of the words which people have trouble translating. The earlier books, you know, the earlier books, their translation is usually wrong. It's like they translate jhana as trance. So people think, oh, when you enter jhana, you are in the trance. Apa pun tak tau. But that's the opposite of jhana. When you are in jhana, your mind is very alert, extremely alert. So the same with this word Pandaka, they translated it as Yuna. Yuna meaning a person who is castrated. I don't think this is the right translation. So as far as the Vinaya is concerned, if a person is a practicing homosexual, he is not allowed to become a monk. You know, nowadays, people in the West, they have accepted homosexuality and lesbianism and all these things so much that they think it's nothing wrong to be a homosexual. And there are some men who have the tendency to like other men, but they are not practicing homosexuals. And such people have learned have been ordained. And it's not a problem because they don't cause problem. So in that sense, yes, acceptable. But then if you talk about lay people and the lay life, people who want to be homosexuals and want to be lesbians, I think it's not such a big problem if they don't wear the robe. Because in the lay life, as long as you don't harm others, you can do what you like. And as far as the Dharma is concerned, whether you are heterosexual or you are homosexual, all this will lead you in samsara. will bind you, keep you in the round of rebirths. So if you want to get out of the round of rebirths, you don't only have to give up homosexuality and lesbianism, you also have to give up heterosexuality, worldly pleasures, sensual pleasures, which is of course extremely difficult to do. Even people who wear the robes after some time, they also go back to lay life because they miss all all the pleasures of the world. So do you need to imply that for example the breach of the third precept would apply in a similar way to the lesbian or homosexual or heterosexual? When you talk about the third precept sexual misconduct for lay people actually it is defined quite clearly in the suttas In the suttas, for example in the Majjhima Nikaya, I don't remember the number, Buddha said that sexual misconduct means having, number one, having sexual relations with a married person. Number two, having sexual relations with somebody who is engaged, engaged to somebody else. Number three, having sexual relations with somebody underage, which is also against the law. Even the first two are also against the law. All three are against the law. And then the fourth, having sexual relations with somebody which is not allowed by law. For example, a monk or a nun. or a king's concubine or a king's wife and all that. That is sexual misconduct in the Dhamma, in the Suttas. Which means that if two single persons, adults, if they want to live together like what is happening nowadays, it is not against the precept. This is a bit different from other religions. Ah, that's why some people when they listen to it, Buddhism very mod, up with the times. In fact, during the Buddha's time, you can marry as many wives as you can afford to. And many years ago, even in Malaysia, You don't have to sign contract. You can have a common law marriage. Common law wife, common law husband.

(EA18)-05-Definition-of-Sati-and-Enlightenment

Since nobody asked, I take the opportunity to clarify this mindfulness again. I read the article there. So you see, they say that Sapi has been translated as mindfulness. Mindfulness has been translated as bare attention, which is quite obvious. So then, this Sapi thing would have this element of recollection. And then, you would have the opposite to forgetfulness, right? So, what has been one of the Sutta Majjhima, In Mahayana, the Buddha did mention that he would not chase after the past even because of his own emotion. So if that was the case, how do you reconcile this point? That in the Mahayana, the Buddha talks about the present moment and the past. But now, you say that there is a recollection. So if there is a recollection, does the mind go to the past? It shows you have not read my book, Mindfulness, Recollection and Concentration. You have forgotten. There I mentioned that even though we use the word recollection for the word sati, It's basically because the word Sati comes from a word which is spelled S-M-R-T-I which has something to do with memory, remembering. So although we use the word recollection, it is not to do with recollecting the past because this word recollection means recalling, bringing to mind remembering also. But this word remembering or recollection does not necessarily only refer to the past. It can refer to the present or refer to the future. For example, remember to lock the door when you go out. That is either the present or the future, isn't it? So why sati has to do with remembering is because when we When we contemplate, we are supposed to contemplate four objects and only four objects. The body, feelings, the mind and Dhamma. These are the four objects of Sati or Satipatthana. And the Buddha warned in the Suttas, for example in the Satipatthana Samyutta, that we should not pay our attention to the external world. objects of the five senses. I mean sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch. Because the Buddha said this is Mara's ground, Mara's playground. And Mara can catch you in these five senses, five sense doors. For example, you see a pretty girl or a handsome man, and then your heart goes wild. And then you do things that you should not do. or you hear certain sounds and you are enticed by those sounds or taste, etc. So these are the sensual pleasures that we can get caught in. So the Buddha said that when we observe these sense objects, we don't pay too much attention, don't grasp at it, we just notice to cope. But we still have to pay some attention. Otherwise, for example, when you are walking on the road, you might bump on the lamppost or fall into the drain. Now, paying attention or mindfulness is sampajani. The word sampajanya means mindfulness. But sati means recollection, means remembering to put your attention to contemplate on these four things. Always remember to bring your mind back to these four things. That's why the word remembering is so important. If we don't remember, the mind will start running. Even like Anapanasati, recollecting the breath. After watching your breath for a while, the mind tends to run away. And then we have to remember to bring it back to the breath, which the mind does not want to do. Why? Because the mind is always running. And this running is actually asava. Asava is uncontrolled mental outflows. The tendency of the mind to run is so fierce that whenever you don't pay attention, it immediately runs. Daytime, you'll be daydreaming. And then nighttime, you'll be nightdreaming. Right? So, this tendency of the mind to run is saṃsāra. Because when the mind is running, it is consciousness running. And consciousness, the six consciousness makes up the world. The five external consciousness makes up the outer world. The mind, mental consciousness makes up our inner world. So, the cause of saṃsāra actually is the mind running. That is why it is very difficult to practice Samatha meditation. The mind does not want to be still. The mind does not want to be calm. The mind does not want to be tame. The mind is wild. So when you try to concentrate on one object, the mind does not like. It is very difficult. That is why even some monks, they give up the lay life to become a monk and still they cannot tame their mind. Even after 30 over years they disrobe. As long as they cannot tame their mind, they are not happy in robes. The Buddha said in the suttas, it is very difficult to find happiness in the robes. Unless you are able to tame your mind, it is very difficult. Because you are not doing what you like to do. So disciplined life. So only when you can find mental happiness, then only you can find happiness in the robes. So always remember the tendency of the mind to run. This is the cause of samsara. That's why Samatha meditation is to train your mind to become one-pointed. When you attain jhana and your mind becomes one-pointed, it does not flow. Your mind does not flow. Now if you are able to stop the flow for some time, slowly you can prolong it. When you are able to prolong it, one day you will stop the tendency to flow and then you will become an Arahant. Because the Buddha talked about the Abhinyas, the six higher knowledges. Out of these six higher knowledges, five of them have to do with psychic power. Heavenly eye, heavenly ear, remembering your past life, reading people's mind, and different types of psychic power, flying, walking through the wall, diving into the earth, all these things. But all these things are not so important. The most important out of these six is the one called Destruction of the Asavas. Destruction of the Asavas is the attainment of Arahanthood. That's why an arahant is called a kinasava, one who has destroyed the asavas. So the meaning of enlightenment is actually destruction of the asavas. A lot of people think enlightenment means becoming, getting wisdom. No, it's not getting wisdom. You can be a wise old man, but as long as you have not destroyed the asavas. So destroying the asavas actually is a physical happening. It's a physical happening, that the mind suddenly, the tendency of the mind to flow is cut. That's why you find like the earliest arahants, the five monks, The Buddha taught them the Jhanas so that their mind attained to tranquility. So when the Buddha was enlightened, he came back to them. He never asked them to meditate. He asked them to sit. I will teach you the Dhamma. First he taught the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. And then hearing that Sutta, out of the five, one, Kondanya, attained stream entry. Right? Only one. And then the Buddha continued preaching the Dharma to them one after another until he preached the Anathalakana Sutta. Then hearing this Sutta, all five attained Arahanthood, destroyed the Asavas. Now, just after hearing a few Suttas, they became Arahants already. Then after that, when Venerable Asaji, one of the five monks, went on Pindapatta, And then Venerable Sariputta saw him. Wah, this is great. Went to approach him. Approach him and then ask him, who is your teacher? What dharma does he teach? Please explain. Then this Venerable Asaji, you know what he said? He said, I am newly gone forth, newly ordained. He said, I don't know much dharma. He said, I can't tell you much dharma. But in a very short form I can tell you. Then he said the famous words in Chinese, all dharmas arise through conditions and they cease through conditions. That means everything in the world arises through conditions and ceases through conditions. Nothing arises by itself, nothing is suddenly created, as some people think, by God or what. All is dependently arisen. Now just hearing this, Sariputta attained Srim Entry. Now just now what I was trying to tell you was that an Arahant like this Venerable Asaji, having heard so few suttas, he doesn't know much Dhamma, but he is enlightened. All the arahants that the Buddha approached to teach, all of them had jhāna. Either they attained jhāna in this lifetime, or in the previous human existence, they already attained jhāna. So when the Buddha preached the Dhamma to them, without meditation, they attained, one by one attained arahanthood. And in the suttas, the Buddha said that the condition for attaining the third fruit and the fourth fruit is actually the four jhānas. Jhāna is a pre-condition, And then the final condition is hearing the Dhamma. If you don't have the Dhamma, but if you don't have Jhana, you just hear the Dhamma, you can attain stream entry. When we say Dhamma, we mean the Four Noble Truths. When you say getting right view, getting right view means understanding the Four Noble Truths. There's a lot of Dhammas outside. In the suttas, the Buddha always defined perfect concentration as the four jhanas. Not one jhana, you know, four jhanas. Samma Samadhi is the four jhanas. But for us, we don't have to aim for the four jhanas, because we don't have to aim for enlightenment. We should attain for stream entry. Once you attain stream entry, that means you un-ner. Secure. You'll never fall into the woeful plains. But in the next lifetime, you come back to Darupa. Forgot already. But even though you forgot, you will come back. You will come and look for the Dhamma.

(EA18)-06-What-is-Vipassana

Ok, coming to the Siddha Samadhi, Paññā is actually very important. Now, the Paññā, is it Vipassana? Oh, no, no, no. Vipassana is wrongly translated as Wisdom, Paññā. It is not. In the Suttas, Vipassana means contemplation. The Chinese have translated it correctly, Samatha and Vipassana, they translate it as Chir Quan. Chir is stilling the mind, Quan is contemplation. So Vipassana is just contemplation. And in the Suttas it is said that you need Samatha and Vipassana to attain enlightenment. So Samatha means the four Jhanas. Vipassana means listening to the Dhamma. You listen to the Dhamma and you understand the Dhamma, you contemplate the Dhamma, that is Vipassana. That is why in the Suttas, the Buddha says that a person becomes enlightened under five conditions, five occasions a person becomes enlightened. First one is when he is listening to the Dhamma. and then he contemplates and he understands and he becomes enlightened. The second one when he is teaching the Dhamma, when he is teaching also he is contemplating, there is also Vipassana there, also he can become enlightened. The third one when he is repeating the Dhamma, during the Buddha's time they had no books, they had to repeat the suttas again and again. And because it was in their local language, each time they repeat the sutta, they can understand. So the more times they repeat, it's just like we reading the sutta more times. The more times you read the sutta, the more we understand. That is the third occasion a person becomes enlightened. The fourth one when he's reflecting on the Dhamma. Having learned the sutta, you reflect on it, think about it, then you can understand. That also is Vipassana. Then the last one is during meditation, when you contemplate on the Samadhi Nimitta. So you see, out of the five times when a person becomes enlightened, four of them has to do with Dhamma. And these four is actually Vipassana. A lot of people don't realise that Vipassana meditation that is taught nowadays was created about 40 years ago. 100 years ago, you talk to people, nobody heard of Vipassana meditation. If anybody can tell me the contrary, you just show me any evidence that Vipassana meditation existed earlier than 40 years ago. I challenge anybody to prove to me that Vipassana meditation existed more than 40 years ago. Absolutely not. Not possible. Because Vipassana meditation started with Mahasi Sayadaw. That is why it was called Mahasi method of meditation. It was not called the Buddha's method of meditation because at that time in Burma, everybody knew that the Buddha's method of meditation was Anapanasati. In the Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha said, told his disciples, if anybody asks what type of meditation the Buddha practiced, The Buddha told them to say, told them, you tell them that the Buddha practised Anapanasati. The Buddha said before enlightenment he practised Anapanasati. And even after enlightenment he practises Anapanasati. So the Buddha's method is Anapanasati. But nowadays, you have a certain Vipassana monk, he put in his book that the Buddha practised Vipassana meditation. This either shows ignorance of the suttas, or he is a liar. If he knows this sutta, he is a great liar. The Buddha never practiced Vipassana meditation. The Vipassana meditation taught by Masi Sayadaw is based on two things. One is the commentary. The commentary says that you can have an arahant without jhana, which contradicts the Majjhima Nikaya Sutta. And another book, is the Visuddhimagga. Inside the Visuddhimagga, they talk about 16 jñānas, 16 knowledges. And these 16 knowledges are not found in the suttas, not taught by the Buddha. And this book, Visuddhimagga, was written 900 years after the Buddha passed away. 900 years, so long. So how can it be the Buddha's teaching? It's just like nowadays, some people say I Kuan Tao is Buddhism. But I Kuan Tao only started how many years ago? 100 years ago, was I Kuan Tao around? It was not around. So how can it be Buddhism? It just started now. So it's the same with Vipassana meditation. It just started 40 years ago. In the Anguttara Nikaya, I think 2.3.10, the Buddha says two things bring you knowledge. Two things, Samatha and Vipassana. So it is Samatha and Vipassana can bring you insight, can give you wisdom. So if Vipassana leads you to wisdom or leads you to insight, how can it be insight? It is the practice of contemplation that gives you insight. So if you practice contemplation without jhāna, you still get insight, a shallower insight, may be able to bring you into sleep entry. But if you have jhāna, then your mind is clearer. Then when you practice vipassana, it is deeper insight. It's just like person he comes to a certain place and he looks all around and he thinks he has seen everything but then Another person comes and brings him up the hill. When he goes up to the top of the hill, he can look so much further. He can see so much clearer, so much more things. So in the same way, a person without samadhi, he can get insight, a shallower insight. But if he attains samadhi, then his insight is much deeper. This contemplation, because our mind works very fast, In fact, I don't think there's anything faster than the mind. So because of that, when anything happens, straight away your mind is running extremely fast. So for example, when you hear the Dhamma, you digest it so fast, you don't even realize. That's why some people with Vijjana, when they listen to the Buddha's discourse, just listening they can digest it and attain enlightenment. So some people nowadays they say, oh, reading the sutra is only book knowledge. And then they belittle reading the books. They say this is book knowledge. This is not real experience. But then it depends. The Buddha said in the Sutta that when you listen to the Dhamma with proper attention, at that time the five hindrances dissolve, are eliminated, at that time. And the seven Bhojangas are present. So this is very clear that when you listen to the Dhamma with proper attention, these two conditions, the five indences are not there and the seven bhojangas are present, that is the condition for you to become an Arya, to attain. So what is the difference between listening to the Dhamma and reading the Sutta? It's the same thing. When you listen to the Dhamma, you understand, you digest it in your mind, because the mind is working so fast. We have the supercomputer up here. So when we read, also it's the same. When you read, it's as though the Buddha is speaking to you. And if you are able to digest it, your mind is very clear and calm. You are able to digest it. It's the same as listening to the Dhamma. No difference. It is stated that that a person like this Patacara, the Bhikkhuni, whose parents passed away, the husband passed away, the two sons passed away, the brother passed away, and out of grief she became mad. And then after that the Buddha taught her the Dhamma and then she became a nun. So she practiced for many years, you know, and presumably she attained the Jhanas and all that. And one day when she came back from alms round, she came back normally, you know, we monks and nuns, we go on alms round barefoot. So she came back to the monastery and she took water to wash her feet. So she splashed the water on her feet. She saw the water running and then sink into the ground. And then she splashed the water again. and the water ran a bit further and sank into the ground. Third time she took the water and splashed again, harder, and the water went further and sank into the ground. And then it struck her. There are some people in life, very young, they pass away. Some people in middle age, they pass away. Some people in their old age, they pass away. But everybody has to pass away. Then, seeing impermanence, realizing impermanence, then she reflected and became enlightened. In that situation, yes. But not seeing a beautiful woman and becoming enlightened. And then that reflection must be there. That vipassana is that reflection. contemplation and if you are practicing meditation according to the Buddha's method, that means the Buddha's method of meditation actually is Samatha because in the Majjhima Nikaya, Ananda was asked what type of meditation is praised by the Buddha and he said the first jhāna, the second jhāna, the third jhāna, the fourth jhāna only this is Buddhist meditation no other thing and you can understand why this is buddhist meditation because unless you are able to attain the jhana and stop the flow of the mind you can never break this this tendency of the mind asava to flow the only way to stop samsara is to break the tendency of the mind to to flow right to control the mind have a hole on the mind. But most of us, unless you have attained Samadhi, we don't have a hole on the mind. Luan Luan Xiong. So that is why you can understand why only Jhana will bring you to enlightenment because you are able to control the mind. But the final glow is actually Vipassana from the Dhamma. The understanding of the Dhamma make you let go. Let go what? Let go the clinging in the mind. In the mind you know. The clinging is in the mind. That's why there's a famous Japanese Zen teacher called Dogen. He said Renunciation has got four steps. The first is to renounce the world. The second is to renounce your friends and your relatives. The third is to renounce your body. The last is to renounce your mind. When you renounce your mind, all that clinging inside, you let go. That ego, you let go. The clinging is so strong that it's automatic that we don't observe it. And because it's programmed into our mind, that's why even our breathing, it's actually intentional breathing. We don't notice it because it's already programmed into our mind. But one day somebody suffocates you from breathing, and then you'll be struggling to breathe. You want to breathe.

(EA18)-07-Mindfulness-Vs-Forgetfulness

Come back to this mindfulness. Mindfulness is the opposite to forgetfulness, right? So now, a lot of people close to people, when they age, they become very forgetful. Forgetting to switch off the light, forgetting to lock the door, and things like that. So it's sort of like in the start of Alzheimer's, so it's sort of beyond the control too, right? It's the symptoms of the Alzheimer's like that. So then they are not mindful. So, this can happen to any of us as we grow older, right? So, what sort of steps should we take to minimize the chance of birth during this phase? Which, they say, Alzheimer's. And this Alzheimer's may have a basis in genetics or even in certain of the analytical brain structures to get a piece of evidence. Yeah, if you don't want to have this Alzheimer's, the most important thing is to cultivate Samadhi. Because when we cultivate Samadhi, we have a whole of our mind. And then, even though the tendency of the mind to deteriorate, but if you can, the stronger your samadhi, then you have a better hold on the mind, and it won't deteriorate so badly. And we have to be careful, you know, because you see, like the body, when we use our body, we are fit. Right? In fact, in the Sutta, the Buddha says that if you want to be healthy, you have to take regular exercise. So, for example, you see some people who are sick and bedridden and they cannot exercise. You see, very soon, if they don't use their hand, their hand, all the muscles will shrink. Right? Same with the leg. So, same with the mind. If we don't use our mind, it will deteriorate. That's why as we grow older, some people become lazy and we tend to sleep more. The more you sleep, the more forgetful you become. So be careful, don't sleep so much. Because each time you sleep, you are letting go of the mind. The mind is running. There is no break on your mind. That's why when we sleep at night, we dream, continuously dreaming. Karma factor is also very important in the sense that your sila has got to be good. If you don't have a good sila, then you have remorse, remorse that you did this wrong and that wrong. And when you have remorse, the mind is disturbed. And when the mind is disturbed, you tend to become signal no more.

(EA18)-08-Dana-and-Sila-are-not-enough-to-Attain-Stream-entry

How about if a lay person keeps a cigar and a banana during this dual, can we have a friendship, can we have a stream entry? No, no, stream entry is only by listening to the Dhamma, listening to the Four Noble Truths. Better still, you go and study the sutras, the Buddha's teachings. In that case, if that person does a lot of good deeds, he may go to heaven. But then, another day, he may fall to hell. It's still in samsara, going up and down, round and round and round. If you want to get out of samsara, you have to study the Buddha's words. And some people, because they don't study the suttas, they don't know that in the Satipatthana Samyutta, the Buddha said something which is very important. One day a monk came to ask the Buddha for instructions. This monk said, please teach me the Dhamma in brief so that I can go and live alone and practice. So this monk actually he wanted to strive very hard but he wanted some concise instructions from the Buddha so that he can go and use and practice. So the Buddha wanted to teach him Satipatthana. But before the Buddha taught him Satipatthana, you know what the Buddha said? The Buddha said, Two foundations. You must start with two foundations. Two things very important. The Buddha said, the first one is sila. You must keep good sila. The second one is to attain right view. Attain right view. And just now we heard, attaining right view means listening to the Buddha's discourses. That's why listening is so important that the Buddha called all his disciples, savakas, hearers or listeners. Only if you listen to the Buddha's words, are you a follower, a disciple of the Buddha. If you don't listen to the Buddha's words, you can meditate as much as you want, you don't understand the Dharma. You have not attained right view. Then after you attain right view, then only you practice Satipatthana. So that's why a lot of people, you know, in the world, Success is measured by how much you can achieve, how much you can get. So a lot of people come into the spiritual practice also like that, want to attain jhāna, want to attain jhāna, want to attain itko, itko, everything also want to attain. But then the spiritual path is not like that one. Spiritual path is letting go. Don't ask for this, don't ask for that. Listen to the Buddha's teachings. Faithfully practice your sila, and if you can, your dana. and then keep on studying the suttas and when you have time, try to meditate. The best time is in the morning, when you wake up, do some meditation and then let go. Slowly observe what you cannot let go. Those things that you keep thinking, if you try to practice meditation and then your thoughts come and disturb you, you see what is it that is disturbing you. All those are your chip-chops. All your attachments. Some people, they want to climb up the social ladder. They are always thinking about their job. When they meditate, also they think about their job. Some people are bothered by their children. When they sit down, they think of their children. So those things that disturb you, those are your attachments. You let go. You let go slowly. The results will come. Some people, they are so caught up in trying to attain this, attain that. After some time, their teacher tells them, oh, tan miao, their ego becomes very big. And then, if their friends don't believe them, they lose their temper. So you can see, from their temper, from their ego, they have not attained.

(EA18)-09-Dhamma-is-Important-for-Enlightenment

For 6 years, you went off doing translations, right? And then you were following a number of teachers. But you only spent time on medicine, aesthetics, mostly. And many of them are keen journalists, right? and they have super normal powers too. So what is your opinion regarding the influence of those jhanas, teachers that are very inclusive in the teachings? No, no, no. At that time when the Buddha was practicing before enlightenment, it's true there were a lot of jhana teachers around, but there was no dharma around. Because there was no dharma around, Everybody was groping in the dark trying to find a way to enlightenment. Some to ascetic practices, some to nakedness, some to fasting and all these things. But nobody became enlightened. And then the Buddha struggled so hard and he could not attain enlightenment until he recalled his past life. When he recalled his past life, then he remembered he was a monk disciple of the Buddha Kassapa. And then all that Dharma knowledge came back. When that Dharma knowledge came back, then he contemplated on the Four Noble Truths and then only he became enlightened. If that Dharma knowledge did not come back, he would never have become enlightened. Every type of meditation they practiced, whatever you can name at that time, so many different sects, so many different teachers, every type of meditation or so they practiced, none of them could become enlightened.

(EA18)-10-Advise-by-Bhante

Okay, we can end here for tonight. So I hope all of you, after listening to this, either listen more to the Dhamma talks, or if you can, buy the Nikayas and study, because it is a very worthwhile investment. You must remember that it's very difficult to meet the true Dhamma. The original teachings of the Buddha are extremely difficult to meet. The Buddha said he contemplated the last 91 world cycles and he saw only 6 Samasambuddhas are willing to teach the Dharma. 91 world cycles, you have 6 Samasambuddhas. That means one Samasambuddha every 15 world cycles. One world cycle is so long. Extremely long time, 15 world cycle is so long. So now if we don't take the chance to study and understand the Dhamma, next time we come back, no more Dhamma. Then this world without the Dhamma, luan liao. A lot of killing, a lot of fighting and all that. But if you have attained the right view, then Firstly, you won't fall into the woeful planes of rebirth. You won't become a ghost, or an animal, or go to hell. And then you'll only come back as a human being, or a deva, or devi. And then, even when there's no Dharma around, you will look for the Dharma yourself. And also, you'll have a lot of blessings, because you are already an Arya. So since the chances of becoming an Arya is quite good, it's not that it's so difficult like some Mahayanas. Mahayani say you have to practice for what? Four Asanteya Kapas and 100 Maha Kapas for eternity. But actually in the Suttas, the Buddha only practiced three lifetimes and became enlightened. After hearing the Dhamma from the Buddha Kassapa, At that time he practiced and he went to Sita heaven and he came back as Siddhartha Gautama. Three lifetimes only he became enlightened. So we also now we have the chance to meet the Dhamma. We take the trouble to learn the Dhamma now. Maximum seven lifetimes will be out of samsara. Even if you take a long time, within seven lifetimes, because you can be reborn in the heaven for a long time, you have a very pleasant life in samsara. So please take the trouble to get the dikayas if you can. Otherwise, you get my CDs and listen.