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The Thinking Cycle - AMG | Ajahn Munissara | 26 May 2026

Sumber asli: Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaDraf — belum ditinjau
ISI CERAMAH

Ringkasan dibuat dengan bantuan AI • Belum diverifikasi

Ceramah ini membahas tentang siklus berpikir dan bagaimana pikiran memengaruhi kehidupan serta praktik meditasi. Pembicara membuka dengan membacakan Mettā Sutta dan memperkenalkan topik berpikir sebagai aktivitas yang sering menjadi masalah dalam meditasi. Ia membedakan dua jenis pikiran: volunter (disengaja) dan involunter (tidak disengaja), menjelaskan bahwa pikiran volunter menciptakan kamma yang kemudian berbuah menjadi pikiran involunter. Melalui analogi kereta api dan earworm, ia menunjukkan bagaimana pikiran yang terus-menerus dipikirkan memperkuat kebiasaan dan menjadi adiktif. Ia mengutip MN 19 tentang dua jenis pikiran untuk menekankan bahaya pikiran yang tidak terkendali, terutama yang negatif, yang dapat mengarah pada penderitaan. Dalam meditasi, ia memandu peserta untuk mengamati pikiran, membedakan antara pikiran yang muncul dan yang dilanjutkan, serta merasakan dorongan untuk melanjutkannya, dengan tujuan melatih kesadaran dan melepaskan keterikatan. Pada sesi tanya jawab, ia membahas pikiran netral yang tetap bermasalah karena berakar pada rasa diri dan memicu proliferasi (papañca). Ia juga menjelaskan bahwa hanya pikiran yang disengaja yang menciptakan kamma, dan pentingnya melihat bahaya dari pikiran negatif. Terkait etika sehari-hari, ia menekankan pentingnya niat, mitigasi bahaya, dan sikap penyesalan ketika tidak sengaja membunuh makhluk kecil. Pesan utamanya adalah pentingnya mengendalikan pikiran, memahami proses berpikir, dan mengembangkan kesadaran serta welas asih dalam kehidupan sehari-hari.

BAGIAN PENTINGAI · suggested — belum ditinjau manusia
  1. Pembukaan dan Pengantar tentang Berpikir
    Ajahn membuka dengan membacakan Mettā Sutta, kemudian memperkenalkan topik tentang berpikir. Ia menjelaskan bahwa berpikir adalah aktivitas umum yang sering menjadi masalah dalam meditasi, dan ia akan membahas proses berpikir secara lebih mendalam.
  2. Dua Jenis Pikiran: Volunter dan Involunter
    Ajahn membedakan antara pikiran yang muncul secara sukarela (volunter) dan pikiran yang muncul tanpa sengaja (involunter). Ia menjelaskan bahwa pikiran volunter menciptakan kamma, yang kemudian berbuah menjadi pikiran involunter di masa depan.
  3. Siklus Pikiran dan Pembentukan Kebiasaan
    Ajahn mengilustrasikan bagaimana pikiran yang terus-menerus dipikirkan akan memperkuat kebiasaan dan membuat pikiran tersebut semakin sering muncul. Ia menggunakan analogi kereta api dan earworm untuk menjelaskan bagaimana pikiran menjadi adiktif dan sulit dihentikan.
  4. Bahaya Pikiran yang Tidak Terkendali
    Ajahn membahas bagaimana pikiran yang tidak terkendali, terutama pikiran negatif seperti dendam atau keinginan, dapat mengarah pada penderitaan. Ia mengutip MN 19 tentang dua jenis pikiran dan menekankan pentingnya mengendalikan pikiran agar tidak terjerumus dalam siklus yang tidak sehat.
  5. Meditasi: Mengamati Pikiran
    Ajahn memandu meditasi dengan fokus pada pengamatan pikiran. Ia mengajak peserta untuk membedakan antara pikiran yang muncul dan pikiran yang dilanjutkan, serta merasakan dorongan untuk melanjutkan pikiran tersebut. Meditasi ini bertujuan untuk melatih kesadaran dan melepaskan keterikatan pada pikiran.
  6. Sesi Tanya Jawab: Pikiran Netral dan Proliferasi
    Dalam sesi tanya jawab, Ajahn membahas pertanyaan tentang pikiran netral. Ia menjelaskan bahwa pikiran netral pun dapat menjadi masalah karena berakar pada rasa diri dan dapat memicu proliferasi (papañca). Ia menekankan bahwa semua pikiran yang berakar pada diri akan memperkuat rasa 'aku'.
  7. Sesi Tanya Jawab: Pikiran dan Kamma
    Ajahn menjawab pertanyaan tentang hubungan antara pikiran dan kamma, khususnya mengenai pikiran yang muncul secara spontan versus pikiran yang disengaja. Ia menjelaskan bahwa hanya pikiran yang disengaja yang menciptakan kamma, dan pentingnya melihat bahaya dari pikiran negatif.
  8. Sesi Tanya Jawab: Etika dan Kamma dalam Kehidupan Sehari-hari
    Ajahn membahas pertanyaan tentang bagaimana menghadapi situasi di mana kita tidak sengaja membunuh makhluk kecil, seperti saat membersihkan kolam atau menyapu. Ia menekankan pentingnya niat, mitigasi bahaya, dan memiliki sikap penyesalan serta keinginan untuk tidak menyakiti.
  9. Sesi Tanya Jawab: Menghindari Kamma Buruk
    Ajahn menjawab pertanyaan tentang bagaimana menghindari kamma buruk ketika tidak sengaja membunuh makhluk. Ia menjelaskan bahwa kamma buruk tergantung pada niat dan kesadaran, serta menyarankan untuk fokus pada hal-hal yang bisa kita kendalikan dan memiliki sikap welas asih.
  10. Penutup dan Perpisahan
    Ajahn menutup sesi dengan mengucapkan terima kasih kepada semua peserta dan mengingatkan bahwa akan ada sesi berikutnya. Ia mengakhiri dengan salam perpisahan.
TOPIK
Kamma/KarmaAI · suggestedMindfulnessAI · suggestedImpermanenceAI · suggestedEthical LifeAI · suggestedAttachmentAI · suggestedMeditationAI · suggested
TRANSKRIP
AI · suggested — belum ditinjau manusia

This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness and who knows the path of peace.

Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech, humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied,

unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways, peaceful and calm and wise and skillful, not proud and demanding in nature.

Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove, wishing in gladness and in safety.

. . .

May all beings be happy, whatever living beings there may be, whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,

the great or the mighty, medium, short or small, the seen and the unseen, those living near and far away,

those born and to be born.

. . .

May all beings be happy.

Let none deceive another or despise any being in any state.

Let none through anger or ill will wish harm upon another, even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child.

. . .

May these people states that Team

follow with a boundless heart, should one cherish all living beings, radiating kindness over the entire world, spreading upwards to the skies and downwards to the depths,

outwards and unbounded, freed from hatred and ill will, whether standing or walking.

. . .

or lying down free from drowsiness one should sustain this recollection this is

said to be the sublime abiding by not holding to fixed views the pure hearted

one having clarity of vision being free from all sense desires is not born again

into this world sadhu sadhu sadhu as if you're on a Johnny

Grove retreat okie dokes that was that was the meta

suita and now now what do you think we shall talk about

I think I think I think I'd like to talk about thinking

I think I'd like to talk about thinking

Because everybody, everybody thinks, right?

Einstein thought, but I also think.

So we can think all sorts of thoughts.

We can think theory of relativity, we can think what's for lunch, we can think why

am I a damasara bunny, or we can think, we can think all sorts of things.

And this will come to haunt us when we meditate, right?

What is like the most popular question about meditation is.

So then I thought, I thought, I thought, let's talk about thinking.

And I, like anything, if you think about something a little bit more deeply, it gets a bit more,

I won't say complicated.

I'd say the better word is nuanced begins to feel a bit more nuanced because when you

look at something more closely, you see that actually there is a more intricate process

at work than just thinking, oh, I was thinking, oh, I was meditating and then I just started

to think and um, yeah, yeah.

But how, how does this process actually work?

You know, cause if we just say, oh yeah, I was meditating and then I just started to

think and, and then, and then, you know, I could never get peaceful there when my meditation

it's, it's like, we're like, we're like powerless, you know, we're just held hostage by our thinking

and um, and it often feels like that, but that's because we haven't cracked the process.

So here I am to share with you.

My picture, hope you see this because don't worry if you can hear the, see the, the fine,

the fine writing, but just the very basic idea that there is a cycle going on.

A cycle, samsara is a cycle.

Dependent origination is a cycle.

Those are profound cycles, but I'm going to talk about a more simple cycle here, which

is when we have thoughts, there's actually an action of the mind.

Manokam.

Manokam.

Mano is mind, kama is action.

You've all heard about karma, the law of karma.

Well this is some kind of kama.

This is also kama is our thoughts.

They are kama.

And kama, as you well know, bears fruit in a result.

Our actions lead to our result.

So there is result of an action by the thought is another thought.

So the thing is, right?

You think about something.

Intentionally, you know, you actually, you actually, um, it wasn't, it's like something

you have a, the force of intention behind, and you actually sort of enjoy the thought.

There's a sort of pleasure that comes with the thought.

That's a creation of karma.

That's a creation of, um, you know, uh, action that will bear fruit.

And then what happens is it bears fruit in a similar thought.

And that thought will pop up involuntarily.

So there's actually two kinds of thought.

You know, the famous Sutta of the Buddha, you know, uh, Majjhima Nikaya, uh, two, 19,

two kinds of thought.

This is not what he means.

This is, this is my own usage of the word, two kinds of thought.

When I, when I say two kinds of thought, I don't mean wholesome and unwholesome thoughts.

I'm just saying there's, there's voluntary thought and involuntary thought.

So the kind of thought, you know, that creates compassion.

Karma is the voluntary, intentional thought.

But what that leads to is that because you thought about something before in the past,

it is, it is the seed for the fruit of that thought will arise again.

You know, that thought will pop into your mind again.

And this time it's involuntary.

It's involuntary.

This is the one where you're like, I was just meditating and this thought came up, right?

That one is not your fault.

That, well, in a way it is in the sense that it's, it's because of your previous, previous

thinking of it in the past, but it just pops up in that moment.

And you have, you have some opportunity there to do something, which is to not continue

the thought.

This is where we often, we don't catch it fast enough.

And so we can't distinguish between the thought that just pops up and the other thoughts that

that, you know, follow it.

So the first thought is like the first caboose in a train.

It's just the first caboose.

And that one, you know, the train came into the station because of past causes.

It's not your fault.

The caboose showed up.

But the problem is that we add on to the caboose with another, another, um, what do you call

those things?

What do you call the train body?

You know, each, each little train was called, I can't think of the word either, but you

know what I mean?

Right?

The car, right?

The car.

The other car.

And then the other car.

I mean, who rides trains anymore in this day and age?

Right?

But anyway, for the old fashioned people who knew what trains were like, you know, first

car and the second car and the third car and, um, and then we have this whole long train,

you know, like sometimes, uh, in, in Midland, the, the, the town near, near where the monastery

is, Kitchikanup, there is this train like track where sometimes they have these trains

like, like cargo trains.

Not passenger trains, like, you know, you're pausing for the train track and it's like,

oh my God, like when will this end?

When will the train pass?

There are so many cars in this train, it's so long, um, and that's what our thoughts

are like.

We, our trains of thought become very, very, very, very long, very long, very fast.

And so we can't tell that actually there was a difference between the caboose and the other

trains.

So we just go ahead.

We get, we get that first thought.

That arisen thought that just pops into our mind, you know, not voluntarily.

And then we voluntarily add more stuff, more stuff, more stuff.

And it becomes very long.

But the thing about this is that when we add more stuff, another thought, another thought,

another thought, it's actually creating more kama of the mind is creating more actions

of the mind.

And then.

Yeah.

The science of the diagram is actually very simple.

Every, every thought that you voluntarily intentionally think again, it will have a

fruit of an involuntary thought, an echo of it that arises in the mind again, again in

the, you know, a different, at a different time.

And so that means that if you, if your train is very long, then the resonance of it will

be very, you know.

Yeah.

Very, very long as well.

You have many, many instances of that kind of thought coming up again and again.

And then when that thought comes up again, you might continue it with another train of

thought of a similar nature.

And then it's just like, you can't find your way out of it.

It's like samsara.

You just can't find your way out of it because this cycle keeps going.

And even though it's, um, you know, let me just put it down for a second.

Yeah.

It's useful for us to know this, that there is a difference between the thought that pops

into your head and the thought that you create and you keep on going is useful, but often

it happens so fast.

We are powerless to do anything about it, but it's good to recognize that you are powerless,

right?

Why are you powerless?

No, I made you think, but I mean, consciously think about this.

This is a useful thought.

Yeah.

Useful thought because, you know, until you have that super deep, super quiet, thoughtless

samadhi, sorry to say, you're going to think even about the Dhamma.

But if you think about the Dhamma, at least make it a productive thinking about the Dhamma.

Okay.

Um, so use it to sort of like investigate, well, why am I powerless?

Is it because I'm a bunny?

No, I'm powerless because, because sheer force of habit, the sheer force of habit, because

every time, okay, this is, I just do this in a, just a simple pen, just a normal, you

know, you know, thin line here to draw the arrow.

But imagine, imagine that every time I think this thought.

Okay.

I think, I think, give me an example.

Let's say I think, gosh, who is that person who misspelled my name as Dhammasara bunny?

Who is that person?

That person is evil.

That's a harsh word.

But anyway, that person's not very nice.

Okay.

So then, then that's my first, my first action of the mind.

And then it will, what will happen is, you know, I go about my day, this and that, whatever.

And then suddenly, suddenly I might, I might happen across a picture on the t-shirt of

somebody wearing a Bugs Bunny t-shirt or something, you know, Bugs Bunny, right?

He's like, you know, Warner Brothers character.

I never know what Australian people know or not.

I'm sure Australian people know Bugs Bunny, right?

Okay.

Bugs Bunny.

So Bugs Bunny.

I see some kid, you know, coming to like offer Donna, you know, put rice in my bowl and he's

wearing a Bugs Bunny t-shirt.

So that sense contact of seeing the Bugs Bunny t-shirt, I'm like, oh, the thought pops up

again.

I wonder who wrote Dhammasara bunnies on the website, you know?

And then, and then so that, that thought just pops into my head.

But then if I'm not fast and quick and, you know, like, so, you know, sharp in my wisdom,

then I might continue to think.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What kind of bunny did they mean anyway?

Did they mean an Easter bunny?

I mean, cause Easter bunnies are kind of like, you know, I don't know, they're kind of cute.

So is it a good thing or, or anyway, but like, you know, it's, it's like, my name's not bunny

and it's not on that, you know, they, they put my name on his bunny and whatever.

And I just continue on that train of thought now with all sorts of my own, my own creative

writings, my own creative writing, I can take all the credit for this amazing short story,

novel, whatever.

Epic.

Epic poem that I'm writing here.

And that is, that is the part where I'm just making more and more of the same kind of mental

action is the thoughts of a similar nature.

And what that happens is that that will make it a more likely for that thought to keep

arising again.

You know, I thought it 10 times, then it's more, more likely it's going to arise naturally

pop into my mind.

I didn't know X, you know, number of times, it'll be more than the 10 times.

And then the chilling thing, the chilling thing is that it's not only that it will make

it more likely for it to pop into my mind, it'll be more likely for me to continue the

train of thought in the same way again and again and again.

So the arrow becomes thicker and thicker.

You know, the neural pathway in my mind has been created.

First round, it gets created, second round, it gets deeper, third round, it gets deeper

and deeper and deeper.

And that's for both arrows.

So it's more likely that that thought will come up again.

But the problem is, it's also when it comes up, you know, there is that moment when you

actually, if your, if your mindfulness is good, you can see that, that, oh, this thought

has popped into my, my mind.

But then the compulsion, I use this word, not in an exaggerated way, there is a feeling

of compulsion to continue that thought, to continue that train of thought.

It's like, first of all, most people, you just, you just miss it.

You're not even mindful of the moment where you can distinguish between the popped up

thought and the continuous thought you can't even distinguish.

But there are times when you can distinguish and it's like, can't help it though.

I still want to think it.

I still want to think.

I know it's bad news, but I still want to think it.

So I will.

And then it'll be like, oh my God, I'm stuck.

It's harder.

It's harder.

You know, it's hard to stop because it deepens the groove and it makes your arrow line so

thick and it's just so compelling.

I have a good analogy for this.

It's not even an analogy.

Maybe it's a, it's a subset of thought, but, um, let me tell you, you know why it's dangerous

to go see doctors, to sit there in the doctor's office?

It's not only that you might catch, you know, somebody's cold or somebody's COVID.

I mean, that's so like out of fashion, but you know, it might be still, you know, in

the air.

You might catch that.

That's one danger.

But the other danger is you could be infected with an earworm.

Do you know what an earworm is?

It's actually a term, a term for that song that, you know, there might be just a line

of a song or just a snippet of a song and it crawls into your ear.

And it infests your mind and infects your, you know, your whole, your brain for, I don't

know how many more days.

Sometimes it's days.

I tell you that has been my experience.

That has been my experience.

And that is the popped up thought is when that thought just pops into your mind, right?

Because you heard it at the doctor's office, you know, that was, you know, just hearing

it is one thing.

But the problem is if you, if you.

Know the song and you are like quietly singing along because it's like, oh my God, why are

they playing a station of songs that are from when I was young?

You know, cause if I hear a song nowadays of, you know, some song nowadays, I don't

know the lyrics.

I don't know who who's singing it.

I don't know anything about it.

It's like, it's not really gonna like have sticking power because I haven't heard it

before.

I haven't sung it before, but because in my youth, I had sung this song before maybe many

times.

I created that comma then now that I'm now in my middle age, it can still, when it pops

up into my head because of that previous come of having sung along to that song, um, the

urge to continue singing it is, is as strong as how many times I've heard that song.

If I heard that song and I sang along like so many times in my youth, even though it's

like, I will say X, how many years removed that?

I don't know.

I am now, um, even this many years removed the comma, it will still bear fruit.

And because I enjoyed singing those songs in my youth with abandon, having not needed

to keep the eight precepts back then, um, or the three 11 precepts that include that

now, not, not technically, but we won't go there.

Um, then, then it's harder for me to like resist when, when the first line comes to

your head.

And it's like immediate, you think of the next line and then you keep singing the whole

damn song.

If you know the lyrics, fortunately, I've forgotten most of the lyrics, most songs,

you know, their entirety.

So you have that annoying refrain or half refrain that you can't quite remember in your

head that you can like, you can keep going at it because the compulsion is so strong.

So that's just like our other kinds of non-musical thoughts, because any thought we've thought

many times, we've created a strong habit.

And, and.

It's, it's like, it's almost like an addiction, you know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't say that's

too strong a word.

It's almost, it is kind of, I think you could even say it is an addiction.

It's like, oh, it just feels so, so, you know how like dark chocolate, it's really bitter,

but some people find it so delicious and they, they, they like to eat it.

Not nons of course, we eat it only to ward off painful feelings that have arisen, but,

um, but the thing is.

Yeah.

So some of our, like, you know, our thoughts of ill will, they may be bitter in taste and

yet we find them so yummy.

We want to keep thinking them again and again, um, and I was, I was reflecting on this word

in English.

There's the word, you know, to recriminate.

What does that mean?

Well, I guess for some of you already know the word, you know what it means, but if we

were to break it down, recriminate is when you, you re, you do it again.

You criminate, criminal, criminal comes, criminate comes from the same, you know, same kind

of word as criminal.

So you re-make someone a criminal.

So let's say like in my example, who wrote Dhammasara bunnies, I've made that person

a criminal.

And every time I think about it again, I re-criminalize that person, re-criminalize, I re-criminate,

I recriminate.

And so, um, so any thoughts of re-crimination, that's what's happening.

You're re-criminalizing that person.

Even if that person was whatever, you'd have no idea, but whatever the reason they did

it for.

In your head, you've already, you've already created a storyline where they are the criminal.

And then it's like, it's like, it's so funny.

It's like, you have no further evidence that you, it's like you have no new information

that could change your perception.

And even if you have new information that could exonerate the person, because you've

already recriminated the person so many times, it's like for the rest of your life, they

will be sort of that bad person in your mind.

There will be an echo of that, even if you've made nice and you know, oh, I've forgiven

you.

So you say, there is a part of you, there's something, some resonance in your mind where

you see that person's face or you see their name come up and it's like grrrr, criminal.

I mean, you ask, just ask, hey, this is completely hypothetical example from my end, having never

been married and therefore never divorced, but ask some people who have divorced or have

sort of separated from their loved one, whether they got married or not, and it was an acrimonious

divorce.

Ask them like, you know, a few years down the line.

10 years down the road, 10 years down the road, 20 years down the road, when that name

like sort of just somebody says that person's name, what is their instant thought that comes

up?

And then what are the instant few more thoughts that come up after that?

That will see whether you've been recriminalizing or not.

And the opposite is true.

The opposite is true is if you are, I don't know, the opposite.

It's not something I have much experience of anymore.

But, you know, some somebody that you really, really, you know, you find so wonderful and

whatever.

So then every time you think of them, you just keep on developing that that whole thought

train of how wonderful they are, this, that and the other, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And so that will that will increase your craving.

It will fuel your craving just the way the other kind of thought fueled your aversion.

And so this kind of thing, it it just keeps going.

It keeps going.

And that's why we can have.

Actually, a quotation from the sutras to legitimize all of my random note taking, and I wish

you could see it.

It's handwritten everything.

But anyway, being as there's only three minutes left, I thought, let us let us bring up the

word of the Buddha, because the word of the Buddha always legitimizes anything you say.

So in that very same, very same MN 19, the two kinds of thought, there is that chilling

line.

Whatever.

Biku, which I feel compelled due to my previous habits of feminism or no, not feminism, a

sort of, you know, equalityism, egalitarianism, whatever a biku, parentheses, ni, bikuni, whatever

a bikuni frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will come to be that will become the

inclination of his, his, her, her mind, her mind.

And so.

If she frequently thinks and ponders upon thoughts of sensual desire.

She has abandoned, abandoned the thought of renunciation.

To cultivate, oh dear, cultivate the thought of central desire.

And thus her mind will incline to thoughts of central desire.

And you're like, wow, this is chilling.

Okay.

I'm just like, you know, just thinking.

Just, you know, having a little bit of a thought here and there.

But every time I have that thought of abandoned renunciation, abandoned is a very strong word

and I'm cultivating.

It's like, yeah, you want to cultivate rice, you want to cultivate these good, wholesome

foods.

But here I am cultivating central desire and worse than that, then my mind will incline

to those thoughts of central desire.

And the same is true for ill will.

If I, if I think about ill will, just, just a recreational thought, you know, just, you

know, for fun, unfortunately, even that, that just sort of this casual thought in that moment

of abandoned non-ill will.

And if I have those thoughts again and again, I will keep cultivating, cultivating more thoughts

of ill will.

And then my mind will incline to thoughts of ill will.

Incline.

Incline.

Once you incline, there's like, it's like you throw a ball down a slope, it's very hard

to stop it.

Right?

So this is dangerous.

Dangerous.

Same for harming.

Right?

You have abandoned non-harm, and then you're going to cultivate thoughts of, more thoughts

of harming, and then your mind will incline to that.

So you're going to have, you're really going to be on the wrong side of samasankapa.

You're going to be in the wrong thought, not right thought.

And then you're stuffed.

You're pretty stuffed as far as Eightfold Path goes.

Cause that's the number two of the eight, there you're already stuffed up.

So the thing is, don't take it lightly, but don't abandon hope.

Because remember, we have a chance, an opportunity to restrain, to restrain, restrain in a nicest

possible way, not repress, but restrain, right?

So when you can catch, the thought has popped into my head.

And you're like, no.

The kind of no where no means no.

Okay?

No doesn't mean, well, sort of maybe.

No means no.

No more.

I'm not going to think this thought anymore.

I'm not going to continue it.

I'm not going to write.

I'm not going to write, you know, I'm not going to write a novel.

I'm not going to write a short story.

I'm not going to write even a haiku.

Okay?

I am not writing anything.

I'm just abandoning.

My pen, the pen is what mightier than the sword, will abandon not only sword, but pen.

Just the way in the suttas, you know, you abandon all your weapons and all that, abandon

my, the greatest weapon is the pen.

So my mental pen, I'm not going to pen any more stories out of my popped up thoughts.

And if once I've learned how to do that, then actually the pop up thoughts, they will pop

up and they will disappear and they will pop up and they will disappear.

And then all my old kamma of mental kamma will be used up that way.

But the problem is, it's so hard to use it up because like, you know, it's like they

pop up, sometimes you don't, but then you continue it and you make more kamma.

So there's even more to clear up and it's just like, you know, your balance of like,

you know, mental kamma to clear up and like the ones that you catch is like really off

balance.

But we can try, we can try to increase the side where we can recognize, you know, we

might not catch it at the first thought, but you know, not too far down the track.

Okay.

Not one of those like crazy trains that stop you in Midland, you know, for like five minutes,

you know, um, but, but just a shorter train, just, you know, you know, aim, aim high, but

you know, be happy with modest progress, which is, you know, if you used to have a train

that was like, you know, 20 cars and now you've got a train that's, you know, 18, that's pretty

good.

17, even better.

And then one day, one fine day, you'll have a train that's only 10 cars.

And then one day, maybe five cars.

What kind of a train is that?

It's a pretty stumpy train.

Isn't it?

Why bother having a train?

Right.

And so one day you'll just have the caboose though.

And then you'll be like, that's okay.

It's not my problem.

I'm not the driver of that caboose.

My old kamma is a driver of that caboose and that's, and then you can just, you know, leave

it be.

And that is how we can sort of clear out, clear out this whole cluttered head.

But, um, but I just wanted to say that, you know.

All this talk about thinking is, is actually not apart from meditation.

Like we don't have to see that the thinking takes me away from my meditation because then

we are criminalizing the thought and then we keep recriminating it in our attitude towards

thinking.

It's like, Oh God, those thoughts, they just stopped me from being peaceful.

Oh, and then, you know, we hate thoughts, but actually let's just change the paradigm

and make thinking.

Okay.

So, you know, mindfulness of your thoughts and your thinking process is also a legitimate

form of meditation.

Being able to actually not only have a picture of it, you know, not only draw yourself a

picture in your notebook, the old fashioned way, but to actually see that process happening.

Now, the whole point of making diagrams is, is, uh, not to make this overly, you know,

academic, but it's so you have a sort of a vague idea.

Yeah.

You have some sort of a like map so that when you're actually in the, in the real deal

of your messy mind, you know, you, you have some sense of what's going on, at least an

outline, an outline idea so that when you actually observe what's going on in your mind,

you know, in real time, you can kind of have a better, you know, sort of clues as to what

is it, what is it you're seeing.

So now that I've, you know, talked a bit over time, let us actually try to meditate.

Okay.

On this and, um, see whether we can actually, we can use that map and actually find our

way in the maze of our mind.

So without further ado, I invite you to just find a position that will be the least uncomfortable.

You know, if you say, oh, make yourself comfortable.

Some people are like, I'm never comfortable.

So let's just, just try to be as least uncomfortable.

Okay.

For, it's just 30 minutes.

So, you know, just so you can manage to sit for 30 minutes, even me, I will try to make

myself minimally uncomfortable.

Just notice yourself wherever it is, whether you're on a chair or on the cushion or on

your bed or whatever, let's notice how your body is balanced.

If it's feeling like it's leaning too far forward or too far back.

Just adjust.

So you feel comfortable, left and right, see how you're leaning one way or the other and

just rebalance so that you're comfortable.

Apparently if you tuck your chin in, that will help to lengthen your spine in a natural

way.

See if that works and then release so that you feel upright, but not uptight, your face,

especially if you're like me.

Getting older and noticing, my goodness, the wrinkles, they have appeared.

It's good.

That way you have something you can sort of visualize.

So imagine the furrow between your eyebrows is smoothing out, relax it out.

There might be ingrained lines around your mouth or something.

Okay.

Try to pull it into a taut, tight expression.

Relax that.

So you're smiling as if you're just a wee little child, a sense of joyfulness and ease

comes with that.

Relaxing your neck and shoulders, chest and abdomen, upper back, lower back, right arm.

Relax.

Relax.

Just relax.

Down to your fingers.

Left arm.

Down to your fingers.

Right hip.

Down to your knee.

Down to your lower leg.

Toes.

Relax.

Left leg.

The hip.

The knees.

Down to the toes.

Just relax.

Just letting your body ease into sitting still.

Ease that.

Relax.

So, you're feeling a lot of activity.

You're getting a lot of physical activity.

And then using some of the moment, really.

If you feel you're kind of, sort of more relaxed then try bringing attention to your breath,

just how it is.

Whether you're breathing in gently, or you're breathing a bit more roughly and making

that a busy day, doesn't matter.

Just breathe in.

and enjoy it, and breathe out and enjoy it. It's natural, whatever it is.

It's very likely while you're breathing in and breathing out, somewhere along the line,

whether it's on the in-breath or on the out-breath or between the two of them,

a thought pops up, or it already popped up and you're continuing it.

Well, see if we can bring some mindfulness to distinguishing

between a thought that has popped up and a thought that has been added on,

willfully, with pleasure, actually.

And if it's already gone a little bit far down the train,

then see if you feel that

it doesn't come with just a feeling of pleasure,

but there's this urge there and compulsion there.

See if you can feel that urge physically in your body.

So no matter where you catch the thought, it's all productive of learning.

You don't have to force it.

Just work with whatever comes for you.

Your seeing of this process naturally drops the thought,

makes a thought feel dropped when you return to your breath.

Then that's fine.

Then just watch the breath and be with the breath.

But every time another thought pops up, you can do the same thing.

Just play with it.

Today we're just playing with our thoughts.

So, in fact, people who have no thoughts in their meditation,

they're losing out today.

So all the people who do have thoughts coming up in their meditation,

well, you're on the money.

You will find this the most productive meditation then.

So I'll just be quiet now because

I'll let your own thoughts do their own talking for you.

Because they will.

These thoughts that pop up

maybe lead to more thoughts.

There's no need to judge.

The thought is good or bad.

But one can just ask oneself,

is this a habit I want to create?

Is this a habit I want to deepen?

Just asking.

Towards the end of the meditation,

we take a bit of time to reflect back

how our experience has been the past 25-30 minutes.

Especially with our thoughts.

Did we notice that there were particular types of thoughts?

That tended to come up for us?

Or along the track?

Were we able to catch ourselves in the process?

Thinking based on a popped up thought?

What helped us to let that train of thought go?

What did it feel like in our bodies?

And there was a thought,

so delicious,

we couldn't let it go.

All of this is very

useful experience.

We can just,

in our experience bank,

just be happy that we spent a little time doing this

and practicing with this.

It will surely come in handy.

Not only when we meditate,

but also

as we live our life without our

off-the-cushion day.

Where we

are always thinking in whatever posture.

It's always possible to think.

The very last part of the meditation,

we can share

any benefits that we've

received

from our sitting.

Any greater peace,

or understanding

that has come with it.

Sharing it for the benefit

of all beings,

near and far,

seen and unseen.

May all beings

be well.

Be happy.

Be free from all suffering.

Live with ease.

And be

fully,

truly,

liberated.

So,

when you're ready,

you can open your eyes.

And let the games begin.

So the Q&A is up now.

So, anybody, everybody,

welcome to ask,

or comment, or

whatever you please.

Neutral thoughts.

Oh, you mean,

oh, in the two kinds of thought?

Well,

I feel he did say two kinds of thought.

So, um,

yeah, I mean,

it's a good question.

I'm trying to think of an example of a neutral thought.

I think things are either wholesome or unwholesome.

I don't think there's an

in-between, undecided,

I don't know if I'm wholesome or I'm not.

Um,

but I, yeah,

I don't know if there might be, like,

what we might call

neutral.

It might actually be tinged with

um,

some kind of

delusion,

or mindlessness, you know?

Like, like even, can you think,

oh, how about this, I'll turn it around to you.

Can you think of a neutral thought that you would,

a thought that you would consider neutral?

Well, what do you have in mind?

The point stop for you. Oh, the

size or the color of something? Are you thinking it?

Or are you just, are you just...

The sky.

Oh, the sky, the sky.

What are you thinking? I mean,

if you're just seeing, you're just seeing it, right?

If you're thinking, you know,

I think the thing is, in the two kinds of

thought, I don't think he's saying

that, um,

like,

I don't think he's trying to, like, categorize

all possible thoughts.

Um, under these

three kinds of things, you know,

central desire, ill will, and harming,

um,

I think he's just trying to, like,

draw out what is the most,

like,

problematic,

or problematic kinds of thoughts, so the thoughts around

central desire, the thoughts around ill will,

and the thoughts around harming, and the opposite

would be the, the, um,

wholesome side of it.

So, I feel

like the thought about the sky being

blue or not

is, like, not too problematic.

I think,

whether or not it creates some kind of

kama, I mean, that's a bit beyond my level

of, you know, it's a bit abstruse, like,

I don't know what kind of kama

comes from, like, thinking random thoughts about

the blue sky, but

I feel that any

kind of thinking, uh, whether

it's wholesome, unwholesome, or random,

we call it neutral, or we call it

random, like blue sky,

it's still, it's an activity of the mind,

which, um,

is not as peaceful as the lack

of thought, or the, you know,

the quietening of the mind.

So, in that sense, um, I think

even these sort of innocuous thoughts

about the blue sky, um,

still are not really gonna lead

us towards nibbana. They're not

really going to, uh, help

us, um,

really to develop a clarity

of mind that, uh,

can understand things,

um, that can see

not just the color of the sky,

but the nature of the sky, you know what I'm saying?

So that's, that's something

which, uh, yeah,

unfortunately. Even looking at

a beautiful blue sky,

and just having a nice little thought about

what a, what a beautiful day it is,

is, um, that can

turn into a, that can turn into a kind of craving.

You know, it can start off as just

a, just a, oh,

the sky is blue, but, um,

it can, it can trigger.

Like, even

the, the, the innocuous thoughts,

if we

still have, you know, greed, hatred, and delusion,

it's, it's very

possible, almost likely,

that it will lead to some kind of, um,

thought of, um,

you know, sensual, sensual

desire is kind of a, not, not the best

translation, but, um,

just thoughts, thoughts of

the five sense world, and

are still being, you know, pleased

to be part of this five sense world,

and to, to have that experience of the blue sky.

So, so

that is a very sort of subtle

kind of sensual desire that

can come with what seems

like an innocuous thought of, oh,

look, the sky is blue.

You know?

What if you don't like blue?

What if you like blue? Then,

then we're getting into trouble.

So, um, so yeah, it's a,

it's a good question. And really

the best way to answer it is not, it's not

from a sort of a theoretical way,

hmm, let's look at the commentaries that the two kinds

of thought, you know, refer to.

S and

whatever, you know, like, you know,

um, M, N, A, M, A,

I think it's called Majima Atakata,

you know, are you the kind of person

who feels, like, obliged and

compelled to read all those footnotes by Bikubori?

I am. And then

you just get a headache. So, um,

so the best way, really, to answer

the question is to just

follow your

experience next time you think about the blue sky.

You know? See what happens.

And see, is it really neutral?

Or is it neutral for just a million

milliseconds and it soon becomes pregnant with, like,

you know, something that is not neutral?

So, um, yeah, I think that's the best answer.

Is yourself.

Talk about fobbing it off all on you!

But anyway.

Yeah, that's my answer for that one.

Hope that helps.

Anybody else?

I just pulled out the Majima

just to check the 90.

And in that, the Buddha says he specifically sets

out to understand

and separate the wholesome

and the unwholesome.

That's quite different to when

the Dhamma, in the Dhamma you come across

Papanja, which is proliferation.

Which is always a problem.

Whatever it is,

wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral,

that's proliferation, which

Ajahn was referring to.

But that sutra specifically

looks to wholesome and unwholesome.

Yeah, I can't

see who...

Sorry, I couldn't see who said that.

Can you just identify yourself?

Oh, I see. Okay.

Okay, thank you, thank you, Gita.

Yeah, I mean,

it's like the different

sutras kind of approach it

a little bit differently.

So that was MN 19,

but if you just like

flip back to MN 18,

you know,

the Honeyball Sutra, that

talks more about the Papanja,

the process of Papanja,

which is that proliferation.

But, you know, what I

thought was a

really useful explanation

Ajahn Brahmali gave about

Papanja is that

basically, Papanja is

rooted in this

sense of self.

So any kind of thinking,

even if the thinking is about the blue sky,

if it's coming from

there being a sense of self

in there that's thinking it,

it will somehow always relate it

to that, you know,

idea of there being a me.

So,

as long as you still have that delusion

of there being a self,

you don't have the right view yet,

you're nothing but a mere worldling,

then no matter what you think

about, even so-called neutral things

like the blue sky,

it's gonna be like, it's gonna be

from the standpoint of me.

You know, I'm looking at the

blue sky.

And then,

I soon will have some kind of

craving about the blue sky.

I look at it for two minutes, I start to get bored.

Not even two minutes in this day and age.

I look at it for five seconds, it starts to get boring.

Ah, blue sky again. Living in Australia,

Western Australia, always blue sky.

When you first come here, you're like,

oh my god, the sky is so blue!

Especially if you, you know, lived in

Manila or Bangkok, where it's like,

the sky is grey as a norm, you know?

Grey with smog, not grey with

like, thunderclouds, but just grey with smog.

So at first you're like, oh my god,

like, the sky

in Western Australia is so blue!

And then, not long after, it's like,

ah, yeah, yeah, another blue sky, so

okay, got to go, time for

breakfast, you know?

So, like, as long as there's a

sense of self,

it's all kind of not wholesome.

Unfortunately.

Unfortunately.

So that's why, yes, I agree with you, Gita.

Proliferation is always problematic.

But we have to understand why

it's problematic. It's not only that

it disturbs the mind, but it's also

that it's, because it's just sort

of like, rooted in the sense

of self, it revolves around the sense

of self. Then, in a way, it

feeds the sense of self.

Because you keep thinking about stuff in terms of me

in a way that feeds that sense

of me, right? So you

notice that when you have, you know,

times of quiet in your meditation,

even pockets of quiet,

you notice how the sense of

there being a me disappears when that happens?

So that shows us

there's a relationship between thinking

and me.

Me existing. And strength

in that sense of me. The more

I think, the more I am, right?

Who said that?

Somebody said that. One of those

fancy, old

philosophers. Descartes,

I think. Yeah, yeah, French guy.

I'm thinking, I'm like,

I'm like Rodin, no, Rodin

was the sculptor who made that whole, like,

oh, the thinker, the pensive thinker.

That's Rodin. But Rodin's

friend is Descartes.

I don't know, they really live the same.

But they're both French, okay?

French people, they like to think.

So then, yeah, that's the thing.

Thinking. Thinking and me.

That's why, sometimes,

this happens sometimes in meditation

where,

you know, miraculously,

our thinking

dies down, and

there's some silence.

And at first you're enjoying the peace

of it, but then after a while

it's like the thinking comes back with, like, a vengeance.

Because you kind of got, like, scared.

You know, it's like,

oh my god!

The me is disappearing!

And the me is like, I will not disappear!

I am here! I am here!

Let me prove it! Think!

Think, think, think! Here I am!

You know, that's what happens.

So that's why we,

you know, it's good to understand

this whole connection between

thinking and the sense of self.

And the proliferation

is, it's like a

it, you know,

it's because it wants

the thinking gains force,

there's a sense of

realism to the thoughts.

They become very, like,

solid, you know?

And that also solidifies

this feeling that there's a me in here.

And my whole world that I've, you know, created

in my mind, all my theories

about the world,

they're so real to us.

That's, you know, that's why these

thoughts, they have

a power. And so we can learn how

to, like, you know,

shorten the train.

It also,

it also fins our sense of self,

and it creates greater ease

in our mind.

So, yes.

I saw somebody else's

hand was also up.

Was it, was it

Kaloyan? Where was he?

Kaloyan. Yes.

That's, okay, now you're here. Yes.

Go for it.

Reflect on his deeds of body, speech, and mind.

Uh,

any thoughts that he has.

But, you know, not that much.

Except if it's not, like, something really intentional.

You know, where,

if it's something really intentional, yeah, it works.

But if it's like those involuntary thoughts,

it doesn't really work.

It just disturbs the mind, as far as I can tell.

And, yeah, that's what I wanted to ask.

What was, uh,

the Buddha's idea when he told

his son to do that?

Yeah, so, if I'm understanding correctly,

you say that if,

if there's some random thought

that pops into your head that

is not voluntary, and you feel

repulsed by it, it doesn't help.

But if it is

a thought that you have, you have,

you know, intentionally thought,

it does help. Is that

considering it repulsive?

My idea was if that's

what the Buddha meant, because

the way I see it, that's the only way it helps.

Yes. Right.

Yeah, yeah, what he's talking about

are, um, yeah,

intentional thoughts, because it's

deeds, actions, by

body, speech, and mind. So there it means

intentional actions.

So it's, the

popped up, the thought that just pops up

in your mind, is not actually

creating any kamma. It's not

an intentional act.

So, it's like, no point, I mean,

you can be repulsed by it, but it's not like,

it's like,

it's just like, you know, some,

like, something

you open, you turn on the internet,

you open the, you open your

webpage, and like, you know

how sometimes, like, now, it's like

the main page will have some

news item that will just show up?

So that just pops up. You didn't

choose it, right? It just,

you open the page, MSN, whatever, you

opened it, and it came up. So that

one, you know, it's like,

it's neither here nor there.

You can be repulsed by it, you can be whatever, but

it's not gonna change your own

um,

kind of

uh, inclinations of your mind,

or the, it won't,

it won't, you have no choice about

it. But what the Buddha's

talking about when he's talking to his son Rahula in that

in that sutta is about those actions

that you can, you can

either, um,

you know, further cultivate,

or that you should abandon.

So the reason why he uses such strong language,

disgusted, you know,

repelled, you're like, wow,

this is hardcore, but it's because

if you really see the, um,

the danger,

and the, uh,

the, um, kind of

the ill effect of these thoughts,

um,

then the, even though it's not

such a over-the-top

disgusting thought, but even a mild form

of annoyance or whatever,

when you see the danger of it, then

having that

reaction or

response of repulsion is

actually very appropriate.

Because that's what will allow you to drop it.

So, yes, I agree with you.

What he's talking about there is the, uh,

the intentional thoughts.

Did you have a follow-up on that, or, yeah?

Uh, it's a, I have something that I'm

thinking about. Some of the precepts.

For example,

um, I have a job that

doesn't cause harm to

insects and, uh, smaller

uh, beings because

it's in a forest. It's full of, sort of,

uh, all kinds of small

ants and the like.

And, you know, you have to sweep

the ground from time to time.

At the very least, then you're certainly sweeping

uh, insects and ants.

Um, or

for example, I also,

I also, my family has

uh, so to speak, a house

where we have to clean a pool

from time to time. But because it's in a village,

there are many insects there.

And some of them are so small you can't

even, it's not, it's almost

impossible to move. So,

what exactly are we supposed to do

in those kinds of situations?

That's something, yeah.

Yeah. Not always, but for a long time.

Yeah. Sorry, the second one was

you have to do what? You have to

clean the house? Uh, yeah.

Uh, yeah, there is like, uh,

my mother owns this house,

really big house, and we go there

from time to time. And there is

a pool there, and it's in a village.

A food there. A village.

A pool there. A pool. A pool.

A pool! Oh, okay, okay. Okay, I get it, I get it.

Yeah. Alright.

And it's outside, there are many

insects, and some of them are so small

it's almost impossible to move them.

So, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, that is, see, that's just,

it's so hard. I mean,

in any,

in any,

in anything you do, right,

it's so hard to avoid

harming somebody else

in this, you know,

round of rebirth. It's just,

thank you.

It's just impossible

to completely, like, even in the

monastery, right, it's like, dude,

you know, it's like, sometimes you

gotta clean, and

there is a little, I mean, it's, it's, it's,

it's just really hard to be like, oh,

right.

Um, I'm gonna

come back. I'm gonna come back later when there's

no more ants here.

Or, you know, it's just, you know,

sometimes things got to be done. And you try

your best. You try your best to be gentle,

and you try your best to, like,

minimize. But, yeah,

sometimes there is,

there is, what's that word? Collateral damage.

There is, yeah, you

can't, you know, it's just really hard.

So, um, I guess what

you can do is see what is

the level of the damage.

And if there is anything that can be

done to

avoid it.

Like, do you really need a pool?

Could you fill

it up with, you know, concrete and

make it like a, it would be

like a, sort of,

a flat area that you can play

tennis on. I don't know. You know, like,

there are some things that maybe

we can work around.

But, sometimes

you just, you can do

some chanting to, you know,

please go away before I have to, like,

clean here, or whatever.

And sometimes they do that. They do that

when, you know,

you have to cut down a tree

or something. Sometimes, you know,

it's like, you might

in the monster, you might chant or something so that

any beings that were living in the

tree go away first.

Any birds, any insects.

Your home is going away!

Sorry! Letting you know in

advance. Please move

before the deed is done.

I mean, you can do a bit of that. But if it's a repetitive thing

in your job, like, it's gonna be hard to do that all the

time. So, you have to see how much

that harm really bothers

you. And if it bothers you

a lot, like, maybe

you need to change your job. I actually

said this to someone.

You know how it is in, um, in

Western Australia. Like, mining is a big industry,

right? And, um,

it's so hard, right? Because, like,

WA's economy is, like, you know, riding

on the mining industry.

So, I don't know what I'm gonna do to the economy

if I keep on

espousing these views. But, um,

there was this nice

sweet girl who came to the

monastery saying, I don't know, I probably

don't have time to tell this story. I'll tell it very quickly.

But, um, she's, like,

spooked by this, like, you know,

these, like, they say

that, you know, these

sounds in the night, you know, are, like,

beings that are coming to, um,

like,

the spirits of

the, you know, the

people who were native to the land

are coming to say, get off our land,

don't do this mining, you know,

it's destroying the environment

and it's, um, you know, just

yeah, destroying

the, um,

the dwellings of so many

beings, animals, small, big,

whatever. And, um,

and I said, well, if you're really spooked,

change your job.

And she started to look at me

appalled, sort of, like, aghast

that I had given her this advice. So I'm, like,

just a thought. I mean,

it's really up to you. It's really up to you.

I'm not saying you have to. I'm not saying, like, you know,

but I'm just saying, like,

if your, if your,

if your job causes

long-term damage

and, you know,

harm to a great

number of living beings,

then

think twice. And we don't

always have the luxury of being able to change our job.

In which case,

think of how you can mitigate the harm.

And, um,

I don't really know your

job exactly how you could do that. Like,

I can't actually spell it out because I'm not quite sure

what your, what was entailed in your

job, but see if there are ways you can mitigate

the harm. And, um,

and as you

do it, whatever damage you're

causing, like, if you, if you have a real

sense of, like, I'm really sorry,

I'm really sorry I have to do this,

um,

I, I, you know,

like, not to do it sort of, like, with this kind

of, you get numb to it, and you're

just like, oh, whatever, I just kill left and right,

oh, I was just part of the job, you know? But

you really have the sense, like, I'm really sorry.

I'm really sorry I have to do this. I wish I didn't have to do this.

Um, and if you really, really

have to do it, then at least have that, um,

that feeling of contrition,

and that sort of gentleness as much

as you can bring to it. But

sometimes you just

have to take the kamas,

bite the bullet,

like, even Ajahn Chah, right, his, in his

monastery, like, the Kootis, you know,

it's a tropical country, the termites get to it.

And, um, and it's all like,

well, what do we do?

And it was very interesting that, you know,

actually, they,

they,

they exterminate the termites. And you're like, what?

I thought these people were, like, powerful chanting.

I thought they could just, like, no, apparently,

you know, and, like, they have to, they have

to, like, this is,

these dwellings were given

by the lay people out of faith,

out of their hard-earned donate, you know,

money that they've earned,

um, and they've offered

it, you know, to the monastery for

the long-term benefit.

So, it's also not right that it's just

to let it be eaten up by termites to, like,

oh, let's save the lives

of the termites. So, it's like, there's

always balancing,

you know, virtues,

and something's gotta

give. So,

as much as I would like to say that,

oh, it's okay, you know,

like, if you have a, you know,

good intention in your job, it's

okay, you won't get any bad karma,

well,

sorry to say, you're gonna, you're gonna

get some. But,

you, it's up to you to figure out

how much of it is worth it. Like,

you know, in this case, the,

the kuti, you know, you really, you really need to save

it, cause that, it can house a whole,

you know, a monastic for, you know,

X number of years,

maybe many monastics over a long time.

Maybe they will, you know, attain

Nibbana by practicing this, you know,

kuti, or, you know, at least they'll get somewhere

on their path. So, it's, it's

worth saving, um,

and sometimes they just have to bite the bullet and take

the bad karma. But I guess,

all of this is,

it's complicated. And

life is full of these ethical quandaries.

So, I guess we just do the best we can

and we don't give ourselves a hard time

for, you know, the harm

we do cause.

But we try our best not to cause it

with this cold-heartedness.

You know, like, best we

can, we try our best not to harm others.

But if we have to, because it's

just unavoidable, then

at least we, we try to do that with the most

gingerly, kind of like,

you know, wish we, wish

I didn't have to, kind of mind.

And you can always dedicate merits.

That is like

some sort of consolation prize.

I always wonder, after you're like,

oh dear, I think I killed an ant. Oh, I share the merits.

I wonder if the ant's like, oh,

save your merits. Just don't step on me.

But it's too late. We already stepped on it.

So, at least we can, we can sort of

wish it well. So, yes,

this is my rambling, rambling

answer because we all feel bad about it.

And so we all have to find our way

to come to some peace in our minds about it.

So, I hope that helps.

Okay, is there anybody else

or are we pretty close to time?

Questions?

I was, yeah, wondering

if I could ask one more.

Yeah, it's also about

something I've been, I've been

wondering about is

I think I've heard Ajahn Brahmali

and Sujata

talk about

how you can make bad

camera not necessarily by killing

an insect, but by

letting it get killed, so to speak.

So,

like,

someone

unmuted their mic.

Okay, I, I

can hear you again. Something,

yeah, you, yeah.

So, yes. Yeah, so,

yeah, and how not helping

like an insect can be

bad camera, but

I, it's very difficult

to distinguish between situations

where you can actually help

and you can't actually

help, because you obviously can't go around

collecting the ants from the ground

always as you walk.

Yeah, it doesn't really sound practical.

Yeah, I, yeah, I

guess, um,

there, there is a ones that are like

it's like

obvious you could have done something.

You know, like, uh, I don't

know, you go into your bathroom and you see that

ugh, in the toilet there's, there's

like, I don't know, some kind of

ant or something, and you're like,

uh, great, like, you know,

it's like, if you're like, oh, what the heck, I need to go

to the toilet and I'll just, you know, flush,

then that's like, yeah,

that's, that's like you, you, there

was something you could do.

So very clearly, there was something you

could do. And you very clearly

chose, oh, whatever. If you

hadn't seen it, then it's accidental.

But if you actually saw it and you're like, I don't

have the time, I can't be bothered,

or whatever, and you just go ahead and

flush, then that, I think that's

where it's, it's something where

it's very clear that you're creating bad camera.

But if it's like, you're walking on

a lawn, and there's like,

countless living beings in the grass that you

can't see, and then you're, what do you

gotta do, you know? Um,

then, I think that,

I think there that it's like,

you can't, you can't put too much

um, intentionality to

that, cause there's not, it's not like

you can really, really, like, see

that I'm, I'm stepping on

this animal. Uh, and

that's, that's the thing. So the,

there'll be a much more mild

if there is any bad camera, you

know? That's

why the Jains were really into like, I mean,

they went to extreme measures to avoid

harming any, um,

living beings, but then also it's

very difficult to live their

life, you know, difficult to,

to do that. So it's not really

the most practical way. So

yeah, I guess it depends on

your attitude, really.

If it's,

I mean, you can walk through grass not knowing

who's living underneath your feet,

and do it with completely

like, well, I don't care at all.

Then,

in a way, that's, that's hardening

that habit of, of cruelty

or, or, you know, not

caring, um, kind of

a mind. Whereas if you're walking

through and you're like, well, I don't really know

what's here, what's not, but I sure hope there isn't

anyone, and as you walk

you might be like, oh, please get

out of my way, little animals that are

walking here in the lawn. Please,

please get out of my way cause

I'm out of my path. I'm walking here.

I will keep walking forward

here. Please go, please go.

And you have that kind of mind, maybe that avoids

the bad kama, you know, that

you're worried about. But yeah.

I think it's, it's too much to say

that like, I have to save

all these beings, otherwise it's bad

kama. That's like,

it's a tall order.

So I think start with, start with

the things you can actually see in your mind

clearly, and work on those first.

Don't flush the bug in your toilet. Work on

that level first. And if you can do that

level, then worry about the next level.

That, that would be my, my approach.

Okay.

Well, I guess that would probably

be the last one, being as we

are, we are, we are out of time.

So thank you everyone for coming along

and, yes.

Thank you as well.

So next, next month, there'll be

another rabbit. Another young

rabbit from our monastery will

show up on the Zoom.

So, anyway.

So hope all is well, and

peace out,

is what they used to say.

I don't know where that came from.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you everybody.

Thank you very much.

Bye. I'll just stay on until people

bye.

I'd like to see who's here.

Nice to see everyone.

Good night.

Okay.

How do I go?

I just go leave, yeah? Okay, bye everyone.

Bye.