Ringkasan dibuat dengan bantuan AI • Belum diverifikasi
Dalam ceramah tanya jawab Dhamma yang berlangsung di Birken, Ajahn Sona membahas berbagai pertanyaan praktis dan filosofis seputar praktik Buddhis. Ceramah ini dimulai dengan diskusi tentang memilih sekolah meditasi, di mana ia membandingkan pendekatan Theravada dan Mahayana, menekankan pentingnya berpikir kritis dan tidak menerima semua klaim secara membabi buta. Ia menjelaskan asal-usul kata Zen dari jhana, menyoroti perbedaan pendekatan meditasi antara kedua tradisi, dan menegaskan pentingnya memahami ajaran asli Buddha dalam Pali Canon. Selanjutnya, ia membahas manfaat meditasi jalan sebagai alternatif duduk, serta memperkenalkan konsep yoniso manasikara (refleksi bijaksana) yang mengubah persepsi menuju penembusan tiga karakteristik. Menjawab pertanyaan tentang korupsi dalam sangha, ia menekankan pentingnya vinaya, dan menjelaskan kondisi serta pengalaman jhana pertama. Ia juga mengulas penggunaan media sosial yang tidak bijaksana sebagai pelanggaran sila kelima, cara mempercepat vipaka positif, dan pandangan Buddha tentang kehendak bebas. Ajahn Sona kemudian menekankan pentingnya menyeimbangkan studi Dhamma dan meditasi, serta memaknai simbol emas dan kemewahan dalam konteks spiritual. Untuk menghadapi ketidakpastian dan stres, ia memberikan nasihat praktis bahwa kecemasan tidak membantu dan hanya merugikan. Terakhir, ia menjelaskan empat tahap pencerahan dan praktik yang diperlukan untuk maju dari satu tahap ke tahap berikutnya, terutama pentingnya samadhi untuk mencapai tahap ketiga. Pesan utama ceramah ini adalah pentingnya praktik yang seimbang, berpikir kritis, dan memahami ajaran dengan benar untuk kemajuan spiritual.
Welcome to our question and answer session. I'm Ajahn Sona. Feel free to submit a question in the question bar. And let's hear the first one, Mehta.
Yes, Ajahn Sona. Our first question comes to us from Nick from Alberta, Canada. Among so many Buddhist meditation schools in the world, such as Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village School, Ajahn Chah's school, Mahasi's, Pa Oaks, Goenka's, Tibetan Zen, and so on, which of them do you think is worth a visit and deep practice?
Do you suggest to stick to one and practice until reaching Sotapanna or pick one?
Pick the elements of all schools that fit for each individual.
Well, some of the schools you mentioned are Theravada, the early Buddhist schools. Some are later developments, the Zen school and the Mahayana schools. Thich Nhat Hanh's school is Mahayana and Zen.
Yeah, you may not know that. So it's just how they would pronounce Zen in Vietnam, Son or something like that. So they're quite different in their aspirations.
The Mahayana schools tend to be seeking or basically committed to Bodhisattva ideals, compassionate.
Sort of experience in the universe and committed to the enlightenment of all beings over time.
The early schools, the Theravada, does not generally hold that aspiration.
The primary aspiration, which is in the early suttas, is liberation for the individual in this very life as soon as possible.
In the meantime, of course, one can do much good. One could liberate others or give teachings to others, but there is no primary commitment to the virtually inconceivable and endless commitment to the liberation of all beings.
The Buddha himself had this long past as a Bodhisattva.
Aspiring to develop the perfections of character in order to be a luminary, like that is the Buddha.
He didn't expect or commend really that path at all.
So the historical teachings don't have the Buddha recommending taking up that path to any of the disciples at the time.
Later on, in the Mahayana, there's a development of this aspiration to be a Bodhisattva, to pursue this path of Buddhahood.
And there's a lot of more or less vague and confusing talk about using this very word Buddha.
A lot of Buddhas around in the Mahayana, only one in this historical period in the Theravada.
So...
You're going to have to make some decisions there.
Certainly in the Mahayana, the Thich Nhat Hanh school and everything, there's a lot of human friendliness and emphasis on compassion.
And also social, active Buddhism, more or less.
Doing social work in the world in some ways.
Less so in the Theravada, although it's a mistake to think that the Theravada monks are cold...
Cold, aloof, arahant types and never do a thing for anybody else in the world.
This very Q&A is an outreach to the world, isn't it?
The building of monasteries requires monks to participate in all kinds of activities to welcome in also the lay community.
So one has to get a sense of the schools and what you're getting into.
When you enter these schools.
Often in the West, Buddhism is like anything with the beginning with a B is considered Buddhism.
But you will see that these later developments, the Vajrayana, the Mahayana, Tantra, all these things are completely absent from the early suttas.
So you have to have make some judgments.
You can't just believe because it's a spiritual tradition tells you.
In spiritual language, which is what I would call a historical language.
So all kinds of pious fabrications in various schools about what actually went on in history and things like that.
And there's a certain political correctness about not dismissing one and accepting another.
But in the end, it comes down to this.
You are going to make choices.
And the choices you make don't always give equality to all branches and schools who claim to be Buddhist.
It's all right to say, no, I definitely, I'm not just picking randomly.
I'm picking very carefully.
What I decide is the best view.
And the others, I'm not just, you know, I'm actually saying my view is better.
So this is what you're going to do.
You're going to make some very, very careful choices.
I've been through various schools, the Tibetan schools and the Zen schools and this and that, blah, blah, blah.
Philosophy at university, all kinds of views and opinions.
And I had to sort things out and reject some things that I just, first of all, I thought were pretty cool.
And later on, I didn't think so.
So you're going to have to make some hard choices.
And I recommend that you go forth with this attitude.
Just because somebody presents themselves as some wonderful thing, some great idea, some wonderful, compassionate this and that,
you still need to scrutinize it.
You need to take care of your own mind and question it deeply and compare it to other claims which are in contradiction.
And you must make choices.
You really need to be hard-nosed and flinty-eyed about this whole business.
Not just mush, mush-brained about it.
Okay.
Next question.
Yeah.
There's a comment from the chat.
You were mentioning outreach to the world.
And I just thought I'd share that.
It says, this is from Jane.
Hello, everyone at Birkin.
Thank you for all the talks and for taking the valuable time for our benefit.
For me and all the people around me.
It has totally changed our lives.
Well, we appreciate that comment.
And you see, of course, that is exactly what the Theravada is.
Outreach is.
Teaching of Dhamma and trying to provide an example for people.
Also, we have monasteries where lay people can come and stay.
And we put a lot of time and invest a lot into doing this well.
Just Meta is behind the microphone over there.
She's operating all of these computers and cameras and microphones and how we broadcast this out into the world.
People need to research the equipment to get.
And all of these things require lots of time and people willing to, in many cases, donate their time and get all this equipment and so forth in order to do this.
And this is just one part of what we do.
We have a physical monastery as well, which you usually see in a flyover, a drone flyover at the beginning of the Q&A.
And that, by the way, that drone flyover is Meta again.
We have to buy a drone, learn how to use it, and then somebody's got to do it.
So lots of time and effort and human goodwill is put into the whole experience of sustaining the monastic Sangha, which has been going on for 2,500 years.
And believe me, it requires lots of time, energy, and commitment by lots of people.
Let's go to the next question.
The next question from the live chat also kind of goes on the topic of schools.
It's from Vladlagor.
Can you help me understand why Theravadan meditation is so complicated while in Zen Buddhism there are none of these jhana levels, etc., where meditation is the central part?
Yes.
Well, you need to do a little historical research.
The word Zen is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word chan.
And the Chinese word is the pronunciation of the Pali word jhana, or the Sanskrit word, which is pronounced very similar, jhana.
The jhana, so a Zen monk is a jhana monk.
And what is jhana?
It is the four stages of meditation listed under the eighth factor of the Eightfold Path, samadhi.
Right samadhi, the eighth factor of the Eightfold Path.
And under right samadhi is a drop-down menu with four depths of jhana.
So jhana, chan, zen is what is meant.
So it is precisely this jhanic, this monk who is attempting to cultivate the jhanas in meditation.
The Zen school is a reaction to some of the excessive scholarly and sutra-oriented schools.
We must...
The basic division here is the early...
The Pali canon, the early southern schools, the Theravada schools, etc.
There are other branches of it, but actually the Theravada seems to be the only, you know, real surviving early school with a complete canon.
So, Buddhism moves north in the form of the Mahayana.
And vast sutras are produced.
The Lotus Sutra and all kinds of...
Huge proliferations, which have virtually nothing to do with what is propounded in the Pali canon.
They are voluminous.
And I would say it's pretty historically clear that one reason why they're so long is the use of writing.
The Pali canon, the early suttas,
are delivered by the Buddha.
In oral form.
And memorized by the monks.
And kept in oral form.
Because there is no writing in India at that time.
The whole culture is a memory culture.
Writing only arrives about 200 years later.
And just very slowly making its way into the culture.
And primarily as a result of influence from the Greeks and the Persians.
Who are in what we call Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Very early.
Just slightly after the time of the Buddha.
The Greeks and Persians are in what at that time would have been northern India.
But it's now Pakistan and Afghanistan.
That's called the Golden Road.
The Silk Route and so forth.
And the Chinese came in through that place.
And...
Writing developed.
And the Chinese also had writing.
And so when you write,
you can put down a huge mass of material that is quite inaccessible to just straight memorization.
So the Mahayana develops an enormous length of suttas.
The Chinese canon, the Tripitaka of the Chinese canon includes most of the Pali canon.
But...
It's vast.
It's just huge.
Huge.
It just gets out of control in a sense.
The Zen school comes in and said...
It's kind of direct teaching outside of the sutras.
So they are abandoning a lot of scholasticism and so forth.
Which is...
They found it just bogged everything down and was...
You know, just...
Kind of like university stuff.
They wanted to get back to the actual experience.
But in doing that they also...
Dismissed a lot of the basic teachings of the Buddha.
The basic outline.
And quite often in Zen schools you're completely unaware of the early suttas.
Including the details of meditation in the Eighth Factor, the Eightfold Path.
Which is...
Would be very helpful for cultivating meditation.
Some of the Zen schools use breath meditation.
And...
It's very helpful to get word from the historical Buddha about how to do this.
So this is not complicated.
It's simply the original teachings of the Buddha in his own words.
Preserved in the Pali Canon.
And...
If you're missing this in the Zen school then you're missing basic helpful instructions.
The instructions fit on a single page.
It's very helpful for...
If you're practicing breath meditation.
In the Zen school.
But remember the Zen school is again a Mahayana school.
And there's a huge emphasis on bodhisattva practice.
This is not the case in the Theravada school.
So you must understand.
Everybody out there must understand there are different schools of Buddhism.
And the schools are not all that harmonious.
They have some substantial suspicions and criticisms of each other.
So if you think it's all just lovey-dovey.
It isn't lovey-dovey.
It's...
And even the Buddha was not accepting of all of the present schools.
He rejected very clearly Brahmanical ideas and philosophical ideas.
He argued with them.
Said that some of them were very pernicious.
Very cruel.
Very misleading.
So don't think that Buddhism just...
Accepts everything.
It doesn't.
It's very clear and very critical.
And arguments take place.
And you need to use your head and your critical faculties as well in sorting these things out.
Okay.
Next question.
Yes, Ajahn.
The next question is from the chat from Great Future Band from Indiana, United States.
Do you think walking meditation can substitute well to any extent for sitting meditation?
Neck pain and tremors make walking meditation at night more appealing.
Yes, indeed.
The Buddha praised walking meditation as a way of strengthening concentration.
It requires more concentration because it's more...
There's more conditions attached to it.
Sitting still upright is...
Sort of the least conditional.
You don't have to watch where you're going or any of that stuff.
But quite often sloth, sleepiness and everything accompanies the sitting posture.
So walking is more energizing.
And if you can attain some quality of serenity, samadhi or focus during walking meditation,
then it is strong and long-lasting as the Buddha says.
Strong and long-lasting.
So I do many hours of walking meditation a day.
I enjoy it.
It's good for your body.
It's good for your mind.
It's good for everything.
It could be your main practice very easily.
And many monks in the forest tradition do many hours of walking meditation.
Next question.
The next question from the chat is from Third Silence from Poland.
Dear Ajahn.
How does perception change as one progresses along the path through the cultivation of Yoniso Manasikara?
Does Yoniso Manasikara require deliberate effort in one who has not yet attained stream entry?
Whereas for a Sotapanna, it arises more naturally as an expression of right view and direct insight into the Dhamma.
Okay.
I want to sort that terminology out for people.
Manasikara.
Yoniso Manasikara.
Yoniso is going to the roots of things.
Yoni is actually the womb where babies are born from.
The place where creation takes place.
And Manasikara is just mind doings.
Mana is mind and kara is doings.
We would translate this as wise reflection, deep inquiry, the capacity for deep inquiry.
And of course, then the person asks, how does this change perceptions?
It changes perceptions drastically.
What are perceptions?
Perceptions are actually memories.
When we perceive a bowl of soup, when we glance down and we see a bowl of soup, that's a perception.
We actually learned it was a bowl and we learned it was soup somewhere along the line.
And somebody told us, this is a bowl and this is soup and that's a bowl of soup.
And then once we learned it, it became a perception.
And the perception occurs so fast that it doesn't feel like we're remembering anything.
But if you go to some place where there are no clocks and you show a person a clock, they don't see a clock.
You have to teach them, this is a clock.
What it does is keep track of time.
You see how the arms move and so forth.
And then slowly, eventually they see it as a clock, instantly as a clock.
But it's all memories.
So when you practice deep inquiry, you ask yourself, what is it that I am seeing in the world?
Primarily from a Buddhist point of view, the things that I see that seem to be lasting and permanent and enduring,
when I inquire into them, nothing endures.
Everything falls apart.
Everything disintegrates.
Even what seems to be very enduring things like bricks and stones and buildings can disappear in a moment, can't they?
A bomb goes off.
A world war starts.
An earthquake happens.
Weather erodes it.
Everything is up for disintegration.
And we start to...
By inquiry, we see everything just passes away.
I have to embed that perception in my mind because I'm prone to forget that.
I'm prone to think that things which are impermanent are permanent.
That things which are unsatisfactory are satisfactory.
Things which have no core or essence have a core.
So this is anicca, dukkha, anatta.
The three characteristics of reality which we must focus our deep inquiry, investigation and reflection.
Yoni, so, mana, sikara.
On these three characteristics.
And until they...
When we glance at them, we perceive them.
We perceive that which other people perceive as permanent, we perceive as impermanent.
That which other people perceive as unsatisfactory, we perceive as unsatisfactory.
That which other people perceive as having a core essence, an identity, a self, we perceive as having no essence, no core identity, no self.
So this is the radical transformation of this.
And if you do it enough, then you do become this thing called the sotapanna.
And it's through the practice of wise reflection, deep meditative reflection and contemplation and inquiry
that you break through to this stage of the first stage of enlightenment.
And then it continues.
So that's the bridge.
And yoni, so, mana, sikara.
The wise reflection.
Is important both for the person aspiring to enlightenment and also the person who is enlightened.
The next question is from Michael from British Columbia, Canada.
How is one to be aware of corruption within a sangha and how does one deal with it?
Corruption within a sangha is...
If the sangha...
Hopefully the sangha has a vinaya.
Now, vinaya are rules.
A constitution.
So if you go to a country that has a constitution,
laws which no one is above,
and then you can know whether somebody is outside the law or within the law.
And that's any civilized country has a constitution and a set of laws.
And that's how you figure it.
And corruption is when people don't follow the laws or think they're above the laws.
In the Theravada,
the best we can do for original Buddhism,
we have a very detailed, elaborate constitution
for the behavior of monks and nuns.
And these are very carefully laid out.
The whole constitution for monastic behavior is hundreds of pages long.
And each monk is obliged to learn them.
And no one is given exemption for being ignorant of the law.
Just like in Canada,
ignorance of the law is no excuse.
So, factors like money and sexual activity,
harsh dominance and things like this,
affect the spiritual groups.
Theravada Buddhism has boundaries, measures,
and containments for all of these things.
And no one is exempt from them.
There is no guru or transcendent master who is above the law.
Not in the Theravada.
It doesn't matter if they say they're enlightened, etc.,
and that they are somehow exempt from the boundaries of these things.
They are not.
So if you're in a Sangha,
and quite often people borrow this term liberally
and just use it as a,
oh, we're Buddhists, we're Sangha.
But if it's not in accordance with this,
then anybody can just make up anything.
So you better find out whether your Sangha is just made up,
just a fantasy of somebody,
or it has any concordance with the historical Buddha at all.
There's a lot of fake,
Buddhism out there,
a lot of fake Buddha quotes,
but the Buddha never said anything like that.
There's a lot of fake Einstein quotes,
all kinds of fake quotes.
You better find out what the person really said
and what the rules really are.
There are small booklets that you can get
which summarize the rules of conduct
for Sanghas, monks, nuns, and lay people.
And with access to the internet these days,
you can easily get that.
And all I can speak for is the Theravada version.
Some of the other communities,
the yoga communities,
and the Zen communities and everything they have,
they're not following these traditional things.
And you see again and again and again,
scandals and implosions.
And because there is just,
it's making it up as they go along.
So be critical and steely-eyed.
The next question from the chat
is from Rory from Pennsylvania, United States.
I have a question about the first jhana.
It seems there are two prerequisites.
One must be quite secluded from sensual pleasure
and unwholesome states of mind.
Once that happens and the mind settles down,
do you have to do anything?
Or does the jhana just strike you
or naturally arise?
Okay, the word jhana means a form of concentration,
actually a form of focusing the mind.
And when we withdraw from the normal interest of the mind,
the sights and sounds, smells, tastes, touches,
and even ideas,
the first jhana may contain certain narrow focus
on certain spiritual ideas.
What it really means is that the other impingements
on the mind, the normal activities of the mind,
are all about the world of sights and sounds
and smells and tastes and touches and ideas,
the outer world.
And this is withdrawing from the outer world
into an inner world of stillness and inner focus
where the outside world is forgotten,
completely not present.
When that occurs and the mind is fully invested
and interested in this inner experience,
that is jhana.
The jhana doesn't come after that.
That is what is meant by jhana.
The emotional feeling of this is joyful.
So this is a place where you can get joy
without looking outside in the world for it.
You get the joy from the mind itself
when fully, wholeheartedly invested
in its inner experience is joyful.
So you get an instant reward joy.
And the whole body is relieved
from much of its aches and pains and distresses.
So it rewards you in a sense it's pain-free.
Happiness flows and the heart is joyful.
So it's very good.
That joy and ease is connected to interest.
So rapturous interest,
which has forgotten about the world,
that is the experience of jhana.
I have a number of videos on the channel
which illustrate using the Buddha's similes.
We went to a great deal of trouble to find
the original similes that the Buddha used
for describing the jhanas.
And we put them in visual forms
and show you the various types of objects
which were described in the early suttas
and commentaries for establishing yourself
in this experience of jhana.
So check those out.
There's a number of videos there.
Look them up on the channel,
Ajahn Son's channel.
Yeah.
There are 402, I think, videos altogether
on all of these topics.
So check them out.
The next question from the chat
is from Moonfish from Thailand.
Given how social media algorithms
are designed to addict the mind,
would it be reasonable to consider unskillful use
a violation of the fifth precept?
Yes.
The fifth precept is intoxicants.
Not to take intoxicants.
Usually referring to alcohol and drugs.
You want to keep the mind maximally clear
and attentive.
Life is hard enough without being drunk.
Stupid.
You know, drugs and alcohol reduce your capacity
for clarity.
And that's why you can't drive a car properly
when you're intoxicated.
People think they can,
but it's very interesting.
People, there are a lot of experiments with
people, giving people a certain amount of alcohol
and asking them to say,
are you, do you feel any effects from it?
And often they will report,
no, I'm fine, I'm clear.
But if they give them a whole bunch of tests,
this is done under rigorous conditions,
a whole bunch of tests, driving tests and so forth,
their skills are diminished,
but they're not aware that they're diminished.
So this is the thing,
by taking those things,
you're diminishing your capacities.
And scrolling through endless algorithm feeds
on the internet can do this.
It reduces your,
it pulls you into rabbit holes
of worlds, ideas and so forth.
So you're responsible for this.
You must be careful of this
and aware that this,
you're just being lost in these things.
One way to use the algorithm
is to find,
in your clearest moments,
decide what is it that I'm actually interested in?
And what sort of,
people and ideas are,
deliver things well for me?
Now let me,
let me just type in like a hundred times,
some sort of,
inquiry into that specific topic.
And then the algorithm knows that you're interested
in that specific topic
and will feed back the stuff that you're,
that is related to that.
So you can,
you can control the algorithm
by being aware that,
what you feed in and what you,
what you follow in your impulse
will start to generate feedback loops.
But you don't want to do this
just randomly and,
and drunkenly.
You want to systematically understand
whatever I put in there,
the,
the web will search for my interests.
But if I just click on a whole bunch of,
uh,
foolish things,
uh,
people,
slipping on the ice or,
uh,
pulling pranks on each other,
cat videos,
all kinds of stuff.
I'm just going to get a whole mess of that back.
So disaster things and,
uh,
harsh political rhetoric and so forth.
If I click on those,
I'm going to get more of them.
So don't click on them to begin with.
But click on something that you're truly interested in
and you'll get a whole bunch of,
a whole level of algorithm research.
It'll work for you
and it'll bring back
what you actually want to
and need to know.
So start with Ajahn Sona's YouTube channel.
Yes.
The next question is from Ermina from Poland.
If we have good kama,
can we accelerate Vipaka?
I'm wondering if it's possible to achieve the results
of our positive kama now.
When Ajahn Brahm bought land for the nuns,
he chanted and asked heavenly beings for help.
Besides Buddhism,
there are also visualization techniques
that I used to practice
and they worked very often.
I don't know if it's a coincidence
or if it can really be accelerated.
Yeah.
Okay.
Terms again.
Kama and Vipaka.
So kama is intentional action,
usually moral intentional action,
doing good and evil, etc.
Vipaka is the fruit of those actions.
In the West,
we use the word karma quite a bit.
Oh, that's your karma.
That's your karma.
When something bad or good happens to somebody,
we say, oh, that's your karma.
Actually, it's your Vipaka.
The karma was done previously.
The fruit of the karma
is called Vipaka.
And so,
Ermina wants to access positive results.
Now, we've all done good things in the past.
And various,
these positive stuff
we put in a bank account kind of thing,
we're wondering whether we can withdraw
early on our bank account.
Maybe we buy
bonds or something like this.
And it's a two-year bond.
But we want to pull it out of,
we want to use it now.
So we want to get an early release of the bond, you know.
So, yes, you can get access to
your positive Vipaka,
your positive results earlier.
But the way to do it is not just by wanting it.
The way to do it is by producing positive,
emotional experiences now.
So one of the best is loving-kindness.
So the more you immerse yourself in loving-kindness,
the more suitable the environment is
for the arising of past good actions.
The fruit of past good actions
can be accelerated or received
because of the positive emotional quality
of your present mind.
So that's how you access
the results of previous good actions,
is to infuse yourself
with positive emotions now.
And then that allows the arising
and attracts from the environment
positive results
from actions done previously.
As far as asking the devas
to bless the situation,
that's fine,
especially with Buddhist kind of monasteries
and so forth.
The devas are kind of like
the Christian idea of angels and so forth.
They also can be Buddhist.
The fact that you're abiding in heaven
doesn't mean that your journey is over.
And you still need Dhamma.
And you still can make merit
by supporting the truth of things,
the realities of the way things are.
And so the devas may be interested
in such large beneficial processes
like creating monasteries and so forth.
Generally speaking,
a kind of small wish is,
I want a color TV,
or can the devas help me get a color TV?
I guess I'm out of date.
A flat screen LCD or something like that.
The devas just aren't interested
in making sure you get a flat screen TV.
But your own good actions
can be accelerated simply by
practicing what is beautiful now,
the loving kindness,
compassion,
sympathetic joy,
or equanimity.
That will accelerate the arrival of positive results
from your own past good actions.
Next question.
The next question is from Yasi from Finland.
Do or can I have agency,
free will,
and or freedom of choice?
From a Buddhist point of view,
you have agency,
and it's important that you have that view.
So if you are,
this whole idea of predetermination
and free will,
are you completely predetermined
or are you free to make choices
without referring to previous causal structures?
And this question has been going on
for thousands of years.
It's never been resolved properly.
Some people commit to the idea
that there's zero free will,
and at the same time,
nobody can live that way.
There's a guy named Emerson,
a philosopher named Emerson.
He said,
if I am predetermined,
I'm predetermined to believe in free will.
And if I'm free,
I'm free to believe in free will as well.
And other people are free,
you're free to believe in predetermination,
but I doubt that you can actually act
sincerely in accordance with that belief.
Because what act,
what would it require of you?
So if we're predetermined,
we're under a huge structure
of the sense that we are making choices.
And that we could make a choice.
In other words,
it's not absolutely inevitable
that we will choose
not to steal that apple,
or that we could have chosen
not to steal the apple.
So we function that way.
In Buddhism we function,
but we acknowledge
that we are creatures of habit.
We have a lot of tendencies,
and it's very clear,
and we can experience it.
But we also know,
and direct from our own experience,
that we can make new choices
and change our lives.
And those choices are very real
because they set us off
in a different direction.
So that's all you have to know is that,
as the Buddha said,
monks make effort.
If you could not make effort, monks,
I would not tell you to make effort.
But because you can make effort,
therefore, monks, I say,
make effort.
Yes.
The next question from the chat
is from John.
How do you balance,
quote,
studying the Dhamma and meditation?
Is it beneficial to view
Samadhi meditation as,
quote,
studying the Dhamma
because of how Samadhi Vipassana arises
sequentially in tandem?
Yes.
You know, these things can be balanced.
Sometimes there's a kind of argument
between monks about, you know,
reading too many books
and not practicing enough.
And the other one says,
well, you're practicing,
but what are you practicing
if you haven't read the books?
Like, do you know what you're practicing?
So you do need some basic instruction
and then you need to practice
in accordance with that.
You can't wait till you have memorized
the entire Pali Canon to start practicing.
You should be doing both.
This is the same in, say, in music.
We learn about theory of music
and we practice music.
We practice scales
because they contribute to
eventually playing music.
And then we become knowledgeable about it.
But yeah, people can be just theoreticians.
They are very theoretical about music
and they can't play it.
So there's,
it's,
both should be
part of the experience.
The theory and practice
are both valuable
but need to be balanced.
The next question from the chat
is from Mudita from Canada.
Dear Ajahn,
I visited a Tibetan temple recently
and saw again
that many Buddhist temples
have gold everywhere.
Please remind me
why there is all that luxury
when the Buddha is about humbleness.
Yeah, gold is just a symbol,
a spiritual symbol.
Gold has not always been
thought of as particularly valuable.
It just happens to be a material
that is workable into jewelry.
It's not because it's valuable
but it's because it's malleable.
It's very pure,
it's very heavy
and it's shapeable.
And that's why,
so in South America,
the tribes in South America
found gold.
They didn't consider it
particularly intrinsically valuable
but it is,
it has a nice color to it.
It's shiny,
it's heavy
and it can be molded
into various symbols,
spiritual symbols.
And most of the symbols
of the ancient world
are spiritual symbols.
Protective symbols
or representations
of the world around them.
And so that's how
it was conceived of.
When the Spanish came
and invaded,
they used gold as a currency,
as like money.
And they saw that the natives
had billions of dollars worth of,
or pesos worth of gold there.
So they,
but they had no sense
of its intrinsic value,
whatsoever.
It just,
it just is good metal
for making stuff.
So they slaughtered
millions of people
in order to get the gold,
you know,
to,
but it was strictly
to turn it into money.
So in the early days
of Buddhism,
the use of gold
for showing that
this is beautiful,
valuable,
is,
is why it worked its way in.
It just shows you
that it's,
it's a,
it's of great value.
Spiritual values
are of great value.
Art in general
does this,
architecture as well.
So both in the West
and the East,
the Vatican,
the Sistine Chapel
is full of,
the whole ceiling
is painted by,
what is it,
Michelangelo.
So they're showing
the highest use of art
is spiritual,
for spiritual purposes.
Architecture,
the biggest
and most beautiful
buildings in the world,
at least until modern times,
have been spiritual
monuments.
Just to show everybody
that this is
extraordinarily valuable.
This is something,
the highest value
in your life.
So gold
and giant buildings
and stained glass
and paintings
and grand music.
Most of the great,
you know,
music of Europe,
right up to the 19th century,
was religiously inspired.
So in the West
and in Tibet as well,
the Potala Palace,
the place of the Dalai Lama
and so forth,
is a monumental,
large building
to show that spirituality
is the highest value
in life.
Okay.
The next question
is from Izzy
from British Columbia,
Canada.
I was wondering
if you would be able
to share
how to deal
with times of uncertainty.
For example,
waiting to hear back
from a job interview
or a school program.
What are some things
we can do to help our mind
during these stressful times
and how do we deal
with rejection or failure
if that is the outcome?
Yeah,
they're not stressful times.
You're saying
how to deal with stressful times.
The times are not stressful.
You're stressed.
You are stressed.
So how would you deal
with this?
Why would you be stressed?
Do you think
worrying and hoping
will improve your chances
for getting the job?
It will not.
Neither before the job application,
during the job application
or after the job application
will wanting,
hoping,
wishing,
fearing,
anxiety
will contribute
absolutely zero
to the effect
of getting the job.
So you can just
dispense with it
because it's a waste of time.
You want to get on with
what is it that gets jobs.
It is,
first of all,
looking for them
in a practical manner.
Not going through
the motions of looking for it
but actually looking
in the right places for jobs.
Then having a good curriculum,
vitae,
you know,
your life experience
well put out
and then you submit this
again and again.
And persistence,
clarity
and
patience with the whole process
are the qualities
that get you this job.
Not hoping,
fearing,
wishing,
wanting.
None of that has any effect
except a negative effect
on you.
So this is the situation.
If you fail to get the job,
again,
disappointment,
sadness
and so forth
are absolutely
wastes of time.
Not just wastes of time,
they're the worst things
you can do.
Why would you be
deflated
in failure
and exalted in success?
Why not be happy
whether you fail
or succeed?
That your failure and success
is not the source of happiness.
Happiness is its own source.
So you choose
that you are going to be
well and happy
no matter
what the circumstances are.
However,
you must
deal practically
with the world around you
and get a livelihood
and a suitable livelihood.
And you do that
by a pretty simple series
of actions
of work,
of words
and applications,
etc.
And that's how it works.
And all of that extra
melodrama
is totally useless.
Not just useless
but destructive
of the individual.
So people
worry their lives away.
And they think
that they should worry
and they hope
and they fear
and they worry
and it absolutely
does nothing
to help
with success
and does everything
to make your life
miserable.
So,
one last question.
One last question
but today
I,
after this session
I'm going to have
a Zoom call with
children
in a Buddhist
Sunday school.
And I'm going to
give a little talk
to kids
5 to 12 years old.
And they
they go to
like a little Sunday school
for Buddhist kids.
And I will
speak with them
on Zoom
after this.
So,
let's have
our last question here.
Yes, Ajahn.
Our last question
from the chat
is from People's Elbow
from Melbourne, Australia.
Dear Ajahn,
when it comes
to the stages
of wisdom,
pañña,
how would you advise
one practices
breaking deeper fetters
that lead
to further development
in the stages
of enlightenment?
Okay,
just want to
clear up
this.
So,
there are four stages
of enlightenment.
The first stage
is entering
and
when
a stage
of enlightenment
is not just
a guess
or
some sort of
declaration.
Certain things
have fallen away.
A certain
vision
has
arisen
in you
that is
in conformity
with the way
things really
are,
reality.
And
there are
four stages
of this.
And
each one
requires
certain kind
of
practices
which
would push
you through
to the next stage.
The first stage
is just
listening
to the Dhamma,
the basics
of Dhamma
about
the impermanence
of things,
the unsatisfactory
nature
because of
the impermanence
of things
and the
lack of
identity
and essence
in
beings
and in
things
because
of this reality.
And sort of
refocusing
your whole life
around
that vision
of reality
rather than
that things
are lasting
and satisfactory
and that
there is
a core
identity
to anything.
So that's
the breakthrough
into
the first
stage of
enlightenment.
As you
reflect more
on it,
it further
weakens
your attachments
to the world.
So what
diminishes
is anger
and desire
because
it's
misapprehensions
about the
nature
of the world
that causes
our aversion
and attraction
to it.
When
we outgrow
things,
when we,
you know,
plastic toys
that we had
as kids
and so forth,
we outgrow
them and
whether they
remain
or are
swept away
or thrown
away
does not
disturb us.
We're not
craving
these plastic
toys
and we're
not
aversive
year olds
having fights
over a toy
or just
being delighted
and just
they have to
have it
to sleep
with.
They have to
have their
little toys
to sleep
with and
we outgrow
this and
so that's
the stage
of enlightenment.
We outgrow
these things.
The second
stage is a
further
diminishment
and
we're
left in peace
in this
world.
We're much
less provoked
by it
and
then the
third stage
is,
has really,
you're
really truly
aloof from
this world
so that
in order to
push from
the second
stage to
the third
stage,
the best
practices
are pure
samadhi
practices,
more
going into
deep
meditation
states.
So,
that's
the particular
remedy
for that
is deep
meditative
practices
to push
from the
second
to the
third stage
of enlightenment.
So,
I'll leave it
at that.
So,
we will
be back
next week
or we
plan to
be back
next week
with
our
continuing
questions
and answers.
So,
we hope to
see you then.
In the meantime,
stay tuned
to the
channel
and
if you want
to explore
the question
and answers
bank,
we have
a
system
on our
website,
Birken Forest
Monasteries
website,
which allows
you to search
for answers
to certain
and
out pops
the
reference
where it
was recorded
in video
form on
YouTube.
Okay,
so we'll
leave you
with that
today.