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Ceramah ini membahas meditasi pernapasan dan persahabatan spiritual (kalyāṇamittatā) sebagai dua tema yang saling terkait. Ajahn Brahmali memulai dengan memandu meditasi, menekankan pendekatan 'berada bersama' napas, bukan 'memfokuskan' secara kaku, dengan perumpamaan berjalan di alam. Ia mengajak peserta untuk merasakan napas sebagai teman baik, melepaskan kendali, dan menikmati kehadirannya. Setelah meditasi, ia mengaitkan pengalaman ini dengan berkah memiliki Buddha, Sangha, dan komunitas sebagai teman spiritual. Diskusi kemudian beralih ke pertanyaan tentang makna 'bhava' dalam sutta, yang dijelaskan sebagai keberadaan yang terkait dengan kamma dan kelahiran kembali. Pesan utamanya adalah bahwa meditasi dan persahabatan spiritual saling mendukung dalam praktik Dhamma, dan pemahaman tentang 'bhava' membantu kita melihat bagaimana kamma memengaruhi keberadaan kita.
This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness, and who knows the path of peace.
Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech, humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied,
and not busy with duties and frugal in their ways, peaceful and calm and wise and skillful, not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove,
wishing in gladness and joy.
May all beings be happy in the company and in safety, may all beings be happy.
Whatever living beings there may be, whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
the great or the mighty, medium, short or small, the seen and the unseen,
those living near and far away,
those born and to be born may all beings be happy let none deceive another or despise any being in
any state let none through anger or ill will wish harm upon another even as a mother protects with
her life her child her only child so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living
beings radiating kindness over the entire world spreading upwards to the skies and downwards to
the depths outwards and unbounded
freed from hatred and ill will whether standing or walking seated or lying down free from drowsiness
one should sustain this recollection this is said to be the sublime abiding by not holding
to false views the pure hearted
one having clarity of vision being freed from all sense desires is not born again into this world
sadhu sadhu sadhu very good okay everyone so nice to see you all again how was everyone are you good
yeah good enough
no choice you have to be good enough right it's either either you're good enough or you just i don't know no choice in the matter anyway so i'm going to start off by talking a little bit about meditation practice and maybe bring in some kind of general buddhist ideas at the same time because that's kind of what happens when you talk about meditation anyway and one of the kind of simple ways that i've been talking about meditation recently
it may seem simple and when you hear it you may have heard it before because i talk about this a lot it may seem simple and it may seem like something that is obvious in a certain way but actually it is quite profound and this is how we should focus in our meditation practice one of the interesting things about meditation when you look at the anapanasati sutta the sutta on mindfulness
of breathing or you look at other suttas that concern meditation practice it doesn't actually say anywhere that you should focus on the meditation it doesn't say that you should kind of grasp the breath and you should hold on to it or you should place your mind onto the breath and focus on it it actually says something quite different and what it says it says that you establish mindfulness first of all
and then once you have established mindfulness then mindful you breathe in just mindful you breathe out yeah there's nothing there's no word there which actually says focus there's no word that says placing the mind on the breath or anything like that all it says is that you are mindful and then when you're mindful because you're breathing in the because you're breathing out well that will be what is in your awareness because you are mindful you are present and that is all it says
and that is a very interesting thing because it actually bypasses in a sense this whole idea of using willpower in your meditation is that a willpower you enjoy you sit back you are at ease with things and this is really what it is saying there and to get this idea in a kind of understandable format the way i like to talk about meditation these days is that meditation is more like being with rather
a
than focusing on. Normally we think of meditation as a focusing on things. And when you focus
on, it's like there's always a degree of willpower. You focus on your work, you focus on what
you're reading, you focus on what you're doing. There's a sense of directing the mind in a
purposeful way. And we know what that can do. That can lead to tiredness of the mind
because you have to employ the willpower all throughout the process. And so that has very
clear downsides. And so the idea of being with means that actually you are just with
something, enjoying the presence of something, hanging out with something, being part of
a larger reality. Mindfulness has this feeling of being with. And the simile that I like
to use is the simile of like going for a walk in the forest or going for a walk in nature,
whatever that nature might be. And when you go for a walk in the nature,
yeah, in the bush here in Australia or the kind of leafy forest of Europe or whatever
it might be or wherever you are in the world, it is not that you don't focus on nature.
You are with nature. You enjoy the presence of nature. You feel the qualities of nature.
The nature is kind of, it has a peaceful feeling to it. It has a sense of being alive, yeah,
being vibrant in a certain way. It tends to calm you down because of the
peace.
It is peacefulness. It has all of these qualities that when you walk through it, you tend to
feel at ease and you tend to enjoy it. But you don't focus on the trees. You don't stare
at the trees. And maybe you do. Maybe some people do that. But normally you just walk
through and you kind of just enjoy the reality of being in the forest. And so we try to bring
that whole idea into our meditation practice. Yeah, you are with the breath. You are just
hanging out. You are mindful.
You are aware of whatever is happening to you. You have a broad kind of awareness. And
within that, there is the breath. And because the breath is within that, you are kind of
enjoying the presence of the breath. So what does it mean to enjoy the presence of the
breath? Well, it means to enjoy the qualities of the breath. It means to enjoy the kind
of regular rhythm of the breath. It means to enjoy the calming effect of the breath
because you are not thinking. It means that you are calming the breath. You are not thinking.
You are calming down instead. It means you are enjoying kind of the coolness of the breath.
Yeah, when you feel the feeling of the breath against your skin or whatever. All of these
beautiful things. It is very similar to the idea of enjoying the forest. Just enjoying
the breath. And the deeper, the more peaceful you go, the deeper you go in your meditation,
the more beautiful that breath becomes. Yeah, the breath becomes quieter and quieter and
quieter and more and more distractions are disappearing. After a while, you may get some
joy in the meditation even. Yeah, not everyone gets joy but sometimes you may experience
that. And all of these things is a possibility of enjoying the presence of the breath all
the way through just like you are enjoying the presence of nature itself. In fact, the
breath is just nature. In one sense, there is no distinction between the breath or external
nature. It is all just nature. It is different ways of enjoying nature. That is really all
it is about.
And so this is what I recommend you to do because this is a very relaxing way of meditating.
Just being aware, just being present, just enjoying being here rather than focusing on
things all the time. And it kind of allows you to really relax. It allows you to be more
intuitive about your meditation. If you direct the mind too much, if you focus the mind too
much, the mind is not really free.
The mind is not able to be intuitive. Intuition is required. Intuition requires a sense of
sitting back and just observing and just being with. If you use force in the mind, intuition
is kind of blocked. And when you have that degree of intuition, it is almost like you
can feel your way through the meditation. Yeah, what do I need now? What is required?
Sitting back. And it is as if the Dhamma comes to you at the required times. Yeah, because
you are just enjoying being here. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And suddenly the Dhamma tells you, oh, you need to, you know, now you need to go back
to the breath again. Now you need to let go a little bit. Yeah, just relax. Now you need
to enjoy what you are doing. See the beauty in the breath. See the beauty of what you
are doing. Yeah. Now you need to enjoy the good company of all of these people coming
together in the Armadale group. It is still called the Armadale group. We have a David
Armadale here. Is that true? I just saw that now. Okay. David Armadale. Okay.
Welcome, David Armadale. Maybe that is not a coincidence. I am not sure what is going
on here. So that is great. So you enjoy the good company of David Armadale and the rest
of the Armadale group. Yeah. And you kind of, you learn that. You intuit what you have
to do. Because when you are relaxed and at ease, it is as if the Dhamma is always present
to you. Yeah. The mind is able to allow the Dhamma to arise within. And God is able to
guide you in a sort of, in the right kind of way. And this is the benefit of just sitting
back, of relaxing and being with things. Now one of the important things that is always
required, I am just talking about the Armadale group now being present with other people.
And this idea of enjoying the presence of other people can be called, something in the
sutta is called the Kalyanamitta Anusa.
Anusa is the recollection of your spiritual friends. Very often we talk about the recollection
of the Buddha, the recollection of the Dhamma. We talk about the recollection of your virtues
and your generosity and these kind of things. But hidden away, far away in the suttas, in
the sutta you may have never read in your entire life is the idea of Kalyanamitta Anusati,
the recollection of your spiritual friends. That is kind of a beautiful idea. Because
the idea of spiritual friends.
It is like a number of concentric circles. The number one spiritual friend is like the
Buddha and then beyond that maybe some of the monastic sangha. And beyond that the broader
kind of Buddhist community like the Armadale group. It is like concentric circles. And
you can focus on whatever kind of works for you within that larger group of people. It
is kind of a beautiful idea, this idea of Kalyanamitta. And sometimes we underestimate
the importance of good spiritual friendship on the path.
As John was just mentioning before, he was saying that I have just been teaching the
Mahamangala Sutta on the BSWA retreat. I think that retreat was even broadcast over the internet
actually. And the Mahamangala Sutta begins with a very interesting verse. And the point
about almost all the suttas in the Pali Canon is that they have a certain structure. They
have a structure to them. Nothing is really random in the suttas. Everything has a structure.
It begins in a certain place and it ends in a certain place. And all the things in between
kind of have a certain sequence to them usually. And what the Mahamangala Sutta begins with
is this idea of not associating with fools, but to associate with the wise and to honour
those worthy of honour. This is the greatest good blessing. Asevanat chabbala ngang pandita
ngang syaseva.
Yes, a beautiful idea, and it's all about the idea of kalyanamitta, not to associate
with fools, but to associate with the wise and to honor those worthy of honor.
And this is the beginning of the entire spiritual path.
Without that, there is no spiritual path at all.
And that's why it stands at the very beginning of the Mahamangala Sutta.
And then it kind of moves on, and it goes all the way to enlightenment, all the way
at the bottom.
And so it's a very important part of what we think about life.
You will notice here, it's kind of the way the Buddha speaks about it, it's very interesting.
He says not to associate with fools, bala, bala is the Pali word, and it basically means
something like fools or people who are, you know, unwise or whatever.
And it's…
You know, you may wonder, does the Buddha really call people fools?
It sounds a bit like a pejorative word, yeah, putting other people down, is that really
what the Buddha does?
And I think one of the things that we have to remember is that the Buddha is sometimes,
is quite straight to the point, yeah, he doesn't really couch things in kind of in language
that is too indirect or whatever, because if you want to be honest and immediate about
your spiritual practice…
You have to be direct sometimes, and if you're not direct, chances are, things will kind
of get lost on the way.
And so the Buddha often uses language that you may kind of wonder, is he, wow, this really
kind of strong, fools.
And so fools is here compared to the wise people.
And not only does he talk about, you know, fools and using words like this, bala, I would
say in Pali basically means the same thing as a fool, but then the way he talks about
fools in the suttas elsewhere is very, kind of, he uses very strong language.
I will give you an example, one of the things he says about fools, for example, he says
that whatever problems arise in the world, whatever perils there are in the world, whatever
hazards there are in the world, all stem from fools, not from wise people, yeah, all the
problems in the world stem from fools, not from wise people.
Does that even make any sense?
How can we even say that?
Are fools to be, are they to be blamed for the volcanoes in the world?
Are they to be blamed for the storms that we're having?
Are they to be blamed for all of these kind of things?
Are they to be blamed for the next meteorite that smashes into the earth and eliminates
humanity once and for all?
No, I'm just exaggerating, but you know what I mean, yeah, these things kind of, some people
say that this might happen, yeah.
I'm not sure.
It's probably not going to happen on our watch, but maybe in a million years or something
it might happen.
And so how can fools be blamed for all of these things?
All the hazards, all the problems in the world are to be blamed by the fools.
What does the Buddha even mean by that?
So let's kind of have a look at this, yeah.
And so one of the things that, one of the hazards is that a fool suffers enormously
in their own life, yeah, their own life tends to be very miserable.
And the Buddha has a very beautiful way of expressing this.
He says that when a fool has finished their day's work, they come back home and they kind
of sit down or they lie down or they sit down on the ground and they want to rest.
When they do that, this mountain of bad actions that they have done, they cast a shadow over
them, yeah.
The shadow, they get immersed, completely enveloped, engulfed in all the bad qualities
that they have.
Because a fool does a lot of bad things and all of those bad qualities then come afterwards
and cast this shadow over you and you can't really get out of that shadow.
And he says it's like a mountain.
When you have a mountain and the sun goes down behind the mountain, then all the land,
the ground in front of that mountain will be kind of enveloped, engulfed in this enormous
shadow and you cannot escape from that shadow.
In the same way, a fool ends up kind of bathing.
Yeah, being immersed in all the bad actions and then when they sit down, they try to rest,
they try to relax in the evening, they can't rest.
Why is that?
Because there is no rest for the wicked, yeah.
The Buddha said it first and then the English picked it up afterwards as a, you know, understanding
of...
It's always the Buddha said it first, right?
And we all pick these things up afterwards, that's the way it goes.
And so there is no rest for the wicked and that is what happens, yeah, because you are
engulfed in all those bad actions.
Then of course, when we look at the world today and we kind of sometimes we see bad
leadership and we see people doing stupid things, we can also have some idea that, you
know, people with bad qualities, people we consider foolish lead to very bad consequences
for a lot of people, yeah.
You can also see it maybe more in your personal life if you have a bad friend or whatever,
a friend who is immoral.
Yeah.
A friend who likes to drink, a friend who likes to do silly things, to go to the casino
or whatever, yeah.
Sometimes if it is a friend, you kind of want to do the same a little bit, yeah, because
my friend is doing it, I have to do a little bit well.
We are influenced by our friends.
It's very hard to say complete no to our friends.
We feel antisocial if we say completely no.
And so we get drawn in by the bad conduct of people around us and especially in the
long run.
We tend to kind of take after each other.
So unless you have a very strong character, and remember the character is conditioned,
it may be strong sometimes and weak at other times, then you're going to fall into the
ways of people around you who are in this way.
But the big picture, the really big problem is that the reason why we are here in the
world right now, the reason why we have been reborn into this world is because we listened
to fools in the past.
Yeah, we had in the past lives going back in samsaric existence.
Why we are still here is because we haven't listened enough to wise people.
We have been conditioned by all the people leading us down the garden path, leading us
towards rebirth, leading towards this endless round of suffering.
And that is basically what it means when we say that the fools are the cause of all the
problems, all the hazards, all the things in the world.
Ultimately, because they are responsible for rebirth.
That is why they are responsible for all the problems, including the volcanoes, including
all of those natural disasters.
Ultimately, the fools have to take the blame for all of these things.
And so that is kind of really fascinating.
And so then the Buddha goes on to say that we should be very careful with who we hang
out with, because these fools, they will have an effect on our life.
And he says that if someone is very badly behaved.
We should be disgusted by that person.
He uses the Pali word, Jigutsha.
And Jigutsha basically means disgusted.
He says that other people, for example, if someone is very, has an angry temperament,
then we should be equanimous towards them.
And we shouldn't really, again, we shouldn't be with them because it tends to be very painful
to be with angry people.
And only, we should only really be with those people who are ideally superior to us.
Ideally, we should always choose people who are superior or maybe on an equal standing
in terms of ethical qualities and spiritual qualities and these kinds of things.
If someone, if you feel that someone is dragging you down, don't hang out with those people.
That's basically what it comes down to.
And it's very easy to underestimate the importance of this because we often feel that we are
quite strong.
We feel inside of us a certain degree of solidity.
And of course.
That sense of strength, that sense of solidity that we feel, that is precisely the illusion
that we're trying to overcome.
This is the illusion of a self that ultimately is the problem that causes us so much problems
in life.
And so, be very careful.
If you feel strong, remember that you are not as strong as you think you are.
In fact, you are much weaker and almost guaranteed that you will be influenced by the people
you hang out with.
And so that kind of helps you.
To then to move and to understand who you should be with, how you should kind of dedicate
your life.
Move a little bit away from those friends and acquaintances and even family members.
Don't give up on your family members.
Don't throw them out of your house or whatever.
But know the right time and the right place.
Know who to hang out with for the most part and then you can become far more influenced
and conditioned by the good people in your life.
Rather than the people who are more foolish.
And so I was very surprised when I started to look into these suttas.
And I saw the degree to which the Buddha actually was saying that this is so dangerous to hang
out with the fools.
And I kind of started thinking about it, I was thinking to myself, am I making the most
of this?
Am I always hanging out with the right kind of people?
Am I optimizing the conditioning in my own life?
And sometimes, maybe I'm not.
Sometimes, I also need to be more careful with these things.
The great thing about reading the suttas is that yes, you use it for teaching, but the
main person you teach is always yourself.
This is kind of what I try to do in all of these kind of things, to make it a teaching
that really works for myself as well, otherwise it becomes kind of problematic.
So then we have the other side of the coin.
Once you start giving up the fools, you start to choose your kalyanamittas more wisely.
And the kalyanamittas, it is based on the kalyanamittas that we practice the spiritual
path.
It is based on those people in the world who are wise, especially the Aryas, the noble
ones, the Buddha, and everyone else.
That is why we practice in the right way.
And in one of these suttas, and this is the suttas that you may have heard before, it's
a very nice sutta.
It's the sutta where the Buddha, Venerable Ananda, says, I am the one who is the best.
Ananda, who is the Buddha's attendant, he goes to the Buddha and he says to the Buddha
that spiritual friendship is half of the spiritual life.
And then the Buddha says to Ananda, don't say that, Ananda, don't say that.
You are exaggerating.
It's only 10% of the holy life.
No, he doesn't say that.
I'm just messing around.
I'm just testing you.
I'm looking at your faces and seeing if you're reacting or not.
I'm being naughty.
That's right.
That's what I'm doing.
No, but that's what I used to think, yeah, 50%, you must be joking.
You have all of these other factors, yeah, you have like virtue, you have generosity,
you have meditation.
Yeah, surely it cannot be 10%, even that is exaggerating, right, 5%.
But of course, the Buddha doesn't say that.
The Buddha says spiritual friendship is 100% of the spiritual life, and that is what is
so interesting.
So when the Buddha says these profound things, you start to recognize.
There's something going on here, there's something very interesting.
And then the Buddha says the reason for that is because it is based on having me as a spiritual
friend that people practice the Noble Eightfold Path.
It is based on having me as a spiritual friend that people overcome suffering, that they
achieve awakening in this world.
That is the foundation for doing this.
Without that input from the Buddha, there is no possibility.
Why?
Because even that right view doesn't exist in the world without the Buddha's presence.
And so once that right view arises, then awakening becomes possible.
Without that right view, awakening can't even be achieved.
And so the Buddha is our first Kalyanamitta.
The second Kalyanamitta are the people who are ahead of us in the spiritual practice.
Those who already have achieved maybe stages of awakening, or have achieved deep meditation,
or who are very virtuous.
People we can talk with, people we can discuss with, people we can gain understanding from
because of our discussions with them.
People who are kind of our, who are a little bit superior to us, or at the very least equal
with us.
These are like the second and the third tier of the people who are our Kalyanamittas.
And once you start reflecting on this, the Buddha is my Kalyanamitta, we have the people
in the arm of the group.
Yeah.
We have many, some nice monastics in the world that help, help, help out.
We have some really good lay teachers by the way, as well by the way.
And all of us coming together and practicing in this way together, we hold each other up,
we lift each other up, and we allow each other the possibility of practicing this path, and
doing something positive for ourselves and the world.
And it only happens because of Kalyanamitta.
And so remember that.
Remember to enjoy.
And to embrace.
And to rejoice in the fact that you are part of such a thing.
And then when you add that to the meditation I was talking about before, the meditation
of just being with, enjoying the presence of the breath, which is a letting go kind
of meditation, and then you add the enjoyment of these anusatis, the recollections that
we have.
In this case, the Kalyanamitta anusati, the recollection of spiritual friendship, these
two things together.
It's a very, very powerful combination.
Letting go and enjoyment.
Letting go and enjoyment.
These are the two things that allow the meditation to work.
And that is what I'm hoping we can do today.
So that is a little introduction for you about meditation practice.
And so let us do some meditation together.
Okay, everyone.
So, just a moment.
Just again, at the very start of the meditation, just make sure that you give yourself a lot
of time to relax and to find that ease of the body and the mind.
Don't go to the meditation object too soon.
Allow the mindfulness, allow a degree of peace to arise first of all.
It's impossible to watch the breath without having that mindfulness established first
of all.
So just sit back, allow the chaos of the mind to be there.
Don't try to control it and allow it just to settle by itself.
You know already, after doing this for a long time, that if you let things be, if you don't
get involved, then the mind tends to settle by itself.
So just enjoy the sitting there.
Enjoy the non-doing.
Enjoy the lack of activity that you have right now.
Even that is a state of resting.
And just gradually observe the mind as it gradually calms down by itself.
Remind yourself that what you are doing now on the spiritual path, this is what really
matters.
This is where you create the future.
You don't create the future.
You don't control it.
You create it by thinking about it.
Thinking about it just creates more future of the same kind.
Meditating, practicing the spiritual life creates a better future.
So leave out all the nonsense.
Enjoy what is truly valuable.
Get your priorities right.
Understand what is worthwhile and what is not.
And that right view you have right there.
. . . will help you to go to the right path.
guide the mind in the right way. And as you sit back and just enjoy whatever is happening,
it's as if the Dhamma whispers to you the instructions that you require at any time.
Sometimes the Dhamma may say, just let go, be at ease, enjoy. And if it does, then remind yourself
of the simile of being with, rather than focusing on. Be with your breath. Enjoy the presence of
good friendship. And your breath is like a good friend. Your breath has kept you alive for all
of these years. The breath is reliable. The breath is always there. And the breath has a gentle,
soothing, rhythmic presence. So learn just to enjoy that presence,
the presence of the breath. And as you enjoy it, then you can be with the breath,
just like you are being with a good friend. If you need a little bit of a brightening of the
meditation, if you need a bit of uplift, if you like, then you can very gently remind yourself
of how fortunate you are that you have so many beautiful and profound spiritual
friends. Kalyana Mithas. First and foremost, you have the Buddha. What an amazing thing that
we have the Buddha as a teacher. The Buddha is this remarkable, awake in person, who understands
the human condition fully. That is our teacher, the greatest spiritual master in recorded human
history. Then we have the Sangha, all those people who practice in the right way, who practice in the
right way, who realize the same teachings, who are still available in the world today, still keeping
the tradition alive. What an amazing thing it is that such beings still exist in the world today,
and we can enjoy their presence. And finally, we have all our fellow Buddhists,
all our people who encourage us in a positive way, leading us in the right
direction. This vast network of Buddhists around the world. What an incredible blessing it is to
have such a vast number of people who encourage us and who lead us in the right way, in the right
direction. It is a tremendous blessing. It is enough to feel glad. It is enough to feel uplifted.
It is enough to support your meditation. Okay, everyone, so now,
take a few moments just to reflect on the meditation. And the idea here is to understand,
first of all, what happiness and suffering is, and also to understand the process of meditation,
what it means to let go, what it means to develop the mind. So try to see and try to
learn from what has happened. Okay, okay, okay. So there you are, a bit of meditation
together.
Yeah. So now we can open up if you would like. So I guess now is the time for some
questions or comments or having a discussion or having an, we try to avoid the arguments,
the kind of the rough arguments to have a kind of dispute, but we can have some,
some good questions, at least. So if you want to discuss anything, or want to talk about something,
or you want to let us know your interpretation of something or whatever, you are now very welcome to
do so. And if you don't want, you're very welcome not to want. So whatever you, whatever you kind of
lean, the way you lean, it's, it's good. So, okay.
Actually, I want to, can I ask you a question? I want to ask you a question. Because you are so
slow, Marian just got there, but I, I was, was that before you or after you, Marian? I think
we're about the same time. So can I ask you a question first? Is that okay? I ask everyone a
question, because,
we have been debating. Yeah, it's more fun. I actually like asking questions. This is,
this is a good opportunity. So we have been debating what to call the Armadale meditation
group. It hasn't got much to do with Armadale anymore, except for David Armadale. He's the only
one, he's the only kind of the remnant of Armadale. There's a few people from the old Armadale group,
which is great, but not very many left. And so we have been debating to rename it because we want to
have something that reflects kind of the nature of the group. And so one of the things we have been
thinking of is, you know, something like the Buddhist BSWA meditation group, or BSWA international
meditation group or BSWA cosmic meditation group. Yeah, something humble like that.
And I wanted to ask you. What's up? Do you think most of the people Ponzi probably sunlight and
ängen
what what do you think what do you have any i already have my favorite name i'll tell
you later on but i won't tell you now because otherwise i spoil the whole thing but does
anyone have any good ideas for what would be a good name for this meditation group that
kind of reflects as well we have yeah i think international sounds sounds great it has to
yeah it has to do something with international because i'm from indonesia okay all right
yeah um i agree with eddie i think uh we could uh call it like the armadale as a homage to
armadale like armadale international group i think that would be nice or something international
all right okay all right good okay absolutely yeah yeah i'm in florida yeah okay so we can't
call it the florida meditation group right that's the florida meditation group right
that would be too that would be too kind of uh no too dodgy yeah yeah okay yeah yeah
great okay international sounds great okay great i'll let you know i'll let okay so i
will uh let you know what i'm my favorite one is okay and then you can tell me whether
i'm completely misguided or whether it is kind of acceptable or whatever so i thought
to having the bswa
yeah it sounds good as a boundless it means that everybody is well yeah yeah yeah yeah
we still need that basic like uh bswa things because it's it's like um yeah it's kind of
guidelines that this is best in uh western australia right yeah yeah yeah i i my idea
was just that boundless is both no boundaries so it's kind of international so it's kind
of international and also boundless because the deep meditation states are called the
boundless meditations so i thought it kind of combines two two kind of ideas quite nicely
anyway that was just my hair my idea so uh you seem to be okay with that i'm glad yeah
so uh great the subtitle would be the boundless group or yeah okay all right good yes w.a.
international
yeah
I think we have said enough about that it's not it's not my job to ask questions even
though it's more it's good fun to ask questions but uh let's uh Marianne you want to you want
to start the uh start everything here
hello
hello
I'm happy to see you thank you for being here and teaching I'm taking this opportunity
to ask a question on Pali if it's okay with you
Pali question all right yeah okay
yeah I don't know Pali I know only 20 words and no grammar but I have a question on this
expression bavo bavoti is it the same as bavohoti bavoti is the construction of bavohoti bavo
is and what is the meaning of it
bavoti
I read the sutta that explains it and I didn't understand thank you
bavoti bavo b-h-a-v-o and then bavoh bavoti existence existence is translated like that
in some
yeah so so what it means it it's that the t is it like a quotation quotation marks so
existence so someone says existence existence yeah and then it's in quotes that's what it
means sir
Bavo bavoti is
oh it's not the contraction of bavohoti like bavo is
no no no no it's in it's a it's a quote so someone says existence existence and then
it's you know that's that's kind of what it means yeah
and then and the meaning of the sutta when he says that if there was no realm for karma
to well yeah can you say in a few words what it means
yeah that is the
that would not be karma
and that would not be karma
that's the famous bava sutta it's actually the Sutta of the сюда of the Buddha Buddha
The Anguttanika Numerical Discourses 3 is number 75 and 76 of the two suttas that discuss
the meaning of the word bhava.
And so I think the idea there is that people say bhavo, bhavo, what do they mean when they
say that?
That's kind of the question.
And then the Buddha replies and he says that if there were no kamma ripening in the sensual
realm, this five sense realm, would there be any beings existing in the five sense realm?
And the answer is no.
So in other words, you have to have the kamma, and then the kamma is like the water, and
then the consciousness is like the seed, no sorry, the kamma is like the ground, consciousness
is the seed that gets planted in that ground, and then craving is the moisture.
So you come to the moisture, you pour the water.
And then the consciousness grows in that ground, in that kamma that you have created
in the past.
So that's kind of the idea here.
So bhava is, according to that sutta, the bhava is both the kamma that you produce in
the present life, and then the result of that kamma in the future life.
Existence has this cross-life functionality to it, if you like.
So kamma now, and then the existence there in the future.
Am I making any sense?
Okay, thank you.
Yeah.
Okay.
Good.
All right.
What else should we discuss?
Ah, Eddie.
Yeah.
Okay.
Good.
Okay.
Thank you Ajahn for your teaching again.
I just want to come back a little bit to the basic to be assured that I understand it the
right way.
Yep.
Like, does happiness exist?
Yeah.
So having a strong mindfulness mean that we can just put aside and let go of all the external
situation or anything that's happening to our life right now.
Like, it can be the problem in your job, family problems, health, sickness, and anything.
Then we build and we let it go during meditation.
And what does it have to do with the success of meditation?
I want to understand more about the correlation.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So the idea of mindfulness has a number of functions.
One of the important functions of mindfulness is that it helps you simply to be more moral.
It helps you to do the right thing.
Yeah.
If you are mindful during daily life, it means that you are aware of what you are doing.
You are aware of what you're thinking.
You are aware of what you are saying.
And so you can restrain yourself.
You can hold back.
You can say, I don't want to do that.
I want to do this.
Yeah.
I want to live in accordance with the Dhamma.
I don't want to live in accordance with defilements or whatever.
And so mindfulness kind of allows you to guide your life in a certain way.
One of the things that I have been saying to people recently
is that it's important in the Dhamma to learn to respond rather than to react.
Very often we are too reactive in life.
Something happens and all the past conditioning inside of us comes out of us.
We react immediately to what is happening around us.
And so we need to slow down.
We need to kind of take a breath.
Don't react straight away.
Allow the Dhamma to arise in your mind first of all.
If you take a breath and you slow down a little bit,
it is as if you are allowing the Dhamma a chance to inform your response.
Instead of just being your habits from the past responding,
you allow the Dhamma some input.
And so when the Dhamma gets some input,
you can cut off and you can reduce that reactivity
and then you can guide the mind in a new direction.
So this is kind of part of the idea of mindfulness
is that it allows the Dhamma to give you more input in the way you live your life.
And so this is one of the reasons why the mindfulness is sometimes called in the Sutta,
it's called sati adipateya.
Adipateya means like sati becomes like the governor.
Adipateya means like sati becomes like the governor.
It governs you.
It governs your conduct.
It governs who you are as a person.
You feel that you are in charge of your life.
It is no longer the defilements or the external world that is in charge of you.
You are in charge of yourself because you feel you can react as you want to.
You can respond as you want to respond rather than just being the puppet of external phenomena,
always kind of being moved around by all these external things all the time.
And so then when you come to your meditation,
because you already have used mindfulness,
mindfulness in a good way in your ordinary life,
when you come to meditation,
you already have a fairly balanced mind.
The mind is not full of desires and full of ill will
and it's not all over the place,
kind of completely everywhere.
It is still a bit busy and it's still a bit problematic,
but it is not completely out of control.
And so then you can sit down and you can just rest
and you can allow the restlessness of the mind to kind of calm down.
And as you allow it to calm down,
because you have mindfulness,
it is as if the things kind of don't really,
there's no grip in your mind,
things don't actually settle in your mind.
Mindfulness sees them straight away
and because it sees the thoughts arising,
it sees the sounds in your mind,
it doesn't hold on to them,
so it slips off the mind
and you come back to mindfulness almost straight away.
Ajahn Brahm used this idea many, many years ago
of the Teflon mind.
You know the Teflon,
the thing you have in the frying pan,
nothing sticks?
So it's like the non-stick mind,
it's a Teflon mind.
So the thoughts arise and it just slides away,
there's a non-stick.
The sound arises,
but you don't get upset by the sound,
you don't allow yourself to be controlled
by all of these external things.
Things just arise and then they pass away again.
And when you have that degree of mindfulness,
what happens is that your mind becomes
calmer and calmer and calmer.
If your mind does not become calmer
as you're sitting, as you're waiting,
it is because your mindfulness isn't strong enough yet.
Once the mindfulness is strong enough,
you can just sit there and wait
and calm and peace happens by itself.
So you sit for one hour,
you sit for two hours,
more and more peaceful,
more and more peaceful.
If that doesn't happen,
it's because the mindfulness isn't strong enough.
And then you need to do something
to establish that mindfulness.
That's why we do little ideas
like how to give rise to joy in the mind
and this kind of thing
that helps you to establish mindfulness on the way.
So mindfulness in ordinary life
leads over into mindfulness in meditation.
That's kind of how it works.
I am very much a proponent of the idea,
very often we talk about mindfulness in daily life,
just be mindful of everything.
But we need to remember that mindfulness
is supposed to have a purpose.
And the purpose of mindfulness
is to keep a pure mind.
So if you see some bad thoughts
or something dodgy arising in the mind,
then you have an opportunity to move away from that
and move towards the wholesome instead.
That's kind of the purpose.
Not just be mindful.
Mindfulness is good,
but it should also be employed
in the right kind of way.
Then it's really powerful.
Okay.
So it means that sila comes first.
It's like the foundation.
Sila is the foundation.
Use mindfulness for sila.
Yes.
Great.
Thanks for that.
Thank you.
Nim, do you want to say something?
Thank you, Ajahn, for your meditation.
I just had a question about fear in meditation.
Sometimes I feel like maybe this is like,
as you said,
my mindfulness is probably not strong enough.
Because sometimes I have panic attacks.
And so sometimes when I'm meditating
and the breath is fine,
or like sometimes when I can't,
like it becomes fine,
I'm like afraid that it's going to disappear basically.
I get that fear.
That fear comes up and I'm like,
oh, like, I don't know.
I think my mind gets disturbed because of that anxiety.
And I tell myself like, it's okay.
Like, you know, it's, you know,
um,
just calm down.
But yeah,
I don't know.
How do you deal with that?
Like,
being like afraid of like,
the uncertainty of like,
your breath becoming like slower,
and then becoming fine.
And even though like you,
you know,
you've been told it's a good thing.
And like,
sometimes it just comes up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So what I,
what I would like to say is,
what I would recommend is that you maybe try a different meditation object.
Yeah.
Because if you have that fear,
it may be that you need to build up some more positive,
some more joy,
some more positive qualities in the mind.
And when those positive qualities become very powerful,
you won't have that fear anymore.
So do some,
try some metta meditation instead.
Yeah.
Metta meditation has a lot of advantages.
You're building up your sila,
you're building up your morality at the same time.
And that will have an effect in your,
you know,
in the rest of your life.
And also when you have a,
if you have a really positive feeling inside,
a really,
especially you feel,
may all beings be happy,
and you kind of have this sense of wishing everyone in the world happiness,
it's very difficult to have fear.
And so build up that metta.
There's a number of ways you can do this.
Either you can do the metta meditation first,
maybe for 10 minutes,
and then you can carry on with the breath meditation.
Or you can just do metta meditation for the whole session,
would help.
However long it is that you meditate,
20 minutes,
or half an hour,
or whatever.
And then you can come back to the breath meditation,
maybe next month,
or the month after,
or something like that.
Or you can do some meditations with the breath,
and some meditations with metta,
like alternating a little bit.
Do this in,
you know,
different ways.
But build up a kind of a sense of safety in your mind
before you go to the breath.
Now the advantage of metta meditation
is that you keep on usually saying a mantra.
You say,
you say something like,
may all beings be happy,
may all beings be well,
yeah?
And because you keep saying that in the meditation,
maybe with a bit of gap in between,
but you keep saying it,
it doesn't feel dangerous in the same way.
I mean,
if you lose your breath,
you can see why people might be a bit scared,
yeah?
Because you've got to breathe.
If you don't breathe,
you have a problem.
But when you say something,
then it doesn't,
hopefully,
it won't have the same kind of ability to,
won't have the same ability to kind of distract you
in that way,
yeah?
So,
try,
that's what I would recommend.
Try that,
and then see if that kind of,
you know,
works down the track or whatever,
yeah?
Okay.
Adam,
you want to,
you want to say something?
Yeah?
Yeah.
Thank you.
Thank you,
Arjan.
Thank you so much for your teaching.
I actually disconnected during the meditation,
so I ended up meditating on my own.
Okay.
And I'm trying to,
so I've done a lot of metta meditation,
and I'm trying to,
to,
like,
transfer it to,
into compassion.
Yeah.
Into karuna.
And I wanted to ask you,
what is your opinion?
How should I approach that?
Because all of the resources that I found,
they concentrate on your metta.
Yeah.
I,
I think the,
the difference between metta and karuna is,
is not as great as you might think.
I mean,
in,
in theory,
the difference is that in metta,
you just wish beings well,
but with karuna,
you wish beings freedom from suffering.
Yeah.
But the,
the difference between those two things is very small.
It's,
it's more like the,
the object is a bit different.
So with metta,
usually it's focused on a friend.
Yeah.
To,
to a friend,
you tend to have metta,
because actually the word metta itself,
is derived from the word mitta,
which means friendship,
or friend,
or friendliness.
And so you,
you are,
you know,
it's more like,
so that if you're sending,
may you be happy,
you say that to a friend,
then it's metta meditation.
But if you say,
may you be well,
to an animal,
because animals are not usually friends,
or they can be friends actually,
but say an animal that you,
is not your pet or whatever,
and we know that animals tend to suffer a lot in the world.
Yeah.
Then it's more like compassion,
because you are wishing that animal freedom from suffering.
Yeah.
So I would say it's more in the object,
than actually in what you do.
Yeah.
So when you say,
may you be well to a friend,
then it's metta.
If you say it to an animal,
then it's more like compassion probably.
Yeah.
And so sometimes you can combine the two,
because the,
because the distinction isn't very absolute,
or very clear very often.
It's like,
may you be happy,
may you be well,
it's like a combination of metta and karuna,
both,
you know,
both compassion and metta,
like in one,
in one thing.
Yeah.
So I,
I personally think that works quite well.
Yeah.
You don't really have to make those differences.
But if you want to,
that's how I would do it.
Yeah.
Thank you.
You are welcome.
Yeah.
Great.
Ajahn.
Yeah.
Ajahn,
there was a comment in the chat section.
I'll just read it to you,
because you might be able to clarify the comments,
comments about not spending time with food.
Yeah.
So I'll just,
I'll just read it.
Where,
where is the compassion?
Is it everyone could see the chance of not spending time with food?
Yeah.
Then what could happen to all of,
all of those people who are suffering due,
due to their untrained mind?
Yeah.
The approach being promoted tonight sounds judgmental and exclusive.
Yeah.
Surely this approach strengthens and escalates their mindset.
This is what leads to war.
Okay.
No lie.
That's,
that's,
it is judgment is required in the world.
Judgment is important.
We have to make distinctions.
If you don't make any distinctions in the world,
you won't get anywhere.
You have to decide who is going to be your teacher.
You have to decide whether the Buddha was right or whether someone,
or someone else is right.
Yeah.
Making distinctions is absolutely necessary.
If you don't make distinctions,
then you are not going to get anywhere with anything almost.
And so this does not mean,
however,
that we judge people harshly.
Yeah.
This does not mean that if someone,
if you consider someone as less spiritually developed,
that you kind of look down upon them.
If you look down upon them,
well then you are at fault for looking down upon them.
Yes, certainly we shouldn't be doing that.
That is certainly a big mistake.
Yeah.
So what we have to remember,
and this is one of those beautiful teachings that comes out of the Buddhist idea of non-self,
is that we all have the potential for sometimes being foolish,
sometimes being wise.
In one life,
we may be a little bit wiser.
Another lifetime,
we may be a bit more foolish.
In one life,
we are born in Asia.
Another life,
we are born in Australia.
In one life,
we are whatever.
We are all of these things already.
And so it doesn't mean that we look down upon the fools.
Yeah.
Quite the contrary.
We just understand that they are in a different phase of development than what we are.
Next time,
we may be the foolish one.
They may be the wiser one.
And so looking down upon them
is completely the wrong attitude.
And in fact,
the suttas do make a distinction.
They say that if someone is inferior to you
in terms of morality
or in terms of wisdom or whatever,
and sometimes that is the case,
then we can associate with them,
but only out of sympathy,
only out of compassion.
Yeah.
That's why you socialize with them.
But it doesn't mean that you hang out with someone who is a mass murderer.
Yeah.
You kind of learn.
After a while,
you start becoming a mass murderer yourself
if you hang out with too many mass murderers.
And so you need to kind of make that,
you know,
understand how you yourself are conditioned.
And so you can develop yourself in a positive way.
And if you don't understand that,
then you also will be trapped.
The other thing is that
it is very easy to overestimate our own ability to teach others.
Yeah.
We think that,
yes,
we should have sympathy for others.
Yes,
we should be kind to others.
Yes,
we should do all of those things.
We should be generous.
And of course,
that means the whole world.
But when it comes to actually teaching somebody,
it is actually very tricky.
Yeah.
Kindness in one way,
kindness in the terms of how we treat others,
of course,
is very important.
But in terms of actually teaching someone the Dhamma,
often it takes someone at a very high level
to be able to do that properly.
Yeah.
Sometimes we just want to influence people
in our life.
We want our friends and our families or whatever
to be more like us.
And very often we fail in those things
because actually it is our example
that is much more important.
So practice by example.
Practice by being kind.
Practice by being generous.
Don't be judgmental if they may be a bit more foolish.
Yeah.
But still,
make distinctions.
Because if you don't make any distinctions,
the whole path is not going to work,
basically.
So that is the thing there.
So it's important not to misconstrue these things.
Yeah.
You have to kind of look at what the Buddha says
with an open mind
and try to understand it for what it is
and not kind of over,
you know,
over interpret what actually is there.
So I hope that makes sense what I'm saying.
Would anyone like to come back on that?
Or are you,
how do you feel about that?
No?
I think it's in your notes anyway,
but on the Mahatma Gala Sutta,
I think there was a comment there that,
and I'll just read that bit to you.
Suppose a fool is sitting in a council hall,
a street,
or a crossroad
where people are discussing what is proper and fitting.
And suppose that fool is someone who kills living creatures,
steals,
commits sexual misconduct,
lies and consumes beer,
wine and liquor,
intoxicants.
Then that fool thinks,
these people are discussing what is proper and fitting.
So I think that's the distinction.
You have to choose,
you know,
who you associate with.
But that doesn't mean you have any lesser sense of them.
And compassion still should be,
and kindness should be the overarching.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Judging people is always wrong
if that means judging them in a negative way
as in looking down upon them.
That is,
that is always,
always wrong
and never,
never the Buddhist attitude to things.
It's always by understanding the,
the relative,
the relativeness
in how we stand in comparison to each other
and how we're always changing,
always moving around.
And,
you know,
so once you see that,
you cannot judge people anymore.
And this is one of the points of being a noble person.
The Aryans never judge anyone
because they understand that everything is just conditioning here.
How can you judge anyone when it's just conditioning here?
Anyway,
Eva,
Eva,
would you like to say something?
Please.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank you,
Ajahn.
And thanks very much for your explanations.
That's definitely,
um,
helpful.
Um,
although I have to say that I am some,
sometimes really struggling also with,
um,
uh,
some of the
suttas,
like one,
for example,
by the Buddha.
Um,
and I can't remember which one it was.
Um,
one king wanted,
uh,
him to marry his daughter
and he basically said,
something like,
um,
he's not interested in a bag of urine.
And,
um,
which in the end led to,
um,
the daughter of the king then burning,
I,
I can't really remember all the details,
um,
burning,
um,
you know,
a group of people.
You,
you probably know exactly what I'm talking about,
but
I,
I,
I'm just wondering what,
you know,
sometimes the Buddha seems to be using very,
you know,
you said direct wording is,
is definitely,
you know,
helpful.
So,
I can see that,
I can sometimes use it,
but if it's hurting people and people then act badly
because of it,
Yeah,
you know,
I'm struggling a little bit with,
um,
because he would know that,
right?
He would,
he would know that he's really,
um,
you know,
maybe angering people and,
and causing bad reactions which won't
I would think then kinda,
um,
you know,
he would be the cause a bit,
right?
So,
I'm,
I'm struggling with,
Yeah, sure. Yeah, I know that story. And one of the things about the Buddhist text is that it's quite important to distinguish between what is actually the word of the Buddha and what is kind of later legends and mythology. And that particular story, I take it to be a later legend. I don't think it is the word of the Buddha, to be honest with you.
And the only way to do that is to kind of to do a study of the language of the text. And when you study the language, you can understand what comes first and what comes after, because language obviously develops over time.
And so you can see a certain trend in the language, a certain trend in the ideas that actually are being propounded or being explained. And so, yes, I'm aware of that story.
And this is kind of the problem.
Yeah, is that, you know, the legends are often far less inspiring and interesting than actually the word of the Buddha, which often is very, to my mind, very beautiful and pure and very, very nice.
But sometimes even the Buddha will challenge you, right? And sometimes that is actually good, because we need to be challenged in a certain way, because if all our ideas were already correct, there would be no need for the spiritual path.
And so we should expect some challenging things.
And that is where there is an opportunity to grow.
An opportunity to look at the world in a new way.
So we shouldn't dismiss all the challenges either.
We should find some kind of middle way where we kind of, yeah, we kind of move forward in something positive.
So, yeah.
Okay, thanks.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you so much for that.
So, great.
So, John, do you finish things off or how does it work here?
Yeah, I think nobody has any further questions.
Maybe you could give a short lesson.
Yeah, what I'd like to do at the end, I'd just like to pay respect to the Buddha Dhamma Sangha.
I think that's always a nice way to end off.
So I'll just do the quick homage to the Buddha Dhamma Sangha.
And those of you who want can join.
So here we go.
Arahang Sama Sambuddho Bhagava
Boddhang Bhagavantang Abhivaden
Svakkhato Bhagavata Dhammo Dhammang Namasami
Supatipanno Bhagavato Savakasangho Sanghang Namami
Okay.
Bye bye, everyone.
Take care.
Ruka afrasade.
Yeah, practice well.
Yeah, be kind.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Bye.
Thank you so much.
Really good.
Really good.
Bye.