09-Oct-05 Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center

BV: So the discourse tonight is the Sunakkhatta Sutta, number one o five in the Middle Length Sayings. And this is a real interesting sutta, because it tells you how you’re supposed to act after you’ve had the enlightenment experience. And I’ve actually done quite a bit of writing on this particular sutta.

MN: 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Vesālī in the Great Wood in the Hall with the Peaked Roof.

2. Now on that occasion a number of bhikkhus had declared final knowledge in the presence of the Blessed One thus: "We understand: Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being."

3. Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, heard: "A number of bhikkhus, it seems, have declared final knowledge in the presence of the Blessed One thus: 'We understand: Birth is destroyed ...there is no more coming to any state of being.'" Then Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and said to the Blessed One:

4. "I have heard, venerable sir, that a number of bhikkhus have declared final knowledge in the presence of the Blessed One. Did they do so rightly or are there some bhikkhus here who declare final knowledge because they overestimate themselves?"

5. "When those bhikkhus, Sunakkhatta, declared final knowledge in my presence, there were some bhikkhus who declared final knowledge rightly and there were some who declared final knowledge because they overestimated themselves. Therein, when bhikkhus declare final knowledge rightly, their declaration is true. But when bhikkhus declare final knowledge because they overestimate themselves, the Tathāgata thinks: 'I should teach them the Dhamma.' Thus it is in this case, Sunakkhatta, that the Tathāgata thinks: 'I should teach them the Dhamma.' But some misguided men here formulate a question, come to the Tathāgata, and ask it. In that case, Sunakkhatta, [253] though the Tathāgata has thought: 'I should teach them the Dhamrna,' he changes his mind."

BV: Now the reason that all of this is happening, was Sunakkhatta was a monk, and the reason that he became a monk, was because he wanted to see monks do psychic powers, and he kept asking the Buddha to do psychic powers and the Buddha kept telling him: "No." And he got real disheartened by that and disrobed and started bad-mouthing the Buddha. And now he comes talking to the Buddha, and the Buddha is calling him a misguided man, so he has to humble himself a little bit, and by being called misguided, he starts to realize that he’s got to be careful or else he’s not going to get to hear any more Dhamma talks or even see the Buddha any more.
So, Sunakkhatta says -

MN: 6. "This is the time, Blessed One, this is the time, Sublime One, for the Blessed One to teach the Dhamma. Having heard it from the Blessed One, the bhikkhus will remember it."

"Then listen, Sunakkhatta, and attend closely to what I shall say."

"Yes, venerable sir," Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, replied to the Blessed One. The Blessed One said this:

7. "There are, Sunakkhatta, these five cords of sensual pleasure. What are the five? Forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and likeable, connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. Sounds cognizable by the ear that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and likeable, connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. Odours cognizable by the nose that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and likeable, connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. Flavours cognizable by the tongue that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and likeable, connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. Tangibles cognizable by the body that are wished for, desired, agreeable, and likeable, connected with sensual desire and provocative of lust. These are the five cords of sensual pleasure.

TT: 5:59

8. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some person here may be intent on worldly material things. When a person is intent on worldly material things, only talk concerning that interests him, and his thinking and pondering are in line with that, and he associates with that kind of person, and he finds satisfaction in that. But when talk about the imperturbable is going on, he will not listen to it or give it ear or exert his mind to understand it. He does not associate with that kind of person, and he does not find satisfaction in that.

9. "Suppose, Sunakkhatta, a man had left his own village or town a long time ago, and he were to see another man who had only recently left that village or town. He would ask that man whether the people of that village or town were safe, prosperous, and healthy, and that man would tell him whether the people of that village or town were safe, prosperous, [254] and healthy. What do you think, Sunakkhatta? Would that first man listen to him, give him ear, and exert his mind to understand?"—"Yes, venerable sir."—"So too, Sunakkhatta, it is possible that some person here may be intent on worldly material things. When a person is intent on worldly material things...and he does not find satisfaction in that. He should be understood as a person who is intent on worldly material things.

10. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some person here may be intent on the imperturbable.

BV: The imperturbable is getting in to the fourth jhāna, and higher.

MN: When a person is intent on the imperturbable, only talk concerning that interests him, and his thinking and pondering are in line with that, and he associates with that kind of person, and he finds satisfaction in that. But when talk about worldly material things is going on, he will not listen to it or give it ear or exert his mind to understand it. He does not associate with that kind of person, and he does not find satisfaction in that.

11. "Just as a yellow leaf that has fallen from its stalk is incapable of becoming green again, so too, Sunakkhatta, when a person is intent on the imperturbable he has shed the fetter of worldly material things. He should be understood as a person detached from the fetter of worldly material things who is intent on the imperturbable.

12. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some person here may be intent on the base of nothingness.

BV: So, what he was really talking about with imperturbable was the fourth jhāna, the realm of infinite space and the realm of infinite consciousness. The next sutta after this one is called "The Way to the Imperturable", and it starts at the fourth jhāna and goes up from there, it’s quite an interesting sutta that we will get to before too long.

TT: 10:12

MN: When a person is intent on the base of nothingness, only talk concerning that interests him, and his thinking and pondering are in line with that, and he associates with that kind of person, and he finds satisfaction in that. [255] But when talk about the imperturbable is going on, he will not listen to it or give it ear or exert his mind to understand it. He does not associate with that kind of person, and he does not find satisfaction in that.

13. "Just as a thick stone that has split in two cannot be joined together again, so too, Sunakkhatta, when a person is intent on the base of nothingness his fetter of the imperturbable has been split. He should be understood as a person detached from the fetter of the imperturbable who is intent on the base of nothingness.

14. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some person here may be intent on the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. When a person is intent on the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, only talk concerning that interests him, and his thinking and pondering are in line with that, and he associates with that kind of person, and he finds satisfaction in that. But when talk about the base of nothingness is going on, he will not listen to it or give it ear or exert his mind to understand it. He does not associate with that kind of person, and he does not find satisfaction in that.

BV: So, basically, what the Buddha is starting to say now, is that people that are like minded, have the same kind of experience, they like to get together and talk about those experiences, but somebody that has a lower experience, and they begin to talk about their lower experience, they’ve already had that they’re not interested in that any more. So it gets real interesting, especially when you have two of three people around that have experienced the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, because their conversations are just wonderful, really good, really interesting.

MN: 15. "Suppose a person has eaten some delicious food and thrown it up. What do you think, Sunakkhatta? Could that man have any desire to eat that food again?"

"No, venerable sir. Why is that? Because that food is considered repulsive."

"So too, Sunakkhatta, when a person is intent on the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, his fetter of the base of nothingness has been rejected.

BV: Just leave it go, there’s other new experiences that are really neat.

MN: He should be understood as a person detached from the fetter of the base of nothingness who is intent on the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.

16. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some person here may be completely intent on Nibbāna. When a person is completely intent on Nibbāna, only talk concerning that interests him, and his thinking and pondering are in line with that, and he associates with that kind of person, and he finds satisfaction in that. But when talk about the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception is going on, [256] he will not listen to it or give it ear or exert his mind to understand it. He does not associate with that kind of person, and he does not find satisfaction in that.

17. "Just as a palm tree with its top cut off is incapable of growing again, so too, Sunakkhatta, when a person is completely intent on Nibbāna, his fetter of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception has been cut off—cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, done away with so that it is no longer subject to future arising. He should be understood as a person detached from the fetter of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception who is completely intent on Nibbāna.

TT: 15:24

18. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some bhikkhu here might think thus: 'Craving has been called an arrow by the Recluse; the poisonous humour of ignorance is spread about by desire, lust, and ill will. That arrow of craving has been removed from me; the poisonous humour of ignorance has been expelled. I am one who is completely intent on Nibbāna.' Since he conceives himself thus, though it is contrary to fact, he might pursue those things that are unsuitable for one completely intent on Nibbāna. He might pursue the sight of unsuitable forms with the eye, he might pursue unsuitable sounds with the ear, unsuitable odours with the nose, unsuitable flavours with the tongue, unsuitable tangibles with the body, or unsuitable mind-objects with the mind. When he pursues the sight of unsuitable forms with the eye, unsuitable sounds with the ear, unsuitable odours with the nose, unsuitable flavours with the tongue, unsuitable tangibles with the body, or unsuitable mind-objects with the mind, lust invades his mind. With his mind invaded by lust, he would incur death or deadly suffering.

BV: This is something that I’ve run across fairly often in Asia, and fairly often in America, is people have an experience and they think that they’ve attained something that’s truly unbelievable, and they just go back to living the way they’ve always lived, getting into their sensual pleasures, and not taking care, not seeing craving when it arises, not seeing how it arises, not seeing when it arises, and because of that, they get very, very strong conceit. And it’s very difficult to teach somebody that thinks that they already know. And I’ve run across this even in Burma, with some people, that they’ve gone through certain systems of meditation and they come out and they say: "Well, I’m a sotāpanna now." And you question them about what their practice has been and what their experience was, and if you really understand what the Buddha was teaching, you start to realize: "They didn’t have that experience, they don’t know what nibbāna is yet." But you can’t tell them. All I could ever figure out to do was to start talking about the five precepts, because you will not break the five precepts for any reason, once you’ve had the experience of the cessation of perception and feeling and seeing Dependent Origination, which is the definition of the precursors to nibbāna. Right before you attain niibbāna, you see nirodhasamāpatti. Right after nirodhasamāpatti, you see paṭiccasamuppāda, right after that, nibbāna arises by itself. If thinks do not happen in that order, then it’s very strongly suspected that they didn’t have a nibbāna experience. And the real test of whether you’ve had a nibbāna experience is, if you start having personality change, you start watching your sense doors more closely, not indulging in them. You start letting go of a lot of the things that used to really attract you, because it’s not attractive anymore.

TT: 20:06

MN: 19. "Suppose, Sunakkhatta, a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and relatives, brought a surgeon. The surgeon would cut around the opening of the wound with a knife, then he would probe for the arrow with a probe, [257] then he would pull out the arrow and would expel the poisonous humour, leaving a trace of it behind. Thinking that no trace was left behind, he would say: 'Good man, the arrow has been pulled out from you; the poisonous humour has been expelled with no trace left behind, and it is incapable of harming you. Eat only suitable food; do not eat unsuitable food or else the wound may suppurate. From time to time wash the wound and from time to time anoint its opening, so that pus and blood do not cover the opening of the wound. Do not walk around in the wind and sun or else dust and dirt may infect the opening of the wound. Take care of your wound, good man, and see to it that the wound heals.'

20. "The man would think: 'The arrow has been pulled out from me; the poisonous humour has been expelled with no trace left behind, and it is incapable of harming me.' He would eat unsuitable food, and the wound would suppurate. He would not wash the wound from time to time nor would he anoint its opening from time to time, and pus and blood would cover the opening of the wound. He would walk around in the wind and sun, and dust and dirt would infect the opening of the wound. He would not take care of his wound, nor would he see to it that the wound heals. Then, both because he does what is unsuitable and because a trace was left behind when the foul poisonous humour was expelled, the wound would swell, and with its swelling he would incur death or deadly suffering.

BV: That pretty much gives you a clue right there of what needs to be done. Even though you have the experience, if you go back to living your life the way you had normally lived it, breaking the precepts, doing things that are questionable, indulging in your sense pleasures, all of these kind of things, then it would be just like this guy that he thought: "Ok, the poison’s out, I don’t have to do anything anymore." And he loses that attainment.

MN: 21. "So too, Sunakkhatta, it is possible that some bhikkhu here might think thus: 'Craving has been called an arrow by the Recluse; the poisonous humour of ignorance is spread about by desire, lust, and ill will. That arrow of craving has been removed from me; [258] the poisonous humour of ignorance has been expelled. I am one who is completely intent upon Nibbāna.' Because he conceives himself thus, though it is contrary to fact, he might pursue those things that are unsuitable for one completely intent on Nibbāna...(as above)...With his mind invaded by lust, he would incur death or deadly suffering.

BV: And that’s kind of the opposite of the definition of experiencing nibbāna.

MN: 22. "For it is death in the Discipline of the Noble One, Sunakkhatta, when one abandons the training and reverts to the low life; and it is deadly suffering when one commits some defiled offence.

TT: 24:58

23. "It is possible, Sunakkhatta, that some bhikkhu here might think thus: 'Craving has been called an arrow by the Recluse; the poisonous humour of ignorance is spread about by desire, lust, and ill will. That arrow of craving has been removed from me; the poisonous humour of ignorance has been expelled. I am one who is completely intent on Nibbāna.' Being one who really is completely intent on Nibbāna, he would not pursue those things that are unsuitable for one completely intent on Nibbāna. He would not pursue the sight of unsuitable forms with the eye, he would not pursue unsuitable sounds with the ear, unsuitable odours with the nose, unsuitable flavours with the tongue, unsuitable tangibles with the body, or unsuitable mind-objects with the mind. Because he does not pursue the sight of unsuitable forms with the eye, unsuitable sounds with the ear, unsuitable odours with the nose, unsuitable flavours with the tongue, unsuitable tangibles with the body, or unsuitable mind-objects with the mind, lust does not invade his mind. [259] Because his mind is not invaded by lust, he would not incur death or deadly suffering.

24. "Suppose, Sunakkhatta, a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and relatives, brought a surgeon. The surgeon would cut around the opening of the wound with a knife, then he would probe for the arrow with a probe, then he would pull out the arrow and would expel the poisonous humour without leaving a trace of it behind. Knowing that no trace was left behind, he would say: 'Good man, the arrow has been pulled out from you; the poisonous humour has been expelled with no trace left behind, and it is incapable of harming you. Eat only suitable food; do not eat unsuitable food or else the wound may suppurate. From time to time wash the wound and from time to time anoint its opening, so that pus and blood do not cover the opening of the wound. Do not walk around in the wind and sun or else dust and dirt may infect the opening of the wound. Take care of your wound, good man, and see to it that the wound heals.'

25. "The man would think: 'The arrow has been pulled out from me; the poisonous humour has been expelled with no trace left behind, and it is incapable of harming me.' He would eat only suitable food, and the wound would not suppurate. From time to time he would wash the wound and from time to time he would anoint its opening, and pus and blood would not cover the opening of the wound. He would not walk around in the wind and sun, and dust and dirt would not infect the opening of the wound. He would take care of his wound and would see to it that the wound heals. Then, both because he does what is suitable and because no trace was left behind when the foul poisonous humour was expelled, the wound would heal, and because it had healed and was covered with skin, he would not incur death or deadly suffering.

26. "So too, Sunakkhatta, it is possible that some bhikkhus here might think thus: 'Craving has been called an arrow by the Recluse; [260] the poisonous humour of ignorance is spread about by desire, lust, and ill will. That arrow of craving has been pulled out from me; the poisonous humour of ignorance has been expelled. I am one who is completely intent on Nibbāna.' Being one who really is completely intent on Nibbāna, he would not pursue those things unsuitable for one completely intent on Nibbāna...(as above)...Because his mind is not invaded by lust, he would not incur death or deadly suffering.

TT: 30:17

BV: Now, there’s a lot of talk about the first part is the talk about craving, and right after that, is the talk about ignorance. What is ignorance? The definition of ignorance is: Not knowing, seeing, and understanding the four noble truths in everything. Now I’m going to give you some different kinds of definitions than you’re probably used to hearing, because it’s always good to hear new definitions. (Laughs)
Every time you hear the word "wisdom" in Buddhism, it means: Seeing Dependent Origination. You develop wisdom by seeing the process of how everything arises and passes away. And it is a definite process and it happens over and over and over again. Now as your mind gets more and more calm, you start to see more and more subtle little movements of mind[’s attention]. What I want you to do, is start paying attention to: "How did that happen? What happened first? What happened after that?" Now, don’t get caught in thinking about it. But, as soon as you see that your mind has been distracted by that movement, you let it go, and you relax, and you come back to your object of meditation, and you continue relaxing, and your mind will do that again, only this time you’re a little bit more alert to the fact that it will happen. So you start seeing more and more little tiny movements, little subtle things that you hadn’t seen before, and that’s all part of Dependent Origination. So developing wisdom, is being able to see the more and more subtle aspects of Dependent Origination when it arises. And Dependent Origination, as you have already started to understand very well, is an impersonal process, it’s not you, it’s not yours, it’s not I, it’s not mine, it’s just an impersonal process that occurs because the conditions are right for it to arise. There’s nothing personal in anything that arises. Everything that happens is an impersonal process. Where we cause our own suffering is by taking these thoughts and these feelings and these cravings and these lusts and desires and all of these different things, and making them personal. "I like that, I want that, I don’t like that." Every time there’s an emotional disturbance, in mind, it’s your mind showing you where you have a wrong view. You have a grasp of something that’s not quite right and you’re taking it personally. The whole process of coming and doing a retreat, it’s real important to get calmed down so you can see all kinds of great things, but it’s not just about sitting, it’s about doing everything that you’re doing and watching the process of your mind, how it likes this and dislikes that, how it becomes critical, or emotional, or angry or whatever happens to arise. It keeps arising, these things keep arising because of indulging in them.

TT: 35:06

And the more you indulge in it, the more personally you take these thoughts and these feelings and the whole nine yards of that emotion, and the more you try to resist it, and push it away, and stop it from happening, the more you resist, the more it persists. The more it persists, the more frustrating it becomes. The more frustrating it becomes, then depression happens, sadness happens, all of the different emotions that can arise, they start arising more and more regularly. So, it’s real important to begin to let go when you recognize that your mind is starting to get swept away. And the whole point of the retreat is getting to a quiet place where you don’t have a lot of distractions so you can start to see your own indulgences, your own patterns, and you can be sitting in meditation and all of a sudden, sadness comes and you have no idea: "Where did that come from?" Where it came from doesn’t matter. Why it’s there, doesn’t matter. What matters is: "How did that arise?" Let go of it, relax, let it be, come back to your object of meditation, keep relaxing. The relaxing is the key, the absolute key to letting go of craving. And you will notice as you go deeper, you keep relaxing more and more, it seems like it goes down in levels, and to deeper and deeper parts in your mind, so those other places, every time you relax, you are going deeper into your meditation, and you’re letting go of the subtle parts of the craving. So when this is talking about: "The arrow has been pulled out. Craving has been called an arrow by the great Recluse." Craving is the point of dukkha. It’s right at that point. When craving arises, dukkha arises. How does craving arise? What happens before the craving starts? It’s a definite process, and sometimes you’ll be able to catch it and sometimes you won’t. There’s no judgment in this, there’s just, sometimes your mindfulness is sharper than at other times, that’s only normal. But as you mind starts to become more settled, and more still, as your samādhi becomes more apparent, and your mind becomes much more calm, and still, you’ll be able to see the subtle little things starting to bubble up. And before craving, there is a phenomenon that happens, and I want you to be able to explain that to me. (Laughs) He’s a sneaky monk. But there is something that happens before craving arises, not only the process of Dependent Origination, but right before craving, there’s something that occurs. And the more easily you can recognize that, the less distraction your mind will have. I don’t want you to put over energy into it. Don’t try to hard, but it does take some effort. It’s just seeing your mind did this, and you’re already caught by it. "Ok, you got caught, no big deal."

TT: 40:04

Let it go and relax, and come back, and then sharpen your enthusiasm to be able to see. Sharpen your interest. But the more enthused you become in being able to watch the process, and take interest in little subtle things that start arising, it really is fascinating. You’ll get hooked like you’ve never been hooked before. And you’ll be able to see and recognize more and more of the subtle tricks of mind, and how your old habitual tendencies arise, and how these things keep coming up, over and over again. Everything that happens over and over again, it happens over and over again because of an attachment. And the attachment is craving. When you start to let go of craving, you’re letting go of the second noble truth and you’re developing the third noble truth, and the way you let it go is by practicing the fourth noble truth. So you already know that there’s suffering out there, I mean we don’t need to talk about the first one. (Laughs) But the subtle tightenesses that mind grabs on to, that’s the way the craving manifests, and you can’t talk about just letting something go and letting it be and coming back to your object of meditation; you can’t do that; you always have to mention to relax. Always. Because that is the key to the entire meditation – letting go of craving. I mean the Buddha talked a lot about craving; he talked a lot about it. He didn’t only talk about having it, but he talked about how to get rid of it, and the relaxing, the tranquilizing of your mind and your body a lot, over and over and over and over and over again is the thing that helps you go deeper into your meditation and it helps you become more alert and aware of how your mind[’s attention] moves.
So, I’ll get off my soap box now.

Ok -

MN: 27. "Sunakkhatta, I have given this simile in order to convey a meaning. This is the meaning here: 'Wound' is a term for the six internal bases. 'Poisonous humour' is a term for ignorance. 'Arrow' is a term for craving.

BV: Let’s take a look at that. What happens first with this guy’s wound? He got shot with an arrow, that’s the very start of all of this other problem, that’s the beginning. If he wouldn’t have been shot, he could have just gone on joyfully without even thinking about any of this other stuff. But we’re all shot with arrows; we all have a lot of craving, and it’s subtle and it happens continually.
Now one of the points of this particular sutta, is seeing, if you indulge in your tongue, or your nose or your body, or whatever, your thoughts, if you indulge in that, you’ve already lost the thread of how craving arises. Once you’ve already started indulging in one of the six sense doors, you already stuck, you’re already a thousand miles away from recognizing what craving is and how it arises; you’re already caught in your thoughts about why you like it, why you don’t like it, how you want to change it, how you want it to be different than it is, how you want it to stay the same as it is. It doesn’t matter what the content of the thought is, what matters is what are you doing with those in the present moment. The more you can see with your daily activities and your daily responsibilities, the more you see how your mind gets pulled into these traps: "I’ve got to think about this right now. I don’t like this, I don’t want it ever to happen again. I like this, I want it to happen again a lot." But all of those thoughts are three steps away from the suffering.

TT: 45:48

The more we can let go of our critical thoughts, the more we can learn to smile, and to laugh at how crazy our mind is, the faster your progress is on the path. That’s just that simple. When you get strong equanimity, you can do anything, any kind of daily activity and your mind just has this balance to it. "Ok, that doesn’t work, we’ll try this way. Better do this? Ok." But your mind has this balance to it that you don’t have a lot of emotional rollercoasters. And the more that you can experience that balance, the more clearly you’re able to see, and develop, wisdom. The more clearly you can see that tension and tightness that’s in your mind, and let it go, the more times you can do that during the day, the more balance you get. The more you see you’re caught in your anxieties and worries and frustrations and all of that, dislikes, the more, suffering, you are causing, yourself, because you’re not being aware at that time; you’re not being clear at that time. So, we’re continually shot by arrows, and they’re poisonous arrows. Because once we’re shot by that arrow, the craving leads to the clinging, leads to the habitual tendency. And there we go again. And suffer, oh, magnificent suffering.

MN: [The] 'Probe' is a term for mindfulness.

BV: Now think about that for the image of the arrow going in, and the probe is, observation of how craving works, how the arrow is stuck in there.

MN: 'Knife' is a term for noble wisdom.

BV: What is wisdom? Seeing and understanding how Dependent Origination works, and that is noble, there’s no getting around it.

MN: 'Surgeon' is a term for the Tathāgata, the Accomplished One, the Fully Enlightened One.

BV: Now, when he was talking before, and he said that this surgeon went in and probed and he thought he got all the poison but he didn’t, that wasn’t the Tathāgata. He wouldn’t make mistakes like that.

MN: 28. "That bhikkhu, Sunakkhatta, is one who practises restraint in the six bases of contact. Having understood that acquisition is the root of suffering,

BV: Or we could say… I don’t like the word, the use of the word "acquisition" here, I much prefer the use of "craving", so I’m going to change that.

MN: repeats . . . (Having understood that (acquisition) [craving] is the root of suffering,) being (acquisitionless) [cravingless], liberated in the destruction of (the acquisitions) [craving], it is not possible that he would direct his body or arouse his mind towards any (acquisition) [craving].

50:00

29. "Suppose, Sunakkhatta, there were a bronze cup of beverage possessing a good colour, smell, and taste, but it was mixed with poison, and a man came who wanted to live, not to die, who wanted pleasure and recoiled from pain. What do you think, Sunakkhatta, would that man drink that cup of beverage, knowing: 'If I drink this I will incur death or deadly suffering'?"—"No, venerable sir." [261]—"So too, that bhikkhu is one who practises restraint in the six bases of contact. Having understood that (acquisition) [craving] is the root of suffering, being (acquisition) [craving]-less, liberated in the destruction of (acquisitions) [craving], it is not possible that he would direct his body or arouse his mind towards any (acquisition) [craving].

30. "Suppose, Sunakkhatta, there were a deadly poisonous snake, and a man came who wanted to live, not to die, who wanted pleasure and recoiled from pain. What do you think, Sunakkhatta, would that man give that deadly poisonous snake his hand or his thumb, knowing: 'If I am bitten by him I will incur death or deadly suffering'?"—"No, venerable sir."—"So too, when a bhikkhu practises restraint in the six bases of contact, and having understood that attachment is the root of suffering, is without attachment, liberated by the destruction of attachment, it is not possible that he would direct his body or arouse his mind towards any object of attachment."

BV: What is attachment?

S: Identifying with it?

BV: That’s it. See, one of the problems that we have on the internet is because I give a definition of craving, as "I like it" and "I don’t like it" and it’s that mind that is craving. A lot of people don’t understand what I’m saying. I’m saying that craving is the start of the atta, of the ego belief, of taking things personally, and as soon as the clinging arises, then there’s all of the thoughts about the liking and disliking, and the stronger identification with it. This is quick stuff, it really does happen fast. The way you would stop the clinging, after the craving arose, was to let go of the craving. But that’s the only way that you can let go of clinging. See, the definition of clinging is, clinging to your own views, clinging to the view that there is a self, clinging to concepts, clinging to rites and rituals. The clinging to concepts means the clinging to your own opinions, your own papañca, your own views of the world. And if they don’t meet those views, then it’s the cause of a lot of suffering. But I’ve had the opportunity to listen to some of the talks from IMS, and they talk about attachment, and everybody gets the idea that it’s really nasty to have attachments, but they never give you a definition of what attachment is. Isn’t that strange? And if you don’t really have a definition, then how do you know that you’re talking about the same thing? So every Dhamma talk I wind up giving definitions, so that we can all be on the same page, whether you agree with what I’m saying or not, doesn’t really matter, just so, if we’re on the same page, there’s benefit for that, and it’s very important. And on of the things that’s happened in Asia, is everybody has agreed that certain words mean certain things, but when it’s translated out of one language into another, it always changes, and then there’s, there’s the thing like the concept of god. Ok, it’s only a three letter word, tell me what it means. What does "god" mean? What’s the definition of that word? It’s a word everybody hears, everybody knows, everybody’s supposed to understand, but everybody’s definition is different, and that’s where a lot of problems come from, because you can’t get a definition that’s consistent, that everybody will agree on, and that’s where a lot of, ideas, about, what the Buddha taught come from, because, one person will say something, and their definition is completely different than what you see it to be. Well, what are you supposed to do with that? Interesting.

TT: 56:05

So

MN: That is what the Blessed One said. Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, was satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.

BV: That’s kind of an interesting sutta because it really is talking about these people that think that they have this kind of attainment or that kind of attainment, "Well it’s ok for me to do this, because I’m enlightened. I can indulge in this. I can do this. I can say this to this person or that person." And they’re causing themselves immeasurable suffering by that. And I haven’t seen any true personality development unless there has been the seeing and understanding of Dependent Origination. It’s got to be there. That’s the key.

So, that’s what the Buddha said, and that’s the truth.

Let’s share some merit: