Buddhist Society of Western Australia
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Diskusi sutta membahas makna hari Uposatha dan Vesak lewat tiga jenis Uposatha -- cara gembala yang penuh kerinduan, cara Niganta yang munafik, dan cara mulia yang membersihkan pikiran lewat perenungan Buddha, Dhamma, dan Sangha. Peserta bergiliran berbagi ajaran yang menginspirasi mereka, seperti Empat Brahma Vihara dan pentingnya usaha yang tepat, serta merenungkan kualitas komunitas monastik dan keyakinan bahwa pencerahan dapat dicapai. Sesi ditutup dengan berbagi inspirasi tentang metta dan pengumuman kegiatan mendatang.
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Ceramah ini membahas bagaimana umat Buddha dapat memperoleh inspirasi pada hari Uposatha, khususnya hari purnama, dengan merujuk pada sutta AN 3.70. Pembicara memperkenalkan tiga jenis Uposatha: cara gembala yang penuh kerinduan, cara Niganta yang munafik, dan cara mulia yang membersihkan pikiran melalui perenungan terhadap Buddha, Dhamma, dan Sangha. Fokus utama adalah pada praktik Buddhanusati (perenungan terhadap Buddha), Dhammānusati (perenungan terhadap Dhamma), dan Saṅghānusati (perenungan terhadap Sangha) sebagai metode untuk menjernihkan pikiran dan membangkitkan inspirasi spiritual. Pembicara mengajak peserta untuk mendiskusikan makna dan manfaat dari masing-masing perenungan, serta berbagi pengalaman pribadi dan ajaran yang menginspirasi mereka. Alur ceramah dimulai dengan pengenalan hari Uposatha dan Vesak, kemudian membacakan sutta, dilanjutkan dengan pembahasan mendalam tentang tiga perenungan, dan diakhiri dengan refleksi tentang pentingnya komunitas spiritual (kalyāṇamittatā) dan metta. Pesan utamanya adalah bahwa dengan merenungkan kualitas luhur Buddha, Dhamma, dan Sangha, umat dapat membersihkan pikiran dari kekotoran, memperkuat keyakinan, dan memperoleh inspirasi untuk berlatih, terutama pada hari-hari suci seperti Uposatha.
Okay so we just started. I was saying there are two full moons in May this year and full moon of
May is Vesak which marks the Buddha's birthday, enlightenment day and passing away into Parinibbana
day or passing away all together we can say and yes it's a very very special day. It's the most
important Buddhist holiday and Buddhist sacred day, holy day in the year and so today is actually
what we call Uposatha which means it's a time when the bhikkhu and bhikkhuni sangha and the lay
people, well the bhikkhu and bhikkhuni sangha come together to chant the patimokkhas. If there are
sanghas of more than four, a sangha is actually comprised of four to become an actual sangha so
we don't do that here yet.
because we only have me but in bigger sanghas then they'll be chanting their
training guidelines and lay people traditionally also take eight precepts
on the Uposatha days and so it's a very special day for the whole Buddhist community. So
I wanted to read the Uposatha Sutta which is from the Anguttarainikāya chapter three
and it is
number 70 so that's usually abbreviated an3 dot dot 70 and it's called Uposita.
Now unfortunately this Sutta is about seven pages long and there's no way we
can get through seven pages unless there's no discussion. As you know this
is more for discussing the Dhamma and how it may inform, guide, inspire our
lives rather than a kind of doctrinal analysis. So I don't think it matters
really how far we go with this but we'll just see what resonates or maybe what
doesn't resonate and how we can relate to it and maybe find some inspiration on
this special day. So for anyone who's here for the first time and I see Emily
has a friend with her, hi to Emily's friend, maybe you're here for the first
time and I think
Gabby also is here for the first time, anyone else? Declan, I don't know, yeah
first time, brilliant. Okay so you are free at any time to write a comment in
the chat or a question or to raise your virtual hand, you can use the raise hand
button and we'll unmute you at a suitable time and you can give some
input, it doesn't have to be a question, you might have just something you want
to share.
Yeah I'll just come to you at a suitable place to pause so it'll be more like a
discussion than a lecture okay and yeah let's see how we go. So I'll get right in.
Thus have I heard and all the suttas start this way because this is the
Buddha's attendant the Venerable Ananda remembering what he's heard the Buddha
say. On one occasion the Blessed One, that means the Buddha,
was dwelling at Savatthi in Migaramatha's mansion in the Eastern
Park — that's modern-day Shravasti in northern India. Then Visakha Migaramatha
on the day of the oppositor approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him and
sat down to one side. The Blessed One then said to her, Why Visakha, have you
come in the middle of the day?
today Bhante Bhante means venerable I'm observing the opositor and then the Buddha says there are
visakha three kinds of opositors so again opositor means an observance day and normally people keep
a little bit more virtue and a bit more restraint on these days so they take what are called the
eight precepts which includes the five precepts not to kill steal lie taking toxicants or have
any kind of sexual misconduct and additionally on the Apostle day we actually abstain from all
sexual conduct misconduct or otherwise so we observe celibacy and we abstain from eating
after midday as many of you were doing on the retreat in Norway recently and hopefully you
notice that it's a
point that I'm not going to go into too much detail about but it's a point that I'm going to
point that I'm going to go into too much detail about but it's a point that I'm going to
the practice it simplifies your life and you don't really need that much energy when you're
meditating a lot at least that much food you get more energy from the mind actually as the
practice deepens and then lastly to refrain from sleeping on high and luxurious beds
actually Norway was quite nice but not really high and luxurious just ordinary beds
nothing too fancy no kind of leopard skin or I don't know four post
nothing too fancy no kind of leopard skin or I don't know four post
nothing too fancy no kind of leopard skin or I don't know four post of beds with satin sheets and curtains
of beds with satin sheets and curtains
of beds with satin sheets and curtains or anything like that so we just live as
or anything like that so we just live as
or anything like that so we just live as simply as we can on the Apostle today so
simply as we can on the Apostle today so
simply as we can on the Apostle today so she has told the Buddha that she's
she has told the Buddha that she's observing the Apostle and now he's
observing the Apostle and now he's telling her there are three different
telling her there are three different kinds what for me number one the cow herds
Upasita. Number two, the Niganta's Upasita. That actually is the Jains. There was a religion called
Jainism in the Buddha's day and it was another big religion actually. And the noble one's Upasita.
So you might already be guessing which is the best one of these.
So number one, and how Visakha is the cowherd's Upasita observed?
Supposed Visakha, in the evening, a cowherd returns to the cows and their owners,
oh sorry, returns the cows to their owners. They reflect thus, today the cows grazed in such and
such a place and drank water in such and such a place. Tomorrow the cows will graze in such
as such a place and drink water in such as such a place. So too, someone here observing the
Upasita reflects thus, today I ate this and that.
Food. Today I ate a meal of this and that kind. Tomorrow I'll eat this and that food and tomorrow
I'll eat a meal of this and that kind. They thereby pass the day with greed and longing in
their mind. It is in such a way that the cowherd's Upasita is observed. The cowherd's Upasita,
thus observed, is not of great fruit and benefit, nor is it extraordinarily brilliant and pervasive.
So don't worry, if that's what you've been doing today there's still time to change and
maybe that's one of the reasons it's good to abstain from food in the afternoon. Then you,
well, at first when you do that practice sometimes you might think about food even more
but the idea gradually is to just turn your mind away from thinking about what kind of
sensual pleasures you're going to enjoy, what kind of food you can make later on,
what you've had, whether it was good, what you'll make tomorrow, etc.
So we don't want to be passing the day with greed and longing I'm presuming. Right the
Buddha hasn't said this but I'm sure we're coming to that. So number two, and how, Visakha,
is the Nigantas Upasita observed? There are Visakha ascetics called Nigantas
they enjoin their disciples thus, come good person, lay down the rod towards living beings,
more than a hundred yojanas distance in the eastern quarter. Basically that's a very long
way away, several hundred miles or more, I'm not quite sure. Lay down the rod towards living beings
dwelling more than a hundred yojanas distance in the western quarter, in other words in the western
direction. Lay down the rod towards living beings dwelling more than a hundred yojanas distance in
the northern quarter and lay down the rod towards living beings dwelling more than a hundred yojanas
distance in the southern quarter. In other words in every direction. We don't say well people in
that direction deserve the rod, people in that direction we're going to spare them. People with
our political allegiance, yeah that's good. People with a different one, hmm, who are a threat to our
resources or a perceived threat in whatever way, hmm, we still have our rod and weapon. So that's
a simile.
For dwelling compassionately. Thus they enjoin them to be sympathetic and compassionate towards
some living beings. Ah, okay, and not towards others. Okay, so the Buddha here is saying it's
still limited, right? So it's still limited because it's only a certain distance and perhaps those
four directions don't include all the directions in between. On the Upastha day they enjoin their
disciples thus. Come good person.
Having laid aside all clothes, recite, I am not anywhere the belonging of anyone. Nor f there
anywhere anything in any place that is mine. So that's their philosophy. However, their parents know this is our
son and they know these are my parents. His wife and children know he is our supporter. Traditional India.
And he knows these are my wife and children and if this is not a tradition No this is a tradition. This is our our responsibility and to make us mostiable to our parents as Many, Many, Many Bureauans!
and children and of course it could be the other way around their slaves and workers and servants
know they are he is our master or they are our master and they know these are my slaves workers
and servants thus on an occasion when they should be enjoined in truthfulness the negantas enjoin
them in false speech this i say is false speech when that night has passed they make use of
possessions that have not been given this i say is taking what has not been given
it is in such a way that the negantas apostate is observed when one has observed the apostate
in the way of the negantas the apostate is not of great fruit and benefit nor is it extraordinarily
brilliant and pervasive so that's quite a rebuke isn't it against the way that the negantas
uh practice it's
almost as though the buddha's saying there's some truth and some goodness in what they do but it
just doesn't go far enough so it looks as though they're spreading matter or let's say dwelling
with compassion and sympathy laying down the rod towards living beings dwelling a certain distance
away but it is still limited it is still not including all living beings and then they have
this philosophy that there's nothing anywhere that belongs to anyone and nothing in any place that is
in and yet they dwell thinking this is my son this is my daughter my wife etc so they've got the
philosophy right maybe to a degree but then it doesn't actually translate into um the way that
they live and think and view the world okay and how visaka is the noble ones upasita observed
the defiled mind is cleansed by exertion
and how is the defiled mind cleansed by exertion
here visaka a noble disciple recollects the tatagata thus the tatagata means the one who's
well gone and it's a the way that the buddha describes himself basically so it's the buddha
so the noble disciple reflects the buddha thus the blessed one is an arahant that means fully
enlightened
perfectly enlightened accomplished in true knowledge and conduct
fortunate knower of the world's unsurpassed trainer of persons to be trained
teacher of davers and humans that's celestial beings and human beings both
the enlightened one the blessed one when a noble disciple recollects the
the targeter their mind becomes placid, in other words tranquil. Joy arises and the defilements
of the mind are abandoned in the same way that one's head when dirty is cleansed by
exertion. Okay any questions so far? So now we're moving on to the way the Buddha actually
recommends us to observe these Uposatha days and as I said today is one of those days and
it's a very special one it's one of the Vesak days of this month so people all over the
world in Buddhist countries especially are observing this day with much joy and delight
and of course probably having quite a lot of delicious food but also hopefully recollecting
the Buddha and the purpose to recollect the Buddha is not to worship anybody as a god
or something unreachable or someone who we pray to or who we hold above us in the sense
that we idolize them and make them almost inhuman, right? But somebody who we understand
has actually cleansed their mind through following the Eightfold Noble Path and who has become
fully enlightened, right? Perfectly trained and able to train others too and when we recollect
these qualities of the Buddha the idea is that inspiration arises in our mind, we get
inspired to walk the same path.
And to become also fully enlightened which the Buddha says is possible for anybody who
is wise. So I don't know if anybody here practices this, it's called Buddhanusati, recollecting
the Buddha's qualities and it's one of the meditations, we didn't teach it in Norway
actually but you might remember those who are on the retreat that we used to begin the
meditation by bringing some joy and inspiration to the mind maybe through metta practice,
goodness, recollecting a time we felt content for example. But another way is to recollect
the qualities of the Buddha and the more that we contemplate these qualities, the more that
we read the suttas and we practice what the Buddha taught, the more the Buddha comes to
life in our own mind as a human being who really existed and who really did. End all
greed, hate and delusion and see the truth, see the light.
So when we do this the mind becomes placid, joy arises and the defilements of the mind
are abandoned in the same way that one's head when dirty is cleansed by exertion.
So it's another way of overcoming things like ill will, negativity, boredom, tiredness,
weariness, greed. When we are thinking about a Buddha or anyone who inspires us usually
our mind is far away from our true self.
those hindrances of mind, right? That's why we like to come to retreats or visit
monasteries or just be around good people, good practitioners because we
feel uplifted, we feel inspired. Okay so it carries on and it is going to carry
on for seven pages so please do ask some questions. I'll read a little bit further
and how, Vaisakha, does one cleanse a dirty head by exertion? And this is a
simile. By means of cleansing paste, clay, water and the appropriate effort by the
person. In other words we need some kind of cleansing substance, yeah, paste and
clay would have been like the soap and also appropriate effort by the person
knowing how much effort to use, where to clean, what needs cleaning.
Okay.
It is in such a way that one's head when dirty becomes cleansed by exertion. So
too the defiled mind is cleansed by exertion. And how is this done? Here
Vaisakha, a noble disciple, recollects the Tathagata thus. The Blessed One is all
those things. So it's repeating the same little passage. Is an arahat perfectly
enlightened, accomplished in true knowledge and conduct,
fortunate or blessed, knower of the world, worlds, this means the human world
for all worlds, all realms, unsurpassed trainer of persons to be trained, teacher
of the gods and humans or the celestial beings and the human beings, the
enlightened one, the blessed one. When a noble disciple recollects the Tathagata,
their mind becomes placid, joy arises and the defilements are abandoned. This is a
noble disciple who observes the opositor of Brahma, who dwells together with Brahma.
And it is by considering Brahma that their mind becomes placid, joy arises and the
defilements of the mind are abandoned. It is in this way that the defiled mind is cleansed
by exertion.
So that's interesting, that we're bringing Brahma into all of this because Brahma
is considered one of the higher gods in the Brahma realm. And I think that we should give
what it really means is that this can take you to those realms in other words you can get so
peaceful that you can enter deep states of meditation like jhanas which are considered to be
sublime abidings we call the jhanas based on loving kindness compassion sympathetic joy and
equanimity also the brahmaviharas the dwellings of the brahmans god-like states of mind okay i'm
going to come to seminary sopa who has a question or comment hi can you unmute yourself i came in
late so i don't know what niganta is yeah get nigantas are the jains yeah so i'm looking at
the one on sutta central that i know if you're it doesn't seem you're reading that one
no i'm reading from bhikkhu bodhi's translation in the angatunikaya okay and anyway it's a
it's the same as just some words like exertion is effort right okay yeah yeah so uh yeah i mean that
one um let's see it's so what you were reading about uh seems like they're doing uh they're
contradicting themselves i thought of you know they they know what to do ritualistically uh-huh
it comes to practical everyday life
it's completely turned around yeah that's true isn't it yeah that's what it sounds like yeah
yeah yeah yeah i think it's a really good reflection isn't it for all of us to ask
ourselves with how much integrity do i really practice you know how much is still theory and
how far do i need to go to really integrate those understandings and actually start to allow it to
change the way i live and regard say other beings you know are we regarding people as our possessions
belong to us yeah yeah okay joseph thank you venerable i was uh reflecting on
a translation of metta's loving kindness taking it literally as appreciating kindness
so like loving like loving kindness and i was thinking about this teaching i received from
that the giver of an act of kindness the receiver and the witness this kind of three
full relationship with kindness all benefit so just witnessing an act of kindness as observable
results to one's health and happiness and so i was reflecting on the three aspects of the buddha
as bhagawan araham and samma sambuddho as bhagawan vante sudaso told me that bhagawan means like
wealth to give and he did like an ayah came out like you get some bhagwa and you get some bhagwa
and you get some bhagwa so bhagawan means the fortunate one the wealthy one and i kind of uh
associated that with the buddha is the supreme giver of kindness yeah and arahant means that
he's the worthy one so he's the supreme receiver of kindness and sama sambuddho was thinking how
is that witness uh he's the supreme witness of kindness because he can recollect countless past
lives and he sees the coming and goings of beings
so he sees all the kindness that results in happiness i was wondering if that was a good
reflection on the buddha if you have any notes about how the other aspects of recollecting the
buddha are examples of kindness if there's something that you feel inspired to share about
that about the buddha's um actions in other words that are sharing his kindness do you mean yeah
like how is sugata an example of kindness or like uh
these are very fulsome ways to approach the buddha to love his kindness i thought that might
be a good opposed to contemplation so reflection yeah yeah i mean i think the point is that we can
really find our own ways to relate to the buddha and find the qualities that really inspire us the
most and then contemplate them i mean the buddha actually said that the greatest act of compassion
is to teach the dhamma yeah to actually teach the dhamma for the benefit of many for the long-term
another thing that he did which i think is a supreme act of kindness and compassion was to
teach for future generations and that includes us so one of the reflections i love to do about the
buddha is that he knew there would be people just like us he didn't know exactly how we'd look or
where we'd be from or that we'd be here on the zoom session but he taught for people just like
us who would be hungry for the dhamma in later years you know thousands of years after his death
after his parinibbana
for that reason he established a fourfold assembly and i have liked to start translating that as the
universal assembly or the all-inclusive assembly so that we don't have this kind of
gender binary take on the fourfold assembly because really what the buddha meant is that
he wants to have people from every kind of walk of life every kind of gender every kind of
anything all people who are capable of realizing liberation should be represented
they should have the opportunity to walk the path to its absolute highest in other words the whole
path through training as monastics or as lay people as they see fit or as the opportunity
arises so i think that was a supreme act of compassion and loving kindness and foresight
you know for the sake of future generations that he would never witness actually personally so yes
there's something incredible about witnessing acts of kindness but the buddha wouldn't actually
witness this nevertheless
i think the buddha would have been very selflessly out of compassion for all of us here
and you know there'd be even if you don't feel people in this room might have varying degrees
of connection or inspiration or a sense that the buddha's their teacher in a direct way because
obviously he he's no more but still even if there are teachers or teachings that you enjoy
by any kind of dhamma teacher it's basically stemming from the buddha and none of us will be
here without the buddha's teaching to us
so i think his foresight you know that sense of serving for the sake of future generations
comes to mind for me right now and just recognizing that this continues yeah i mean i don't want
to say too much about this yet but one of the inspiring things that i'm talking about
today on the vesak day of uh may 2026 is the prospect of um a bhikkhuni ordination here
in the uk
happening in a year or so all being well and uh yeah although it's very very hard to find
enough bhikkhunis to do the ordination you need a minimum of five probably an extra one just in case
but uh today i found my fifth bhikkhuni and i won't say too much but it looks as though
it really might come together for us to do the first bhikkhuni ordination in the uk
ever i would say ever right in history ever i guess i mean in the theravada tradition i don't
know there might have been mahayana bhikkhuni ordinations but i doubt it to be fair there
were very few mahayana bhikkhunis in england also and most of the time they've taken their
ordination overseas so um this is all part of the compassion of the buddha we wouldn't be able to do
any of this without his uh his sacrifice we could say his selfless devotion to the buddha so um
this is amazing wisdom and compassion so yeah it's definitely very wonderful to reflect on
on things like this so please find your way to bring the buddha to life in your mind
and uh coming to these sort of discussions is one of those ways
yeah and recognizing the timeless nature of the dhamma right we're getting on to the dhamma next
so let's continue i'll just go to the comments in the chat as well we've only got to the buddha so
there's more hi i recollect the buddha by reciting the retina sutta very nice retina sutta is a
beautiful sutta it's actually about the triple gem so it talks about the qualities of the buddha
the dhamma and the sangha in a bit more depth slightly different ways normally each morning
it's very nice to recite this sutta slowly and i've changed the english translation from the
section that talks about only men who who can reach the first state i've changed it to
you can attain the first state it always sounds better and true yeah i never read that it said
that only men it does say the word pugala which usually means like person and it usually relates
to men but it's the same in english to a degree right we say oh mankind or whatever but it doesn't
mean only men it means all people it's just that we're using the dominant terminology so the buddha
never ever said that only men can reach the first state i want to be very clear about that that's why
he took all that time from the very outset of his teachings very start of it after his awakening
to make sure that all people have the opportunity to gain full awakening because
there's no gender to the mind okay gender is a construct it's quite a gross construct
as in it's not a very it really doesn't have very much to do with who we are
right i mean it affects our experience in the world but it has pretty much nothing to do with
our abilities and capacities yeah i did an online retreat with bhikkhu bodhi and he suggested that
bhagavata usually translated as blessed one might be interpreted as the one who bestows blessings
that's nice i thought this was rather beautiful and do reflect on it as time at times yeah that's
very nice and again to remember what kind of blessings because the buddha's not saying hey
i'm going to make everything better for you i'm going to shower you with blessings so that you get
everything you want and nothing ever goes wrong he's actually giving you the blessing of the
teachings he's giving you the path that you can walk he's basically empowering you to liberate
yourself and i think that is the best thing it's the teaching more than anything else and of course
the example in bhutan this year bhikkhuni for tibetan tradition seminaries which are mahayana
vajrayana trained i think you mean that there was a big ordination a big bhikkhuni ordination yeah
in bhutan we heard about that it was fantastic yeah a really big um group ordination for
um yeah novices trained in the mahayana tradition to take the full ordination
great yay so happy to hear about ordination developments okay pugla doesn't mean men but
people or humankind as venables said yes exactly excellent so let's move on to the next one
the next way of
our mind the defiled mind visaka is cleansed by exertion i would like to say here also i don't
like the word defiled mind i think that's very christian or catholic or something weird
something that's not quite fitting with buddhism because the mind isn't a thing as such but it
really just means the mind that still has greed hate and delusion arising in it we could say
yeah so it's not like there's something intrinsically wrong with us it's not
like a sin or something that's dirty or something but it's more that these afflictive emotions still
arise and cause us to suffer so it's not a moral judgment at all so how is we could even say how
agreed hate and delusion cleansed by exertion here visaka a noble disciple recollects the dhamma
and this is about the teachings now the dhamma is the teachings
expounded by the blessed one directly visible immediate inviting one to come and see
applicable and to be personally experienced by the wise when a noble disciple recollects the dhamma
their mind becomes placid joy arises and the defilements of the mind or let's say greed hate
and delusion are abandoned in the same way
that one's body when dirty is cleansed by exertion
and how does one cleanse a dirty body by exertion by means of a bathing brush
lime powder water and the appropriate effort by the person so it's not enough to just hear
the teachings the teachings maybe are like that bathing brush that lime powder that water but we
need appropriate effort to apply the teachings in the way that they can work in the right time the
place, the right context in a way that works for you and everybody will take
different things from the teachings but as long as it fits to the Eightfold
Noble Path you're on the way, you're on track. It is in such a way that one's
body when dirty is cleansed by exertion and then the whole thing is repeated. So
that is reflecting on the Dhamma. So how many times do you reflect on the
teachings and what ways do you reflect on the teachings? It'd be interesting to
hear what teachings really stand out for you. We've heard from Joseph that his
favorite teachings I think from knowing you a while Joseph are very much around
the Brahma Viharas I think and maybe for others it's the wisdom aspects or it's
the Satipaṭṭhāna or it's the, I don't know,
Ānāpāna or enlightenment factors or what teachings really inspire you? This is a
time to think about that. Basic human values.
Ethics, sila, beauty, inner beauty. Anything anyone would like to share?
Brahma Viharas, I feel like something that always comes back to some inspiration between the four of them.
Yeah, so Tristan's also saying that the Brahma Viharas are inspiring. You can
always come back to something in one of those four, yeah. That's a kind of, yeah, I
guess a kind of undercurrent or... A movement and part of it.
Mmm, a movement of the heart. That's lovely, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think the
Brahma Viharas are like emotional qualities and that's a really lovely way
to put it, yeah. Yeah. I find that they sort of, well Metta definitely, and I guess
that means all of them, they sort of transmute according to the situation. So
if Metta's needed, it's a Metta kind of expression of love. If compassion's
needed, it's a compassionate expression of love. It's the kind of love that meets
suffering. Yeah, yeah. And, and you know, it's a nice way of thinking about the
Brahma Viharas because I think for someone who is fully enlightened and
there's no more craving, there's no more need to really be active in the world for
oneself, they literally run on these energies of loving-kindness, compassion,
altruistic joy, in other words the happiness for other people's success.
Feeling really happy when other people are happy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Feeling really happy when other people are doing well, especially spiritually, and
also equanimity. These are the energies that, if you want, motivate them or give
them the juice and the motivation to continue for the benefit of others. I felt
inspired by your comment, you mentioned the Buddha's foresight, sadhu. I thought
of foresight, the word for, number four, meaning the four Brahma Viharas.
Yeah. See, for some of us we see things through the Brahma Viharas a lot. Seeing the
flourishing of love, care, joy and peace in the future, sadhu. Yeah, very nice.
Someone else says, harmlessness is the teaching that motivated me to study
Buddhism, and it's still the aspect that most inspires and motivates you. Beautiful.
Such a beautiful word. When I even just read the word harmlessness, it's so tender, it's so
safe and it feels like such a relief. Harmlessness. Being a safe space for someone. Yeah. Yeah
it's beautiful. And that is the essence of virtue. The whole point of virtue is to be
as harmless, live as harmlessly as we possibly can. And that's why for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis
or anyone who is ordained, we have even more training precepts to help us be even more
harmless. Knowing that we can never be completely harmless. Our lives are always going to impact
other lives in some way, even if you're vegan, you know insects have to die etc. But we minimise
the harm and we maximise the benefit that our lives can bring to others as best we can.
Yeah, beautiful. And that, even if that is your
basic principle in life, that's already an aspect of the right view. Knowing what is
of benefit and what is of harm. Knowing the difference and cultivating what is of benefit.
Yeah. Beautiful. Okay, I'm just going to scroll through people's comments who haven't made
one yet because there's quite a lot here. Buddha's impeccable virtue, unshakable peace
and immeasurable compassion and wisdom. Beautiful. That's more a reflection of the Buddha. That's
more on the Buddha, yes. I think that comes under the Buddha nusanti. But maybe also that
can be the inspiration for practising those things. So yeah, that's basically sila, samadhi
and paññā, the three aspects of the Eightfold Path. So virtue, samadhi, which is like deep
peace, stillness of mind. And then the compassion and wisdom which is paññā. I would include
compassion as part of wisdom. Yeah. That's the whole teaching. That's the whole teaching.
The Eightfold Path. For someone else, it's the Brahma Viharas. You feel overwhelmed by
the nuances of the Buddha's teachings. You can also come back to the Brahma Viharas and
know they alone can lead to enlightenment, I guess, right? So with the practice, it's
always an integrated practice. But we can start at any place on the Eightfold Path.
So we do need some virtue. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. You can start at any
for the meditation to become deeper and we need the meditation to become deeper
to develop deeper wisdom but some people start with wisdom practices or some
people start with Samadhi practices and as a result of that their virtue
improves right so if you're practicing the four Brahma Viharas as a meditation
method so you're developing loving-kindness that should mean that
your virtue improves in daily life because your mind will be more and more
motivated by loving-kindness, harmlessness, compassion, selflessness
rather than possession and selfishness and control and so yes in a sense if
that feeds back into the virtue and then that is taken into wisdom, leads to
wisdom then yes so you can't really extrapolate and say just that but by
virtue of it filtering into everything else
you can't really extrapolate and say just that but by virtue of it filtering into everything else
I would say yes that loving-kindness practice can take you all the way to
full liberation I would say that yeah I mean there are actual instructions in
not instructions so much but passages in the suttas that talk about the kind of
wisdom that can arise on the back of say a metta jhana so after emerging from a
very deep state of loving-kindness we can reflect on the condition later
of that state itself for example we can reflect on the nature of the body as
being this is quite a strong teaching like a boil like a dart like an
affliction something basically impermanent suffering and non-self and we
can do that with metta as a foundation because we already have such a lot of
well-being inside ourselves that these kind of reflections are not going to
shake us in an unwholesome way yeah so the mind is basically found and abiding
that is much more sublime and so it can let go of things like the body much more
easily not that we don't care for the body that meta infiltrates into the way
we look after our body but we also know that it's offering limited very limited
pleasure and ultimately the body has to die it'd be nice if someone wants to
speak rather than just me so there's a lot of comments in the chat but I don't
know if anyone wants to put their hands up to actually speak it's up to you I'll
come in a sec all right a couple of people so one more comment from the chat
I feel very inspired by the paramis I made some cards today so I can pick one
up each day as a reminder of the quality during the day excellent just to know
that the paramis are sort of extrapolated from the early Buddhist
texts they're not actually a part of the Buddha's teachings as such but obviously
all of them are referred to time and again and they're all really beautiful
qualities
the Buddha yeah the Buddha praises yeah Adrian so I'm just going to someone here
in the room it seems a beautiful teaching this evening I'm particularly
taken by the idea of giving harmoniously from the qualities that we have rather
than taking when we're caught up in negative emotions which cause suffering
yeah so I think that's that's very nice beautiful teaching did everyone hear
that that
Adrian said he's really inspired by the idea of giving from the beautiful
qualities that we have rather than taking out of negative qualities is that
right negative emotions or attachment yeah that cause suffering yeah yeah so
this idea of giving and in a way if that's coming from the wholesome
qualities then we're actually giving those wholesome qualities we might be
giving something material but it feels like more than that like actually you
gave us a cherry blossom
I didn't just see it as a tree I saw it as just this beautiful expression of
gratitude and of generosity and it was a very special thing to plant I actually
planted it on well you dug the hole and I like put it in on um my uh bhikkhuni
ordination day on the 27th of April so yeah I think that's also a kind of
undercurrent that is under the entire it's the entire kind of direction the
Buddha's teachings are moving in is to give
and he praises generosity as the foundation of all practice it's to give
rather than to get to take to attain to obsess about what we can get out of
things even meditation we don't meditate to get something to be somebody
we meditate to give our lives to goodness to truth to give up our
defilements to give up any kind of harm or any kind of yeah negative emotions that cause harm
beautiful uh I can definitely relate to what Benjamin and Carmen said
Harmlessness is probably the most powerful factor and then also the Brahma
Veharas being kind of easier to remember or come back to I guess
wow I'm really like inspired by this community that you understand and and value and Honor and
worship these qualities you can say Worship right we hold them high these beautiful qualities of
of loving kindness, brahma viharas, harmlessness. This is so good it's a real
sign to me of maturity in the practice that we're focusing on such beautiful
qualities that bring so much benefit to all. The Buddha also says in the suttas
again and again that the best kind of practice is that which benefits oneself
and others yeah so we have that sense of I'm practicing for the sake of others as
well as myself. That's the very best motivation for the practice so I'm just
really inspired that people are talking about this. I mean of course doctrinal
things such as paticcasamapada like dependent origination, causality, all of
this is incredibly inspiring and helps us to live such wholesome lives but just
bringing it back down to that basic virtue and goodness is so beautiful and
so immediate isn't it? Yeah thank you for that.
It's the same thing.
Seminari sopa. Hi.
You know what inspired me to ordain since
I'm ordained in Tibetan tradition is to open my heart and now that I had done 15
years of this particular practice I think kind of embody it because that's
what the practice was about essentially in different ways it's very
you can't go into it because it's not part of understanding here but now that
I've turned back to early Buddhism I think my heart is open more it's not a
concept anymore yeah and especially recognizing impermanence and suffering
dukkha and ananta you see it in others.
All of that so I just want to share why it turned to be ordained and actually
don't stop suffering when you're ordained as you can testify probably but
you learn how how it can benefit yourself yes yeah beautiful thanks for
bringing that in that's so lovely to just talk about opening the heart
related to those truths.
And how they're so they go together actually you know once we can soften our
heart and it helps us to open to impermanence suffering and non-self and
then we can actually in a way find greater empathy and greater compassion
to all beings because we recognize that all beings are like you said seminary
sopa including monastics suffer all beings suffer if you are thinking that
you would like to transcend or come out of suffering and monastic life is going
to do it for you yes but it's a long and slow path and you're going to meet a lot
of suffering along the way and being able to open our heart to that makes the
difference makes all the difference because we're able then to start
understanding it too but also to connect with others and realize yeah we're all
on this in this together and that helps to become increasingly harmless right.
Yeah yeah that's beautiful opening the heart I remember being on a retreat with
Ajahn Siddhito once he was one of my teachers and he said it after a
particularly inspiring talk he he sort of just did this really beautiful inner
reflection he said isn't it all about just opening the heart isn't that what
it's about and it was just something about the power of the Dhamma talk that
went before it and that sudden kind of
just bringing it back to that people were in tears everybody's everybody
teared up you know it was like so yeah that's what we're talking about here
opening the heart yeah yeah to everything in a way the more we
practice and I think that's part of the Brahma Vihara is spreading them you know
in this other example of the Gantas they only spread it so far and then they
stopped and it was a measurable distance right but the more we open it the more
we open it the more we open it the more we
understand the nature of reality and that's kind of the point of the practice
that we just start to include more and more more of life more aspects of
ourselves everything has to come onto the path yes Tristan if you could speak
up as much as I'd be wondering you said that is it is it possible to open her
too quickly either to suffering or or even to absolutely
brilliant question is it possible to open the heart too quickly to suffering
or to or even maybe like yeah to even positive states I think it is and I
think that's usually through a little bit of force probably because we don't
have this like here it's talking about the proper exertion right so we have to
be gentle it talks about assertion talks about effort and energy quite a lot in
the suttas but all of that comes after the right attitude which is to have
intentions ways of relating that are gentle so the gentleness of right effort
or right attitude or all of that is to practice in a way that leads to the
wholesome states increasing so if you're going too fast with too much force and
that's not happening that means you're opening the heart too quickly yeah and I
think that's why the Brahma Vihara Zen
is an incredibly good foundation for practice I mean you can take them all
the way through as I've said but they're soft and they sort of cushion the mind
and the heart so that when you do start to see things like suffering and
impermanence there's already a sense of well-being that can hold that it's not
like suddenly seeing that everything you were attached to or everything that you
kind of thought could be a source of happiness
is actually a source of happiness it's not like suddenly seeing that everything you were attached to or everything that you kind of thought could be a source of happiness is actually
empty that could be a very big shock right but if you because you've nothing
else but if you've something else like you have the loving-kindness you have
this sense of connection you have you know virtue as a foundation for your life
then that isn't such a shock it's it's a it actually brings more tenderness to
the heart I'm also holding as you said that with a bit of ambiguity of the idea
of psychedelic assisted therapies like for some folks it really gets them out
of depression but there's other things that can get them out of depression as well
do people hear the question yeah so the next follow-up was about psychedelic
assisted therapies yeah so yeah and sometimes that can open people up and
help them to come out of things like depression and other times it
might go the opposite way and actually have harmful effects and it's hard to
know sometimes and I think that's the danger isn't it with anything that's
kind of yeah it's not we don't come to that place to our own gradual
development by following like a very holistic path that's founded on virtue
it's risky basically because we don't know what effect it's going to have and
it needs to be done under supervision by professionals etc etc and I don't know I
think often at least in allopathic medicine which is different they give
too high a dose we're again not gentle enough you know we might go full in
thinking oh you need this much to do anything and it's like actually why not
start really small and just gradually gradually gradually see what effect that might
have for a person but eventually you're gonna have to do it through mental
training for to have lifelong benefits these things always need to
you need to do it through mental training for to have lifelong benefits these things always need to
translate into stronger virtue you know a degree of sense restraint and the rest
of the path basically well yeah it's an interesting area of research and
experimentation I should imagine okay I'm gonna carry on a little bit it's
quarter to I know Benjamin has it Joseph rather has another question but you have
asked a few questions so if you don't mind I'll carry on and
just see if there's something else and anyone else who might like to comment on
this it'd be nice to get to the Sangha so the next one is about the Sangha okay
again the defiled mind or let's say greed hate and delusion that arise in
the mind are cleansed by exertion and how is the defiled mind or greed hate
and delusion cleansed by exertion here Vaisakha a noble disciple of the Buddha
recollects the Sangha thus and Sangha here means monastics it has come to be
used for laypeople hopefully usually without a capital sometimes even with a
capital but it always meant the monastics in the Buddha's day and still
in Asian countries in Buddhist countries Sangha is never used for laypeople it
was the fourfold assembly that the Buddha established the Sangha of the
Blessed Ones disciples is pertinent to the Sangha of the Blessed Ones disciples
practice the good way practicing the straight way practicing the true way
practicing the proper way that is the four pairs of persons the eight types of
individuals okay I'll just pause for anyone who doesn't know what that means
the four pair pairs of persons the eight types of individuals are basically the
four levels of enlightenment so the stream winner the once returner
non-returner and our hat and there's their pairs because somebody's on the
path to stream winning and then is a stream winner achieves the fruit of
stream winning experiences the fruit the realization of stream winning someone is
on the path then to becoming a once returner in other words the lifetimes
that you have to keep coming back at getting less and less and then they are
experience the fruit of once returning they're on the path to non-returning
they experience the fruit of non-returning when actually greed hate
greed and hate are abandoned and then one is on the path to full awakening and
one experiences the fruit of full awakening so these are the four kinds of
disciples and again here he's talking about monastics but lay people can still
get to the third stage of enlightenment it is said and of course all the way to
full awakening but the thing is that usually at that point they need to they
will ordain because there's not a reason for them to be in the world anymore so
they will ordain because there's not a reason for them to be in the world anymore so
but here we're talking about the actual sangha and we can see that in the next
the true scripture that came out from Ganesh's skiing time four years, so
passage this sangha of the blessed ones disciples is worthy of Gifts with
categories A. Theirізi n biomass is a narrow hierarchy of worshiping animals.
B. Increasing spiritual power is composed up to three steps, amount to Cross and
hospitality. A. The vive on hospitality of others, worthy of offerings and
how to better listener's mind. B. Overs komma, how to properly respond to
offerings given to the the noble sangha is an extremely practical the noble sangha
fruit and benefit and worthy of reverential salutation that means Anjali
which is a raised hand so this is where we can deduce that this means the
monastic sangha because this is a reverential salutation that in British
countries is reserved for the sangha in India it's a bit different everybody
does this and I still have that habit and I still do this to lay people I get
told off sometimes by monastics I don't mind you know I actually think
that you know it doesn't matter too much but it is strange for traditional
Buddhists to do this and an unsurpassed field of merit for the world so that
basically means that gifts given to somebody who's practicing the Dharma
really really well especially someone who has this level of realization is
going to bring an enormous amount of merit for the world I like the
translation for the world
because yes it brings a lot of merit for the giver but it brings even more merit
for the world because you're supporting people who can teach the Dhamma and who
can live by example and inspire others to practice the Dhamma right and that's
why if you give gifts to people who are doing good in the world yeah we don't
want to give gifts to people who are doing terrible things do we who might make
bombs out of the money or something we want to give gifts to people who will
use it for the good of many so then it becomes the person is an unsurpassed
field of merit for the world when a noble disciple recollects the Sangha in
other words those noble beings their mind becomes placid joy arises and the
defilements of the mind are abandoned in the same way that a dirty cloth is
cleansed by exertion so this is about recollecting those qualities of the
Sangha and
for me and hopefully for some of you the best way to do that is to actually know
some of these people and to get to know them and be around them see how they
live hear their teachings really observe them for a long period of time and see
that gosh it really is possible to awaken to the reality of non-self and
that ensues in tremendous compassion for the
person who experiences that and these sorts of people serve for the rest of
their lives they just serve the Dhamma they don't have any sort of selfishness
about them you know they look after themselves to a degree but not to a great
degree just enough that they can keep serving but without attachment to living
a long life necessarily and they basically exist just for the sake of
benefiting all beings but really benefiting all beings not just by
providing material things or you know
education or whatever our basic needs are but by actually helping people to
come out of all suffering for the long run forever eventually by getting them
onto the path so such beings are just the biggest blessing in my life I have
known a few when we were in Norway we were actually Bantu Nita gave a talk and
he started it it was about stream winning and he started it by saying how
many people do people think do the retreatants think that they're not
stream winners and above excluding Asian countries excluding countries in Asia
how many stream winners and above do you think there actually are in the West
altogether and we were pretty conservative in our guess some people
actually said like a thousand or more than a thousand maybe one even said
ten thousand I'm not sure but we were laughing at that because we really don't
think so
and when you meet such people because it's not a bad thing that it's not many
it's because it's such an incredible realization and it's totally
life-changing not only for the person but for everyone who comes in contact
with them and I just feel blessed to have known like at least a handful not
really maybe more than three or four but maybe three or four it's like wow
actually more maybe five that's in the world not in the West actually maybe more than that in the world
but it's not many and they have a radiance and a quality that's just
deeply inspiring of faith and these are human beings you can meet and talk with
and associate with that were just like us when they were young okay some of my
teachers have been you know from Burma or Asia and they've had perfect
sealer since they were six years old they went to the monastery and they were
really young and were practicing very deeply by the
teen teen years but yeah look at some of the other teachers they were
reasonably normal when they were young they got drunk they did silly things and
yeah but they can do it so can we so I personally love the recollection of the
Sangha because for me it's almost like these are the direct descendants of the
Buddha and they're people I can actually talk to and be around and yeah
give me also an enormous amount of confidence that yeah it's gonna happen
to anyone who walks the path it's just a matter of time so I really hope that you
can also believe that you know whether or not you know even whether you've met
such people but take it from someone like me who's practiced a long time and
has definitely you know met such people and practice to quite a well I've been
quite committed to my practice for 30 years
so it's really possible genuinely to realize the fruits of stream running in
this very life and once you're stream running you don't have to worry about the
next stages of enlightenment it's gonna happen and it's impossible to turn back
the tide which is probably why the first you know realization which changes you
to being a noble person is such a huge thing a lot of delusion goes away and
that's mainly the delusion of a
delusion of a
self which is sort of an abiding essence of a person so when that is seen through
then yeah the process has to come to an end anyway that seems to me like a good
place to finish any last comments or questions from anyone who hasn't spoken
because otherwise yeah I just like to give someone a chance is there anything
in this that's particularly inspiring that you can take away
that can lift your mind up today we have some hours left of the tie-in today okay
coming to you
you know Alicia coming to you
hi hi I just wanted to say I'm kind of just relating to the whole conversation
that one of the things that was really that really drew me to this community
community was the focus on metta and loving-kindness. I've had some exposure to Theravada and early
Buddhism before and was like, oh, this is really lovely, but that was really missing
from my experience. So I just, yeah, it's been really, really lovely and appreciated
both, first on YouTube, of course, getting to experience that, and then being able to
come here and see people and have this, like, you know, semi in-person. It's just really
wonderful.
Wow.
Thank you.
Great. Thank you so much for reflecting that. I'm so pleased about that. And I just think
that's the most healing force, really, that there is. And yeah, you might be right that
it's sometimes under-emphasized in some sort of way.
Yeah.
Some traditions of Theravada, because there are lots of different approaches, I mean,
within a tradition and so many different teachers. And yeah, I know in the Thai forest tradition,
they didn't really teach metta as a formal practice. I don't think at all, actually.
It was more like, you know, overcome the defilements and then it all arise. But gosh, you're missing
out on so much happiness along the way and so much opportunity to really benefit from
it, other people. And yeah, in Burma, they do teach practices of love and kindness quite
a lot. You know, it's a formal practice. They have many methods and I'm very fortunate to
have learned some of those. And Ajahn Brahm also teaches it more than most people from
those traditions and lives it. So that's what drew me to him as well. Yeah. Yeah. And my
teacher in Burma, I mean, although we practice mostly Anupama and kind of Ledi Sayadaw, Sayagyubakan,
Theravada.
I mean, he was a great type of Vipassana. Still, there was a lot of loving kindness
and he would practice it every day and we would feel it. Even from different parts of
the blooming country, we would feel it. I mean, it was extraordinary. And there was
a certain flavor to it that I knew he sent in his metta. It was like, I started to identify
this feeling I would have after meeting him and then going somewhere and this feeling
would come over me and I'd be like stuck in a metta meditation for like an hour. I'd be
just immersed. It was just so strong. And it was testified because I had metta meditation.
I had my other non with me, my old friend with me, and we would both be overcome by
it. And we'd be like, Sayadaw sending us metta. Yeah. And we'd feel it when he would be coming
back to the monastery. It would be like, he's coming back. Did you feel it? He came back
around this time and we'd be right. You know, it was extraordinary. So yeah, metta has to
be a part of the practice and it's a great indication that the practice is going well.
Yeah.
If, if you're.
Yeah.
again the heart is opening right and we're starting to experience some of these positive emotions and
more loving kindness more compassion more forgiveness for others then the practice is
going well yeah yeah okay one little comment and then we'll just close up I'll ask Minori to say a
few words thank you so much first time in this sutta group until now only practicing a little
bit challenging both concerning English as well as suttas yeah there was a bit of technical talk
in this but it's not always quite so technical but quite a lovely start for taking the sutta
challenge yay and you don't have to understand it it's you know everything nobody understands
everything right but it's just take what inspires you thank you and it'll help for sure to become
gently a little bit smarter in meditation also step by step sadhu thank you for your kind and
wise teaching beautiful I'm really glad that that was a positive experience for you and yeah what I
mean by that is I'm really glad that it's kind of a positive experience for you
mean is don't worry too much about getting it intellectually don't make it
a brain effort but more like feel it and hear it through the heart and bit by bit
you know you start to see the kind of general patterns and the way these
centers come together to talk about the path there's a consistency there and
it's beautiful it's like a cake you can eat a piece from wherever in that cake
and it will have the same beautiful taste but it makes a cake it makes a
lovely round shape in the end yeah you know where to get which piece from as
well I'll cut this bit and get some sensory strength I'll cut that bit and
get a bit of equanimity and it all comes together big beautiful cake great okay
yeah and thank you so much vulnerable for taking us on this journey and
helping all of us guiding us and with all these teachings
and
and now individual practices as well so I like to take this opportunity to take
a few words about Donna Donna is generosity because giving develops
wholesome qualities that form the foundation of our Dhamma practice and in
Anukampa we offer several ways that we can cultivate this beautiful quality of
giving and the easiest thing is that
you don't do it then but by
you have some specific skills and time so if you are interested in that you can email team
at anukampaproject.org and discuss about such opportunities you can provide meals to the
monastics as well uh although um there is um you know previous there was a bit of a challenge now
there's a healthy supply but um that opportunity is also there either in person or a cook delivery
or you can do supermarket deliveries and there is a needed item list as well and thank you very
much for being this lovely community thank you manoi thank you very much and uh yeah all of that
you can just write to the team and uh and find out how to do it so thank you for
your care over so many years uh it's just so delightful um yeah and lovely to have the
newcomers hope you come back again i think tomorrow morning we have a meta meditation that's probably
no use for the people who are further east is that right east or west uh west west so for emily
and co it's a bit early it's at 9 00 a.m our time uh british summer time uh tomorrow morning meta
meditation for one hour and then there'll be the usual wednesday chanting for half an hour
and another sitter next friday i do believe just check on the website because there's a lot of other
online teachings coming up i'm doing some talks for sydney which are actually in english which
is in english i've tackled a pretty heavy topic actually i can't believe i've set myself up for
that one how to solve the worst problems through the diamond not really because i'm not claiming
to do that but it's a tough topic
and uh
for vietnam which will be translated along the way and something for poland as well which will
be polish translations anyway check it out we also have asian vermali coming to england in
june there's still some space on his in his public talk in oxford and also his day retreat in oxford
either side of his retreat um and asian bam's coming and actually he's staying even a bit
longer he keeps on adding time honestly anyone who says he gets tired coming to england he just keeps
on giving me extra days so he's staying for like a couple of extra days I think
of his own free will so we will have a couple of talks in London at the end of
his tour in November the retreat's pretty much full yeah so take care
everybody and we can unmute you now and we can wave goodbye so we stop the
recording now