Question & Answer #201: from Thinking about the Future to Karma as Incidental Retribution

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Language: en
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Okay then.
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Hello and welcome to question and answer
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number 201.
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I am your host Po Bosa. And 201 is not a
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prime number. It is in fact 3 * 67.
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And I got to put the little paper
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umbrella back into the beverage.
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Introduce the beverage. Don't want you
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guys thinking I'm uncouivilized.
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Don't use paper umbrellas in my
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beverages. Now I throw it away again
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because we're having kind of some
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technical difficulties and I've been
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look investigating into the cause of
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said technical difficulties and uh
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according to Grock
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what's happening is
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uh I've got either a sample rate
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mismatch or a performance issue with the
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CPU overload causing encoding lag. And
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that does seem to be what's probably
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happening because my CPU once it gets up
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to about 50% in fact I think it's
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lagging a little bit even now it's at
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28% my CPU it's like you know the the
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brain of my computer is at 28% I guess
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of capacity
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and it causes a lag so that my voice and
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the movement of my mouth are not in
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sync.
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But I have a little bit to say about
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that on like a a philosophical plane
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that's going to come up here before I
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actually start answering questions.
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So, I seem to remember that right as I
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was ending the Q&A last weekend that it
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was like two people got some questions
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in right at the last minute as I was
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ending it and I didn't notice. And so
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then I like apologized in the the
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comments under the Q&A and said I'd
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answer the questions next time, which is
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now. But it turns out that there's only
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one un unanswered question at the end
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now. And I don't know if the other un
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unanswered question disappeared or not
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because some of the comments in the chat
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did in fact disappear.
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It's just all kinds of weirdness go on
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when I make these videos. Disappearing
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comments, lag between sound and mouth
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movement. Um, recently I had a few
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videos where it sounded like I was
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talking from the bottom of a well. Just
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the the audio just stopped working. I
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had to delete my video processing
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software and upload like an updated
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version of it just to get it to work
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again. I hope it's working now.
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And before I started using OBS,
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I was using the default uh video
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recording software on the computer. And
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it was there was one time I had to
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record the entire Q&A three times
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because it said it was recording. You
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know, you see the little clock going,
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all that stuff. Looked like it was
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recording. Said it was recording. And
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then I get to the end,
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didn't record.
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So, my recording of Q&A videos has been
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just as a I mean, as just a regular
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occurrence, there's all this technical
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difficulty stuff coming up that
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I I'll have a little bit more to say
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about it in a minute.
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But first,
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um, it seemed like the live stream went
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pretty well last weekend and despite the
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the lag that's wanting to happen now,
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the CPU is up to 52%.
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I don't know. I mean, should I talk
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slower? I don't know. I should probably
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just get a new computer that's got more
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oomph to it.
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This is a relatively old computer. So, I
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think probably next year after I'm
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richer than I am now with my new job,
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I'll just buy a computer that has more
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guts to it.
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But, as I was saying, the Q&A worked. It
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seemed to go pretty well, and I'm
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getting used to it now. So, I may start
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doing Q uh live stream Q&As's uh more
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frequently in future, but it seems to me
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that 2:00 PM American Eastern time
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probably is too late because I have a
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lot of people who watch my videos in the
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Eastern Hemisphere
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and they were like going to bed. They're
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like saying good night everybody, you
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know, in midafter afternoon my time. So,
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I suppose I should probably
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if I do live streams in the future,
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maybe like around noonish.
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I'll let you know before it happens, but
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I think around noon would be possibly
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ideal. I get up earlier now because I
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have to get up at the god ungodly hour
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of like 4:00 to go to work now. And it
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looks like it's not going to be getting
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any better soon.
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I mean, that's 4:00. Guess I' I mean
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there have been many more times I've
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gone to bed at 4:00 than getting up at
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4:00. I would much prefer I mean if I
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had my brothers, which I don't, but I
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would prefer to go to bed at 4:00 a.m.
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rather than get up at 4:00 a.m.
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But it's the curse of Adam. We must get
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up at 4:00 a.m. and uh earn our bread
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through the sweat of our brow and all
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that.
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So, let's see here.
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Oh, we're getting back to what I was
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threatening you that I was I was going
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to get back to, and that is certain
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philosophical reflection on the
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technical issues that have plagued my
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channel, especially these Q&A videos.
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Like I've told you before, it's like a
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lag between, you know, the audio and the
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video aren't in sync
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or a few videos in a row. Just recently,
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it sounded like I was talking from the
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bottom of a well because the the audio
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soft or the the video like processing
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software just the audio just died. I had
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to like delete the the software and
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upload like a different version of it.
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Before that, I was using completely
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different um audio record or video
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recording software that sometimes didn't
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work at all. On one infamous occasion, I
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had to do the same Q&A three times
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before it finally recorded. It said it
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was recording and everything, didn't
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record.
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And
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to me, doing these videos is a kind of
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spiritual practice. You know, it's like
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I'm directing my mind towards
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dharma in a way that I usually don't at
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other times. You know, just being
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mindful or spontaneously oming or
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refraining from killing and lying and
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stealing and and all that sort of stuff.
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I mean, that's just kind of chronic a
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kind of uh baseline dhamma practice, but
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when I'm doing these Q&A videos, it's
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more overt. You know, it really is a
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significant spiritual practice for me
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and possibly for some of the people that
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listen. And because I view these videos
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through a kind of spiritual lens, at
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least a philosophical one, then my
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philosophical view that everything has
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to remain in balance. You know, for
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every positive, you have to have a
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corresponding negative just to keep the
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cosmos in balance.
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So you've got goodness, you've got to
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have badness to balance it with. You
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know, you've got beauty, you have to
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have ugliness just to compare it with so
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that there is a kind of cosmic balance.
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You know, that's how duality works.
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And I do think that just the the strange
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technical difficulties that continually
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happen with my videos are a kind of
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cosmic balance. You know, there's like
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the good aspect of me answering people's
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questions about dharma and then it has
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to be balanced out with some kind of
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negativity which manifests in the form
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of crappy production quality.
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And I accept that. I mean, for me, the
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purpose of these videos is, as I say,
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kind of spiritual practice, sharing what
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I've learned, that kind of stuff. And
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and I'm not doing it to get to make
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money or to get famous, that kind of
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stuff, you know, I'm doing it as a kind
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of public service.
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And so when like negative stuff, you
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know, with regard to, you know,
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recording values or what is it
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production values or lack of production
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values, when that kind of stuff is
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happening, then I just kind of accept it
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philosophically. It's like well you know
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it's like Mara the evil one you know the
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cosmic balance you know everything has
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to to balance out so the goodness of
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sharing dharma just kind of gets
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counterbalanced by all these glitches
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and complications and technicalities and
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stuff.
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So, I just kind of accept it
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philosophically.
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And it may be that, you know, George
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Gerchef, I don't know if you're familiar
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with George Gerchef, but he was um a
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western philosopher who kind of was
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teaching eastern philosophy through a
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kind of western approach.
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And he believed that
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you sh I mean, you shouldn't get your
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dharma too easily. you know, he he made
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his books deliberately difficult to
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understand because he felt like you
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shouldn't just have dharma handed to you
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on a platter. You shouldn't have any
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kind of profound truth or anything of
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value just given to you on a platter
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without you having to make any effort.
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And so,
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um, I mean, I can kind of I can kind of
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relate to that. I mean, it's it's sort
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of like you listening to these Q&A
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videos. You have to exercise a little
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bit of patience or a little tolerance of
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my mouth not moving at at exactly the
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same time as the words coming out or I
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sound like I'm talking to you from the
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bottom of a well.
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I mean, if it just doesn't record at
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all, then I just have to record the
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whole thing over again so you don't see
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it. I mean, this is like the third or
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fourth attempt even just this evening
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trying to get the the lag, you know, the
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the the get the the audio and video
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synchronized better has been it's been
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taking some time and it seems like it's
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going pretty well right now. It's within
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a second anyway.
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But on the bright side, bright side,
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just next year I'll probably get a
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better, stronger computer and then we
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can have like some totally new kind of
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[ __ ]
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interfering with these videos.
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But it's going to have to be something.
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That's just it just seems like that's
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the way it is. And I sincerely believe
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in, you know, this cosmic balance idea.
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This sort of dependent core rising in
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Buddhism kind of works that way. Yin and
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Yang and Dowoism works that way. Um,
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karma to some degree works that way. And
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there is a question about karma kind of
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along those lines uh coming up. And uh I
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suppose I should uh just start answering
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questions then.
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My golly, there's not a whole bunch of
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questions this time. I guess everyone's
00:12:05.839 --> 00:12:09.350
just basking in the the afterglow of the
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live stream number 200 last weekend.
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But one of the questions that was asked
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at the end of the Q&A that I didn't get
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to is apparently from someone named
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Yatish.
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And Yatish says, "Should one be
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optimistic or realistic about the future
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or should one not think about future
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much altogether?"
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And if you're doing intensive practice
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like really intensive dharma practice
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then as a general rule you should be in
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the present moment. Be here now as Rahm
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Doss used to say or the power of now you
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know Ehart Tollah's first famous book.
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So yeah, I mean if if you're doing
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intensive practice, you should be mainly
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occupied with the present moment. And
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the Buddha as well as Jesus of Nazareth
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taught, you know, give no thought for
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tomorrow, what you will eat, where you
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will sleep, you know, let tomorrow's
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problems happen tomorrow. You know, you
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can deal with them then.
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So even if you are like doing intensive
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mindfulness practice just be here now
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and you have to think about the future
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or you have to remember the past for
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whatever reason then still there's this
00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.150
mindfulness going on of now where it's
00:13:36.160 --> 00:13:39.030
like I'm thinking about the future now
00:13:39.040 --> 00:13:41.590
remembering the past now you know
00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:44.230
there's still this now even if you're
00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.670
thinking about the future or remembering
00:13:45.680 --> 00:13:47.590
the past
00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.870
but if you're not doing intensive like
00:13:50.880 --> 00:13:53.590
like intensive practice
00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:54.949
then you may have to think about the
00:13:54.959 --> 00:13:56.629
future more often. Let's say you work
00:13:56.639 --> 00:14:00.310
for some company you know you're like in
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.310
the environment health and safety
00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:06.870
department of some in like industry.
00:14:06.880 --> 00:14:09.509
So it's your job to be like
00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.389
extrapolating into the future and seeing
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.030
what could possibly go wrong so that you
00:14:15.040 --> 00:14:18.470
can like prevent it from going wrong.
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.310
So, in a situation like that, you're
00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:21.829
going to have to think about the future.
00:14:21.839 --> 00:14:24.310
I mean, sometimes you just have to think
00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.910
about the future or the past.
00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:29.910
But if you're doing mindfulness really
00:14:29.920 --> 00:14:32.790
well, it's thinking about the future
00:14:32.800 --> 00:14:37.670
now. Remembering the past now,
00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:40.310
but it should be kept to a minimum. To
00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:41.990
be in the present moment as much as
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:46.069
possible is an invaluable spiritual
00:14:46.079 --> 00:14:50.310
tool.
00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:53.189
But with regard to Yatish, Yates's first
00:14:53.199 --> 00:14:54.389
question and this is actually two
00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:57.030
questions. I just noticed that I don't
00:14:57.040 --> 00:14:58.470
know how that can get past me. There's
00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:02.150
two question marks. So the first part of
00:15:02.160 --> 00:15:04.230
the question is should one be optimistic
00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.829
or realistic about the future? And
00:15:07.839 --> 00:15:10.069
I mean
00:15:10.079 --> 00:15:13.110
to be realistic it's probably better. I
00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:15.670
mean to be optimistic that's like being
00:15:15.680 --> 00:15:18.150
hopeful. I mean to the to the extent
00:15:18.160 --> 00:15:20.870
that being optimistic is being hopeful,
00:15:20.880 --> 00:15:23.189
you know, hoping for the best, just kind
00:15:23.199 --> 00:15:25.829
of having faith that things are going to
00:15:25.839 --> 00:15:30.949
turn out like well. Um the Buddha did
00:15:30.959 --> 00:15:33.829
teach that monks should not be hopeful,
00:15:33.839 --> 00:15:36.550
that hope is a kind of desire for the
00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:38.389
future.
00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:39.910
So I mean you can give the future the
00:15:39.920 --> 00:15:41.829
benefit of the doubt and that's about as
00:15:41.839 --> 00:15:44.790
optimistic as I would recommend. Or you
00:15:44.800 --> 00:15:47.189
can be optimistic in the sense of like
00:15:47.199 --> 00:15:49.990
whatever happens to me is going to be
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.550
the fruition of my own karma. Again,
00:15:52.560 --> 00:15:54.949
we're we're like seeking equilibrium.
00:15:54.959 --> 00:15:57.110
You know, karma is like water. It just
00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:00.230
kind of seeks its own level, so to speak
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.870
in a sense.
00:16:02.880 --> 00:16:04.870
So, it's like whatever happens to you is
00:16:04.880 --> 00:16:06.389
like
00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.949
what should happen to you. I mean, from
00:16:08.959 --> 00:16:10.389
from a Buddhist point of view, it makes
00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:12.389
perfect sense. People that don't have
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.470
much appreciation for dharma will say
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.550
you're victim blaming. You know this
00:16:16.560 --> 00:16:20.150
kind of stuff. But really
00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:22.310
um
00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.870
even if something bad happens to you,
00:16:24.880 --> 00:16:28.550
it's like paying off a karmic debt
00:16:28.560 --> 00:16:31.030
so to speak.
00:16:31.040 --> 00:16:33.749
So I mean that's a kind of optimism you
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:35.670
can have that would be valid from a
00:16:35.680 --> 00:16:37.990
Buddhist point of view. Just bear in
00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:39.590
mind, you know, whatever happens, you
00:16:39.600 --> 00:16:40.949
know, everything happens the way it's
00:16:40.959 --> 00:16:42.790
supposed to happen. That was almost like
00:16:42.800 --> 00:16:44.629
a mantra for me. Sometimes it still
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.189
comes out sometimes just spontaneously.
00:16:47.199 --> 00:16:48.550
Everything happens the way it's supposed
00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:53.990
to happen, which is kind of optimistic,
00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.949
but you know, it's with regard to
00:16:56.959 --> 00:16:59.189
realistic. I mean, that's just sort of
00:16:59.199 --> 00:17:01.749
being objective. I think it might have
00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:05.110
been uh a better choice of words to give
00:17:05.120 --> 00:17:06.870
give the choice between being optimistic
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:11.429
or being objective
00:17:11.439 --> 00:17:13.029
and you can kind of be both at the same
00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.189
time so long as you bear in mind you
00:17:15.199 --> 00:17:17.189
know everything is just happens the way
00:17:17.199 --> 00:17:21.110
it's supposed to happen and you know I
00:17:21.120 --> 00:17:22.470
you know there there's a lot of
00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:25.429
optimistic things you can say you know
00:17:25.439 --> 00:17:29.590
like um you can say that like you never
00:17:29.600 --> 00:17:32.470
get what you're not ready for that you
00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.310
maybe you have some karma that something
00:17:34.320 --> 00:17:37.590
bad is going to happen to you but it's
00:17:37.600 --> 00:17:40.150
like the universe postpones it until
00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:43.350
you're I mean you're ripe for it in a
00:17:43.360 --> 00:17:45.909
sense that you're more able to deal with
00:17:45.919 --> 00:17:47.830
it
00:17:47.840 --> 00:17:50.230
which sounds kind of woowoo and all that
00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.510
and we shouldn't really dwell on it but
00:17:53.520 --> 00:17:55.750
there is that
00:17:55.760 --> 00:17:57.590
so getting back to Yatisha's first
00:17:57.600 --> 00:17:59.270
question should one be optimistic or
00:17:59.280 --> 00:18:02.310
realistic about the future. I mean,
00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:05.669
realistic is probably the best your best
00:18:05.679 --> 00:18:08.950
bet, but realistic isn't pessimistic. I
00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:11.029
mean, realism and optimism are not
00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:12.710
opposites.
00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:14.630
You know, the opposite of optimism is
00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:17.590
pessimism. You shouldn't be pessimistic.
00:18:17.600 --> 00:18:19.350
I mean, to remind yourself that you're
00:18:19.360 --> 00:18:21.190
not going to live forever, that you're
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.110
going to die someday. I mean, that's
00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:25.750
more realistic than pessimistic. You
00:18:25.760 --> 00:18:27.350
know, sort of like a lot of people
00:18:27.360 --> 00:18:29.430
accuse Buddhism of being pessimistic
00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.029
because, you know, the first noble truth
00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:33.830
to exist is to suffer, but that's just
00:18:33.840 --> 00:18:39.190
observing the way things are.
00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.669
So, you can have a certain philosophical
00:18:41.679 --> 00:18:43.350
optimism. You know, everything happens
00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:44.950
the way it's supposed to happen. It's
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.190
the fruition of my own karma, that kind
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:50.310
of thing. But aside from that, you're
00:18:50.320 --> 00:18:54.549
better off just being objective and not
00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:56.150
like
00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:58.230
slathering value judgments all over
00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:00.710
everything. You know, optimistic is sort
00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:05.270
of like putting a like a positive spin
00:19:05.280 --> 00:19:07.909
on things and positive and negative have
00:19:07.919 --> 00:19:09.669
to balance out.
00:19:09.679 --> 00:19:12.549
So you're better off just
00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.150
leaving like the facts of your existence
00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.789
as unadorned with value judgments as
00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:21.990
possible.
00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:23.909
And with regard to Yatish's second
00:19:23.919 --> 00:19:26.390
question, should one not think about the
00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.150
future much altogether? I pretty much
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.470
pretty sure I already answered that one
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.870
more or less. So I'm just going to move
00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:35.110
on to the next question.
00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:37.350
And if there was another person who
00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:40.390
asked a question at the end of last
00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.470
week's live stream and the comment just
00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:46.070
disappeared because some of the comments
00:19:46.080 --> 00:19:48.070
did disappear.
00:19:48.080 --> 00:19:51.909
I remember uh somebody suggesting that I
00:19:51.919 --> 00:19:55.430
turn that fan on. And I I addressed it
00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:58.390
in the video. I pointed out that the
00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.789
ceiling fan's already going, so it's not
00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:03.990
necessary to turn that one on. And then
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.990
I was looking for it to see who who it
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:10.230
was that made that that suggestion and
00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:14.070
it was gone. But I I distinctly remember
00:20:14.080 --> 00:20:16.230
seeing it in the in the comments in the
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:20.870
chat and responding to it on the video.
00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:24.390
So it's it's just who knows it's just
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:26.549
weirdness.
00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.310
But getting back to sea of action cipad
00:20:28.320 --> 00:20:32.390
zena his question is thoughts
00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:36.630
and he uh included a a YouTube short
00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:41.430
video of salivage zek. I don't know how
00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:44.149
to pronounce the names. I mean I I
00:20:44.159 --> 00:20:46.470
understand the salivage part because he
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:49.750
kind of like sprays when he talks. the
00:20:49.760 --> 00:20:53.510
zijek I'm not sure about but he it's
00:20:53.520 --> 00:20:55.830
just him
00:20:55.840 --> 00:20:57.750
discussing
00:20:57.760 --> 00:21:01.669
um like introspection
00:21:01.679 --> 00:21:04.310
salivage says that you mean you
00:21:04.320 --> 00:21:07.029
shouldn't introspect too much you
00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:10.149
shouldn't look inward too much because
00:21:10.159 --> 00:21:12.870
you're going to find deep [ __ ] in there
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.830
and so he says this is actually a quote
00:21:15.840 --> 00:21:17.990
he says the only way to overcome
00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.350
yourself is to identify with the mask,
00:21:21.360 --> 00:21:24.310
you know, like the public persona.
00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:26.390
And he also says, this is also a quote
00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:29.350
from Salivage, in your complete
00:21:29.360 --> 00:21:31.750
identification with another, you can
00:21:31.760 --> 00:21:33.590
find freedom.
00:21:33.600 --> 00:21:36.070
So, it's like you've got like the the
00:21:36.080 --> 00:21:39.350
outward projection of an image. You just
00:21:39.360 --> 00:21:41.190
identify with that and that's that's who
00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:43.590
you you really are or at least that's
00:21:43.600 --> 00:21:45.510
who you pretend to really be. And
00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:47.830
according to Salivage,
00:21:47.840 --> 00:21:50.470
that's the best way to go about things.
00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:52.549
And one thing you should bear in mind
00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:55.430
with with Zek, I don't know how to
00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:58.070
pronounce these names, is that he is one
00:21:58.080 --> 00:22:01.430
of the few communist philosophers that
00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:05.590
is taken seriously in Western
00:22:05.600 --> 00:22:08.630
civilization lately over the past few
00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:10.310
decades.
00:22:10.320 --> 00:22:13.029
And I don't know what kind of communist
00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:15.029
he is. I don't know if he's a Marxist or
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.590
just sort of like a like some kind of
00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:20.789
rehashed neo-Marxist or if he was just
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:22.950
never, you know, he's just not a Marxist
00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:24.070
at all. I don't know what kind of
00:22:24.080 --> 00:22:27.270
communist he is, but he does not strike
00:22:27.280 --> 00:22:30.310
me as a particularly wise individual.
00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:33.510
Intelligent, sure, but intelligence and
00:22:33.520 --> 00:22:35.190
wisdom are not the same. And I remember
00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.510
when I first started watching some of
00:22:37.520 --> 00:22:39.270
his videos, I did watch some of his
00:22:39.280 --> 00:22:41.110
videos, not because I'm a communist, but
00:22:41.120 --> 00:22:43.270
just because, you know, they come up on
00:22:43.280 --> 00:22:45.430
the feed and I was curious just to see
00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:47.190
what he'd have to say or he'd be talking
00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:48.710
with someone who wasn't a communist or
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.390
whatever. And back just like 10 or so
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:55.190
years ago, he was just continually like
00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:56.789
pulling at his shirt and like rubbing
00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:58.789
his nose. I mean, he couldn't get a
00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:00.950
sentence out without like tugging at his
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:03.430
shirt and like like compulsively,
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:05.830
habitually just like rubbing his nose
00:23:05.840 --> 00:23:07.270
and pulling on it and this kind of
00:23:07.280 --> 00:23:09.590
thing, which indicates that he was not
00:23:09.600 --> 00:23:12.230
being mindful. You know, he's just his
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.310
arms are just doing all this nervous
00:23:14.320 --> 00:23:16.230
stuff without him being like fully in
00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:18.470
control of it.
00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:20.070
But he has stopped doing that. And I've
00:23:20.080 --> 00:23:22.149
noticed that he doesn't tug on his shirt
00:23:22.159 --> 00:23:25.669
or or like pull on his nose anymore in
00:23:25.679 --> 00:23:28.149
his in the videos where you see him
00:23:28.159 --> 00:23:32.950
lately. So I he has at least like been
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.230
practiced enough mindfulness to train
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:39.669
himself to stop doing that. But I mean
00:23:39.679 --> 00:23:42.870
just when he's discouraging
00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:45.029
introspection,
00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.909
you know, it's like Socrates saying
00:23:47.919 --> 00:23:50.070
allegedly the unexamined life is not
00:23:50.080 --> 00:23:53.350
worth living. Well, Salivage would say
00:23:53.360 --> 00:23:56.070
pretty much the opposite.
00:23:56.080 --> 00:23:59.510
Just fake it. Just be like this fake
00:23:59.520 --> 00:24:01.830
persona and identify with that. And
00:24:01.840 --> 00:24:04.149
that's that's how you find freedom
00:24:04.159 --> 00:24:06.630
according to him. which I mean it kind
00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.230
of makes sense if he's a communist
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.549
because communism
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:12.710
does not strike me as a particularly
00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.830
wise like economic or social system. It
00:24:17.840 --> 00:24:21.190
just is not in harmony with with human
00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:24.230
nature the animal instincts of the human
00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:26.470
animal which go by the name of human
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.590
nature.
00:24:29.600 --> 00:24:34.149
So yeah, my thoughts on Salivage
00:24:34.159 --> 00:24:37.830
is uh he is not he does not strike me as
00:24:37.840 --> 00:24:40.230
a wise person
00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:43.269
and he just prefers ideas that he comes
00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:46.710
up with in his head to any kind of
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.909
empiricism apparently.
00:24:49.919 --> 00:24:51.830
I don't know how anyone could still be a
00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:55.590
communist after over a century at this
00:24:55.600 --> 00:24:58.950
point of stagnant and failed economies,
00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:00.789
totalitarianism,
00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:04.789
and occasional genocide.
00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:07.669
I mean, there's really no excuse for a
00:25:07.679 --> 00:25:12.070
communist nowadays.
00:25:12.080 --> 00:25:13.830
Anyways, I'm just going to move on to
00:25:13.840 --> 00:25:17.510
CEO of Action Cadet's second question.
00:25:17.520 --> 00:25:19.990
He says, "Do you believe there is a
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.789
moral development of societies that is
00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:25.750
objective or are people and societies
00:25:25.760 --> 00:25:29.350
over time not any more moral than we
00:25:29.360 --> 00:25:32.470
were thousands of years ago?" And I'm
00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:37.029
going to check the uh the CPUs at 36 36%
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.549
so that the uh the lag is minimal.
00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:42.549
Just just keeping you updated on on the
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.110
CPU usage.
00:25:45.120 --> 00:25:46.950
But getting back to sea of action cipad
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:50.470
zera um well I mean one thing that
00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:53.830
immediately comes to mind are are let's
00:25:53.840 --> 00:25:56.549
see are people and societies over time
00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:58.070
not any more moral than we were
00:25:58.080 --> 00:26:00.070
thousands of years ago well think about
00:26:00.080 --> 00:26:02.470
northern India in the Buddhist time that
00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:04.789
was definitely a more moralitybased
00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.269
culture than we've got going now I mean
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:10.470
morals are almost obsolete in western
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:13.669
civilization morality any kind of
00:26:13.679 --> 00:26:15.830
systematic morality has been replaced by
00:26:15.840 --> 00:26:18.310
unrefined feminine sentiment. You know,
00:26:18.320 --> 00:26:20.070
don't hurt anyone's feelings.
00:26:20.080 --> 00:26:22.870
Overindulgence in any kind of sensuality
00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.110
is just fine and dandy. That has nothing
00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:29.669
to do with morals anymore.
00:26:29.679 --> 00:26:31.029
But getting to the top part of the
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:32.310
question, do you believe there is a
00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:34.630
moral development of societies that is
00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.029
objective?
00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:40.470
Well, I mean morality
00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:42.789
whether it's objective or not depends on
00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:46.149
your definition of morals. So I mean you
00:26:46.159 --> 00:26:50.310
could define morals in a sense that it
00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:54.630
could be objectively like quantified
00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:57.590
morals you know it's like crime rates
00:26:57.600 --> 00:27:00.950
that kind of stuff then
00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:03.830
yeah you could objectify that. I don't
00:27:03.840 --> 00:27:05.510
know how you you'd have like an
00:27:05.520 --> 00:27:07.190
objective
00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:10.630
um like measurement or critique of
00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:14.230
morals in society without like defining
00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:16.149
it in some way that could then be
00:27:16.159 --> 00:27:19.909
applied to the data.
00:27:19.919 --> 00:27:22.950
So let's just say
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.510
moral development of societies. Gosh, I
00:27:25.520 --> 00:27:27.269
mean how would you quantify that? I mean
00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:29.590
how would you objectify
00:27:29.600 --> 00:27:31.350
like the morality of a society with
00:27:31.360 --> 00:27:34.710
regard to crime rates you know like what
00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:36.470
would be the murder rate and like the
00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:41.029
the rate of like theft you know assault
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:42.870
that kind of stuff but I mean you don't
00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:46.310
really have good data for the Ganges
00:27:46.320 --> 00:27:50.470
Valley 200 years ago
00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:52.870
so
00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:56.549
let's see it seems to me with regard to
00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.029
this that I mean you're always going to
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:03.430
have this cosmic balance of good and
00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:05.350
evil that kind of thing you know it's
00:28:05.360 --> 00:28:08.950
just when if you're living in dualism
00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:11.029
which is the way samsara works you're
00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:14.710
living in a dualistic world then
00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:17.990
opposites tend to balance out so you've
00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:19.990
got morality and immorality they're
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.110
going to balance out
00:28:23.120 --> 00:28:26.870
regardless of the society it seems to me
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:29.110
but with regard to I mean look at the
00:28:29.120 --> 00:28:31.830
Buddhist time you know northern Iron Age
00:28:31.840 --> 00:28:34.630
northern India the Ganges Valley you
00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:39.430
know 500 BCE 200 years ago
00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:43.110
and you had a lot more saints and sages
00:28:43.120 --> 00:28:45.990
then but at the same time you probably
00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.590
had a lot more sociopaths and like
00:28:49.600 --> 00:28:52.149
bandits and serial killers and that kind
00:28:52.159 --> 00:28:55.190
of thing. you know, was you read the the
00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:59.430
text and it was dangerous to go alone,
00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:01.029
you know, through the forest because
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:03.510
there's bandits, not just tigers and
00:29:03.520 --> 00:29:08.389
leopards, but bandits, you know, nuns,
00:29:08.399 --> 00:29:10.630
like Buddhist nuns were not allowed to
00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:12.230
live in the forest just because it was
00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.350
too dangerous. And then you had like not
00:29:15.360 --> 00:29:18.070
only like outlaws like bandits, but you
00:29:18.080 --> 00:29:21.269
had like neighboring kings that I mean
00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:23.830
they're they just invade,
00:29:23.840 --> 00:29:26.630
you know, plunder this kind of stuff.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:29.190
Like in the list of dangers in that's
00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:31.110
found in the the rules of monastic
00:29:31.120 --> 00:29:33.510
discipline several times. Like for
00:29:33.520 --> 00:29:36.710
example, there are the the 10 reasons
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:40.230
why it's okay to abbreviate a formal
00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:41.830
ceremony. like the potty mocha
00:29:41.840 --> 00:29:43.909
recitation, you know, it's like the
00:29:43.919 --> 00:29:46.549
stereotypical list of 10 dangers. Number
00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:50.149
one on the list is kings.
00:29:50.159 --> 00:29:52.310
And it's, you know, I mean, it could be
00:29:52.320 --> 00:29:55.190
even your own king who's just sweeping
00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:57.590
through and just like forcibly
00:29:57.600 --> 00:30:00.870
recruiting any man of military age to go
00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:03.990
and fight. or it could be the king next
00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.310
door who's already done that and is now
00:30:06.320 --> 00:30:10.710
invading.
00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:13.669
So, I do think that nowadays we're
00:30:13.679 --> 00:30:17.110
living in an age of spiritual or moral
00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:19.029
mediocrity.
00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:22.310
You know, there's fewer saints
00:30:22.320 --> 00:30:24.710
and there's fewer of the opposite of
00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:26.789
saints.
00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:28.630
So, it's like in the Buddhist time, you
00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:31.590
had a lot of of like wisdom and
00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:33.669
goodness, and you had a lot of badness
00:30:33.679 --> 00:30:36.070
and foolishness, and that was pretty
00:30:36.080 --> 00:30:37.750
much how the balance worked out then.
00:30:37.760 --> 00:30:40.389
Now, it's just sort of like lukewarm
00:30:40.399 --> 00:30:44.310
mediocrity across the board.
00:30:44.320 --> 00:30:46.470
And so, it all adds up to the same zero.
00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:54.950
It all balances out to the same zero.
00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:56.470
Yeah.
00:30:56.480 --> 00:30:58.549
So I mean even in like I mean there are
00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:00.870
some societies that were just like cruel
00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.149
and ruthless. It's like Huns or Mongols,
00:31:04.159 --> 00:31:06.549
you know, back in the day when you know
00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:08.870
they were like conquering large areas of
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:11.909
territory. Um I mean they were they were
00:31:11.919 --> 00:31:15.350
pretty awful, you know. It's like
00:31:15.360 --> 00:31:17.830
um like the Mongols, you know, 13th
00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:21.190
century. They'd come to a walled town
00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:22.870
and they would demand immediate
00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:24.470
surrender. And if they didn't surrender
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:26.470
immediately, they would completely
00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:28.630
destroy that town, just level it to the
00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:31.430
ground and just leave this big mound of
00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.310
severed heads outside of where the city
00:31:34.320 --> 00:31:37.509
used to be as a as a a sign, you know,
00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:39.029
you better do what we say or we're going
00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:42.389
to [ __ ] you up. And they just seem to
00:31:42.399 --> 00:31:44.470
have no compassion
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:47.110
at all. You know, there's there's
00:31:47.120 --> 00:31:49.190
stories of like when the the Mongols
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:51.430
made it to I think it was around what
00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:53.750
what nowadays would be Hungary, you
00:31:53.760 --> 00:31:55.190
know, it's like around the Danube
00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:57.190
region, you know, they were the the
00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:59.190
towns people would just flee and hide in
00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:00.950
the woods and the Mongols would call
00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:02.310
them out and say, "Come on, you can just
00:32:02.320 --> 00:32:03.590
go ahead and and go about your
00:32:03.600 --> 00:32:05.509
business." And then as soon as they had
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:07.110
harvested their fields and everything,
00:32:07.120 --> 00:32:09.350
then they'd all be slaughtered. And the
00:32:09.360 --> 00:32:10.789
the Mongols just thought it was funny.
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:13.430
They didn't care. So, there is that.
00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:17.029
Although they they sort of had other
00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:19.350
like counterbalancing virtues. I mean
00:32:19.360 --> 00:32:22.230
even just like fearlessness and courage
00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:23.830
that kind of thing could be considered
00:32:23.840 --> 00:32:26.789
virtues
00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:28.950
but
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:32.149
um it's yeah I mean I don't want to do
00:32:32.159 --> 00:32:34.630
an entire cultural anthropological
00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:37.110
survey but it does seem that you could
00:32:37.120 --> 00:32:39.750
you could say that some cultures are
00:32:39.760 --> 00:32:42.070
more virtuous than others or more moral
00:32:42.080 --> 00:32:45.509
than others.
00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:48.149
seems that way anyway. But overall, it
00:32:48.159 --> 00:32:51.029
seems to me that the modern like
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:54.310
post-modern world is no more virtuous
00:32:54.320 --> 00:32:56.470
than the Ganges Valley in the Buddhist
00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:58.870
time. It's just that we're kind of weak
00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:02.630
and soft, you know, feminized
00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:06.310
and, you know, so I mean, there's less
00:33:06.320 --> 00:33:09.669
violence, less aggression, not so much
00:33:09.679 --> 00:33:11.509
because people are restraining
00:33:11.519 --> 00:33:13.190
themselves, but just because they're
00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:15.110
just incapable of it anymore. You know,
00:33:15.120 --> 00:33:18.630
it's kind of they've degenerated,
00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:22.230
if you will.
00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:27.350
So yeah, I think overall that people are
00:33:27.360 --> 00:33:29.909
no more happy than they were 2,000 years
00:33:29.919 --> 00:33:32.870
ago. Overall, no more virtuous than they
00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.149
were 2,000 years ago. Except 2,000 years
00:33:36.159 --> 00:33:39.830
ago, you had more of a a broader
00:33:39.840 --> 00:33:42.310
bell-shaped curve
00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:44.389
because now it's just sort of like
00:33:44.399 --> 00:33:51.190
lukewarm mediocrity is predominant.
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:52.789
So, I think I'm just going to move on to
00:33:52.799 --> 00:33:55.669
SEO of Action Cadet's next question. And
00:33:55.679 --> 00:33:58.149
it does seem that the lag is more or
00:33:58.159 --> 00:34:00.070
less under control. And I hope I don't
00:34:00.080 --> 00:34:01.509
sound like I'm talking from the bottom
00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:03.990
of a well. And I do hope that it's
00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:08.389
recording. It does seem to be.
00:34:08.399 --> 00:34:10.389
So, Sioatza
00:34:10.399 --> 00:34:12.629
says, "Would Arans still have an
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:15.430
unconscious mind or do they have a
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:18.230
complete understanding of the mind?" And
00:34:18.240 --> 00:34:20.149
this falls into the category of
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:21.829
second-guessing the mental states of a
00:34:21.839 --> 00:34:24.069
fully enlightened being. I get asked
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:26.629
these kind of questions fairly
00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:29.669
frequently. You know, what is what is it
00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:33.030
like to be fully enlightened? And even
00:34:33.040 --> 00:34:35.030
if a fully enlightened person were to
00:34:35.040 --> 00:34:36.790
explain it to an unenlightened person,
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:38.389
the unenlightened person still wouldn't
00:34:38.399 --> 00:34:42.790
get it because like a uh like Bert and
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:44.310
Russell says, you know, when a stupid
00:34:44.320 --> 00:34:46.230
person hears what an intelligent person
00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:48.230
says, they have to translate it into
00:34:48.240 --> 00:34:49.510
something stupid that they can
00:34:49.520 --> 00:34:51.030
understand.
00:34:51.040 --> 00:34:52.790
So Bertrren Russell, I think it was in
00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:54.470
his history of western philosophy, he's
00:34:54.480 --> 00:34:57.750
talking about how he would rather be um
00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:01.270
he he would rather have his philosophy
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.310
described by his most virilent enemy
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:07.109
among philosophers than to have it
00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:11.510
described by some normie who didn't
00:35:11.520 --> 00:35:13.270
really understand philosophy but was
00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:15.510
sympathetic to Bertrand Russell just
00:35:15.520 --> 00:35:19.270
because the that philosophical enemy is
00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:20.390
more likely
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:22.230
to get the main points correct even
00:35:22.240 --> 00:35:24.550
though he disagrees with them than the
00:35:24.560 --> 00:35:28.069
normie who just doesn't really
00:35:28.079 --> 00:35:29.750
understand and so he has to like take
00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:32.470
this you know sophisticated philosophy
00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:34.790
and translate it into something stupid
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:38.069
so that he can understand it and I think
00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:39.829
um Burton Russell was referring to
00:35:39.839 --> 00:35:41.670
xenopon
00:35:41.680 --> 00:35:45.589
um in his biography of or his account of
00:35:45.599 --> 00:35:48.150
Socrates that he didn't consider
00:35:48.160 --> 00:35:50.630
xenophon to be particularly really uh
00:35:50.640 --> 00:35:53.910
reliable as a source with regard to what
00:35:53.920 --> 00:35:58.390
Socrates was like because Xenopon was a
00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:00.870
normie according to Burton Russell. He
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:03.109
was not philosophical you know he just
00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:05.270
kind of dumbed things down in order to
00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:07.190
understand it better even though he
00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:11.750
apparently was a competent general.
00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:13.990
So let's get back to the question though
00:36:14.000 --> 00:36:17.510
which I've pretty much ignored thus far.
00:36:17.520 --> 00:36:20.150
Would Ara still have an unconscious
00:36:20.160 --> 00:36:21.990
mind?
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.230
Um, I have heard it said that they
00:36:24.240 --> 00:36:26.710
wouldn't. That when you're fully
00:36:26.720 --> 00:36:28.870
conscious, that means you're fully
00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:31.349
conscious. You are fully awake. You are
00:36:31.359 --> 00:36:34.630
awakened. And so, they would no longer
00:36:34.640 --> 00:36:37.829
have a subconscious mind. They would be
00:36:37.839 --> 00:36:40.950
um aware of all the workings of their
00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:47.109
mind theoretically.
00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:49.510
And the wiser you get, the less
00:36:49.520 --> 00:36:51.109
subconscious you are. Like getting back
00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:53.910
to Salivage Zek, you know, it was like
00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:55.910
when he is like tugging on his shirt and
00:36:55.920 --> 00:36:58.390
rubbing his nose compulsively,
00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:01.589
you know, 10, 15, 20 years ago. I mean,
00:37:01.599 --> 00:37:03.430
that was like subconscious. It wasn't
00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:05.349
fully conscious what he was doing. But
00:37:05.359 --> 00:37:07.990
then as you as you become more mindful,
00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:10.550
I mean or as he became more mindful, you
00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:12.550
know, he
00:37:12.560 --> 00:37:14.710
he like brought it up into the conscious
00:37:14.720 --> 00:37:17.190
into his conscious mind in order to deal
00:37:17.200 --> 00:37:22.150
with it. And so um even if an arahant a
00:37:22.160 --> 00:37:24.069
fully enlightened being from the point
00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:25.990
of view of some unenlightened
00:37:26.000 --> 00:37:27.750
psychologist
00:37:27.760 --> 00:37:32.069
or psychoanalyst if he he still has some
00:37:32.079 --> 00:37:34.310
kind of subconscious mind he's going to
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:36.790
have a hell of a lot less of it than the
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:39.589
average person. I mean, you could say
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:42.230
that most animals, it's pretty much all
00:37:42.240 --> 00:37:44.470
they've got is a subconscious mind other
00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:47.270
than maybe some really simple,
00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:49.510
superficial stuff. Most of what they're
00:37:49.520 --> 00:37:51.589
doing, like instincts, like a bird
00:37:51.599 --> 00:37:53.750
building a nest. That would be just like
00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:55.270
subconscious
00:37:55.280 --> 00:37:56.790
urges. They don't know why they're doing
00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:59.270
it. They just have this urge to do it,
00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:01.990
so they just act it out.
00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:04.950
Sort of like salivage tugging at his
00:38:04.960 --> 00:38:09.109
shirt.
00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:11.670
So yeah, I mean it's just another one of
00:38:11.680 --> 00:38:13.829
those questions of secondguing the
00:38:13.839 --> 00:38:15.510
mental states of a fully enlightened
00:38:15.520 --> 00:38:17.510
being.
00:38:17.520 --> 00:38:18.790
So I think I'm just going to move on to
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:22.310
the next question. This is from Romeo
00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:25.829
and Romeo says, "Western culture stands
00:38:25.839 --> 00:38:27.670
apart from the rest of the world in
00:38:27.680 --> 00:38:30.390
emphasizing the freedom and autonomy of
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:32.630
the individual rather than conforming to
00:38:32.640 --> 00:38:35.670
one's tribe or group. How and why did
00:38:35.680 --> 00:38:38.550
western individualism develop in Europe
00:38:38.560 --> 00:38:40.870
rather than in other parts of the world?
00:38:40.880 --> 00:38:42.870
And that's a good question. I mean, it's
00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:44.950
it's kind of an anthropological
00:38:44.960 --> 00:38:47.750
question, I think. You know, why is it
00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:50.790
that individualism just kind of flowered
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:56.069
in the west and nowhere else really?
00:38:56.079 --> 00:38:58.390
And I think there's a possibility it
00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:00.630
could be genetic. You know, there could
00:39:00.640 --> 00:39:03.910
just be some genetic quirk in the
00:39:03.920 --> 00:39:05.589
European
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:09.670
ethnicity or family of ethnicities that
00:39:09.680 --> 00:39:13.670
are just more individualistic because
00:39:13.680 --> 00:39:17.510
it's like the the Greeks. I mean, they
00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:19.190
weren't as individualistic as we are
00:39:19.200 --> 00:39:20.550
now, but still they were much more
00:39:20.560 --> 00:39:22.630
individualistic than say the Persians
00:39:22.640 --> 00:39:25.109
next door, which is one reason why they
00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:26.630
were able to kick kick ass on the
00:39:26.640 --> 00:39:28.470
Persians.
00:39:28.480 --> 00:39:30.630
And then like the Romans, the Romans
00:39:30.640 --> 00:39:32.950
were kind of conservative, but still
00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:35.349
they allowed more individualism. I mean,
00:39:35.359 --> 00:39:37.670
they had a lots lots of different like
00:39:37.680 --> 00:39:40.150
religious cults and so forth, different
00:39:40.160 --> 00:39:41.910
philosophies. you know, you could just
00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:44.230
pick and choose which one works best for
00:39:44.240 --> 00:39:46.710
you as a general rule.
00:39:46.720 --> 00:39:48.710
You know, they were definitely not
00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:52.470
opposed to innovation.
00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.870
Um, and then but the thing is you had
00:39:54.880 --> 00:39:58.630
Germanic tribes north of the Rine that
00:39:58.640 --> 00:40:00.710
also were very individualistic and it
00:40:00.720 --> 00:40:02.870
was like after the Roman Empire had
00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:06.150
pretty much degenerated into a kind of
00:40:06.160 --> 00:40:09.270
demoralized dictatorship
00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:13.589
where like um individualism wasn't as
00:40:13.599 --> 00:40:16.230
valued as it was like during the the
00:40:16.240 --> 00:40:19.109
glory days of the republic. Then you had
00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:22.790
these Germanic tribes who conquered the
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:26.390
collapsing Western Roman Empire and sort
00:40:26.400 --> 00:40:31.030
of revived these ideals of individual
00:40:31.040 --> 00:40:33.750
rights and so forth.
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:35.829
So that would seem to indicate that the
00:40:35.839 --> 00:40:37.829
Germanic tribes north of the Rine I mean
00:40:37.839 --> 00:40:40.150
they didn't inherit that from the
00:40:40.160 --> 00:40:41.750
Greeks.
00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:43.430
You know it was it just seems like it's
00:40:43.440 --> 00:40:46.790
a European thing and Europeans are the
00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:50.630
most like physically diverse group at
00:40:50.640 --> 00:40:52.710
least with regard to appearance. you
00:40:52.720 --> 00:40:54.710
know, you've got sort of dark like
00:40:54.720 --> 00:40:57.430
sworthy European types, very pale
00:40:57.440 --> 00:41:00.390
European types, different hair colors,
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:03.670
different eye colors that I mean, other
00:41:03.680 --> 00:41:05.670
ethnicities just don't have that as a
00:41:05.680 --> 00:41:08.230
general rule. I mean, like they might be
00:41:08.240 --> 00:41:09.750
kind of lighter skinned or darker
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:11.750
skinned within the range of their own,
00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:13.589
you know, ethnicity, you know, in the
00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:15.510
bell-shaped curve and all that, but
00:41:15.520 --> 00:41:17.349
different eye colors, different hair
00:41:17.359 --> 00:41:20.069
colors, that's like a European thing.
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:24.069
And it's kind of indicates there's more
00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:26.309
individual variation
00:41:26.319 --> 00:41:27.910
not only with regard to appearance but
00:41:27.920 --> 00:41:29.510
also with regard to the way people think
00:41:29.520 --> 00:41:32.790
and behave.
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:34.950
So let's see what's the actual question.
00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:36.950
How and why did Western individualism
00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:39.030
develop in Europe rather than in other
00:41:39.040 --> 00:41:41.430
parts of the world?
00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:44.790
Um yeah I mean it could be genetic. It
00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:47.510
seems like it's either genetic or maybe
00:41:47.520 --> 00:41:51.030
even like some cultural inheritance from
00:41:51.040 --> 00:41:52.870
the Indo-Uropeans
00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:54.950
that conquered so much of the Western
00:41:54.960 --> 00:41:57.270
world. You know, it may have been just
00:41:57.280 --> 00:42:00.150
some sort of ideal that they brought
00:42:00.160 --> 00:42:02.069
with them. I'm not sure what kind of
00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:05.030
individualism you had before the
00:42:05.040 --> 00:42:08.470
Indo-Uropean expansion into Europe and
00:42:08.480 --> 00:42:10.790
in like northern
00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:14.309
um northern India and Persia and places
00:42:14.319 --> 00:42:16.470
like that. I don't know if it'd be
00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:19.109
interesting just to see like where
00:42:19.119 --> 00:42:21.750
innovations like stone age innovations
00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:25.510
came from like new patterns for making
00:42:25.520 --> 00:42:27.510
stone arrow heads. I mean, did the
00:42:27.520 --> 00:42:31.109
Europeans, the stone, the cave people of
00:42:31.119 --> 00:42:34.390
Europe, were they like ahead of the cave
00:42:34.400 --> 00:42:37.510
people of China or or southern India or
00:42:37.520 --> 00:42:40.390
I mean I don't know.
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:41.750
So that would be interesting. I mean
00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:44.150
that would be a step towards answering
00:42:44.160 --> 00:42:46.470
the question I guess. I mean, if there
00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:50.230
was a lot of um innovation
00:42:50.240 --> 00:42:53.270
found primarily in the west that then
00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:56.710
trickled eastwards and southwards,
00:42:56.720 --> 00:42:58.710
then I mean that would be a good
00:42:58.720 --> 00:43:01.990
argument for maybe some genetic
00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:04.870
component that causes Europeans to be
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:06.870
more individualistic
00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:09.349
than than other ethnicities
00:43:09.359 --> 00:43:13.270
historically.
00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:15.190
And I am happy to say that my coffee is
00:43:15.200 --> 00:43:19.030
now pretty much cold. So it's uh not
00:43:19.040 --> 00:43:23.990
causing me to be all persspiry anymore.
00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:27.430
So yeah, I mean I mean you can only
00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:29.670
guess with regard to this this question.
00:43:29.680 --> 00:43:32.069
How and why did Western individualism
00:43:32.079 --> 00:43:33.990
develop in Europe rather than other
00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:37.109
parts of the world?
00:43:37.119 --> 00:43:40.630
it would seem to be something about
00:43:40.640 --> 00:43:43.030
our ethnicity
00:43:43.040 --> 00:43:46.870
um is just less conformist than most
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:49.750
other ethnicities. And I do think it's
00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:51.270
possible that there is a genetic
00:43:51.280 --> 00:43:53.349
component, but I don't know what it
00:43:53.359 --> 00:43:55.829
would be. But it seems like I mean how
00:43:55.839 --> 00:43:59.109
else would you explain it unless like I
00:43:59.119 --> 00:44:01.510
said it's just something that was
00:44:01.520 --> 00:44:04.309
introduced as a cultural element from
00:44:04.319 --> 00:44:08.870
like the Indo-Uropeans.
00:44:08.880 --> 00:44:10.630
So I'm sorry I really can't answer that
00:44:10.640 --> 00:44:12.630
question with any any degree of
00:44:12.640 --> 00:44:14.630
certainty.
00:44:14.640 --> 00:44:16.069
So I'm just going to move on to Romeo's
00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:17.990
second question which is a followup on
00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:20.390
the first one.
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:24.069
Is western individualism sustainable
00:44:24.079 --> 00:44:26.630
over the long haul in terms of ensuring
00:44:26.640 --> 00:44:29.349
the survival of European people?
00:44:29.359 --> 00:44:32.150
Wouldn't it seen
00:44:32.160 --> 00:44:34.309
Wouldn't it seem a less effective group
00:44:34.319 --> 00:44:37.190
survival strategy compared to cultures
00:44:37.200 --> 00:44:39.430
that emphasize the group over the
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:43.589
individual and are thus more unified?
00:44:43.599 --> 00:44:47.589
Um, well, I mean, just look at history.
00:44:47.599 --> 00:44:49.990
Um, I think it was John Stewart Mill. I
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:51.829
was considering getting the quote just
00:44:51.839 --> 00:44:53.750
so I could read it to you. But John
00:44:53.760 --> 00:44:55.030
Stewart Mill has this quote. I think
00:44:55.040 --> 00:44:58.470
it's in his essay on liberty
00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:01.109
uh which is sort of like a classical
00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:05.109
liberal manifesto written in the 1800s.
00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:07.270
And he was talking about how like the
00:45:07.280 --> 00:45:10.309
Chinese were living in palaces and
00:45:10.319 --> 00:45:12.950
wearing silk when our ancestors in
00:45:12.960 --> 00:45:15.670
Europe were still wearing animal skins
00:45:15.680 --> 00:45:18.710
and just living in like huts.
00:45:18.720 --> 00:45:20.390
But
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:24.870
due to their like their adherence to
00:45:24.880 --> 00:45:27.990
conformity and lack of imagination and
00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:31.430
western individualism,
00:45:31.440 --> 00:45:33.990
it's like the Europeans conquered the
00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:35.510
world.
00:45:35.520 --> 00:45:37.829
And even if they didn't conquer the
00:45:37.839 --> 00:45:39.750
entire world militarily, although they
00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:41.030
came pretty damn close during the
00:45:41.040 --> 00:45:44.390
colonial era, still I mean you go to
00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:47.349
communist China. I mean the communism
00:45:47.359 --> 00:45:49.829
they derived from from Europe, you know,
00:45:49.839 --> 00:45:51.750
like the the economics and the the
00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:53.910
political ideas that they're following
00:45:53.920 --> 00:45:55.910
originally came from Europe. You know,
00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:57.349
you look at Chinese people, they're
00:45:57.359 --> 00:45:59.270
wearing western style clothing, they
00:45:59.280 --> 00:46:01.670
have western style hairds, they've got
00:46:01.680 --> 00:46:03.910
western technology,
00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:06.710
and the only way they can even come
00:46:06.720 --> 00:46:09.349
close to rivaling us with regard to
00:46:09.359 --> 00:46:12.550
technology is just by spying and
00:46:12.560 --> 00:46:17.750
stealing Western ideas.
00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:21.829
So, Western individualism thus far has
00:46:21.839 --> 00:46:24.550
been much more successful over the long
00:46:24.560 --> 00:46:27.430
hall in terms of ensuring the survival
00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:29.430
of European people. It's it's not so
00:46:29.440 --> 00:46:33.030
much individualism that is causing
00:46:33.040 --> 00:46:35.750
Western civilization to go into decline.
00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:39.190
It's just good times make weak men, weak
00:46:39.200 --> 00:46:41.910
men make bad times. You know, like I was
00:46:41.920 --> 00:46:43.589
saying that we're in a state of like
00:46:43.599 --> 00:46:45.430
lukewarm
00:46:45.440 --> 00:46:47.750
like mediocrity.
00:46:47.760 --> 00:46:50.870
I mean, we are definitely decadent and
00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:53.430
it's because we were so successful, we
00:46:53.440 --> 00:46:56.790
got soft and weak and lazy.
00:46:56.800 --> 00:46:58.950
It's like Theodore Roosevelt had this
00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:01.510
famous quote that I saw on X a few days
00:47:01.520 --> 00:47:03.349
ago. It's the curse of all
00:47:03.359 --> 00:47:05.829
civilizations, all great civilizations
00:47:05.839 --> 00:47:08.790
that the men eventually become unable to
00:47:08.800 --> 00:47:11.430
fight just because of materialism and
00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:15.030
luxury and security just makes them soft
00:47:15.040 --> 00:47:18.069
and weak and lazy and they cannot stand
00:47:18.079 --> 00:47:22.069
up to uncouthed barbarians that sweep
00:47:22.079 --> 00:47:24.870
across the border. In fact, nowadays
00:47:24.880 --> 00:47:26.309
they're just a lot of them are just
00:47:26.319 --> 00:47:28.150
inviting the barbarians in. Come on,
00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:30.069
sweethearts.
00:47:30.079 --> 00:47:34.390
here's stay in this luxury hotel
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:39.990
we'll we'll provide for you.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.790
So the individualism I think has made
00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:48.150
western civilization just predominant on
00:47:48.160 --> 00:47:50.870
this planet.
00:47:50.880 --> 00:47:53.589
It's just that there are other factors
00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:56.870
you know like moral decline that are
00:47:56.880 --> 00:48:00.950
more um dangerous
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:04.390
to us than individualism. I mean it is
00:48:04.400 --> 00:48:08.550
good to have enough like conformity that
00:48:08.560 --> 00:48:10.230
everyone is pretty much on the same page
00:48:10.240 --> 00:48:13.430
or most people in the country share the
00:48:13.440 --> 00:48:16.069
same world view to some degree or at
00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:19.190
least the same ideals. You know, civic
00:48:19.200 --> 00:48:21.750
nationalism is what kept America strong
00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:26.710
for more than 200 years.
00:48:26.720 --> 00:48:29.270
But when you get so much individualism,
00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:31.829
I mean, no, I don't I don't know if you
00:48:31.839 --> 00:48:33.510
can even call it individualism where
00:48:33.520 --> 00:48:35.349
people are just like splintering and
00:48:35.359 --> 00:48:37.910
break it's becoming like tribalistic and
00:48:37.920 --> 00:48:39.349
so forth. That's not so much
00:48:39.359 --> 00:48:41.829
individualism. That's just conforming to
00:48:41.839 --> 00:48:45.190
a smaller group.
00:48:45.200 --> 00:48:47.349
I mean, people are
00:48:47.359 --> 00:48:49.829
they're they're a social animal. People
00:48:49.839 --> 00:48:53.589
have got the herd instinct.
00:48:53.599 --> 00:48:56.390
So, yeah, maybe that Europeans have a
00:48:56.400 --> 00:48:58.549
little bit less herd instinct than most
00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:01.270
humans,
00:49:01.280 --> 00:49:03.750
but I think I answered that question.
00:49:03.760 --> 00:49:05.349
Yeah, I don't think that it's a less
00:49:05.359 --> 00:49:06.950
effective group survival strategy
00:49:06.960 --> 00:49:08.549
compared to cultures that emphasize the
00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:11.349
group over the individual because the
00:49:11.359 --> 00:49:13.109
cultures that emphasize the group over
00:49:13.119 --> 00:49:16.150
the individual are conformist and they
00:49:16.160 --> 00:49:18.950
tend not to have much imagination. They
00:49:18.960 --> 00:49:21.510
do not dare to deviate from what
00:49:21.520 --> 00:49:23.750
everyone else is thinking and doing. And
00:49:23.760 --> 00:49:27.829
that's why the Europeans with their sort
00:49:27.839 --> 00:49:30.630
of liberal ideals and individualism and
00:49:30.640 --> 00:49:33.829
so forth that I mean the Greeks had it
00:49:33.839 --> 00:49:35.829
to some degree, the Romans, the Germanic
00:49:35.839 --> 00:49:37.510
tribes.
00:49:37.520 --> 00:49:39.750
It just seems like a European thing, not
00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:43.270
like specifically owed to any region of
00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:46.790
Europe.
00:49:46.800 --> 00:49:49.510
So
00:49:49.520 --> 00:49:52.870
yeah, I think I mean a certain amount of
00:49:52.880 --> 00:49:55.829
conformity is necessary just to hold the
00:49:55.839 --> 00:49:58.150
society together so it doesn't just fly
00:49:58.160 --> 00:50:01.670
apart in all directions. But still a
00:50:01.680 --> 00:50:05.829
society that has like individuality
00:50:05.839 --> 00:50:09.270
like individual rights and so forth is
00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:11.510
going to be stronger as a general rule
00:50:11.520 --> 00:50:14.790
all else being equal than people that
00:50:14.800 --> 00:50:17.750
are just conformists. You know, that's
00:50:17.760 --> 00:50:19.750
one reason why the Greeks were able to
00:50:19.760 --> 00:50:21.430
defeat the Persians in battle because
00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:23.589
the Persians I mean they were
00:50:23.599 --> 00:50:25.670
essentially I mean to some degree you
00:50:25.680 --> 00:50:27.349
could say that they're like slaves to
00:50:27.359 --> 00:50:30.230
the king, you know, and and it's like
00:50:30.240 --> 00:50:32.390
they just followed the rules. That's one
00:50:32.400 --> 00:50:34.230
reason why Alexander the Great was able
00:50:34.240 --> 00:50:37.829
to conquer Persia as easily as he did
00:50:37.839 --> 00:50:40.710
with relatively few soldiers because the
00:50:40.720 --> 00:50:42.549
Persians were so predictable. They just
00:50:42.559 --> 00:50:45.270
they fought in the same way. You know,
00:50:45.280 --> 00:50:48.230
it's like you read Xenopon's Anabis
00:50:48.240 --> 00:50:49.910
where he's talking about the march of
00:50:49.920 --> 00:50:53.750
the 10,000 through Persian territory
00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:56.309
and the Greeks realize it's the
00:50:56.319 --> 00:50:58.150
Persians. They always tie up their
00:50:58.160 --> 00:51:00.710
horses outside the camp at night. You
00:51:00.720 --> 00:51:02.549
know, they just don't fight at night.
00:51:02.559 --> 00:51:04.230
It's just they didn't think about it.
00:51:04.240 --> 00:51:05.829
They just why would anyone fight at
00:51:05.839 --> 00:51:08.230
night? So, they didn't even prepare and
00:51:08.240 --> 00:51:10.390
they just left their horses outside the
00:51:10.400 --> 00:51:11.829
camp. So, the Greeks just went in and
00:51:11.839 --> 00:51:13.030
helped themselves with the Persian
00:51:13.040 --> 00:51:16.870
horses. Suddenly they got cavalry
00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:18.710
and they were able to fight their way
00:51:18.720 --> 00:51:21.349
all the way back to Greece.
00:51:21.359 --> 00:51:24.230
And I I I assume that Alexander was
00:51:24.240 --> 00:51:26.790
familiar with with this book and got a
00:51:26.800 --> 00:51:29.990
lot of inspiration from it. It's uh I
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:31.990
mean without individualism and
00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:34.069
individual thought, you're going to have
00:51:34.079 --> 00:51:36.710
a lot fewer ideas and a lot less
00:51:36.720 --> 00:51:41.670
innovation and a lot less improvement.
00:51:41.680 --> 00:51:42.870
But I'm just going to move on this
00:51:42.880 --> 00:51:47.349
question. This is from Nigelbick.
00:51:47.359 --> 00:51:50.710
Nijb. It's NJBK.
00:51:50.720 --> 00:51:52.549
Ninj.
00:51:52.559 --> 00:51:55.990
And Nijbik says, "Have you ever met any
00:51:56.000 --> 00:51:57.589
arroant?
00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:00.150
Do you think you could identify them as
00:52:00.160 --> 00:52:02.549
such if you met them? Are there any
00:52:02.559 --> 00:52:05.109
monks today whom you think are?" Well,
00:52:05.119 --> 00:52:06.470
that's three questions. Listen, I got to
00:52:06.480 --> 00:52:08.470
divide this up. So, we got a few more
00:52:08.480 --> 00:52:10.309
questions than I thought we did just
00:52:10.319 --> 00:52:13.589
because I failed to divide them up
00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:16.390
before starting this video.
00:52:16.400 --> 00:52:19.589
So, have I ever met any orans? I don't
00:52:19.599 --> 00:52:21.829
know. I mean, how could you possibly
00:52:21.839 --> 00:52:23.190
know? But I'm kind of getting ahead of
00:52:23.200 --> 00:52:25.510
myself. Um,
00:52:25.520 --> 00:52:29.190
sometimes you you see this wise old monk
00:52:29.200 --> 00:52:31.349
who lives alone out in a cemetery or
00:52:31.359 --> 00:52:33.750
something and the villagers around
00:52:33.760 --> 00:52:36.470
consider him to be an Arahant, but
00:52:36.480 --> 00:52:38.870
that's no proof. I mean, he could just
00:52:38.880 --> 00:52:40.710
be putting on a show identifying with
00:52:40.720 --> 00:52:43.589
the image like Salivage Zek was
00:52:43.599 --> 00:52:45.510
advising.
00:52:45.520 --> 00:52:47.510
Um, and just because you have a
00:52:47.520 --> 00:52:48.870
reputation for being enlightened doesn't
00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:50.470
mean anything because I had a reputation
00:52:50.480 --> 00:52:51.990
for being enlightened in certain areas
00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:56.470
of Burma.
00:52:56.480 --> 00:53:00.790
So have I met any arans? Maybe. But I
00:53:00.800 --> 00:53:04.390
mean again I think an arant would be a
00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:06.309
kind of paradox
00:53:06.319 --> 00:53:10.790
because escaping or transcending samsara
00:53:10.800 --> 00:53:13.349
within a samsuric context doesn't
00:53:13.359 --> 00:53:17.030
necessarily mean anything.
00:53:17.040 --> 00:53:19.670
Meaning is samsaric. So anyone who
00:53:19.680 --> 00:53:21.270
transcends meaning I mean it just
00:53:21.280 --> 00:53:24.870
becomes meaningless.
00:53:24.880 --> 00:53:28.790
So I am somewhat skeptical that that
00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:30.870
full enlightenment
00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:34.630
is even a thing in a samsaric context.
00:53:34.640 --> 00:53:36.950
And like I mentioned relatively recently
00:53:36.960 --> 00:53:39.670
in a Q&A that there was a school called
00:53:39.680 --> 00:53:43.430
the Yogachara Logicians or the Dignaga
00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:47.190
School which was a medieval Buddhist
00:53:47.200 --> 00:53:50.390
school that that specialized in logic
00:53:50.400 --> 00:53:52.950
and their classic example of a
00:53:52.960 --> 00:53:55.349
problematic premise is that such and
00:53:55.359 --> 00:53:57.030
such person is fully enlightened.
00:53:57.040 --> 00:53:59.109
There's no way you can prove it. I mean
00:53:59.119 --> 00:54:00.870
the fully enlightened being might know
00:54:00.880 --> 00:54:02.309
that they're fully enlightened but they
00:54:02.319 --> 00:54:04.630
can't prove it to anybody else.
00:54:04.640 --> 00:54:06.870
I mean, if you got psychic powers, you
00:54:06.880 --> 00:54:09.109
could display those, but just because
00:54:09.119 --> 00:54:10.470
you have psychic powers doesn't mean
00:54:10.480 --> 00:54:13.910
that you're enlightened.
00:54:13.920 --> 00:54:17.670
So, maybe I mean, my best bet and an
00:54:17.680 --> 00:54:21.270
Araan I mean I did meet in Seattle who
00:54:21.280 --> 00:54:24.790
had a reputation for being very wise.
00:54:24.800 --> 00:54:28.870
Um, met a few other seats that seemed
00:54:28.880 --> 00:54:32.630
wise, but I mean, you can't really tell.
00:54:32.640 --> 00:54:35.190
I mean, how could you know? According to
00:54:35.200 --> 00:54:37.349
the text, only an Araant would know if
00:54:37.359 --> 00:54:38.870
another Arahant was enlightened. And
00:54:38.880 --> 00:54:41.750
even then, maybe not. Like, if you're a
00:54:41.760 --> 00:54:43.910
dry visioned Araant who doesn't have any
00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:45.829
psychic powers, you can't look into the
00:54:45.839 --> 00:54:48.309
mind of the other being, how are you
00:54:48.319 --> 00:54:51.670
going to know?
00:54:51.680 --> 00:54:53.829
So, with regard to have I ever met any
00:54:53.839 --> 00:54:55.349
Arahans,
00:54:55.359 --> 00:54:57.750
maybe if that even means anything within
00:54:57.760 --> 00:55:01.349
the context of samsara.
00:55:01.359 --> 00:55:04.150
So, Ninjic's second question. Do you
00:55:04.160 --> 00:55:06.069
think you could identify them as such if
00:55:06.079 --> 00:55:07.270
you met them? And I've pretty much
00:55:07.280 --> 00:55:08.549
already answered that question. It's
00:55:08.559 --> 00:55:11.589
like, how? I mean, you couldn't really
00:55:11.599 --> 00:55:13.030
know. I mean, if you were another
00:55:13.040 --> 00:55:15.589
Araant, maybe. But if you're not an
00:55:15.599 --> 00:55:16.870
Araant, how are you going to know? I
00:55:16.880 --> 00:55:18.630
mean, sometimes you could see that they
00:55:18.640 --> 00:55:21.030
aren't Arahanss, you know, if they're
00:55:21.040 --> 00:55:23.990
just like, you know, screaming drunk and
00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:26.390
like picking fights and this kind of
00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:28.790
stuff. They're like stealing and lying.
00:55:28.800 --> 00:55:30.390
I mean, that would be a fairly good
00:55:30.400 --> 00:55:32.710
indication that, you know, they they're
00:55:32.720 --> 00:55:34.710
involved in sex scandals and this kind
00:55:34.720 --> 00:55:36.549
of stuff,
00:55:36.559 --> 00:55:38.230
fairly good indication that they're not
00:55:38.240 --> 00:55:40.870
fully enlightened. But who knows? I
00:55:40.880 --> 00:55:42.309
mean, if if full enlightenment doesn't
00:55:42.319 --> 00:55:44.710
even mean anything or or maybe somebody
00:55:44.720 --> 00:55:49.109
like Jay Krishna Mertie is right
00:55:49.119 --> 00:55:51.109
about being enlightened where I mean,
00:55:51.119 --> 00:55:53.510
you're not like enslaved to morals if
00:55:53.520 --> 00:55:54.870
you're fully enlightened, which means
00:55:54.880 --> 00:55:57.589
you're like liberated.
00:55:57.599 --> 00:55:59.270
I mean, how are you even going to define
00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:00.950
enlightenment in a case like that where
00:56:00.960 --> 00:56:03.109
there's like there's like this whole
00:56:03.119 --> 00:56:05.750
spectrum like terra Buddhism is at one
00:56:05.760 --> 00:56:08.309
extreme end of the spectrum with regard
00:56:08.319 --> 00:56:10.789
to what an enlightened being is like.
00:56:10.799 --> 00:56:13.430
Terravada Buddhism insists,
00:56:13.440 --> 00:56:17.910
orthodox terra insists that in order to
00:56:17.920 --> 00:56:21.030
have purity of mind, in order to I mean
00:56:21.040 --> 00:56:22.230
in order to become enlightened, you have
00:56:22.240 --> 00:56:24.069
to have purity of mind. And before you
00:56:24.079 --> 00:56:25.430
can have purity of mind, you have to
00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:27.589
have purity of morals, which means you
00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:29.990
have to have perfected morality, which
00:56:30.000 --> 00:56:33.349
means you are a saint before you can
00:56:33.359 --> 00:56:36.549
become a sage, like an enlightened sage.
00:56:36.559 --> 00:56:38.470
At the other end, you've got people like
00:56:38.480 --> 00:56:41.349
Paul Low or Jay Krishna Murdy or maybe
00:56:41.359 --> 00:56:44.549
Eugi Krishna Murdy where it's like
00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:47.349
anything goes. There's no rules. If
00:56:47.359 --> 00:56:49.190
you're enlightened, you're no longer
00:56:49.200 --> 00:56:51.990
you're no longer like subject to these
00:56:52.000 --> 00:56:58.870
limitations. You can I mean whatever.
00:56:58.880 --> 00:57:01.109
So
00:57:01.119 --> 00:57:03.349
yeah, I mean I don't know how an
00:57:03.359 --> 00:57:05.430
unenlightened person could possibly
00:57:05.440 --> 00:57:07.750
identify an Arahan even if they meet
00:57:07.760 --> 00:57:09.109
them. Even if you're sitting in the same
00:57:09.119 --> 00:57:11.270
room with them,
00:57:11.280 --> 00:57:13.990
you know, it's like you got a fool in
00:57:14.000 --> 00:57:16.870
the same room as an Araant. The fool is
00:57:16.880 --> 00:57:18.390
going to be looking at the Arahant
00:57:18.400 --> 00:57:21.589
through foolishness colored glasses and
00:57:21.599 --> 00:57:24.069
they're just going to be dis maybe even
00:57:24.079 --> 00:57:27.109
scoffing and sneering. Maybe the orant
00:57:27.119 --> 00:57:30.630
has some physical peculiarity or he
00:57:30.640 --> 00:57:33.349
speaks with an accent or something and
00:57:33.359 --> 00:57:35.030
the other person just might be mocking
00:57:35.040 --> 00:57:39.990
him because of this.
00:57:40.000 --> 00:57:41.510
So
00:57:41.520 --> 00:57:43.030
I mean there are people in the Buddhist
00:57:43.040 --> 00:57:45.670
time who despised the Buddha.
00:57:45.680 --> 00:57:47.030
They didn't know he was enlightened.
00:57:47.040 --> 00:57:50.470
They thought it was all [ __ ]
00:57:50.480 --> 00:57:53.270
People are like that.
00:57:53.280 --> 00:57:56.230
So I think I'll just move on to Nijbik's
00:57:56.240 --> 00:57:57.990
third question. Are there any monks
00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:01.349
today whom you think are Aras? I have no
00:58:01.359 --> 00:58:03.750
idea. I mean like I said I met Shu um in
00:58:03.760 --> 00:58:06.630
Seattle but he has passed away. He is no
00:58:06.640 --> 00:58:09.829
longer alive. And of the the monks that
00:58:09.839 --> 00:58:12.230
I have known
00:58:12.240 --> 00:58:14.710
I really I really have no idea. I mean
00:58:14.720 --> 00:58:17.109
it's possible
00:58:17.119 --> 00:58:20.710
but I have no idea.
00:58:20.720 --> 00:58:22.710
So I mean who today I mean there are
00:58:22.720 --> 00:58:24.230
people that have a reputation for being
00:58:24.240 --> 00:58:28.789
arroant. Ehart Tollola for example
00:58:28.799 --> 00:58:30.230
he has a reputation for being
00:58:30.240 --> 00:58:31.829
enlightened. There are quite a few of
00:58:31.839 --> 00:58:34.870
those kind of people. There was Andrew
00:58:34.880 --> 00:58:37.109
Cohen who was he had quite a following
00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:38.630
back around the time that I became a
00:58:38.640 --> 00:58:42.870
monk around 1990. You know he was luring
00:58:42.880 --> 00:58:46.309
people away from weasa and it was like
00:58:46.319 --> 00:58:48.309
just lots of people were following
00:58:48.319 --> 00:58:52.470
Andrew Cohen. I think his teacher was uh
00:58:52.480 --> 00:58:56.710
Harilal Punga in India and Andrew Cohen
00:58:56.720 --> 00:58:59.510
was I mean he didn't deny that he was
00:58:59.520 --> 00:59:01.190
enlightened or considered himself to be
00:59:01.200 --> 00:59:04.230
enlightened until finally um his own
00:59:04.240 --> 00:59:07.109
disciples started pointing out to him
00:59:07.119 --> 00:59:08.390
man you're not acting like an
00:59:08.400 --> 00:59:10.470
enlightened being. I don't remember what
00:59:10.480 --> 00:59:12.069
the scandal was. It could have been some
00:59:12.079 --> 00:59:13.670
kind of sex thing. I don't know. I
00:59:13.680 --> 00:59:15.670
didn't really keep up with it. But
00:59:15.680 --> 00:59:18.150
eventually he came to the conclusion,
00:59:18.160 --> 00:59:20.950
well golly, I'm not really an Arahan
00:59:20.960 --> 00:59:23.670
after all. And then of course you've got
00:59:23.680 --> 00:59:25.750
Daniel Ingram. There's a lot of people
00:59:25.760 --> 00:59:28.150
like that in the West. Probably a lot of
00:59:28.160 --> 00:59:30.710
people like that in the East too who
00:59:30.720 --> 00:59:32.710
claim to be fully enlightened and maybe
00:59:32.720 --> 00:59:35.510
are just like in some cases just
00:59:35.520 --> 00:59:39.589
overestimating their own attainments.
00:59:39.599 --> 00:59:41.910
So from the point of view of monastic
00:59:41.920 --> 00:59:45.270
discipline, if a monk overestimates his
00:59:45.280 --> 00:59:46.470
own attainments, he thinks he's
00:59:46.480 --> 00:59:49.270
enlightened and he says he's enlightened
00:59:49.280 --> 00:59:52.150
even though he isn't, he's not parajiki,
00:59:52.160 --> 00:59:54.549
he's not excommunicated because he was
00:59:54.559 --> 00:59:58.150
sincere, you know, he just overestimated
00:59:58.160 --> 01:00:00.470
his own attainments. Whereas a monk who
01:00:00.480 --> 01:00:02.630
knows that he's not enlightened and says
01:00:02.640 --> 01:00:05.750
that he is, then he's excommunicated for
01:00:05.760 --> 01:00:06.950
the rest of his life. he's committed a
01:00:06.960 --> 01:00:09.910
parajika offense. The worst thing a monk
01:00:09.920 --> 01:00:12.789
can do is to deliberately lie about
01:00:12.799 --> 01:00:14.630
having attained superhuman mental states
01:00:14.640 --> 01:00:20.069
which includes enlightenment itself.
01:00:20.079 --> 01:00:22.710
So I mean assuming that being fully
01:00:22.720 --> 01:00:24.950
enlightened even means anything in a
01:00:24.960 --> 01:00:27.750
samsaric context and all meaning is
01:00:27.760 --> 01:00:30.069
samsaric
01:00:30.079 --> 01:00:33.430
then maybe
01:00:33.440 --> 01:00:35.109
there could be enlightened monks. It
01:00:35.119 --> 01:00:36.710
wouldn't surprise me assuming that it's
01:00:36.720 --> 01:00:39.190
possible. I'm assuming that there are
01:00:39.200 --> 01:00:41.190
fully enlightened monks out there. And
01:00:41.200 --> 01:00:43.270
in a lot of cases, they'd just be
01:00:43.280 --> 01:00:46.710
hermits living just humbly living alone
01:00:46.720 --> 01:00:49.750
out in the woods. And you know, maybe
01:00:49.760 --> 01:00:51.829
the the local villagers who are putting
01:00:51.839 --> 01:00:54.309
food in their bowl, you know, consider
01:00:54.319 --> 01:00:57.829
them to be fully enlightened, but nobody
01:00:57.839 --> 01:00:58.950
else knows about them. They're not
01:00:58.960 --> 01:01:02.470
famous. I remember one time
01:01:02.480 --> 01:01:06.950
um there was a monk see Bodhi no wait
01:01:06.960 --> 01:01:12.230
what was his name it was Bodhi bin
01:01:12.240 --> 01:01:15.510
Seattle or something like that and he
01:01:15.520 --> 01:01:17.030
was considered to be fully enlightened
01:01:17.040 --> 01:01:21.190
and um some of his supporters
01:01:21.200 --> 01:01:24.230
um very much wanted me to meet him so
01:01:24.240 --> 01:01:31.190
they drive me to Bodhi bin I don't No,
01:01:31.200 --> 01:01:33.670
I can't remember the name of it. It was
01:01:33.680 --> 01:01:36.630
Bodhin Seattle, something like that. And
01:01:36.640 --> 01:01:39.030
so as we're going there, you know,
01:01:39.040 --> 01:01:40.549
they're very keen on me meeting this
01:01:40.559 --> 01:01:44.069
this Araant. And I I asked the driver,
01:01:44.079 --> 01:01:45.750
you know, are you sure he's enlightened?
01:01:45.760 --> 01:01:47.829
The driver say, "Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah,
01:01:47.839 --> 01:01:49.349
he's enlightened." All right. Although
01:01:49.359 --> 01:01:51.510
there's no way the driver could have
01:01:51.520 --> 01:01:52.710
possibly known if he was really
01:01:52.720 --> 01:01:54.789
enlightened or not. So we get there and
01:01:54.799 --> 01:01:57.430
the place is like a it's like a circus.
01:01:57.440 --> 01:02:00.230
there's like pagotas and statues and
01:02:00.240 --> 01:02:01.910
everything being erected all over the
01:02:01.920 --> 01:02:03.750
place. You know, it's sort of like a a
01:02:03.760 --> 01:02:06.789
Buddhist amusement park or something and
01:02:06.799 --> 01:02:08.950
you've got, you know, there's like uh
01:02:08.960 --> 01:02:11.510
alchemists wearing the the white robes
01:02:11.520 --> 01:02:14.470
and the long beard and the beads and and
01:02:14.480 --> 01:02:17.270
just, you know, it's just like this
01:02:17.280 --> 01:02:19.109
spiritual, you know, it's like a a
01:02:19.119 --> 01:02:21.829
Buddhist kumba or something going on
01:02:21.839 --> 01:02:24.950
there. And I remember everyone's waiting
01:02:24.960 --> 01:02:27.270
for the the arant to come out to eat his
01:02:27.280 --> 01:02:29.910
meal. And he doesn't come out to eat
01:02:29.920 --> 01:02:32.870
until it's like a quarter to 12.
01:02:32.880 --> 01:02:34.150
So there's no way he's going to be
01:02:34.160 --> 01:02:37.109
finished by by midday. So that he's
01:02:37.119 --> 01:02:40.549
going to be breaking a rule. Um which,
01:02:40.559 --> 01:02:43.030
you know, it's neither here nor there, I
01:02:43.040 --> 01:02:44.950
guess. But he comes out, you know, it's
01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:49.430
like 11:45 a.m. sits down to to eat his
01:02:49.440 --> 01:02:51.910
meal. One of the first thing he does is
01:02:51.920 --> 01:02:55.030
he he blows his nose into his hand and
01:02:55.040 --> 01:02:57.270
then just wipes the snot on the wall
01:02:57.280 --> 01:03:01.750
next to him. And it's like is this
01:03:01.760 --> 01:03:03.349
people think this this person is
01:03:03.359 --> 01:03:06.950
enlightened? I mean, who knows? Maybe he
01:03:06.960 --> 01:03:08.870
was and he was just sort of like the the
01:03:08.880 --> 01:03:11.670
Krishna Murdy kind of enlightened being,
01:03:11.680 --> 01:03:14.069
the Osho kind of enlightened being, you
01:03:14.079 --> 01:03:15.510
know? It's like, who knows? Maybe
01:03:15.520 --> 01:03:17.829
they're right. and and an arroant can
01:03:17.839 --> 01:03:21.029
behave in really weird ways
01:03:21.039 --> 01:03:23.270
but
01:03:23.280 --> 01:03:27.670
um yeah I I can't really name any famous
01:03:27.680 --> 01:03:31.190
monk or even a nonfamous one or or you
01:03:31.200 --> 01:03:33.990
know even like a like a Hindu swami or
01:03:34.000 --> 01:03:36.309
anything like that. I don't I really if
01:03:36.319 --> 01:03:39.190
I had to guess, you know, who is an
01:03:39.200 --> 01:03:42.390
enlightened being nowadays, you know, if
01:03:42.400 --> 01:03:44.549
I had to make had to name one
01:03:44.559 --> 01:03:46.630
enlightened being or at least my best
01:03:46.640 --> 01:03:50.069
guess, I would I mean, I'd be at a loss.
01:03:50.079 --> 01:03:52.069
I don't know who it would be. I mean,
01:03:52.079 --> 01:03:54.390
Echart Tollah
01:03:54.400 --> 01:03:55.990
maybe,
01:03:56.000 --> 01:03:59.029
but he's a lay person, but I just I'm
01:03:59.039 --> 01:04:00.630
not really familiar with who the famous
01:04:00.640 --> 01:04:03.349
monks are nowadays. And those that are
01:04:03.359 --> 01:04:05.990
famous enough that I know about them,
01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:10.150
you they may be wise. They may be good
01:04:10.160 --> 01:04:14.630
people, virtuous, wise people, but fully
01:04:14.640 --> 01:04:18.630
enlightened, I really
01:04:18.640 --> 01:04:21.029
I mean I just have seen no evidence to
01:04:21.039 --> 01:04:22.789
support that. Although who knows exactly
01:04:22.799 --> 01:04:25.190
what the evidence would be
01:04:25.200 --> 01:04:27.270
and I suppose I should just move on to
01:04:27.280 --> 01:04:29.670
the next question. This is from King
01:04:29.680 --> 01:04:31.349
Kung
01:04:31.359 --> 01:04:35.029
and King Kung says, "Did you have any
01:04:35.039 --> 01:04:38.150
physical altercations in your monk life
01:04:38.160 --> 01:04:41.589
and do you do any wilderness stuff now
01:04:41.599 --> 01:04:43.430
also?" Oh, this is three questions
01:04:43.440 --> 01:04:45.109
again.
01:04:45.119 --> 01:04:47.829
Okay.
01:04:47.839 --> 01:04:51.589
So, I got to separate three questions.
01:04:51.599 --> 01:04:53.670
It is good that people are limiting
01:04:53.680 --> 01:04:55.430
themselves to three questions. That's
01:04:55.440 --> 01:04:58.069
that is commendable.
01:04:58.079 --> 01:05:01.109
So you get merit for that. King Kung's
01:05:01.119 --> 01:05:02.549
first question, did you have any
01:05:02.559 --> 01:05:04.950
physical altercations in your monk life?
01:05:04.960 --> 01:05:09.589
And if you read my latest book, Memoirs
01:05:09.599 --> 01:05:12.630
from Myanmar, I'm pretty sure there's a
01:05:12.640 --> 01:05:15.270
chapter in there, it's like the one time
01:05:15.280 --> 01:05:19.349
I assaulted another monk. I had one
01:05:19.359 --> 01:05:23.109
serious physical altercation as a monk,
01:05:23.119 --> 01:05:25.349
and that was I mean, I don't want to
01:05:25.359 --> 01:05:27.190
give the whole story. I mean it would
01:05:27.200 --> 01:05:29.270
take half an hour at least to give you
01:05:29.280 --> 01:05:32.069
all the the relevant details. But there
01:05:32.079 --> 01:05:34.230
was this Burmese monk who tried to just
01:05:34.240 --> 01:05:36.950
move in and take over the monastery
01:05:36.960 --> 01:05:40.390
where I was senior monk at the time and
01:05:40.400 --> 01:05:42.870
he obviously just did not follow the
01:05:42.880 --> 01:05:44.549
rules of monastic discipline. He was
01:05:44.559 --> 01:05:47.349
obviously a rascal and a troublemaker
01:05:47.359 --> 01:05:50.069
and I just told him he was he wasn't
01:05:50.079 --> 01:05:52.789
going to stay there that you know he was
01:05:52.799 --> 01:05:54.309
going to have to leave. He was like a
01:05:54.319 --> 01:05:56.789
visiting monk who just decided he was
01:05:56.799 --> 01:05:58.630
going to take over and become the abbott
01:05:58.640 --> 01:06:00.150
there.
01:06:00.160 --> 01:06:01.670
And
01:06:01.680 --> 01:06:04.870
um I mean the way the final altercation
01:06:04.880 --> 01:06:09.589
occurred is I just made up my mind that
01:06:09.599 --> 01:06:11.430
he was going to have to go. He was like
01:06:11.440 --> 01:06:13.670
a a cousin or something of the other
01:06:13.680 --> 01:06:15.430
monk who lived at the monastery. There
01:06:15.440 --> 01:06:17.829
was only two of us at the time. There
01:06:17.839 --> 01:06:20.870
was me and there was old Unandia.
01:06:20.880 --> 01:06:23.190
And I mean I wanted to kick him out
01:06:23.200 --> 01:06:25.990
before then and I went up to Unanda and
01:06:26.000 --> 01:06:27.910
said that new monk wants to stay here
01:06:27.920 --> 01:06:30.230
but I don't want to let him stay here. I
01:06:30.240 --> 01:06:33.190
want to kick him out. And then Unandia
01:06:33.200 --> 01:06:35.430
looks up at me and says he is my
01:06:35.440 --> 01:06:38.470
brother. But the Burmese, especially
01:06:38.480 --> 01:06:40.230
Burmese village culture, they'll call
01:06:40.240 --> 01:06:41.670
someone their brother when they're not
01:06:41.680 --> 01:06:43.270
really their brother. And there was
01:06:43.280 --> 01:06:46.230
probably at least 30 years difference in
01:06:46.240 --> 01:06:49.510
age between these two. But we did have a
01:06:49.520 --> 01:06:53.029
kind of agreement that if some new monk
01:06:53.039 --> 01:06:55.190
was going to stay at the monastery, both
01:06:55.200 --> 01:06:57.589
of us had to agree. You know, if I
01:06:57.599 --> 01:06:59.589
agreed but he didn't, the person
01:06:59.599 --> 01:07:01.510
couldn't stay. If he agreed but I
01:07:01.520 --> 01:07:03.510
didn't, the person couldn't stay. And I
01:07:03.520 --> 01:07:05.510
was just finally made up my mind. I'd
01:07:05.520 --> 01:07:08.390
seen enough of his rule breaking and so
01:07:08.400 --> 01:07:12.150
forth that even if old Unandia didn't
01:07:12.160 --> 01:07:13.510
like it, I was going to kick him out
01:07:13.520 --> 01:07:17.029
anyway. So
01:07:17.039 --> 01:07:20.390
I go down to to have it out with this
01:07:20.400 --> 01:07:23.510
visiting monk and he's sitting there
01:07:23.520 --> 01:07:25.589
like out in this this clearing at the
01:07:25.599 --> 01:07:29.270
monastery reading a book and I go to
01:07:29.280 --> 01:07:31.270
Unanda who is hard of hearing. So I had
01:07:31.280 --> 01:07:34.150
to yell in order to for him to hear me
01:07:34.160 --> 01:07:37.349
and he said that I I said to him you
01:07:37.359 --> 01:07:40.470
know that new monk wants to stay here. I
01:07:40.480 --> 01:07:42.230
don't want to let him stay here. I'm
01:07:42.240 --> 01:07:45.029
gonna kick him out. And Unandanda looks
01:07:45.039 --> 01:07:47.990
up at me and he just gives me this
01:07:48.000 --> 01:07:50.069
delighted grin because apparently he
01:07:50.079 --> 01:07:51.270
didn't like him either even though they
01:07:51.280 --> 01:07:52.950
were like relatives, like cousins or
01:07:52.960 --> 01:07:57.430
something. And so he said, "Is he here?"
01:07:57.440 --> 01:07:59.190
And I said, "Yeah, he's just right out
01:07:59.200 --> 01:08:01.670
there reading a book." So, um, I went
01:08:01.680 --> 01:08:04.710
out to him and, uh, asked him, "Did you
01:08:04.720 --> 01:08:06.549
hear what I just said to Unadia?" And he
01:08:06.559 --> 01:08:08.069
said, he kind of looked up at me and
01:08:08.079 --> 01:08:10.549
says, "No." which probably wasn't true
01:08:10.559 --> 01:08:14.390
because I was yelling to this halfdeaf
01:08:14.400 --> 01:08:17.990
old monk like 30 feet away. So I told
01:08:18.000 --> 01:08:20.309
him that he was he's going to have to he
01:08:20.319 --> 01:08:22.309
was going to have to go. And this
01:08:22.319 --> 01:08:26.149
visiting monk just said, "I'm staying."
01:08:26.159 --> 01:08:28.309
And what he was doing is he's like
01:08:28.319 --> 01:08:29.829
pretending to still read the book. He's
01:08:29.839 --> 01:08:31.349
he's pretending like he's already the
01:08:31.359 --> 01:08:34.149
abbott. I'm just this, you know, trouble
01:08:34.159 --> 01:08:36.630
troublemaking foreigner who is just a
01:08:36.640 --> 01:08:38.950
visitor there or something. So he that
01:08:38.960 --> 01:08:41.590
was one of his mistakes was not looking
01:08:41.600 --> 01:08:43.990
at me cuz he's just like pretending to
01:08:44.000 --> 01:08:45.829
still read the book, you know, and I'd
01:08:45.839 --> 01:08:46.870
say, "No, you're really going to have to
01:08:46.880 --> 01:08:49.349
go." And he's I'm staying.
01:08:49.359 --> 01:08:53.189
And then I tell him, "If you don't go,
01:08:53.199 --> 01:08:55.030
I'm going to have to throw you out
01:08:55.040 --> 01:08:57.910
myself." And he's like, "No, you won't."
01:08:57.920 --> 01:08:59.749
And he's not looking at me. And if he
01:08:59.759 --> 01:09:01.030
was looking at me, he would see that I
01:09:01.040 --> 01:09:03.030
was starting to get kind of worked up.
01:09:03.040 --> 01:09:05.510
In fact, I I even kind of started to
01:09:05.520 --> 01:09:07.269
lunge at him a couple of times. you
01:09:07.279 --> 01:09:08.950
know, I'm practically vibrating at this
01:09:08.960 --> 01:09:10.630
point because he really was a
01:09:10.640 --> 01:09:12.390
troublemaker. I'm I'm leaving out all
01:09:12.400 --> 01:09:15.910
the stuff that happened before this.
01:09:15.920 --> 01:09:18.470
And so he's just saying, "No, you won't.
01:09:18.480 --> 01:09:19.269
You're not going to you're not going to
01:09:19.279 --> 01:09:22.070
kick me out." And so finally, he just
01:09:22.080 --> 01:09:26.070
says like, "This is my place now. You
01:09:26.080 --> 01:09:29.990
are just a visitor now. Go, you know, he
01:09:30.000 --> 01:09:31.430
he wasn't even like looking at me. He's
01:09:31.440 --> 01:09:32.630
like pretending to still read the book.
01:09:32.640 --> 01:09:35.829
You just kind of now go,
01:09:35.839 --> 01:09:39.030
you know, and that was it. It was like I
01:09:39.040 --> 01:09:41.349
snapped and the physical alternate
01:09:41.359 --> 01:09:44.789
altercation lasted maybe half a second
01:09:44.799 --> 01:09:48.149
because all I did I just lunged at him,
01:09:48.159 --> 01:09:49.749
grabbed him by the front of his his
01:09:49.759 --> 01:09:52.630
robes and just slammed him to the ground
01:09:52.640 --> 01:09:55.590
like an enraged gorilla.
01:09:55.600 --> 01:09:57.030
And then I kind of leaned over and said,
01:09:57.040 --> 01:10:00.070
"You are the visitor." and then stomped
01:10:00.080 --> 01:10:02.390
off to fill a bucket of water at the
01:10:02.400 --> 01:10:04.870
well and it was like maybe 60 feet away.
01:10:04.880 --> 01:10:06.229
I turned around and looked, he was still
01:10:06.239 --> 01:10:07.750
lying on his side on the ground. I was
01:10:07.760 --> 01:10:09.510
told he had a lump on his head from
01:10:09.520 --> 01:10:11.590
where his head hit the ground. But it
01:10:11.600 --> 01:10:13.110
was like the whole altercation, the
01:10:13.120 --> 01:10:15.669
whole physical contact lasted about half
01:10:15.679 --> 01:10:20.070
a second. And the next day he was he was
01:10:20.080 --> 01:10:21.910
being belligerent, you know. He was just
01:10:21.920 --> 01:10:23.590
like he was following me around the
01:10:23.600 --> 01:10:25.350
monastery like clapping his hands trying
01:10:25.360 --> 01:10:27.510
to make me like jump, you know, trying
01:10:27.520 --> 01:10:29.750
to startle me or something. And I'm just
01:10:29.760 --> 01:10:31.030
like thinking, how am I going to get rid
01:10:31.040 --> 01:10:32.310
of him? Am I really going to have to
01:10:32.320 --> 01:10:34.390
beat him up in order to get rid of him?
01:10:34.400 --> 01:10:36.550
And it's like I'm like pacing back and
01:10:36.560 --> 01:10:39.030
forth in my cave like like a caged
01:10:39.040 --> 01:10:42.390
leopard just, you know, not knowing what
01:10:42.400 --> 01:10:44.310
to do really. You know, it's I'm just
01:10:44.320 --> 01:10:46.870
these crazy ideas coming up. I could
01:10:46.880 --> 01:10:49.030
like get him into a double hammerlock
01:10:49.040 --> 01:10:50.550
and fling him into the river, but he
01:10:50.560 --> 01:10:52.709
might his arms might dislocate and he
01:10:52.719 --> 01:10:54.229
might drown or something, you know? It's
01:10:54.239 --> 01:10:55.590
like what am I going to do? And then
01:10:55.600 --> 01:10:57.750
finally it dawned on me the obvious
01:10:57.760 --> 01:11:00.790
solution just appeal to the villagers,
01:11:00.800 --> 01:11:03.750
my my supporters, you know, just when I
01:11:03.760 --> 01:11:06.630
go for alms round the next morning, all
01:11:06.640 --> 01:11:09.750
I got to do, my people, my friends, I
01:11:09.760 --> 01:11:12.390
need your help. there's this visiting
01:11:12.400 --> 01:11:14.709
monk who refuses to leave and he's
01:11:14.719 --> 01:11:17.030
causing all kinds of trouble and and so
01:11:17.040 --> 01:11:19.830
I did that the next day and there's all
01:11:19.840 --> 01:11:22.310
these appreciative gasps from the
01:11:22.320 --> 01:11:24.310
village ladies, you know, hearing about
01:11:24.320 --> 01:11:26.950
what's going on and a few of them came
01:11:26.960 --> 01:11:28.310
up to me and said, "Don't worry, we're
01:11:28.320 --> 01:11:29.350
going to we're going to go tell the
01:11:29.360 --> 01:11:31.750
village headman about this." And so
01:11:31.760 --> 01:11:35.350
within a short time the the two village
01:11:35.360 --> 01:11:38.470
headmen from the two villages came and
01:11:38.480 --> 01:11:40.790
there was a bunch of sort of like
01:11:40.800 --> 01:11:44.070
village elders showed up and also there
01:11:44.080 --> 01:11:47.270
was uh a few like young bucks you know
01:11:47.280 --> 01:11:49.030
young village guys just in case any
01:11:49.040 --> 01:11:51.510
manhandling was required and they just
01:11:51.520 --> 01:11:53.270
said don't worry about anything we'll
01:11:53.280 --> 01:11:55.910
get rid of him for you and I was after
01:11:55.920 --> 01:11:57.990
that I was just like cackling like how
01:11:58.000 --> 01:12:01.270
could it be this easy you Oh, and that
01:12:01.280 --> 01:12:03.510
they did. They just when they I asked if
01:12:03.520 --> 01:12:05.110
you want me to come down to the lower
01:12:05.120 --> 01:12:07.270
monastery with you and help participate
01:12:07.280 --> 01:12:08.630
in this, and they said, "No, you just
01:12:08.640 --> 01:12:10.229
stay right here. We'll take care of it."
01:12:10.239 --> 01:12:12.149
And they just
01:12:12.159 --> 01:12:13.669
essentially perpwalked him out of the
01:12:13.679 --> 01:12:15.189
monastery.
01:12:15.199 --> 01:12:17.270
And so that was that was gratifying. I
01:12:17.280 --> 01:12:19.430
knew I once I realized that all I had to
01:12:19.440 --> 01:12:21.270
do was just appeal to the village
01:12:21.280 --> 01:12:23.990
because I mean the villagers, they
01:12:24.000 --> 01:12:25.669
really supported me a lot. You know,
01:12:25.679 --> 01:12:28.149
they were kind of proud that you had
01:12:28.159 --> 01:12:31.110
this western man. You know, it's
01:12:31.120 --> 01:12:33.110
according to Burmese villagers, in their
01:12:33.120 --> 01:12:35.270
opinion, America is like paradise. You
01:12:35.280 --> 01:12:37.110
know, everyone's rich and beautiful and
01:12:37.120 --> 01:12:41.189
happy and Christian. And I renounced all
01:12:41.199 --> 01:12:44.630
of that in order to live in poverty and
01:12:44.640 --> 01:12:47.590
follow their religion at a more sincere
01:12:47.600 --> 01:12:50.070
level than they were following.
01:12:50.080 --> 01:12:51.910
And so they were like they felt
01:12:51.920 --> 01:12:54.870
vindicated and proud that they had this
01:12:54.880 --> 01:12:57.830
serious western monk living near their
01:12:57.840 --> 01:12:59.510
village and they were getting all kinds
01:12:59.520 --> 01:13:02.149
of merit by offering alms food to me in
01:13:02.159 --> 01:13:03.990
the mornings and this kind of thing. And
01:13:04.000 --> 01:13:06.950
so yeah, it was it was pretty easy to
01:13:06.960 --> 01:13:08.950
get rid of him once I realized what I
01:13:08.960 --> 01:13:10.709
had to do.
01:13:10.719 --> 01:13:14.470
But I had already assaulted him once
01:13:14.480 --> 01:13:17.590
before that before that came to pass.
01:13:17.600 --> 01:13:19.270
And that was really the only time I
01:13:19.280 --> 01:13:21.510
really got physical with another monk.
01:13:21.520 --> 01:13:23.590
There was a few other monks that I had
01:13:23.600 --> 01:13:29.590
some like heated disagreements with.
01:13:29.600 --> 01:13:32.070
But he was the there was there's one old
01:13:32.080 --> 01:13:36.870
monk um Makuda who I mean he was I mean
01:13:36.880 --> 01:13:39.910
I don't know even why he was a monk. He
01:13:39.920 --> 01:13:41.430
became a monk. He was a farmer who
01:13:41.440 --> 01:13:43.270
became a monk in his old age. And he
01:13:43.280 --> 01:13:45.669
just continued farming. You know, he was
01:13:45.679 --> 01:13:48.229
raising chickens and, you know, growing
01:13:48.239 --> 01:13:50.229
crops out in front of his cabin and all
01:13:50.239 --> 01:13:54.149
this. And uh one time he he snuck down
01:13:54.159 --> 01:13:56.550
to my the area of my cave where the only
01:13:56.560 --> 01:13:58.310
bamboo at the monastery was growing in
01:13:58.320 --> 01:14:00.229
order to cut some bamboo. And I just
01:14:00.239 --> 01:14:02.310
went down and just grabbed the machete
01:14:02.320 --> 01:14:03.910
out of his hands and just drove him
01:14:03.920 --> 01:14:07.350
away. Just yelling at him to, you know,
01:14:07.360 --> 01:14:09.590
go away.
01:14:09.600 --> 01:14:16.070
I had to give the machete back. But
01:14:16.080 --> 01:14:17.590
but when you're when you're like a
01:14:17.600 --> 01:14:19.270
serious monk, I mean, at a time like
01:14:19.280 --> 01:14:21.590
that, you know, I'm I'm a foreigner
01:14:21.600 --> 01:14:25.590
living in just this strange land of
01:14:25.600 --> 01:14:27.910
people that just don't speak my language
01:14:27.920 --> 01:14:30.229
and don't think like me, don't look like
01:14:30.239 --> 01:14:33.590
me. And I'm like trying to practice
01:14:33.600 --> 01:14:36.950
dharma at a relatively intensive level
01:14:36.960 --> 01:14:38.709
so that you become sort of like a an
01:14:38.719 --> 01:14:41.510
emotional pressure cooker. You know, you
01:14:41.520 --> 01:14:44.550
become like like a a hysterical basket
01:14:44.560 --> 01:14:46.709
case, you know, going with with Freudian
01:14:46.719 --> 01:14:49.590
language. You know, this hysteria is
01:14:49.600 --> 01:14:52.070
caused by like repressed urges and so
01:14:52.080 --> 01:14:54.630
forth. And a seriously practicing monk
01:14:54.640 --> 01:14:57.110
or nun is going to have more repressed
01:14:57.120 --> 01:15:00.470
urges than Joe Blow, you know, living in
01:15:00.480 --> 01:15:03.110
in suburbia.
01:15:03.120 --> 01:15:04.870
So, I mean, there's there's always the
01:15:04.880 --> 01:15:06.870
possibility of of stuff like that
01:15:06.880 --> 01:15:09.590
happening. I've had a few friends. There
01:15:09.600 --> 01:15:12.390
was one Australian monk I knew who said
01:15:12.400 --> 01:15:14.709
that he was chased around the monastery
01:15:14.719 --> 01:15:17.189
by a monk with a machete once. I think
01:15:17.199 --> 01:15:19.510
he was a Thai monk chasing him around
01:15:19.520 --> 01:15:21.430
the monastery in Thailand with a
01:15:21.440 --> 01:15:24.229
machete. Although the Australian monk
01:15:24.239 --> 01:15:25.750
said that he could tell by the look in
01:15:25.760 --> 01:15:27.590
his eyes he wasn't really going to hack
01:15:27.600 --> 01:15:30.070
him or anything.
01:15:30.080 --> 01:15:31.669
So I mean that kind of stuff does
01:15:31.679 --> 01:15:33.270
happen. But in my case there was only
01:15:33.280 --> 01:15:35.990
that one altercation where I slammed
01:15:36.000 --> 01:15:38.790
some troublemaking visiting monk who
01:15:38.800 --> 01:15:41.590
refused to leave. Just grabbed him and
01:15:41.600 --> 01:15:45.270
slammed him to the ground.
01:15:45.280 --> 01:15:47.189
But if you want to read the full story,
01:15:47.199 --> 01:15:49.430
it's it's in my my most recent book,
01:15:49.440 --> 01:15:52.790
which can be ordered on Amazon. Uh the
01:15:52.800 --> 01:15:55.910
link is below in the comments
01:15:55.920 --> 01:15:58.950
now that I'm shamelessly plugging my own
01:15:58.960 --> 01:16:00.950
book.
01:16:00.960 --> 01:16:03.830
So anyways, King Kung's second question,
01:16:03.840 --> 01:16:06.470
do you do any wilderness stuff now? And
01:16:06.480 --> 01:16:09.110
I'm sorry to say that I don't. Before I
01:16:09.120 --> 01:16:11.030
was a monk, I did a lot of backpacking.
01:16:11.040 --> 01:16:12.790
I lived in the Pacific Northwest, which
01:16:12.800 --> 01:16:15.430
is like ecotopia. Like in Washington
01:16:15.440 --> 01:16:18.229
State, there's
01:16:18.239 --> 01:16:21.189
uh a number I mean, I grew up just like
01:16:21.199 --> 01:16:23.350
just below the southern boundary of
01:16:23.360 --> 01:16:26.070
Olympic National Park, you know, miles
01:16:26.080 --> 01:16:28.870
and miles of hiking trails, you know,
01:16:28.880 --> 01:16:31.510
elk and deer and bears and all this kind
01:16:31.520 --> 01:16:33.830
of stuff. And then when I moved to
01:16:33.840 --> 01:16:36.149
Bellingham, it wasn't very far away from
01:16:36.159 --> 01:16:38.709
the Patan wilderness area, which is like
01:16:38.719 --> 01:16:41.110
one of the wildest areas in Washington
01:16:41.120 --> 01:16:43.430
State. Pretty much the only area that
01:16:43.440 --> 01:16:46.229
still had grizzly bears and grey wolves
01:16:46.239 --> 01:16:49.590
and caribou and moose,
01:16:49.600 --> 01:16:51.910
porcupines.
01:16:51.920 --> 01:16:53.750
So I did a lot of backpacking. And then
01:16:53.760 --> 01:16:55.990
as a monk in Burma, I was pretty much
01:16:56.000 --> 01:16:58.310
camping all the time.
01:16:58.320 --> 01:17:00.229
is I'd spent a lot of time out in
01:17:00.239 --> 01:17:04.149
relatively wild remote areas as a monk.
01:17:04.159 --> 01:17:06.229
But then coming back to America,
01:17:06.239 --> 01:17:08.470
especially coming to South Carolina, I
01:17:08.480 --> 01:17:10.870
had this idea of hiking to the top of
01:17:10.880 --> 01:17:13.030
Paris Mountain on the outskirts of
01:17:13.040 --> 01:17:15.110
Greenville. I haven't even done that. I
01:17:15.120 --> 01:17:17.669
haven't done almost no hiking at all.
01:17:17.679 --> 01:17:19.830
I'll just go for a few little walks with
01:17:19.840 --> 01:17:21.750
my sweetheart. You know, just walk
01:17:21.760 --> 01:17:23.189
through a park and and we don't do that
01:17:23.199 --> 01:17:25.750
very much even,
01:17:25.760 --> 01:17:27.189
especially now that we don't live near
01:17:27.199 --> 01:17:30.070
Paris Mountain.
01:17:30.080 --> 01:17:31.669
So, that's kind of unfortunate. It might
01:17:31.679 --> 01:17:35.270
be not until I uh retire that I'll
01:17:35.280 --> 01:17:37.910
really start like going on camping trips
01:17:37.920 --> 01:17:39.830
again.
01:17:39.840 --> 01:17:42.470
But, who knows? I mean, I wouldn't even
01:17:42.480 --> 01:17:46.310
know the good places to to hike or camp
01:17:46.320 --> 01:17:49.350
in in South Carolina.
01:17:49.360 --> 01:17:52.310
So, yeah, there is that. And finally,
01:17:52.320 --> 01:17:55.350
the third question from King Kung. How
01:17:55.360 --> 01:17:59.270
are your snails doing? Well,
01:17:59.280 --> 01:18:02.709
depends on which snails I've got. I
01:18:02.719 --> 01:18:04.550
mean, that tank that's in moonlight mode
01:18:04.560 --> 01:18:08.229
back there, I'll harvest rams horn
01:18:08.239 --> 01:18:09.830
snails out of the pond and put them in
01:18:09.840 --> 01:18:11.990
there, but they don't last very long
01:18:12.000 --> 01:18:15.430
because there are loaches, zebra
01:18:15.440 --> 01:18:17.910
loaches, bia strriata in there that
01:18:17.920 --> 01:18:21.030
specialize in eating snails. And so when
01:18:21.040 --> 01:18:22.950
I put snails in there, they eat algae
01:18:22.960 --> 01:18:27.510
and detritis for probably less than 48
01:18:27.520 --> 01:18:30.630
hours before they get found by a a a
01:18:30.640 --> 01:18:35.510
zebra loach that then feeds on them.
01:18:35.520 --> 01:18:37.030
On the other hand, I've got another
01:18:37.040 --> 01:18:38.709
aquarium
01:18:38.719 --> 01:18:43.110
over there. That little 10gon there.
01:18:43.120 --> 01:18:45.189
Put this back. I mean, I really should
01:18:45.199 --> 01:18:48.310
do an aquarium video,
01:18:48.320 --> 01:18:50.310
but there's like a population explosion
01:18:50.320 --> 01:18:53.430
of of snails in that 10gon tank because
01:18:53.440 --> 01:18:55.750
there were some fish that died in there
01:18:55.760 --> 01:18:57.350
and
01:18:57.360 --> 01:18:58.950
they just kind of disappear into the
01:18:58.960 --> 01:19:00.390
into the plants and everything. I don't
01:19:00.400 --> 01:19:03.270
see them as a general rule and then the
01:19:03.280 --> 01:19:05.270
snails feed on them and it just causes
01:19:05.280 --> 01:19:07.750
this population explosion of snails. You
01:19:07.760 --> 01:19:10.790
can also take like a an algae wafer and
01:19:10.800 --> 01:19:13.350
put that in there, you know, for feeding
01:19:13.360 --> 01:19:15.830
like algae eating fish and so forth. Put
01:19:15.840 --> 01:19:17.590
that in there and it causes a population
01:19:17.600 --> 01:19:20.470
explosion of snails, too.
01:19:20.480 --> 01:19:23.830
And uh my wife, there's a an aquarium,
01:19:23.840 --> 01:19:26.870
little fish tank like right off camera
01:19:26.880 --> 01:19:29.990
right to my to my right that has got
01:19:30.000 --> 01:19:32.709
these little freshwater puffer fish in
01:19:32.719 --> 01:19:35.189
it. Then they also feed on snails. So,
01:19:35.199 --> 01:19:36.870
there's no snails in that tank either,
01:19:36.880 --> 01:19:39.110
or not very many.
01:19:39.120 --> 01:19:40.870
And then I've got a big fish pond out in
01:19:40.880 --> 01:19:42.870
back that's just loaded with snails. So,
01:19:42.880 --> 01:19:45.990
the most prosperous snails I've got are
01:19:46.000 --> 01:19:48.870
the ones out in the fish pond.
01:19:48.880 --> 01:19:52.229
Lots of them out there.
01:19:52.239 --> 01:19:55.430
So, let's see. Oh, I should say also
01:19:55.440 --> 01:19:58.390
mention that that 10gon tank over there,
01:19:58.400 --> 01:20:00.229
there's a great big mystery snail in
01:20:00.239 --> 01:20:02.470
there called Righteous Fist of Heroic
01:20:02.480 --> 01:20:05.830
Effort, who is by far the largest snail
01:20:05.840 --> 01:20:07.590
I've got.
01:20:07.600 --> 01:20:10.149
See, how do I set this thing? I think I
01:20:10.159 --> 01:20:11.910
might have
01:20:11.920 --> 01:20:14.790
How do I do this? It was so easy the
01:20:14.800 --> 01:20:17.189
first time. I think I know what
01:20:17.199 --> 01:20:18.709
happened.
01:20:18.719 --> 01:20:21.590
One moment, please.
01:20:21.600 --> 01:20:24.550
Okay, I think I'll stop detaching the
01:20:24.560 --> 01:20:30.390
camera to show the 10gon tank.
01:20:30.400 --> 01:20:33.350
So, enough of snails. Enough of
01:20:33.360 --> 01:20:38.630
gastropod mollisks, if you will.
01:20:38.640 --> 01:20:40.790
So, let's see here.
01:20:40.800 --> 01:20:41.990
I'm just going to move on to the next
01:20:42.000 --> 01:20:44.950
question. This is from Fred.
01:20:44.960 --> 01:20:47.669
And Fred says,
01:20:47.679 --> 01:20:51.189
"Just a minute.
01:20:51.199 --> 01:20:53.910
continually having to wipe my eyes
01:20:53.920 --> 01:20:58.070
because if I don't take a shower or wash
01:20:58.080 --> 01:21:00.709
my face thoroughly at least once every
01:21:00.719 --> 01:21:05.189
24 hours, then it's like the skin oil
01:21:05.199 --> 01:21:08.070
from my eyelids gets into my eyes and
01:21:08.080 --> 01:21:10.470
starts burning.
01:21:10.480 --> 01:21:15.830
And it's not even funny.
01:21:15.840 --> 01:21:17.350
So, just excuse me. I'm going to go take
01:21:17.360 --> 01:21:18.709
a shower for half an hour. I'll be right
01:21:18.719 --> 01:21:21.590
back.
01:21:21.600 --> 01:21:23.510
or not. Let's see here. Next question is
01:21:23.520 --> 01:21:25.270
from Fred.
01:21:25.280 --> 01:21:28.470
Fred says, "Is deep trance near
01:21:28.480 --> 01:21:30.149
Nibbana?"
01:21:30.159 --> 01:21:33.750
And it is kind of interesting that in
01:21:33.760 --> 01:21:36.149
the some upanishads, which are not
01:21:36.159 --> 01:21:37.590
Buddhist texts, but they come pretty
01:21:37.600 --> 01:21:41.110
close to Buddhism, some of them do. um
01:21:41.120 --> 01:21:44.470
that it talks about how you've got the
01:21:44.480 --> 01:21:46.550
three states of consciousness for a
01:21:46.560 --> 01:21:49.189
normal person which is just waking
01:21:49.199 --> 01:21:51.830
consciousness, dreaming sleep and
01:21:51.840 --> 01:21:54.070
dreamless sleep. And according to at
01:21:54.080 --> 01:21:56.470
least one of these upanishads, dreamless
01:21:56.480 --> 01:22:00.709
sleep comes closest to like
01:22:00.719 --> 01:22:03.350
enlightenment or Brahman.
01:22:03.360 --> 01:22:05.830
And I just don't see it that way. I mean
01:22:05.840 --> 01:22:08.070
deep trance in which you're like
01:22:08.080 --> 01:22:09.750
oblivious to everything around you. I
01:22:09.760 --> 01:22:11.430
don't see how that would be a state of
01:22:11.440 --> 01:22:12.950
superconsciousness.
01:22:12.960 --> 01:22:15.350
I don't see how you're more awake, you
01:22:15.360 --> 01:22:16.950
know, a fully enlightened being is
01:22:16.960 --> 01:22:18.790
awakened.
01:22:18.800 --> 01:22:22.790
So I don't see how being fully awake is
01:22:22.800 --> 01:22:24.629
comparable to being completely
01:22:24.639 --> 01:22:27.669
unconscious. And even terra Buddhist
01:22:27.679 --> 01:22:29.750
monks like I spent a few months at
01:22:29.760 --> 01:22:32.229
Pandida Rama
01:22:32.239 --> 01:22:35.990
and Mahasi Upandida was giving a damat
01:22:36.000 --> 01:22:38.950
talk in which he said
01:22:38.960 --> 01:22:43.189
nibbana is like a dreamless sleep
01:22:43.199 --> 01:22:46.550
and it's like how the hell is being
01:22:46.560 --> 01:22:50.790
fully awake like being asleep? How is
01:22:50.800 --> 01:22:53.750
being awakened? How is being fully
01:22:53.760 --> 01:22:55.750
conscious
01:22:55.760 --> 01:23:01.350
similar to being completely asleep?
01:23:01.360 --> 01:23:03.510
I just I just don't see it that way. I
01:23:03.520 --> 01:23:07.350
think that nibana it's just like pure
01:23:07.360 --> 01:23:11.510
consciousness.
01:23:11.520 --> 01:23:14.870
So I mean if if a deep trance is somehow
01:23:14.880 --> 01:23:18.229
more conscious than waking consciousness
01:23:18.239 --> 01:23:20.229
then maybe
01:23:20.239 --> 01:23:22.310
But personally, I just don't see it that
01:23:22.320 --> 01:23:25.510
way. I don't see how I mean, nibbana
01:23:25.520 --> 01:23:27.830
would transcend all the different
01:23:27.840 --> 01:23:30.470
worldly samsaric states. You know
01:23:30.480 --> 01:23:34.550
there'd be there'd be like enlightenment
01:23:34.560 --> 01:23:37.510
present in any of the three mental
01:23:37.520 --> 01:23:40.950
states of the the normal person you know
01:23:40.960 --> 01:23:43.910
waking dreaming sleep and dreamless
01:23:43.920 --> 01:23:46.629
sleep that I mean what would be the
01:23:46.639 --> 01:23:48.149
mental states of a fully enlightened
01:23:48.159 --> 01:23:51.030
being who is sound asleep would there
01:23:51.040 --> 01:23:53.910
still be this consciousness that is sort
01:23:53.920 --> 01:23:57.430
of observing the sleep
01:23:57.440 --> 01:23:59.590
I think it's possible
01:23:59.600 --> 01:24:01.430
But again, second-guessing the mental
01:24:01.440 --> 01:24:04.390
states of an enlightened being is a no
01:24:04.400 --> 01:24:08.229
no or at least it's it's just futility
01:24:08.239 --> 01:24:10.629
of futilities.
01:24:10.639 --> 01:24:13.830
Vanity of vanities.
01:24:13.840 --> 01:24:16.470
So personally, I do not think that a
01:24:16.480 --> 01:24:19.189
deep trance is necessarily near nibana,
01:24:19.199 --> 01:24:20.950
especially if it's like a hypnotic
01:24:20.960 --> 01:24:23.830
trance where you're just oblivious to
01:24:23.840 --> 01:24:25.189
everything except the voice of the
01:24:25.199 --> 01:24:27.669
hypnotist, that kind of thing. I
01:24:27.679 --> 01:24:29.669
remember one time my father who was a
01:24:29.679 --> 01:24:32.310
hypnotist hypnotized my little brother
01:24:32.320 --> 01:24:34.229
and my little brother is just like in a
01:24:34.239 --> 01:24:36.550
trance in my father's lap and then my
01:24:36.560 --> 01:24:38.550
father just claps his hands really loud
01:24:38.560 --> 01:24:41.830
right next to my brother's ear
01:24:41.840 --> 01:24:45.110
he was just oblivious. So I mean how is
01:24:45.120 --> 01:24:48.709
that a superconscious state?
01:24:48.719 --> 01:24:50.470
I just I do not see it that way.
01:24:50.480 --> 01:24:53.030
Although apparently
01:24:53.040 --> 01:24:56.149
some Hindus might might agree with Fred
01:24:56.159 --> 01:24:58.870
and and in the idea that a deep trance
01:24:58.880 --> 01:25:02.470
is near nibbana. I mean going with
01:25:02.480 --> 01:25:07.189
orthodox terravada fourth janna is
01:25:07.199 --> 01:25:09.910
I mean at least in some sutas you get
01:25:09.920 --> 01:25:13.990
the idea that ancient Indian Buddhists
01:25:14.000 --> 01:25:16.629
some of them considered fourth Janna to
01:25:16.639 --> 01:25:18.390
be a kind of jumping off point into
01:25:18.400 --> 01:25:21.510
nibbana. You like when the Buddha died,
01:25:21.520 --> 01:25:26.390
he went into parinana from fourth Janna.
01:25:26.400 --> 01:25:28.470
So what is fourth Janna? I mean is
01:25:28.480 --> 01:25:30.470
fourth Janna a deep trance? A lot of
01:25:30.480 --> 01:25:32.229
people seem to think so. A lot of people
01:25:32.239 --> 01:25:34.310
think in fourth Janna you become like a
01:25:34.320 --> 01:25:35.990
hibernating squirrel where you almost
01:25:36.000 --> 01:25:37.750
stop breathing and your pulse rate
01:25:37.760 --> 01:25:40.390
almost stops like your heart slows down
01:25:40.400 --> 01:25:42.390
so much that you know it's almost
01:25:42.400 --> 01:25:47.669
undetectable. That kind of thing. But
01:25:47.679 --> 01:25:50.390
how is being fully awakened
01:25:50.400 --> 01:25:52.950
similar to being completely oblivious to
01:25:52.960 --> 01:25:54.390
one's surroundings like a hibernating
01:25:54.400 --> 01:25:57.350
squirrel?
01:25:57.360 --> 01:26:00.229
So fourth Janna in my opinion is a state
01:26:00.239 --> 01:26:02.870
of heightened consciousness. Even though
01:26:02.880 --> 01:26:04.709
you might be sitting cross-legged with
01:26:04.719 --> 01:26:07.830
your eyes closed, you're not oblivious
01:26:07.840 --> 01:26:10.550
to everything around you. You'd be in a
01:26:10.560 --> 01:26:13.270
state of heightened awareness. Even
01:26:13.280 --> 01:26:15.510
though you might look like you're in a
01:26:15.520 --> 01:26:17.110
trance because you're just sitting there
01:26:17.120 --> 01:26:20.310
with your eyes closed, not moving.
01:26:20.320 --> 01:26:22.950
Or it's possible, for all I know, you
01:26:22.960 --> 01:26:24.310
could be in a heightened state of
01:26:24.320 --> 01:26:26.870
awareness while at the same time your
01:26:26.880 --> 01:26:30.070
body is like a hibernating squirrel. I
01:26:30.080 --> 01:26:31.669
don't see how that would be possible,
01:26:31.679 --> 01:26:33.590
but just because I don't see how it's
01:26:33.600 --> 01:26:34.629
possible doesn't mean that it's
01:26:34.639 --> 01:26:38.790
impossible.
01:26:38.800 --> 01:26:41.030
So
01:26:41.040 --> 01:26:42.870
in answer to Fred's question, is deep
01:26:42.880 --> 01:26:45.110
trance near Nibbana? Depends on the
01:26:45.120 --> 01:26:47.910
trance, I suppose.
01:26:47.920 --> 01:26:50.470
But as a general rule, I would I would
01:26:50.480 --> 01:26:53.350
say no. I would say a state of
01:26:53.360 --> 01:26:55.830
heightened awareness. Like someone who's
01:26:55.840 --> 01:26:58.390
racing a motorcycle or rock climbing on
01:26:58.400 --> 01:27:01.270
a vertical cliff face might be closer to
01:27:01.280 --> 01:27:04.310
nibbana than somebody in a deep like a
01:27:04.320 --> 01:27:06.310
hypnotic trance because you are in a
01:27:06.320 --> 01:27:11.590
state of heightened awareness.
01:27:11.600 --> 01:27:13.990
So I'm just going to move on to Fred's
01:27:14.000 --> 01:27:17.350
second question. Is samsara and nibbana
01:27:17.360 --> 01:27:20.390
a duality? Well, from a samsaric point
01:27:20.400 --> 01:27:22.870
of view, it is because samsara is
01:27:22.880 --> 01:27:27.189
dualistic. And so, nibbana is just an
01:27:27.199 --> 01:27:31.669
idea in samsara and samsara is just an
01:27:31.679 --> 01:27:35.110
idea in samsara. And they're sort of
01:27:35.120 --> 01:27:37.590
like practically opposites. I do not
01:27:37.600 --> 01:27:39.270
consider nibbana and samsara to be
01:27:39.280 --> 01:27:41.430
opposites. You know, some schools of
01:27:41.440 --> 01:27:43.830
Mahayana Buddhism say that samsara and
01:27:43.840 --> 01:27:46.310
nibbana are ultimately the same. And I
01:27:46.320 --> 01:27:49.590
can appreciate the sophistication of
01:27:49.600 --> 01:27:51.669
that idea.
01:27:51.679 --> 01:27:54.149
I do not think Samsara and Nibbana are
01:27:54.159 --> 01:27:56.790
opposites. But from the point of view of
01:27:56.800 --> 01:27:59.750
a lot of people, Samsara and Nibana is
01:27:59.760 --> 01:28:01.750
it's like this duality. It's like yin
01:28:01.760 --> 01:28:04.790
and yang.
01:28:04.800 --> 01:28:07.750
You want to deal with like nibbana as it
01:28:07.760 --> 01:28:10.870
really is then it's not the opposite of
01:28:10.880 --> 01:28:14.229
anything because there are no opposites
01:28:14.239 --> 01:28:16.790
in nibbana you know opposites are found
01:28:16.800 --> 01:28:19.350
only in samsara and nibbana is off the
01:28:19.360 --> 01:28:23.510
samsaric scale
01:28:23.520 --> 01:28:26.149
so in answer to that question is samsara
01:28:26.159 --> 01:28:28.629
and nibbana a duality within the context
01:28:28.639 --> 01:28:31.270
of samsara where samsara and nibbana are
01:28:31.280 --> 01:28:36.149
both concepts then in many cases, yes.
01:28:36.159 --> 01:28:40.390
But in reality, I think not.
01:28:40.400 --> 01:28:41.990
And so, I'm going to move on to Fred's
01:28:42.000 --> 01:28:45.030
third question. How many questions more
01:28:45.040 --> 01:28:47.590
so I don't get in a pickle? That's it.
01:28:47.600 --> 01:28:49.510
That was your third question. So, you
01:28:49.520 --> 01:28:51.990
don't get to ask anymore.
01:28:52.000 --> 01:28:53.110
And I'm just going to move on to the
01:28:53.120 --> 01:28:55.990
next question. This is from Visser. And
01:28:56.000 --> 01:28:59.990
it seems that my live stream caused uh a
01:29:00.000 --> 01:29:03.270
number of new people to ask questions,
01:29:03.280 --> 01:29:04.870
which is good. I suppose maybe that's
01:29:04.880 --> 01:29:07.830
that's another good reason to do it more
01:29:07.840 --> 01:29:10.550
live streams. I'm not exactly sure why
01:29:10.560 --> 01:29:12.390
more people watch live streams. I guess
01:29:12.400 --> 01:29:13.910
some people just want to watch something
01:29:13.920 --> 01:29:16.390
live and just click on the live stream
01:29:16.400 --> 01:29:20.390
thing and my video came up
01:29:20.400 --> 01:29:22.709
my live stream one
01:29:22.719 --> 01:29:23.990
which isn't going to happen this time
01:29:24.000 --> 01:29:26.149
because this is going to be pre-recorded
01:29:26.159 --> 01:29:28.310
isn't it?
01:29:28.320 --> 01:29:31.590
Anyhow, Visser says I have a question
01:29:31.600 --> 01:29:34.470
that is simple and very likely has asked
01:29:34.480 --> 01:29:37.750
before but the question is how does a
01:29:37.760 --> 01:29:40.390
monk keep his head bald?
01:29:40.400 --> 01:29:42.550
This is just one question. The thought
01:29:42.560 --> 01:29:45.110
process that led me to this question
01:29:45.120 --> 01:29:48.310
equals, does the monk do it himself? And
01:29:48.320 --> 01:29:50.950
is the monk allowed to possess a razor
01:29:50.960 --> 01:29:55.430
alongside his bowl? Well, um, how does a
01:29:55.440 --> 01:29:57.990
monk keep his head bald? Either he
01:29:58.000 --> 01:30:00.550
shaves it himself or another person
01:30:00.560 --> 01:30:04.070
shaves it, usually another monk.
01:30:04.080 --> 01:30:08.550
So um the eight requisites of a monk
01:30:08.560 --> 01:30:10.470
every monk is supposed to have eight
01:30:10.480 --> 01:30:12.790
requisites. There's like a sort of like
01:30:12.800 --> 01:30:15.590
an unofficial ninth requisite too which
01:30:15.600 --> 01:30:17.990
is the sitting cloth. But the eight
01:30:18.000 --> 01:30:21.750
requisites of a monk are three robes, a
01:30:21.760 --> 01:30:24.950
belt for holding up the lower robe, the
01:30:24.960 --> 01:30:27.189
alms bowl,
01:30:27.199 --> 01:30:29.430
a water strainer,
01:30:29.440 --> 01:30:33.510
a needle for mending his robes, and a
01:30:33.520 --> 01:30:35.030
razor.
01:30:35.040 --> 01:30:37.110
So, every monk has to have a razor at
01:30:37.120 --> 01:30:39.510
your ordination ceremony. At any monk's
01:30:39.520 --> 01:30:42.070
ordination ceremony, he's supposed to
01:30:42.080 --> 01:30:44.950
have all eight requisites plus the
01:30:44.960 --> 01:30:46.550
unofficial ninth requisite of the
01:30:46.560 --> 01:30:49.110
sitting cloth, you know, right there.
01:30:49.120 --> 01:30:51.669
And if he doesn't have it, his preceptor
01:30:51.679 --> 01:30:53.750
is supposed to make sure, you know, help
01:30:53.760 --> 01:30:56.070
him to obtain these things before his
01:30:56.080 --> 01:30:57.830
ordination.
01:30:57.840 --> 01:31:00.550
So, every monk is supposed to own a
01:31:00.560 --> 01:31:03.510
razor. And I used a single blade shik
01:31:03.520 --> 01:31:06.390
injector, which is the best razor I have
01:31:06.400 --> 01:31:09.110
I ever found for shaving my head. It has
01:31:09.120 --> 01:31:11.510
to be single blade though cuz if you go
01:31:11.520 --> 01:31:13.990
a week without shaving your head and you
01:31:14.000 --> 01:31:15.510
use one of those double blades or now
01:31:15.520 --> 01:31:17.430
it's it's like up to like five or six
01:31:17.440 --> 01:31:20.149
blades on some of these disposable razor
01:31:20.159 --> 01:31:22.790
things, it just plugs up with hair. You
01:31:22.800 --> 01:31:24.390
know, you get about an inch and it's all
01:31:24.400 --> 01:31:25.669
plugged up and then you got to like
01:31:25.679 --> 01:31:28.709
unplug it with your thumb or un swish
01:31:28.719 --> 01:31:30.950
around in water or something. It's just
01:31:30.960 --> 01:31:34.790
it just doesn't work very well.
01:31:34.800 --> 01:31:36.629
Oh, I just noticed he's got parenthesis.
01:31:36.639 --> 01:31:38.550
He's got the first parenthesis and then
01:31:38.560 --> 01:31:41.350
he doesn't end the parenthesis. So, it's
01:31:41.360 --> 01:31:43.910
still going after his question is over.
01:31:43.920 --> 01:31:46.149
The the parenthetical
01:31:46.159 --> 01:31:54.229
um expressions just continue.
01:31:54.239 --> 01:31:57.189
So, in my case, I'm usually shade my own
01:31:57.199 --> 01:31:59.510
head. Like one of the first sentences I
01:31:59.520 --> 01:32:02.550
learned how to say in Burmese was
01:32:02.560 --> 01:32:05.430
deta
01:32:05.440 --> 01:32:09.110
which was I would say that toenda
01:32:09.120 --> 01:32:12.629
who was like the designated head shaver
01:32:12.639 --> 01:32:14.950
at the monastery where I was ordained.
01:32:14.960 --> 01:32:16.790
So he just took upon himself you know
01:32:16.800 --> 01:32:18.310
he'd shave anybody's head if they wanted
01:32:18.320 --> 01:32:20.550
their head shaved. All you had to do is
01:32:20.560 --> 01:32:25.270
just go up to him and say,
01:32:25.280 --> 01:32:27.990
which means today I want and get my head
01:32:28.000 --> 01:32:31.350
shaved, venerable sir.
01:32:31.360 --> 01:32:33.189
So
01:32:33.199 --> 01:32:35.030
yeah,
01:32:35.040 --> 01:32:36.870
sometimes the monk shaves his own head
01:32:36.880 --> 01:32:38.870
and sometimes somebody else will shave
01:32:38.880 --> 01:32:40.709
his head, especially if you're in Burma
01:32:40.719 --> 01:32:42.149
and you've just got like a straight
01:32:42.159 --> 01:32:44.470
razor. I never dared to shave myself
01:32:44.480 --> 01:32:46.709
with a straight razor. I just I just
01:32:46.719 --> 01:32:50.390
assumed I'd probably like gash myself
01:32:50.400 --> 01:32:54.390
trying to shave with a straight razor.
01:32:54.400 --> 01:32:56.229
So, yeah, I had I had the the
01:32:56.239 --> 01:32:58.470
single-bladed shake injector, which I
01:32:58.480 --> 01:33:01.510
still have. I shaved with it just a
01:33:01.520 --> 01:33:03.590
couple days ago.
01:33:03.600 --> 01:33:06.149
It's still good.
01:33:06.159 --> 01:33:08.550
And anyone who wants to shave your head,
01:33:08.560 --> 01:33:10.709
I mean, maybe you know of a better one,
01:33:10.719 --> 01:33:13.910
but a single-bladed shik injector is is
01:33:13.920 --> 01:33:16.149
uh I mean, you really don't go wrong
01:33:16.159 --> 01:33:18.550
with that one.
01:33:18.560 --> 01:33:20.870
So, let's see here. Oh, I might as well
01:33:20.880 --> 01:33:22.390
add that according to the rules of
01:33:22.400 --> 01:33:24.550
monastic discipline, a monk is required
01:33:24.560 --> 01:33:28.629
to shave his head and face at least once
01:33:28.639 --> 01:33:32.149
every two months or two finger widths,
01:33:32.159 --> 01:33:35.110
whichever comes first. And so you can
01:33:35.120 --> 01:33:36.629
look like a sailor. I mean, you can have
01:33:36.639 --> 01:33:40.790
a beard, I mean, longer than mine as a
01:33:40.800 --> 01:33:44.149
monk and not be breaking any rules. But
01:33:44.159 --> 01:33:47.430
in Buddhist Asia, it's just the
01:33:47.440 --> 01:33:50.709
tradition as a general rule that you get
01:33:50.719 --> 01:33:53.990
your head shaved and your face like once
01:33:54.000 --> 01:33:55.350
a week. You know, it's like some
01:33:55.360 --> 01:33:57.669
monasteries, it's like Thursday is
01:33:57.679 --> 01:34:02.070
headshaving day. And some monks, like
01:34:02.080 --> 01:34:04.070
Southeast Asian monks, don't have a lot
01:34:04.080 --> 01:34:06.310
of facial hair. And so they'll just use
01:34:06.320 --> 01:34:08.709
tweezers to pull out the few hairs that
01:34:08.719 --> 01:34:11.110
they've got, which is against the rules
01:34:11.120 --> 01:34:12.550
of monastic discipline. You have to
01:34:12.560 --> 01:34:15.430
shave it and not pluck it. On the other
01:34:15.440 --> 01:34:18.470
hand, Jane monks have to pluck it. You
01:34:18.480 --> 01:34:20.790
know, like in the the story of Mahavira
01:34:20.800 --> 01:34:22.870
renouncing the world, if I remember
01:34:22.880 --> 01:34:25.590
correctly, he pulled out his hair and
01:34:25.600 --> 01:34:28.629
beard in five handfuls when he renounced
01:34:28.639 --> 01:34:30.870
the world,
01:34:30.880 --> 01:34:32.629
which probably hurt like hell, but he
01:34:32.639 --> 01:34:36.790
didn't care.
01:34:36.800 --> 01:34:40.629
So, let's just move on, shall we? Next
01:34:40.639 --> 01:34:44.070
question is from Master Poe.
01:34:44.080 --> 01:34:45.350
We've been going at it for a little over
01:34:45.360 --> 01:34:47.110
half an hour and a half. Although I've
01:34:47.120 --> 01:34:48.870
been going at it for probably more than
01:34:48.880 --> 01:34:52.790
2 hours due to like three false starts
01:34:52.800 --> 01:34:55.270
just trying to get the lag to to not
01:34:55.280 --> 01:34:57.110
lag. And we seem to be doing pretty
01:34:57.120 --> 01:34:59.990
good. The CPU is at 34%
01:35:00.000 --> 01:35:02.790
capacity
01:35:02.800 --> 01:35:04.070
and I don't think it starts really
01:35:04.080 --> 01:35:07.350
lagging until like 50%.
01:35:07.360 --> 01:35:10.149
So I think we're doing okay. Master Poe
01:35:10.159 --> 01:35:13.430
says, "Was Nagarjana or actually he's
01:35:13.440 --> 01:35:16.790
got Naranjana
01:35:16.800 --> 01:35:19.669
was Naraganjina a real person?" And I
01:35:19.679 --> 01:35:22.310
assume he means nagarjuna
01:35:22.320 --> 01:35:25.669
because I've never heard of Naraganjina.
01:35:25.679 --> 01:35:28.550
So I assume master po is saying, "Was
01:35:28.560 --> 01:35:31.510
Nagarjuna a real person?" And from a
01:35:31.520 --> 01:35:33.910
Buddhist point of view, nobody is a real
01:35:33.920 --> 01:35:37.669
person. There is no self. Nobody is
01:35:37.679 --> 01:35:41.270
ultimately real. There is no ultimately
01:35:41.280 --> 01:35:45.830
real essential, you know, self-existent
01:35:45.840 --> 01:35:47.910
individuality.
01:35:47.920 --> 01:35:49.189
So from the Buddhist point of view,
01:35:49.199 --> 01:35:51.270
nobody was a real person. God gaba
01:35:51.280 --> 01:35:53.350
Buddha was not a real person. I am not a
01:35:53.360 --> 01:35:57.750
real person. You are not a real person.
01:35:57.760 --> 01:36:01.910
But let's just go with worldly speech
01:36:01.920 --> 01:36:04.390
you know vhara
01:36:04.400 --> 01:36:08.390
within a samsaric context like was nagar
01:36:08.400 --> 01:36:10.229
a historical
01:36:10.239 --> 01:36:14.550
real person then it seems pretty likely
01:36:14.560 --> 01:36:17.189
I mean the the moola majamaka karaka is
01:36:17.199 --> 01:36:19.750
considered to be like his most essential
01:36:19.760 --> 01:36:21.189
work you know that's sort of like
01:36:21.199 --> 01:36:24.550
central to his philosophy it gave rise
01:36:24.560 --> 01:36:27.750
to majamaka philosophy I mean they had
01:36:27.760 --> 01:36:30.229
to have an author presumably somebody
01:36:30.239 --> 01:36:33.270
had to write it and it was attributed to
01:36:33.280 --> 01:36:36.950
Nagarjuna. Um but just because a work is
01:36:36.960 --> 01:36:39.510
attributed to Nagarjuna or to anybody in
01:36:39.520 --> 01:36:40.629
particular doesn't mean that they really
01:36:40.639 --> 01:36:43.590
wrote it. You know like most Mahayana
01:36:43.600 --> 01:36:46.070
texts are attributed to the Buddha but
01:36:46.080 --> 01:36:49.830
it's hardly likely that very many of
01:36:49.840 --> 01:36:53.030
them really were spoken or taught by the
01:36:53.040 --> 01:36:54.709
Buddha.
01:36:54.719 --> 01:36:56.629
And there are quite a few texts that are
01:36:56.639 --> 01:36:59.750
attributed to Nagarjuna that most
01:36:59.760 --> 01:37:03.510
scholars would say no that's that's not
01:37:03.520 --> 01:37:07.430
true. Like there's the uh
01:37:07.440 --> 01:37:09.430
there's some shastra that's attributed
01:37:09.440 --> 01:37:12.790
to it's the pragnya paramita shastra I
01:37:12.800 --> 01:37:16.390
think that is attributed to nagarjana
01:37:16.400 --> 01:37:20.149
and there was an editor or a commentator
01:37:20.159 --> 01:37:23.990
on the book uh kenada ramanan I think is
01:37:24.000 --> 01:37:26.870
his name who said that nagarjuna may
01:37:26.880 --> 01:37:29.350
have had a disciple who was also named
01:37:29.360 --> 01:37:31.990
nagarja who was the author of that book
01:37:32.000 --> 01:37:34.310
or it could just be that it's just
01:37:34.320 --> 01:37:37.990
falsely attributed to Nagarjana.
01:37:38.000 --> 01:37:40.629
um like the the awakening of faith
01:37:40.639 --> 01:37:42.870
shastra
01:37:42.880 --> 01:37:44.790
I think it's a shastra the awakening of
01:37:44.800 --> 01:37:46.709
faith it's a famous mahayana text it's
01:37:46.719 --> 01:37:49.750
attributed to ava
01:37:49.760 --> 01:37:52.310
although in all likelihood it wasn't
01:37:52.320 --> 01:37:55.189
really composed by ava
01:37:55.199 --> 01:37:59.750
because um the book that I read claims
01:37:59.760 --> 01:38:04.149
that the awakening of faith shastra was
01:38:04.159 --> 01:38:06.950
originally composed in Chinese and and
01:38:06.960 --> 01:38:11.109
then like afterwards kind of retconed
01:38:11.119 --> 01:38:14.790
and translated back into Sanskrit.
01:38:14.800 --> 01:38:16.709
or the sutra of Hui Nang is attributed
01:38:16.719 --> 01:38:19.990
to Hui Nang. But in all likelihood uh
01:38:20.000 --> 01:38:22.709
based on another a book that I read the
01:38:22.719 --> 01:38:25.430
editorial notes of a translation by a
01:38:25.440 --> 01:38:28.070
guy named Yam Pollski that in all
01:38:28.080 --> 01:38:30.790
likelihood the sutra of Hui Nang was not
01:38:30.800 --> 01:38:33.270
really authored by Hui Nang but was
01:38:33.280 --> 01:38:35.830
authored by a disciple of Hui Ning with
01:38:35.840 --> 01:38:39.990
a name like uh what was it
01:38:40.000 --> 01:38:43.669
Ning Shui or something like that.
01:38:43.679 --> 01:38:46.149
So Nagarjuna was in all likelihood a
01:38:46.159 --> 01:38:48.229
real person although every text
01:38:48.239 --> 01:38:51.030
attributed to him probably is not really
01:38:51.040 --> 01:38:53.510
composed by him. The Mula Majamaka
01:38:53.520 --> 01:38:55.350
caraka is generally considered to be
01:38:55.360 --> 01:38:58.070
authentic. Some of his letters I think
01:38:58.080 --> 01:39:01.189
he had some devotional verses um but
01:39:01.199 --> 01:39:03.669
most of what traditionally is attributed
01:39:03.679 --> 01:39:11.109
to Nagarjuna is a kind of forgery.
01:39:11.119 --> 01:39:13.510
So if we are real people, Nagarja
01:39:13.520 --> 01:39:15.590
probably also was a real person. I mean
01:39:15.600 --> 01:39:18.629
he has somewhat of a biography. I I
01:39:18.639 --> 01:39:21.910
think he was like South Indian maybe. I
01:39:21.920 --> 01:39:23.350
think he was supposed to be like a
01:39:23.360 --> 01:39:24.950
Brahman from South India or maybe I'm
01:39:24.960 --> 01:39:27.030
just confusing that with Bodhi Dharma.
01:39:27.040 --> 01:39:30.790
But he did teach at Nolanda University
01:39:30.800 --> 01:39:32.870
and uh I think he did spend a lot of
01:39:32.880 --> 01:39:34.870
time his monastery when he wasn't
01:39:34.880 --> 01:39:37.030
teaching at Nolanda was in like the
01:39:37.040 --> 01:39:42.070
southern half of India.
01:39:42.080 --> 01:39:43.590
Anyways,
01:39:43.600 --> 01:39:45.350
oh I probably should have worn the fez,
01:39:45.360 --> 01:39:50.470
the majamica fez, but too late now.
01:39:50.480 --> 01:39:53.750
And the next question is from RP A or
01:39:53.760 --> 01:39:55.350
Arpad.
01:39:55.360 --> 01:39:58.950
And RP A or Arpad says, "You mentioned
01:39:58.960 --> 01:40:01.350
that monks are allowed to kill in
01:40:01.360 --> 01:40:05.430
self-defense. Do mosquitoes count? I
01:40:05.440 --> 01:40:07.350
wouldn't even think of slapping them if
01:40:07.360 --> 01:40:09.510
they didn't make a purpose of attacking
01:40:09.520 --> 01:40:12.070
me. And considering the diseases they
01:40:12.080 --> 01:40:15.109
tend, carry, and spread, a mosquito's
01:40:15.119 --> 01:40:17.830
bite could be fatal. Yeah. Well, I mean,
01:40:17.840 --> 01:40:19.910
I've said before that the most dangerous
01:40:19.920 --> 01:40:23.109
animal in the forest is not a tiger.
01:40:23.119 --> 01:40:25.270
It's not wild pigs. It's not leopards.
01:40:25.280 --> 01:40:28.070
It's not even humans. It is the anophles
01:40:28.080 --> 01:40:30.149
mosquito.
01:40:30.159 --> 01:40:32.550
But I don't think I really did mention
01:40:32.560 --> 01:40:33.990
that monks are allowed to kill in
01:40:34.000 --> 01:40:36.229
self-defense. A monk is allowed to
01:40:36.239 --> 01:40:39.189
strike out in self-defense.
01:40:39.199 --> 01:40:41.669
But a monk isn't allowed to deliberately
01:40:41.679 --> 01:40:44.390
kill even in self-defense. I mean, he
01:40:44.400 --> 01:40:47.350
can do whatever. He can be a monk can be
01:40:47.360 --> 01:40:49.990
like Kyle Writtenhouse and just do what
01:40:50.000 --> 01:40:54.470
is necessary to eliminate the threat.
01:40:54.480 --> 01:40:56.709
So it may be that a monk is defending
01:40:56.719 --> 01:40:59.510
himself and striking out in self-defense
01:40:59.520 --> 01:41:02.310
and then inadvertently without the the
01:41:02.320 --> 01:41:05.590
conscious intention to kill his attacker
01:41:05.600 --> 01:41:07.750
winds up killing his attacker and then
01:41:07.760 --> 01:41:09.750
he would not be guilty of a parajika
01:41:09.760 --> 01:41:11.669
offense.
01:41:11.679 --> 01:41:14.229
But if he's deliberately trying to kill
01:41:14.239 --> 01:41:17.669
his attacker, then he's still he's still
01:41:17.679 --> 01:41:20.870
culpable and has committed a song uh
01:41:20.880 --> 01:41:23.430
parajika offense and is excommunicated
01:41:23.440 --> 01:41:27.990
for the rest of his life.
01:41:28.000 --> 01:41:30.070
Excommunicated from full ordination in
01:41:30.080 --> 01:41:33.669
the song. He can no longer be a beu.
01:41:33.679 --> 01:41:36.149
And so, do mosquitoes count?
01:41:36.159 --> 01:41:38.070
Technically, you could strike out in
01:41:38.080 --> 01:41:39.669
self-defense,
01:41:39.679 --> 01:41:43.270
but if I mean, it doesn't take much
01:41:43.280 --> 01:41:45.590
intelligence to realize that striking a
01:41:45.600 --> 01:41:48.950
mosquito generally kills it.
01:41:48.960 --> 01:41:52.950
So, I mean, it is kind of ironic that I
01:41:52.960 --> 01:41:56.229
really didn't start slapping mosquitoes
01:41:56.239 --> 01:41:59.430
until I was just going full blast as a
01:41:59.440 --> 01:42:03.270
monk, just living under a rock ledge at
01:42:03.280 --> 01:42:05.590
the northern boundary of Alando Kasapa
01:42:05.600 --> 01:42:08.229
National Park. There was one year I went
01:42:08.239 --> 01:42:09.990
almost the entire year without entering
01:42:10.000 --> 01:42:12.070
a building,
01:42:12.080 --> 01:42:14.870
without going under a roof.
01:42:14.880 --> 01:42:19.990
And mosquitoes at first I could endure.
01:42:20.000 --> 01:42:21.270
You know, I was taking malaria
01:42:21.280 --> 01:42:22.709
medication which didn't work very well.
01:42:22.719 --> 01:42:25.990
I always got malaria anyway, but the
01:42:26.000 --> 01:42:28.709
mosquito bites I could kind of endure. I
01:42:28.719 --> 01:42:31.109
didn't like it, but still it was
01:42:31.119 --> 01:42:33.430
tolerable. But there was like these I
01:42:33.440 --> 01:42:35.510
call them vampire flies. I think it's
01:42:35.520 --> 01:42:38.149
like a sand fly. It's not as big as a
01:42:38.159 --> 01:42:40.229
horse fly, but it's bigger than the
01:42:40.239 --> 01:42:41.669
little black deer flies. I mean, they
01:42:41.679 --> 01:42:43.990
get like an inch long. And when they
01:42:44.000 --> 01:42:46.790
bite, I mean, they're like biting chunks
01:42:46.800 --> 01:42:49.030
out of you. It hurts. And I just could
01:42:49.040 --> 01:42:55.030
not sit there with saintly like boine
01:42:55.040 --> 01:42:56.629
equinimity
01:42:56.639 --> 01:42:58.790
and just be bitten by like horse flies
01:42:58.800 --> 01:43:02.470
and and these vampire flies. And so
01:43:02.480 --> 01:43:05.270
eventually I started like swatting them
01:43:05.280 --> 01:43:08.229
with my sweat wiping rag. You know is
01:43:08.239 --> 01:43:10.870
the absolutely necessary sweat wiping
01:43:10.880 --> 01:43:14.709
rag of a western monk in Southeast Asia.
01:43:14.719 --> 01:43:17.350
It was just like a washcloth and you use
01:43:17.360 --> 01:43:18.790
it for all kinds of things. I mean you
01:43:18.800 --> 01:43:20.950
use it for drying yourself off when your
01:43:20.960 --> 01:43:22.470
when your head is shaved. It doesn't
01:43:22.480 --> 01:43:24.390
take much cloth. Doesn't take much of a
01:43:24.400 --> 01:43:27.189
towel to drive dry you off after you
01:43:27.199 --> 01:43:29.510
after you bathe. And also it's for
01:43:29.520 --> 01:43:31.430
wiping sweat. And also it's just as a
01:43:31.440 --> 01:43:34.310
flail to keep like the the blood sucking
01:43:34.320 --> 01:43:37.669
insects from settling on you.
01:43:37.679 --> 01:43:41.030
And these these little vampire flies as
01:43:41.040 --> 01:43:42.790
I call them. I think they're some kind
01:43:42.800 --> 01:43:45.430
of sand fly. They're they are hard to
01:43:45.440 --> 01:43:49.510
kill. You can smack them even desiring
01:43:49.520 --> 01:43:51.510
to squish them and they just fly away
01:43:51.520 --> 01:43:53.030
and then they just come right back again
01:43:53.040 --> 01:43:54.149
cuz they're very determined. They're
01:43:54.159 --> 01:43:56.470
like little terminators.
01:43:56.480 --> 01:43:58.629
But I got really good at it. I just I
01:43:58.639 --> 01:44:01.430
just eventually got too good at at
01:44:01.440 --> 01:44:04.149
slapping these vampire flies. So that
01:44:04.159 --> 01:44:06.229
the trick is, you know, you got one on
01:44:06.239 --> 01:44:08.870
the side of your arm here. You you swat
01:44:08.880 --> 01:44:11.350
from the other side so that the tip of
01:44:11.360 --> 01:44:13.590
the the rag just has like a whiplash
01:44:13.600 --> 01:44:17.510
effect and really smacks it and they
01:44:17.520 --> 01:44:19.350
would be stunned or dead. And then I
01:44:19.360 --> 01:44:23.350
would try to compensate for the demerit
01:44:23.360 --> 01:44:25.830
of killing deliberately killing an
01:44:25.840 --> 01:44:28.149
insect or at least trying deliberately
01:44:28.159 --> 01:44:30.870
causing grievous harm to this insect,
01:44:30.880 --> 01:44:32.229
even though it was a blood sucking
01:44:32.239 --> 01:44:35.430
parasite by feeding it to an ant lion.
01:44:35.440 --> 01:44:37.990
There were like ant lion pits in this
01:44:38.000 --> 01:44:40.550
under this rock ledge where I lived. And
01:44:40.560 --> 01:44:41.750
those of you who don't know what ant
01:44:41.760 --> 01:44:44.149
lions are, it's a kind of insect that
01:44:44.159 --> 01:44:47.109
has like this funnel-shaped pit that it
01:44:47.119 --> 01:44:49.590
digs into loose sand. And anything that
01:44:49.600 --> 01:44:52.550
falls into it, like an ant, they they'll
01:44:52.560 --> 01:44:55.189
like start throwing little bits of sand
01:44:55.199 --> 01:44:56.790
at it to knock it down to the bottom.
01:44:56.800 --> 01:44:58.310
And it's got these big pinchers that
01:44:58.320 --> 01:45:01.189
grab it and pull it under the ground and
01:45:01.199 --> 01:45:04.229
eat it once it gets to the bottom of the
01:45:04.239 --> 01:45:07.350
pit. So I would compensate by feeding a
01:45:07.360 --> 01:45:09.430
poor hungry little ant lion if I did
01:45:09.440 --> 01:45:13.430
manage to kill one of these creatures.
01:45:13.440 --> 01:45:18.470
But you know in a case like that where
01:45:18.480 --> 01:45:23.350
I mean some I guess it was Ajan Cha
01:45:23.360 --> 01:45:25.830
bered some monk for slapping a mosquito.
01:45:25.840 --> 01:45:27.990
was like, "Does is one drop of your
01:45:28.000 --> 01:45:30.229
blood so valuable that you will kill a
01:45:30.239 --> 01:45:33.430
living being?" But I mean, a mosquito,
01:45:33.440 --> 01:45:36.310
what kind of consciousness do they have
01:45:36.320 --> 01:45:38.950
really? I mean, I doubt that a a
01:45:38.960 --> 01:45:42.870
mosquito is any more conscious than, you
01:45:42.880 --> 01:45:46.629
know, a parramium or a plant.
01:45:46.639 --> 01:45:50.310
You know, they they will act in, you
01:45:50.320 --> 01:45:52.470
know, they will react. you know, a
01:45:52.480 --> 01:45:54.310
swatting hand, they might fly away, but
01:45:54.320 --> 01:45:56.629
it's just like automatic reflexes, sort
01:45:56.639 --> 01:45:58.310
of like the automatic door at a grocery
01:45:58.320 --> 01:45:59.830
store.
01:45:59.840 --> 01:46:01.590
I don't know if they even have really a
01:46:01.600 --> 01:46:04.229
brain,
01:46:04.239 --> 01:46:05.830
and they don't feel pain. I'm pretty
01:46:05.840 --> 01:46:08.709
sure that arropods, like all insects,
01:46:08.719 --> 01:46:11.189
crustations, and so forth, I really
01:46:11.199 --> 01:46:14.550
don't think that they feel pain.
01:46:14.560 --> 01:46:17.669
So, I eventually because I'm living out
01:46:17.679 --> 01:46:20.149
there, I've had malaria so many times
01:46:20.159 --> 01:46:22.550
and just being eaten alive by blood
01:46:22.560 --> 01:46:25.430
sucking parasites really isn't my style.
01:46:25.440 --> 01:46:28.229
And those mosquito nets that some of the
01:46:28.239 --> 01:46:31.830
Thai dutonga monks use, it's so fine.
01:46:31.840 --> 01:46:34.629
It's it's like panty hose where it's so
01:46:34.639 --> 01:46:37.590
sheer. The holes are so small to in
01:46:37.600 --> 01:46:40.070
order to shed rain that there's almost
01:46:40.080 --> 01:46:43.030
no air circulation. And I remember there
01:46:43.040 --> 01:46:45.510
were times I one one year that I spent
01:46:45.520 --> 01:46:48.870
there one time less than a full year. Um
01:46:48.880 --> 01:46:51.030
I brought one of those tie it's called a
01:46:51.040 --> 01:46:54.310
crot or a glot. It's a a great big
01:46:54.320 --> 01:46:57.270
umbrella with a detachable handle and
01:46:57.280 --> 01:46:59.750
you hang mosquito net onto it and then
01:46:59.760 --> 01:47:01.510
you can stay underneath and be
01:47:01.520 --> 01:47:04.870
relatively dry and not be eaten alive by
01:47:04.880 --> 01:47:08.149
blood sucking parasitic flies.
01:47:08.159 --> 01:47:10.470
But I mean, there was almost no air
01:47:10.480 --> 01:47:13.750
circulation at all. So, it's like I'd be
01:47:13.760 --> 01:47:15.270
sitting under that till I couldn't stand
01:47:15.280 --> 01:47:17.350
it anymore. And then I'd move it aside
01:47:17.360 --> 01:47:19.750
and be bitten by mosquitoes and flies
01:47:19.760 --> 01:47:21.430
until I couldn't stand it anymore. And
01:47:21.440 --> 01:47:23.189
then I'd get back under the mosquito net
01:47:23.199 --> 01:47:24.870
again till I couldn't stand it anymore.
01:47:24.880 --> 01:47:26.790
And it would just keep keep going back
01:47:26.800 --> 01:47:29.030
and forth like that until it became
01:47:29.040 --> 01:47:32.229
nighttime and the bats came out and the
01:47:32.239 --> 01:47:38.550
flies just went away and the mosquitoes.
01:47:38.560 --> 01:47:41.109
But I mean, I'm just sort of rambling
01:47:41.119 --> 01:47:43.109
and babbling all over the place, not
01:47:43.119 --> 01:47:46.229
really answering this question.
01:47:46.239 --> 01:47:49.510
So, let's just get back to the question.
01:47:49.520 --> 01:47:51.990
Um, monks are really not allowed to kill
01:47:52.000 --> 01:47:54.070
in self-defense unless it's inadvertent.
01:47:54.080 --> 01:47:56.070
They're allowed to strike out in
01:47:56.080 --> 01:47:58.950
self-defense. And I mean, I would use
01:47:58.960 --> 01:48:02.550
that as a kind of justification. You
01:48:02.560 --> 01:48:04.550
know, monks are allowed to strike out in
01:48:04.560 --> 01:48:07.590
self-defense. This mosquito is literally
01:48:07.600 --> 01:48:11.270
attacking me and it could be threatening
01:48:11.280 --> 01:48:15.189
my life if it has some disease. And like
01:48:15.199 --> 01:48:17.590
I say, I had falsif malaria seven or
01:48:17.600 --> 01:48:19.350
eight times,
01:48:19.360 --> 01:48:22.229
which is the worst kind of malaria. Most
01:48:22.239 --> 01:48:23.990
people who die of malaria die of
01:48:24.000 --> 01:48:26.149
falsiferum malaria. Once it goes
01:48:26.159 --> 01:48:30.790
cerebral, you're done for.
01:48:30.800 --> 01:48:32.390
And when it goes cerebral, that means
01:48:32.400 --> 01:48:35.350
that I mean malaria is a blood disease.
01:48:35.360 --> 01:48:39.590
The parasite like it invades your red
01:48:39.600 --> 01:48:42.470
blood cells and reproduces inside the
01:48:42.480 --> 01:48:44.229
red blood cells and then it breaks the
01:48:44.239 --> 01:48:47.189
blood cell open as the the new baby
01:48:47.199 --> 01:48:49.270
tripanosomes, I think they're called,
01:48:49.280 --> 01:48:51.910
come out. And so you got this wreckage
01:48:51.920 --> 01:48:54.950
of destroyed red blood cells going
01:48:54.960 --> 01:48:58.149
through your system. And what happens is
01:48:58.159 --> 01:49:00.550
with falsipro malaria, they start
01:49:00.560 --> 01:49:02.870
causing little localized strokes. You
01:49:02.880 --> 01:49:05.350
can have like thousands of localized
01:49:05.360 --> 01:49:08.470
tiny micro strokes or you know like
01:49:08.480 --> 01:49:10.470
blockages all through your brain from
01:49:10.480 --> 01:49:12.950
the like the capillaries getting plugged
01:49:12.960 --> 01:49:15.669
with this red blood cell wreckage. And
01:49:15.679 --> 01:49:18.390
once that happens, it's very difficult
01:49:18.400 --> 01:49:20.950
to cure somebody,
01:49:20.960 --> 01:49:22.790
especially if they've got like 106
01:49:22.800 --> 01:49:27.350
degree fever besides.
01:49:27.360 --> 01:49:31.430
So in a case of mosquitoes, I mean, you
01:49:31.440 --> 01:49:33.750
just have to
01:49:33.760 --> 01:49:35.830
you I mean, you have to take into
01:49:35.840 --> 01:49:37.590
consideration
01:49:37.600 --> 01:49:40.070
all the possibilities, all the options.
01:49:40.080 --> 01:49:43.270
And in some cases, you may just decide
01:49:43.280 --> 01:49:47.430
it is worth my while to break this rule
01:49:47.440 --> 01:49:50.229
under this circumstance.
01:49:50.239 --> 01:49:52.550
So, I was I was owning it. I mean, I
01:49:52.560 --> 01:49:55.510
wasn't trying to like
01:49:55.520 --> 01:49:57.750
claim that I wasn't guilty, you know,
01:49:57.760 --> 01:50:00.709
like just fighting just self-defense,
01:50:00.719 --> 01:50:02.790
you know, just kill the mosquito in
01:50:02.800 --> 01:50:06.310
self-defense. I mean, I wasn't I wasn't
01:50:06.320 --> 01:50:08.310
trying to
01:50:08.320 --> 01:50:11.189
indulge in that kind of sophistry.
01:50:11.199 --> 01:50:15.910
It's like I was confessing the offense
01:50:15.920 --> 01:50:18.149
of of slapping mosquitoes when I was
01:50:18.159 --> 01:50:20.790
slapping them. And it was only as a
01:50:20.800 --> 01:50:23.270
general rule when I was staying in that
01:50:23.280 --> 01:50:25.350
one place out in the forest where I just
01:50:25.360 --> 01:50:30.709
was just like completely vulnerable
01:50:30.719 --> 01:50:34.149
to mosquitoes and horse flies and deer
01:50:34.159 --> 01:50:36.709
flies and just
01:50:36.719 --> 01:50:39.270
yeah I just could not sit there and be
01:50:39.280 --> 01:50:42.149
eaten alive. I just it was just beyond
01:50:42.159 --> 01:50:44.790
me.
01:50:44.800 --> 01:50:47.669
So let's see here. I mean, I stayed at
01:50:47.679 --> 01:50:50.229
one place, Migadawan Monastery, up in
01:50:50.239 --> 01:50:52.310
the hills. It's on the ver the edge of
01:50:52.320 --> 01:50:56.790
the Shan Plateau, like 45 miles
01:50:56.800 --> 01:51:01.510
east of Mandandalay up in the hills. And
01:51:01.520 --> 01:51:03.030
during the rainy season, I mean, it was
01:51:03.040 --> 01:51:05.910
it was awful. I mean, you'd have to if
01:51:05.920 --> 01:51:07.750
you're going to if you're going to pee
01:51:07.760 --> 01:51:10.229
outside, you had to be like marching in
01:51:10.239 --> 01:51:13.430
place, like stomping both feet while
01:51:13.440 --> 01:51:15.270
peeing, which is it it takes some
01:51:15.280 --> 01:51:17.750
getting used to. I mean, it's it's a a
01:51:17.760 --> 01:51:21.189
skill that has to be learned, I think,
01:51:21.199 --> 01:51:23.910
because if you just stayed motionless
01:51:23.920 --> 01:51:26.070
for just a few seconds, the mosquitoes
01:51:26.080 --> 01:51:28.390
would just be clustering on your feet
01:51:28.400 --> 01:51:32.229
and ankles.
01:51:32.239 --> 01:51:34.790
So anyways,
01:51:34.800 --> 01:51:37.109
I mean there are some some monks I mean
01:51:37.119 --> 01:51:39.750
like for example I mean I'm just
01:51:39.760 --> 01:51:42.310
completely just leaving these questions
01:51:42.320 --> 01:51:46.310
behind in the dust at this point but pa
01:51:46.320 --> 01:51:49.910
monastery pa doya in southern Burma in
01:51:49.920 --> 01:51:52.709
Mon state um the pao method has a
01:51:52.719 --> 01:51:53.990
reputation for being one of the
01:51:54.000 --> 01:51:56.629
strictest with regard to following
01:51:56.639 --> 01:51:58.550
vineia rules the rules of monastic
01:51:58.560 --> 01:52:00.070
discipline
01:52:00.080 --> 01:52:04.310
and P al got infested with bed bugs. You
01:52:04.320 --> 01:52:07.830
know, the the the meditation cabins,
01:52:07.840 --> 01:52:09.990
most of them were infested with bed
01:52:10.000 --> 01:52:13.430
bugs. And so
01:52:13.440 --> 01:52:15.750
the the the Abbott, venerable Paul
01:52:15.760 --> 01:52:18.390
Aliato himself
01:52:18.400 --> 01:52:22.070
said something to somebody and you had
01:52:22.080 --> 01:52:25.270
like exterminators came to kill off the
01:52:25.280 --> 01:52:27.910
bed bugs. And this one Australian monk,
01:52:27.920 --> 01:52:29.430
who's the same Australian monk that I
01:52:29.440 --> 01:52:31.030
mentioned, who was chased around a
01:52:31.040 --> 01:52:33.750
monastery with a um
01:52:33.760 --> 01:52:36.629
another monk wielding machete,
01:52:36.639 --> 01:52:38.629
he just put his foot down and he said,
01:52:38.639 --> 01:52:40.790
"Nope, you're not going to kill my bed
01:52:40.800 --> 01:52:42.149
bugs. You're not going to kill the bed
01:52:42.159 --> 01:52:44.470
bugs in in this cabin." You know, he
01:52:44.480 --> 01:52:49.750
just defied them. But I mean, it gets to
01:52:49.760 --> 01:52:53.430
a certain point where you have to do
01:52:53.440 --> 01:52:56.310
something. And even monks are allowed to
01:52:56.320 --> 01:52:58.390
at least spread their bedding out in the
01:52:58.400 --> 01:53:01.830
sun to get rid of bed bugs, which kills
01:53:01.840 --> 01:53:04.629
the bed bugs. You know, it's like bed
01:53:04.639 --> 01:53:06.470
bugs aren't going to survive in blazing
01:53:06.480 --> 01:53:09.669
sunlight. And generally, an ant colony
01:53:09.679 --> 01:53:11.510
will find them anyway. I've done that
01:53:11.520 --> 01:53:14.310
before. Spread out my my bed buginfested
01:53:14.320 --> 01:53:16.790
bedding out in the sun, and within a few
01:53:16.800 --> 01:53:18.709
minutes, you've got this highway of ants
01:53:18.719 --> 01:53:21.030
carrying bed bugs back to this hole in
01:53:21.040 --> 01:53:24.390
the ground.
01:53:24.400 --> 01:53:26.629
But
01:53:26.639 --> 01:53:28.709
I mean,
01:53:28.719 --> 01:53:31.109
I guess you could use the argument that
01:53:31.119 --> 01:53:34.950
killing is not your your your purpose,
01:53:34.960 --> 01:53:36.790
that you're just defending yourself. So,
01:53:36.800 --> 01:53:38.950
I mean, striking out in self-defense
01:53:38.960 --> 01:53:41.350
could theoretically be used as a valid
01:53:41.360 --> 01:53:45.669
argument.
01:53:45.679 --> 01:53:48.149
It's just that and like for example I
01:53:48.159 --> 01:53:50.390
mentioned this before there are certain
01:53:50.400 --> 01:53:53.189
times in Burma like at the beginning of
01:53:53.199 --> 01:53:55.990
the rainy season there's just like these
01:53:56.000 --> 01:53:58.390
little gnats just completely cover the
01:53:58.400 --> 01:54:01.669
ground and you cannot walk without
01:54:01.679 --> 01:54:05.030
squishing them but you're not really
01:54:05.040 --> 01:54:07.830
committing. You're not breaking a rule
01:54:07.840 --> 01:54:09.910
by walking around squishing them because
01:54:09.920 --> 01:54:11.910
that is not your purpose. That is not
01:54:11.920 --> 01:54:13.830
your intention. You're not walking in
01:54:13.840 --> 01:54:16.390
order to squish these insects. You're
01:54:16.400 --> 01:54:17.830
just trying to get from point A to point
01:54:17.840 --> 01:54:21.109
B. For a Jane, that would be
01:54:21.119 --> 01:54:24.229
problematic. But for a Buddhist, if I
01:54:24.239 --> 01:54:27.350
mean, that is not your purpose, you're
01:54:27.360 --> 01:54:30.709
really not guilty of breaking the rule.
01:54:30.719 --> 01:54:34.629
So, I mean, if your purpose is just not
01:54:34.639 --> 01:54:37.910
being eaten alive by mosquitoes,
01:54:37.920 --> 01:54:39.430
maybe.
01:54:39.440 --> 01:54:42.070
But it would depend a lot on who you
01:54:42.080 --> 01:54:45.189
talk to, who your preceptor is, that
01:54:45.199 --> 01:54:47.669
kind of thing with regard to whether you
01:54:47.679 --> 01:54:49.830
really are breaking the rule by slapping
01:54:49.840 --> 01:54:53.189
mosquitoes. And in as a general rule, I
01:54:53.199 --> 01:54:56.070
just owned it
01:54:56.080 --> 01:54:58.229
cuz I really was. I mean, sometimes you
01:54:58.239 --> 01:54:59.589
just get pissed off at the little
01:54:59.599 --> 01:55:02.310
bastards.
01:55:02.320 --> 01:55:03.510
And so, I'm just going to move on to the
01:55:03.520 --> 01:55:05.350
next question.
01:55:05.360 --> 01:55:07.669
This is from Trzasquez.
01:55:07.679 --> 01:55:10.709
And Taskis is says, "Have you ever
01:55:10.719 --> 01:55:13.109
noticed in a group meditation or just
01:55:13.119 --> 01:55:15.430
within a group of monks that there are
01:55:15.440 --> 01:55:18.070
no mosquitoes on some people and one
01:55:18.080 --> 01:55:20.950
person has all of them biting him? It's
01:55:20.960 --> 01:55:23.030
an exaggeration." He says in
01:55:23.040 --> 01:55:24.709
parenthesis,
01:55:24.719 --> 01:55:26.870
"Um, no, I've never really noticed this
01:55:26.880 --> 01:55:29.589
because if you're in a group meditation
01:55:29.599 --> 01:55:31.669
especially, you're not really paying
01:55:31.679 --> 01:55:32.870
attention to what other people are
01:55:32.880 --> 01:55:35.270
doing. I mean, you might notice if you
01:55:35.280 --> 01:55:37.350
are being bitten by mosquitoes, but I
01:55:37.360 --> 01:55:38.950
mean, obviously, you're not going to be
01:55:38.960 --> 01:55:41.430
looking around seeing if people are
01:55:41.440 --> 01:55:43.270
getting bitten by mosquitoes when you're
01:55:43.280 --> 01:55:46.310
supposed to be meditating.
01:55:46.320 --> 01:55:48.870
I mean, some people apparently taste
01:55:48.880 --> 01:55:51.109
better or smell better to mosquitoes. I
01:55:51.119 --> 01:55:53.270
mean, I have noticed that where some
01:55:53.280 --> 01:55:56.470
people, like, for example, in my case, I
01:55:56.480 --> 01:55:59.990
was like a horsefly magnet. If if I was
01:56:00.000 --> 01:56:01.990
in a group and we were like walking
01:56:02.000 --> 01:56:04.709
through the forest, then the the horse
01:56:04.719 --> 01:56:07.510
flies would come after me because the
01:56:07.520 --> 01:56:10.229
Burmese are adjusted, you know, they're
01:56:10.239 --> 01:56:12.950
evolved to live in a tropical climate
01:56:12.960 --> 01:56:14.470
and so they wouldn't be covered with
01:56:14.480 --> 01:56:16.950
sweat, but horse flies are attracted to
01:56:16.960 --> 01:56:19.669
moisture. Like you may have noticed in
01:56:19.679 --> 01:56:22.070
the west you come, you go swimming like
01:56:22.080 --> 01:56:24.229
in a river or a lake, you come out,
01:56:24.239 --> 01:56:25.589
that's when the horse flies come after
01:56:25.599 --> 01:56:27.189
you when you're all wet. They're
01:56:27.199 --> 01:56:29.030
attracted to moisture. And I would just
01:56:29.040 --> 01:56:32.390
be drenched in sweat. The Burmese would
01:56:32.400 --> 01:56:34.870
be fine. I'd be all sweaty. So the horse
01:56:34.880 --> 01:56:39.430
flies would come after me.
01:56:39.440 --> 01:56:41.990
But with regard to meditating, yeah, if
01:56:42.000 --> 01:56:43.750
if you notice other people are being
01:56:43.760 --> 01:56:46.149
bitten by mosquitoes, when you're in a
01:56:46.159 --> 01:56:48.070
group meditation, then you're obviously
01:56:48.080 --> 01:56:49.270
not meditating. You're just
01:56:49.280 --> 01:56:50.870
rubbernecking and looking around, see
01:56:50.880 --> 01:56:54.470
what other people are doing.
01:56:54.480 --> 01:56:57.750
I remember when I was at Pandarama
01:56:57.760 --> 01:56:59.270
um there were there were some mosquitoes
01:56:59.280 --> 01:57:00.870
in the meditation hall and it was just
01:57:00.880 --> 01:57:02.950
something that you just had to endure
01:57:02.960 --> 01:57:04.950
you know I I wouldn't even be slapping
01:57:04.960 --> 01:57:06.229
them you know right in front of
01:57:06.239 --> 01:57:07.750
everybody you know it just doesn't look
01:57:07.760 --> 01:57:10.870
right doesn't look good
01:57:10.880 --> 01:57:13.189
and there was only a few anyway so it
01:57:13.199 --> 01:57:16.390
was just and it was in Rangon so it was
01:57:16.400 --> 01:57:18.470
not endemic with malaria anyhow it was
01:57:18.480 --> 01:57:21.030
just inconvenient and uncomfortable and
01:57:21.040 --> 01:57:22.870
itchy
01:57:22.880 --> 01:57:27.030
But then somebody donated a bunch of um
01:57:27.040 --> 01:57:31.430
like little mosquito nets, you know,
01:57:31.440 --> 01:57:33.350
they were just like a round mosquito net
01:57:33.360 --> 01:57:34.790
and you'd sit inside of it. It wasn't
01:57:34.800 --> 01:57:37.109
like a long one like went over a bed. It
01:57:37.119 --> 01:57:38.709
was just enough room for you to sit
01:57:38.719 --> 01:57:42.070
inside. And there was a a Bangladeshi
01:57:42.080 --> 01:57:44.470
monk there who was just delighted, you
01:57:44.480 --> 01:57:46.310
know. He was he was like a kid on on
01:57:46.320 --> 01:57:48.470
Christmas morning, you know, wideeyed.
01:57:48.480 --> 01:57:50.950
It's like, is are can we use those are
01:57:50.960 --> 01:57:53.750
those for us? And I didn't even want to
01:57:53.760 --> 01:57:55.750
use them just because, you know, I
01:57:55.760 --> 01:57:58.070
wanted to be the aesthetic, you know,
01:57:58.080 --> 01:58:01.030
but I don't I don't remember if I even
01:58:01.040 --> 01:58:02.550
even use them even though they were
01:58:02.560 --> 01:58:06.790
available. Just just some macho thing, I
01:58:06.800 --> 01:58:09.910
think. Just sit there and get bitten by
01:58:09.920 --> 01:58:12.390
mosquitoes just in order not to be a
01:58:12.400 --> 01:58:15.750
wimp.
01:58:15.760 --> 01:58:17.830
Anyhow,
01:58:17.840 --> 01:58:19.030
I'm just going to move on to the next
01:58:19.040 --> 01:58:21.750
question. This is from Ethiopian fake
01:58:21.760 --> 01:58:26.629
TIG. An Ethiopian fake TIG says, "You
01:58:26.639 --> 01:58:29.669
have on various occasions said you would
01:58:29.679 --> 01:58:32.870
not explain dependent core rising. And
01:58:32.880 --> 01:58:36.310
recently, as I have tried to read Martin
01:58:36.320 --> 01:58:39.830
Hideagger, I became across a sort of
01:58:39.840 --> 01:58:42.550
definition of my own and wanted your
01:58:42.560 --> 01:58:44.790
thoughts on it. Since everything is
01:58:44.800 --> 01:58:47.990
impermanent, then nothing can't last
01:58:48.000 --> 01:58:49.669
forever."
01:58:49.679 --> 01:58:52.310
Meaning something is born and it dies
01:58:52.320 --> 01:58:55.589
and becomes nothing. But since
01:58:55.599 --> 01:58:59.189
impermanence affects everything, nothing
01:58:59.199 --> 01:59:02.709
itself must become something at some
01:59:02.719 --> 01:59:06.070
point. Could this be a definition for
01:59:06.080 --> 01:59:08.950
why there is something now and how it
01:59:08.960 --> 01:59:12.550
won't exist soon and how it will exist
01:59:12.560 --> 01:59:15.189
again in the future?
01:59:15.199 --> 01:59:17.109
And I have to admit, I don't fully
01:59:17.119 --> 01:59:19.350
comprehend this question.
01:59:19.360 --> 01:59:23.109
It's it's uh let's see since everything
01:59:23.119 --> 01:59:26.390
is impermanent then nothing can't last
01:59:26.400 --> 01:59:29.350
forever and
01:59:29.360 --> 01:59:31.589
I mean it seems like that might be bad
01:59:31.599 --> 01:59:34.070
English. It might be that something or
01:59:34.080 --> 01:59:36.709
anything can't last forever because
01:59:36.719 --> 01:59:39.669
everything is impermanent. So I mean
01:59:39.679 --> 01:59:41.830
everything can't last forever. Nothing
01:59:41.840 --> 01:59:44.390
really can last forever.
01:59:44.400 --> 01:59:46.629
Meaning something is born and it dies
01:59:46.639 --> 01:59:49.030
and becomes nothing. Well, that's not
01:59:49.040 --> 01:59:51.189
necessarily true. I mean, just because
01:59:51.199 --> 01:59:52.550
something is impermanent doesn't mean
01:59:52.560 --> 01:59:54.709
that it becomes nothing. You know, it
01:59:54.719 --> 01:59:57.030
can just dissolve into its constituent
01:59:57.040 --> 02:00:00.229
parts. Like when a person dies, they're
02:00:00.239 --> 02:00:02.070
dead, but they're they don't become
02:00:02.080 --> 02:00:04.390
nothing. You know, there's still, you
02:00:04.400 --> 02:00:07.510
know, their karmic momentum has passed
02:00:07.520 --> 02:00:11.669
on and become um oh, what is it called?
02:00:11.679 --> 02:00:15.030
Something relinking consciousness, birth
02:00:15.040 --> 02:00:16.870
relinking consciousness, something like
02:00:16.880 --> 02:00:18.390
that. you know, their body is still
02:00:18.400 --> 02:00:20.870
there decomposing, you know. So, it's
02:00:20.880 --> 02:00:23.430
not like if something is impermanent
02:00:23.440 --> 02:00:25.189
that it just suddenly becomes nothing.
02:00:25.199 --> 02:00:28.149
Like this cup is impermanent, but
02:00:28.159 --> 02:00:30.390
probably what's going to happen is it's
02:00:30.400 --> 02:00:32.629
not just going to poof out of existence.
02:00:32.639 --> 02:00:35.910
It's going to break and get thrown away
02:00:35.920 --> 02:00:38.870
and become shards of a cup in some
02:00:38.880 --> 02:00:41.830
landfill somewhere.
02:00:41.840 --> 02:00:43.830
So, it doesn't really become nothing. It
02:00:43.840 --> 02:00:47.750
just changes form until it no longer is
02:00:47.760 --> 02:00:52.070
identified as cup or living being or
02:00:52.080 --> 02:00:54.149
whatever.
02:00:54.159 --> 02:00:55.669
Let's see. But let's let's continue
02:00:55.679 --> 02:00:57.510
here. Since everything is impermanent,
02:00:57.520 --> 02:01:00.790
then nothing can't last forever.
02:01:00.800 --> 02:01:02.629
Meaning something is born and it dies
02:01:02.639 --> 02:01:04.950
and becomes nothing. Well, we already
02:01:04.960 --> 02:01:07.669
discussed that. But since impermanence
02:01:07.679 --> 02:01:10.070
affects everything,
02:01:10.080 --> 02:01:12.790
nothing itself must become something at
02:01:12.800 --> 02:01:16.870
some point. Okay. Well, that's kind of
02:01:16.880 --> 02:01:18.950
I mean
02:01:18.960 --> 02:01:21.830
nothing itself I mean once once you're
02:01:21.840 --> 02:01:23.589
saying nothing itself, it's not nothing
02:01:23.599 --> 02:01:27.430
anymore. I mean nothing itself I mean
02:01:27.440 --> 02:01:29.510
you've already identified it as
02:01:29.520 --> 02:01:31.669
something. It's just something that's
02:01:31.679 --> 02:01:34.790
called nothing. Nothing itself. But
02:01:34.800 --> 02:01:37.750
still, you're calling it an it. You
02:01:37.760 --> 02:01:40.310
know, you're you've labeled it. I mean,
02:01:40.320 --> 02:01:42.390
it's obviously something, at least
02:01:42.400 --> 02:01:44.470
conceptually.
02:01:44.480 --> 02:01:46.790
The human mind can't deal with nothing.
02:01:46.800 --> 02:01:48.790
So, we're again, we're we're dealing
02:01:48.800 --> 02:01:51.030
with samsara
02:01:51.040 --> 02:01:53.350
and symbolism,
02:01:53.360 --> 02:01:55.109
perceptions,
02:01:55.119 --> 02:01:58.550
and dualism. So, something and nothing
02:01:58.560 --> 02:02:00.149
or nothing and everything, you know,
02:02:00.159 --> 02:02:06.470
they're they're opposites.
02:02:06.480 --> 02:02:08.149
But it's it's kind of like nibbana and
02:02:08.159 --> 02:02:10.870
samsara. It's it's uh so long as you're
02:02:10.880 --> 02:02:14.870
in dealing with samsaric dualism, then
02:02:14.880 --> 02:02:16.550
yeah, they kind of counterbalance each
02:02:16.560 --> 02:02:17.830
other in a way. They're sort of
02:02:17.840 --> 02:02:19.990
opposites at least from some points of
02:02:20.000 --> 02:02:25.350
view. So again, a nothing and something.
02:02:25.360 --> 02:02:28.470
I mean even nothing is a something if
02:02:28.480 --> 02:02:30.470
you've named it and are dealing with it
02:02:30.480 --> 02:02:33.510
as an it.
02:02:33.520 --> 02:02:36.470
So anyways let's continue here. See but
02:02:36.480 --> 02:02:38.870
since impermanence affects everything
02:02:38.880 --> 02:02:41.510
nothing itself must become something at
02:02:41.520 --> 02:02:44.950
some point. Yeah from from like the the
02:02:44.960 --> 02:02:47.510
psychology of some sorrow. That might be
02:02:47.520 --> 02:02:50.950
true. Although even nothing is already
02:02:50.960 --> 02:02:53.109
something if you've named it and are
02:02:53.119 --> 02:02:56.790
calling it it. You know it's like zero.
02:02:56.800 --> 02:02:59.350
Zero is still something.
02:02:59.360 --> 02:03:03.189
You know it's at least it's a number.
02:03:03.199 --> 02:03:05.350
Could this be a definition for why there
02:03:05.360 --> 02:03:08.310
is something now and how it won't exist
02:03:08.320 --> 02:03:11.270
soon and how it will exist again in the
02:03:11.280 --> 02:03:13.910
future? Well, I mean it could be a
02:03:13.920 --> 02:03:17.109
definition or a kind of explanation.
02:03:17.119 --> 02:03:20.149
maybe a kind of vague explanation.
02:03:20.159 --> 02:03:22.310
Um,
02:03:22.320 --> 02:03:24.950
golly. I mean, not everybody would
02:03:24.960 --> 02:03:27.589
explain things in the same way. So, not
02:03:27.599 --> 02:03:29.990
everyone would explain it that way.
02:03:30.000 --> 02:03:31.189
Maybe the Buddha would not have
02:03:31.199 --> 02:03:32.950
explained it that way. But, I mean, it
02:03:32.960 --> 02:03:35.750
does seem to be plausible as a kind of
02:03:35.760 --> 02:03:38.390
explanation. Could this be a definition
02:03:38.400 --> 02:03:40.950
for why there is something now and how
02:03:40.960 --> 02:03:43.830
it won't exist soon and how it will
02:03:43.840 --> 02:03:45.510
exist again in the future? Well, you
02:03:45.520 --> 02:03:47.669
need stuff changing all the time. So,
02:03:47.679 --> 02:03:49.910
there is that. I mean, dependent core
02:03:49.920 --> 02:03:53.589
rising requires change.
02:03:53.599 --> 02:03:55.830
I mean, if if nothing changes, that's
02:03:55.840 --> 02:03:58.550
death. And if everything is changing,
02:03:58.560 --> 02:04:01.189
then that's meaningless chaos. So, you
02:04:01.199 --> 02:04:03.910
have to have a dependently co-arising
02:04:03.920 --> 02:04:08.149
balance between like stasis and and
02:04:08.159 --> 02:04:11.109
change,
02:04:11.119 --> 02:04:12.950
which I mean, I've tried to explain this
02:04:12.960 --> 02:04:15.030
before.
02:04:15.040 --> 02:04:17.189
Maybe I shouldn't try and explain it
02:04:17.199 --> 02:04:19.270
again.
02:04:19.280 --> 02:04:22.070
Gosh, this is taking a lot out of me.
02:04:22.080 --> 02:04:24.870
This this Q&A,
02:04:24.880 --> 02:04:26.950
could this be a definition for why there
02:04:26.960 --> 02:04:29.030
this is a difficult question. Could this
02:04:29.040 --> 02:04:30.870
be a definition for why there is
02:04:30.880 --> 02:04:32.470
something now and how it won't exist
02:04:32.480 --> 02:04:34.149
soon and how it will exist again in the
02:04:34.159 --> 02:04:36.709
future? I mean if you consider that to
02:04:36.719 --> 02:04:39.189
be the way dependent colising works
02:04:39.199 --> 02:04:40.709
where you always have to have some kind
02:04:40.719 --> 02:04:42.870
of contrast
02:04:42.880 --> 02:04:45.270
in order for the to have a world of
02:04:45.280 --> 02:04:46.790
multiplicity
02:04:46.800 --> 02:04:49.189
you have to have contrast
02:04:49.199 --> 02:04:52.070
you know again I bring this up
02:04:52.080 --> 02:04:54.390
frequently Hegel's
02:04:54.400 --> 02:04:58.149
like Hegel's logic begins with the first
02:04:58.159 --> 02:05:01.430
thesis antithesis and synthesis the
02:05:01.440 --> 02:05:04.950
first thesis Hegel's philosophy at least
02:05:04.960 --> 02:05:08.870
in his logic starts with the thesis of
02:05:08.880 --> 02:05:10.950
pure being.
02:05:10.960 --> 02:05:13.589
And then the antithesis of pure being is
02:05:13.599 --> 02:05:15.750
pure non-being.
02:05:15.760 --> 02:05:18.229
And according to Hegel, they just merge
02:05:18.239 --> 02:05:19.589
together. They're they can't be
02:05:19.599 --> 02:05:21.109
differentiated because neither one of
02:05:21.119 --> 02:05:23.589
them has any like distinctive
02:05:23.599 --> 02:05:25.510
characteristics. You know, there's
02:05:25.520 --> 02:05:27.990
nothing discernible in either of them.
02:05:28.000 --> 02:05:30.390
They just merge. And for the rest of
02:05:30.400 --> 02:05:33.109
Hegel's philosophy, he just assumes that
02:05:33.119 --> 02:05:35.350
everything and nothing are synonyms.
02:05:35.360 --> 02:05:37.350
They're interchangeable. Everything,
02:05:37.360 --> 02:05:41.030
nothing, the same. So then he has to
02:05:41.040 --> 02:05:44.310
have the synthesis, which is contrast.
02:05:44.320 --> 02:05:47.189
There has to be a contrast between like
02:05:47.199 --> 02:05:50.229
some perceived distinction
02:05:50.239 --> 02:05:55.270
between this being and and like not
02:05:55.280 --> 02:05:58.070
being. You know, it's like this is the
02:05:58.080 --> 02:06:00.950
this is a everything else is not A. So
02:06:00.960 --> 02:06:03.030
you have to have that contrast between A
02:06:03.040 --> 02:06:06.310
and not A in order for anything to exist
02:06:06.320 --> 02:06:11.990
at least in a perceptual sumsic context.
02:06:12.000 --> 02:06:13.910
So
02:06:13.920 --> 02:06:15.990
everything has to be changing too. So
02:06:16.000 --> 02:06:17.510
you have to have some kind of
02:06:17.520 --> 02:06:20.709
impermanence. I mean the world is just
02:06:20.719 --> 02:06:23.510
some sorrow is designed that there has
02:06:23.520 --> 02:06:27.589
to be some kind of impermanence going on
02:06:27.599 --> 02:06:29.990
and contrasts.
02:06:30.000 --> 02:06:32.550
So yeah, I mean it all works out that
02:06:32.560 --> 02:06:35.830
way, but it I think it might be beyond
02:06:35.840 --> 02:06:40.310
my capacity to fully explain exactly how
02:06:40.320 --> 02:06:42.709
it happens,
02:06:42.719 --> 02:06:46.310
especially just sitting here not having
02:06:46.320 --> 02:06:48.229
not being able to just sit here and and
02:06:48.239 --> 02:06:50.870
ponder it for five minutes in silence
02:06:50.880 --> 02:06:54.870
before giving an answer.
02:06:54.880 --> 02:06:57.669
But I mean it's it's it could be used as
02:06:57.679 --> 02:07:00.149
an explanation for how things happen.
02:07:00.159 --> 02:07:03.189
Not that something becomes nothing. You
02:07:03.199 --> 02:07:04.709
know, it's like just because something
02:07:04.719 --> 02:07:06.310
is impermanent doesn't mean that it just
02:07:06.320 --> 02:07:09.109
poofs out of existence.
02:07:09.119 --> 02:07:11.990
It just like changes form until the form
02:07:12.000 --> 02:07:14.790
is no longer identified with what it
02:07:14.800 --> 02:07:17.830
used to be.
02:07:17.840 --> 02:07:19.510
You know, matter and just going with
02:07:19.520 --> 02:07:21.750
physics, you know, matter is neither
02:07:21.760 --> 02:07:23.830
created nor destroyed. it just changes
02:07:23.840 --> 02:07:25.910
form.
02:07:25.920 --> 02:07:26.950
Although, of course, you know, in
02:07:26.960 --> 02:07:28.470
quantum physics, you got particles and
02:07:28.480 --> 02:07:31.189
antiarticles that appear out of nothing
02:07:31.199 --> 02:07:33.750
supposedly. And then, but we don't need
02:07:33.760 --> 02:07:36.310
to get into that. And so, I'm just I'm
02:07:36.320 --> 02:07:38.229
just going to move on to Ethiopian fake
02:07:38.239 --> 02:07:41.189
TIG's second question.
02:07:41.199 --> 02:07:43.750
He says, "You mentioned having tried
02:07:43.760 --> 02:07:46.550
various substances in the past. Have you
02:07:46.560 --> 02:07:48.870
tried MDMA?
02:07:48.880 --> 02:07:51.830
And how do you like it compared to other
02:07:51.840 --> 02:07:55.669
compounds? And is MDMA the same as
02:07:55.679 --> 02:07:57.430
ecstasy?
02:07:57.440 --> 02:08:00.069
I mean, whether it is or not, I haven't
02:08:00.079 --> 02:08:04.550
taken MDMA or ecstasy. Ecstasy was just
02:08:04.560 --> 02:08:06.629
starting to come into fashion around the
02:08:06.639 --> 02:08:09.910
time that I became a monk. And then
02:08:09.920 --> 02:08:12.550
after I stopped being a monk, I just
02:08:12.560 --> 02:08:14.550
never encountered it. never encountered
02:08:14.560 --> 02:08:18.149
any any opportunity. Nobody I knew had
02:08:18.159 --> 02:08:19.830
any, you know, I wasn't particularly
02:08:19.840 --> 02:08:22.149
even looking for it. So, just for
02:08:22.159 --> 02:08:27.189
whatever reason, ecstasy and or MDMA,
02:08:27.199 --> 02:08:29.669
uh, it's a substance that I've I've have
02:08:29.679 --> 02:08:33.109
no experience with personally,
02:08:33.119 --> 02:08:34.629
so I can't really compare it to other
02:08:34.639 --> 02:08:37.669
compounds. I've heard it's very nice.
02:08:37.679 --> 02:08:39.910
you know, people like back when people
02:08:39.920 --> 02:08:41.910
were going to raves, there was a lot of
02:08:41.920 --> 02:08:44.470
that going on, but I've never been to a
02:08:44.480 --> 02:08:47.270
rave either. Just I just missed out on
02:08:47.280 --> 02:08:50.069
all that. So, I'm just going to move on
02:08:50.079 --> 02:08:53.910
to Ethiopian fake Tig's third question.
02:08:53.920 --> 02:08:58.069
He says, "Having heard all your talks,
02:08:58.079 --> 02:09:00.790
you speak a lot about your dad, but not
02:09:00.800 --> 02:09:03.589
about your mom. Could you perhaps talk
02:09:03.599 --> 02:09:06.229
more about her and what sort of person
02:09:06.239 --> 02:09:08.629
she was and her general temperament
02:09:08.639 --> 02:09:11.109
towards you?
02:09:11.119 --> 02:09:13.910
Okay. I mean, one reason why I don't
02:09:13.920 --> 02:09:16.069
talk about my mother much is I don't
02:09:16.079 --> 02:09:19.589
want to seem like I'm like denigrating
02:09:19.599 --> 02:09:24.790
her because I mean, how do I put this?
02:09:24.800 --> 02:09:29.109
It's like spiritually she was a child.
02:09:29.119 --> 02:09:32.069
My father spiritually was relatively
02:09:32.079 --> 02:09:36.069
mature. My mother spiritually,
02:09:36.079 --> 02:09:40.390
I mean, she was this kind of a a normie
02:09:40.400 --> 02:09:43.910
and she just kind of got her her she
02:09:43.920 --> 02:09:46.229
didn't have a spiritual or religious or
02:09:46.239 --> 02:09:49.910
philosophical bone in her body, just
02:09:49.920 --> 02:09:51.430
normie.
02:09:51.440 --> 02:09:54.629
And she was raised in poverty during the
02:09:54.639 --> 02:09:58.229
depression as a as a child. Um, she
02:09:58.239 --> 02:10:01.109
married the first man that that proposed
02:10:01.119 --> 02:10:03.669
to her just to get out of like a a
02:10:03.679 --> 02:10:07.510
dysfunctional family and then he was he
02:10:07.520 --> 02:10:11.350
beat her and so forth. She had
02:10:11.360 --> 02:10:13.589
eight children that I know of, most of
02:10:13.599 --> 02:10:16.310
whom I've never met. My mother was
02:10:16.320 --> 02:10:19.430
married five times. My father was also,
02:10:19.440 --> 02:10:21.510
incidentally, so that's 10 marriages
02:10:21.520 --> 02:10:24.629
between my two parents.
02:10:24.639 --> 02:10:29.109
and she just did not have much depth to
02:10:29.119 --> 02:10:31.030
her as people go. I mean, she wasn't
02:10:31.040 --> 02:10:33.510
stupid, but I mean, she had a ninth
02:10:33.520 --> 02:10:35.669
grade education
02:10:35.679 --> 02:10:37.270
and she said that she dropped out of
02:10:37.280 --> 02:10:39.510
school just cuz she was ashamed of just
02:10:39.520 --> 02:10:41.510
wearing ragged clothes and stuff. I mean
02:10:41.520 --> 02:10:43.990
this is she came from a poor family
02:10:44.000 --> 02:10:46.069
during the depression you know it was
02:10:46.079 --> 02:10:48.470
just
02:10:48.480 --> 02:10:52.709
um watched a lot of TV
02:10:52.719 --> 02:10:54.470
and she was she tried to be a good
02:10:54.480 --> 02:10:57.669
mother at least to my brother and me. I
02:10:57.679 --> 02:11:00.310
mean most of her kids she did not raise
02:11:00.320 --> 02:11:03.030
to adulthood you know she'd move on to a
02:11:03.040 --> 02:11:05.430
different husband or something.
02:11:05.440 --> 02:11:08.470
Um, but see, I mean, you may understand
02:11:08.480 --> 02:11:11.750
now why it may seem that just describing
02:11:11.760 --> 02:11:14.870
my mother may seem like I'm like
02:11:14.880 --> 02:11:17.430
disrespecting her, but I mean, she did
02:11:17.440 --> 02:11:19.750
the best she could, the best she knew
02:11:19.760 --> 02:11:23.270
how, made a lot of mistakes in her life.
02:11:23.280 --> 02:11:25.430
Didn't learn very much from a lot of
02:11:25.440 --> 02:11:28.550
those mistakes.
02:11:28.560 --> 02:11:32.470
And uh my father prophesied a long time
02:11:32.480 --> 02:11:36.069
ago that she she would die alone. You
02:11:36.079 --> 02:11:37.910
know, she had eight kids and none of her
02:11:37.920 --> 02:11:39.589
kids were taking care of her. I was a
02:11:39.599 --> 02:11:41.669
monk in Burma at the time. I couldn't
02:11:41.679 --> 02:11:43.589
really take care of her well in her old
02:11:43.599 --> 02:11:45.109
age.
02:11:45.119 --> 02:11:47.669
And one day
02:11:47.679 --> 02:11:50.629
she uh I mean as she got older her
02:11:50.639 --> 02:11:54.390
balance was not so good and she just
02:11:54.400 --> 02:11:56.709
fell down in a parking lot, you know,
02:11:56.719 --> 02:11:58.870
walking out to her car. She just lost
02:11:58.880 --> 02:12:01.030
her balance, fell down, hit her head on
02:12:01.040 --> 02:12:05.030
the pavement and that was it. She was no
02:12:05.040 --> 02:12:08.069
longer in this world. And now I hear
02:12:08.079 --> 02:12:10.310
about this when I I was in Rangon, Burma
02:12:10.320 --> 02:12:16.550
at the time. And um it's like in a way I
02:12:16.560 --> 02:12:18.790
was
02:12:18.800 --> 02:12:21.750
I was kind of grateful that she died so
02:12:21.760 --> 02:12:24.390
easily. You know, it was just quick and
02:12:24.400 --> 02:12:27.669
and merciful, quick and painless, which
02:12:27.679 --> 02:12:29.830
was about the best you could hope for. I
02:12:29.840 --> 02:12:32.629
remember my father once told my my
02:12:32.639 --> 02:12:36.310
father's told me once. He told my mother
02:12:36.320 --> 02:12:38.149
that there's a lot worse things that can
02:12:38.159 --> 02:12:40.390
happen to a person than dying. And my
02:12:40.400 --> 02:12:42.550
mother thought that was the stupidest,
02:12:42.560 --> 02:12:44.069
most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard
02:12:44.079 --> 02:12:46.629
of. What could possibly be worse than
02:12:46.639 --> 02:12:48.870
dying? You know, she was afraid of
02:12:48.880 --> 02:12:53.030
death. You know, she was just in and of
02:12:53.040 --> 02:12:55.350
the world.
02:12:55.360 --> 02:12:59.990
And so it was like a small mercy that
02:13:00.000 --> 02:13:03.510
when she did die, you know, it was just
02:13:03.520 --> 02:13:05.430
fall down, hit her head, boom, and
02:13:05.440 --> 02:13:08.550
that's it. You know, no prolonged
02:13:08.560 --> 02:13:11.830
illness, no prolonged suffering, you
02:13:11.840 --> 02:13:14.310
know, it was just quick and painless.
02:13:14.320 --> 02:13:16.310
And so, I mean, I had a certain
02:13:16.320 --> 02:13:18.790
gratitude for that.
02:13:18.800 --> 02:13:20.470
Um, you know, not that I was happy that
02:13:20.480 --> 02:13:23.270
she died, of course, but that she was
02:13:23.280 --> 02:13:32.390
able to go so mercifully, so to speak.
02:13:32.400 --> 02:13:35.270
But I mean,
02:13:35.280 --> 02:13:37.990
she really I mean, I don't know how to
02:13:38.000 --> 02:13:41.830
say this. It's like Edgar Casey used to
02:13:41.840 --> 02:13:44.950
say that you tend to have a strong
02:13:44.960 --> 02:13:47.350
karmic connection with one of your
02:13:47.360 --> 02:13:50.390
parents but usually not both. And my
02:13:50.400 --> 02:13:52.709
strong karmic connection apparently was
02:13:52.719 --> 02:13:55.669
with my father and not with my mother.
02:13:55.679 --> 02:13:58.390
My mother and I were pretty much on
02:13:58.400 --> 02:14:00.709
different planets about when I reached
02:14:00.719 --> 02:14:03.510
about the age of 13. I kind of kind of
02:14:03.520 --> 02:14:06.790
outgrew my mother's attitude when I was
02:14:06.800 --> 02:14:10.229
like 13 years old. My father and I
02:14:10.239 --> 02:14:13.030
remained like not only father and son
02:14:13.040 --> 02:14:16.229
but friends. You know, we could hang out
02:14:16.239 --> 02:14:18.390
and have interesting conversations and
02:14:18.400 --> 02:14:20.790
so forth. And my mother and I, we were
02:14:20.800 --> 02:14:23.910
just not on the same planet
02:14:23.920 --> 02:14:27.270
fairly early on.
02:14:27.280 --> 02:14:29.430
And with regard to me being a monk, she
02:14:29.440 --> 02:14:31.350
just did not comprehend it at all. She
02:14:31.360 --> 02:14:33.430
she would much prefer to have
02:14:33.440 --> 02:14:36.709
grandchildren to spoil. I mean, she just
02:14:36.719 --> 02:14:38.709
did not understand Buddhism at all. In
02:14:38.719 --> 02:14:39.990
fact, she wouldn't even say Buddhism.
02:14:40.000 --> 02:14:41.589
She said, "Do you think you'll always
02:14:41.599 --> 02:14:45.430
belong to that religion?"
02:14:45.440 --> 02:14:47.510
And I mean, she just didn't understand
02:14:47.520 --> 02:14:51.750
it. And she just kind of had a certain
02:14:51.760 --> 02:14:54.229
humble, respectful
02:14:54.239 --> 02:14:56.550
attitude towards me. I mean, she didn't
02:14:56.560 --> 02:14:58.709
understand me. She knew I was smarter
02:14:58.719 --> 02:15:01.510
than her. Not that I'm trying to brag or
02:15:01.520 --> 02:15:02.950
anything.
02:15:02.960 --> 02:15:05.669
And I remember one time I was a monk
02:15:05.679 --> 02:15:08.629
just visiting uh my family. I was
02:15:08.639 --> 02:15:11.589
staying at my dad's house and my mother
02:15:11.599 --> 02:15:13.750
came to visit me and I was trying to do
02:15:13.760 --> 02:15:15.830
something on the computer and I was a
02:15:15.840 --> 02:15:18.629
little bit sort of impatient with it and
02:15:18.639 --> 02:15:21.030
so I was kind of frowning when I saw my
02:15:21.040 --> 02:15:22.629
mother come in mainly because I was
02:15:22.639 --> 02:15:24.790
already frowning at, you know, some kind
02:15:24.800 --> 02:15:27.510
of [ __ ] on the computer. And she saw
02:15:27.520 --> 02:15:29.589
that when she came in I was frowning at
02:15:29.599 --> 02:15:31.669
her. She just said, "I'm sorry." sorry.
02:15:31.679 --> 02:15:33.830
You know, she she just offered to leave,
02:15:33.840 --> 02:15:35.990
you know, and then
02:15:36.000 --> 02:15:38.310
it's uh you know, I have to like say,
02:15:38.320 --> 02:15:41.510
"No, it's okay. I'm just just frustrated
02:15:41.520 --> 02:15:43.030
with what's going on on this computer.
02:15:43.040 --> 02:15:45.510
It's please stay." You know, but I mean,
02:15:45.520 --> 02:15:49.030
she was she adopted this really kind of
02:15:49.040 --> 02:15:51.510
humble
02:15:51.520 --> 02:15:53.669
I mean, I don't know how to really
02:15:53.679 --> 02:15:55.589
express it, you know. She was just kind
02:15:55.599 --> 02:15:59.910
of very differential to me um in in my
02:15:59.920 --> 02:16:02.069
adult years.
02:16:02.079 --> 02:16:03.750
She couldn't she I mean she could not
02:16:03.760 --> 02:16:07.109
understand me.
02:16:07.119 --> 02:16:08.629
And like I say, we were on different
02:16:08.639 --> 02:16:10.310
planets.
02:16:10.320 --> 02:16:14.069
But I mean I really um I appreciate that
02:16:14.079 --> 02:16:18.950
she did do a good job as my mother um as
02:16:18.960 --> 02:16:20.950
well as she could. I remember one time I
02:16:20.960 --> 02:16:23.990
was like maybe 13 years old and I
02:16:24.000 --> 02:16:27.270
shoplifted something from a store and my
02:16:27.280 --> 02:16:29.910
mother found out about it. You know, she
02:16:29.920 --> 02:16:32.309
was like doing detective work. You know,
02:16:32.319 --> 02:16:35.429
she's she she figured it out that I that
02:16:35.439 --> 02:16:38.870
I had shoplifted this thing. And when
02:16:38.880 --> 02:16:40.950
when she found out, first of all, she
02:16:40.960 --> 02:16:43.270
started crying and ran from the room,
02:16:43.280 --> 02:16:45.750
which made me feel like about this big.
02:16:45.760 --> 02:16:48.309
You know, to make your own mother cry
02:16:48.319 --> 02:16:51.830
just with like shame over you is not
02:16:51.840 --> 02:16:54.870
good. And then she she made me take it
02:16:54.880 --> 02:16:57.349
back and apologize,
02:16:57.359 --> 02:16:59.830
which is something a good mother would
02:16:59.840 --> 02:17:01.910
do. I mean, she did try to be a good
02:17:01.920 --> 02:17:05.270
mother within her somewhat limited
02:17:05.280 --> 02:17:09.349
means.
02:17:09.359 --> 02:17:11.910
Anyway,
02:17:11.920 --> 02:17:14.309
I think uh that's enough reminiscing
02:17:14.319 --> 02:17:18.150
about my mom.
02:17:18.160 --> 02:17:20.469
I hope she's in a better place now. I
02:17:20.479 --> 02:17:25.509
really do. I hope she did. Um
02:17:25.519 --> 02:17:27.190
uh
02:17:27.200 --> 02:17:28.950
I mean she made a lot of mistakes in her
02:17:28.960 --> 02:17:32.309
life, but I do hope that she was had
02:17:32.319 --> 02:17:34.469
like more positive than negative on the
02:17:34.479 --> 02:17:35.910
ledger, you know, more merit than
02:17:35.920 --> 02:17:40.389
demerit or just was able to progress in
02:17:40.399 --> 02:17:43.750
this life so that she's kind of in a
02:17:43.760 --> 02:17:49.110
better situation than she was.
02:17:49.120 --> 02:17:50.549
So, I think I'm just going to move on to
02:17:50.559 --> 02:17:52.469
the next question, which is the last
02:17:52.479 --> 02:17:54.309
question.
02:17:54.319 --> 02:17:56.790
And this is from Yoshi Buouie, who
02:17:56.800 --> 02:17:59.750
submitted this question under Q&A number
02:17:59.760 --> 02:18:04.870
n 119. So, it's almost a coincidence.
02:18:04.880 --> 02:18:07.669
Well, maybe not, but I I did I mean,
02:18:07.679 --> 02:18:10.549
it's not necessary that I will notice if
02:18:10.559 --> 02:18:12.150
someone
02:18:12.160 --> 02:18:15.110
leaves a comment to an old an older Q&A.
02:18:15.120 --> 02:18:18.549
Usually if I'm like
02:18:18.559 --> 02:18:20.150
collecting the questions and putting
02:18:20.160 --> 02:18:23.589
them on the list, you know, I just go to
02:18:23.599 --> 02:18:27.830
like the most recent videos and look at
02:18:27.840 --> 02:18:29.429
the comments under that and then go to
02:18:29.439 --> 02:18:33.429
the the uh the Discord server and if
02:18:33.439 --> 02:18:36.230
anyone emailed me a question, um,
02:18:36.240 --> 02:18:38.549
usually more often than not, I'll
02:18:38.559 --> 02:18:41.270
remember that and and go to the the
02:18:41.280 --> 02:18:44.309
email or go to my inbox and get that.
02:18:44.319 --> 02:18:46.790
But um if you do ask questions, it's
02:18:46.800 --> 02:18:49.509
best to leave them under the most recent
02:18:49.519 --> 02:18:51.750
Q&A because if you leave them under an
02:18:51.760 --> 02:18:55.270
older Q&A, there's less of a chance that
02:18:55.280 --> 02:18:59.110
I'll notice it. So that that having been
02:18:59.120 --> 02:19:03.429
said, Yoshi Buouie says, let's see,
02:19:03.439 --> 02:19:05.910
quote, karma can be viewed as
02:19:05.920 --> 02:19:08.709
retribution, although it's not any kind
02:19:08.719 --> 02:19:11.750
of a conscious purpose behind karma.
02:19:11.760 --> 02:19:13.830
It's just the way it works out a lot of
02:19:13.840 --> 02:19:16.469
the time," unquote. And I assume he's
02:19:16.479 --> 02:19:19.669
quoting me from a previous Q&A. So then
02:19:19.679 --> 02:19:22.629
he continues, "Is this similar to how we
02:19:22.639 --> 02:19:25.830
see certain electromagnetic frequencies
02:19:25.840 --> 02:19:28.870
as colors when in reality there's no
02:19:28.880 --> 02:19:31.349
color to it? It wasn't meant to be
02:19:31.359 --> 02:19:33.910
color, so to speak."
02:19:33.920 --> 02:19:36.309
Um, well, I mean, I can just go off on a
02:19:36.319 --> 02:19:38.469
complete tangent with regard to this,
02:19:38.479 --> 02:19:41.190
that people have been seeing colors.
02:19:41.200 --> 02:19:44.230
People have been perceiving colors much
02:19:44.240 --> 02:19:47.110
longer than people have been perceiving
02:19:47.120 --> 02:19:49.830
electromagnetic frequencies.
02:19:49.840 --> 02:19:54.230
And so from my unorthodox weird point of
02:19:54.240 --> 02:19:56.790
view, I think that the color may have
02:19:56.800 --> 02:19:59.910
come first and then
02:19:59.920 --> 02:20:03.190
just as people start looking deeper and
02:20:03.200 --> 02:20:05.910
investigating more deeply, they have to
02:20:05.920 --> 02:20:10.070
create some deeper foundation for color
02:20:10.080 --> 02:20:12.710
and so they come up with electromagnetic
02:20:12.720 --> 02:20:15.190
frequencies or or wavelengths of
02:20:15.200 --> 02:20:18.230
electromagnetic radiation.
02:20:18.240 --> 02:20:21.270
So, it may be that electromagnetic
02:20:21.280 --> 02:20:24.309
radiation didn't even really exist until
02:20:24.319 --> 02:20:28.710
it got like nailed down by physicists
02:20:28.720 --> 02:20:31.670
and got kind of got locked in to our
02:20:31.680 --> 02:20:33.990
world,
02:20:34.000 --> 02:20:37.830
locked into our version of some sorrow.
02:20:37.840 --> 02:20:39.190
But let's just set that aside. Let's
02:20:39.200 --> 02:20:41.590
just assume for the sake of argument
02:20:41.600 --> 02:20:45.670
that materialistic scientism is true
02:20:45.680 --> 02:20:49.270
at least at the samsaric level and that
02:20:49.280 --> 02:20:52.389
light is visible light is really just
02:20:52.399 --> 02:20:55.429
certain bandwidth of electromagnetic
02:20:55.439 --> 02:20:57.349
radiation
02:20:57.359 --> 02:21:02.230
or if you prefer photons.
02:21:02.240 --> 02:21:05.110
Soh
02:21:05.120 --> 02:21:08.309
my view of karma where it can be viewed
02:21:08.319 --> 02:21:11.670
as retribution although it's really not
02:21:11.680 --> 02:21:14.230
any kind of conscious purpose behind
02:21:14.240 --> 02:21:16.870
karma you know it's just just the way it
02:21:16.880 --> 02:21:19.270
goes. It's just the way it works and it
02:21:19.280 --> 02:21:21.270
can be interpreted that way and it seems
02:21:21.280 --> 02:21:23.910
to work that way sometimes in some
02:21:23.920 --> 02:21:26.550
contexts.
02:21:26.560 --> 02:21:29.270
Um and there's something I could say
02:21:29.280 --> 02:21:31.590
about karma and I might as well. So,
02:21:31.600 --> 02:21:34.469
let's just digress wildly again. I've
02:21:34.479 --> 02:21:37.110
got this idea about karma. There's a
02:21:37.120 --> 02:21:39.429
certain person who asks questions on
02:21:39.439 --> 02:21:42.469
this Q&A on these Q&As's who doesn't
02:21:42.479 --> 02:21:44.550
believe in karma, especially the whole
02:21:44.560 --> 02:21:48.389
retribution aspect of it. And I have to
02:21:48.399 --> 02:21:51.750
admit that I don't think that like
02:21:51.760 --> 02:21:55.030
karmic retribution is really the way a
02:21:55.040 --> 02:21:58.870
lot of people see it where it's like you
02:21:58.880 --> 02:22:02.630
like you you commit murder. I shouldn't
02:22:02.640 --> 02:22:05.910
say the word on YouTube. I guess you
02:22:05.920 --> 02:22:09.190
perpetrate a homicide, which means
02:22:09.200 --> 02:22:11.830
you're going to have to be the victim of
02:22:11.840 --> 02:22:14.870
a homicide in the future in like some
02:22:14.880 --> 02:22:16.710
future life if not this one. You know,
02:22:16.720 --> 02:22:20.630
let's say somebody is becomes deceased
02:22:20.640 --> 02:22:22.950
in this life and then you can have some
02:22:22.960 --> 02:22:25.110
psychic say, well, it was because they
02:22:25.120 --> 02:22:28.389
were a Roman soldier in the 2n century
02:22:28.399 --> 02:22:34.070
AD who like was like like homiciding or
02:22:34.080 --> 02:22:37.910
like what's the word? Retiring
02:22:37.920 --> 02:22:40.710
barbarian villages. And so this is the
02:22:40.720 --> 02:22:43.590
retribution of that. And I don't think
02:22:43.600 --> 02:22:46.389
it necessarily works that way. It's like
02:22:46.399 --> 02:22:48.550
you are creating your own reality. And
02:22:48.560 --> 02:22:52.309
so if you are creating a kind of violent
02:22:52.319 --> 02:22:56.070
reality with lots of dishonesty and and
02:22:56.080 --> 02:22:59.030
insensitivity to others and stealing and
02:22:59.040 --> 02:23:01.590
so forth that you're just creating a
02:23:01.600 --> 02:23:03.910
world that contains that and so it's
02:23:03.920 --> 02:23:06.790
more likely to be happening to you or
02:23:06.800 --> 02:23:09.030
it's like
02:23:09.040 --> 02:23:12.870
a foolish person is like a bad driver.
02:23:12.880 --> 02:23:15.030
So, a bad driver is just more likely to
02:23:15.040 --> 02:23:18.389
get in a wreck because they're just
02:23:18.399 --> 02:23:20.870
using less intelligence and less
02:23:20.880 --> 02:23:22.469
insight,
02:23:22.479 --> 02:23:24.630
less caution,
02:23:24.640 --> 02:23:27.830
less situational awareness.
02:23:27.840 --> 02:23:31.030
So it's like your foolishness causes
02:23:31.040 --> 02:23:32.950
these bad things to happen just because
02:23:32.960 --> 02:23:35.910
of like sloppiness
02:23:35.920 --> 02:23:39.990
and like recklessness more than you know
02:23:40.000 --> 02:23:42.630
I did this and therefore it's going to
02:23:42.640 --> 02:23:45.750
have to happen back to me in in the same
02:23:45.760 --> 02:23:49.030
way just because I did that and so it's
02:23:49.040 --> 02:23:51.510
like that act is going to have to happen
02:23:51.520 --> 02:23:53.510
back to me. I don't think it necessarily
02:23:53.520 --> 02:23:55.830
works that way.
02:23:55.840 --> 02:23:58.070
It's just you create a world with
02:23:58.080 --> 02:24:00.150
violence in it, it's more likely that
02:24:00.160 --> 02:24:01.670
that violence is going to come back on
02:24:01.680 --> 02:24:05.110
you. You create a world with dishonesty
02:24:05.120 --> 02:24:07.510
in it through your own lying, for
02:24:07.520 --> 02:24:10.790
example, then you just put it out there,
02:24:10.800 --> 02:24:12.870
you're living in a more dishonest world
02:24:12.880 --> 02:24:14.469
because you are creating this world
02:24:14.479 --> 02:24:16.870
through your own perceptions. And so it
02:24:16.880 --> 02:24:20.150
just comes back at you sooner or later
02:24:20.160 --> 02:24:22.790
just because it's there. You've
02:24:22.800 --> 02:24:29.110
contaminated your own environment.
02:24:29.120 --> 02:24:30.790
So, you know, it's sort of like in
02:24:30.800 --> 02:24:32.309
dreams. You might have a dream where
02:24:32.319 --> 02:24:33.670
something bad happens to you. It doesn't
02:24:33.680 --> 02:24:36.469
mean that in some other previous dream
02:24:36.479 --> 02:24:38.230
you did that same bad thing to some
02:24:38.240 --> 02:24:41.110
other being. It's just your own mind is
02:24:41.120 --> 02:24:43.990
creating it. And because you're not
02:24:44.000 --> 02:24:47.750
entirely wise, not entirely conscious.
02:24:47.760 --> 02:24:51.429
You just create nightmares sometimes.
02:24:51.439 --> 02:24:54.710
And I think that in our waking state, we
02:24:54.720 --> 02:24:57.349
some people without necessarily having
02:24:57.359 --> 02:25:00.070
done evil deeds create nightmares for
02:25:00.080 --> 02:25:04.550
themselves just through lack of skill at
02:25:04.560 --> 02:25:08.950
like driving the vehicle of their own
02:25:08.960 --> 02:25:12.230
samsaric being.
02:25:12.240 --> 02:25:13.910
But let's get back to the question at
02:25:13.920 --> 02:25:16.630
long last.
02:25:16.640 --> 02:25:19.510
So, is this similar to how we see
02:25:19.520 --> 02:25:22.150
certain electromagnetic frequencies as
02:25:22.160 --> 02:25:25.030
colors when in reality there's no color
02:25:25.040 --> 02:25:27.910
to it? It wasn't meant to be color, so
02:25:27.920 --> 02:25:31.590
to speak. Um, I mean, yeah, I I could
02:25:31.600 --> 02:25:34.070
say there there's a certain analogy that
02:25:34.080 --> 02:25:37.190
could be made that, you know, just
02:25:37.200 --> 02:25:39.110
because something is seen a certain way
02:25:39.120 --> 02:25:40.870
doesn't mean that it was intended to be
02:25:40.880 --> 02:25:42.710
that way through some conscious
02:25:42.720 --> 02:25:46.710
decision. is just kind of a byproduct,
02:25:46.720 --> 02:25:49.670
a secondary characteristic, that kind of
02:25:49.680 --> 02:25:54.309
thing.
02:25:54.319 --> 02:25:55.910
So
02:25:55.920 --> 02:25:57.590
yeah, maybe I mean you could look at it
02:25:57.600 --> 02:26:01.670
that way that uh karma is just a kind of
02:26:01.680 --> 02:26:04.790
you know it's
02:26:04.800 --> 02:26:07.110
it's it's sort of like a byproduct of
02:26:07.120 --> 02:26:10.630
human psychology or just
02:26:10.640 --> 02:26:13.429
worldly psychology.
02:26:13.439 --> 02:26:17.349
is just sort of a like a a symptom of
02:26:17.359 --> 02:26:20.230
how our mind works. Like duality, you
02:26:20.240 --> 02:26:21.910
know, that's that would be like another
02:26:21.920 --> 02:26:24.950
symptom. Multiplicity is like a symptom
02:26:24.960 --> 02:26:27.510
of how our mind works.
02:26:27.520 --> 02:26:31.190
Impermanence is is like a symptom of of
02:26:31.200 --> 02:26:35.750
how worldly samsara functions. You know,
02:26:35.760 --> 02:26:38.870
it wasn't like nobody decided that it
02:26:38.880 --> 02:26:42.070
was going to be that way. it just works
02:26:42.080 --> 02:26:44.630
out that way.
02:26:44.640 --> 02:26:48.710
So, I mean, there might be more
02:26:48.720 --> 02:26:52.150
like appropriate analogies that could be
02:26:52.160 --> 02:26:54.309
made,
02:26:54.319 --> 02:26:56.630
but
02:26:56.640 --> 02:26:58.150
I don't think I want to sit here and try
02:26:58.160 --> 02:27:00.790
and think of one.
02:27:00.800 --> 02:27:03.750
But I mean it's kind of similar to how
02:27:03.760 --> 02:27:05.910
we see electromagnetic frequencies as
02:27:05.920 --> 02:27:09.270
colors or colors as electromagnetic
02:27:09.280 --> 02:27:10.790
frequencies
02:27:10.800 --> 02:27:12.230
which I think might be a little more
02:27:12.240 --> 02:27:15.510
accurate.
02:27:15.520 --> 02:27:19.349
Oh my golly. This is for some reason
02:27:19.359 --> 02:27:23.110
this has been kind of a strenuous Q&A.
02:27:23.120 --> 02:27:25.990
I've been exercising my brain muscles in
02:27:26.000 --> 02:27:29.510
this Q&A. But now we're done because I'm
02:27:29.520 --> 02:27:33.110
I'm finished. And so if you do you have
02:27:33.120 --> 02:27:35.510
any questions you think I can answer,
02:27:35.520 --> 02:27:37.910
feel free to ask no more than three
02:27:37.920 --> 02:27:41.429
questions per person per episode. Please
02:27:41.439 --> 02:27:43.429
like and subscribe if you have not done
02:27:43.439 --> 02:27:46.150
so already. Check out the URL links
02:27:46.160 --> 02:27:48.710
below, including the new book that has
02:27:48.720 --> 02:27:52.230
me attacking another monk for half a
02:27:52.240 --> 02:27:54.469
second.
02:27:54.479 --> 02:27:58.840
And uh be happy.