MN 141
The Exposition
of the Truths
Saccavibhanga
Sutta
A Dhamma talk
by Bhante Vimalaramsi
Dhamma Sukha
Meditation Center
02-Apr-06
BV: This is
kind of an interesting sutta, because it’s the exposition of the
truths, and we should start talking about the Four Noble Truths.
MN:
1. THUS HAVE I
HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Benares in the
Deer Park at Isipatana. There he addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus.”—“Venerable
sir.” They replied. The Blessed one said this:
2.
"At Benares, bhikkhus, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata,
accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel
of the Dhamma,'" which cannot be stopped by any recluse or brahmin
or god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world—that is, the
announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing,
expounding, and exhibiting of the Four Noble Truths. Of what four?
3.
"The announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing,
expounding, and exhibiting of the noble truth of suffering. The
announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing,
expounding, and exhibiting of the noble truth of the origin of
suffering...of the noble truth of the cessation of suffering...of
the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
4.
"At Benares, bhikkhus, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata,
accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel
of the Dhamma, which cannot be stopped by any recluse or brahmin or
god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world—that is, the
announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing,
expounding, and exhibiting of these Four Noble Truths.
5.
"Cultivate the friendship of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, bhikkhus;
associate with Sāriputta and Moggallāna. They are wise and helpful
to their companions in the holy life. Sāriputta is like a mother;
Moggallāna is like a nurse. Sāriputta trains others for the fruit of
stream-entry, Moggallāna for the supreme goal. Sāriputta, bhikkhus,
is able to announce, teach, describe, establish, reveal, expound,
and exhibit the Four Noble Truths."
BV:
This has always been kind of an interesting thing, that the Buddha
always referred to Sāriputta as being the one to start people on the
fruit of stream-entry. This is the hardest part of the path,
learning about the Noble Truths, and Dependent Origination and how
it all intertwines, and how it all works. Once somebody has attained
that wisdom, that knowledge, that, insight into the true nature of
things, then it’s quite a bit easier to get them to go from, ah,
being a stream-enterer to becoming an arahart.
Now
Moggallāna was very skillful at using psychic abilities, and during
the time of the Buddha, there was a awful lot of monks that had that
ah, that tend, that bend of mind that they had. They were much more
sensitive to feeling. And you’ve heard me talk over and over again
about the three kinds of people that there are.
There’s a person that was like my teacher, U Silananda, that he was
very highly intellectual. He was not sensitive to feeling at all. So
it was only natural for him, when he became a monk, to tend towards
scholarship, and he was quite good at it. He memorized ah, about
eleven books this size. And then he took tests on them. H e was
number one in the country, that year that he took them.
Moggallāna, although he was an intelligent man, he was more
sensitive to feelings, that he was intellect. He would be able to
tell the finest feeling when it started to arise. When you get
around some people, and they are ah, real sensitive to feelings,
there’s like they go crazy, because they don’t understand what’s
happening to them, and the feeling kind of dictates. They’ll be
happy one minute, and sad the next minute, and laughing out loud the
next minute. It’s hard to keep up with them. But that’s just because
they’re so sensitive to feelings when it arises.
And
then there’s the kind of being that’s like the Buddha where his
intellect and feelings, were in balance.
Now,
one of the reasons that made Moggallāna so good at being able to
teach people how to become arahats was because of his psychic
ability of being able to read other people’s mind, ah, his psychic
ability of being able to feel, before someone else noticed what was
happening with them, and he would guide them to see it as an
impersonal process. A real helpful skill. Wish I had it. (Laughs)
But I guess we can’t have everything. And of course, the appeal of
the intellect, and wanting to know, how things work, that’s the
thing that that Moggallāna was very good at explaining, how
everything worked, how your mind worked, he saw it in minute detail.
He was very good at being able to tell people whether they were
sensitive to their feeling or they were sensitive to their, their
intellect, exactly what they were doing, what was happening in mind
at the time.
There’s a story of ah, Anuruddha. Now, Anuruddha was foremost among
all of the Buddha’s disciples in being able to see, ah, he had the
divine eye; he was able to see other places very clearly, and he was
having trouble going deeper into his practice, and he went to
Sāriputta and said: “I’m able to see, ah, very bright colors, and I
can see long distances, and I can see other worlds, and all of this
kind of stuff, but I’m not able to, gain the deep insight into the
nature of mind and I don’t understand why.” So, Sāriputta told him
that he was suffering from his pride, in being able to do this, and
he was getting involved in the story line of what he was seeing,
instead of just seeing it, what, what was arising, letting it be,
relaxing. He wasn’t seeing how mind was actually working. He was
getting caught in the concepts and opinions, and and basically
papañca.
TT:
09:13
You
know the word, papañca? (Sighs) Big word. Has to do with ah, your
opinions, your thoughts, your ah, concepts, all of that sort of
thing. When you get caught in your concepts of the way you think
things should be, and they don’t turn out to be that way, then it’s
a big cause of suffering. So, when anybody uses the word papañca,
they’re talking about getting caught in concepts, and ideas, and
opinions, and then believing that these are, really the way things
are, and holding on to those views. So, when somebody’s caught with
papañca, they are caught, with a mind that is not seeing clearly,
how things arise, how they’re there for a period of time, what’s the
cause and effect of things, and this will stop your spiritual
practice, when you get caught in the story. What you want to be able
to do, is just see things as they arise, and lovingly accept the
fact that they’re there, not pay a whole lot of attention to them
and relax into that.
Ah,
today I was talking to you a lot about, smiling and laughing, and,
this is not, a typical thing that’s taught in this country. When it
comes to Buddhism, everybody is very serious. Everybody is really
trying very hard. And what’s needed is, to stop trying so hard, to
do it with a light mind, because when your mind is uplifted, when
your mind, has that sense of fun, mind is very alert. You can see
things when they first start to arise, and it’s very easy to let it
go and relax instead of, having it come up and slap you in the face
for a little while before you really, ah, notice it. But you can’t
do it with a serious mind. You have to do it with a light mind.
The
more you can develop your smiling, and sense of fun with the
meditation, the faster you’ll be able to recognize when your mind
gets pulled down, when your mind becomes hard, when your mind
becomes heavy. So, keeping your practice going with a light mind, is
something that’s very much needed, especially, in the West, because
we’re very goal oriented the way we want to, we want what we want
when we want it, and we’re, we’re willing to work very hard to get
it, but that desire in itself is the thing that’s going to stop you
from expressing. It’s much better to lightly play with how crazy
your mind is. Welcome to the human race, we all are.
And
even the Buddha said that. He said that everybody that isn’t an
arahat is crazy. (Laughs) Reminds me of, I was in ah, Malaysia. I
was at the biggest ah, Sri Lankan temple in Malaysia. And there was
a monk that came through that he was really off the wall. And he, he
never washed his robes, so he smelled pretty, pretty rank. And he
would do things like he would say: “I’m going for the walk now.” And
he would get as far as the gate, and he would stop and just stand
there, for an hour, hour and a half, and then he’d turn around and
come back. This was how: “How was your walk?”—“Well, I got to the
gate.” And then he decided he wanted to travel somewhere. So he
asked the head monk if, someone could help him get a ticket. And
they did. And he went to the bus station, and he stood in front of
the bus, with his ticket, and watched the bus pull off. He didn’t
take the bus. And he came back. And the Chief Reverend, he said:
“Where, where, wha, why are you here?” And the guy said: “Well, I,
stood in front of the bus, but it took off before I was ready to get
off.”
And
this is odd behavior. But he would also, he would… Ah, he had a lot
of anger in him, and if somebody said something, his anger would
come up really strong. So somebody was talking about him to Chief
Reverend, the chief monk said: “This guy’s a little bit crazy.” And
they went and told this monk. And the monk came to the Chief
Reverend, and he was really, really mad, that, anybody would
consider him being crazy, and he asked the chief monk if in fact he
did say that, and the chief monk said: “Yes, I said it.” And he
started throwing his anger at the chief monk, and the chief monk
said: “Stop! The Buddha said, that everybody is crazy, that’s not an
arahat.” And that made him laugh, which got over his anger.
But
he, ah, decided he wanted to go somewhere else, and Chief Monk said:
“I will help you get a ticket this time. If you don’t get on the
bus, don’t come back.” And we never saw him again. But there’s all
kinds of strange practices that happen out there. Everybody thinks
that: “Well, if you’re a Buddhist monk, then you’re supposed to be
this way or that way.” It doesn’t happen like that. (Laughs)
Anyway -
MN:
6. So
the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Sublime One rose from
his seat and went into his dwelling.
BV:
Now this happens a lot, that, the Buddha will come out, and there’ll
be a bunch of monks sitting around, and he’ll ask what they’re
talking about, and then he’ll give ah, a discourse, but it’s jut a
few words. And if nobody said: “Well, what’s the deeper meaning of
this?”, the Buddha would get up and,
go
away.
So -
MN:
7.
Then, soon after the Blessed One had gone, the venerable Sāriputta
addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Friends, bhikkhus."— "Friend," the
bhikkhus replied to the venerable Sāriputta. The venerable Sāriputta
said this:
8.
"At Benares, friends, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata,
accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel
of the Dhamma...and exhibiting of the Four Noble Truths. Of what
four?
9.
"The announcing...and exhibiting of the noble truth of
suffering...of the noble truth of the origin of suffering...of the
noble truth of the cessation of suffering...of the noble truth of
the way leading to the cessation of suffering.
10.
"And what, friends, is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is
suffering; ageing is suffering;
BV:
Is that right? Is aging suffering?
S: ~
BV:
(Laughs) Ok.
MN:
death
is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are
suffering; not to obtain what one wants is suffering;
BV:
Now that’s the biggest part of the First Noble Truth, because we all
have these desires that things be in a particular way. We want them
to be like that. And when it doesn’t happen, look at how upset mind
becomes. Look at how much suffering we cause ourselves. Look at the
senselessness of that suffering. It’s all because: “I want. I like.
I don’t want. I don’t like.”, and getting involved in all of the
different aspects of clinging. Clinging, by definition, is all of
your thoughts, your opinions, your concepts, and the strong belief
that these are yours personally: “This is who I am.” That’s the
cause of immeasurable amounts of suffering. Having that that desire
and the clinging, all of the thoughts leading to why you like or
dislike. Why is it suffering? Because it pulls you out of the
present moment. So you can’t see how things, arise. You can’t see,
the process of and patterns, of, what happens when Dependent
Origination arises. Why can’t you see it? Because you’re so caught
up in thinking about, and your concepts, and your ideas, and your
opinions, and your wants.
TT:
20:54
MN:
in
short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering.
BV:
What are the five aggregates?
S: ~
BV:
(Sighs) And are they always affected by clinging?
S: ~
BV:
Why?
S: ~
BV:
Ah.
S: ~
BV:
When you’re able to see Dependent Origination, you see that there’s
sense doors. Right after a sense door arises, there’s contact. With
contact as condition, feeling arises. Feeling is, pleasant, painful,
neither-pleasant-nor-painful. With feeling as condition, now this
doesn’t matter, er, feeling doesn’t matter whether it’s, painful
mental feeling, or painful physical feeling. Feeling is feeling.
With feeling as condition, craving arises. What is craving?
S: ~
BV:
Craving always manifests as tension and tightness in your mind and
in your body. That’s how you can recognize it. This is why this is
the weak link, in Dependent Origination, because you can actually
see it when it happens, but you have to look closer. What happens
before the wobble?
Craving is the “I like it. I don’t like it mind.” If it’s a pleasant
feeling, your mind grabs on to it, says: “Yeah, this is a good one.”
If it’s a painful feeling, your mind’s trying to push it away.
With
craving as condition, clinging arises. And the clinging are all the
thoughts, the stories, the opinions, the concepts, about why you
like or dislike this feeling. See, when feeling arises, all of a
sudden, you’re pulled a long ways away from seeing what’s happening
right here, right now. Now when you’re sitting in meditation, your
mind is going to be thinking this and thinking that. That means it’s
clinging.
Now
you don’t, use your Loving-Kindness, or your meditation as a stick
to stop this from happening, and beating your thoughts away. The way
you let it go is, by recognizing that your mind is doing this,
letting those thoughts be, don’t continue thinking even if you’re in
mid sentence. Just simply let the thought be there, by itself, but
don’t keep your attention on it. After you do that, then you will
see that tension and tightness, that's in your mind, and in your
body. You see it, on the grosser level, in your lower body. You see
it in the subtler level, in your head. So, you relax. Now when you
relax, you feel your mind open up, and expand, and takes a little
step down and becomes very calm, clear. Your mind becomes very
bright, and alert. And you bring, that mind that doesn’t have any
thoughts in it, back to your object of meditation. Ok?
Right
after clinging, the Pāli word is “bhava”, and that’s where your
habitual tendencies are. When this kind of feeling arises, I always
treat it in this way. So it just keeps pulling you further and
further and further away, from what’s happening in the present
moment.
Ok -
MN:
11.
"And what, friends, is birth? The birth of beings into the various
orders of beings, their coming to birth, precipitation [in a womb],
generation, the manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the bases
for contact—this is called birth.
BV:
It’s also, depending on your habitual tendency and whether you let
go of that, it’s either birth of the same old thing over and over
again, or it’s, the birth of, a new way of looking at things,
letting things be. Not taking these things personally, seeing them
as just part of a pattern, that arises and passes away continually,
and the pattern happens in the same way, all the time.
It’s
one of the things that’s really kind of funny, when you get talking
especially to Westerners, about, ah, the difference between the
Easterners and the, and the Westerners, and there is no difference,
really. Everybody’s mind works in exactly, the same way. It’s just a
matter of degree of, when Easterners, they grow up being around
monks, they think they have, a lot of time to do what ever the monks
tell them to do, and they like to play, and they like to enjoy, and
they like to do all kind of things, but they never really get
serious with their practice.
But, when they go to a meditation center, they run across people,
the teachers are very severe. They’re very strict. They have to be,
so that their mind, the, the people that come, they get put in
balance better, because they’re so heavy on the enjoying, and the
indulging, and all of this sort of thing. They have joy coming up
all the time, because they’re practicing their generosity, and they,
they really get in to ah, eating their food and all of this kind of
stuff. So when they come to the meditation center, the, the teacher
has to say: “No. Don’t do that. I don’t want you talking. I don’t
want you, ah, sitting around just talking about this nonsense that.
I want you to be very serious with your practice.” So what the
teacher’s trying to do is to pull them so they’re in balance.
But
when a Westerner comes, we’re already serious. We don’t think we
have a lot of time. So we go to a teacher that’s very serious, and
he’s pushing in the same way that he’s pushing in the same way that
he pushes the, the Easterners, and what happens is, the Westerners
quite often will get burned out, because they’re with a teacher,
that’s, teaching them in the wrong way. When I came back to this
country, I started realizing more and more and more, we don’t need
that kind of strict, noble silence. We don’t need to be told to eat
less and sleep less. We need to get put in balance the other way. We
need to have more joy arising. We need to have more balance in our
life. That’s one of the reasons that I was talking about smiling and
laughing more, because that helps put your mind in balance. We’re
already serious, right? We’re already goal oriented. You’re ready to
work! Right?
TT:
30:26
S:
~
BV:
Well, but, that’s putting the energy in the wrong way. Be lighter
with it. Get that sense of balance. With the enlightenment factors,
the middle enlightenment factor is joy. That’s your balancing
factor. Between the mindfulness, your investigation and your energy
on one side, and your tranquility, and your, your ah, collectedness,
and your equanimity on the other side. You can’t be too heavy with
your energy.
An
interesting thing with meditation is, you can get into the habit of
always putting the same amount of energy into your practice. But
it’s not always appropriate. There are times, when you have to put a
little bit less energy, and when you do, your mind stays in balance.
But when you, your mind stays in balance. But when you put the same
amount of energy you always put in, then you have restlessness
arising. You, try to back off, then you have dullness arising. So,
it’s, it’s learning the balance of the energy, that really is the
tricky part, of the meditation. Sometimes your mind can be very
peaceful and calm and very nice, and, you start putting in the
energy that, you normally do and all, your mind is running all over
the place. There’s all kinds of, restlessness and dissatisfactions
and dislikes and attachments of one thing or another, that are
coming up, why? Because you’re not putting in, exactly the right
kind of, energy that’s needed at that time. So you have to back off
with your energy a little bit, and you have to start playing with
it. And I literally mean playing with it, smiling and seeing how
you’re doing it, and, learning that balance for yourself, and in
this respect, everybody’s a little bit different, because not
everybody needs to put in exactly the same kind of energy all the
time, because of our past experiences, of many, many lifetimes,
sometimes we have to, adjust a little bit with our energy. So, kind
of watch that, and, and kind of recognize that, when you’re putting
the energy in sometimes, you can play with it, and sometimes you
really, really have to be very close, and other times, you can be a
little bit further away and it’s much easier to watch, so, judge
those times.
MN:
{12.
"And what, friends, is ageing? The ageing of beings in the various
orders of beings, their old age, brokenness of teeth, greyness of
hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties—this
is called ageing.}
13.
"And what, friends, is death? The passing of beings out of the
various orders of beings, their passing away, dissolution,
disappearance, dying, completion of time, dissolution of aggregates,
laying down of the body—this is called death.
BV:
But it’s also, the letting go, the, the disappearance, of, old
habits, old ways of thinking, old ways of being.
MN:
14. "And what, friends, is sorrow? The sorrow,
sorrowing,
BV: I
love this. Let’s give you a definition, that’s really precise.
Repeats (what, friends, is sorrow? The sorrow, sorrowing,)
MN:
sorrowfulness, inner sorrow, inner sorriness,
BV:
(Laughs) That’s a great definition, isn’t it? And what, what does
sorrow mean?
S: ~
BV:
(Laughs) ~
S: ~
BV:
It’s the unhappiness. It’s the not doing what you want. It’s the
pain that arises because of that unhappiness. Being sorrowful.
(Laughs) This is one of the things that happens in Buddhism a lot.
You know, you say: “Develop your wisdom.”, and that’s a great
statement. What does it mean? “Well, it means to be wise.” (Laughs)
Or: “Be mindful.” Ok, what does that mean? “Well, just be mindful
when you’re doing this.” You can’t use the same word in the
definition. It don’t work. (Laughs) Oh, I love the inner sorriness.
What’s the difference, between inner sorrow, and inner sorriness?
S: ~
BV:
Well. Isn’t that inner sorrow? (Laughs)
S: ~
BV:
Well, I, I, I would say more, to me it seems more that sorriness
means ah, ah, remorse, guilty feeling, for having done something,
some thing like that.
Ok –
Repeats (The sorrow, sorrowing, sorrowfulness, inner sorrow, inner
sorriness,)
MN:
of
one who has encountered some misfortune or is affected by some
painful state—this is called sorrow.
15.
"And what, friends, is lamentation? The wail and lament, wailing and
lamenting, bewailing and lamentation, of one who has encountered
some misfortune or is affected by some painful state—this is called
lamentation.
BV:
We’re going to have to get the thesaurus out, and check this out a
little bit closer, I have a feeling.
MN:
16.
"And what, friends, is pain? Bodily pain, bodily discomfort,
painful, uncomfortable feeling born of bodily contact—this is called
pain.
17.
"And what, friends, is grief? Mental pain, mental discomfort,
painful, uncomfortable feeling born of mental contact—this is called
grief.
18.
"And what, friends, is despair? The trouble and despair, the
tribulation and desperation, of one who has encountered some
misfortune or is affected by some painful state—this is called
despair.
19.
"And what, friends, is 'not to obtain what one wants is suffering'?
To beings subject to birth there comes the wish: 'Oh, that we were
not subject to birth! That birth would not come to us!' But this is
not to be obtained by wishing, and not to obtain what one wants is
suffering. To beings subject to ageing...subject to
sickness...subject to death...subject to sorrow,
BV:
Oh, we didn’t have the definition of sickness, did we? To be sick.
(Laughs)
Ahhh,
Repeats (..to be subject to sorrow)
TT:
40:00
MN:
lamentation, pain, grief, and despair, there comes the wish: 'Oh,
that we were not subject to sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and
despair! That sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair would
not come to us!' But this is not to be obtained by wishing, and not
to obtain what one wants is suffering.
20.
"And what, friends, are the five aggregates affected by clinging
that, in short, are suffering? They are: the material form aggregate
affected by clinging, the feeling aggregate affected by clinging,
the perception aggregate affected by clinging, the formations
aggregate affected by clinging, and the consciousness aggregate
affected by clinging. These are the five aggregates affected by
clinging that, in short, are suffering. This is called the noble
truth of suffering.
21.
"And what, friends, is the noble truth of the origin of suffering?
It is craving,
BV:
The cause of suffering is craving. So what are the Noble Truths
really all about? Craving. Wanting things, “I like this, I don’t
like that.”, and clinging, and your habitual tendencies, all of
these things, arise because craving arose. See, being able to
recognize that subtle tension and tightness that arises in your mind
and in your body, is very important, because that’s how the craving
manifests. So when you see, at first you don’t see, ah, the craving
so easily, you just relax because that’s what the instructions say.
But before long, you see that when you relax, there’s this, kind of
openness, this feeling of ease, this feeling of, ah, tranquility and
calmness, and there is no craving at that moment, just release. Then
you start recognizing that that more and more as your meditation
deepens, and, craving being the way that it is, does manifest in
vary, very subtle, different ways. You were talking about seeing the
vibration, and I was talking about what happens before that, because
I want you to see, the craving before the wobbling.
S: ~
BV:
The craving before.
Now
the thing with the, with the five aggregates, that, we really get
caught up in with, ah, the meditation is, we have these five things,
we have a physical body, we have feeling. Perception is the mind
that puts the name on things. You see this and your mind says: “This
is a book.” That’s the perception, that recognizes that this is a
book, and it also has memory involved with that. And you have your
ah, volitional formations, which I call thoughts. And then you have
your consciousness. Now what happens is, you’ll be sitting in
meditation, and a bug comes along and bites you. You know that your
physical body is there, and feeling arises, and that’s an unpleasant
feeling. It’s a painful feeling. And immediately, our habitual
tendency is to begin to think about, the feeling, and try to control
the feeling, with the thoughts. Now this happens with emotional
feelings, especially. Ah, depression, that’s always a favorite, Ah,
dislike, dissatisfaction, what ever it is that arises, it’s a
painful feeling when it arises. And immediately our mind tries to
think the feeling away. The more you think, the feeling, the bigger
and more intense the feeling becomes, the more suffering you cause
yourself because you’re trying to think the feeling away.
Now
the instructions in the meditation, and you read them, it said that
when you’re sitting in meditation, and a sensation arises, you’ll
notice, by first, there’s a lot of thoughts about why you like or
don’t like that sensation, and the first thing you have to do, is
you have to let go, of the thought, and relax. Next you’ll know,
notice that there’s a tight mental fist wrapped around the feeling,
and that tight mental fist is aversion. So what you have to do is,
allow the feeling to be there. It’s all right for that feeling to be
there because that’s the truth. When it arises, it’s there. You
can’t fight with the truth. You can’t push the truth around. You
can’t make the truth be the way you want it to be. The only thing we
can do, is just accept the fact that that feeling is there, and it’s
ok for it to be there. Now, you’ve let go of, that, your opinions
and your concepts, about the feeling, and now the feeling is there,
and it’s all right for it to be there, it has to be, because it’s
there. Now, you relax, the tension and tightness, smile, come back
to your object of meditation. But because, there is some attachment,
the mind is going to go back to it. Every time you do this, you
treat it in the same way. You let go of the thoughts, relax, you
allow the feeling to be there, relax, come back to your object of
meditation.
As
you become more familiar with how this pattern works, then you’re
not going to be caught for quite such a long time with the thought.
You’re going to see this: “Ah, this is just this again, ok.” Let it
be, relax, let the feeling be, relax, come back to your object of
meditation. Every time you relax, you’re letting go of the craving,
and when you let go of that craving, your mind becomes pure. As you
see this pattern, arising and passing away, more and more clearly,
you stop identifying with it as: “This is my pain, and I don’t like
it.” You start seeing it as: “This is just this pattern, and it’s ok
for that pattern to be there.” Letting it be, relaxing, coming back.
Eventually, one of two things will happen: either that sensation
will go away, or, it won’t. I always like that. (Laughs) But if it
doesn’t go away, your mind is going to have such balance in it, that
it doesn’t even get distracted by it. It’s just there. It’s nothing.
So, you just let it be there. You don’t, direct your mind back to
the sensation, only when your mind gets pulled to the sensation, and
it becomes a true distraction, that’s when you work with it. If it
doesn’t pull your attention to it anymore, just let it be.
Now
this watching this whole process, you begin to understand more and
more clearly, how mind’s attention, moves from one thing to another,
and you start to see a lot of similarities: it doesn’t matter
whether it’s a sensation here, or a sensation here, or it’s a sound,
or it’s a, a thought; they all work in the same way. Doesn’t matter
whether it’s a mental feeling. It all works in the same way. As you
start to gain more and more of a sense of balance, and stop
identifying with that as being yours personally, and you start to
see this as all of these different little things that come together
to make this up, you start developing your wisdom.
TT:
50:23
I’m
giving you the definition of wisdom now. The definition of wisdom
is: seeing how mind’s attention moves, through the process, of
Dependent Origination. Now, I’ve already described Dependent
Origination, four or five different times already. It will become
more familiar, because you’re going to hear me say it, more than a
few times. (Laughs) That’s the, the thing about being a teacher, is
learning how to say the same thing over and over again. (Laughs) But
do it in a way that’s somewhat interesting.
Ok,
so that,
Repeats (the noble truth of the origin of suffering)
MN:
which
brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and
delights in this and that;
BV:
Now I’ve always kind of disagreed with this, because it only talks
about delight. Craving is part of: “This is a pleasant feeling and I
really like it.” They never talk about, the aversion. It’s the same
coin, different side. You treat aversion in the same way that you
treat lust. You treat desire in the same way that you treat pushing
away. That’s how you develop your equanimity. That’s how you develop
your balance of mind.
MN:
that is, craving for sensual pleasures,
craving for being, and craving for non-being. This is called the
noble truth of the origin of suffering.
BV:
So, actually, the noble truth, is all about suffering, but it’s
also, all about craving. You can say the second noble truth is: the
cause of the suffering is craving. The third noble truth is: the
cessation of suffering, is the cessation of craving. The way leading
to the cessation of suffering, is the way leading to the cessation
of craving. That’s how big, craving is. Now craving is not
particularly strong, but it is particularly persistent, because of
our old habit, of lifetimes, and lifetimes, and lifetimes, of
thinking that all of the things that ever happened to us, all of the
thoughts we had, all of the things that we ever did was: “This is me
personally.” In fact, this is part of an impersonal process, and you
see that through Dependent Origination.
MN:
22.
"And what, friends, is the noble truth of the cessation of
suffering?
BV:
This has always been kind of a funny thing, because monks, generally
realize that there’s two kinds of nibbāna. One is a mundane nibbāna;
one is a super mundane nibbāna. But they never teach it that way,
and, when laymen especially it they’ve been practicing meditation
for awhile, they hear that nibbāna is, the third noble truth is
about nibbāna; it’s about the cessation of suffering; it’s about the
cessation of craving. Every time, you relax, and come back to your
object of meditation, that’s the cessation of suffering. That’s the
cessation of craving, for a brief moment. You have to have these,
moments, stuck together, a lot, before you have a longer period of
time, where there is no craving, where there is, just the cessation.
But these are all, part of your everyday life. These are all part of
your mundane existence.
When
you, let go of the craving enough, when you have the third noble
truth happen enough, and I’m saying enough – fifty million times, or
a few billion times, or a few quadrillion times, depending on
situations, eventually, your mind will very much understand. Ahhh,
that’s your ah ha moment. All of the stuff that’s happening is part
of an impersonal process. It’s not me, it’s not mine, and I can let
go of that craving, and not identify with any of this stuff. And
that’s how the realization of the cessation of suffering occurs, but
you have to have many, many moments, of, letting it be, relaxing,
smiling, coming back. We’re still learners. Least I am. I don’t know
about anybody else. It’s, it takes a long time to realize, and you
really, deeply, truly, understand, that letting go of the craving,
is the key, to being able to see all of the links of Dependent
Origination, and letting them be, and experiencing nibbāna.
Now,
I, I’ve had some students that, are very, intelligent. I mean very
intelligent, and in just an short period of time, they are able see
this, but they’ve had many, other meditation experiences, they’ve
had many lifetimes of doing meditation, and then when they come and
they hear the Buddha’s teaching, bingo, that’s all they need. They
understand that, right straight away. I mean it’s disgusting how
fast they do it sometimes.
The
idea that there’s no sense in working for nibbāna now because you’re
not going to get to it in this lifetime, is not true. We’re only in
the middle of the Buddha sāsana, the Buddha’s teaching. It’s going
to last for another twenty five hundred years. This period of time,
from the time that he started teaching the Dhamma, until five
thousand years after that, when it fades away, this is called the
age of saints, because, when you become a stream-enterer, when you
become a sakadāgāmī, when you become an anāgāmī, when you become an
arahat, you are considered a saint. It’s not a group of people
deciding that you’re a saint. It’s your own deep understanding of
how Dependent Origination works. And that’s looking at it from a
macroscopic view, a very big view, and, a microscopic view,
understanding that this Dependent Origination is arising and passing
away all the time. Fast. Each thought moment.
And
it’s also, in this grosser form that they’re talking about here,
with birth, and of the coming in to being, and the death, and all of
that; it’s in the grosser form too, when you really begin to
understand that. That’s when you start letting go of the craving
more and more easily, you start seeing more and more subtle things
about the craving when it arises, and you’re able to let it go, much
more easily that way.
Now
there’s a, lot of talk, especially with laymen, but ah, also a lot
of monks that they talk about jhānas, and they say: “Well, the
Buddha was talking about jhānas a lot, and he was talking about a
pleasant abiding here and now.” But what’s the definition of a jhāna?
My definition of a jhāna is, that is your level of understanding, of
how the process of Dependent Origination works. See, as you deeper
into the jhāna, as you start seeing more and more finely how all of
these things really do work, and it’s just a level of your
understanding, that’s what a jhāna is, but over the years, it’s been
made into some kind of mystical magical state, and there’s a lot of
talk about gaining psychic powers by doing jhānas and these kind of
things, and yeah, that can happen, but that’s not the point of the
jhāna.
TT:
1:00:42
The
point of the jhāna is to truly understand how mind’s attention moves
from one thing to another, and seeing that through the eyes of the
four noble truths, and Dependent Origination. So this is a real
important aspect that an awful lot of people, ah, they don’t
understand. Jhāna to them is some kind of mystical magical
experience, bingo. And: “Look at how good I am. I can get into this
jhāna or that jhāna.” I don’t tell people what jhāna they’re in.
Doesn’t matter. Ah, my knowing about the jhāna, and you’re telling
me what your experience is, that helps me to be able to speak to you
at the level that you’re at, so you’ll understand what I’m saying.
Whether you know you’re in this jhāna or that jhāna doesn’t really
matter. It’s your level of understanding, that’s the thing that’s
most important. And that is the thing that directly leads, to the
cessation of suffering. That directs, that directly leads to the
super mundane understanding, without ever a doubt arising in you
mind again: “Yeah, this is the way it really works.” Nobody can
shake that from you. Nobody can, can say: “Well you say you, you
have this experience and you’re, you’re at this level of
enlightenment, but I don’t believe you. Nobody you, they can’t make
you have doubt arise, because you’ve seen this is how this process
and these patterns work, and you’ve seen it so many times, that
there’s no doubt that it’ll ever arise again.
Repeats ("And what, friends, is the noble truth of the cessation of
suffering?)
MN:
It is
the remainderless fading away and ceasing, the giving up,
relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of that same craving. This
is called the noble truth of the cessation of suffering.
23.
"And what, friends, is the noble truth of the way leading to the
cessation of suffering? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that
is,
BV:
Now, you’ve probably heard this, many times being a monk, and it’s
always: right this and right that. But I don’t, like that, so much,
because it doesn’t give you the true meaning of what the noble truth
is all about. When I start talking about the noble truths, I start
talking about the harmonious path. Harmonious perspective, right
view. When your perspective is in harmony, that means you’re not
seeing, taking anything as being yours, personally. You’re seeing it
with a perspective of, this is part of an impersonal process.
Now,
when I was telling you that today that I want you to laugh at how
crazy your mind is, why? Because it changes your perfect your, your
perspective, from: “I am these thoughts. I am this feeling.” To:
“It’s only these thoughts. It’s only these feelings.” See how
powerful that really is. Developing that wider mind, means that it
helps you to see where your attachments are more easily, and
attachment is always: “I am that. I am these thoughts. Eh, I am this
opinion. I am these concepts. This is who I am.” When you laugh at
that, all of a sudden your mind becomes light. And with that
lightness, you see the absurdity of, being caught with all this
other stuff.
So,
the next part of the eight fold path is, they call it right
intention here, they call it right thought in a lot of places. I
don’t like either one of those. I call it harmonious imaging. Now
the harmonious imaging, is bringing that image up into your mind, of
peace or calm or whatever joy or clarity, whatever it happens to be,
bringing that image up and putting that image in your heart. We have
the habit of bringing up a lot of images, ahhhh, criticalness of
ourselves, and these kind of things. We bring up a lot of negative
images in our, in our existence. But this is being able to recognize
that and the pain we cause ourselves by getting involved with that,
and letting that go and bringing up a more positive image.
Now
the word next part is called right speech, and I don’t like that, of
course. So I call it harmonious communication. Now the thing with,
the way the eight fold path is being taught these days, especially
in retreat, is the teacher will talk about the first two aspects of
the eight fold path, and then he’ll say: “Right speech, right
action, right livelihood, that’s only morality, you’re being moral
by being here, that, ah, so we won’t talk about that.” So they only
teach you a five fold path. But, when I started looking at, the
Buddha, when he gave his first discourse, he was talking directly to
the monks, about their practice, right then, right there. He wasn’t
saying: “Well, be moral.” He was saying: You have to learn how to
communicate, with yourself, in a harmonious way, to have a good
practice. You have to learn how to communicate, softly, gently, not,
throwing your mind around, not trying to block some things from
happening and, and wrestling with things. Learn to communicate with,
to yourself, with yourself, very gently, very nicely. Then you’re
following the eight fold path.
Now
right action, I call that harmonious movement. You don’t want jerky
movements in your mind, when there is a distraction. You want it to
be as slow. You want it to be like a dance. Very lightly, Don’t, try
to force anything from not happening, or to happen, but just be in
with flow, letting it be, relax, smiling, coming back. Then you get
to see, how mind’s movements, when your mind gets pulled away from
your object of meditation again, you’ll get to see how these
movements arose. Start becoming more familiar with that movement.
And being in harmony with the movement, means not fighting with any
kind of movement.
Now
the next one, I’ve always loved this one, they call it right
livelihood and they always talk about right livelihood as, not
selling any guns, not selling any poisons. And, and what has that
have to do with your practice, right here, right now? So I’ve
changed that a little bit, and I’ve said: “harmonious lifestyle.”
Develop the habit, of having a balanced mind. Develop the habit of,
helping other people when it’s appropriate, leaving them alone when
it’s not appropriate. It’s developing in yourself a lifestyle where
your mind will tend towards positive things, that tends towards your
own happiness.
TT:
1:10:20
Now
the next part, ah, they call this right effort, and I think this is
extremely misunderstood. But, ah, I call it harmonious practice,
because now we’re getting right down to the nitty-gritty of the
practice. What is harmonious practice? Harmonious practice is seeing
when your mind is, dwelling on something unwholesome. Anything that
pulls your mind away from your object of meditation is unwholesome.
Why? Because you’re identifying with it, with taking these thoughts
and feelings personally. So you let go, of that distraction, and
relax. You bring your attention, and you smile, back to your object
of meditation, and you stay with your object of meditation.
The
first part of the practice is recognizing that your mind is
distracted. Then the next part of the practice is releasing, then
relaxing, then re-smiling, then re-directing your attention back to
your object of meditation, and repeating. That’s six Rs. He, he, he,
wasn’t I sneaky? Oops I’m not supposed to use that word any more at
all, being sneaky? (Laughs) What, oh clever. Aren’t I clever? That
was it. (Laughs) Now that’s, that’s the correct kind of practice.
It’s not doing it too fast. It’s not doing it too slow. But it’s
recognizing, releasing, relaxing, re-smiling, returning, repeating,
just staying with your object of meditation. Keep smiling and
staying with your object of meditation.
Now
the next is called right mindfulness, and I always had a kick out
of, the definitions of mindful: “Well, just be mindful, that’s all.”
Mindfulness is, observing, the movements of mind, moment to moment.
Seeing what mind is doing. How is it doing it? Seeing this as being
part of an impersonal process. Seeing the patterns of the movements
of mind. Observing it. Not trying to control it. Just observing it.
Letting it be, relaxing, and then coming back.
Now
the next part of the eight fold path is called right concentration
and it’s always defined as: first jhāna, second jhāna, third jhāna,
fourth jhāna. But there’s not, same kind of jhāna that the Buddha’s
teaching, as what almost everybody else in the Buddhist world is
teaching. Most people are practicing a form of absorption
concentration, where your mind, goes on to your object of
meditation, and it stays glued there. Doesn’t move. But that doesn’t
go along with the rest of the eight fold path. The, eight fold path
is about watching the movements of mind, not, sticking your mind on
one thing to the exclusion of everything else. So, instead of
concentration, I call it collectedness. So it’s a harmonious
collectedness. And a collected mind is a mind that’s alert. It’s a
mind that’s still. But not so still that it doesn’t allow movement
to occur. It’s a mind that, is very calm, very tranquil, very alert.
And as you go deeper in your jhānas, you start seeing that
alertness, in finer and finer detail.
MN:
{right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right
concentration.}
24.
"And what, friends, is right view? Knowledge of suffering, knowledge
of the origin of suffering, knowledge of the cessation of suffering,
and knowledge of the way leading to the cessation of suffering—this
is called right view.
BV:
Basically that’s what I was saying, but I said it in different
words.
MN:
25. "And what, friends, is right intention?
Intention of renunciation, intention of non-ill will, and intention
of non-cruelty— this is called right intention.
BV:
So this is talking about directly, practicing your compassion, and
your Loving-Kindness.
MN:
26.
"And what, friends, is right speech? Abstaining from false speech,
abstaining from malicious speech, abstaining from harsh speech, and
abstaining from idle chatter—this is called right speech.
BV:
But, My definition’s a little bit deeper, and it has more to do with
the eight fold path, and what you’re doing in the, in the present
moment which is, any time, you, are critical of yourself, there is
aversion in your mind, and, we have a tendency to come down on
ourselves, be critical of ourselves, not like our selves because of
this or that, and that’s part of, the, ah, harsh speech. So you have
to learn how to communicate with, more love, more acceptance, more,
lightness in your mind.
MN:
27.
"And what, friends, is right action? Abstaining from killing living
beings, abstaining from taking what is not given, and abstaining
from misconduct in sensual pleasures—this is called right action.
BV:
It is being able to watch movements, and how they arise.
MN:
28.
"And what, friends, is right livelihood? Here a noble disciple,
having abandoned wrong livelihood, earns his living by right
livelihood—this is called right livelihood.
BV:
Isn’t that absurd? What does that have to do with your practice,
right here, right now? And I’ve already explained that.
MN:
29.
"And what, friends, is right effort? Here a bhikkhu awakens zeal for
the non-arising of unarisen evil unwholesome states,
BV:
He has enthusiasm, for the non-arising of unarisen evil states. How
do you do that?
S:
Wisdom?
BV:
(Laughs) ~ You stay on your object of meditation. You have
enthusiasm in staying on your object of meditation.
S: ~
BV:
Well, how, so how do you the non-arising of unarisen evil states?
You make effort. You arouse energy. You exert your mind, and you
strive. Now all of these words are about pushing, of trying really
hard. Don’t do it. Just simply observe. Just lightly, lightly.
MN:
and
he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives. He
awakens zeal for the abandoning of arisen evil unwholesome states,
and he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives.
He awakens zeal for the arising of unarisen wholesome states,
TT:
1:20:10
BV:
Coming back to your object of meditation.
MN:
{and
he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives.}
He
awakens zeal for the continuance, non-disappearance, strengthening,
increase, and fulfilment by development of arisen wholesome states,
{and
he makes effort, arouses energy, exerts his mind, and strives. This
is called right effort.}
BV:
Stay on your object of meditation as much as you can. That’s
basically all that it said.
MN:
30.
"And what, friends, is right mindfulness? Here a bhikkhu abides
contemplating the body as a body, ardent, fully aware, and mindful,
having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides
contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware, and
mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He
abides contemplating mind as mind, ardent, fully aware, and mindful,
having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides
contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware, and
mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. This
is called right mindfulness.
31.
"And what, friends, is right concentration? Here, quite secluded
from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states,
BV:
How are you secluded from sensual pleasures?
S:
Who, me?
BV:
No, I know you know it. When you’re sitting in meditation, you close
your eyes. The sensual pleasure of seeing is not there. You hear a
sound, as soon as you notice your mind went to that sound, you let
the sound be, you relax, you smile, you come back to your object of
meditation. It’s the same, with, your smell, with your tongue, with
your body, and with your thoughts. In other words, as soon as you
see that your mind has been distracted at any one of the sense
doors, you let that sense door be. You relax, you come back to your
object of meditation. That’s how you’re secluded from sensual
pleasures.
Secluded from unwholesome states means that you let go of the
hindrances when they arise. There’s five of them. Lust: “I like it.”
Hatred: “I don’t like it.” Sleepiness, dullness: “I’m sleepy. I’m
tired. I’m dull.” Restlessness, anxiety: “I feel like jumping out of
my skin.” Doubt: “I don’t know.” Now the one thing that, see all of
these have in common, is that when they arise, we identify very
strongly with the hindrance. And the reason that it’s a hindrance is
because, it takes your mind’s attention and it just, keeps it on
that thing, for however long. So, when you’re secluded from
unwholesome states, now one of the things with the hindrances, which
I’m going to talk about tomorrow, is, that the hindrances are by
far, your best friend. When they arise, they are saying: “Guess
where I’m attached?” Guess where I have these thoughts and these
opinions and these concepts, and I think they’re all me and they’re
mine.” So, when ever a hindrance arises, treat it like an old
friend: “Come on in. Let’s see how you arise.” What happens first?
What happens after that? What happens after that? How does this
pattern and process work? And you’ll see it backwards, because
what’ll happen is the hindrance will come up – you won’t even notice
it until you float away. And then, first, you let go of the
clinging, relax, then you see the feeling, and the tight mental fist
around the feeling, and you relax, and then you come back to your
object of meditation. As you do this over and over again, you start
seeing, little things arise more and more clearly. And as you
recognize, this is how that works, then you start letting go more
quickly. And this is how you overcome the hindrances, because as you
keep letting go of the hindrance, there’s no try to control. There’s
only, just seeing this as a process, and when that happens, the
attachment becomes less, and less, and less, until finally it just
fades away. That is how you get to experience jhānas.
And
every time a hindrance arises, it is your teacher. It is your best
friend because it’s showing you where your attachment is, and it’s
teaching you, how you hold on to that attachment, and, it’s teaching
you how to let go of attachment, if you treat it in the right way.
So, when a hindrance finally fades away, there’s a real sense of
relief, and when that happens, right after that, there’s a sense of
joy, very strong, very nice. It’s, uplifting, your, your mind if
very light, your body is very light. Don’t be attached. What’s that
mean? Ok, that’s a pleasant feeling. Let it be there, relax. Come
back to your object of meditation.
When
the joy fades away, and it will, then you will experience very
strong feeling of comfort in your mind and in your body. And that
feeling of comfort, the Buddha called, in Pāli, he called it sukha,
in English, we call it happiness. And as you feel more and more
comfortable, your mind becomes more and more tranquil, and more and
more peaceful. What I just described to you is the first jhāna, and
how you get into the first jhāna. You become secluded from, sensual
pleasures, and you become secluded from unwholesome states. And
letting go of those unwholesome states, the joy arises, and the
happiness arises, and the tranquility. And there’s different degrees
of this, and that’s what this book is talking about.
You
don’t need to know any more about that, right now. Just realize
that, there is no such a thing as a bad meditation, if, you use the
six Rs. Recognize a distraction, let go of the distraction, release.
Relax. Let go of the tension caused by the distraction. Re-smile.
Keep your mind light. Re-direct your attention back to your object
of meditation, and, continue. Repeat. Stay with your object of
meditation. Keep repeating when the, the feeling of Loving-Kindness
starts to go away, then you make another wish and help it get
stronger again.
Ok?
Easy, right? Sometimes. (Laughs) Other times, not so easy. A bad
meditation would be, that you notice that you’re thinking about
something, and you really want to stay involved in it.
S: ~
BV:
Ok, now you’re not meditating at all. You’re just caught by your
craving and your clinging and your all of habitual habits and that
sort of thing. You that that what you’re thinking about is more
important than being with your object of meditation, and it’s not
true. So the only time there is bad meditation, is when you neglect,
doing the meditation. A lot of people have these ideas that, ah, my
mind is very active right now, it’s lousy meditation, And it’s not.
It means you have to work. It means that you have to keep stay with
it, and keep trying to see its true nature of how this stuff arises,
but it’s good meditation, because every time you let it go, obs…
relax and you smile and you come back to your object of meditation,
you’re building your observation power a little bit at a time. So
the more that happens, the faster your mindfulness improves. And
with that, the meditation improves, and your understanding of, why
you’re meditating and how you’re meditating improves, and that’s
what the Buddha was real big on teaching. How, the meditation,
works. How, your mind works. As you go deeper into your meditation,
it gets more interesting. It gets real fun. And you can look forward
to that. Don’t push for it to happen, but, you can look forward to
that.
TT:
1:31:00
MN:
{a
bhikkhu enters upon and abides in the first jhāna, which is
accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and
pleasure born of seclusion. With the stilling of applied and
sustained thought, he enters upon and abides in the second jhāna,
which has self-confidence and singleness of mind without applied and
sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of concentration.
With the fading away as well of rapture, he abides in equanimity,
and mindful and fully aware, still feeling pleasure with the body,
he enters upon and abides in the third jhāna, on account of which
noble ones announce: 'He has a pleasant abiding who has equanimity
and is mindful.' With the abandoning of pleasure and pain, and with
the previous disappearance of joy and grief, he enters upon and
abides in the fourth jhāna, which has neither-pain-nor-pleasure and
purity of mind-fulness due to equanimity. This is called right
concentration.}
"This
is called the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of
suffering.
32.
"At Benares, friends, in the Deer Park at Isipatana the Tathāgata,
accomplished and fully enlightened, set rolling the matchless Wheel
of the Dhamma, which cannot be stopped by any recluse or brahmin or
god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world—that is, the
announcing, teaching, describing, establishing, revealing,
expounding, and exhibiting of these Four Noble Truths."
That
is what the venerable Sāriputta said. The bhikkhus were satisfied
and delighted in the venerable Sāriputta's words.
BV:
So. Now, is the time to maybe do some walking meditation to get, get
you body, ah, blood circulating a little bit, and then sit. Ok? I
gave you a lot tonight. Of course I give you a lot every night.
(Laughs) But if, if there’s some things that your mind questions or
begins to think about, don’t worry, you’ll get to hear it again in a
different way. You’ll start to understand. At first, it can be very
foreign, and, and very ah, almost like it’s disjointed, but it’s
not. And as we go thru the, the different suttas, you’ll, you’ll
start to grasp it more and more easily and more quickly. Ok?
So
let’s share some merit now.
May suffering ones, be suffering free
And the fear struck, fearless be
May the grieving shed all grief
And may all beings find relief.
May all beings share this merit that we have thus acquired
For the acquisition of all kinds of happiness.
May beings inhabiting space and earth
Devas and nagas of mighty power
Share this merit of ours.
May they long protect the Lord Buddha's dispensation.
Sadhu . . . Sadhu . . . Sadhu .
. .
Sutta text translation: (C) Bhikkhu Bodhi 1995, 2001. Reprinted from
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the
Majjhima Nikaya with permission of Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm
Street, Somerville, MA 02144 U.S.A,
www.wisdompubs.org
Text last edited: 01-Feb-08
Berlin-1 Apr 09
Bogor Dec 10
Vietnamese