(EA10)-01-Parable-of-SN-22

reading. So tonight, I will try also to discuss this Dhammakasita. I read the parable. This is Sankirtanikaya 22.85, the last part of this sutra. Dhammakasita is this parable. This is Rambhacarita Well said, well said, friend Yamaka. Now I will show you a parable to show my meaning. Suppose friend Yamaka, a house father, or a son, a rich man, exceeding rich and prosperous with a strong bodyguard. Then suppose some fellow, in desirous of his loss and harm, desirous of troubling his serenity, longing to slay him, should say to himself, Here is this house father, a rich man, sleeping rich and prosperous. But as he has a strong bodyguard, it would not be easy to slay him by force. What if I were to work my way in and so slay him? Thereupon he approaches that house of father and says, I would enter your service, master. So that house father admits him to his service. And the other, by rising up early and so late taking rest, becomes a willing servant to him, eager to please and well-spoken. Then that house father comes to trust him as a friend and confidant, and thus makes a companion of him. Now when this fellow is assured, this house father is my boon companion, then catching him in a lonely place, he slays him with a sharp sword, I said, this friend of mine, what can you do? And that fellow went to such and such a house father and said to him, I would enter your service faster. Was he not even then a murderer? But though he was a murderer, was not his master unaware of this fact? I have a murderer. So also when he entered his service, was not early and late to rest, was a willing servant to him, eager to be he meant not. He was friend. Even so, a friend, the untaught Aryan disciple who discerns not those who are Aryans, who is unskilled in the Aryan dharma and trained in the or the self as having a body, or body as being in the self, or the self as being in the body. Likewise with regards to feeling, perception, volition and consciousness, he understands not the impermanent body as it really is, that it is impermanent. Of the impermanent feeling he understands not as it really is, that it is impermanent. Of the impermanent perception, impermanent volition, impermanent. Of the painful body he understands not that it is painful, and so also of the other factors. Of the selfless body he understands not as it really is that it is selfless, and so on with the other factors. Of the compounded or the conditioned body he understands not as it really is that it is a compound, and so the other factors. of a murderous body understands not as it really is, as it is murderous, and so of the other factors. He approaches the body, takes hold of it, and is assured, this is myself. He approaches feeling, approaches perception, volition, consciousness, takes hold of it, and is assured, this is myself. Thus the five brigades of attachment approach and take hold of body, and they turn to its loss and suffering for many a long day. the well-thought, ardent disciple who discerns those who are ardent, etc. It's the opposite. Thus the five advocates of attachment are not approached. They fall off by him, and they turn to his bliss and pleasure for many a long day. And then Prabhupāda Yamākara said, even so happy friends like Buddha are those ones who have such co-mates such as founders. And now that I have learnt this Dharma teaching from the Venerable Sariputta, my heart is relieved from the afflux without any grasping." So spoke the Venerable Sariputta and the Venerable Yamaka withdraws there and welcome the words of the Venerable Sariputta. That's the end. So our Venerable Yamaka after hearing this teaching of Venerable Sariputta became an Arhat.

(EA10)-02-Explanation-of-Parable

Now, what this parable is trying to say is that the five aggregates of attachment, because nature has made it such that we have this self, this feeling of the self, and this feeling of the self is connected to the five aggregates of attachment. These five aggregates are the body, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness. And these five can also be spoken of as two things, the body and the mind. So we consider that the body and the mind is either the self, or as belonging to the self, or this body and mind, or the five aggregates are in the self, or the self is in the five aggregates. So, because of this feeling of the Self, so this, in Svarupa, the Vrindavan Sariputra says that an unlearned, ordinary person, he becomes attached to these five aggregates, and that he does not see that the five aggregates are impermanent. and he does not see that the Five Aggregates are painful or suffering and he does not see that the Five Aggregates have no self and he does not see that the Five Aggregates are conditioned and he does not see that the Five Aggregates are murderous. I think this is the last part, you do understand why this is considered murderous, right? Now, this is considered murderous because they kill us in the sense that because we have this attachment to the five aggregates. Then when the aggregates become impermanent, one day, Mars becomes old and decays and passes away. So when the five aggregates decay and pass away, we think, I am dying. I am dying. So because of that, we are considered as murderers. If we don't attach to these five aggregates as a self, or as belonging to the self, or as being in the self, or the self as being the five aggregates. So when the five aggregates decay and die, then it is just the body and mind decay and die. There is no self to die. Right? So once we attach to it, then you feel I die. So in that sense we are considered as murderers. Okay? Sometimes in the sutra the Buddha says the person becomes an arahant so he attains the deathless state. The deathless state doesn't mean he doesn't die. The body dies, but he doesn't feel that I died. I have no self to die. He just sees that the body just arose because of conditions and when the conditions have passed the time then due to other conditions, then it breaks down and disintegrates. So it heats and then the body disintegrates, so there is no self to suffer. So it's called deathless in the sense that there is no self to die, not that body doesn't die. But sometimes because of this you find some books, they talk about holy men who practice until they can live for thousands of years and they don't die. It's a fairy tale, every fairy. I mean we don't know the dharma, we tend to believe in all these things, so we are new.

(EA10)-03-Sakkaya-Ditthi

The other thing in China we need to discuss is the Sakaya Diti, right? Sakaya Diti, they used to translate this word as personality, personality view. But then it's not a very good translation because personality like having a self, right? But this Sakaya Diti, the Sutapana, The first fruit, the second path, second fruit, third path, third fruit, fourth path, fourth fruit. These seven persons have eliminated satiety. Not only the Supreme Emperor, the first path attainer, because the first path attainer has not eliminated any of the factors. So the first path attainer has hidden the Dharma. but he has not eliminated any five factors so he still has that Sakaya Ditti. But only the Arahant has no self. Only the Arahant has no self. So all the other seven Aryans still have the self. But most of them don't have Sakaya Ditti. So what's the difference between Sakaya Ditti and this self? Sakaya Ditti is explained in the Samyutta Nikaya and the Citta Samyutta because Citta is a very exceptional layman and a dominant layman and he used to invite monks to his house on alms round to eat in his house so when they come and eat in his house after they finish the meal he'll ask them Dharma questions and if they can explain it to him he's very happy If they cannot explain it to him, he will explain to them. He is the monk of the Dharma. He is so good. So one day, some monks came to his place. So he asked them, if there were a few monks. So he addressed the chief monk, the most senior monk, this question about satiety. And that monk couldn't explain. The second time, the monk couldn't explain. After that time, the monk kept silent. Very embarrassing. So the last monk in the group, even though he was the most junior monk, but he was the most eminent in the temple. Then he asked the chief monk, the senior monk, he said, Bhante, can I explain? And then the chief monk said, please go in. And then, so he explained. So in this explanation of Sautradity, he said, Sakya Aditi, an ordinary person who does not know the Dharma, who does not see Aryans and learn the Aryan Dharma, he sees the five aggregates, meaning body, feeling, perception, volition, consciousness, which is basically body and mind. So, an ordinary person, he sees the five aggregates as the Self. or has belonging to the self, or the five aggregates being in the self, or the self as being in the five aggregates. For example, we think that either this body is me, or this body is mine, or I am inside this body, or feeling belongs to me, I am inside feeling, or feeling is inside me, same position, perception, position, consciousness. So, this ordinary person, he has this view that his five aggregates are himself or belonging to him, etc. And, as I mentioned here just now, he does not see that the five aggregates are something that are impermanent, a source of suffering. condition, no self, etc. So, this Sakya Ditti, a person with Sakya Ditti view, the latest translation is by Bhikkhu Bodhi, the new edition of this Mahayana Tantra, he calls it identity view. That means you identify yourself with this body and this mind. and this translation he said was suggested by rebel Thanissaro, enlightened monk. So, this identity view is that you view that this body and this self is I, or as belonging to me, etc. But a person who has eliminated Sakaya Deity, for example Rasatapanna, A sutrapana or a Sakadagamin or an Adagamin still has the self, but he does not see that the body and the mind is the self. He can see that the body and the mind is ever-changing. We know that our body is made up of cells, trillions and trillions of cells, and the cells arise and pass away, arise and pass away. Similarly, the Buddha gave us that foam, you know, when you wash your clothes with that, the water and then there's a lot of foam forms. You can see the foam. Some bubbles burst and some bubbles are formed and some bubbles burst. And this is a very good simile for our body because our body is made up of cells. And these cells are rising and passing away and rising and passing away just like the bubbles in the foam. So because of this you can see that there is no cell in the body. The Aryans, except for this Prahan, they can see that the body and the mind are changing, and changing, and changing. So there is no self in the body and the mind, yet this will have a self somewhere. Also the Buddha said that in one sutra that it is easier to see that the body is not the self. Because you can see, you look in the mirror, your face. Five years later, you look at your face, don't hold it, or you look at your photo. So you can see that the body is changing, quite obviously. But the mind is changing even faster, and yet we don't see. So it's easier to see that the body is not yourself, but it's very hard to see that the mind is not yourself. Even though a person has eliminated this identity, view of self-identity and left somewhere in the mind, he still has a feeling that there's an I. So it's important to meditate. When we meditate, especially, I mean when we say meditation, we always mean Samatha. In the Buddha's teachings, meditation is always Samatha meditation. Vipassana meditation is There is no such thing in the sutras. Vipassana meditation only started about 30 years ago in Burma. So, in the person who cultivates samatha, sharpens the mind, then he can see clearly. Introspection, that is called contemplation. The Vipassana meditation that we have nowadays is based on the Visuddhimagga, the sixteen jhanas. It was not taught by the Buddha, never mentioned in the suttas. When you say contemplation, it's alright. Contemplation is the meaning of the word Vipassana. In the suttas, Vipassana means contemplation, so you can either contemplate the body, We can contemplate feelings, we can contemplate the mind, we can contemplate the Buddha's Dhamma teachings. And the last one, the Buddha's teachings, the Dhamma is the most important. Because the Buddha said, there are five occasions when a person attains liberation. This one is when a person listens to the Dhamma. Just like the Venerable Sariputta, he was listening to the Buddha, talking to an external subject. Just by listening, he became an Arahant. Second one is by teaching the Dhamma. Because when you teach the Dhamma, you have to understand, so the understanding also should enlighten. The third one is when you repeat the Dhamma. In the Buddha's time, they repeated the Dhamma a lot because there were no books. The fourth one is when you contemplate on the Dhamma. You reflect on the Dhamma, the sutras that you have heard. You reflect on it and become enlightened. And the last one only is during meditation. then it is when you contemplate on the Samadhi in the meantime. So out of these five vocations, when a person becomes enlightened, then you find nothing to do with Vipassana meditation. Although people say that you practice Vipassana meditation and then become enlightened, it is not inside the five, mentioned by the Buddha. Yes, the body as being the self, and then the second one is the body as belonging to the self. And the third one is the body as being in the self. The fourth one is the self as being in the body. I'd say, for example, when you have this feeling of the self, sometimes you can feel like around you, this aura around you is yourself. So, some people may feel So like your self is not only in this body, it's fairly a bit around you, so then you feel that the body is in the self. But it's, it's, it's these four things, it doesn't mean that, say like for example, when they put in, say that, When you talk about the body, the body as the self, or the body as belonging to the self, or the body as being in the self, or the self as being in the body, this one, out of these four things, each person might find that each one more obvious to him, might be different, each person, different. One person might find that the body itself is more obvious, identify with the body, the mirror, I am so pretty. But another person might feel different. My feet or body belongs to me. So it's not necessary that all four are the same. For example, feeling. Some people feel like feeling is inside of me. It's more obvious. Some people might feel I am inside feeling. But it's just different statements, so no need to worry about it. The Buddha said that whenever we refer to ourselves, whether the past or present or future, we always refer to these five things. And these five things are always body and mind. For example, you may say, oh, in my past life, I was an Indian man. They identify that body as themselves. So you must remember that when you have Sakaya Ditti, you have the self and you have, as well as you have this view that the body and the feeling is connected with the self. But when you eliminate Sakaya Ditti, identity view, you can see that the body and the self is not you, connected with you, but you still have the self. And that self is only eliminated at the last stage. Recently I was discussing with another monk in our monastery some of these factors. In anagamin eliminates the five lower factors. In arahant eliminates all ten. That means finally the five higher factors also he eliminates. So one of these five higher factors that is only finally eliminated one is attachment to the form body, attachment to the formless body, conceit. And another one is restlessness. So the other monk was saying that restlessness is so hard to eliminate. So hard to eliminate. Only the arahant can totally eliminate restlessness. Always restless, always want to do this, want to do that. That's why the Buddha, Sangha, and Devas in their everyday being, they live for millions and millions of years, sometimes even longer world cycles. And after such a long time, when they are about to pass away, what do they think? Oh, my life is so short, I still have so many things to do. know, only the human plane, I am a businessman, I have got a lot of many things to do. Even the Deva and Devi still have many things to do. Actually, their life is so pleasant, they don't have to do anything. I just enjoy it. And yet they still want to do this, do that.

(EA10)-04-Murderer-in-the-Parable

Now what is man? What is man is that at that time now when that man came to work for that rich man and he had the intention to kill that rich man at that time the rich man did not recognize him as a murderer because he had the intention to murder so the rich man did not recognize him at that time as a murderer But it doesn't mean that once you have an intention to murder, that you are already a murderer. In the Theravada teachings, a person who intends to murder has not done the deed. He cannot be said to be guilty of murder. But there are certain other teachings, I think, in Mahayana Buddhism. Once you have the thought of something, it has no importance. It's like in Christianity. But why inter-vada is not considered nice? Because the Buddha explained quite well, I'd say, in the higher books, the monks' precepts. The Buddha said that one of the heavy offenses for a monk is to steal a valuable object. So if a monk, for example, has an intention to steal somebody's say Rolex watch or something so the watch is in somebody's room so he has a thought that he plans and this planning he says for example to complete the task he has to do for example ten things first he starts to plan carefully second one he has to walk towards the room Then, before he walks in the room, maybe he has to look around if there is anybody around. Then, he walks in the room, then he has to open the door, and then he has to close the door, and then he has to walk towards that watch, or look for it, and then after he finds the watch, When he puts his hand on the watch, it is still not considered as having completed the task. But the moment he lifts it from the place, it is considered he has stolen the ring, even though he has not walked out of the room. Once he moves it from the place, it is considered the task is complete. So that is considered the heaviest offence for a monk. In the Patimokkha, there are 227 precepts of a monk. The most heavy is called the Prajnaka. Once a monk commits one of the four Prajnakas, he is no more a monk. So now, suppose he comes to the last step and he doesn't do, he touches the watch. Before he can lift it off, he gives two steps, taking it across his hand. Ah, he has not completed the step enough. It's not considered a prajnaka. It's considered a tulacaya. A tulacaya is the previous of the light offenses. Light offense means it can be redeemed by confessing to another monk. So then if he just touches it without licking it, that is tulacaya. But before that, I suppose, before he touches it, he has already walked into that room. And there is another class of prophets. So you see, the Buddha is very skillful. The powerful can be understood in between. The rich man is the first. So the murderer is our priority. So we look at the Thai etiquette so good, so nice, you know. So we even know the danger. So actually the Thai etiquette assumes that at the end of day we will cause it. There is one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is the attachment. It is the attachment that causes the suffering. If there is no attachment, then the five aggregates does not give you suffering. Like the Buddha has got five aggregates. It does not give him that kind of suffering that we have to suffer. So it is that attachment, that craving for the five aggregates that causes the suffering. If you look into verses like in the Theravada, verses of the elders You find that some of these arahants, on their occasions, when they say, they consider their body as something very repulsive. For example, I think in the Tangyutanikaya, there are some nuns, in the early days, they used to be able to go into the forest alone and meditate and all that. So sometimes when they were alone in the forest meditating, Mara or Satan comes. So Mara or Satan frightened them. And then he said something like, you are so beautiful and young, alone here and there, not afraid of somebody coming to disturb you or something. And he said something like, They don't see this body as itself, as something very attractive, actually repulsed by this body. There's one case of a nun, you know. She was very young and beautiful. I'll tell you how she attained Arahanthood. So there was one man. I met him in love with her, a young man, I think. So I always tried to meet her and all that. So one day, I think he had a good time. She was alone. wanted to wake her. So she tried to discourage him. And I talked to him. What do you see so beautiful in this body? And this man said, Oh, I see your eyes are so beautiful. And now I know what she did. She pulled out her eye and gave it to him. And that stopped him cold. It's an existence like Shiva, existence. But it's good to see some of these asubha photos, you know, some photos of these sculptures and you see how they disintegrate and become rotten and smelly and all that. But some people are not used to it. They see and almost hate. But there is one thing that always comes across in personality, it's passion. What exactly does it mean? Is passion to look after the body? No more... No more attraction. Is it to look after the body? No, no, no, no. That means you don't... you are not passionate about the body. Actually, you know like, there will be two bodies. Now he has changed that translation to revulsion. It's one of the stages before a person becomes an arahant. That's the end. He has revulsion about the world. He doesn't see the world as something so big. He sees the world full of suffering.

(EA10)-05-Q1-How-to-Become-an-Arahant

becoming an arahant, you always feel a lot of weight. So and so hears the dharma and becomes an arahant. In those days, there is no book. So how many sutras can one person hear? Like you, it was complicated. A man, how many sutras It depends on how many sutras you hear to become enlightened. It depends on how much of the thousands, namely the five hindrances, you have eliminated. Because the Buddha says in the sutras that it is impossible for a person to become an anadami or an arahant. impossible unless he attains the first jhāna, second jhāna, third jhāna, fourth jhāna. And the fourth jhāna is the most suitable one because when a person has eliminated the four jhānas, that is the five hindrances are eliminated to the extent that the mind becomes very bright. The Buddha described the person who has attained the fourth jhāna as a person who's body is bright. An ordinary human being might not be able to see, but devas might be able to see if you attain the fourth jhāna and your brightness comes out. So when we attain the jhānas, we get rid of the five hindrances that the Buddha used the word eliminate and Illuminate means it is no more hindrance, although the roots have not been plucked off, but they are no more hindrance. You don't have sensual desire, you don't have to give a will or act, you don't have thoughts and talk, you don't have restlessness and worry, and you don't have dumb. So, in this state, the mind is so clear that when you listen to the Dhamma, sometimes even one discourse of the Buddha, If it is concerned with no-self, oneself, then that person just upon hearing Avañcaka can become enlightened. As in the case of the one thousand jati, last method hands, ascetics, Buddha went to them, stayed with them for a few weeks until they were so impressed by his psychic power that all one thousand of them shaved their head and became the Buddha's disciples. And after that, the Buddha spoke one sutra to them, the fire discourse, because they prayed to the fire. So the Buddha used the word fire because when they hear the word fire they are attracted. So the Buddha said, the world is on fire. How? The eyes are on fire, the ears are on fire, the nose, the tongue, the body, the mind is on fire. What fire? The fire of greed, hatred and delusion. and the Buddha explained further about more self. Just during that one discourse, all one thousand of them became arahants. So, even nowadays, if you can find such people who have either attained the four jhanas in this lifetime or in the previous human existence, and then they come back, their mind is still very clear. The Buddha, because of his high heat power, Initially when he went to look for disciples, he would find such people, sometimes they are sons of very rich families and all that. Then the Buddha would teach them the Dhamma and they became enlightened. In fact in the Vinaya books, the first, it is mentioned in the Vinaya books, only the first 1060 Arahant disciples, the first 1060 Arahant disciples, All became enlightened from hearing the dharma only. Buddha did not ask them to meditate. Buddha just asked them to sit down. I will teach you the dharma. And then explained to them the dharma. And then they became Arhats. So it is because there is no Buddha nowadays. If we had a Buddha nowadays, the Buddha would go and survey the world to find who has the full dharma. And then the Buddha will speak to them and then they will come around. But I thought if we walk the path, the so-called complete path, then one can become a very complete person. Yes, but the path, most of the factors are easy to attain. The last factor is the hardest to attain, the four jhanas. High concentration. You mean to say you practice hard enough? Yes. That's why, you see, when the Buddha was enlightened, he decided to teach the Dhamma. The first person he thought of was his true meditation teachers who taught him the Dhammas. And then the Devas came to tell him that they had passed away. Why did he go to them in the heavens? I think I mentioned that before, didn't I? Yeah. Because they're too far away. The Buddha's human body can only fly as high as the Brahma world. Further than that, the physical body cannot go. That is very far already. That is already within the galaxy. The Buddha can go to Mars faster than a rocket from the planet Earth.

(EA10)-06-Q2-Did-the-Buddha-Teach-His-Mother

I think there was some lecture that the Buddha went to Sita Heaven to teach the mother. Yes, it's about teaching the mother. I really think of it, why should the Buddha go and teach the mother? The mother never looked up at him. The mother only gave birth to him and then seven days later passed away. If the Buddha wanted to teach the mother, He should also think of the previous life mother and care of it. And the previous life mother, so many mothers to take care, how to take care? I think the Buddha said if he so wish he can make those things so far away, then he don't have to go to take care. Yeah. Can hear him. He don't have to go all the way. But if he don't go, hear a voice, they don't know where. How to believe?

(EA10)-07-Q3-Meditation

This thing about the tip of the nose pass under Visuddhimagga, later books. Visuddhimagga says that when you practice Anapanasati, it must be at one point, necessary at one point. You can follow your breath and go in, go out. In fact, in the description of the breath meditation, the Buddha says when you breathe in a long breath, you know that you breathe in a long breath. he breathed in a short breath, he knows he breathed in a short breath. The Buddha didn't see at any specific place. So, the Buddha said it is called Kaya Nupasati. Because it is a breath, it is a body, contemplation of a body, and the Buddha calls the breath a body. That means you are contemplating the breath, going in and coming out. It's the breath that you are aware of. So you don't have to fix it at a point. But if you continue to note the breath going in and come out, going in and come out, after some time, if it becomes obvious to you at a particular place, for example, you may notice inside your throat, the breath moving in and moving out, and then you can if you want to observe it there. But it must be natural. Don't just because they say put your attention here, you put your attention here. But you don't feel the breath here. One thing good about this abdomen is you allow your breath to go in until your abdomen and now you relax faster. Because when we are tense, our breath only goes up to our chest, doesn't go down. So, when you allow your breath to go down to your abdomen, then you relax better. When we go to sleep, you find either a baby or even an adult, when that person is sound asleep, you see their abdomen going up and down. You just observe the rising and falling. You are not doing the breath meditation. You are doing abdomen meditation. PRABHUPĀDA But the problem is always the mind running away. That's where it always occurs. So we follow the timing. What is the best method? The best method is very hard to do. It is not to sleep. You know the Buddha, the monks and nuns, the Buddha told them to rest no more than four hours, from 10 p.m. until 2 p.m. And even then, sometimes when they fell asleep, the Buddha also rebuked them, that they should not fall asleep. That's why you'll find that the first method the Buddha taught is the 32 parts of the body. And these 32 parts of the body is the chanting method. Chanting hair, body hair, nails, skin, bone marrow, etc. So this method actually The Buddha himself did not practice and yet he taught this method. And I believe that he probably taught this method even though he did not practice because he looked into the past Buddhas. I think probably the past Buddhas also taught this method. Why this method is good is that when you lie down to rest and you don't have to fall asleep, then you can chant. Enchanting is in a way more effective to prevent you from falling asleep and washing your breath because your breath becomes finer and finer and finer and coughs people to sleep. So the biggest obstacle to meditation is actually sleep. Every time we sleep, our parents used to say, pang gua xia liang, drive off in a big vehicle, going here and there, and dreaming here, dreaming there. So, we allow the mind, you know, freedom to go where it wants. So it runs like mad, and we sleep, you know. So when we wake up, just see, When you try to meditate, you find your mind running. But some people combine two methods. So like when you are sitting in meditation, some people they observe the breath. When they are not sitting in meditation, for example, they are doing work in the house, you can do some chanting, chanting in your mind. Repeating, repeating the same thing again and again. How do you maintain? What do you focus on? Colour. Can. It's one metal. It's a different metal. As long as you focus on one particular thing, what does that mean? If you like a certain colour, for example blue, and you just think of blue, is it the same aura or is it, is it the same thing or changes? No, it has to be the same thing. You don't have to focus on your breathing. If you like to meditate on color, you can. But it is given in some books on how to do, you know. There are four types of colors you can focus on. One is white. One is blue. One is red, I think. And one is yellow. So you choose one of these colors. For example, say you buy a piece of cloth. So if you want to paint it on white, then you buy a piece of white cloth, very white, then you put it in front of you, piece of white cloth, then you look at the white cloth, you look at it and then you close your eyes, and then you try to imagine it, then you open your eyes, you look at it again, and then you close your eyes and try to imagine it. Whatever color you, one of these four colors, So you keep on opening and closing your eyes until you can see that color when you close your eyes. You see, if it suits you, then go ahead. As long as you put your mind on something, the mind doesn't wander, it's alright. That is the object of meditation. The aim of meditation is to make your mind stay on one object so that it doesn't run, doesn't... small tongue, small sight, I think not necessary. For example, if you have a white piece of cloth, a big piece of cloth, you can see everywhere.

(EA10)-08-Q4-Where-to-find-Arahant

Arahant is very hard to find because the Buddha is not around. As I mentioned just now, if the Buddha is around, you look for those people who have attained the four jhanas and you teach them the Dharma, then they might become... For example, now in America, people have very good... a lot of blessings, a rich and good life. So quite likely some of them were on the spiritual path in the past. Now they are born into such a good environment. So it might be possible some of them, now they might be Christians or something like that. So they don't know the Dhamma. But if you can find such people and then envision the Dhamma, they could very well become enlightened. So nowadays arahants is very hard to find. Anagamin also very hard to find. we have to find. For these two, you need the four dhammas. But sort of unknown, if I get a dhamma in mind, I can find those people who learn the dhamma, especially in Buddhist countries.

(EA10)-09-Q5-Attaining-Sotapanna

My personal view is that that person, he knows that he is looking for something and he doesn't know what it is he is looking for until he comes into the Dharma. Then he will realize, ah, this is what I have been looking for. So that person, he has, just like the Buddha, Even though he had such a good life, yet something was eating inside him. He was not happy in the house. He knew he was looking for something, but he didn't know what. Then he saw an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and finally a monk. and he realized that he himself has got to grow old, he has to become sick and he has to die one day. So even though there was no Dharma at that time, he just left the house in front of his parents, cut off his hair, put on the yellow robe and walked off. So this type of person like the Buddha must be a Sakadagami from the previous life. A lot of people find it very hard to believe when I say that a person attains 3 and 3, the first part of the Arya, by listening to the Dharma. But then, just recently, I recollected, you know, a sutra about Saratani. During the Buddha's time, there was a Sakyan by the name of Saratani, and he used to drink liquor. So he used to drink liquor, and then after that he passed away. But he was a follower of the Buddha. So after he passed away, people came to ask the Buddha, where is Sarakani reborn? Then the Buddha said that he is Sotapanna, he has got a good rebirth. So many people did not believe that Sarakani, because he broke the fifth precept against drinking, that he could be a Suttapanna. So they doubted what the Buddha said. So the news came back to the Buddha's ears. You know what the Buddha said? Why shouldn't Sarakani become a Suttapanna? He has been learning the Dharma for a long time. Then Buddha said, even these trees, these trees can understand what I say. Even the trees also can become Suttapanna. So you see, The Buddha didn't say that if I taught the trees meditation, they become a Sotapanna. The Buddha said if I taught them the Dharma, they would become a Sotapanna. So this is the evidence that a person becomes a Sotapanna by listening to the Dharma, not by meditating. Nowadays, a lot of meditation teachers say the only way to become a Sotapanna is by meditation. It's not what the Buddha said. The Buddha said if the trees understand what I say, they would become suta-panna. See? So who is right? The Buddha said in the sutras, who is one learned in the dharma? Who is a person learned in the dharma? The Buddha said a person is called learned in the dharma when he practices the dharma that he has heard. Even if he spoke verses of the Dhamma, if he puts it into practice, he is called one learned in the Dhamma. Not one who knows a lot, Cakravanya, but he has to practice. He has to practice. Some people learn some Dhamma to argue with people, not to practice.

(EA10)-10-Q6-Difficult-to-Practice-at-Home

See, generally, compared to a monk, generally, the lay people are much more difficult to practice. Oh, just let me. Otherwise, you will not become a monk. I'm not a perfectionist. Before I became a monk, I was so reluctant to become a monk. So I thought I'm going to practice at home. So I practiced at home. I progressed, progressed until at a stage I find Not enough. I go at work, come back. I make it at the most two hours a day, two or three hours a day to practice. I find I want to do it full time. In the sutra, the Buddha said it's difficult to practice the holy life in the house as pure as a corn shell. The Buddha said that the household life is dusty. And the homeless life is more suitable for practice. Then if you really want to practice, even for a monk, even if they stay in a town monastery, it's very difficult to practice. Almost impossible. Last time, I came back from Thailand and then I went to Ipoh to look for a cave to stay. And after that, Reverend Suvarno came to Ipoh and then I was asked by some lay people to go meet him. I met him and then he asked me to go to Penang. I went to stay in his temple in Penang and I found it very hard to practice. In the morning, people come to offer breakfast. After breakfast, they want to chat with you. Then lunchtime, people come to offer lunch. After lunch also, some of them want to chat with you. And some finish their work at 5 o'clock, come and chat with you. And some after dinner, eat something, they come and chat with you. And you cannot run away, and that little kutty, they come knock-knock on your door. Later, I went to stay in a cave of the Maghreb. It's 400 feet up. So, not many people can climb 400 feet. Then, later, I wanted even more seclusion. I made a gate from distance before the cave. Because if they come to your cave and they start calling you, want to open my shame. Take me to Egypt. I am quite far away. Then I call you, also come here.

(EA10)-11-Q7-Self-Declared-Arahant

Yes. Sometimes we come across people who are self-professed artists. Oh. So, in your opinion, what makes them think that they are in that state of non-conflict? Dangerous, actually, yes. But if you get, once in a while, some teachers or even lay people who are involved in the Surya-nidā-bhāgavatam, you subtly taught him that they are not close to him. PRABHUPĀDA Especially if a person, if a layperson becomes an arahant, he automatically does not become a layperson any more. He may renounce. But he is still living the whole life, impossible to be an arahant. And even for monks and nuns, if they even claim, not only arahant, if they claim to be anagamin, make sure they have the four jhanas. If they don't have the four jhanas, they are not qualified to call themselves anagamin. And some of them, their understanding of the Buddha's Dharma is so poor, their interpretation of jhana is completely wrong. They think when they enter jhana, they don't know anything. How can they be? They are sleeping already. Especially for a monk or a nun, if they say that they are arahant, or even an anagamin, or even an arya, and they know it's not true, then it's a very big offence of rajita. But the problem is, a lot of ignorant people, Actually, holy also tell you, Sifu. So, always taking after the Sifu. Sifu has to make aims so that they have a lot of followers. Actually, the mark of an Arya should be humility. They are very opposite. So, if a person is really an Arya, that person will not want to not boast or want people to know. Just now I just mentioned that if a person actually attains something, he will not want to boast about it. So be very careful of these people who make claims and such and such. So the best is to rely on the Buddha. So rely on persons, because persons can be very deceiving. You try to learn the original teachings of the Buddha. The original teachings of the Buddha are in the earliest discourses. If you read one of my books here called Liberation, you will know which are the earliest discourses of the Buddha. Try to study that. Try to give some talks. You can get the CD here. I was a Mariana Bank before. Practiced Mariana Buddhism for nine years. Six years as a layman and three years as a monk. And finally I realized I wasted my time.

(EA10)-12-Q8-Prayers-and-Vows-are-Useless

In the Buddha teachings, the Buddha says that we can't get what we want by prayers, meaning also crying for help, or by making vows, etc. The Buddha said if we can get by all these ways, then there will be no suffering in this world. Right? Because if there is some compassionate Buddha or Bodhisattva can help you, or some super being can help us, then why don't they go and help the beings in hell or in the ghost realm? During the Second World War, the Jews were sent to the gas chambers, and the Jews, they take their religion very seriously. So some of them, they prayed and cried to God, they saw their Children, one by one, being sent to the gas chamber and gas to death. And their wife and all that. They pray to God, and God will come and help them. I feel when it's turn 90, if you go to the gas chamber, you start to curse God. So in the same way, if you pray to earth's soul, Bodhisattva, and all that, one day you find yourself in hell, and earth's soul, Bodhisattva, is not there to help you, and you'll be cursing earth's soul, Bodhisattva. You have to investigate more. You don't take the trouble to investigate. Nobody can help you. Just listen and the one that sounds nice to your ear, you go and follow that one. That's all. The wise way. I always like to say, good things are not cheap. Cheap things are not good. You see, if it's so... like these people say, you know how much suffering the Buddha underwent to become enlightened? He suffered so much that he said that nobody in the past suffered more than him on the spiritual path and nobody in the future will suffer more than him if they are practicing the spiritual path and even now at the most they will equal him only. To get out of saṁsāra is something very difficult. Mahārāja, Satan, is very powerful. Just like your friend is telling you, why you can practice this method so hard? Come, I'll teach you how to talk good, so easy. That is Mahārāja talking to you. If you don't practice the right way, after many years, you will be disappointed. In the sūtas, Citta, the lay person, who was a very devoted disciple of the Buddha, he met a friend. He had not seen him for 30 years. This friend was Kasapa. So, this friend of his became a naked ascetic. You know, naked ascetic, they have quite a hard life, go everywhere naked. So, he asked his friend, Kasapa, these 30 years that you have become ascetic, have you attained any superhuman, supernormal attainment, or superhuman attainment? His friend said, no, in these 30 years that I have been ascetic, I have not attained anything, nothing except being shaven head and naked body, and everywhere I go I have to carry a small broom. Why you have to carry a small group? Because if you sit on the floor, all the stones will prick his backside. So then this ascetic asked his friend Citta, the Buddha's disciple, he said, 30 years you have been a lay follower of the Samana Gautama. Have you attained anything? And this Citta said, why not? Whenever I want to, I can attain the four jhanas. And if I were to pass away, it won't be surprising that the Buddha would say that I'm a non-returner, that is an unaccompanied fruition. So this ascetic said, what? You have been a layman for 30 years and you attain all these things? The Citta said, yes. And then he said, then you have to bring me to your Buddha. I want to become a disciple of his. And Cikar brought him to the Buddha and then he ordained. So he wasted 30 years, so much suffering, naked and all that. And then he attained, I think. So you have to be very careful. You can spend your whole life wasting your time. A few years ago, I went to Telok Intan. Kuala Lumpur is one Buddhist centre where they have Mahayana and Theravadans. So they told me an old lady just passed away. But a few days before she passed away, she was crying and asking people, why you took away my clothes? Who took away my clothes? And she was crying. But nobody took away her clothes. She saw herself naked and no people had taken away her clothes. So the question they asked me is, Why she has been chanting Amitabha Buddha for 30 years, 30 over years? Why she behaves like that? I told them, it shows that she is going to be reborn in the ghost realm with no clothes to wear. So all that chanting Amitabha Buddha is just practicing the mouth, not cultivating the heart, the mind. It's the mind that is important. We have to change our heart. on the external. This time thing, Amitabha Buddha, even you use a tape recorder, you can also get the Amitabha Buddha all the time. You can train a parrot also to chant Amitabha Buddha. Parrot is not very, very born in the pure land. Oh, they are difficult in pure land. They want Sutta. During the Buddha's time, there was a group of brahmins, you know, they had this practice. When the relative passes away, Immediately they take his corpse out to the outside, the open air, and make him face the sky and shout his name, for example, Ali. Ali, do you see the heaven there? Go to heaven, go to heaven. And they believe that Ali will go to heaven because he can see heaven. So this man told the Buddha, he said, Bhagavan, now you are an arahant samasambuddha and they know an arahant samasambuddha has super psychic power. So he said, so now you can bring all of us to heaven. Can the Buddha bring all of you to heaven? So what did the Buddha say? The Buddha said, I'll ask you a question first. You reply me. The Buddha said, suppose A lot of people came to the edge of a pond, and they put a big rock, and they threw the rock into the pond. So when they threw the rock into the pond, the rock will sink, because it's erine. So when it is sinking, the Buddha said, these people all shout, shout at the rock. Good rock, clever rock, please float up, float to the shore, where the rock floats up. And this man thought, and this man said, no, the rock is heavy, you see. So the Buddha said, in the same way, if a person has done a lot of evil deeds, and then you shout his name and ask him to go to heaven, how can he go to heaven? All these evil deeds will bring him to the woeful pains of rebirth, hell or animal or ghost. On the other hand, the Buddha said, suppose These people came to the pond and took a cup of oil and threw the cup into the pond. Then the cup would sink, but the oil would float up. And when the oil floated up, then they shouted at the oil, asked the oil to sink to the bottom. What did they say? Oil will not sink. So the Buddha said in the same way, if a person has done a lot of good deeds, not done evil, so when he dies, his good karma will bring him to heaven. So you curse him and all that, you ask him to go to hell, so he won't go to hell. Right? So the next time they ask, they tell you this thing and you tell them what the Buddha said. And these people, they use this excuse, sometimes a mosquito bite them, they kill the mosquito and then they say, oh, go to the pure land. Like that, I kill you and then you go to the pure land. And another thing about Buddhism, it is not necessary to chant, to do chanting. Firstly, a lot of people do it because you feel nice. Emotionally nice. Just like Christians, they like to sing Hallelujah and all these things. They feel nice after singing. So that's the first thing. Some of the chants that we do are called Parittas. Parittas are protections. And they protect us from evil and all that, from harmful spirits and all that. For a few reasons, one is we chant the name of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Some of them we chant against very fierce devas. We chant, for example, Atanantya Paritta. You call the names of the devas, Taikas. very powerful Devarajas. So this type of Paritta was taught by the Deva to the Buddha for the disciples. So that for example, if the disciples went to the deep forest to practice, and some curious Deva comes to harm him, and he chants his name of the Taiko, then they will be stabbed. So some of these chants are effective as protections. And samma is for dhamma. For example, Mangala Sutta, the ways of getting the highest blessings. We chant this, the devas listen, they are very happy to hear the dhamma. Because this particular sutta was spoken by the Buddha at the request of the deva. The Deva came to ask the Buddha. Then the Deva said, men and Devas, all of us, we want blessings. How do we get the highest blessings? And then the Buddha said, sevanacabalanam panjitanam casevanam untratapunjaniyanam etamam kalamustamam. Not to associate with fools, to associate with the wise. And to Supreme One worship. those worthy of worship, to respect those worthy of respect, that is the highest blessings. So since this was spoken for the Deva, so there are other Devas also interested to hear this kind of Dhamma. So for example, now we have a Dhamma discussion. Is it possible that some Deva also will come and listen? Because nothing helps us more than the dharma in this world. In this world, we suffer because we don't know the dharma. Because of not knowing the dharma, we do the wrong things. We don't do the right things. But when we know the dharma, we do the right things and we avoid the wrong things. So in this way, we make ourselves safe. We bless ourselves. The Buddha said that no man can bless another. It is by good actions that we are blessed is by evil actions that we are cursed. Nobody can curse us for our evil actions. So some people, they get gong tau. Why? Because of their bad karma. Because of their bad karma, so they don't have this wu fat xin, wu fat san, protecting you. So if somebody sends some evil spirits, you are not protected, then you cannot. But if you are virtuous, you have to protect. These devas also will protect you. Kui Yin, to watch him. So when these devas protect you, then you don't get harmed. So like that, I was driven from Kimo to here by one gentleman. He travels quite often. Every weekend he has to come to see the family. So he was telling me that there were occasions when we, for example, once he was coming, driving back home in the night and it was about 6 a.m. and it was still dark. So he opened his radio. The radio suddenly went funny. The sound went funny. He stopped at the rest area to adjust the wires and then to go to the toilet. Then he came out again, came out again on the highway. When he came out on the highway, he saw an accident. What happened? Somebody maybe fell asleep, knocked the middle barrier. So the car stopped there. And because it was dark, another car overtook. Actually when he went into the rest area, another car, he was already driving about 100, 110, another car driving about 140, because at night we can't, you know, no policeman around, some people they go so fast. So the car had an accident in front, the lights were out. This fellow went so fast, when he saw the car, he wouldn't brake in time, bang into that car, and the car turned around a few times, he saw the light, Because the headlight was still on, turning around. Then he reached there and then he saw the accident. Then he thought if he had not gone into that area, he would have... the ambulance would have hit him. So what made the radio go funny? Something protected me. You see, when you are virtuous, things like that happen to prevent you from... Like some people, the plane crash, and then they are supposed to go on the plane. Something happened, they couldn't catch the plane. They saved their life. So when you are virtuous, you get this type of protection. The problem with all these other teachings that say that bodhisattva can help you, or this and that can help you, is make you lazy. You think all this can help me, and then you keep praying, keep praying. You don't depend on yourself. But if you know nobody can help you, then you become more scared and make more effort. You watch your actions, you watch your mouth, you watch your mind, and then you do all the right things. You don't do the wrong things. You pray to them. They look at you. Are you worthy of help? If you are virtuous, they are worthy of help. only to a certain extent. For example, a stray dog, you see, outside your house, got lost. How much can you help the dog? Give him food, give him shelter. That's enough. You can't change him from a dog to a human being. So very limited help.