I vow to taste the truth of the Tathagata's words. Evening. Please excuse me for being late. I'm sorry. Well, we might as well pick up where we left off last time. We did read two sutras last time. The Finger Snap and those of Kesaputta. And we're going to go on to the Magiya Sutta and the Sutra on the Parable of the Saw. And I forget, what did I say after that we were going to do? I have it written down somewhere, but does anybody remember?

[01:01]

Angolimala. Angolimala. Yeah, all right. Yes? The papers that I have do not have anything after the reviews because actually, thank you, sir. Yes. Yeah, so I believe that, Charlie, it's the case that you have a copy of the whole text, right? No, I do not. Oh, so... Whatever the syllabus was returning to you, the original... Right. Oh, I see. What I thought was going to happen was that somebody was going to make a copy of the entire thing. But you didn't. Okay. First I heard of it. Ah. We have it through page 14. Yeah. Oh, I see. Oh, well. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Yeah. We finished the case of Buddha. Oh, we didn't? Oh, I thought we did finish it.

[02:07]

Oh, yes, I see. That's right. I forgot. OK. Well, let me see now. How are we going to do this? Perhaps I could leave this. Well, the only trouble with it is that I've got all my... It's all messed up with my notes and everything. This copy. The other copy that you had was a fair copy. Right. That's the only trouble. But we gave that one back to you. Yeah, I know, but I didn't bring it tonight. So I could bring that next week. But that would mean that, you know... You've e-mailed the text. Yeah, I actually do have it, I think, on... Or fax it. Yeah. Charlie, could you call me up on Monday or Tuesday? Sure. On Monday. I'm away over the weekend, but on Monday, I'll figure out. I think that I can email pieces of the text and you can copy it from the email.

[03:16]

Yes? You could give it to Sue, because she'll come in to BPF. Or do that. OK. Yeah. I could give it to Sue. Yeah. Okay, if you call me though, remind me, because I fear that I'll forget. I mean, it's not that big a disaster, because even if you don't have any text at all, I'll just read it anyway. So, you know, it's not a big deal. But it would be nice to get it to you. We should make every effort to get it to you if we can. But the show would go on anyway. Yeah, I totally forgot that we didn't finish those of Kesaputta. So we'll start there. I did make a note here in the text exactly where we left off. So let's start. I'll very briefly summarize for those who weren't here last time. The Buddha comes to a town.

[04:19]

And the people in the town have a question for him. They say that many, many sages have been coming through town, one after the other, telling us their doctrines and denigrating the doctrine of the person who just was through before him or her. And we're confused about that. And we want to know how do you tell, when people are saying all these different doctrines that contradict each other, how do you know what's true and what's not? So the Buddha says to them, well, yes, you may well doubt in a case like that. I understand your problem. And he says, be not misled by report or tradition or hearsay. Don't be misled by proficiency in the collections, meaning the scriptures. nor by logic or inference, nor after considering reasons, nor after reflection on an approval of some theory, nor because it fits becoming, nor out of respect for someone who gives the doctrine.

[05:32]

Reject all those reasons as criteria, all those things as criteria for the truth. Instead, know for yourself the following. Those things that are unprofitable, meaning that they would lead to suffering and anguish. Those things that are blameworthy, that would be understood by anybody to be blameworthy. Those things that are censured by the intelligence, intelligent people. These things, when you do them, will produce loss and sorrow. So those things you should reject. So he shifts the ground of the conversation from sort of metaphysics and philosophy to conduct. And he says the only thing that's important is conduct, and conduct that creates suffering and confusion should be let aside.

[06:33]

And you will know for yourself, but you don't experience, what kind of conduct that would be. And then he engages in a dialogue with them in which he makes it clear that by checking with their own experience, they become clear in the dialogue with him that when they act out of greed or aversion, attachment, aversion or confusion, and their mind becomes attached to these states and these attitudes, they start acting in shabby ways and various bad things happen. So it's clear that the most important thing is not to ascertain which doctrine is true and which doctrine is not true. The most important thing is to understand one's own behavior and to know what causes suffering and what doesn't cause suffering. And this one knows for oneself, not by listening to someone else, not by inference, not by scriptures, not by anything other than one's own experience.

[07:41]

So, that's where we left off. The Buddha had just had that dialogue with the people of the Kalamas of Kesaputta. Now, the next part is the same dialogue, precisely the same dialogue, except in the reverse, from the reverse point of view. In other words, in the previous dialogue, the Buddha spoke about attachment, aversion, confusion as being states of mind that will lead to unprofitable actions and suffering. Now he's talking about actions that flow from the absence of attachment, the absence of aversion, and the absence of confusion. And he says when you have freedom from attachment, Does this turn out to be a happy state or a terrible?

[08:47]

Do happy consequences flow from this or bad consequences? And they said, the people, the Kurama's answer, well, it seems that good consequences will flow from that. And the Buddha says, exactly as he did before, only in the reverse, does a person then who is not overcome by attachment, not overcome by greed, having his mind under control, doesn't that person then cease from killing and stealing and breaking all sorts of moral rules? Isn't that right? When a person is free from this kind of attachment and greed, doesn't the person refrain from breaking all kinds of laws and precepts? And they say, yes, that's right, that's what happens. And then he similarly says, what about when a person is free from aversion? Does that person break precepts and want to harm others and do all kinds of nefarious things? No, that person doesn't. How about with regard to freedom from delusion or illusion?

[09:50]

Same thing. So, just so then, Kalamas, as to my words to you just now, Be not misled, etc., etc., by those who are proficient in scriptures, by logic, by inference, by an impressive person, etc., etc., but know for yourself these things are profitable, these things are unprofitable, these things bring happiness, these things bring sorrow. This is what I meant when I said that. Now you understand. Then he goes on to speak further. Now, Columbus, the person who is a disciple freed from grasping and malevolence, you know, basically grasping and shunting aside, the person is free from that,

[10:51]

who is not bewildered, but is self-controlled, in other words, peaceful and not, you know, irrationally flailing around in all directions, and mindful, with a heart possessed by goodwill, by compassion, by sympathy, by equanimity, that is widespread, grown great and boundless, free from enmity and oppression, So such a person who has these qualities abides suffusing one quarter of the world therewith, meaning likewise the second, third and fourth quarter of the world. So what he's saying, what he's doing here is he's suggesting to the Kalamas a practice, a way of practicing. He's suggesting that they, based on the absence of

[11:54]

attachment, aversion and delusion, that they further would practice the cultivation of a boundless goodwill, usually translated as loving kindness or metta, not translated and left in the Pali, metta, compassion, sympathy and equanimity. Sympathy meaning Literally, it means to be able to... It's the opposite of compassion. Not the opposite, but the other side of the coin of compassion. Compassion means when I confront someone who is suffering, I feel their suffering and I am sympathetic toward their suffering. Sympathy, mudita, means when I encounter a person who is joyful, I feel the person's joy and I share that joy as my own instead of being jealous or, you know, trying to somehow, oh, they're not really happy or, you know, somehow take away their happiness as is the natural human tendency.

[13:09]

If we see somebody doing well, we want to kind of like diminish that somehow. Instead of that, I will enjoy and be happy about that happiness. That's what this one means. And then the last one is equanimity. have an equally positive feeling as much as we can to everyone, people we are close to, people we're not close to, to try to have an equal feeling for everyone. So these are four very particular, and I'm sure many of you have heard of these four before, they're actually called something like the four unlimited abodes, because they are to be cultivated, just as he says here, suffusing all the directions you're supposed to work on in your meditation practice and in your conduct, the cultivation of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, boundlessly cultivating them and trying in your inner life and then also trying to put them into practice in your human relationships.

[14:19]

So this is a further step after you have realized that letting go of the attachment, aversion and confusion, then you can further develop your positive feelings in this way. So, these are, I recommend these practices. They're actually, you actually can do them. And they're very, really helpful to do these practices so that You know, on your cushion, it's possible to, when you breathe out, and there's many different kind of techniques for this, but to sort of sum them all up in a nutshell, to breathe in, with equanimity, and to breathe out, imagining as you're breathing out, a feeling of, that you're wishing happiness and goodness to everyone.

[15:27]

that each breath out is not just a physical breath, but it also carries with it your heartfelt wish that those you know, those you don't know, people in all directions, up, down, in all sides, all creatures would find happiness and release from suffering, would find safety, would find joy, would find, you know, ease in their living, that you would wish that with every exhale. And as I say, there are many specific techniques about this, but that's basically what it all comes down to. And then, if you did that, then the next time you saw somebody that you didn't like and you started having nasty feelings about them, you would notice, whoops, what am I doing? Here I just spent the last month cultivating loving kindness. in my meditation practice and look, I'm going around, how can I take myself seriously when I'm denigrating and feeling so nasty about that person? I better think about this a little bit more. I should either give up practicing loving kindness or recognize that I'm really kidding myself or try to see if I can actually manifest some loving kindness in my relationships.

[16:40]

And similarly, with compassion, cultivating compassion, a wish to actually, this is a hard one, actually the wish to take in another person's suffering, take it on, take it in, and wish deeply that it would be healed, even at your own expense. And then when you see people who are suffering, instead of, as we usually do, kind of ignoring them or rushing by them or saying, it'll be fine, it'll be fine, really feeling their feeling of suffering fully, taking it into ourselves and really allowing ourselves to be there with that uncomfortable feeling of their suffering and really do whatever we can, either just with our emotions or with some actual activity. to alleviate their suffering, and similarly with sympathetic joy, to go around and look for somebody who's doing well, you know, and think about their doing well, rejoice at their doing well, and think of it as your own.

[17:48]

benefit in your own joy just as good as if it happened to you that it happens to them. So actually I think one finds if you try to practice this way you really notice how much of the opposite tendency is present in you. In other words you get to see how common it is. that we, instead of loving kindness toward others, we have fear and loathing in relation to others. How common it is that instead of compassion toward others, we're really scared of other people's suffering and we really kind of want to avoid it. Instead of sympathetic joy for others' joy, we really and truly feel envious and jealous and, you know, want to denigrate and diminish their happiness. And far from having a feeling of equanimity toward all beings, there are some people we really like and then other people we really don't like, and a lot of times these things, as we see in the case of nations, sometimes the people that we like soon afterward become the very same people that we don't like, and vice versa.

[18:53]

So instead of that, you try to have, try to really express a kind of equality of feeling, and really feel an equality of feeling toward all people. These practices are basic and fundamental classical Buddhist practices of the old way. And although they're seldom, if ever, actually mentioned in Zen, classical Zen specifically, I think that they are practices that all of the Zen adepts of old would have digested before they came to their Zen monasteries to work on. the special insight that Zen temples in China would have been trying to cultivate, they would have done these practices beforehand. It would have been part of their background. It would have been something that they would have assumed and understood before they ever took up Zen. So these are, I believe myself, very, very useful, very fundamental practices and I recommend that you think about.

[19:57]

There are traditional, like, If you read the Visuddhimagga, The Path of Purity by Buddhaghosa, he has many pages on how to do these practices. But really, I think a lot of the ways that they did them many centuries ago are not as good as ways that you yourself would devise, getting the general idea, ways that you yourself would devise to practice these things in some systematic and ongoing and persistent way. So he's telling this to the Kalamas. Here they asked him, how are we supposed to know whether this guy is telling the truth or that guy is telling the truth and we're confused about doctrine. He's telling them now, practice loving kindness, practice sympathetic joy, practice compassion. That's really, if you want to know the truth, bring these things into your conduct and then you'll see in your living what's true and what's not true. At the end of his teaching of these things, he says to them, so if you do these things, these practices, and you really get good at them, you will attain four comforts.

[21:08]

There will be four benefits from doing this. And here's the four benefits. First of all, if there be a world beyond meaning after life, if there's life after death, if there be fruit and ripening of deeds done well or ill, in other words, if karma and rebirth is actually true, then when the body breaks up after death, I shall be reborn in the happy lot, in the heaven world. this is the first comfort the person attains. In other words, and this is really interesting actually because in many sutras, like you know, in the sutra, in many different times in the sutras where the Buddha's enlightenment is explained and described, it's always described that one of the things that he experiences on enlightenment night is that he sees his own past lives

[22:22]

and how one life led to another and how he is now where he is today in the past lives of every human being so in other words in that sutra as in many many other sutras the idea of karma and the ripening of karma karma in this life will lead to rebirth in the next life according to the karma of the past life this is axiomatic in buddhist sutras all over the place here however he's saying If that's true, he's not assuming that it's true, he's saying, should that be true? So it's interesting, it's as if he's saying that, don't get too literal about all these things that I was telling you about, these past lives, because that's not something that is necessarily true. It may be true, maybe it's not. But the point is that if you practice the Four Unlimiteds, there will arise in you a kind of serene confidence that whether or not there is such a thing, you're okay.

[23:32]

Yeah, yeah, right, right. It's like Pascal's famous thing about, well, who knows if there's a God or not, but in case there is, you better go to church. Because it doesn't cost you much and it would be a real lose if you didn't do it. So, but this is like a huge thing when you think about it because if you believe as I do that one of the great conditioning factors in human life is our fear of what's beyond this lifetime, which although we might not think about it very often, I think it's actually quite a factor in the way we live. None of us know where we're going or what happens when we die and so we may be a little worried about that either consciously or unconsciously. Wouldn't it be something to have a feeling inside that it'll be okay? I'm sure. Because of the way that I live and the way that my mind is and the way I've cultivated my mind, it's not that I think that this is going to happen or that's going to happen.

[24:37]

I'm not sure what's going to happen, you see, but I am confident that it'll be all right, because I can feel that in the course of the activity of my practice. So that would be quite a significant comfort, I think, in life, if one could be, in other words, fearless and confident in the face of death. That would be something. But that's only the first of the four comforts that would be the benefit of this practice. Second one is, if, however, there being a world beyond, If there isn't any such thing, no ripening fruit and ripening of deeds done well or ill, in other words, to do these practices is to accrue good karma, right? Goodness. If it's true that goodness will lead to happy births, then you're very confident that you're going to have a happy birth because look how good you've been. On the other hand, suppose that's not true at all. Then, you will know, anyway, that in this very life, I have held myself free from enmity and oppression, sorrowless and well.

[25:47]

So, even though here the Buddha is willing to entertain, maybe there aren't, the idea that maybe there aren't any past lives, but still in this lifetime, there'll be a kind of satisfaction and happiness, regardless of what you think happens afterward. that you will feel, and that's a comfort. Because I think, again, you know, we all, all of us, I think, suffer to some extent from the feeling of, well, I'm not so sure what a great person I really am. I'm not so sure what my life really amounts to. So to have the feeling that even though we're all limited in our own ways, still the life that I am leading and have led is a beautiful life used as well as this life could be used. That would be a great feeling to have. That would be great. And you will have that feeling, he says, if you practice in this way. Third, though as a result of action ill be done by me, yet do I plan no ill to anyone.

[26:54]

And if I do no ill, how shall sorrow touch me? This is the third comfort he attains. In other words, even if Inadvertently, I cause harm, which is very possible to do, even though you cultivate these good intentions and good wishes, you might cause harm. And when we cause harm, we become guilty and upset and oftentimes causing harm causes us to cause further harm. You cause harm, you feel bad about it, you have many ambivalent feelings about it, so then you get mad at somebody else and you cause more harm. And you go on and on causing harm because of the past harm that you've caused in this sort of deep-seated anxiety and self-denigration that comes from causing harm. This is like a very common thing in jails, where people constantly go out of jail and do crimes again because of the fear that they have inside of themselves that came from the fact that they've done crimes before.

[27:56]

That's why there's so much going back to jail. By the way, speaking of this, I heard today from a friend of mine who works in the jails, and I know Diana, you do this work, a lot of this work, I didn't know that at San Quentin they have a program called Man Alive. which is a program working with prisoners, including meditation practice, but many other things. A very thorough program that takes two years to complete. This is in San... Is it San Quentin? Maybe it's San Bruno. San Bruno, yeah, not San Quentin. At any rate, Martha, who works at that program, told me, I was astonished by this, that they have people who graduate from that program have an 80% less recidivism, 80% can you imagine, than people who don't. Because you go to jail and it makes much higher your chances of committing further crimes. Because the whole atmosphere only reinforces your feeling of your own badness caused by the harm you have really created.

[29:05]

and makes you do more harm. So here it's saying, if you should create harm, you won't have that problem. Because you'll know that you didn't intend it. Because you'll be so, so much aware of your intentions and so much would have cultivated positive intentions that if your actions should create harm, even, you know, huge harm, it's possible, we could create a lot of harm. You'll know that it was not due to your intentions and you'll feel confident that you don't have to worry or be upset about it. So the last one is, but if, as a result of action, no ill be done by me, then in both ways do I behold myself utterly pure. This is the fourth comfort he attains. But should it happen that I don't, and nothing bad does come from my conduct, then if so, much the better. Then I'll feel even better. So, he says this to the Kalamas. In other words, the burden of it is, here are these four practices. Please do them. If you do them, you'll have this kind of serene confidence about your life, and even perhaps about what happens after your life.

[30:11]

And thus, Kalamas, that disciple whose heart is free from enmity, free from oppression, untainted and made pure, in this very life attains these four comforts. So it is, exalted one, they answer him. So it is, well-farer. That disciple in this very life attains these four comforts and then they repeated all that had been said. They repeated the entire teaching that the Buddha just gave so that they, you know, indicated that they heard it. And I suppose in the original text this is all repeated verbatim, you know, again. Excellent, sir. We here do go for refuge to the Exalted One, to Dhamma, and to the Order of Monks. May the Exalted One accept us as lay followers from this day forth so long as life shall last who have so taken refuge. This text, yet again, and this is a theme that comes up many times in the Old Way Sutras, shows that the Buddha was really interested in conduct, how we live.

[31:28]

And conduct doesn't just mean, it can't be, our conduct, which is in a sense, I suppose our conduct is an outward thing, but our outward conduct cannot but be dependent on our inward So the Buddha really saw this, that there was a powerful and obvious and important connection between how we feel inside and what we do outside, and that we have to work on both of these things, and that working on those things is the most important human project. And that various speculations about what's true and what's not true are usually not worth engaging in. And many times the Buddha refused, as in this case. In effect, what he did is he sort of sidestepped their question. He said, look, it's not important what these people say, what's right and what's wrong. Don't worry about that. Believe only what you know yourself that flows from your conduct.

[32:31]

The truth is in the living of the truth. It's not in an abstraction of the truth. And in this case, he's saying the important thing about what's true is kindness, compassion, sympathy for others. Cultivating that is what's most important. So that's the sutra called those of Kesaputta. It's a nice sutra, don't you think? Very uplifting. What do you want to say about it? Yes. Well, I think it's just a wonderful sutra. Yeah. Because it's and it's specific. And then at the end, what's interesting for people who are not actually monks, is that this whole group of people, tribesmen or clansmen, said,

[33:36]

Excellency, are we here to go for refuge? Yes. They become Buddhists, right? They take refuge and become Buddhists. Please accept us as lay followers. And it's significant also, as you're indicating, that he's giving this teaching to them, because this is a teaching that they can practice. It's not something complicated or requiring a monastic life. They can do this in the context of their lives. a straightforward language. Yes. And full of practical things like mindfulness and practice, things like that. That is in the Theravada. It would be in Theravada. Sure, yeah, of course. This is in the Theravada canon, yeah. I think this is very interesting, that there's a whole way Yeah, right, that's in effect what it is, yeah.

[34:44]

Yeah, thank you for that. Are there other comments or questions? Ideas? Thoughts? Well, I know that in Soto Zen our practice is bodhidharma's practice to face the wall and just sit. But I think it would be okay if you wanted to take up the practice of metta or some practice like tonglen, which is a compassion practice. And what I often advocate to people is that they, first of all, the recognition that if you really think about the fullness of Dogen's concept of Zazen, if you really read carefully and think carefully about the Dharma talks that you hear in our tradition coming from Dogen's idea, you will soon realize that sitting

[36:05]

facing the wall, being present, breathing, with the faith that you are already Buddha, includes all these practices and is really not different from them. And Bhogan himself indicated this very thing. Therefore, I think trusting, this is how I look at it, trusting this basic practice and always returning to it and using it as the fundamental basis, I think it would be all right, in my opinion, for you to begin your sitting practice with posture and breathing, calm your mind, be present, and then introduce, if you wanted to, some other practice like loving-kindness or tonglen or whatever it may be, and then after doing that for a while to return. But it's not sufficient to practice these things only on your meditation cushion. The point of doing it on your meditation cushion is so that you would also do it in the context of your relationships.

[37:11]

And it's a challenge because one, you know, often you become quite impressed, as I said earlier, with the extent to which you are defending yourself and thinking, well, loving kindness is fine, but not now. Not here, not with her, not with him, not in this situation. This is real life, not loving kindness now. You start, you see that, you think that way, and then it's a challenge to really let go so much that you could really be loving and you could really be free. This is some kind of a human ideal that I think is attainable, we need to be patient with ourselves along the path of it, but I believe it's possible and it's worth a try. Because actually being stuck in our self-defensiveness and fear and so forth is not that much fun. It doesn't help that much.

[38:12]

So, yes? Hmm. Well, I think it's actually pretty similar. I think most traditions that I'm aware of similarly teach love and loving-kindness and non-harming of others. Yeah. I read something about St. Francis in a CD this morning. Is it? Yeah. Yeah, I've heard many people say that. I think the advantage of Buddhist practice is just that, and I'm not that familiar with other traditions, but my impression is that

[39:15]

there are more practical techniques and approaches in Buddhism. Because they've been shared and universal throughout Buddhist history, they become more and more focused and more and more clear, whereas other traditions, the path toward this sort of thing is more various. the practice of St. Francis is different of the practice of St. Ignatius of Loyola, which is different from the practice of Julian of Norwich and so forth, you know, so that there are many different, but whereas in Buddhism all the great sages in various, will teach the four, so therefore it becomes very focused and very clear and very much repeated and so it becomes, I think, quite a useful tool. But personally, it seems to me that a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim or anybody, regardless of their religious belief, could say, well, you know, these Four Unlimited Abodes are actually quite in line with my ethical teachings of my tradition, and I think I would do well to practice them so that I could be a better Christian, so that I could follow the Ten Condemnments, so that I could imitate Jesus and love people the way He did.

[40:28]

This would help me to that. And then there are people who do practice these things in the context of other traditions, of course, yeah. Part of this is something that you and I have talked about before, but I think that two things. One, that a great challenge in practicing these four practices in everyday life is finding the way for it to come forth in all kinds of routine, relationships, changes in a way that does not put people off. It becomes very much a course of the way you're doing business and the changes that take place. I guess that's the hard part of it. Yes, yes. Well, I'm glad you bring that up, yeah. That's important, important. And with the good fortune of people who will say, well, that sounds wonderful, but I haven't a clue what you just said.

[41:33]

And getting that response and helping to kind of hone the reflective and then the responsive, the appropriate response to those circumstances, to the audience and the people you're sharing whatever. Yes, yes. This is how you come forth. that I've been fortunate to experience is, as you work through this, and people kind of get used to you in some ways, but it resonates where there are different belief systems, whether it's faith practices or wisdom practices or whatever, and there's a wonderful heart connection that they can carry over into the work of the mind and the work of the hand. that really is very sustaining and it helps open people to truth, to candidness, to being more receptive, to criticism and exchange and working together in different circumstances.

[42:35]

Yes, and I think that's very true that in a way We have to translate these teachings in a practical way into, because it's not, it might not be quite obvious how we can practice universal loving kindness, let's say if we're an attorney working in a big law firm. Now, I completely am sure that to say it's not possible to do it in a big law firm as an attorney is not really correct. It is possible. But there's a translation job. You have to figure out how to do it, just like you're saying, A. Robin, how to do it in a way that in a way that it's expressed through the language system, through the social system of that particular setting. Because if you try to express it in some way that doesn't coincide with that setting in that language system, it's totally misunderstood and ineffective.

[43:35]

So that's the trick. And that's not easy. But it's quite a wonderful effort to make. And it makes everything in our lives much more lively when we feel that all these things are vehicles for our practice. There may be many difficulties and problems with it, but it's quite interesting to try to figure out how to do it, as you well know. And one of the messages that I think can potentially come forward is one of integrity. Yes, yes. And then that... and credibility helps you be more effective. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yes. I have a... I think I have a different experience of Ramana Bharata practice than what I think I'm hearing being described. In my experience, it's rather like how having sat Zazen for a period of time changes how I am in the world, where I can be more present, more mindful with people, more open, less stuck on my opinions with people, and it's not so much about putting out a particular attitude or way

[44:46]

or ideas to people or the words that I choose expressing that explicitly is more how I carry myself. My experience in the times that I've done metta practice or equanimity practice intensively is that I actually, when I'm very much in touch with those practices and some people here probably know there's a real systematic way of holding specific phrases towards oneself. close to and automatically have those warm feelings for, all the way to people that you have aversive feelings for. But I actually am more open-hearted and more loving, more even and balanced, just from having been doing the practices. So it's not so much that I have to choose words or think about how to translate them. There's something in how I am when I'm very much in touch with those practices that speaks for itself. Yeah, that's wonderful. That really makes sense to me. Thank you. Yeah.

[45:50]

Let's take a short break, and then we'll go on to the next text. ...as wide as the world, and they're widely available, and very good books. So, the Magia Sutra. Which is the next one? I think we have figured out how to get the next text to you. Maybe we'll go maybe five minutes past nine tonight, because I came late. Is that okay with you? Just a few minutes. Well, as my little introduction indicates, why I chose this particular sutra and why it's... All these sutras, you know, as I was saying to you, what's your name?

[47:04]

Andrea. To Andrea. This is a very particular kind of selection and every sutra I selected for a particular reason. There's many, many, many, many sutras in the Pali Canon. They're all worth reading, but the reason I made this selection is I figured it's too much for most people to read, and so if people wanted to read a particular selection, it would be nice to have one, so I made this. But I chose each sutta for a particular reason. So sometimes the reason was because it gave teachings that were particularly important. But sometimes the reason wasn't so much in the teachings per se, but in the way that you get a feeling for the Buddha's personality and his activity, how he acted and how he was as a person. So in this sutra you really get a feeling for how Buddha handled his disciples. And that's one reason why I chose it. And the other reason why I chose it is that In this sutra, the Buddha emphasizes something that I think is very, very important in our practice, but not so often mentioned this directly, and that is the importance of our practice relationships and how key they are in our spiritual development.

[48:21]

And that's another point that this sutra makes very beautifully. And so that's the second reason why I chose it. And so, thus have I heard, on a certain occasion, the Exalted One, meaning the Buddha, was staying at Kalika on Kalika Hill. Now, on that occasion, the Venerable Magya was in attendance on the Exalted One. Ananda usually was his attendant, but I guess Ananda was on a trip somewhere. So, Meghia was taking care of the Buddha, and they were in close proximity to each other. It's not, well actually it is clear, as we'll see in a moment, that it seems that Meghia, the Buddha is traveling with Meghia, and there's just the two of them.

[49:22]

They're going somewhere probably, as wandering, And they would often, as we said last time, the monks would wander in groups, large or small. One group would meet up with another group and they would travel together for a while. Here in this case, here, it's just the two of them. Then the Venerable Maitreya came to the Buddha and on coming to him, saluted him and stood at one side. As he thus stood, he said to the Buddha, I desire, sir, to enter Chon Tu village for alms quest. So this is the formality of how, even though there's just the two of them. the code of conduct of the order was such that the Buddha was accorded this kind of respect and formality and I think it was... we think of formality as a distancing function. We think of social formalities as being militating against intimacy.

[50:27]

But I have the feeling from reading these sutras that the formality in the Buddhist Sangha was the opposite, that it actually provided a way of expressing regard and intimacy, at least at its best it would do that, a way of giving people a way to express respect which would then allow them to do so and would also increase in their feeling of intimacy and respect by virtue of doing, you know, kind of ritualized actions that would express that. Anyway, that's what happens here. Magia, even though there's just the two of them and maybe they're outside under a tree probably, you know, on the road, still Magia bows and stands to one side to ask his question. And the Buddha says, do whatever you think it is time for, Meghia. A beautiful response. So that, in effect, Meghia is saying, I'm asking permission to go beg for alms, probably on behalf of both of them, and the Buddha

[51:43]

acknowledges his kindly asking for permission and says, you should, you know, I trust you to do whatever you think is right. Sahaja Venerable Nagiya, robing himself in the forenoon and taking bowl and robe, entered the Jantu village in quest of alms food. And after questing for alms food, there returned after his rounds, and after eating his meal, went toward the bank of the river Kamikala and on reaching it, while taking exercise by walking up and down and to and fro, he saw a lovely, delightful mongo grove." Well, this is how the monks would exercise. They would walk up and down. And especially if there was a nice river, they would walk up and down by the river. It seems as if wearing the robe was a very important part of the practice.

[52:46]

And when you wore the robe, you had to, therefore, comport yourself in a way that was in accord with the wearing of the robe. So you couldn't like lift weights or things like that or go jogging because it would be unseemly to be wearing Buddha's robe and be jogging along wearing sneakers. So to this day, and you were always supposed to wear the robe. You were not supposed to be dressed in anything else other than the robe. So to this day, Theravada monks get their exercise by walking up and down. They walk because they can't run and they can't go to gyms and stuff like that because they have to wear their robes. And even though in Zen, We don't wear our robes all the time. I think similarly, when we're wearing the robe, we're supposed to behave as if we were a person worthy of wearing the robe. And so therefore, wearing the robe, there are certain kinds of ways we wouldn't carry ourselves or things that we wouldn't do or ways we wouldn't treat or move our body.

[53:54]

by wearing the robe. And similarly in Zen, even more so in Zen actually, the robe is venerated almost as a cult object in Zen. Even the Raksu is considered to be the Buddha's own garment borrowed by us temporarily. So that's why he's walking up and down to get his exercise. And mango groves are delightful. I don't know if you've ever seen mango groves, but they are quite delightful because mango trees are very beautiful and they seem to encourage a sort of a soft, open kind of ground underneath them, at least the mongo groves that I've seen are like that. So, it's easy to see how someone spying a mongo grove could think, oh boy, that is a great looking mongo grove, I feel like hanging out in there for a long time. So, that's apparently what Magee was feeling. So, he thought, truly lovely and delightful is this mongo grove.

[54:57]

And, of course, being a monk well-trained, you know, the first thing you would think of when you saw this great mongrel grove is, what a wonderful place this would be to practice meditation. This would be a great place for meditation. If the Buddha lets me do this, I will come here to this mango grove and I will practice meditation right here in this mango grove. This is a great place. I'm going to rush back right now to the Buddha and see if he will let me do this." So he goes back to the Buddha, sits down at one side and he said, and as he sat thus, he told the Buddha of his find and what he thought and all about it, just repeated, you know, I'm sure, exactly what it says in the previous paragraph. And he said, if the Exalted One gives me leave, I would go to that mongrel grove to strive for concentration. Now, the Buddha, I would say, you could read between the lines here, but not very hard to do, to see that the Buddha is not thinking that this is a great idea for Maitreya to go to this mongrel grove and strive for concentration.

[56:08]

But he doesn't say that. Instead, he says, wait a little, Magia. I am alone till some other monk arrives. Don't go yet. Please stay with me for a while. When someone else comes to relieve you of your duties as my attendant, then you can go. Now, there's two things about this that I think are important, as the rest of the sutra will show. First of all, I think maybe the Buddha thinks that Maitreya is not quite ready for meditation practice at that level of intensity yet. He needs to wait a while. That's one thing that may be in the Buddha's mind. But the other thing that may be in the Buddha's mind, and I think the rest of the sutra will make this clear, is that more important than meditation practice and cultivation is dharma relationship. So, in other words, if Maitreya had really been thinking about the Dharma, he would have seen that this was not the time to meditate when he was alone attending on the Buddha, that he should have waited until really his services were not needed, that the relationship was, many people else were there and it was just the right time.

[57:32]

So the Buddha, I think, was very gently trying to teach him this, and also, perhaps, indicate that he wasn't quite ready. Maybe that's why he wasn't ready, because he didn't really understand this point. Anyway, he said, wait a little bit. But Maitreya was a very enthusiastic fellow. And he pressed the point. Now, this is interesting that he would do so because you would think, well, the Buddha, you know, somebody's going to, like, you know, contradict the Buddha. Especially a youngster like Magi is going to, you know, the Buddha is by now maybe an older man and maybe Magi is like 20 years old. But he's called vulnerable. Is that just because he's... Well, that's just the technical term for a monk. Yeah. Right. It doesn't mean he's old. Yeah, yeah. No, no, he's not an old person. He's young. He's young. So it's actually kind of wonderful that, and just kind of gives you an idea about the Buddha Sangha that, and throughout the sutras you see that, that people don't always pay attention to the Buddha.

[58:40]

They don't always agree with him. They don't always, they're always respectful. They're always polite, but sometimes they don't go along with the Buddha's suggestions, because the Buddha is always making suggestions. He's never laying down laws. He's always making suggestions, which he assumes that he and the person in question have the same interests at heart, which is awakening, And that's the person's commitment, that's his commitment. The suggestions he's making are for the purpose of awakening. And he's assuming that people, given that, will take his suggestions. So he doesn't need to make orders and be authoritarian. He only makes suggestions, which usually they follow, but as in this case, they don't always follow. So Maitreya says to him, well, but you see, it's not fair because you, Buddha, have nothing more to be done in the way of meditation.

[59:41]

You have already, through your meditation practice, achieved awakening, you see? But that's not true for me. I have a lot of work to do in meditation, and I shouldn't be wasting time. So, I can see where you might think that meditation wouldn't be necessary now, but I have a sense of urgency about this, so I'm asking you again, please, if you would give me permission, I will go to the mango grove to strive for concentration." And the Buddha again replied, well, Meghia, wait a little bit. I am alone till some other monk arrives. But Meghia still, so he could have thought, well, again he says no. Or doesn't say no, but he sort of says it's not a good idea. But Meghia a third time asks, And the third time, the Buddhist says, well, Meghia, you know, what can I say?

[60:43]

What can I say? How am I going to forbid you to meditate? You know, after all, here I am trying to get everybody to meditate night and day, and you want to meditate, so, I mean, how can I deny you this? Do what you think is time for, Meghia. So it's up to you. In the end, it's really up to you, whatever you think. I mean, I tried to tell you what I thought, but okay, whatever you think. So, the Venerable Maitreya rose from his seat, saluted the Exalted One with his right side, and went away to that mongrel grove, and you can imagine he went rapidly. And on reaching it, he plunged into it, and sat down for the midday rest at the foot of a certain tree. And he started to meditate, and he was very excited about this meditation. Now, as the Venerable Maitreya was staying in that mongrel grove, sitting there meditating, there came habitually upon him three evil, unprofitable forms of thought.

[61:54]

In other words, distractions from the meditation that made it impossible for him to sit there meditating. The word evil is unfortunate here. It doesn't mean he was thinking of murdering somebody or something like that or blowing somebody up. This just means that his mind was, maybe he had such thoughts, I don't know, but the point is his mind was distracted with thoughts lustful, malicious, and harmful. So that he was unable to meditate, that he was really, you know, sitting there in a state of shock that such thoughts were running through his mind and he was unable to pay attention. So, what a wonderful reaction he has to this, you know. The rest of us would probably be full of self-loathing and, you know, I don't know what, you know, disappointment, and anger, and frustration, and all kinds of things, mad at ourselves, and how come, oh my god, I came all the way to Thailand to meditate, and look what happens, you know.

[62:58]

That's how we would be thinking, you know. But Nagina is so wonderful, you know. He says, isn't this strange? This is really something. This is a wonderful thing. It's amazing. It's an amazing thing. But here I am, a monk who gave up everything and took these vows and I, you know, I just, I have, I don't possess nothing, I'm just a robe and I'm totally committed to the homeless life. And finally I get in this beautiful mongol group to meditate and isn't it something? That what would happen is I'd sit there and meditate and the only thing that would happen is I'd have lustful, malicious harmful thoughts. Isn't that something? I should run right away and tell the Buddha about this amazing, amazing occurrence. So he sat there all day in a state of wonderment at the mess that his mind was. I mean this is so interesting that he thought that he was a very good and holy monk.

[64:04]

He probably had never meditated before. Because I suppose if you have the robe on and you do the right things, right? And especially you go around and beg for alms, and people give you alms, and they look at you like you're a holy monk. You can think, wow, look at this. This is really great. I'm really a holy monk. I can hardly wait to meditate. Then you go to meditate. You sit down and say, boy, that's amazing. Here I thought I was this holy monk. And it turns out that this is really quite spectacular. I'm going to go see what the Buddha thinks of this. So he goes and he runs back to the Buddha. And he tells the Buddha exactly this whole thing, and he says, I thought this is strange, this is wonderful, in truth, that I should be so assailed by these thoughts. Now, the Buddha now, as is often the case in these sutras, the typical sutra is, there's a little story, something like this happens, which is an occasion for the Buddha to give a teaching

[65:07]

which is very particular to the situation, to the person that he's talking to. And not all, but many, many of the sutras are like that. And these little stories, which in a sense are not the meat of the sutra, are actually quite important. And actually just the very idea that the Buddha taught, not a pre-ordained curriculum, but teachings that would always be in response to the condition of a person's heart and circumstances. That in itself is quite interesting. So that's what happens here, and the Buddha is about to launch into a teaching that is good for all of us, and particularly good for Meghia. So he begins by saying, Nagiya, when the heart's release is immature, five things conduce to its maturity. Now, the heart's release means nirvana.

[66:14]

It's a wonderful translation for nirvana. And I don't know what words are used in the original text in Pali whether it just says nirvana or what it says or whether it literally says the heart's release but there's no doubt that that is as this is a synonym for nirvana and it's a wonderful thing to contemplate that the goal of it's a good way to think about the goal of the practice in classical Buddhism and for us too is the heart's release that the heart would be open and free of all that constricts it and makes our feeling twisted and small. The heart being open, the heart being free, the heart being released of constriction. That is the goal of the path. That's the point of meditation practice.

[67:17]

He's saying to Miguel, when you have not yet been able to affect the heart's release, when even the path toward the release of the heart is as yet still quite immature, there are five things that will conduce to its maturity. What are the five things? First, a monk has a lovely intimacy. A lovely friendship, a lovely comradeship. Isn't that wonderful? The first thing for the path toward the heart's release, the first thing is a lovely friendship, a lovely intimacy, a spiritual companionship. When the heart's release is immature, this is the first thing that conduces to its maturity. That's why the Buddha said, stay a while, don't go yet. Because this is the first thing, is our relationship and our friendship and our mutual trust is the first thing.

[68:22]

Because based on that relationship, based on that trust, you meditate. But that trust needs to be there. So then again, Meghia, a monk is virtuous. This is the second thing. A monk is virtuous. A monk abides restrained with the restraint of the obligations, meaning the precepts. A monk is perfect in the practice of right behavior, sees danger in trifling faults, undertakes and trains himself or herself in the ways of training. When the heart's release is immature, Meghia, this is the second thing that conduces to its maturity. That means, so ethical conduct. Following precepts, not causing harm, caring your behavior, is the second thing necessary for the heart's release. The third thing, As regards talk that is serious and suitable for opening up the heart and conduces to downright revulsion, to dispassion, to ending, to come, to comprehension, to perfect insight, to nibbana, that is to say...

[69:31]

Now, this language at the beginning there, again, you know, these words, I think, are a little objectionable and take us off the point. Language that leads to downright revulsion, to dispassion, is, I wouldn't translate it like that, I would say, in other words, talk that causes us to let go of our attachment, let go of our aversion. so that our passions don't get the best of us. It doesn't mean that we should be bloodless, you know, boring people. It means that we should just not be so stuck on our needs and desires. So, the way you talk will condition them. So pay attention to the way you're talking. Talk in such a way, talk about wanting little, about contentment, about solitude, about avoiding society, about putting forth energy for practice. Talk about virtue, concentration of mind and wisdom. Talk about release, knowledge and insight of release.

[70:36]

Such talk as this, the monk gets at pleasure without pain and without stint. When the heart releases a mature magia, this is the third thing that conduces to its maturity. So the third thing is our speech practice. What comes out of our mouth, because how we speak conditions how we think, conditions how we act, conditions how our life goes. So speak with kindness, speak of things that are tending you in the direction of your spiritual cultivation. Don't speak of things that are tending you in the direction of letting go of that cultivation. That's very important. That's the third thing. Fourth, a monk abides resolute in energy for the abandoning of unprofitable things, for the acquiring of profitable things. He is stout and strong in effort, not laying aside the burden in things profitable when the heart's release is immature. This is the fourth thing that conduces to its maturity. So that's the fourth thing, is to put forth energy, strong energy for practice, taking up what's worthwhile, letting go of what's not.

[71:43]

And finally, the last of the five things, insight. Insight that goes on to discern the rise and fall. In other words, a deep appreciation of impermanence. with the Aryan noble that means penetration, which goes on to penetrate the perfect ending of ill. When the heart releases a mature Magia, this is the fifth thing, and these are the five things that conduce to its maturity. So first is a lovely relationship, second is cleaning up your act, you know, so your conduct doesn't create distractions and confusions in the mind. Third, your speech is careful and in accord with your commitment to practice. Fourth, you make strong effort to practice. And fifth, you have insight into the nature of impermanence. These five things you need to mature your path toward the highest release. So maybe we'll stop there for now and we'll finish the last little bit of the sutra next time.

[72:51]

So I think we better not talk anymore, because it's after nine. And I have to stay awake while driving home. So next week, we'll see you again. Yes? Thank you very much for coming. And again, I apologize for having been late. I hope you were well occupied breathing and sitting while I was being late. It's actually the commute from Marin to over here is quite different. You never know what's going to happen. And it was really something today. Was that what it was? Yeah. Oh, it was really quite remarkable, actually, today. Did you? Yeah. So, thank you very much. lings are neverland.

[73:59]

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