(E22)-01-Dhamma-Talks

I'm quite happy to be here after absence of many, many years. Many years ago I came to KTA. I'm not sure how many years ago, but I remember when Uncle Lim was here. I stayed in his house. So, now after a very long time, I'm invited back here again. Recently, maybe you all have seen the newspapers about monks and Ipoh getting into a lot of trouble. So, one of those things that they could do the change and disgrace our Sangha of monks. So the monk's duty, actually, is to practice the Noble Eightfold Path taught by the Buddha, keep the precepts, and to teach the Dharma for the benefit of lay people, to make offerings to the monk, not to be greedy for money and do Thank you. Excellent. Now I come to this question about Paritta. Nowadays we find that monks do a lot of chanting. We find that a lot of monks after offering of food is done to the monks, dhāna is done, then the monks Generally, more often than not, they do chanting. But actually, during the Buddha's time, it was not so common. We find actually in the suttas and then the Vinaya that the Buddha did not chant for laypeople. Generally, after the Buddha and his monks were given a meal, they would give a short talk on Dhamma. Sometimes it will be very short. For example, one day the Buddha was invited to a lady, to a house for dāna, and after the dāna The Buddha gave a short discourse, something to the effect that when one makes offering to the dānga, one gives four things, ayu, dvāna, sukhaṁ, balaṁ. Ayu is long life, because the monk gets to eat good food, his life is prolonged. Vanu is beauty, because he gets good food, he's not thin and haggard looking. Number three, he's happy to come, he's happy, the monk gets to eat food offerings of lay people, he's happy. Balam is strength. The monk gets to eat proper food. He has strength of body. So the Buddha said, when you give food to monks, you give these four things. So you will get back these four things in return, either this life or in a future life. So it is short before the Buddha will get up and go back to the monastery. So that was the way things happened during the Buddha's time. The Buddha would give a talk, this talk, to teach the Dhamma to lay people and go back to the monastery to meditate. Nowadays, monks do a lot of chanting. One reason for this is that a lot of monks are not educated enough to study the Sutta or the Vinaya. So not being well-versed in the teachings of the Buddha and the Dhamma, it is easier for them just to memorise some chants, just to do some chanting. But some of the chants were mentioned in the sutras as being taught by the Buddha or sometimes by a deva to the Buddha or to the monks. And these chants are called paritahs. Paritahs means protection chants. Protection. For example, one of the popular chants is the Iti Piso chant. Iti Piso bhagavara sammasambuddho, praise of the Buddha, praise of the Dhamma, praise of the Sangha. And the Buddha mentioned in the Buddha that whenever you feel afraid, Whenever fear has seized you, then you must think of the Buddha, because the Buddha is a refuge, because the Buddha is solid like a rock, because the Buddha has no fear. The Buddha mentioned in the sutra that sometimes when the devas go to fight, in the in the plain called the Tabatimsa Heavens to form this Sankhadeva Raja. They often fight with the Asuras, and during the fight some of them get killed. So they are afraid they might get killed. So sometimes when they go and fight, they shout the name of their Taiko. Dvākau, some great generals among the devas, they shout with me. They think that Taipa is so strong. They think that Taipa gives them courage. But the Buddha said even that Taipa also has got fear. He also fears for his life. But if you think of the Buddha, Buddha is one without fear at all, fearlessness. fearless. So, when you think of the Buddha, your faith in the Buddha, that gives you strength, that gives you courage, that gives you refuge. Similarly, you think of the Dhamma, and you think of the Sangha. That's why when we appear, the Buddha says, you chant this ETP soul. Now, besides the fact that chanting this ETP soul gives you courage. Why it gives you courage? It's not only because of that faith, also because when fear arises, we are gripped by fear because we stop thinking. We start thinking, for example, if you are in a jar, and you see some shadow moving, then your mind starts imagining, is that a ghost, is that an antu, is that a gong giana, is that all kinds of ghosts you may think of. So the more you think, the more you imagine, the more you become afraid. So if you do a chant, whatever the chant be, as long as you keep chanting, your mind is anchored to one object. So it doesn't stop thinking so much. That itself will reduce your fear, just making your mind concentrate on something. So whether you chant the Buddha's name or you chant Pokhapola also, it also has the effect of anchoring your mind on an object to stop your thinking, so that it will reduce your fear. Another way this paritta is effective is even spirits, ghosts or devas, they fear, pray towards holy men like the Buddha and the Arahant disciples. So we know, for example, some Devarajas, some Ayur-Devas are actually disciples of the Buddha, like Sakka Devaraja, King Kong. Actually, he's a dotapanna in the sutras. He's a person who has attained the first fruit of arya-guṇa. And also some of the very strong and mighty, powerful Jeya-Lorajas are also disciples of the Buddha. So if you chant the Buddha's name, the Dhamma, the Sangha, then they know that you are a disciple of the Buddha. And then they realize that if they kill you, then those Apudevas who are also disciples of the Buddha may get very angry with them and may punish them. So that is Another thing that makes Haritas effective, chanting the name of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. So, that is another factor. Now, besides this, you also have to consider the factor of Dhamma. Sometimes some spirit is disturbing you, If it is due to your ātmā, for example, in a previous life you have killed this spirit, then this spirit wants to take revenge. Then whatever you chant also would not be so effective because the hatred is so strong that he doesn't bother about the consequences. All he wants to do is to kill you, take your life. So if that is your kamma, the bhakta, then chanting may not help. But if it's not your karma vipaka, then it will be more effective. So you can see there are many things to consider in whether pariksa, the imacana, is effective or not. Also it depends on the type of A spirit that is disturbing you, sometimes that spirit may be a very, very fierce spirit, and then he also will not care for the consequences. If you come into his territory, he doesn't like it, he might kill you. That's why during the Buddha's time, Even disciples of the Buddha, monks who practice, sometimes they went to a cave or they went to a forest that was inhabited by a very fierce yakka, they also get killed. Even arahants also sometimes get killed if they meet this very fierce yakka. deva. That is why in the Vinaya book, the Buddha said that if a monk goes into the forest to meditate, and that area there is a fierce demon, then the Buddha said the monk should leave that place. Don't endanger yourself by going to such a place. Don't think this paritta that you chant is so powerful it can protect you. There are a lot of other factors to consider. There are other chants, for example, one of the most popular chants is the Mangala Sutta. Mangala Sutta starts off by saying that a deva in the middle of the night, a deva which is very bright, body, came to see the Buddha and then he asked the Buddha how to get the highest blessings because all humans and devas long for blessings, to have more blessings. You know our life depends entirely on our blessings. Blessings also means our karma vipakala. We exist now as a human being because of the good karma that we have done in the past. That is why now we can enjoy life as a human being and not be a dog or a goat or something like that. So as long as our kamma as a human being lasts, then we continue to live as a human being as long as we have not used up our good kamma. Now sometimes, some people are very greedy. For example, a person may be poor. Cari makan susah. So, he thinks of an easy way, kumpat ekor. So he buys kumpat ekor, he doesn't strike. Then he hears people say, or he might go to the cemetery and poke the Bamboo, cut a bamboo, put it in the grave, and then pour the blood of a chicken, a fresh knee-heel chicken or something like that to cause the bone to come out, and then you ask the bone for a number. So some people, they do this, and they actually strike and become rich. But more often than not, these people die after a short while. They have a short life. So some people think that, oh, because they ask the favour from the ghost, then the ghost must have taken their life. But it may not necessarily be so. You see, this person has little blessings because he is a poor person. Now, he dropped that ampat ego and started to enjoy life. So the more he enjoyed, the faster his blessings used up. So once his blessings used up, he must die. He has no more blessings to live on. So what is important is not outside riches. The inside riches is much more important. You see, during the Buddha's time, the monks, they lived like beggars. They go around begging for their food every day. They might live under a tree, or they might live in a cave without a nice proper home to live. And you see them like beggars, not a penny to their name. Yet, in spite, they might be more rich than you. So what is important is the richest inside, not the richest outside. The richest outside we cannot bring along with us to the next life, but the richest inside we can bring along. So that is something we have to remember. So now, this is the Mangala Sutta. Deva asked about the way to get blessings. So the Buddha spoke of the many ways to get blessings. sevanāśa-bhālaṇaṁ paṇḍitānaṁ śaśevanāpujya-śapuja-niyānaṁ etā-māṅgala-mūta-māṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅgaṅga So this type of verses. So here the Buddha says not to associate with fools. Fools doesn't mean those who don't score 9-8 in their SPS. Fools means those who don't know the Dhamma. Because they don't know the Dhamma, they don't practice in accordance with the Dhamma, so they do a lot of actions which will bring them to a state of a woeful state of rebirth. Whereas wise people are those who act according to the Dhamma and so create a lot of good karma so that they get a good rebirth in their next life. So if we associate with fools, we will also behave like fools and be reborn in the woeful place of rebirth. But if we associate with wise men, then we'll know the Dhamma, we practice the Dhamma, and then we go for a good rebirth. So this is the way to get blessings. So a lot of other ways the Buddha has taught in the Mangala Sutta. Mangala Sutta is one of the discourses that I have spoken of in my tapes afterwards. I will give some CDs to our KBA. Those of you who are very serious about the Dhamma can listen and learn how to look at the highest classics. So now if you chant the Mangala Sutta, those devas who Here the Mangala Sutta, upon hearing the Dhamma in the Mangala Sutta, they may be affected by it. So in case they want to harm you, instead, because they are so happy hearing the Dhamma that you have taught them, then they will protect you. And that's why if a house practices the Dhamma, keeps the precepts, and does all the meritorious actions, that house will have very good feng shui. No need to see the feng shui master. You can create your own feng shui by practicing the Dhamma. You see, people who have bad kamma, they always want to consult the feng shui sifu, but actually people with good kamma never need to consult the feng shui master. You see monks, sometimes a single monk may go into the deep forest by himself, but because he's virtuous, because he has Virtue. Then no deva or ghost would want to disturb him, would want to harm him. Virtue affects us better than anything else. One year ago, I was in CTR 1. So the CTR 1, chief monk, the Pāṭhāna, was complaining to me. He said, these people in Śrītyāvāna, all these Chinese, they come here only looking for this dvācāya. They want good luck, always asking him how to get dvācāya. He said, they don't know. This Pañca-tīlā is dvācāya, he said. If you keep your Pancasila, your five precepts, this itself will protect you and this will help you very much in life. So there are other ways like dana, listening to the Dhamma, like practicing meditation. All this is the best swacchai you can get, better than any thangkai or anything like that, any feng shui that you can do. So this Mangala Sutta, when we chant it, the devas who understand, they will be very happy. And that's how when we chant Suttas like the Mangala Sutta, which contains Dhamma, that also helps us and protects the house. And other chants that are quite popular are One chant that follows monk's life through chant is the Khanda Parita. They say through archaic, you start off by reciting the names of the four royal snake families, the four royal Nanda families. Then after that, you say Mesa to them as loving-kindness towards these four snakes. royal families and then loving-kindness to all footless beings, loving-kindness to two-footed beings, loving-kindness to four-footed beings, and loving-kindness to many-footed beings. No-footed beings do me no harm. Two-footed beings do me no harm, etc. So this also is a very good protection, telling all the beings, harmful beings, to go away, and recalling the Buddha's name. to protect us. So this charn is used by forest monks if they go to any forest area. They are new to any forest area. Whenever we monks go to new forest areas, sometimes that place is inhabited by certain unseen beings. So they are not happy you come into their place. Just like for example, you own a house and then a beggar sits into your house, you are happy enough. Surely you want the beggar to get up, isn't it? It's your house. So in the same way, if a deva or some being is residing in a certain area, we go to that area, we have to be nice to them. denied to them and we do various chants to be friendly with them. We try to radiate loving-kindness to them and tell them that we only come to use this place for a short walk, not to take over their place, to borrow their place for cultivation and transfer merits to them. Now these beings are psychic. So whatever we say to them mentally, they will know. Doesn't matter what language you use, because they'll read your mind. So in the same way, when we do chanting, we have to understand what we are chanting. Don't think they say this is the Pali chant, go leo. So I also want to chant go leo. You chant, but you don't know the meaning. Then it doesn't become go leo for you. So you must know the meaning. Then these devas, when you chant, they know what you are trying to say. So that's another factor to consider when you do chanting. You have to understand what you are chanting. So it doesn't really matter whether you chant it in Pali, or you chant it in English, or you chant it in Hokkien, as long as you know the meaning. So they also know the meaning. So these are some of the chants that are popular. But sometimes, you know, some of these chants evolve later. So some of them may not be exactly from the Buddha or the Buddha's disciples. They might have been created later. For example, some people like to chant the Angulimala chant. They say when a lady is about to give birth and has difficulty giving birth, then they should chant the Angulimala chant to help her have a good birth. But that is not mentioned in the sutra. It is mentioned in later books like the Dharmapada Commentary. So it is not necessary that it is actually found during the Buddha's time. So don't expect that every time you find that it will be effective.

(E22)-02-Questions-and-Answers-01

Okay, I think have I spoken enough about our results? Are there any other questions? Okay, now the association has restarted the session now. We are opening to the floor. So for anyone who volunteers, forward your questions please. Our time is very precious, so please don't go on. My question is that Okay, there are eight levels of ārya. The Buddha said there are eight types of ārya. The first, half-attainer. Then the first, full-attainer. Then the second path attainer, second fruit attainer, third path, third fruit, fourth path, fourth fruit. The first path attainer is also called the dream enterer. The first fruit attainer is called the Sotapanna. The second fruit attainer is called the Sakadagami. is called the once-returner. The third fruit-attainer is called the anagamin, or non-returner. The fourth fruit-attainer is called the arahant, and the arahant means one who has broken the cycle of existence, the cycle of birth and death. And so as Arhat includes the Buddha also. Now okay, the first, the lower stage of Ariyatma is the stream enterer, stream entry. This stream entry is the first thing that we should aim for. Okay? Stream entry, or a person who is a stream-enterer, means a person who has attained right view. Right view, there are two types of right view. One is worldly right view, one is Aryan right view. Worldly right view is understanding karma-vipaksa. Aryan right view is understanding the Four Noble Truths If a person studies the Dhamma and understands the Four Noble Truths, the basic understanding, not the full understanding, if a person attains the full understanding of the Four Noble Truths, he becomes an arahant, but he has a basic understanding of the Four Noble Truths, he becomes a free entrant. In the sutras and the Vinaya, we find that The Buddha taught the Dhamma, the graduated discourse, ending in the Four Noble Truths to newcomers. So newcomers are some people who have never meditated before, who have never listened to the Dhamma before. When they heard this discourse on the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha said they had entered the stream. So you see, this is the easiest way to become an Arya, by listening to the earliest discourses of the Buddha, earliest teachings of the Buddha, understanding the four noble truths, and you will become a sweet entrant. Once you have become a sweet entrant, you have the right view of the Dhamma, then your life completely changes. You will realize that the most precious, the most important thing in the world is the Dhamma. And you will also understand that the most important duty, the most important work you have to do is to practice the Dhamma, to understand the Dhamma further and to practice the Dhamma so that you can get a deeper understanding of the Dhamma and reduce your suffering and finally eliminate your suffering. So your life changes after you have understood the whole Noble Truth and become a stream enterer. Now, once you have become a stream enterer, Within that same lifetime, you will become a first-fruit attainer, a sotapanna. The Buddha said the latest, by the time you die, you will attain, the three-penetrator, the first-path attainer, will attain the first-fruit, the latest, before he dies. So the path changes to fruit. Now, once you become a sotapanna, a fruit attainer, you have at the maximum seven more existences in the round of rebirth. You will have seven more lifetimes at the maximum. During these seven lifetimes, if you strive, you might reduce those seven lifetimes even further, shorter. Now, so the first path, to attain the first path, you don't really need to meditate. Now, to attain the first, the second path, to attain the second path, you have to practice some meditation and get some degree of concentration. Now, the first, I forgot to mention, when a person attains the first path, it does not reduce any of the factors. But when that path changes to fruit, then three factors are eliminated. Akāyādīti, which is the view of the Self, the view of the Self, the view that this body, that is the Self is this body. Then, number two is attachment to rules and rituals, kīlā, bhakta, paramārtha. Attachment to rules and rituals you also eliminate. Then the third one is doubt. You also eliminate doubt. So, these three things you eliminate. Now, to attain the second path, after that, you have to practice some meditation to make your mind even more clear. Because the higher our concentration develops, the more our five hindrances reduce. Five hindrances are five things that envelop our mind so that we cannot see things clearly. What are these five things? sensual desire, ill will or anger, flaws and torture, restlessness and worry and doubt. These five things envelop us so that we cannot see things clearly, so that our stupidity is removed, our delusion is removed. But when we meditate and the mind concentrates, the mind starts to focus, then we can see things more clearly. So to attain the second path, we have to meditate to the degree that we can get what is called Upacara Samadhi, threshold concentration, near to perfect concentration, near to Jhana. If you can attain that and couple with your knowledge of the Dhamma, then what happens is you attain the second path. And before, my personal view also is the same, that before you pass away, that second path will also turn into second fruit. Once you attain second fruit, that means Sakadagami, then two more hindrances, your grief, and hatred are reduced. Greed and hatred are reduced. So, now, once you attain the second truth, which is called sattva-katha, means once eternal. Once eternal means you come back to the human rebirth back only one more time, one more time. So, from what we read in the sutras about our Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha or Bodhisattva Buddha, in his previous life as a human being, he met the Buddha Kassapa. And then the Buddha Kassapa taught him the Dhamma. And then he must have attained free entry because after that he renounced and became a disciple of the Buddha Kassapa. And after becoming a disciple of the Buddha Satsapa, he passed away and went to Dushita Heaven. And after Dushita Heaven, he came back at his last life as a human being, and then became a Buddha and entered Nirvana. So, a Sakadagamin is like that. He takes rebirth after he passes away. This once-returner, he takes rebirth in the heavens. From the heavens, he comes down as a human being, and that usually is his last birth. But he's called a once-returner because he comes back to the human rebirth only once. So now, you think of our Buddha, our Sakyamuni Buddha. After going to Sita Heaven, he came back in his last life as a human being. At that time, there was no more Dharma, no more Buddha Dharma in the world. But this type of person is used to enter Nirvana just like a ripe fruit, like a ripe durian. When it's too ripe, it doesn't need the wind to blow it down. It will fall down by itself. So in the same way, if a person is once eternal, he comes back in his last life as a human being, he is due to enter Nibbāna. Whether there is a Dhamma or no Dhamma in the world, he must enter Nibbāna. So you can understand why the Buddha, even though he was what is generally called a princess and he was so happy he had a young beautiful wife who was young and strong healthy and in spite of being so happy and yet he renounced his family and became a beggar monk and cultivated all the static practices, or suffered so much until he became enlightened. So I believe that all Buddhas are like that. All Buddhas are Sakta Jagamins, who come back and strive on their own until they become enlightened. So that is the Sakta Jagamins. Now, after that is the third part. The third path is much more difficult to attain because the third path and the third fruit, you need perfect samadhi. Perfect samadhi means the jhanas. You must attain the jhanas. And jhanas are something that is quite difficult to achieve. Unless in your previous life you have again done, then you will naturally go deep in your mind and keep that state again. So this third half-attainer, he meets this jāna, and then, I believe, in the same lifetime, before he passes away, he becomes the third fruit-attainer, which is anagamin. Now, Anagamin's third-foot attainers are called non-returners. Non-returners means they don't come back to human rebirth anymore, but they still take rebirth. They take rebirth in the high heaven. Either they take rebirth in the Bodh Jana place, or they take rebirth in the ārūpa-jāna-me. That means to become an ānagāmīna you have to attain the fourth jāna or ārūpa-jāna, even āyajāna. Of course nowadays there's a lot of contradictory teachings because they don't follow the Sutta, they follow other books like the Abhidhamma which teaches something else. So it's very important if you want to get the right view of the Dhamma to go back to the earliest discourses of the Buddha found in the Nikaya, because these things are all mentioned there. So Anagamins, they take rebirth in this fourth jhāna plate. And even though they don't come back as a human being, yet they still can come back through the human world. In the sutras we find that some of the Buddha's disciples, after they passed away, they were reborn in the four jhāna plane, but because their mind is so clear, they remember their past life. So they immediately came back to see the Buddha. There's one particular lay disciple of the Buddha who became an Anagamini and was reborn in the Bodh Gyana place. And when he came back to see the Buddha, you know what happened? His whole body collapsed because as a Deva he had a very huge body and the body was a very fine, very fine body. So when he came into the human world which is a very coarse place, This whole deva form collapsed like butter, collapsed in the ground. So he didn't understand because he was a new deva. He didn't understand. He didn't know what to do. Then the Buddha spoke to him. The Buddha said, use your mind to make your body solid. Because these devas, their minds are very powerful. So he used his mind and made his body solid. Then he could stand up again. Then only he spoke to the Buddha. So the Buddha asked him, how is the Deva world? He said, oh, the Deva world is not very different from the human world, he said. Surprising, eh? He said, the only thing is that in the Deva world, they ask me to teach the Dhamma to them. They always ask me to teach the Dhamma to them. So you see, if you learn the Dhamma enough and you are reborn as a deva, you are very lucky. Devas will come and ask you to teach the Dhamma to them. Devas are so very interested in the Dhamma. So that is anagamin. And then the last stage is the fourth path attainer. Fourth path attainer also must have perfect samadhi, four jhanas or higher. And then once they attain the fourth path, in the same lifetime they'll become an arahant. An arahant is one who has ended the round of rebirth, so he will not be reborn anymore. In the sutra it is stated that arahants are only found in the human realm. But if you study books like the Abhidhamma, they say there are plenty of arahants in the deva world. This contradicts the sutra. Sutra states that only in the human realm you can find arahants. Why? Because in the human realm Only humans want to struggle, to meditate and to strive in the holy path. The devas, they have too many wives to bother them, so they have no time to strive and meditate. They cannot become a monk also if the devas are there.

(E22)-03-Questions-and-Answers-02

I have two questions over here. The first question is, why is it easier for humans to have human thoughts rather than those thoughts towards Wangsha? That's the first question. The second question is, what are the consequences of having human thoughts and enemies? Thank you. Not all people have thoughts of ill-will. Those people who have passed half-month, they have more thoughts of ill-will. For example, I know somebody who was not filial enough to his parents. So when his father died, he had remorse for not being good enough to the father. So because of remorse, he had a lot of ill-will thoughts against himself and a lot of depression. He was put into long periods of depression. As a result, he tried to commit suicide. So he tried to commit suicide many times. Then later, he became filial towards the mother. And that helped him to have a lot of good karma, blessings. And as a result, he didn't have thoughts of committing suicide anymore. So, you see, among human beings, most of us are kutujanas. Kutujana means ordinary people, non-karya. Now if you are a kutujana, if you are an ordinary person, you tend to do a lot of bad actions like evil karma, probably more evil karma than bad karma. That's why in one of the sutras, the Buddha said that in one of his previous lives, he was born as a Brahmin. And during that lifetime, he did so much dānai. He said he made offerings to a lot of people, thousands and thousands of people. He said the gold he donated was 84,000 bucketfuls of gold, 84,000 bucketfuls of silver, 84,000 bucketfuls of precious stones. And the goats and the cows and the chickens and the ducks and the fish, everything he donated was uncountable. And the food and the drinks that he donated flowed like the river. So much dāna he did. In spite of all that, he said his marriage was very good. Why? because the Buddha said there was no one person with right view to receive this offering. I mean all the people he made offering to were just kutujana, just ordinary people. The Buddha said, had he given offering to one Sotapanna, or he loses to one three-pencillor, their merit could have been more than offering so much things to so many people. So it's just like you make an offering to a drug addict. Tomorrow he might go and beat up his mother to get more money to to take more drugs, right? So, in the same way, when we make offerings to ordinary people, the karma that they do must be more evil than good. So, this making offerings to a lot of people doesn't mean that it is very meritorious. So coming back to this evil process, the Buddha said there are four fields of merit. If you are You behave well towards these four types of persons. Your merits are very great. You will behave badly towards these four types of persons. Your merits, your demerits, your bad karma is very great. The first one is the Buddha, but the Buddha has entered nirvana, so we cannot even make any offerings to him. The second one is disciples of the Buddha, meaning the monks and the nuns. Third one is your mother. Fourth one is your father. So our parents are those which it is our duty to take very good care of our parents. So if we do good deeds, then our mind is happy, our mind is full of good thoughts. We don't have evil thoughts. People who have evil thoughts, sometimes they enjoy themselves too much. They use up their good blessings, and then they realize they have not done enough good actions to match the happiness they have enjoyed, so they hate themselves. For example, if a person, your parents have been very good to you when you were young, and then after you grew up, you are not filial to your parents. After your parents passed away, then you regret. You know we can never do enough for our parents. That's what the Buddha said. When my father passed away, I also regretted that I could have done more for him, despite the fact that among all his children, he loved me best. Maybe because I treated him the best. But in spite of that, when he passed away also, I regretted that I could have done more for him. So we can never do enough for our parents. So we have to, in the same way, our life, It's very difficult to get a human rebirth. Now we have a human rebirth. The opportunity is here for us to learn the Dhamma. The opportunity is here for us to practice the Dhamma, to listen to the suttas, to meditate, and to cut short our cycle of existence. If you don't take this opportunity, when you die you're going to hate yourself. And when you change yourself, you go to another place or rebirth where it's very difficult to practice the Dharma. So don't waste this opportunity.

(E22)-04-Questions-and-Answers-03

We should know those of you who have used the Nikāya group discourses, Anguttara Nikāya numerical discourses of the Buddha. The last one is called the Suddhāsa Nikāya. What is this Suddhāsa Nikāya? It has fifteen books according to Thailand and Sri Lanka, and eighteen books according to Burma or Myanmar. Actually, these six books are reliable because these six books do not contradict the earlier four entirely. So if you study all of these, like I have studied, and I have studied Abhidhamma and everything, it's clear. So I have to realize that the earliest Nikayas are the most reliable. They teach you how to practice, how to practice the holy life. And then if you have a foundation in these early Nikayas, and then when you study other books, you can catch the contradictions. For example, nowadays a lot of meditation teachers rely on the Visuddhimamda. Visuddhimamda Not that it's bad, it's quite good, there are a lot of things you can learn from there, but you have to be very careful, because as in all later books, they teach you a lot of dhamma, but they add in a lot of ājāma, something that is contradictory to the Buddha's teachings. And unless you are familiar with the earlier suttas, the earliest teachings of the Buddha, then you won't be able to detect these contradictions. So, for example, in the Vishuddhi-mādhā, it says that if you practice anapanasati, you can only attain four jhānas only, not higher than four jhānas. But in the Sutta, the Buddha said, if you practice anapanasati, and he said he can attain all the jhānas, including the Roda-sama-bhakti. So, in the same way, if you study Abhidhamma, there's a lot of good stuff there, but unfortunately a lot of wrong teachings also. For example, they say in the Abhidhamma that if you attain the path immediately, in less than one second it becomes true. But if that is true, then you will never be able to offer jhāna to a path attainer. because he only exists for one tanah, which is less than one second. But in the sutra, the Buddha said, you can make offering to a path attainer, you can make offering to a school attainer. So, it is also in the sutra, the Buddha said, after I am born, take the Dhamma Vinaya as your teacher. But the Vinaya actually only concerns monks, it does not concern lay people, so lay people don't have to study the Vinaya. And then the Dhamma, the Buddha refers to Dhamma in another sutra, the Buddha says that the Dhamma actually means the sutra. Because the Buddha says that in the future if anybody, if any monk who says that such and such is the Buddha's teaching, then he must compare it with the suttas and the Vinaya. If he does not follow the suttas and the Vinaya, it is not the Buddha's teaching, then he can throw it away. So now, at this time, it is 2,500 years since the Buddha passed away, and our Buddhism is very roja. So to find original teachings, we must go back to the earliest books.

(E22)-05-Questions-and-Answers-04

Q. Can you say something about the definition of jñāna? A. Definition of jñāna is not given, but I have written a book for mindfulness, recollection and concentration. If you want, later you can get it through the Sumatrathani group of Buddhist friends. Actually, I pass them my books and the PDs. And in this book that I have written, I have given the characteristics of jāna, which is from the sūta class. Jāna literally means fire. Jāna means fire. So, jāna can be defined as the state of mental brightness. Why? Because beings who attain jhāna, not attain, who constantly dwell in jhāna, they are reborn in the jhāna heavens. These jhāna heavens are also called the four realms, six skies. This form realm, these beings, the lowest is the first jhāna. The first jhāna is Brahmā. Brahmā stays there, Mahābrahmā. Now, Brahmā, like all beings in the form realm, their bodies are just bright like the sun, bright like the sun. In fact, they are even more bright than the sun. Like Brahmā, Their brightness can extend up to 1,000 suns. They are so bright, they are more bright than the sun. They can extend to 1,000 suns, and some of them can extend to 10,000, 10 to even 100,000. So their body is just a ball of light, but because their mind is so strong, it is stationed in the center. Sometimes Mahābhārata Rāma comes to visit people, Satadeva Rāja. So when he comes, Satadeva Rāja and the devas, they see from far a ball of light. flying towards them very far, so that they know that Brahma is coming. They quickly stand up in attention out of respect for Brahma. And when Brahma arrives, he will transform his body in the same form as Tathadeva Raja and the other Devas. And then he talks to them. After he finishes talking to them, he will turn into a ball of light again and fly. So that's why jhāna can be translated as a state of mental brightness or incandescence, sometimes we call it a state of meditative absorption, because you go deep into your mind, you absorb in that state, and not aware of your surroundings.

(E22)-06-Questions-and-Answers-05

Remember what I said. Here is the place of Satsi. Satsi, Satsi, Satsi, Satsi, Satsi, Satsi, Satsi, Satsi. but I give it a sound very difficult to understand because it is coming from the mind and before it's awesome because without chanting you cannot hear the sound you cannot hear the motion whatever you do, you think I can't do it so your mind doesn't ... meaning of that you need to ask the question OK, OK Chanting also is ... is ... described in my book, just now I mentioned mindfulness, recollection and concentration. Now, in meditation two words are important that the Buddha offers to practice, sati-sampajanya. Sampajanya, the Buddha described sampajanya as A person, when he's walking, he's aware that he's walking. When he sits, he's aware that he sits, or he's mindful that he sits. When he stretches out his arms, he's mindful that he stretches out his arms. When he eats, he's mindful that he eats. So Sampajanya actually means mindfulness. Sati comes from the word S-M-R-T-I. routine, and that means remembering. So sati is one word which is actually defined in the sutras. In about nine sutras, the Buddha has defined sati, and the definition of sati is a person who has sati, remembers what was said and done a long time ago. So sapti actually has to do with remembering. Okay? Now, the translation nowadays given of sapti is mindfulness. Unfortunately, to me, it's a wrong translation. And this wrong translation has given rise to a wrong way of practicing meditation. Nowadays, the stress is on mindfulness meditation. But mindfulness meditation, sometimes they say that whatever you do, you are mindful of life. But that, to me, does not bring wisdom. Previously, I was staying up in the night hill. I used to see the monkeys. The monkeys every now and then would come and visit me. And I observe these monkeys, they are extremely mindful. Why? Because their life depends on their mindfulness. They are up in the tree so high and they walk on the branch, every step they take they have to be mindful. They are so mindful that sometimes they step on a branch, it happens to be a dead branch, they also know Because if they step on a dead branch, the branch will give way and they will fall to the dead. So they are extremely mindful. Any sound they hear, they are mindful. But does it give them wisdom? It does not give them wisdom. Few years ago, I was in Thailand with a group of lay people, and there was one doctor from Australia. He was about 63 years old. In Australia, the retiring age is 65. So he asked a senior monk in Thailand. He said, Acharn, I'm thinking of retiring. I'm 63 now. I have two more years to go. I think I want to retire and practice. You know what that monk told him? He said, no need to retire. In your work, you just practice mindfulness. That is meditation, he said. To me, that's a very silly answer. Here is a person wanting to give up worldly life and spend more time practicing meditation full-time, and this now is telling him not to do that. Sitting in his office, he's not mindful every day. If you're not mindful, can you live your life as an intelligent person? Every moment of our life we are mindful, you know. Actually, we are mindful. Only thing is sometimes we are mindful of the wrong things, so sometimes we get scolded. So, it is not mindfulness. Why does Prasthi have to do with remembering? Because Meditation, nowadays people talk about samatha meditation and vipassana meditation. During the Buddha's time there was only one meditation, samatha meditation. Vipassana had nothing to do with meditation. Vipassana meditation was created by Burmese monks about 50 years ago before the birth of vipassana meditation. Fifty years ago, did anybody hear of Vipassana meditation? Nobody knew about Vipassana meditation. You don't have even read the Master's dialogues in Vipassana meditation that everybody jumps on the wagon and follows that path. So, in the sutras we find that Venerable Ananda was asked, what type of meditation is praised by the Buddha? What type of meditation is not praised by the Buddha? And Venerable Ananda said, the type of meditation praised by the Buddha is the first jhāna, second jhāna, third jhāna, fourth jhāna. There is no other meditation praised by the Buddha, only his fourth jhāna. And then he said, the type of meditation not praised by the Buddha is when you meditate you cannot eliminate the five hindrances. But in the sutras it is mentioned that to eliminate the five hindrances you need jhāna. Only jhāna can eliminate the five hindrances. Eliminate in the sense that cut it down until it does not disturb you anymore. Now, to attain jhāna, we have to keep our mind on one object of meditation and nothing else. And to make us understand this, the Buddha gave the parable of the hunter and six animals. To make us understand the working of our mind, the Buddha said, a hunter caught six animals, an eagle, a monkey, a crocodile, a snake, a dog, a hyena. And these six animals, this hunter tied a rope around the neck of each one of them, and the six ropes he tied into a knot. and then he let the animals free. What happens? The animals will take off in six different directions. The eagle wants to fly into the air. The monkey wants to climb up the tree. The crocodile wants to go into the water. The snake wants to go into a hole to hide. The dog wants to go into town to look for food. The hyena wants to go out the gate, his home. So these six animals are pulling in six different directions. Now whichever is strongest at one time, he will pull and the others have to follow him. After some time he is tired, so another cycle will take over and two of the others have to follow him. After some time he is tired, another one will pull. So these six animals are going in six different directions. This is exactly the working of our mind. These six animals represent the six sense objects. The form wants to pull our attention. Sound wants to pull our attention to hear. Smell wants to pull our attention to smell. Taste wants to pull our attention to taste. Touch wants to pull our attention. And thoughts also want to pull our attention. So these six sense objects are pulling us at six sense yaw. And whichever one is strongest, for example, now my voice is the strongest, is pulling your attention, right? But if you are not paying careful attention enough, you will be thinking of your home or thinking of your office, isn't it? You are mindful, but you are not mindful of the wrong things. So, this is the parable to make us understand the working of the ordinary mind. Mind is always pulled in six different directions. And because of this, our mind is scattered. That's why the Buddha said that we close our eyes now, we see darkness all around. But Arahant is different. Arahant, he closed his mind, his eyes, bright just like he did close his eyes. Bright as day, dark. Night is as bright as day. So the Buddha said that is not the way to discipline the mind. The way to discipline the six animals, the Buddha said to take the six ropes and tie it around one strong pole. You tie it on a strong pole. Whichever way they go, they can only go round and round the pole. Until they are tired, they will quietly sleep beside the pole. So the Buddha said in the same way, we want to keep our mind We must tie it to one single object, that one whole represents one object. And for example, you are practicing mindfulness or recollection of the breath. Practicing recollection of the breath, you are always remembering your breath. Remembering to watch your breath. And then your mind gets pulled away by some thought. Then you pull it back to your breath. And after a while you can pull away again. You pull it back again. You keep pulling back to your breath until now you are able to stay with your breath. If you are able to stay with your breath, then your mind doesn't become scattered. When your mind doesn't become scattered, your mind gains strength. Your mind becomes a healthy mind. And then you start to feel happy. You start to feel blissful. And then you start to enjoy meditation. And then you want to practice more and more meditation. So, There is also a difference between bhakti and tatipatthana. Bhakti is remembering, to recollect, to remember your object of meditation. Tatipatthana is an intense state of recollection. and how to practice Pratipatthana, the Buddha again gave a very beautiful simulation or parable to make us understand. That's why in the Sutta there are so many things that a lot of people don't know because they never go and study the Sutta. To practice Satipaṭṭhāna, the Buddha gave a parable. Buddha said one day, the most beautiful girl of the country came out, and then all the young boys started to clap and shout, the most beautiful girl of the country. Then more people came out to see the most beautiful girl of the country. Then she shouted and asked her to dance and sing. So she started to dance and sing and more people came out and more people clapped their hands to watch her. Then the Buddha said an ordinary man came along, an ordinary man who wants to live, who doesn't want to suffer. Then the soldiers caught him. The soldiers caught him and made him carry a boat of oil, filled to the brim, right to the top, this oil. And asked him to carry this oil and walk among the crowds of people. And behind him, the soldiers followed him with a ray shot and told him, if you make one oil drop spill, I will chop off your head. So this man has to walk around with so many people all excited around him. The most beautiful girl in the land is carrying that bowl of oil. Does he dare to go and peek at the most beautiful girl on the land? Dare not, isn't it? His life depends on it. Does he dare to look left and right? Dare not. He only look at this bowl of oil, nothing else. So you keep walking and looking at this bowl of oil and nothing else. That is the way to practice Satipatthana in the Satipatthana Samyutta of the Samyutta Nikaya. So nowadays people say practice meditation you will be mindful of the sound that comes, you will be mindful of anything you see, you will be mindful of the speech, you will be mindful of the thought. That is not the way the Buddha taught. Okay? So the object of meditation actually is to attain jhāna. Why? Because once you attain jhāna and you listen to the dhamma, the result is completely different. In the sūtā-adhāna, we see that many people came to listen to the Buddha, teach about the Four Noble Truths, and after that the Buddha said they have become stream enterers. And these people were ordinary people who never meditated, so they did not have jhāna. So if a person does not have jhāna and he listens to the Dhamma, he can attain the first path of stream entry. But If a person has jhāna and he listens to the Dhamma, he can become an arahant or a third path or third group attainer. So that's the difference between a person who listens to the Dhamma without jhāna and with jhāna. That's why to attain liberation we must have jhana and listen to the dhamma. Now these two things are necessary in the sutta for liberation, samatha and vipassana. So what is vipassana? Vipassana, actually, in the Chinese translation of this word samatha and vipassana, the Chinese translation is tiruvan. Tiruvan means stealing, stealing the mind, tranquillizing the mind. Sometimes we call it tranquillity meditation. The vipassana in Chinese is kuan. Kuan means contemplation. So, in the sutras we find There was a time that the Buddha wanted to convert 1,000 external fact-aesthetics who were called jatelak, method-heads. Aesthetics, they had a lot of hair. They stood in a mass, and they prayed through the fire. But the Buddha went to them because they practiced jhāna. So the Buddha stayed with them for a few weeks, and showed them psychic power until they realized that the Buddha was a great cultivator. So all 1,000 of them shaved their hair and became disciples of the Buddha. After they became disciples of the Buddha, the Buddha preached to them one sutra called the Fire Discourse. And after the Buddha preached to them one discourse only, one sutra only, all 1,000 became haramans. Now in the Buddha said, to become an arahant you need samatha and you need vipassana. Now these external ascetics, they already had samatha. So where is the vipassana? The vipassana is listening to the dharma. We find in the Vinaya, it is described how the earliest disciples of the Buddha became Harahana. And all of them, over 1000 of them, all attained Harahanabuddha by listening to the Dhamma. So, Vipassana 1 is listening to the Dhamma. Now, in the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha said there are five occasions when a monk attains liberation. What are these five occasions? One is listening to the Dhamma. Another one is teaching the Dhamma. Another one is repeating the Dhamma. Another one is reflecting on the Dhamma. And then the last one is only doing meditation. And that also, the Buddha said, when the monk reflects on the Samadhi-Nimitta and contemplates on the Samadhi-Nimitta, there he is in liberation. So you see, these four are actually probably the meaning of Vipassana. Listening to the Dhamma, teaching the Dhamma, reflecting on the Dhamma and repeating the Dhamma. That is Vipassana.