Ringkasan dibuat dengan bantuan AI • Belum diverifikasi
Ceramah ini membahas tujuh faktor pencerahan (bojjhaṅga) sebagai jalan menuju kebebasan batin, dengan penekanan pada bagaimana faktor-faktor ini melawan lima rintangan (nīvaraṇa) yang melemahkan kebijaksanaan. Ajahn Canda menjelaskan bahwa faktor-faktor pencerahan muncul dari dua penyebab utama: persahabatan baik (kalyāṇamittatā) dan perhatian cermat (yoniso manasikāra), yang diibaratkan sebagai fajar yang mendahului matahari terbit. Secara berurutan, ia menguraikan masing-masing faktor: mindfulness (sati) yang harus disertai kebijaksanaan dan etika; dhamma vicaya sebagai penyelidikan batin untuk membedakan kondisi bermanfaat dan tidak bermanfaat; energi (viriya) yang muncul dari kejelasan dan mengatasi kelambanan; pīti (kegembiraan) yang lahir dari praktik benar; ketenangan (passaddhi) yang menenangkan pikiran dan tubuh; samādhi (konsentrasi dalam) yang mengatasi semua rintangan; dan upekkhā (keseimbangan batin) yang membuat pikiran stabil, digambarkan sebagai 'mindfulness tanpa pelaku'. Ceramah ditutup dengan ajakan bermeditasi menggunakan cinta kasih (mettā) sebagai sarana untuk mengembangkan faktor-faktor ini, dengan panduan praktis untuk melanjutkan latihan. Pesan utamanya adalah bahwa dengan memahami dan mengembangkan ketujuh faktor ini, seseorang dapat mengatasi rintangan batin dan mencapai pencerahan.
So good morning to day two of this weekend retreat. There are only two days in a weekend
unfortunately and this is the second one but actually I'm in the heart of things
so hopefully the practice can deepen and mature from here. So today as I promised yesterday I
wanted to talk about the seven enlightenment factors or the seven steps to enlightenment
happiness. Does that sound good? So we're really going for the highest happiness here in this
retreat and it's interesting because these seven enlightenment factors are a teaching that are
unique to every Buddha of the past, present and future. So these seven enlightenment factors are
kind of part and parcel of their practice and teaching always. In other words they're always
present in the meditation that we practice and they can be developed through any method of
practice.
And there's a lovely little quote I like to get my little quotes from the suttas that says it's from
the Samyutta Nikaya chapter 46 is all about these seven enlightenment factors which are called
Bhojangas or Bodhi Angas, limbs of enlightenment or you could say steps aspects of enlightenment.
So the simile is this, just as the rafters of a peaked house slant slope and enclose
towards the roof peak. So one practicing the seven enlightenment factors slants slopes and
inclines towards Nirvana. So you're slanting and inclining in an upward direction here to a peak
so hopefully not sliding off the roof. And the other really interesting thing about the
enlightenment factors is that they are the direct opposites, they're in direct opposition to the
five hindrances which means that they're in direct opposition to the five hindrances. So if you're
in direct opposition to the five hindrances that means that the more you cultivate the
enlightenment factors the weaker the hindrances get, the weaker the hindrances get the stronger the
enlightenment factors. And in a sense because of this you can use these enlightenment factors as
another kind of antidote to the hindrances and also as a measure of whether those hindrances
are active. Yeah so we're going to that in a little bit more detail but first I wanted to
talk about these five hindrances briefly and mention that for anyone who is not always
aware they are sensory desire or at a subtler level actually any kind of interest in the sensory
world in the world of the five senses which can actually include at the deeper levels of
meditation even thinking about sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches, longing for them or
just being involved with them generally. So one of the subtlest manifestations of that would be
being drawn out of your meditation or distracted by sound. So you're still getting involved in
the world of the senses, it's still this kind of distracted mind, so that is the first major
hindrance. And the second one is aversion kind of a very similar thing right? We want certain things
and we don't want certain things. The wanting kind of tends to develop this sort of sense of being
sucked to the object, like our mind is pulled the things we want, whereas with aversion it's kind
of repelled, used, does not get pulled towards a certain point in time. σ
from the things we don't want but it's basically the same force so the two kind of roll around
each other and um aversion can manifest as outright ill will anger irritation frustration
also more a little bit more subtly as well depression is quite unsubtle but it's almost
anger turned inwards in a way and say boredom or just not finding interest in what you're doing
you know you kind of couldn't really care it's like all too much hassle it's yeah it's all a bit
kind of on the side of misery so that's the aversion and then the third hindrance is like
uh i think it comes there the sloth and torpor which is the sluggishness drowsiness lethargy of
the body and mind and if you are tired because you haven't slept enough that's an obvious way
to address that hindrance just go to
bed for goodness sake have some sleep have some rest and re-energize your body and mind
maybe sometimes you need to exercise right to energize the body so the lethargy of the body
can be a physical thing sometimes but it also can manifest in kind of dulling out because we don't
really find interest in what we're doing and so it also tends to be slightly on the side can be
sensual indulgence but also can be ill will so these next hindrances sort of a
you
variations on the first two on craving and aversion
and then the next one is restlessness and worry anyone have restlessness and worry
so i'd be worried if you didn't because even at the third stage of enlightenment there's still a
little bit of restlessness so this is one of the last hindrances to to disappear completely
and i think the way that our lives are the way that the world is going to be is going to be
it in a sense exacerbates the restless distracted and scattered mind there's plenty to worry about
if you turn on the news for two seconds you know it's it's a habit that most of us have
you know have pretty firmly entrenched i grew up in a quite a household where yeah my parents
worry quite a lot so it tends to be the default even for things that are going well it's like oh
yeah but what if it doesn't continue oh what if it all goes wrong so restlessness and worry can
consume a lot of energy and i guess it's also quite on the side of can be worried about losing
the good things you have so sensual desire but it's also on the side of aversion isn't it
looking at what can go wrong looking at the future with a fault-finding mind
nice to say and then the last one is doubt doubt about what you're doing and what you're doing and
doubt about the teachings doubt about your capacity to practice the teachings confusion
not really knowing which way to go yeah sometimes doubt in even the buddha and whether he was really
enlightened whether it's worth following the path but i think in meditation it tends to manifest
more as like confusion or not really knowing what's going on right not having that clarity of
mind so this is the fifth hindrance of doubt
and the important thing about these hindrances is that they weaken wisdom the buddha says they
weaken wisdom and nourish delusion and that is why they're called nivaranas which means not nibbana
okay nibbana and nivarana two different words nivarana is like a curtain or a veil that obscures
the truth so it distorts reality and what you're seeing is actually
not how things really are so if you're looking at something through the lens of craving you're
tending to focus on all the things that stimulate that craving right i think in this um in the sutta
just before the one on the enlightenment factors it talks about um things that give rise to these
hindrances and the thing that gives rise and and increases sensory desire is frequently giving
careless attention to the nutriment for the arising of it and that is
um looking at the beautiful aspects or the attractive aspects yeah and for example looking
yeah the sign of the beautiful and one of the nutriments or the things that helps to grow ill
will is looking at the sign of the repulsive in other words looking at everything that's gross
that's wrong that's horrible about life about others about ourselves right so it's the way we
use our mind and obviously if you're looking at something through the lens of craving you're
specifically at only what's wrong you're not seeing the full picture so you're seeing things
through the lens of ill will you're seeing things in a distorted way it's not the way things are
so in the bojanga chapter of the samyata nikaya it also says that these um five hindrances destroy
our happiness and our um developing states of deep meditation by obstructing our happiness
and our um developing states of deep meditation by obstructing our happiness
okay so that's why i say the enlightenment factors can actually be seen as a kind of antidote that
when we cultivate them with care they in a way prevent those hindrances from taking hold but
also as the hindrances decrease the enlightenment factors naturally start to grow so it is another
causally related sequence that we find in the buddha's teachings this sequence of
um the seven enlightenment factors
all running into and conditioning one another and uh yeah i should just go back a little bit
and say that uh in the fourth satipatthana this is for anyone who's really interested in the buddha's
teachings so in the satipatthana sutta the buddha talks about um four areas which we should direct
our mindfulness towards to understand the truth of our experience
those four areas are the body the feelings the mind and the mental contents so the fourth one
is the mental contents and in many versions of the suttas i think in the majjhima nikaya the
pali version there are quite a few mental contents listed there but originally and the contents that
are listed that are in every single version of the text in the chinese in the sanskrit and in
the tibetan versions
they only include these seven enlightenment factors and the five hindrances that is the
entire um theme of that last satipatthana so these are really important factors and
if we're practicing you know to observe the hindrances and hopefully undermine them and
to cultivate and develop the enlightenment factors then we're practicing the fourth satipatthana
okay so they're the most important aspects of that teaching of the buddha
so what are these factors and we're going to go through them in a little bit of depth
um so they begin with mindfulness mindfulness and mindfulness is likened to salt in the food
it is always present or always needs to be present to supervise and oversee the development of the
subsequent factors so i was thinking for me that's like coming in the food i don't know about you but
i like coming jira in hindi and i like jira in hindi and i like jira in hindi and i like jira in
hindi so mindfulness is like the coming that i always ask people here to put in the food almost
every meal i don't mind coming coming coming so that's like your mindfulness whatever it is that
you always um need to have you could say water right we need water in absolutely everything that
we eat and drink um so mindfulness is this and the next factor is called dhamma vichaya in pali
it means exploration of the dhamma
or investigation of the dhamma particularly understanding whether things are leading
to wholesome states of rising or unwholesome states of rising wholesome states decreasing
or unwholesome states decreasing so in other words using the wisdom faculty to understand
how the way that we're aware is affecting us is it leading to our happiness
or is it leading to further suffering so i'll go into it a little bit more as i said the next one
is energy energy we need energy that's virya in pali the next one is piti the rapture that we
discussed in some depth last night and then rapture leads to tranquility tranquility to samadhi
again the deep states of calm jhanas
and upeka is the last okay so to roughly divide these up as i said that mindfulness oversees the
progression the next three the dhamma vichaya energy and piti or rapture is are energizing
factors okay so they kind of energize the mind they give it some um energy that's necessary in
order to see clearly and they abolish tiredness drowsiness lethargy disinterest
etc and then those last three the tranquility the samadhi and the upeka are calming factors
so they have the effect of calming things down and it's very interesting because in the suttas
generally and also in the description of different kinds of meditation practices such as meditation
on the breath the general kind of trajectory seems to be that we start off by you know
developing mindfulness developing some
energy some interest in what we're doing and as that mindfulness is sustained and the energy arises
things start to naturally calm down yeah so they calm down on the basis of clarity yeah and here in
the enlightenment factors that clarity includes investigation into wholesome states so how you're
doing is this a lot of information quite a lot it's good all right excellent
so also in the satipatthana sutta which discusses as i said in the fourth satipatthana dhamma nipassana
it discusses the enlightenment factors and the hindrances the instruction for us here is similar
to the instruction of right endeavor do you remember yesterday i talked about um planting
the garden yeah uprooting the weeds and then planting the flowers so with right endeavor
we need to um prevent the flowers from growing and we need to prevent the flowers from growing
we need to prevent unwholesome states arising abolish the unwholesome states that have arisen
welcome pleasant or wholesome states and develop those wholesome states maintain them
but here because we're not dealing with unwholesome states but the enlightenment
factors these are exclusively wholesome states the instruction is to know whether they're present or
absent so we're not preventing them we're not abolishing them we're knowing instead if they're
present or absent simply knowing that
through mindfulness and then we have to learn how the unarisen arise and how the arisen wholesome
enlightenment factors are maintained and come to fulfillment
bavito bahulik gearbox and of this little phase it means like kind of start to overflow
in our minds so we want to build them we're not trying to abolish them in any way um and
also if they're absent to understand why right so we know if they're present or
absent if they are absent it is always because of one of the hindrances and
maybe many of the hindrances maybe you have an attack of all five hindrances is
that possible one meditator once told Ajahn Brahm that they had all five
hindrances at once I don't know really if that's possible restlessness and
sleepiness maybe that's how it can feel though isn't it we can feel as though
they're just obscuring the mind completely they've taken residence
permanently in our mind so if they are absent understand why and also
understand the causes for their development and there's another lovely
little simile in the Bojanga Samyutta that gives two major causes
for the arising of these seven enlightenment factors okay one is an
external cause one is an internal cause and the simile goes like this just as
the dawn is the forerunner and precursor of the Sun good friendship is the
forerunner and precursor of these seven enlightenment factors that's our
external factor good friendship
what does that mean that means associating with the wise it means
hearing the Dhamma there's another passage which very beautifully gives
more information about this it says if ones if there is a wise person it says a
wise monastic but it really could be any wise teacher of the Dhamma who is
virtuous right virtue is very important one should listen to their teachings
attend closely to this teaching
them, recollect them and give service to that person, give them a cup of tea then they can
keep teaching for longer and also go forth under them if the opportunity arises.
So I was saying this to my seminary, a novice nun recently, saying wow you've got all of
those, hopefully if I'm a virtuous person then they get to listen to the teachings,
they get to ask questions, they get to make me cups of tea and other little services,
actually lots of little services around the place and also go forth, so isn't that wonderful?
So that is the first external cause for the arising of these enlightenment factors but
you don't have to ordain of course.
The main thing is that you hear the teachings and you understand how to stop practicing.
It's never about the teacher, it's always about your own personal practice.
Yeah?
That gives rise to these things.
So the second little simile, just as the dawn is the forerunner and precursor of the sun,
careful attention is the forerunner and precursor of the seven enlightenment factors.
So hopefully you're making a connection by now to the teachings yesterday about how we
incline our mind towards what's wholesome.
We use careful attention.
Skillful, wise attention to notice where we're putting our energy, our mental energy
and what we are actually developing in our mind.
Again, if we frequently attend to things that lead to illwill, we're going to be developing
a hindrance, not an enlightenment factor, right?
Unless of course something like compassion arises instead, and then that can start to
undermine that illwill.
If we frequently attend to these enlightenment factors themselves, we're going to notice
with careful attention as to the causes, to what gives rise to them, to how we can
maintain and develop and if you like, marinate in them, really enjoy them, then
that is going to lead to their strengthening and eventually to their
fulfillment. And of course the whole purpose of the enlightenment factors is
that they are those seven steps to enlightenment itself. So they're the
foundation and they naturally lead towards full liberation from all
defilements permanently, not just a matter of overcoming these hindrances
temporarily but actually leading us to enlightenment where greed, hate and
delusion are completely uprooted. So how do they lead to the happiness of
enlightenment? And I think this is such a beautiful teaching because throughout
the Bojangles
Samyutta, Samyutta Nikaya number 46, yeah if Manoja could put that in as well.
Yeah, because there's a whole chapter on the Bojangles. According to that
these enlightenment factors are to be developed on the basis of four things
and those four things are fundamental really to it as to whether these are
truly enlightenment factors or not. So again and again the Buddha says they have
to be developed,
same name
basis of or they are to be sitting on the foundation of seclusion, viveka,
dispassion, viraga, sometimes translated as fading away, cessation, nirodha, things
ceasing, and pati nisagga, that means letting go. So all of these are only
really true enlightenment factors when they're based on seclusion, on dispassion,
on cessation, and on letting go or relinquishment, if you like. So there is
the difference between practicing to gain something, practicing through a
desire or craving for certain states of mind or whatever it might be, and
practicing with the intention to be free from desire,
to let go, to let go, to let go, to let go, to let go, to let go, to let go, to let go,
to let go of desire, yeah. Do you remember how we talked about the two
kinds of happiness? There's the happiness, so-called, that we're taught is a
happiness that can be pursued through fulfilling our desires, right, the
happiness based on desire, or there's the happiness, which is the wise happiness,
which is freedom from desire, based on letting go, based on these four things,
relinquishment, letting go of craving, letting go of the craving,
for getting our desires met, right, letting go of craving itself, because
often we think it's, you know, it's the the sense objects or the things in the
world that cause us to suffer, but actually craving itself is a form of
suffering. So let's go through them in a little bit more detail and I'm aware of
the time. So the first one is mindfulness.
As I said, so what is mindfulness first of all? One of my favourite definitions,
which is based on Arjun Brahm's, is silent present moment awareness, sustained, I
like this part, sustained on the four satipatthanas. So it's silent moment
present awareness but it's directed towards these four areas of body and
mind. The body, feelings, mental states,
and mental contents, which we've already explained as the hindrances, what leads
to their disappearance, and the enlightenment factors, how we can develop
them. And we need to develop strong mindfulness in order to direct our
attention in wholesome ways, yeah. As we said yesterday, mindfulness is like a
spotlight but it can also be like a vacuum cleaner, it can like suck up
whatever it attends to.
So if we're attending to things in unwholesome ways, we're actually making things worse.
It's almost like a magnifying glass. So if there are, you know, things going on in the
mind that are difficult and we have strong mindfulness but we're not using our mindfulness
carefully, it can exaggerate the problem. Say you're sucked into an unwholesome way
of thinking and your mindfulness is getting really strong, really clear, you're getting
energy from that.
But your thinking is all about ill will and all the terrible things a person did
and making all these spurious connections, then it just gets exaggerated
in the mind. You're not attending in a skillful way. So mindfulness should carry
along with it some wisdom, some wisdom as to how you're directing your attention.
And because of that, in Buddhism, mindfulness is seen as an ethical
and ethically wholesome state of mind. I was reading recently, or listening to a talk
by a secular teacher, and they were saying mindfulness is ethically neutral. And that
may be true, the kind of mindfulness that's taught in, you know, a kind of secular way,
but the mindfulness, the sati that the Buddha taught, always goes hand in hand with wisdom.
And it's informed by the right intentions of kindness, letting go, and non-harm.
So it carries within it wisdom. And it needs to be directed towards certain areas, for
a certain purpose, which is to develop wholesome states. Yeah. I remember listening to a really
interesting story. It's in a, I don't think it's a publicly available documentary, unfortunately.
But the reason I was interested is that one of my teachers was featured in that.
And he's a bit of a hermit sort of teacher. He does teach, but he's not very well known
like Ajahn Brahm. And I wanted to see it because of that. But they were interviewing great,
renowned meditation teachers, not only monks, also some nuns, and lay women, and asking
them about their spiritual journey. And one of them was Venerable Pema Siri. He's a very
famous monk who passed away in the last few years in Sri Lanka. And they asked him about
his path. And he said that for years he was living in the forest, doing his walking meditation,
sitting in meditation, living an incredibly simple life. And he was so peaceful. He was
so happy that he thought he was enlightened. He didn't see the defilements rising for years.
That means his mind was free from any discernible hindrance. He didn't, you know, suffer from
any unwholesome state of mind. So he actually thought that the job was done.
And then one day he was walking on his path, and suddenly he thought he saw a snake. And
he got afraid. Fear arose. And he realized at that moment that he wasn't enlightened
after all. And this may seem like a small thing, but when a person's entire life is
based on developing the practice and, you know, trying to end suffering as a matter
of urgency, in a sense.
As a matter of...
As a matter of complete and utter full-life dedication, this is a spiritual crisis. Because
it means something somewhere went wrong. Something in his practice. He made some mistake. And
he was missing something still. He had no teacher around him, I don't think, at that
time. But we always have the suttas, right? So he started to investigate. And he said
he had to kind of literally unpick and unpack everything he'd learned, and kind of retrace
his steps.
And after several years, I think it was about seven years or so, he managed to come to the
understanding that he'd misunderstood mindfulness. He'd misunderstood what mindfulness was.
He thought that mindfulness was just bare awareness. Just being so-called objectively
aware of whatever's arising.
But he realized that mindfulness also had this protective quality of being aware of
the way we're aware. Being aware of how we're using our mind to develop wholesome states
or not. Right? How our mindfulness, in a way, is getting sucked to different places in different
ways. How it's affecting us. And this was his understanding. And then he spent a lot
of time speaking about the ethical and wisdom aspects of mindfulness. That mindfulness contains
all that within it.
So later on, I'm presuming, he actually did kind of, you know, deepen his practice. And
who knows where people get to on the path. I kind of find it rather unsavory to talk
about people's attainments, like putting a label on them, you know? So we don't really
know. But I thought that was such an interesting story. And it just showed how mindfulness
itself is very profound.
So...
And also...
Going back to the theme of mindfulness.
One of the enlightenment factors, mindfulness has to be developed on the basis of seclusion,
dispassion, cessation, and relinquishment, or letting go. So that means we're not...
It's not really the Buddhist mindfulness if we're mindful of intense sensual bliss, for
example. You know? Or sensual pleasure. I don't know if you can call it bliss. It's
agitating. It's hot. That is not mindfulness based on seclusion.
Yeah? Or...
Letting go.
Yeah.
Letting go.
Yeah.
So, again, it needs to be directed to these particular areas of life.
And then the second factor, the Dhamma vichaya, or the exploration of mental states, the exploration
of the Dhamma, here doesn't mean the three Lakhanas. It doesn't mean suffering, impermanence,
and non-self. It means investigation of what is wholesome and what is unwholesome. So the,
critical faculty the wisdom faculty that can discern between whether what
we're aware of is leading to wholesome states increasing or not is it leading
to increase in suffering or increase in happiness yeah so this is what we need
to investigate there's a nice little catchphrase that I'll share because I
think this is quite nice and we can use this as a reflection in our practice
what am i doing or you could say what am i aware of in this case of mindfulness
how is it affecting me and where is it leading me what am i doing with my mind
in my mindfulness how is it affecting me is it leading to the cultivation of
wholesome states or not is it making me suffer
you know what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to make sure that my mind is
is it making me feel more peaceful more at ease and where is it leading yeah is
it leading to nibbana or not or is it leading to more difficulties and
obstructions so this particular factor dhamma vichaya is the antidote or the
opposite of doubt the hindrance of doubt so if there is a lot of doubt and the
lack of clarity or confusion in the mind we can use this factor of investigation
to help overcome the doubt and the lack of clarity or confusion in the mind we can use this factor of investigation to help overcome
that and you will find that as doubt diminishes in the mind on the other
side the investigation of the dhamma will increase yeah and doubt is
described as the Buddha as being lost in the desert like being lost in the desert
and the overcoming of doubt is like fighting freedom finding safety finding
security literally finding your way I'm very
tempted to tell a joke now but it will probably make the talk longer
would you like a joke it's Ajahn Brahm's joke all right so the joke is that there was once a
person lost in a desert and they were very tired and very hot incredibly
dehydrated and they were actually in fear for their life by now they'd been
wandering for days they couldn't find their way out and the Sun was scorching
there was nothing to drink they were going
that way they didn't even know their orientation anymore just like a person with doubt right and
then suddenly as they were sort of crawling on their knees on the hot sand they were so tired
they saw this image in the distance sort of shimmering on the horizon they thought well
it must be my mind I'm going mad you know it's some kind of mirage in the song and this image
was moving and then they realized oh my goodness it looks like a person there and then this person
came closer and they realized it was actually an Inuit Indian with a whole fleet of husky dogs
and they were like no no I'm going mad this can't be right but it got closer and closer and he could
hear the bells of the dogs and this person thought oh my goodness I'm saved
you
so eventually when they came really close he went up to this person with the you know
the Inuit with the husky dogs and said oh thank you so much oh my goodness I'm saved I'm saved
and you know what the person said they said and you think you're lost
it's good isn't it so I suppose this is like being lost in the desert having so much doubt
and then meeting a really rogue teacher you know
someone who says you know I'm enlightened I know the path and actually they don't.
so all the more need for spiritual friendship for staying close to people who know their way
or at least have walked on the path a little bit further than you and can point out the way
right? we don't have to always emulate and and you know do exactly what our teachers do because
we're unique but at least we should you know go for people who are yeah embodying qualities of
virtue and peace and compassion and have an understanding of the path, have a map
that's a start isn't it having a map out of the desert. So the next factor is
energy and the Pali for that is Viriya which means kind of heroic energy again
based on seclusion, dispassion, cessation and relinquishment or letting go. So this
is not the energy of acquiring, it's not the energy to get something that you
like, not even to get more energy, it's the energy to give up, to give or to give
yourself over fully to the practice without expecting anything in return
you
That's the kind of energy we're looking for here.
So it's a heroic energy that sacrifices itself completely for the practice, for the path.
Sacrifices the hindrances for the enlightenment factors, sacrifices unwholesome states and
pours all its energy into the cultivation of wholesome states.
States such as, or practices such as metta, loving-kindness, which we'll be doing today,
is a very beautiful way of generating this kind of energy.
Because in loving-kindness practice, you're actually giving.
You're not practicing loving-kindness to make that other person change, you know, or to
improve their behavior so that they'll like you more.
That's not what we do.
We're practicing loving-kindness just to give all our blessings, all our goodwill, all our
loving-kindness to a person, no matter who they are.
No matter whether you'll even meet them.
You'll meet this person in your life.
Even if this person is doing terrible things, we can give them our loving-kindness and wish
them well.
Because again, their suffering is not going to serve anybody.
We can only see what happens when we have leaders who are deeply traumatized and troubled
and have so much power and control.
It is a terrible state of affairs.
If that person was a healthy person who had had and received unconditional love in their
life.
You know, and who had had wise friends, good examples, so many other things I could list.
Then we wouldn't be in the situation we are now with some of these world leaders, you
know, who really shouldn't be in that role.
So giving loving-kindness is ultimately for our own benefit and it also, over time, will
have an effect.
But thinking in this way can help.
Help us to overcome ill-will, right?
So the energy, as a factor of enlightenment, arises from that clarity of mindfulness and
from investigating the Dhamma carefully.
Investigating wholesome and unwholesome states and cultivating wholesome states.
As a result of that, the energy arises in our mind and it is an antidote, a beautiful
antidote to drowsiness and sleepiness, sloth and torpor, lethargy, dullness, etc.
It's an antidote.
So when this kind of energy arises, it arises from clarity and it doesn't tire the mind.
It's almost like there's this source of energy from inside.
The less we do, the more we let go, the more we direct our mind to the wholesome, the more
energy is freed up because we're gradually overcoming the hindrances, okay?
And the Buddha said that overcoming sloth and torpor is like waking up from, well, the
end, actually, he said, it's like being released from a prison.
So overcoming sloth and torpor is like you've been in prison.
Do you relate to that?
It's like you're in this fog.
It's like overcoming jet lag.
Finally, you know, you can make sense of the world.
You wake up when it's light, hopefully, you go to bed when it's dark, and you're free.
You know, you see more.
You're free.
You're out of prison.
Sloth and torpor is very confining.
So there's a happiness there.
And then the next step when the energy starts to arise is piti.
This is the next enlightenment factor, the rapture that arises in the mind, and we talked
about that yesterday.
This is the kind of wholesome joy that arises when we start to get really interested in
our meditation and the mind starts to settle on something like the breath.
If you find that difficult.
If you haven't had much success, so-called, with breath meditation yet, metta meditation
is another beautiful way of starting to cultivate this wholesome joy based, again, on seclusion,
on dispassion, on cessation, and on letting go, right?
So we enjoy the piti, but we don't try to crave it, we don't try to manufacture it or
concoct it.
It's actually the best way to send it away.
It arises when we start letting go more and more deeply.
And it's based on mindfulness also.
It comes as a result of mindfulness, investigation, and energy, the steps that went before.
And at this point, there's a really beautiful kind of feedback loop.
The more energy you feel, the more happiness arises.
The more happiness that arises, the more you can be mindful because you're enjoying what
you're doing.
Yeah?
Remember, from a neuroscientific perspective.
Yeah?
You're now starting to enjoy, like, all these lovely, what do you call them, neurochemicals
like dopamine, and neoprenephrine, and endorphins, and all this stuff that arises due to happiness.
So it motivates you to continue.
It becomes a sustaining factor in your meditation practice.
And Ajahn Brahm calls this stage of rapture like the pivot point of meditation.
Or like the snowball at the top of the hill, you know, it rolls down the hill and it starts
to accumulate more and more snow and become huge.
It's like it goes quite fast sometimes from here, if we can stay steady, and if it's based
on letting go.
And then, as we get increasingly familiar with that piti, it starts to settle down and
turn into the next enlightenment factor of tranquility.
And tranquility is both of the body and of the mind.
So everything becomes rather cool and very delightful.
And the Buddha likened this to sitting.
Sitting under the shade of a tree.
If piti is kind of like drinking lemonade, or even drinking cold water, pasadi, tranquility,
is kind of like sitting back after you've drunk your fill and just resting in the shade
of a tree on a really hot day.
So everything quietens and calms down.
And you feel so satisfied from inside.
And normally in this sequence.
They now talk about like sukha, which is kind of a contentment, a deep pleasure.
But we have to assume that is here, that I don't know if they wanted seven enlightenment
factors and not eight.
So this would then lead to that kind of deep sense of well being and contentment, which
would be directly before the deep stillness.
So the tranquility is the antidote or another way of overcoming.
Restlessness and worry are the last you feel so calm as if you don't want to be anywhere
else in the whole world.
There's nothing wrong.
There's nothing to fear.
There's nothing to worry about at all.
You completely calm and contented inside.
So restlessness and worry is gradually overcome.
This is one of the antidotes.
So if you're feeling restless or worried.
About things you can sometimes try to just develop a perception of calm.
Think about things that make you feel calm.
We'll be doing that this afternoon and just try to get a sense of how that could be, even
if you're not feeling that right now.
So and overcoming restlessness and worry is like being freed from slavery.
So this is the kind of happiness of freedom from restlessness and worry.
Imagine you're a slave being told what to do endlessly, day and night, you know, dragged
around, no freedom, completely at the mercy of the person who's enslaved you.
And suddenly you're free from that slavery.
This is the joy of overcoming restlessness and worry.
Our minds are like that, aren't they?
They drag us around back and forward from the past to the future to fantasy world.
And we're not free at all.
So having overcome these hindrances.
And.
Developed tranquility and contentment, we are now getting closer and closer to deep
meditation.
Yeah, the Buddha says again and again in the suttas that happiness is the cause for samadhi
is the proximate cause.
So this is the happiness of peace.
And then we just sink into the objects so deeply that the mind absorbs and becomes still.
We talked yesterday about the different jhanas.
The first one still has a little wobble.
There's still this kind of movement, very, very sub-verbal and very subtle movement from
the bliss, moving on and off the bliss, but by the second jhana, everything's completely
still.
So this is samadhi.
And the Buddha talks about four kinds of bliss that are experienced in every jhana from the
first to the fourth.
He describes the bliss of deep meditation as nekama sukha.
The bliss of renunciation.
See how that relates to letting go, paviveka sukha, the bliss of complete seclusion.
So in the enlightenment factors, the word is viveka seclusion, but for the jhanas it's
paviveka, which is like an intensifier.
So complete seclusion, which means not only from external distractions and impingements,
but also from the five sense world.
So you're completely secluded.
You're completely included within the mind.
And the next kind of happiness he describes it as is upasama sukha, the happiness of peace,
deep peace.
Again, upasama is a kind of intensified word for peace.
And sambodhi sukha, the bliss of enlightenment.
So these are the kinds of happiness that the Buddha describes as available in those deep
meditations.
The happiness of letting go or renunciation, the happiness of deep seclusion, the happiness
of peace, and the bliss of enlightenment.
So this sounds pretty good, right?
Am I selling it to you?
Yes.
The only thing that really tops that, apart from the other arupa states, is the bliss
of Nibbana itself.
But it's so close, that's why it's called sambodhi sukha, actually means enlightenment
bliss.
It's in these kind of states of mind, you could think you are enlightened, because at
that moment, your mind is as clear and as pure and as happy as that of an enlightened
person.
However, they're temporary states.
So from there, we can use the power of the mind on emergence from those states, which
is free from hindrances, and which is completely clear, completely unbiased, to see things
as they really are.
So the Buddha likens the mind after deep meditation to molten gold, to gold that's been melted
and melted, and all the impurities of that gold, like copper, tin, brass, or other types
of metals have been removed, and now the gold is fit for work.
You can shape it into anything you wish.
If you want to make jewelry with it, you can do that.
If you want to make a gold jug or something, you can do that.
So in the same way, the mind is like this.
It's molten gold, which is beautiful, shiny, free from hindrances, and we can direct it
to the three characteristics.
If we've heard the Buddha's teachings on suffering, impermanence, and non-self, we have enough
sustained power of the mind, like very super bright mindfulness, and enough malleability,
enough softness of the mind to be able to direct it into those areas, and we have a
chance at that time to see things as they really are.
So this is the importance, somebody was asking yesterday if we have to experience these things.
It's not about having to, but it's a natural process.
It's going to happen as part of the path, and from Samadhi, we have the chance to see
things deeply, more deeply than we could before, because the hindrances were still operative,
even subtly, until now.
So the whole purpose of this is understanding.
Overcoming those five hindrances, so that nothing is distorting our perception.
And the last enlightenment factor, okay, so yeah, the Samadhi overcomes all the hindrances.
That's a good deal, right?
So far, it's been antidote to this one and this one.
This is the antidote to them all, temporarily, as long as you're in that state.
And of course, when you emerge, they're not likely to be very strong.
They're likely to be knocked out for a while, and only gradually, they'll come back again,
and as they start coming back, they'll come back again.
You'll see them more clearly, because the mind is quite clear and free from hindrances.
So even a small little trace of a hindrance, you'll see it bubbling up and you'll know,
oh, this is my tendency, given this particular sensory input or whatever, given my particular
conditioning, this is the hindrance that, you know, comes back up.
So it'll be much, much clearer as to how these things operate and what leads to their arising.
Lastly, equanimity.
So remember, these are enlightenment factors, which lead to enlightenment.
That's why the last one isn't enlightenment itself.
But the equanimity that is developed through the previous factors is a kind of mental balance
and evenness of mind, equipoise, if you like, that sustains the momentum of the practice
through all the obstacles.
All the ups and downs of life.
Equanimity gives a stability and a consistency to our mindfulness.
I was listening to a talk by Ajahn Brahm a couple of weeks ago, and he had a really nice
definition for equanimity, a partial definition.
He said it's like mindfulness without the doer.
Equanimity is like mindfulness without the doer.
So it's a kind of equipoise.
Equanimity is sustained mindfulness, which doesn't have the same sense of self.
It doesn't interfere.
It doesn't interfere in the same way.
We don't keep getting involved.
Instead, we can regard this process as an impersonal process of cause and effect.
So we learn to stand back, you know, empowered by the previous factors.
So it's not completely passive.
Awareness.
It's a wise awareness, but it is it has perspective.
It has a sense of perspective.
So we still wish people well.
We still practice compassion, loving kindness, but we also understand that, you know, other
people's lives and our own lives kind of flow along according to cause and effect.
And this gives us an incredible amount of unshake ability in the face.
Of the ups and downs of life, you know, praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain
and the worldly winds.
There is another one.
I always forget that one.
Fame and disrepute.
I think.
Yeah.
Fame and disrepute.
Ajahn Brahm's faceless.
His fair share of that.
When he was thrown out of his lineage for ordaining bhikkhunis, he made this comment.
He said, one minute you're the bee's knees.
Next minute you're the bee's vomit.
.
That's like fame and disrepute.
I don't think I've ever seen a bee vomiting, but anyway.
So that is the last enlightenment factor.
And yeah, when we have just emerged from Samadhi, from deep meditation, it's difficult to provoke
a person.
One of Ajahn Brahm's tests, if somebody comes up and says, I just came out of the first
jhana or the second jhana is okay.
Nah, that's impossible.
You come from Singapore.
Singaporean people can't get jhana or you come from England.
You're a white guy.
Nah, no way.
And if you get upset, then it wasn't a jhana because at this time the equanimity should
be very, very strong.
So people don't really do that, but I mean, you know, you'd probably only do that carefully,
but that is the thing.
So just to sum everything up, these enlightenment factors are founded on seclusion, dispassion,
and self-reliance.
This third one, cessation and release and the proximate cause for their arising or some
of the causes, the deepest causes for their arising are association with the spiritual
people, with good friends, people who are virtuous, people who are wise and our own
careful attention that's aware of whether they're present or not and what gives rise
to them arising.
Okay.
The causes for their arising and the causes for maintaining and bringing them to fulfilment.
Yeah.
Approaching wise people.
Another place in the same Sutta says, directing the whole mind to the Dhamma and listening
as a matter of vital concern.
Yeah.
So directing a whole mind to the teachings lessens the five hindrances and increases
the enlightenment factors.
And of course our good conduct of body, speech and mind and our sense restraint is a foundation.
Normally these sequences start with that, but in this case it starts with mindfulness
because it's assumed that by now we have this good conduct in place.
Okay.
And that intention to develop these factors, to develop a sense of safety and a sense of
connection with our own inner goodness, our own virtue, really helps to get them going.
So I will leave it here for now.
It's been a whole hour's talk and we need to have at least a five minute break.
So we'll come back in five minutes for some meditation.
Okay.
So I hope you're doing well.
So because that was a little longer than I expected, but I wanted to get through each
one.
Uh, the meditation session, we only have about 20 minutes, so I would encourage you if you
have time to carry on.
If you have time.
If you like, I'll get you going with some guidance, but, uh, just carry on sitting for
a bit longer if you feel you need longer to really get into it.
Okay.
So we have plenty of time for lunch and for the break.
So one of the things that I've been talking about is loving kindness is a sutta related
to the seven enlightenment factors that talks about developing them up.
Accompanied by loving kindness.
So I thought we could practice loving kindness and see if we can notice these enlightenment
factors, their presence or absence, how they arise.
And as usual, if that's not the kind of practice your mind is inclining to today, please just
carry on in your own way.
Relax.
Let be.
Find metaphor ways to relate to whatever's arising for you.
Okay.
But the invitation will be to just introduce some reflections, some words, some images
that can help to develop loving kindness and see where that leads.
Okay.
So please make yourself as comfortable as you can by asking your body what it needs.
Don't make your body, your minds a slave.
And as usual, beginning by asking your body what it needs.
And then by establishing kindfulness.
Remember, mindfulness is ethically wholesome.
So bring a sense of kindness, of gentleness, of relaxation, letting go into the way you're
aware.
As you gently spread this kindfulness through your body, just receiving any sensations
you notice anywhere in your body right now.
As these sensations give us feedback.
As these sensations give us feedback.
As these sensations give us feedback.
About the way we're aware.
If our awareness is a little bit too forceful, things may become more tense.
See if you can soften your awareness slightly.
Give things some space.
Relate to your body and mind as though they were your friends.
Our friends are people we respect.
We genuinely care about.
See if you can regard your body and mind and all the feelings you experience as your friends.
yourself to notice the joy of mindfulness combined with kindness. There's some happiness
in being aware in a friendly way. Knowing what's happening. Clarity of mind without
judgment, without demands. Cultivating wholesome happiness and attend in a way that draws out
any pleasure, any happiness that's there. So just picking up any feelings that tell
you you're safe. The body is healthy enough for the purpose of the practice right now.
The lungs are breathing. The heart is pumping. Listen to the Dhamma as a matter of vital
concern. Maybe there's some pleasant or neutral sensation somewhere in your body. Perhaps
you're in a state of bliss. Maybe you're in a state of bliss. Maybe you're in a state
of bliss around the chest area. Any way you experience that right now. Just allow your
mind to rest gently. For loving kindness practice we tend to rest our awareness somewhere around
the chest if that's comfortable. But it can be any other place if that's easier for you.
Let me start with something that's easy to develop loving kindness towards. Someone or
even an inanimate object.
So called like a plant. Not really inanimate. Choose someone who you have a very wholesome
simple, fairly simple relationship with. Where there are no issues. It's not complicated
or too invested for personal reasons. A teacher, a close friend, someone who's willing to help.
Someone who's helped you in some way. Your child, like a nephew or niece or cat. A plant
that you're cultivating, growing or propagating. And just bring this person, this being to
mind as though they were sitting next to you or perhaps in front of you and you were looking
into their eyes. Just to get a sense of their presence. You might be more visual, in which
case you'll get an impression of their face, their body, the way they're sitting. Perhaps
they're wearing a gentle smile. Or maybe you can recollect a time that you shared together.
Where you're both enjoying each other's company. Happy and relaxed. Or maybe you can just get
a sense of this person's goodness. A felt sense of their qualities. How it feels to
be with them.
If you're more of a feeling person. Any pleasant or neutral feeling around the chest or in
your body, anywhere. Notice if there's a feeling of goodwill in your heart. Start offering
our wishes of love and kindness to this person by cultivating thoughts of loving kindness
inside our mind. Thoughts for their basic happiness and well-being that are universal
wishes. But also at the same time that they would really wish for themselves. That they
would make it personal. Make it mean something to you and something to them. As an example,
you may wish they may be happy, may be safe. And to choose maybe two to four phases, not
more than that. You could be wishing them contentment, freedom. So just take a moment
to see what resonates for you. And then keeping them in mind. As though they were right there
with you.
And staying connected.
Staying connected to the feelings in your body. Associated with goodwill. Start offering
them these wishings, blessings of goodwill. So the phrases are repeated carefully, clearly,
calmly. We pause between each phrase to allow the emotion of loving kindness to develop
in our hearts. May you be safe.
Attention is mindfulness. Amavechaya. Combined.
Dhamavechaya is the investigation or exploration of wholesome states. States of mind. So here
we're bringing wisdom and awareness by directing our mind in a skillful way. And then mindfulness
and kindness. Listen. Stay present in the space between each phrase. See if you can
enjoy the process. Enjoy the beauty of wishing someone well.
Notice how this arouses energy for the practice. Gradually, you may notice joy arising in the
heart. Next to enlightenment factors, energy and piti, rapture or joy. Never concocting
these things, but just allowing them to arise on the basis of mindfulness and the cultivation
of wholesome states.
If you find your mindfulness wanders, your energy drops, just reconnect to the image
or sense of this person you're sending loving kindness towards. Refresh their image in your
mind. Energy, more care. Another way to sustain mindfulness in the beginning is to repeat
the phrases more clearly, more often.
To keep your mind on track. The feeling of piti starts to grow in the heart. You may
find the phrases less and less. Or there can be a slightly longer pause between each phrase.
Joy to tranquility. As the mind sustains its awareness, connects with the joy and restlessness
calms. Trust it.
Value it. Settle down into wholesome states.
The phrases, but perhaps with longer gaps, increasingly inclines to the meaning, the
emotion of loving kindness in your heart.
However subtle that may be, getting to it carefully draws it out. Meditation, if the
mind is settling down or you'd like to give it longer, please feel free to continue.
The seven enlightenment factors. The enlightenment factors accompanied by loving kindness.
And through that loving kindness practice itself. And at the end of the meditation,
whenever you emerge, just allowing the feelings and thoughts of metta to subside. Turning
back to a more general sense of awareness of your body and your mind. Equanimity with
evenness, equipoise.
Deceased. Sense of perspective. Gently aware.
And myself, that I prefer slowly come out of your meditation and move into some walking
meditation or other duties or little tasks you need to do around the place.
A nourishing lunch and enough rest.
At 2.30. Either stay in the room or please come back in good time so we can begin promptly
at 2.30.