Question & Answer #185: from Parallel Universes to Trouble with No Self

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en
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Okay then.
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Hello and welcome to question and answer
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number 185. I am your host Po Basa and
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this is my beverage.
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And I hope the sound quality will be a
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little bit better now because I re
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downloaded
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um the software for making the
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microphone sound better. So we'll see
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how it goes. I still may have to make
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some adjustments and tweaks and that
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kind of thing.
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And I might as well say that 185 is not
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prime number. It is in fact 5 * 37.
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Although 37 has always been one of my
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favorite numbers for obscure reasons.
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And at the time of recording this, it is
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the day after
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joint US and Israeli forces just bomb
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the hell out of Iran and continue to
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bomb Iran today. In fact, they're
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willing to continue bombing Iran for
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many days until Iran has approximately
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zero ability to retaliate with anything
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more than pointy sticks.
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And I guess uh nobody's asked me about
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this because it happened so recently
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just right before the Q&A started,
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but I mean I'm I'm of mixed I'm
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ambivalent, let's say. I mean from an
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from a moral, ethical Buddhist point of
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view, of course,
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war is always just mass murder.
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So war is always bad from a Buddhist
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ethical point of view. But one reason
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why I lost interest in politics many
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years ago and only recently started
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getting interested in it again because
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it really is interesting sometimes
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is that I realized that what is good and
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right from an ethical point of view is
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not necessarily what is good and right
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from a political point of view. and
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whether America
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aiding Israel to bomb the [ __ ] out of
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Iran is a good idea from a political
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point of view, if it is good and right
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politically.
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Only time will tell.
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Trump has been fairly
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fortunate
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in his choices
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thus far. like Venezuela.
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I mean, he just arrested the dictator
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whom I haven't heard anything about
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since.
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He's probably just locked up in a cell
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somewhere awaiting trial.
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Well, who knows? So, we're just going to
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have to wait and see if from a political
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point of view, America is better off
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with Iran getting the [ __ ] bombed out of
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it and almost all of its senior
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leadership just vaporized.
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And I suppose I should also say that the
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first few questions in this Q&A are
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questions that I somehow overlooked
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previously.
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So,
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these are at the top of the list cuz
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they were asked at least a week ago. I
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think Romeo's first one of his
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questions, I think, was asked like two
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or three weeks ago and I just somehow
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overlooked it. You know, I just kind of
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spaced it off or, you know, just scroll
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past it. Sometimes I'm going down the
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scroll, it's on the list and I just
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scroll past it accidentally somehow.
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So anyways, the first question is from
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Yoshi Buouie and Yoshi Buouie says, "The
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block of marble that contains all
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possibilities, all possible versions of
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you, is that similar to the idea of a
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parallel universe." And of course, he's
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referring to my simile of the block of
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marble, which is like my theory of
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everything.
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It's it's kind of like my
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well I mean the Buddhist theory of
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everything is dependent core rising and
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dependent core rising is sort of
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contained within the block of marble. So
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there's definitely overlap,
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but my theory of everything of like the
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universe existing and why it is the way
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it is and all that is you've got this
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infinite formless
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consciousness, let's say, and contained
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within this infinite this formless
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infinity is every possibility. It's it's
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all in there. And it takes dependent
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core rising and perception
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sort of self-reflective
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statues contained within the block of
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marble to kind of create samsara
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various cosmos various phenomenal
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universes. So anyways, Yoshib Buouie is
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asking if this idea similar to the idea
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of a parallel universe. And yeah, I mean
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it would be sort of like the maximum of
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the many worlds hypothesis which some
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scientists take seriously.
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Um it would just have every possible
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universe contained within it which would
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be some parallel universes and some
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universes that are just going off in a
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complete tangent. They're not really
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parallel at all. They're just going like
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perpendicular or something.
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So yeah, it would contain parallel
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universes, but it would contain
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universes like alternate universes that
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aren't really running parallel. You
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know, just starting off with just
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completely different laws of physics,
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for example, just maybe even no laws of
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physics, just something else that is
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stabilizing the system.
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I mean, you could have entire universes
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of like pulsating
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like geometrical
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figures, this kind of thing that somehow
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are like recursive or self-referential
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enough that they become delusional and
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create a samsara for themselves.
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So, I think I've answered that question
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more or less kind of. I'm just going to
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move on to Romeo, who has asked four
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questions here, but it's not really
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transgressive because one of the
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questions was asked a few weeks ago and
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I just didn't notice it until recently.
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So, Romeo says, "In all likelihood, you
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have heard the demographic projections
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that white people will soon become a
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minority in the US. Not only will white
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Americans be a minority, but they may
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even be a persecuted minority at that.
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Besides this, eventually large swavthes
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of the US may not even be
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Englishspeaking.
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The signs are all there. There's the
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recent all Hispanic Bad Bunny Super Bowl
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appearance performed totally in Spanish
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or New York City Mayor Zoran Mandani
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openly targeting white neighborhoods for
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higher taxes. Then there's this video
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clip circulating of a state
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representative in Houston, Texas causing
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calling for Asian, black, and Hispanics
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to find common cause and unite to take
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down white people. I was wondering what
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your general take is of the demographic
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future of the US and what it bodess for
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white Americans. Will white Americans
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eventually become a persecuted minority
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akin to the whites in post-apartid South
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Africa? I'm a regular English-speaking
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white American who has nothing against
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other ethnicities and cultures. Do you
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have any suggestions for someone like me
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to not be blackpilled about this likely
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future and to accept it with equinimity?
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Um, so I guess there's a number of
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questions contained within this
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question, isn't there? There's a number
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of question marks. So let's see here.
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First, he's talking about sort of like
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white replacement theory. Um, I can't
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remember. There was some halfjapanese
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aristocrat like a hundred years ago who
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uh had this theory that is named after
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him, but I can't remember his name right
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off hand. But it's uh kind of replacing
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white people because partly because
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white people um don't behave like the
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the global norm. I mean, we're too like
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freedom and originality oriented, for
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example. And so we we don't make easily.
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I mean, we're not sheeplike enough as
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general. I mean, everybody is pretty
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sheeplike. The human race in general has
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got sheep instincts.
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But the European race or subra or
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ethnicity, family of ethnicities,
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whatever you want to call your your
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people of European ancestry.
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Um there's just something about us that
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makes us
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more
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interested in human rights,
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freedom, originality, individuality,
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that kind of stuff. which just kind of
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throws a monkey wrench into the
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globalist agenda to some degree.
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And so I assume that's a major reason
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why it has been a globalist a part of
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the globalist agenda to just
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eliminate white cultures
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through dilution if through nothing
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else.
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So
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let's see. Let's get down to the
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question marks here. See, I wonder I was
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wondering what your general take is of
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the demographic future of the US and
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what it bodess for white Americans.
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Um well
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I mean it's a a common mistake to take a
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trend that exists now and just
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extrapolate it into some inevitability
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whereas usually doesn't doesn't work
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very well because I mean you see a car
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heading towards a brick wall you can
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extrapolate well the car is going to hit
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the brick wall but as a general rule
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people turn the car before they get to
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the brick wall. Every once in a while
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the car really will hit the brick wall,
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but usually the driver of the car steers
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the car so that it doesn't ram into the
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brick wall. And
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there is some of that involved in this
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in that just because the trend is going
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in that direction now does not mean that
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there will be course corrections
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so to speak.
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So, I mean, even now with Trump as
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president, you've got actual negative
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immigration going on for the first time
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in many decades.
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I mean, if it has ever been the case in
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America before that we had negative
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immigration where there's more people
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leaving the country than entering. And
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it's not so much like disgusted, pissed
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off leftists. I mean, there's some of
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those and
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like they tend to regret it after
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leaving. They don't realize what a good
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country America is to live in until they
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go to the UK or Canada or someplace and
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then it's even worse.
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So, I mean, who knows? It could be 50
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years from now there's going to be a
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race war or something
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and that could just really change
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things. But the thing is westerners
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um I mean we are creative, innovative to
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some degree unpredictable.
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We tend to win wars. That's why western
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civilization has taken over the entire
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world. I mean you go to other countries
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that are opposed to western
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civilization. Let's say China for
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example and they're wearing western
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clothes and they've got driving western
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style cars using western style
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technology. you know, just western style
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pretty much everything except for the
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language they're speaking and some of
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their vestigial customs even their their
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like politics is based on western
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politics now.
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And there's reasons for that. And so I
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mean people of European ancestry are
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better at European like global culture
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now because we invented it. it's more in
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tune with our psyche, you know, our
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human nature, our version of human
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nature or whatever.
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So, I mean, we will tend to out compete
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competitors.
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And that's like on the international
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scale and also within within the country
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itself that what's likely going to
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happen is what's already happening now
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where you've got like white people
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fleeing places like New York City that
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are becoming increasingly anti-white
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people and they're accumulating in more
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Republican run places. Florida, you
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know, just the the Bible belt of the
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South in general, just the like the
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middle states, the so-called flyover
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states that probably you're going to
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have um maybe to some degree a
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bulcanization of the United States. I
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mean, it could I mean, nothing lasts
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forever. That's one of the teachings of
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Buddhism. One of the marks of existence,
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one of the three marks of existence is
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impermanence.
00:13:56.959 --> 00:13:59.110
So, the United States isn't going to
00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.189
last forever. Rome didn't last forever.
00:14:01.199 --> 00:14:05.670
I mean, there's still a city of Rome.
00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:08.949
Well, the empire is long gone.
00:14:08.959 --> 00:14:10.710
Even when it was revived as the Holy
00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.870
Roman Empire, it still was just a
00:14:12.880 --> 00:14:16.470
completely different country.
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.389
So, I mean, you might have just like
00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:20.949
enclaves, you know, just sort of white
00:14:20.959 --> 00:14:23.430
refugees accumulating and then they're
00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.389
just going to out compete the the other
00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:29.430
areas. as a general rule. You're going
00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:33.269
to have sort of progressive governments,
00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.230
state governments or or whatever that
00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.069
are going to insist upon diversity,
00:14:38.079 --> 00:14:40.470
equity, and inclusion. They're going to
00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.590
say, "Screw me. That's a tool of white
00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:45.750
patriarchal oppression." And so, they're
00:14:45.760 --> 00:14:49.990
just not going to be able to compete.
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.629
They will not compete against
00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:56.470
like Europeans doing the European thing
00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.629
very well
00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.710
unless the Europeans just emasculate
00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:03.030
themselves as they have done in the EU
00:15:03.040 --> 00:15:07.110
for example.
00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:11.110
So yeah, I don't think that
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.790
um Americans will eventually become a
00:15:12.800 --> 00:15:15.269
person persecuted minority akin to the
00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:17.189
whites in post-apartid South Africa
00:15:17.199 --> 00:15:19.829
largely because South Africa it was
00:15:19.839 --> 00:15:22.710
always a small minority of of the people
00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.670
there the bo and the and the English the
00:15:25.680 --> 00:15:29.110
British it was relatively small minority
00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:30.949
so that they can just be overwhelmed and
00:15:30.959 --> 00:15:32.949
a lot of them just left after apartheid
00:15:32.959 --> 00:15:36.550
ended foreseeing being that South Africa
00:15:36.560 --> 00:15:38.629
was just going to degenerate into a
00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:40.629
corrupt third world hell hole, which is
00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.310
what it is doing.
00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:47.990
So yeah, I don't think the white people
00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:49.749
in America are going to become a
00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.150
minority in the same way as Zimbabwe or
00:15:54.160 --> 00:15:58.310
South Africa, something like that,
00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:02.150
or Singapore.
00:16:02.160 --> 00:16:06.389
So yeah, I don't I'm not blackpilled and
00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.110
anything is possible and you're going to
00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:12.069
I mean the universe is always it's just
00:16:12.079 --> 00:16:14.870
every possibility is out there including
00:16:14.880 --> 00:16:16.470
infinite number of possibilities
00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:19.030
starting from this point here. So it's
00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:21.350
going to depend a lot on our own karma
00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:23.749
using the English word karma instead of
00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.030
the poly word karma.
00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:30.790
And so I mean just anything that could
00:16:30.800 --> 00:16:33.670
possibly originate from the per the
00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:36.310
current present situation, it's out
00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.710
there
00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:40.230
and we're just going to have to navigate
00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:42.310
that in accordance with our our wisdom
00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.310
or lack of same and our karma.
00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.310
So let's see here. Oh, the the question
00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:49.990
continues.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.069
Let's see. I'm Let's see. Do you have
00:16:52.079 --> 00:16:54.790
any suggestions for someone like me to
00:16:54.800 --> 00:16:56.790
not be blackpilled about this likely
00:16:56.800 --> 00:16:58.949
future? Well, being blackpilled is just
00:16:58.959 --> 00:17:00.870
not a strategy at all. It's certainly
00:17:00.880 --> 00:17:04.069
not conducive to success.
00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:06.549
You know that pretty much the only
00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.949
guaranteed way of failing is just to
00:17:08.959 --> 00:17:12.069
give up or quit. You know, that's that's
00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:13.669
guarantee of failure right there. Just
00:17:13.679 --> 00:17:16.150
to to give up.
00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.630
Um
00:17:18.640 --> 00:17:20.789
see to accept it with equinimity. Well,
00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:22.549
I mean, whatever happens is going to be
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:24.630
of your own creation. You're creating
00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.189
the the world you live in. You know,
00:17:27.199 --> 00:17:29.830
it's your own comma has placed you where
00:17:29.840 --> 00:17:34.150
you need to be in order to work out
00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.310
these latent tendencies and stuff you
00:17:36.320 --> 00:17:37.669
still need to work on because you
00:17:37.679 --> 00:17:40.390
haven't you haven't learned to work it
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:43.190
out perfectly yet. It's like Groundhog
00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:44.789
Day.
00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.110
And Bill Murray had to keep spending the
00:17:47.120 --> 00:17:49.270
same day over and over until he just got
00:17:49.280 --> 00:17:52.549
it right.
00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.310
So
00:17:54.320 --> 00:17:56.310
yeah, I mean you are creating your own
00:17:56.320 --> 00:18:00.310
reality and it may be kind of a a harsh
00:18:00.320 --> 00:18:02.150
difficult reality. I mean I have to
00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:05.270
admit for for me personally 2026 has
00:18:05.280 --> 00:18:08.230
started off on like a kind of the wrong
00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.950
foot and it's just continued that way.
00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:12.950
It's been limping
00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.390
up to the first two months thus far. But
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:20.630
I'm I I have faith in my own comma and
00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:23.990
just I don't know faith in the gods, the
00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:27.430
small G gods or some such that things
00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:32.390
definitely do have to get better
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:36.230
sooner or later.
00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.990
So, who knows? Maybe uh for starters,
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.470
the Iranians will admit that I mean,
00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:43.669
they're just going to keep getting
00:18:43.679 --> 00:18:46.549
bombed into oblivion until they decide
00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.430
to say, "All right, okay,
00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.830
we'll uh we'll try some kind of secular
00:18:51.840 --> 00:18:56.950
government now and see how that works."
00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.870
Let's see here. Okay, so I guess I
00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.430
answered that one fairly well. Do not be
00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.150
blackpilled. It's It's just
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.390
It is not a winning strategy. It is not
00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.270
conducive to happiness or anything else.
00:19:09.280 --> 00:19:10.710
Well, I guess it's conducive to
00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:14.789
something, but not much that is good.
00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:16.470
So, I'm just going to move on to Romeo's
00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:17.990
next question. These are, I think, his
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:21.430
recent questions. So, the extra
00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.110
questions that I've already answered are
00:19:23.120 --> 00:19:26.630
not transgressive, technically speaking.
00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:28.789
And Romeo says, "I went through a lot of
00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.950
trauma growing up as a result of having
00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:35.350
some pretty unstable, toxic parents."
00:19:35.360 --> 00:19:37.590
What is your advice on how to accept
00:19:37.600 --> 00:19:41.190
one's toxic parents as much as possible
00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:43.110
despite how much they harmed you over
00:19:43.120 --> 00:19:45.909
the years, especially when they continue
00:19:45.919 --> 00:19:47.909
to be toxic?
00:19:47.919 --> 00:19:51.110
Well, I mean, Romeo is a grown man now.
00:19:51.120 --> 00:19:52.230
He doesn't have to live with his
00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.110
parents. So, I mean, from that point of
00:19:55.120 --> 00:19:56.870
view, the best advice I would give you
00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:01.909
is be polite. You know, be respectful.
00:20:01.919 --> 00:20:04.150
um you don't have to interact with them
00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.150
any more than is necessary. I mean, it
00:20:06.160 --> 00:20:07.990
might be, you know, you're going to call
00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.669
them on their birthday or maybe even
00:20:09.679 --> 00:20:11.750
come come over for Thanksgiving dinner,
00:20:11.760 --> 00:20:14.710
that sort of thing. And just use it as a
00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.710
spiritual practice,
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:18.630
you know, just
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.430
being nice, you know, not trying to get
00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:23.990
sucked into old toxic habit patterns,
00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:25.590
that kind of thing.
00:20:25.600 --> 00:20:27.110
um
00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:30.390
honor thy mother and father or is the
00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:32.549
commandment father and mother
00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:34.630
patriarchal system. So maybe it started
00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:36.870
off with father.
00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:38.950
Um
00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:41.110
let's see.
00:20:41.120 --> 00:20:42.950
Yeah, I mean from the Buddhist point of
00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:45.750
view, you don't have to like be
00:20:45.760 --> 00:20:48.870
interacting with them all the time.
00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.710
So you know if if they really are like
00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.149
foolish people that are like have like a
00:20:56.159 --> 00:20:58.549
negative mental state have negative
00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:01.350
effects on you then I mean first the
00:21:01.360 --> 00:21:03.990
first blessing of the mandalas which is
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:07.430
a list of blessings is not associating
00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:11.029
with foolsam
00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:14.470
in in Burmese pronunciation of pi.
00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.549
So yeah, you just kind of keep it down
00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.270
to a a minimum that is not like too
00:21:19.280 --> 00:21:20.870
harsh. I mean, if they're just horrible,
00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.710
I mean, if they were I mean, just
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:26.070
abusive and so forth, then you might
00:21:26.080 --> 00:21:29.110
just make a a clean break while at the
00:21:29.120 --> 00:21:31.350
same time still trying to have metaphor,
00:21:31.360 --> 00:21:33.430
you know, forgive them because they know
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:36.870
not what they do, that kind of thing.
00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.789
And you can say some people can be like
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:40.390
cynical and say, well, they knew what
00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:45.190
they were doing. But still people just I
00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.830
mean they're delusional
00:21:47.840 --> 00:21:50.230
and so they they kind of know what
00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:51.750
they're doing but at the same time if
00:21:51.760 --> 00:21:53.669
they knew of something better that would
00:21:53.679 --> 00:21:55.430
make them happier they'd probably be
00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:58.549
doing that. If they just could break
00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:00.390
free of their habit patterns and so
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.549
forth. And a lot of abusive parents were
00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:04.950
abused by their own parents which causes
00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:08.470
like this vicious circle. Like my father
00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:11.510
um his father his father Grandpa
00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:15.190
Reynolds was a very gentle man. He was
00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:17.190
an ordained Baptist minister. He was
00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:18.950
working on his fourth doctor when he
00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.430
died. He was fluent in Greek and Latin.
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:24.789
Just a very gentle man. My father saw
00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:28.149
him not be gentle very few times and
00:22:28.159 --> 00:22:31.909
they really stuck in his memory.
00:22:31.919 --> 00:22:34.310
Like one time, this was way back when
00:22:34.320 --> 00:22:35.830
people were still driving horses and
00:22:35.840 --> 00:22:38.710
buggies. Back in the the 20s, late 20s,
00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:40.390
you know, cars had been invented, but
00:22:40.400 --> 00:22:41.990
still a lot of people still had horses
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.950
and buggies. Um, some guy got his horse
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:47.430
tangled up in a barbed wire fence in
00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:52.310
front of my father's parents' house. And
00:22:52.320 --> 00:22:55.190
the guy was just whipping that horse and
00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:56.870
just he was like in a frenzy. And the
00:22:56.880 --> 00:22:59.029
horse was in this frenzy of just terror
00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:02.630
and pain. And my grandfather, who was
00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:06.549
normally a very gentle, soft-spoken man,
00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.110
he grabbed a shotgun and he he went out
00:23:09.120 --> 00:23:11.350
there and just told this guy just in
00:23:11.360 --> 00:23:14.310
this deathly calm voice, although he was
00:23:14.320 --> 00:23:16.149
just white and kind of vibrating when he
00:23:16.159 --> 00:23:17.830
was saying it, but he kept it very calm.
00:23:17.840 --> 00:23:20.789
And he says, "If you whip that horse one
00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:22.789
more time, I swear to God, I'm going to
00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.830
shoot you."
00:23:25.840 --> 00:23:28.710
But my father's mother
00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:30.950
was just a fire and brimstone
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.270
fundamentalist Christian who firmly
00:23:33.280 --> 00:23:35.510
believed spare the rod, spoiled the
00:23:35.520 --> 00:23:38.310
child. And my father was just beaten
00:23:38.320 --> 00:23:40.950
over and over again by his mother. So
00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:42.710
his mother kind of fathered him and his
00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.630
father kind of mathered him which I mean
00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.630
my father turned out relatively normal.
00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:50.950
You know he was he was relatively
00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:54.070
healthy, wise, relatively welladjusted
00:23:54.080 --> 00:23:56.789
person. I mean, he was a an alcoholic
00:23:56.799 --> 00:23:58.630
for for many years, for much of his
00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:02.230
life, maybe half his life,
00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:05.669
but whether that had anything directly
00:24:05.679 --> 00:24:08.950
resulting from being beaten by his
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:10.390
mother over and over again, I don't
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.470
know.
00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:14.789
So, getting back to the actual question
00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:17.909
though, um, oh, well, I mean, I might as
00:24:17.919 --> 00:24:19.350
well continue with my father just with
00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:22.070
regard to the
00:24:22.080 --> 00:24:25.750
arguably toxic mother that, you know, he
00:24:25.760 --> 00:24:27.909
was still he'd still call her and speak
00:24:27.919 --> 00:24:29.269
to her and he didn't have to live with
00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:31.029
her anymore. So, I mean, he didn't have
00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.590
to put up with very much and she wasn't
00:24:33.600 --> 00:24:35.110
much inclined to beat on him when she
00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:38.789
was in her 70s anyway.
00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:40.630
But she'd it'd be more like Jesus is
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:43.029
coming. And then my father would say,
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:44.789
"Well, when he comes, tell him howdy for
00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:46.149
me." And then she'd be saying, "You're
00:24:46.159 --> 00:24:49.350
gonna have to tell your own howdies."
00:24:49.360 --> 00:24:52.470
Well, I mean, to some degree, he forgave
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.990
her. I mean, he wasn't really
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:56.630
complaining about, you know, how he was
00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:58.630
abused as a child. I mean, it would come
00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:00.230
up in conversation when he's telling
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.750
stories about when he was a kid and so
00:25:01.760 --> 00:25:03.510
forth,
00:25:03.520 --> 00:25:06.630
but as a general rule, it's just uh he
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.430
kind of accepted
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:11.669
that that was in his past and, you know,
00:25:11.679 --> 00:25:13.430
he's got a different present now and a
00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.830
different future.
00:25:15.840 --> 00:25:17.430
So, yeah, I guess I'm just going to have
00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.029
to go back to the original answer of um,
00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:25.269
you know, be polite and respectful if if
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:27.350
that seems appropriate. have meta in
00:25:27.360 --> 00:25:28.950
your heart. You know, forgive them as
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.870
well as you can, but at the same time,
00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.750
if they're still toxic, then keep a safe
00:25:33.760 --> 00:25:36.870
distance. Maybe just do your duty as a
00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.110
son to show up for Christmas or
00:25:39.120 --> 00:25:42.070
Thanksgiving and say happy birthday,
00:25:42.080 --> 00:25:44.070
send a Mother's Day card, that kind of
00:25:44.080 --> 00:25:46.950
thing, and just kind of keep a safe
00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:49.269
distance. Um, so that you don't get
00:25:49.279 --> 00:25:51.510
sucked into these
00:25:51.520 --> 00:25:56.390
sort of toxic habit patterns.
00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.590
That would be my best advice. I mean, if
00:25:59.600 --> 00:26:01.830
you really wanted to be hardcore in
00:26:01.840 --> 00:26:04.549
spiritual practice, you could, you know,
00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:06.549
one of your parents, you know, really
00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:08.149
needs to have someone taking care of
00:26:08.159 --> 00:26:10.630
them, you could be like feeding them and
00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:12.549
wiping their behind and and that sort of
00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:16.310
thing someday. Um, as that would be like
00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:20.630
advanced spiritual practice, I think.
00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:22.470
And it's time for me to go on to the
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.269
next question also from Romeo. He says,
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.190
"What do you know about the Buddha's
00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:29.510
parents, especially with regard to their
00:26:29.520 --> 00:26:31.990
behavior, temperament, temperaments, and
00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:33.750
the way they treated him as he was
00:26:33.760 --> 00:26:37.430
growing up?" Um, well, all you really
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.149
know about the Buddha's parents are
00:26:40.159 --> 00:26:42.470
that, you know, his is legend, you know,
00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:46.870
it's it's it's mythology kind of. So I
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:48.549
mean the Buddhist parents he had king
00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.190
sudodana which literally means pure
00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:55.350
cooked rice and his mother was Mahammaya
00:26:55.360 --> 00:26:59.590
or great illusion I suppose
00:26:59.600 --> 00:27:02.470
and his mother the queen or one of the
00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:04.149
queens.
00:27:04.159 --> 00:27:06.149
Um she died when the Buddha was like a
00:27:06.159 --> 00:27:08.789
week old.
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:12.710
Um I mean if that really happened then
00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:14.789
you know it could be complications of
00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:19.110
childbirth or something. Um
00:27:19.120 --> 00:27:21.590
although I think
00:27:21.600 --> 00:27:23.430
going with the legend it was just sort
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.990
of like this cosmic law that you know
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.430
she did something so tremendous by
00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:31.830
giving birth to the future Buddha that I
00:27:31.840 --> 00:27:33.830
mean it was like too much for her mortal
00:27:33.840 --> 00:27:37.190
frame to bear I guess. And so she died
00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:39.669
shortly thereafter. Kind of like in
00:27:39.679 --> 00:27:42.470
ancient Greece if you look upon a god
00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.870
and his his full glory. I mean you just
00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:50.470
it's just too much too much sublimeness.
00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:54.710
So with regard to his biological mother,
00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:56.630
I mean she really did not have much of
00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:58.710
of an impact on his life other than just
00:27:58.720 --> 00:28:00.470
her absence.
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:04.470
Her his father was according to legend a
00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:07.510
king. the king of Capilawatu which was a
00:28:07.520 --> 00:28:10.149
small like a city state kind of a
00:28:10.159 --> 00:28:13.350
kingdom according to legend although I
00:28:13.360 --> 00:28:16.870
mean nowadays the experts the
00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:19.110
endologists the archaeologists and so
00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:22.310
forth are saying that in all likelihood
00:28:22.320 --> 00:28:25.029
Capilawatu was it was kind of like an
00:28:25.039 --> 00:28:26.789
oligarchic
00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:30.789
republic more than a kingdom
00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:34.389
and so some of the like the Buddhist
00:28:34.399 --> 00:28:37.990
fundamentalist ists will try to cobble
00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:39.510
those together. You know, they'll try to
00:28:39.520 --> 00:28:42.230
save the theory by saying, well, the
00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:43.909
Buddhist father was called the king
00:28:43.919 --> 00:28:46.630
because he was like the senior lead of
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.950
the oligarchic council of elders. They
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:51.669
run ran the the small state, this sort
00:28:51.679 --> 00:28:55.510
of thing. But I mean, you go with like
00:28:55.520 --> 00:28:58.710
the legends and he was just a proud
00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:02.549
king, you know, he was not like a cruel,
00:29:02.559 --> 00:29:04.710
sadistic kind of king, but still he was
00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:08.310
proud. He had lots of mana and he was
00:29:08.320 --> 00:29:13.590
really disgusted by his son renouncing
00:29:13.600 --> 00:29:15.830
kingship in order to go and become a
00:29:15.840 --> 00:29:18.149
penniles beggar.
00:29:18.159 --> 00:29:20.230
My father had some similar feelings
00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:22.230
although I was never a royal prince in
00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:25.430
this life.
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.350
So
00:29:27.360 --> 00:29:30.470
their temperaments, behavior, I mean the
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.470
Buddha's father, his behavior was
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:34.389
kingly, you know, just sort of the
00:29:34.399 --> 00:29:36.470
stereotypical
00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:39.830
proud. I mean, a relatively good king,
00:29:39.840 --> 00:29:43.190
but still, I mean, pride was one of the
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:45.909
outstanding personality traits that
00:29:45.919 --> 00:29:49.110
comes through in the texts. There is one
00:29:49.120 --> 00:29:52.389
suta in which the Buddha claims that
00:29:52.399 --> 00:29:54.549
when he renounced the world to go from
00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:56.870
home the home life into homelessness his
00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:00.870
parents stood by grieving which could be
00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:05.510
like a relic of like the pre- legend
00:30:05.520 --> 00:30:08.630
where may it may be that his his father
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:13.430
and mother him were both alive
00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:17.510
um as the Buddha grew into manhood. But
00:30:17.520 --> 00:30:19.909
again, all we really have is legends.
00:30:19.919 --> 00:30:22.149
You know, there's also the the the
00:30:22.159 --> 00:30:25.350
legend of the Buddha when he was a child
00:30:25.360 --> 00:30:27.909
sitting under a rose apple tree and
00:30:27.919 --> 00:30:30.789
learning meditation just spontaneously
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.669
while his father is plowing a field. And
00:30:33.679 --> 00:30:36.470
if his father really was a king, there's
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:37.909
a good chance he wouldn't be plowing a
00:30:37.919 --> 00:30:40.870
field. Although I think the the official
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:42.710
explanation for that is that the king
00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:45.190
was doing some ceremony or he was
00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:48.789
ceremonially plowing a furrow for you
00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:51.269
know some
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:53.350
some state
00:30:53.360 --> 00:30:56.070
reason. You know he wasn't really a
00:30:56.080 --> 00:30:58.070
farmer plowing a field. He was just
00:30:58.080 --> 00:31:00.950
plowing just this sort of a sacred
00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:04.070
furrow for some symbolic reason that was
00:31:04.080 --> 00:31:08.549
required of him as as a king.
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.149
But then the Buddha also had like a
00:31:10.159 --> 00:31:14.230
stepmother who was his also his aunt. Um
00:31:14.240 --> 00:31:15.990
the Buddha's father according to
00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:19.110
tradition married two sisters Mahamaya
00:31:19.120 --> 00:31:21.110
and let's see what was her name Maha
00:31:21.120 --> 00:31:23.909
Pajapi Godi.
00:31:23.919 --> 00:31:25.590
So they were all members of the Godma
00:31:25.600 --> 00:31:27.590
clan. They're all
00:31:27.600 --> 00:31:29.830
let's hope distant cousins and not first
00:31:29.840 --> 00:31:33.590
cousins. Um,
00:31:33.600 --> 00:31:37.110
so yeah, his his his stepmother also his
00:31:37.120 --> 00:31:39.590
aunt who raised him, although if he was
00:31:39.600 --> 00:31:41.750
a royal prince, he probably was raised
00:31:41.760 --> 00:31:45.190
by an army of, you know, nurses and
00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:47.909
slave women and that kind of thing, too.
00:31:47.919 --> 00:31:51.269
That she was a virtuous woman and had
00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:53.990
some wisdom and she was the one who
00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:55.909
begged the Buddha after his
00:31:55.919 --> 00:31:58.870
enlightenment to start the the order of
00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.590
nuns. and she was the first ordained
00:32:01.600 --> 00:32:04.630
Buddhist nun.
00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:07.669
But there's really not a whole lot of
00:32:07.679 --> 00:32:11.830
emphasis on like the temperaments and
00:32:11.840 --> 00:32:15.190
personality traits and behavior of the
00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:17.750
Buddha's parents.
00:32:17.760 --> 00:32:21.190
You know, it's it's all legend. And so
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:22.789
you just have to kind of take it with a
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:25.110
grain of salt. I mean, the only real
00:32:25.120 --> 00:32:27.509
friction that you see with the Buddha
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.509
and his father was his father was kind
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:33.830
of offended or disgusted by the Buddha
00:32:33.840 --> 00:32:37.669
renouncing, you know, the the throne,
00:32:37.679 --> 00:32:40.149
being first in line for the throne in
00:32:40.159 --> 00:32:42.149
order to become literally a penniless
00:32:42.159 --> 00:32:43.830
beggar.
00:32:43.840 --> 00:32:45.269
Although he eventually did see the
00:32:45.279 --> 00:32:47.350
light, I do think he became an Arya
00:32:47.360 --> 00:32:48.950
after the Buddha returned to his home
00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:51.830
state and uh kind of reconciled with his
00:32:51.840 --> 00:32:55.110
wife and ordained his son Rahula as a
00:32:55.120 --> 00:32:59.350
monk. And I think I'm pretty sure I mean
00:32:59.360 --> 00:33:00.549
it's been a long time since I've read
00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:02.070
this, but I do think according to the
00:33:02.080 --> 00:33:04.230
legend, according to the Suta, his
00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:06.870
father took the three the three refugees
00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:12.470
and converted to Buddhism.
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.470
So then he was proud of his son again, I
00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:16.710
suspect.
00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:18.230
And uh I think I'm just going to move on
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:21.190
to Romeo's last question here, which is
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:22.710
what advice do you think the Buddha
00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:24.950
would give about how to deal with toxic
00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:26.789
parents?
00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:29.509
And I would guess his his advice would
00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:32.870
be pretty much my original advice in
00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:37.669
response to two questions above
00:33:37.679 --> 00:33:39.110
that. I mean, you should have meta for
00:33:39.120 --> 00:33:41.669
them. you should forgive them. And uh
00:33:41.679 --> 00:33:44.950
but if they really are like still toxic,
00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:47.029
you know, just keep a safe distance as
00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:49.269
much as you can while not like
00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:54.470
abandoning your filial duty to at least,
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:57.029
you know, be there for them if if they
00:33:57.039 --> 00:33:59.990
need you, that kind of thing.
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:02.870
Um there is the famous statement in the
00:34:02.880 --> 00:34:05.350
suta somewhere where the Buddha says
00:34:05.360 --> 00:34:07.269
that I mean even if you carried your
00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:09.510
aged parents around on your back for the
00:34:09.520 --> 00:34:11.109
rest of your life, you could never fully
00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:13.669
repay them for having brought you into
00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:16.069
this world and you know produced the
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:18.310
person that you are today. you know,
00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:20.790
even if they had negative effects and so
00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:22.869
forth and were abusive and to some
00:34:22.879 --> 00:34:25.270
degree you became a good person in spite
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:28.389
of them that still I mean you are who
00:34:28.399 --> 00:34:31.109
you are largely because I mean they're
00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:32.550
the ones who brought you into the world
00:34:32.560 --> 00:34:35.669
and your first influences were from them
00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:37.750
and even if you became a good person in
00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:40.550
spite of them still I mean you started
00:34:40.560 --> 00:34:42.950
with that in order to become what you
00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:46.310
are now.
00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:48.950
So there is a lot of the kind of the
00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:52.069
biblical honor thy father and mother um
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:53.829
you know in the ten commandments that
00:34:53.839 --> 00:34:55.990
that's kind of built into just about any
00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:58.870
kind of traditional religious system
00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:01.270
including Buddhism.
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:03.670
But I would guess that, you know, he he
00:35:03.680 --> 00:35:06.310
would advise that if they really are
00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:10.550
toxic, you know, foolish, harmful people
00:35:10.560 --> 00:35:12.790
that, you know, you should try to I
00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:14.710
mean, you have to have a certain
00:35:14.720 --> 00:35:17.670
distance unless you're just full-blown
00:35:17.680 --> 00:35:20.310
saint. You know, you're like Aliosha
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:23.349
Karamazov in in the Dostki novel where
00:35:23.359 --> 00:35:26.069
it's like you just plunge right into it,
00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:27.750
you know? It's just that is your
00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:30.069
spiritual that's the crucible the
00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:31.990
spiritual crucible where you're going to
00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:35.990
be purified by the the holy fire of just
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:40.950
self you know selfdenial
00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:42.470
but you have to do that wisely because
00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.150
otherwise you just get sucked into these
00:35:44.160 --> 00:35:45.750
negative habit patterns that are just
00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:51.109
self-perpetuating and get even worse
00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:53.990
so yeah I mean you should engage to the
00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:57.109
extent that you have the wisdom to do
00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:01.589
that in a positive way. And each person
00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:03.030
would have to decide that for
00:36:03.040 --> 00:36:04.950
themselves. Or if they lack the wisdom
00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:06.870
to decide that for themselves, then they
00:36:06.880 --> 00:36:09.190
should have somebody that they trust who
00:36:09.200 --> 00:36:12.150
is, you know, knows enough information
00:36:12.160 --> 00:36:14.790
about the parents and the the child and
00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:16.470
so forth that they could give some
00:36:16.480 --> 00:36:18.790
advice as to, you know, how far you
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:22.230
should go in performing filial duties
00:36:22.240 --> 00:36:24.550
without just getting sucked into this
00:36:24.560 --> 00:36:29.910
toxic habit pattern stuff.
00:36:29.920 --> 00:36:32.069
But have meta for them at least, you
00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:33.589
know?
00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:34.710
And I'm just going to move on to the
00:36:34.720 --> 00:36:36.950
next question. This is from Austin. And
00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:39.589
now we're getting into the recent. No,
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:43.510
no, I guess uh Austin's uh last three
00:36:43.520 --> 00:36:46.390
questions were recent. So never mind.
00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:49.109
This question is from Austin. And Austin
00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:51.430
says, "Would you ever be open to the
00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:55.510
idea of starting a 501c3
00:36:55.520 --> 00:36:57.829
for the purpose of founding a meditation
00:36:57.839 --> 00:37:02.230
center with yourself as a teacher?"
00:37:02.240 --> 00:37:04.630
I mean,
00:37:04.640 --> 00:37:06.470
it doesn't strike me as being
00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:08.870
particularly likely.
00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:11.190
I mean, it's theoretically possible that
00:37:11.200 --> 00:37:15.030
it could happen. Although,
00:37:15.040 --> 00:37:17.430
yeah, I I just
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:19.030
something would really have to break.
00:37:19.040 --> 00:37:20.870
There'd be have have to be some kind of
00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:24.150
break in the log jam that has existed
00:37:24.160 --> 00:37:26.870
since long before I stopped being a monk
00:37:26.880 --> 00:37:29.510
with regard to actually making a living
00:37:29.520 --> 00:37:32.150
in the west as a dharma teacher. When I
00:37:32.160 --> 00:37:34.470
first disroeded, you know, that was kind
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:36.230
of like the obvious choice. The thing I
00:37:36.240 --> 00:37:39.030
was most qualified to be would be a
00:37:39.040 --> 00:37:42.550
dharma teacher. But
00:37:42.560 --> 00:37:45.430
actually making a living at that is a
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:48.069
whole different kettle of wax,
00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:50.790
so to speak.
00:37:50.800 --> 00:37:52.870
So
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:55.829
yeah, I mean
00:37:55.839 --> 00:37:57.910
it's theoretically possible, but not
00:37:57.920 --> 00:38:02.310
extremely likely in my opinion.
00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:04.150
ah good chance I'll just spend the rest
00:38:04.160 --> 00:38:07.829
of my life um at least my professional
00:38:07.839 --> 00:38:09.750
life
00:38:09.760 --> 00:38:14.310
running machines that kind of thing
00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:18.470
which is kind of unfortunate I guess but
00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:21.190
when you just start over from scratch
00:38:21.200 --> 00:38:25.750
after 30 years of being a monk and
00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:28.950
just making a living as a dharma teacher
00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:31.270
I mean it's it's theoretically possible
00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.589
it can happen. It does happen,
00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:35.510
especially in California, which is a
00:38:35.520 --> 00:38:39.430
state I would not want to live in.
00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:41.829
But it's just uh I mean, there has been
00:38:41.839 --> 00:38:45.910
like a karmic log jam that has been like
00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:49.109
an obstacle to that since long before I
00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:50.790
stopped being a monk. It's just
00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:53.510
difficult getting support, enough
00:38:53.520 --> 00:38:55.829
support to live on comfortably. I mean,
00:38:55.839 --> 00:38:57.910
as a lay person, I mean, I would need
00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:01.109
more support than as a monk just because
00:39:01.119 --> 00:39:03.349
monks can just
00:39:03.359 --> 00:39:06.470
live under a tree.
00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:08.550
And being a lay person that has like a
00:39:08.560 --> 00:39:11.270
woman and dogs to feed, that kind of
00:39:11.280 --> 00:39:13.990
thing, fishes,
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:15.910
it takes more than just the bare minimum
00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:20.790
that a monk requires.
00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:23.190
So, I mean, if something if somebody
00:39:23.200 --> 00:39:24.710
were to come along, this is pretty much
00:39:24.720 --> 00:39:27.829
the only way it would happen is is like
00:39:27.839 --> 00:39:30.790
some eccentric wealthy person just comes
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:34.870
along and makes the offer, then yeah, I
00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:38.550
would definitely consider that. But like
00:39:38.560 --> 00:39:40.150
going out and trying to make it happen
00:39:40.160 --> 00:39:42.630
on my own. I've tried that before and
00:39:42.640 --> 00:39:46.310
it's it's it just experience indicates
00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:49.430
that I would be it'd be more realistic
00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:52.069
to make a living doing something else.
00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:54.790
And so I do this as a pre a free public
00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:57.430
service just out of the kindness of my
00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:59.990
heart and a sincere desire to share
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.069
something of value with you guys.
00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:07.990
And so I'm just going to move on to uh I
00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:09.990
might as well say I mean just charging
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:11.670
money for dharma is something that I've
00:40:11.680 --> 00:40:14.630
always kind of not liked anyway you know
00:40:14.640 --> 00:40:16.630
just just the idea of it you know dharma
00:40:16.640 --> 00:40:19.349
should be free it's like priceless so
00:40:19.359 --> 00:40:22.310
there's that too and so I'm just moving
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:25.589
on next question this is from Newman
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:28.790
and Newman says is it bad karma to
00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:32.390
research Buddhist justifications for war
00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:35.109
if not a kind of holy war, for example,
00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:39.430
the kala chakra prophecy or samurai zen,
00:40:39.440 --> 00:40:42.470
etc., as well as the more out there
00:40:42.480 --> 00:40:45.829
Tantric step Buddhism, where warlords
00:40:45.839 --> 00:40:48.790
intermingled with Antonyomian CDs and
00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:51.589
then make an informative detached video
00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:53.589
covering the history and conveying the
00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:57.109
logic or metaphysics or Buddhist
00:40:57.119 --> 00:40:59.910
justifications behind those views.
00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:02.710
intention. I find it interesting and it
00:41:02.720 --> 00:41:05.589
could make for cool content,
00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:08.950
not endorsing it or biased. So, this is
00:41:08.960 --> 00:41:11.829
another one of those questions often
00:41:11.839 --> 00:41:15.349
asked by people like, you know, is it
00:41:15.359 --> 00:41:18.069
bad karma to do this or that action? And
00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:21.990
again, as I keep saying until I'm blue
00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:23.829
in the face and it might be kind of a
00:41:23.839 --> 00:41:26.950
slight bluish tint right now, that
00:41:26.960 --> 00:41:30.309
outward actions are karmically neutral,
00:41:30.319 --> 00:41:32.950
that the ethical aspect of an action
00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:35.510
ultimately is the accompanying mental
00:41:35.520 --> 00:41:39.510
states. So if Newman here wants to
00:41:39.520 --> 00:41:41.910
research Buddhist justifications for
00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:44.150
war, you know, to study the history of
00:41:44.160 --> 00:41:47.030
militant Buddhism and sort of work out
00:41:47.040 --> 00:41:49.750
the philosophical justifications for it
00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:53.190
in with like a Buddhist slant, you know,
00:41:53.200 --> 00:41:55.430
the Buddhist justifications, you know,
00:41:55.440 --> 00:41:58.309
like the samurai, Zen warriors, the
00:41:58.319 --> 00:42:01.109
sword masters, that kind of thing. Um,
00:42:01.119 --> 00:42:03.349
and also just kind of from his his own
00:42:03.359 --> 00:42:07.910
Buddhist slant, then I mean
00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:11.750
it's not necessarily good or bad. It
00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:13.510
just depends on, you know, what your
00:42:13.520 --> 00:42:15.589
motives are, how you feel about what
00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:17.829
you're doing, um, how much you're
00:42:17.839 --> 00:42:20.069
wallowing in delusion,
00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:23.589
attraction, aversion, and delusion.
00:42:23.599 --> 00:42:26.069
Attraction, aversion, and semiconscious
00:42:26.079 --> 00:42:28.230
stupidity.
00:42:28.240 --> 00:42:29.829
And so I mean from the Buddhist point of
00:42:29.839 --> 00:42:31.430
view there you don't have just pure
00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:33.270
white and pure black. It's not like the
00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:36.710
Bible where God commands you to do
00:42:36.720 --> 00:42:39.190
something and so doing it is just pure
00:42:39.200 --> 00:42:41.829
good and not doing it is pure bad or
00:42:41.839 --> 00:42:44.309
doing the opposite is pure bad. I mean
00:42:44.319 --> 00:42:47.670
in Buddhism it's all shades of gray.
00:42:47.680 --> 00:42:49.990
I mean you never have pure white or pure
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:51.109
black. It's like when you become
00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:52.630
enlightened, it just becomes like
00:42:52.640 --> 00:42:54.710
transparent,
00:42:54.720 --> 00:42:57.270
clear,
00:42:57.280 --> 00:43:01.190
no longer any color at all.
00:43:01.200 --> 00:43:03.109
So, yeah, I mean, I've I've kind of
00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:05.430
looked into it a little bit like like uh
00:43:05.440 --> 00:43:09.190
Suzuki Roshi, who was one of the people
00:43:09.200 --> 00:43:12.230
who brought Buddhism into the American
00:43:12.240 --> 00:43:14.710
mainstream mainly through the beatnicks
00:43:14.720 --> 00:43:17.990
in the 1950s. I mean he was a supporter
00:43:18.000 --> 00:43:21.910
of Japan and like fascism during World
00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:26.870
War II, you know, so he did actually put
00:43:26.880 --> 00:43:29.030
forth arguments
00:43:29.040 --> 00:43:33.430
sort of justifying like the the samurai
00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:37.349
zen sword masters, that kind of thing.
00:43:37.359 --> 00:43:40.230
So it's out there and it is kind of
00:43:40.240 --> 00:43:42.950
interesting. I have to admit
00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:44.790
I've written on the subject a few times
00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:48.550
I think in my old blog.
00:43:48.560 --> 00:43:53.190
Um also I was like shortly after I came
00:43:53.200 --> 00:43:55.109
back to America the last time I was
00:43:55.119 --> 00:43:57.829
still a monk. um a person who was just a
00:43:57.839 --> 00:44:01.910
self-proclaimed fascist asked me to help
00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:04.630
as a kind of technical adviser, a
00:44:04.640 --> 00:44:06.630
Buddhist technical adviser with regard
00:44:06.640 --> 00:44:09.190
to uh I think it was a subreddit he was
00:44:09.200 --> 00:44:12.790
making with regard to Buddhist fascism
00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:14.790
which included you know a certain amount
00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:17.109
of violence. Fascism, you know, one of
00:44:17.119 --> 00:44:19.589
its stereotypical qualities is it tends
00:44:19.599 --> 00:44:23.109
to be somewhat militaristic.
00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:25.349
And you know, just as a technical
00:44:25.359 --> 00:44:27.030
adviser, I was cool with that. I mean, I
00:44:27.040 --> 00:44:28.950
wasn't endorsing
00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:30.470
violence,
00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:32.630
but I mean, just kind of helping to
00:44:32.640 --> 00:44:35.430
explain the situation, you know, just
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:37.589
historical attitudes towards it, that
00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:39.910
kind of thing. I mean, that can be just
00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:43.990
detached and amoral.
00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:45.750
So,
00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:47.589
is it bad karma to research Buddhist
00:44:47.599 --> 00:44:49.670
justifications for war, etc.? Not
00:44:49.680 --> 00:44:51.589
necessarily. It depends on your
00:44:51.599 --> 00:44:53.190
attitude, what your motives are, that
00:44:53.200 --> 00:44:55.030
kind of thing. I'm just going to move on
00:44:55.040 --> 00:44:56.150
to the next question. This is from
00:44:56.160 --> 00:44:59.990
Siovak and Seipad Zidana.
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.230
And Sioad Zidana says, "You said David
00:45:04.240 --> 00:45:06.309
Hume is your favorite modern
00:45:06.319 --> 00:45:09.270
philosopher. He famously said, "Reason
00:45:09.280 --> 00:45:12.470
is and ought to be the slave of the
00:45:12.480 --> 00:45:14.069
passions."
00:45:14.079 --> 00:45:15.910
Do you agree with this sentiment that
00:45:15.920 --> 00:45:17.829
reason should be the slave of the
00:45:17.839 --> 00:45:21.190
passions? Well,
00:45:21.200 --> 00:45:23.030
whether it should be or not, I mean, it
00:45:23.040 --> 00:45:25.190
it just is.
00:45:25.200 --> 00:45:28.309
And so, if something is a certain way,
00:45:28.319 --> 00:45:32.550
then it becomes this kind of academic
00:45:32.560 --> 00:45:34.950
or superfluous to say whether it should
00:45:34.960 --> 00:45:37.910
be that way. I mean I mean should rocks
00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:41.829
be hard? Well, I mean they are hard as a
00:45:41.839 --> 00:45:43.910
general rule.
00:45:43.920 --> 00:45:46.790
Um so the should I mean it's it's like
00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:50.150
kind of value judgment where you know
00:45:50.160 --> 00:45:52.230
it's like you're just like well rocks
00:45:52.240 --> 00:45:55.030
shouldn't be hard in my opinion even
00:45:55.040 --> 00:45:57.510
though they are hard. I mean what's the
00:45:57.520 --> 00:45:59.030
point of that? I mean it just seems
00:45:59.040 --> 00:46:03.510
silly. But I do agree with Hume that
00:46:03.520 --> 00:46:06.710
reason is the slave of the passions
00:46:06.720 --> 00:46:10.470
because reason cannot initiate anything.
00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:14.550
I think Kant also agreed with this that
00:46:14.560 --> 00:46:18.390
pure reason cannot motivate an action
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:20.470
that it has to be passion that actually
00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:22.630
causes you to get up in the morning that
00:46:22.640 --> 00:46:25.670
actually causes you to do anything that
00:46:25.680 --> 00:46:28.309
that is ultimately irrational. That's
00:46:28.319 --> 00:46:31.990
just like in early Buddhism, the the the
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:34.390
spike in the heart that just causes this
00:46:34.400 --> 00:46:36.950
restless dissatisfaction that makes us
00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:39.349
want to just remain in motion and keep
00:46:39.359 --> 00:46:41.430
doing stuff.
00:46:41.440 --> 00:46:44.870
That reason in and of itself, I mean, it
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:47.510
doesn't make value judgments, you know?
00:46:47.520 --> 00:46:50.309
It's like, is it better to get up in the
00:46:50.319 --> 00:46:52.950
morning or just stay in bed and just not
00:46:52.960 --> 00:46:54.550
ever get up and just lie there till
00:46:54.560 --> 00:46:57.270
you're dead? I mean, it's not logically
00:46:57.280 --> 00:47:01.270
necessary that remaining in existence is
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:03.030
better than not remaining in existence
00:47:03.040 --> 00:47:05.990
or vice versa. One could argue it's
00:47:06.000 --> 00:47:07.750
like, well, when you're playing chess,
00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:10.710
that's completely rational or can be
00:47:10.720 --> 00:47:12.470
anyway. But I mean, why do you want to
00:47:12.480 --> 00:47:15.349
play chess in the first place?
00:47:15.359 --> 00:47:19.589
It's ultimately irrational that any
00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:22.470
decision you make with regard to doing
00:47:22.480 --> 00:47:25.750
something is going to be irrational. And
00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:28.150
then rationality just helps to guide
00:47:28.160 --> 00:47:29.670
that
00:47:29.680 --> 00:47:31.430
largely through just being a [ __ ]
00:47:31.440 --> 00:47:33.589
detector and weeding out obviously
00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:39.270
stupid decisions.
00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:42.230
Like I mean just should I throw this
00:47:42.240 --> 00:47:44.390
rock through the window? It's like,
00:47:44.400 --> 00:47:46.390
well, no, it would break the window.
00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:48.550
Then I'd have to fix the window. And so
00:47:48.560 --> 00:47:51.670
it's just reason just helps to weed out
00:47:51.680 --> 00:47:54.710
that stupid idea.
00:47:54.720 --> 00:47:57.109
But whether reason should be the slave
00:47:57.119 --> 00:47:59.589
of the passions or not. I mean, it's
00:47:59.599 --> 00:48:02.790
just it just seems like kind of a silly
00:48:02.800 --> 00:48:04.950
question because that's just the way it
00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:07.990
is. You know, should rocks be hard? And
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:09.510
it is it's kind of that kind of
00:48:09.520 --> 00:48:11.589
question. So, I mean, I'll go along with
00:48:11.599 --> 00:48:13.750
David Hume. I'll just say yeah it should
00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:16.550
be the slave of the passions because
00:48:16.560 --> 00:48:18.790
I mean the passions are what actually
00:48:18.800 --> 00:48:22.630
motivate behavior.
00:48:22.640 --> 00:48:25.349
I mean to do something or not to do
00:48:25.359 --> 00:48:27.910
something to be or not to be does not
00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:32.069
have a a a rational necessary answer.
00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:36.309
Logic cannot I mean logic itself is
00:48:36.319 --> 00:48:40.069
ultimately based on irrational premises.
00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:42.069
The only way you could have pure logic
00:48:42.079 --> 00:48:44.549
would be to have an infinite regress of
00:48:44.559 --> 00:48:46.069
premises
00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:48.230
that you just can't have at some point.
00:48:48.240 --> 00:48:50.870
You just have to start with some
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.630
hopefully self-evident axiom or group of
00:48:54.640 --> 00:48:58.630
axioms.
00:48:58.640 --> 00:49:02.150
But just choosing the axioms is itself I
00:49:02.160 --> 00:49:04.710
mean to make the choice is itself just
00:49:04.720 --> 00:49:10.230
not ultimately fundamentally rational.
00:49:10.240 --> 00:49:11.589
So I'm just going to move on to see of
00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:14.230
action and see pad zero's next question.
00:49:14.240 --> 00:49:15.670
And I don't know how to pronounce this
00:49:15.680 --> 00:49:18.230
name. It's a French name.
00:49:18.240 --> 00:49:21.270
La ro fold
00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:25.589
ro fuko. I don't think so. Anyways, this
00:49:25.599 --> 00:49:28.230
French guy said, "We love neither mother
00:49:28.240 --> 00:49:30.790
nor father nor wife nor child, but
00:49:30.800 --> 00:49:33.109
rather the agreeable feelings they give
00:49:33.119 --> 00:49:35.670
us." Do you agree with this sentiment?
00:49:35.680 --> 00:49:37.270
Well, from the Buddhist point of view,
00:49:37.280 --> 00:49:40.390
ultimately there is no mother or father
00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:42.549
or wife or child and no us either
00:49:42.559 --> 00:49:46.390
because there is no like
00:49:46.400 --> 00:49:48.790
what's what's the word
00:49:48.800 --> 00:49:53.910
um no individual no distinct ultimately
00:49:53.920 --> 00:49:56.309
real individual no individual self
00:49:56.319 --> 00:49:57.829
essence
00:49:57.839 --> 00:50:01.270
that that's all dependent coising
00:50:01.280 --> 00:50:02.870
so
00:50:02.880 --> 00:50:06.309
um I mean you can't even say that we
00:50:06.319 --> 00:50:08.549
love the agreeable feelings they give
00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:10.549
us. Because if you get down to the level
00:50:10.559 --> 00:50:13.910
of no self, all of that's an illusion.
00:50:13.920 --> 00:50:15.109
So, I mean, if you're just going to be
00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:16.790
dealing in the samsaric level of
00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:18.230
illusion, you can say, "Sure, we love
00:50:18.240 --> 00:50:20.309
our our father and our mother and our
00:50:20.319 --> 00:50:22.309
wife and our child."
00:50:22.319 --> 00:50:25.030
Um, and
00:50:25.040 --> 00:50:27.910
I mean if you just break that down into
00:50:27.920 --> 00:50:31.829
just stimuli, then you could say, okay,
00:50:31.839 --> 00:50:34.950
um, there is love for the the pleasant
00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:37.910
feelings or or whatever it is, or love
00:50:37.920 --> 00:50:42.150
out of duty, that kind of thing.
00:50:42.160 --> 00:50:43.829
For some reason, I keep keep being
00:50:43.839 --> 00:50:46.549
reminded of a saying of Lord Byron.
00:50:46.559 --> 00:50:48.710
George Gordon Lord Byron, famous
00:50:48.720 --> 00:50:51.030
romantic poet of the the early 19th
00:50:51.040 --> 00:50:53.829
century in England.
00:50:53.839 --> 00:50:56.549
He said that the the first time a woman
00:50:56.559 --> 00:50:58.309
falls in love, she falls in love with a
00:50:58.319 --> 00:51:00.549
man and then every time after that, she
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:03.910
just falls in love with love itself.
00:51:03.920 --> 00:51:05.910
Just the feelings she get from being in
00:51:05.920 --> 00:51:09.030
love, you know, she kind of gets she she
00:51:09.040 --> 00:51:12.790
jones on that or something.
00:51:12.800 --> 00:51:15.670
Um, but I mean at some philosophical
00:51:15.680 --> 00:51:17.910
level you could say that yeah, we don't
00:51:17.920 --> 00:51:20.710
really love another person. We love the
00:51:20.720 --> 00:51:22.710
way they make us feel or the the
00:51:22.720 --> 00:51:25.030
pleasant associations, the pleasant
00:51:25.040 --> 00:51:26.549
perceptions cuz the only way you know
00:51:26.559 --> 00:51:29.190
another person is through perceptions,
00:51:29.200 --> 00:51:31.829
at least from a Buddhist point of view.
00:51:31.839 --> 00:51:34.710
So, I mean, you're kind of projecting
00:51:34.720 --> 00:51:37.670
like some being out there that you're
00:51:37.680 --> 00:51:41.670
aiming your love at, but really,
00:51:41.680 --> 00:51:45.190
I mean, what it is that's causing you to
00:51:45.200 --> 00:51:48.309
project the the being out there and feel
00:51:48.319 --> 00:51:50.069
the love and everything is your own
00:51:50.079 --> 00:51:52.870
perceptions, which are mental states. I
00:51:52.880 --> 00:51:56.069
mean, you could say that
00:51:56.079 --> 00:51:59.030
at at a very deep level, you know, there
00:51:59.040 --> 00:52:03.030
is a kind of telepathy, a kind of real
00:52:03.040 --> 00:52:04.549
empathy
00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:06.390
that, you know, in the in the block of
00:52:06.400 --> 00:52:08.950
marble, there are group statues. And so
00:52:08.960 --> 00:52:10.790
there's there can be a kind of group
00:52:10.800 --> 00:52:13.430
mind. And if there is a kind of group
00:52:13.440 --> 00:52:17.109
mind, like a a deep te telepathic bond
00:52:17.119 --> 00:52:21.190
between people, then you can maybe to
00:52:21.200 --> 00:52:24.069
some degree bypass just the superficial
00:52:24.079 --> 00:52:27.349
feelings and just directly kind of love
00:52:27.359 --> 00:52:30.309
this US entity that you and and the
00:52:30.319 --> 00:52:36.549
beloved person are creating.
00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:38.390
Let's see.
00:52:38.400 --> 00:52:41.270
Did did I answer the question though? I
00:52:41.280 --> 00:52:44.390
mean the main question is um do I agree
00:52:44.400 --> 00:52:47.349
with this sentiment and largely I do but
00:52:47.359 --> 00:52:50.230
it's I don't think it's necessarily 100%
00:52:50.240 --> 00:52:52.470
true. I mean partly just because there
00:52:52.480 --> 00:52:54.549
is no us to love anybody either. just
00:52:54.559 --> 00:52:56.390
going with the strict interpretation of
00:52:56.400 --> 00:52:59.829
no self. And also if you get to a like a
00:52:59.839 --> 00:53:02.549
little bit more samsaric level then
00:53:02.559 --> 00:53:04.549
still there can be like a group mind
00:53:04.559 --> 00:53:06.470
where you can just bypass the
00:53:06.480 --> 00:53:08.710
superficial perceptions and just have
00:53:08.720 --> 00:53:11.829
like this like a direct communion with
00:53:11.839 --> 00:53:15.430
another being which is not orthodox
00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:16.950
Buddhism
00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:18.790
but still I do consider it to be
00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:20.870
possible and it's largely in agreement
00:53:20.880 --> 00:53:23.190
with my whole theory of everything the
00:53:23.200 --> 00:53:25.030
theory of the block of marble or the
00:53:25.040 --> 00:53:27.510
simile of the block of marble.
00:53:27.520 --> 00:53:28.790
And I'm just going to move on to this
00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:30.870
question. This also is from Siovak and
00:53:30.880 --> 00:53:33.829
Sipad Zidana. He said based on the
00:53:33.839 --> 00:53:36.790
previous question, if you answered yes,
00:53:36.800 --> 00:53:39.829
and I answered pretty much yes, although
00:53:39.839 --> 00:53:43.589
not entirely 100% yes. He said, if you
00:53:43.599 --> 00:53:45.750
answered yes, then do you think knowing
00:53:45.760 --> 00:53:48.150
this we should be truthful to others
00:53:48.160 --> 00:53:50.630
about this? For example, when you tell
00:53:50.640 --> 00:53:52.710
your parents, husband, wife, or kids, we
00:53:52.720 --> 00:53:54.870
should really say, "I love how you make
00:53:54.880 --> 00:53:58.230
me feel," rather than, "I love you." If
00:53:58.240 --> 00:54:00.069
you don't believe in lying, I wonder how
00:54:00.079 --> 00:54:02.150
far you would go. Well, I mean, if
00:54:02.160 --> 00:54:05.510
you're taking it at the the radical
00:54:05.520 --> 00:54:07.670
level of no self, then you couldn't even
00:54:07.680 --> 00:54:11.670
say I or me.
00:54:11.680 --> 00:54:14.870
So yeah, I mean if you take get all the
00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:16.710
way down to like the the level of
00:54:16.720 --> 00:54:18.790
ultimate truth or as close to the level
00:54:18.800 --> 00:54:20.309
of ultimate truth as you get, I mean
00:54:20.319 --> 00:54:22.309
it's just beyond language. It's anything
00:54:22.319 --> 00:54:24.870
you say is just going to be samsaric
00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:29.750
and not ultimately true.
00:54:29.760 --> 00:54:31.910
Um with regard to I love how you make me
00:54:31.920 --> 00:54:34.710
feel. I mean that's kind of a romantic
00:54:34.720 --> 00:54:36.870
thing that you might say to your lover
00:54:36.880 --> 00:54:39.670
sometimes in addition to I love you. But
00:54:39.680 --> 00:54:42.710
I mean, if you're dealing at like the
00:54:42.720 --> 00:54:44.390
level of conventional truth, which is
00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:47.109
the level of language,
00:54:47.119 --> 00:54:48.790
then I don't see any problem with
00:54:48.800 --> 00:54:50.630
saying,
00:54:50.640 --> 00:54:53.829
"I love you. I tell my woman that I love
00:54:53.839 --> 00:54:56.150
her. I don't think I'm lying just
00:54:56.160 --> 00:54:59.510
because of these metaphysical
00:54:59.520 --> 00:55:01.109
or
00:55:01.119 --> 00:55:05.430
kind of abstract philosophical notions."
00:55:05.440 --> 00:55:07.430
And sometimes it's like like I was
00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:09.109
mentioning in a previous Q&A. I think it
00:55:09.119 --> 00:55:11.349
was the previous Q&A about saying I'm
00:55:11.359 --> 00:55:16.069
sorry that I mean to some degree it's
00:55:16.079 --> 00:55:19.990
it's like a block of words that convey a
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:21.589
sentiment
00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:25.349
and I mean it it doesn't necessarily
00:55:25.359 --> 00:55:27.990
have like a literal
00:55:28.000 --> 00:55:31.510
adherence to objective truth necessarily
00:55:31.520 --> 00:55:33.670
like even etmologyy's words like
00:55:33.680 --> 00:55:35.190
understanding
00:55:35.200 --> 00:55:37.990
I understand this idea doesn't mean
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:39.990
you're standing standing under it. So,
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:41.670
you're using words that don't
00:55:41.680 --> 00:55:44.630
necessarily mean the literal meaning of
00:55:44.640 --> 00:55:46.549
the word,
00:55:46.559 --> 00:55:49.589
if that makes any sense. That just the
00:55:49.599 --> 00:55:53.510
statement I love you is
00:55:53.520 --> 00:55:55.430
I mean, it has different meanings to
00:55:55.440 --> 00:55:57.430
different people. And I don't think
00:55:57.440 --> 00:56:00.710
you're lying. Even if that French guy
00:56:00.720 --> 00:56:03.510
was right, that technically you don't
00:56:03.520 --> 00:56:06.069
really love the other person. You loved
00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:09.430
the way they make you feel. Although
00:56:09.440 --> 00:56:13.349
again, I don't 100% believe that. And
00:56:13.359 --> 00:56:16.789
so, yeah, I see no problem or dishonesty
00:56:16.799 --> 00:56:19.589
in saying I love you, even if I accept
00:56:19.599 --> 00:56:22.789
the the Buddhist doctrine of no self to
00:56:22.799 --> 00:56:25.589
be ultimately true.
00:56:25.599 --> 00:56:27.510
I mean, so long as you're talking,
00:56:27.520 --> 00:56:30.470
you're not adhering to ultimate truth
00:56:30.480 --> 00:56:32.789
because you're relying on these symbols
00:56:32.799 --> 00:56:37.109
that have more or less vague, ambiguous,
00:56:37.119 --> 00:56:44.549
approximate meanings based on delusion.
00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:48.549
So, yeah, I do say I love you. I even
00:56:48.559 --> 00:56:50.789
I've even said it to my dogs a few
00:56:50.799 --> 00:56:53.349
times.
00:56:53.359 --> 00:56:55.270
So, let's just move on. Next question.
00:56:55.280 --> 00:56:58.630
This is from Fred. And Fred says, "How
00:56:58.640 --> 00:57:01.190
to dig out Anus." And I should check to
00:57:01.200 --> 00:57:02.470
make sure we are recording. And yeah,
00:57:02.480 --> 00:57:03.750
we've been going at it for almost an
00:57:03.760 --> 00:57:06.710
hour. That's good. That would suck if
00:57:06.720 --> 00:57:09.030
after an hour I look and and we're not
00:57:09.040 --> 00:57:12.390
recording.
00:57:12.400 --> 00:57:14.710
So, question is how to dig out Anusias.
00:57:14.720 --> 00:57:16.630
And for those of you who aren't into
00:57:16.640 --> 00:57:18.549
like technical poly philosophical
00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:21.030
jargon, an anusia
00:57:21.040 --> 00:57:24.309
is an underlying tendency. It's like
00:57:24.319 --> 00:57:26.789
latent karma or latent behavior
00:57:26.799 --> 00:57:30.390
patterns, latent personality traits that
00:57:30.400 --> 00:57:32.470
don't come to the surface until a
00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:35.109
certain situation arises. You know, it's
00:57:35.119 --> 00:57:38.710
like when I became a monk, I had lots of
00:57:38.720 --> 00:57:40.710
lay person anus because I just wasn't
00:57:40.720 --> 00:57:42.069
hanging out with lay people, especially
00:57:42.079 --> 00:57:45.270
not American lay people for years. You
00:57:45.280 --> 00:57:47.670
know, I'd be just living out in a forest
00:57:47.680 --> 00:57:49.670
in Burma. The only Burmese people I
00:57:49.680 --> 00:57:51.829
would meet or the only lay people I
00:57:51.839 --> 00:57:53.910
would meet would be like Burmese
00:57:53.920 --> 00:57:56.549
subsistence farmers, that kind of thing.
00:57:56.559 --> 00:57:59.349
And, you know, they they saw me as the
00:57:59.359 --> 00:58:01.030
holy man. And there was just a
00:58:01.040 --> 00:58:03.430
completely different dynamic between us.
00:58:03.440 --> 00:58:05.910
But then I I realized or I noticed kind
00:58:05.920 --> 00:58:08.630
of to my surprise after many years
00:58:08.640 --> 00:58:10.549
coming back to America and starting to
00:58:10.559 --> 00:58:12.390
hang out with American lay people again
00:58:12.400 --> 00:58:14.390
and it was like certain behavior
00:58:14.400 --> 00:58:16.309
patterns just came right back up. It was
00:58:16.319 --> 00:58:19.270
like an anusia. It was a latent tendency
00:58:19.280 --> 00:58:21.910
just still there
00:58:21.920 --> 00:58:24.950
waiting for the correct circumstances to
00:58:24.960 --> 00:58:28.150
arise that would then bring forth the uh
00:58:28.160 --> 00:58:30.549
the behavior.
00:58:30.559 --> 00:58:33.349
So Anusia's yeah latent tendencies how
00:58:33.359 --> 00:58:36.230
to dig them out. I don't think you dig
00:58:36.240 --> 00:58:39.750
them out. I think what happens is I mean
00:58:39.760 --> 00:58:42.789
it's like latent karma and you don't
00:58:42.799 --> 00:58:44.630
just dig out karma. I mean, the closest
00:58:44.640 --> 00:58:47.190
you can come to digging out karma is
00:58:47.200 --> 00:58:49.109
just letting it run it run its course
00:58:49.119 --> 00:58:53.109
and exhaust itself without reacting to
00:58:53.119 --> 00:58:56.549
the procedure, the process of that in
00:58:56.559 --> 00:58:58.390
such a way that you're just reinforcing
00:58:58.400 --> 00:59:02.150
it or you know like resupplying it,
00:59:02.160 --> 00:59:05.589
continuing it continuing continuing it
00:59:05.599 --> 00:59:08.630
in existence.
00:59:08.640 --> 00:59:12.230
So you you don't dig out the anus. You
00:59:12.240 --> 00:59:16.549
just kind of let them fade out by just
00:59:16.559 --> 00:59:18.230
living your life, letting nature take
00:59:18.240 --> 00:59:20.549
its course. And then when something like
00:59:20.559 --> 00:59:23.589
this comes up, you let it come up
00:59:23.599 --> 00:59:26.549
mindfully. So you're denaturing the
00:59:26.559 --> 00:59:29.030
momentum, the karmic momentum of it. You
00:59:29.040 --> 00:59:32.069
detach from it. you know, you observe it
00:59:32.079 --> 00:59:34.150
as a phenomenon
00:59:34.160 --> 00:59:36.549
rather than just wallowing in it and
00:59:36.559 --> 00:59:40.230
just perpetuating the habit or the habit
00:59:40.240 --> 00:59:43.190
pattern.
00:59:43.200 --> 00:59:46.069
So you you wind up in some situation and
00:59:46.079 --> 00:59:48.069
old habit patterns come up. You know,
00:59:48.079 --> 00:59:50.230
it's like you you go and visit your
00:59:50.240 --> 00:59:54.549
toxic parent and this behavior that you
00:59:54.559 --> 00:59:57.990
have not indulged in in years suddenly
00:59:58.000 --> 00:59:59.829
is coming up again because you got this
00:59:59.839 --> 01:00:03.349
this old you know this old pattern has
01:00:03.359 --> 01:00:05.109
suddenly come into existence which
01:00:05.119 --> 01:00:07.109
allows these latent tendencies to come
01:00:07.119 --> 01:00:10.470
up again. So,
01:00:10.480 --> 01:00:12.710
I mean, the best you can do is to do
01:00:12.720 --> 01:00:16.150
that as wisely and mindfully as you can
01:00:16.160 --> 01:00:18.630
and just let it come up without reacting
01:00:18.640 --> 01:00:21.030
to it, without like resisting it or
01:00:21.040 --> 01:00:22.710
clinging to it or anything like that.
01:00:22.720 --> 01:00:25.270
just do it mindfully as wisely as you
01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:27.589
can manage and just let it run its
01:00:27.599 --> 01:00:30.069
course so that you're not like
01:00:30.079 --> 01:00:32.630
reinforcing the momentum of that and
01:00:32.640 --> 01:00:37.829
then the the old habits die out.
01:00:37.839 --> 01:00:40.870
So yeah, it's just that there's the old
01:00:40.880 --> 01:00:42.630
saying you can't teach an old dog new
01:00:42.640 --> 01:00:44.470
tricks and it turns out teaching an old
01:00:44.480 --> 01:00:46.390
dog new tricks is quite possible. It's
01:00:46.400 --> 01:00:48.950
unteing it the old tricks that are
01:00:48.960 --> 01:00:52.309
difficult. breaking old habits. And an
01:00:52.319 --> 01:00:56.309
anusia is like a habit that isn't really
01:00:56.319 --> 01:00:58.950
being p indulged in right now
01:00:58.960 --> 01:01:01.349
necessarily, but it's still there. You
01:01:01.359 --> 01:01:03.670
know, it's you still got the grooves
01:01:03.680 --> 01:01:06.630
worn into your your neurons in your
01:01:06.640 --> 01:01:08.870
brain going with a materialistic
01:01:08.880 --> 01:01:11.510
explanation of it.
01:01:11.520 --> 01:01:13.270
And I'm just going to move on to Fred's
01:01:13.280 --> 01:01:17.270
next question, which is as follows.
01:01:17.280 --> 01:01:20.150
Fred says, "As an old hippie, my goal
01:01:20.160 --> 01:01:23.670
was to have a constant high. Do Arahans
01:01:23.680 --> 01:01:26.390
just flatline emotionally?
01:01:26.400 --> 01:01:29.510
Um, for example, are they constantly in
01:01:29.520 --> 01:01:32.470
a neutral mood? For example, no
01:01:32.480 --> 01:01:34.390
excitement or exhilaration like
01:01:34.400 --> 01:01:37.190
motorcycle riding." Well, again, this is
01:01:37.200 --> 01:01:40.309
this is a a recurring theme in in the
01:01:40.319 --> 01:01:44.069
Q&A of let's second guessess what an
01:01:44.079 --> 01:01:45.910
enlightened being's mental states are
01:01:45.920 --> 01:01:49.750
like.
01:01:49.760 --> 01:01:53.510
H. So with regard to the question, do
01:01:53.520 --> 01:01:56.630
Arurans just flatline emotionally?
01:01:56.640 --> 01:01:59.030
No, I don't think so. I mean, they're
01:01:59.040 --> 01:02:01.349
more serene. They're less excitable.
01:02:01.359 --> 01:02:03.510
Just going with the the sutras. But
01:02:03.520 --> 01:02:05.109
again,
01:02:05.119 --> 01:02:07.829
just even going back to David Hume and
01:02:07.839 --> 01:02:11.190
saying that reason is and ought to be
01:02:11.200 --> 01:02:14.470
the slave of the passions, that it's the
01:02:14.480 --> 01:02:17.430
passions that actually cause us to do
01:02:17.440 --> 01:02:19.829
something because pure reason cannot
01:02:19.839 --> 01:02:22.710
motivate an action.
01:02:22.720 --> 01:02:25.349
So would still have some kind of
01:02:25.359 --> 01:02:28.870
emotional component to their mentality.
01:02:28.880 --> 01:02:31.990
It's just that and a lot of people just
01:02:32.000 --> 01:02:35.990
can't get this is you transcend that.
01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:38.710
You know, at the very least it's like
01:02:38.720 --> 01:02:40.950
you're you're
01:02:40.960 --> 01:02:43.030
lucid dreaming. You know, you're still
01:02:43.040 --> 01:02:45.030
in a dream world, but you're lucid
01:02:45.040 --> 01:02:47.190
dreaming. You know that you're dreaming
01:02:47.200 --> 01:02:51.109
and you make decisions like based on
01:02:51.119 --> 01:02:53.190
kind of a higher level than the dream
01:02:53.200 --> 01:02:55.270
itself.
01:02:55.280 --> 01:02:58.630
So you could to some degree say that
01:02:58.640 --> 01:03:00.390
Arahanss are doing something similar so
01:03:00.400 --> 01:03:02.470
long as they're still in this world. You
01:03:02.480 --> 01:03:04.630
know, they're still kind of
01:03:04.640 --> 01:03:08.630
participating in this dream illusion,
01:03:08.640 --> 01:03:11.109
but at the same time, they have
01:03:11.119 --> 01:03:14.390
transcended that to some degree that
01:03:14.400 --> 01:03:18.230
higher they they have see, you know,
01:03:18.240 --> 01:03:20.630
they are operating at a level that is
01:03:20.640 --> 01:03:24.069
not just inshed in this delusion. And it
01:03:24.079 --> 01:03:25.430
requires in order to understand
01:03:25.440 --> 01:03:27.029
something like that, it requires having
01:03:27.039 --> 01:03:29.510
to imagine two different levels of
01:03:29.520 --> 01:03:32.309
reality at the same time.
01:03:32.319 --> 01:03:35.750
like can and aluminum,
01:03:35.760 --> 01:03:37.829
you know, it's at one level, the level
01:03:37.839 --> 01:03:40.390
of form, it's a can. At the level of
01:03:40.400 --> 01:03:43.750
essence, it's aluminum.
01:03:43.760 --> 01:03:45.270
And it's like two different levels of
01:03:45.280 --> 01:03:47.349
reality. Can and aluminum are not
01:03:47.359 --> 01:03:51.510
synonyms. They're not exactly the same,
01:03:51.520 --> 01:03:53.190
but it's two things at the same two
01:03:53.200 --> 01:03:59.349
different things at the same time.
01:03:59.359 --> 01:04:02.870
and just like an enlightened being
01:04:02.880 --> 01:04:05.109
transcending
01:04:05.119 --> 01:04:07.670
delusion without completely abandoning
01:04:07.680 --> 01:04:09.670
it, just sort of not identifying with it
01:04:09.680 --> 01:04:12.390
anymore. So, it's illusion at best and
01:04:12.400 --> 01:04:14.470
no longer delusion because the
01:04:14.480 --> 01:04:16.230
enlightened being no longer believes in
01:04:16.240 --> 01:04:18.549
it, is no longer like just wallowing in
01:04:18.559 --> 01:04:20.789
it, just sucked into it and lost in it.
01:04:20.799 --> 01:04:23.510
No longer lost in the matrix, you know,
01:04:23.520 --> 01:04:26.470
they took the red pill. So they're, you
01:04:26.480 --> 01:04:29.029
know, even when they're in the matrix,
01:04:29.039 --> 01:04:30.789
still they know they're in the matrix
01:04:30.799 --> 01:04:33.510
and there's this higher level of reality
01:04:33.520 --> 01:04:36.069
that where, you know, they're mainly
01:04:36.079 --> 01:04:40.150
functioning.
01:04:40.160 --> 01:04:42.870
So yeah, I mean to some degree, I mean
01:04:42.880 --> 01:04:44.549
going with Buddhist philosophy,
01:04:44.559 --> 01:04:47.109
traditional terra Buddhism, they do seem
01:04:47.119 --> 01:04:49.270
to be pretty much in a neutral mood. The
01:04:49.280 --> 01:04:51.510
Buddha sometimes would, you know, he'd
01:04:51.520 --> 01:04:54.309
praise somebody or he'd scold somebody
01:04:54.319 --> 01:04:56.230
and, you know, sometimes like
01:04:56.240 --> 01:04:59.430
Mahamogalana would smile sometimes even
01:04:59.440 --> 01:05:01.430
though he was a fully enlightened being.
01:05:01.440 --> 01:05:04.549
So, you know, it's it's not 100%
01:05:04.559 --> 01:05:07.589
absolute flatline neutral. There's still
01:05:07.599 --> 01:05:09.109
going to be a certain amount of human
01:05:09.119 --> 01:05:10.549
nature involved. You're still going to
01:05:10.559 --> 01:05:13.349
have the dolly in your brain, that kind
01:05:13.359 --> 01:05:15.829
of thing.
01:05:15.839 --> 01:05:17.910
So, it's not so much a matter of
01:05:17.920 --> 01:05:20.470
completely neutralizing
01:05:20.480 --> 01:05:23.910
passion. It's just transcending it and
01:05:23.920 --> 01:05:25.990
detaching from it. And it's down there,
01:05:26.000 --> 01:05:28.470
nature taking its course, and you're not
01:05:28.480 --> 01:05:30.069
wallowing in that anymore. You're just
01:05:30.079 --> 01:05:36.069
kind of like above observing.
01:05:36.079 --> 01:05:37.829
But it's it's really hard for some
01:05:37.839 --> 01:05:39.990
people to grasp because it requires
01:05:40.000 --> 01:05:43.109
thinking at two levels simultaneously.
01:05:43.119 --> 01:05:44.789
And a lot of people are like
01:05:44.799 --> 01:05:46.789
flatlanders.
01:05:46.799 --> 01:05:48.789
They just have it's all has to fit on
01:05:48.799 --> 01:05:50.470
this two-dimensional plane of thought
01:05:50.480 --> 01:05:52.630
and it just two different levels is just
01:05:52.640 --> 01:05:55.510
nonsense to them.
01:05:55.520 --> 01:05:58.069
A lot of really brilliant intellectuals
01:05:58.079 --> 01:06:00.470
just cannot grasp mysticism for this
01:06:00.480 --> 01:06:02.630
reason
01:06:02.640 --> 01:06:05.430
because it all has to be of a piece. It
01:06:05.440 --> 01:06:08.230
all has to fit together. And mysticism
01:06:08.240 --> 01:06:10.549
is just kind of transcending
01:06:10.559 --> 01:06:14.309
like the matrix and it's just they can't
01:06:14.319 --> 01:06:17.670
do it.
01:06:17.680 --> 01:06:19.109
Wisdom and intelligence are not
01:06:19.119 --> 01:06:22.069
necessarily the same thing. And I'm just
01:06:22.079 --> 01:06:25.510
going to move on to the next question.
01:06:25.520 --> 01:06:28.630
Oh, I will say though, um there's this
01:06:28.640 --> 01:06:31.990
movie called Lucy starring
01:06:32.000 --> 01:06:35.190
uh what's her name? Scarlett Johansson
01:06:35.200 --> 01:06:38.150
where um she starts off as just this
01:06:38.160 --> 01:06:41.029
ditzy blonde in I think it's like Hong
01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:44.630
Kong or something and she accidentally
01:06:44.640 --> 01:06:47.029
gets this overdose of this experimental
01:06:47.039 --> 01:06:51.510
new drug which it causes her essentially
01:06:51.520 --> 01:06:53.829
to become enlightened. You know, she
01:06:53.839 --> 01:06:56.230
becomes not necessarily omnisient, but I
01:06:56.240 --> 01:06:58.309
mean she's just at a super high level,
01:06:58.319 --> 01:07:00.950
way beyond the level of the ordinary
01:07:00.960 --> 01:07:03.349
human ape. And there's this one scene
01:07:03.359 --> 01:07:06.230
where she's just driving this car from
01:07:06.240 --> 01:07:09.270
point A to point B as fast as it is
01:07:09.280 --> 01:07:12.470
possible to go. And I mean, cars are
01:07:12.480 --> 01:07:14.549
wrecking all around her. You know, she's
01:07:14.559 --> 01:07:16.710
just driving like an absolute maniac, at
01:07:16.720 --> 01:07:18.549
least from a superficial point of view.
01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:20.069
But she knows exactly what she's doing
01:07:20.079 --> 01:07:22.309
and just has this completely calm look
01:07:22.319 --> 01:07:24.950
on her face the whole time that just
01:07:24.960 --> 01:07:29.910
[ __ ] is just going crazy all around her.
01:07:29.920 --> 01:07:32.069
So, I mean, you could argue that a fully
01:07:32.079 --> 01:07:33.349
enlightened being would be kind of like
01:07:33.359 --> 01:07:35.750
that, but still like
01:07:35.760 --> 01:07:37.829
not necessarily. I mean, that's kind of
01:07:37.839 --> 01:07:41.589
the official Terravada point of view. No
01:07:41.599 --> 01:07:43.990
longer has any attraction, aversion, or
01:07:44.000 --> 01:07:47.670
semic-conscious stupidity. And so, I
01:07:47.680 --> 01:07:50.710
mean, even then, pure rationality isn't
01:07:50.720 --> 01:07:52.549
sufficient to drive them to motivate
01:07:52.559 --> 01:07:54.950
them. And so the Abidama philosophers
01:07:54.960 --> 01:07:57.829
had to come up with what's called kirya
01:07:57.839 --> 01:08:00.470
or functional consciousness
01:08:00.480 --> 01:08:03.510
which was a way that a fully enlightened
01:08:03.520 --> 01:08:05.910
being could have volition
01:08:05.920 --> 01:08:10.470
without having any karma because karma
01:08:10.480 --> 01:08:12.710
is supposed to be volition.
01:08:12.720 --> 01:08:15.029
So even in terra it's not rationality
01:08:15.039 --> 01:08:17.189
that motivates you. It's it's will it's
01:08:17.199 --> 01:08:22.149
chana
01:08:22.159 --> 01:08:25.269
but I mean I'm not 100% orthodox in my
01:08:25.279 --> 01:08:28.709
terra and so
01:08:28.719 --> 01:08:31.269
yeah I do think that it is possible for
01:08:31.279 --> 01:08:33.510
a fully enlightened being to appear
01:08:33.520 --> 01:08:36.470
emotional but it's just that it's nature
01:08:36.480 --> 01:08:38.149
taking its course. they're no longer
01:08:38.159 --> 01:08:40.070
identified with that and they're
01:08:40.080 --> 01:08:41.669
operating at a higher level just kind of
01:08:41.679 --> 01:08:44.149
looking down at it as just nature taking
01:08:44.159 --> 01:08:46.390
its course or you know other people's
01:08:46.400 --> 01:08:48.950
karma is just eliciting this behavior
01:08:48.960 --> 01:08:50.630
from the enlightened being because the
01:08:50.640 --> 01:08:52.550
enlightened being really is not a person
01:08:52.560 --> 01:08:55.430
that's there just is just more like a a
01:08:55.440 --> 01:08:57.030
mirror reflecting the other person's
01:08:57.040 --> 01:08:59.430
karma back at them. And sometimes that
01:08:59.440 --> 01:09:00.950
might be a kind of emotional karma
01:09:00.960 --> 01:09:02.950
because they're unenlightened and it's
01:09:02.960 --> 01:09:04.709
their karma. So they've got like
01:09:04.719 --> 01:09:06.470
emotional unenlightened karma coming
01:09:06.480 --> 01:09:09.189
back at them which appears to be coming
01:09:09.199 --> 01:09:12.470
from an enlightened being.
01:09:12.480 --> 01:09:13.749
But I'm just moving on to the next
01:09:13.759 --> 01:09:16.709
question. This is from Gordon.
01:09:16.719 --> 01:09:21.829
And Gordon says, "In Q&A 183, you showed
01:09:21.839 --> 01:09:24.070
a dictionary of Buddhism briefly." Oh, I
01:09:24.080 --> 01:09:25.910
forgot to grab that, but I didn't catch
01:09:25.920 --> 01:09:28.309
the name of it. What was it, and is it
01:09:28.319 --> 01:09:29.829
still in print available to purchase
01:09:29.839 --> 01:09:37.349
somewhere? Just a minute.
01:09:37.359 --> 01:09:39.829
Okay,
01:09:39.839 --> 01:09:43.110
let's see. Oh, look. As a bookmark in
01:09:43.120 --> 01:09:45.990
here, I've for years I've had this map
01:09:46.000 --> 01:09:48.870
of the the Persian Empire,
01:09:48.880 --> 01:09:51.749
which I guess is kind of appropriate
01:09:51.759 --> 01:09:54.790
since of the whole Iran in the news
01:09:54.800 --> 01:09:58.550
thing lately. But here's the book.
01:09:58.560 --> 01:10:01.590
It's the Buddhist dictionary originally
01:10:01.600 --> 01:10:04.870
written by uh Biku Nyana Tiloka but then
01:10:04.880 --> 01:10:10.550
it was revised by his disciple um
01:10:10.560 --> 01:10:13.270
uh what is it
01:10:13.280 --> 01:10:18.390
gosh pony they're both German I think I
01:10:18.400 --> 01:10:21.110
think it might have been loca who he was
01:10:21.120 --> 01:10:23.990
a German monk living in son as it was
01:10:24.000 --> 01:10:26.149
called at the time and then I think he
01:10:26.159 --> 01:10:28.709
wrote this Buddhist dictionary when he
01:10:28.719 --> 01:10:30.790
was in an internment camp, like a
01:10:30.800 --> 01:10:35.350
concentration camp for Germans
01:10:35.360 --> 01:10:37.750
because Saleon at the time was a British
01:10:37.760 --> 01:10:39.750
colony and since he was a German, he he
01:10:39.760 --> 01:10:41.990
had to be put into an internment camp
01:10:42.000 --> 01:10:45.910
during the war. Um, and I assume it
01:10:45.920 --> 01:10:48.390
could this book could be for sale
01:10:48.400 --> 01:10:50.390
somewhere, but this one was for free
01:10:50.400 --> 01:10:53.830
distribution. And if um you know of
01:10:53.840 --> 01:10:57.430
places that that make Buddhist books for
01:10:57.440 --> 01:11:00.229
free distribution, this was from the uh
01:11:00.239 --> 01:11:02.229
the corporate body of the Buddha
01:11:02.239 --> 01:11:05.350
Educational Foundation in Taipei,
01:11:05.360 --> 01:11:06.950
Taiwan.
01:11:06.960 --> 01:11:08.390
So that's where this was this was
01:11:08.400 --> 01:11:12.470
printed in Taiwan by uh I think it was
01:11:12.480 --> 01:11:15.590
Yeah, it says Namo Amitaba here. So it's
01:11:15.600 --> 01:11:17.110
it's like a purely land Buddhist
01:11:17.120 --> 01:11:19.990
organization who nevertheless still have
01:11:20.000 --> 01:11:24.630
some respect for like basic terravada
01:11:24.640 --> 01:11:28.149
kind of philosophy. And so this uh
01:11:28.159 --> 01:11:30.149
Buddhist dictionary which is valuable I
01:11:30.159 --> 01:11:32.709
mean it really is useful for anyone who
01:11:32.719 --> 01:11:36.470
wants to study Buddhist philosophy
01:11:36.480 --> 01:11:41.030
manual of Buddhist terms and doctrines.
01:11:41.040 --> 01:11:42.950
So yeah, I mean you could look it up on
01:11:42.960 --> 01:11:46.070
Amazon or something or maybe you could
01:11:46.080 --> 01:11:48.070
try to contact
01:11:48.080 --> 01:11:50.470
the corporate body of the Buddha
01:11:50.480 --> 01:11:55.750
Educational Foundation at 11F55
01:11:55.760 --> 01:12:01.270
Hang Chow South Road SEC Taipei Taiwan
01:12:01.280 --> 01:12:06.709
or overseas at budedu.org.
01:12:06.719 --> 01:12:08.390
Maybe you could order it through that
01:12:08.400 --> 01:12:10.630
sort of thing. The email again or the
01:12:10.640 --> 01:12:13.669
website here, the website also is
01:12:13.679 --> 01:12:19.270
www.bued.org.
01:12:19.280 --> 01:12:21.350
And it may be that they could just send
01:12:21.360 --> 01:12:23.270
it to you for free or you might have to
01:12:23.280 --> 01:12:25.430
pay for the shipping,
01:12:25.440 --> 01:12:27.350
but it is this book was for free
01:12:27.360 --> 01:12:31.110
distribution. It's damadana.
01:12:31.120 --> 01:12:32.390
So, I'm just going to move on to
01:12:32.400 --> 01:12:34.550
Gordon's next question.
01:12:34.560 --> 01:12:37.830
He says, "One thing I admire about Islam
01:12:37.840 --> 01:12:39.590
is that they do not consider
01:12:39.600 --> 01:12:42.390
translations of the Quran to be actual
01:12:42.400 --> 01:12:45.510
Qurans. Translations can get pretty far
01:12:45.520 --> 01:12:47.590
off the mark even with the best
01:12:47.600 --> 01:12:49.669
intentions." Is there a similar
01:12:49.679 --> 01:12:52.709
sentiment in terawada? Not really. In
01:12:52.719 --> 01:12:56.229
fact, there is a a passage, I think it's
01:12:56.239 --> 01:12:57.990
in Vineia, the rules of monastic
01:12:58.000 --> 01:13:01.830
discipline, where there were some
01:13:01.840 --> 01:13:05.590
some monks who had been brahinss before
01:13:05.600 --> 01:13:07.590
they became Buddhist monks and they
01:13:07.600 --> 01:13:09.510
asked the Buddha if it was okay for them
01:13:09.520 --> 01:13:13.350
to um translate the Buddhist teachings
01:13:13.360 --> 01:13:16.870
into Sanskrit verse. And the Buddha said
01:13:16.880 --> 01:13:19.910
no people should learn dharma in their
01:13:19.920 --> 01:13:23.430
own language in one's own language.
01:13:23.440 --> 01:13:24.950
And then of course the commentary comes
01:13:24.960 --> 01:13:26.950
along and says in one's own language
01:13:26.960 --> 01:13:28.950
means in the Buddha's own language which
01:13:28.960 --> 01:13:30.790
is pi.
01:13:30.800 --> 01:13:33.030
So I guess there is a similar sentiment
01:13:33.040 --> 01:13:34.790
in orthodox terabato like the
01:13:34.800 --> 01:13:37.350
commentarial tradition that you should
01:13:37.360 --> 01:13:40.790
know pi that you should understand the
01:13:40.800 --> 01:13:43.910
texts in poly although that apparently
01:13:43.920 --> 01:13:45.110
was not in the Buddha's original
01:13:45.120 --> 01:13:46.870
intention
01:13:46.880 --> 01:13:48.630
and
01:13:48.640 --> 01:13:51.030
um
01:13:51.040 --> 01:13:53.830
with with regard to my own um opinion on
01:13:53.840 --> 01:13:57.430
the matter I do think it's very helpful
01:13:57.440 --> 01:14:00.310
to understand poly because it is true
01:14:00.320 --> 01:14:02.470
that different translations differ from
01:14:02.480 --> 01:14:04.790
each other. Some are better than others.
01:14:04.800 --> 01:14:07.189
And even two good translations might be
01:14:07.199 --> 01:14:11.110
using different terms like Ajan Tanisero
01:14:11.120 --> 01:14:14.470
notoriously has like this idiosyncratic
01:14:14.480 --> 01:14:16.950
rendering of certain terms like Sudi
01:14:16.960 --> 01:14:20.070
Batana um you know the foundations of
01:14:20.080 --> 01:14:21.669
mindfulness or the applications of
01:14:21.679 --> 01:14:23.750
mindfulness he calls frames of
01:14:23.760 --> 01:14:25.590
reference. And if you don't know the
01:14:25.600 --> 01:14:28.470
original poly then you might not realize
01:14:28.480 --> 01:14:30.550
that what he's referring to is what
01:14:30.560 --> 01:14:32.390
other people call you know the four
01:14:32.400 --> 01:14:34.630
foundations of mindfulness or whatever
01:14:34.640 --> 01:14:37.510
just to give one example.
01:14:37.520 --> 01:14:41.270
So it is useful like if you're reading a
01:14:41.280 --> 01:14:43.110
text, you're reading an English
01:14:43.120 --> 01:14:45.270
translation and you come across some
01:14:45.280 --> 01:14:47.830
word that you just wonder what's the
01:14:47.840 --> 01:14:49.990
original poly of this and then you can
01:14:50.000 --> 01:14:51.669
look at the original poly. And if you
01:14:51.679 --> 01:14:53.830
know poly, even if you're not like a
01:14:53.840 --> 01:14:56.390
master of poly grammar, just to know
01:14:56.400 --> 01:14:59.669
like the the hundred or 200 most
01:14:59.679 --> 01:15:02.870
important philosophical terms in poly,
01:15:02.880 --> 01:15:05.270
that would be useful cuz then you can
01:15:05.280 --> 01:15:08.709
get an understanding of like anusia or
01:15:08.719 --> 01:15:11.510
asawa. Asawa is another one. It's like
01:15:11.520 --> 01:15:15.430
um I think Nana Tiloka in this book
01:15:15.440 --> 01:15:19.590
originally had um Asawa translated as
01:15:19.600 --> 01:15:23.430
bias but then Jana Yanaponica came along
01:15:23.440 --> 01:15:26.630
and started translating it as canker I
01:15:26.640 --> 01:15:30.630
think. Um I think
01:15:30.640 --> 01:15:33.510
um Bikubi translates the same word as
01:15:33.520 --> 01:15:35.189
taint.
01:15:35.199 --> 01:15:36.630
I translated it's it's kind of
01:15:36.640 --> 01:15:38.470
cumbersome but I've translated an
01:15:38.480 --> 01:15:42.790
Anusia. No, I mean asawa as encumbering
01:15:42.800 --> 01:15:45.590
influence. Literally it means influence.
01:15:45.600 --> 01:15:48.709
Asawa just etmologically has the same
01:15:48.719 --> 01:15:52.149
meaning as the English word influence.
01:15:52.159 --> 01:15:53.669
But encumbering influence is kind of
01:15:53.679 --> 01:15:55.110
what it is. It's something that flows
01:15:55.120 --> 01:15:57.430
into you and kind of sticks to you and
01:15:57.440 --> 01:15:58.870
weighs you down. It's like an
01:15:58.880 --> 01:16:02.950
encumbrance.
01:16:02.960 --> 01:16:06.229
And to know that the poly oawa you you
01:16:06.239 --> 01:16:08.390
might not know that a a taint and a
01:16:08.400 --> 01:16:10.790
canker and a bias and an encumbering
01:16:10.800 --> 01:16:14.870
influence are all the same poly word.
01:16:14.880 --> 01:16:17.510
So it does definitely help any serious
01:16:17.520 --> 01:16:20.470
student of Buddhism, especially
01:16:20.480 --> 01:16:23.110
Terravada Buddhism or early Buddhism.
01:16:23.120 --> 01:16:26.870
It's definitely to your advantage to
01:16:26.880 --> 01:16:30.229
know I mean if not poly grammar. I mean
01:16:30.239 --> 01:16:33.110
even if you're not fluent in poly at
01:16:33.120 --> 01:16:36.310
least know you know the most important
01:16:36.320 --> 01:16:39.350
philosophical terms in poly. Although
01:16:39.360 --> 01:16:41.110
knowing poly well enough that you can
01:16:41.120 --> 01:16:42.790
just sit down and read something in the
01:16:42.800 --> 01:16:44.550
original Poly that's that's good too.
01:16:44.560 --> 01:16:47.350
That's nice. It's not really necessary,
01:16:47.360 --> 01:16:49.750
but it's I mean it's it can be
01:16:49.760 --> 01:16:52.470
satisfying to read texts in the original
01:16:52.480 --> 01:16:54.070
language.
01:16:54.080 --> 01:16:57.030
You translations are always going to you
01:16:57.040 --> 01:16:57.910
know there's always going to be
01:16:57.920 --> 01:17:02.149
something lost in translation.
01:17:02.159 --> 01:17:04.470
So, I'm just going to move on to
01:17:04.480 --> 01:17:07.430
Gordon's third question here,
01:17:07.440 --> 01:17:10.070
which is, I had a Jesuit professor in
01:17:10.080 --> 01:17:12.390
college who seemed to only ever talk
01:17:12.400 --> 01:17:15.750
about the Bavad Gita. Earlier, you
01:17:15.760 --> 01:17:18.709
mentioned a Jesuit who was also a fully
01:17:18.719 --> 01:17:21.990
ordained Buddhist monk.
01:17:22.000 --> 01:17:24.149
Plus, all the weird conspiracies about
01:17:24.159 --> 01:17:27.270
them. What is the deal with the Jesuits?
01:17:27.280 --> 01:17:29.350
Well, actually, I didn't meet a Jesuit
01:17:29.360 --> 01:17:30.870
that was a fully ordained Buddhist monk.
01:17:30.880 --> 01:17:34.310
was a fully ordained Catholic priest who
01:17:34.320 --> 01:17:36.310
was wearing Buddhist monks robes when I
01:17:36.320 --> 01:17:40.149
met him the first time in in Burma. Um I
01:17:40.159 --> 01:17:42.470
don't think he was a Jesuit.
01:17:42.480 --> 01:17:45.510
Um let's see what exactly is the
01:17:45.520 --> 01:17:48.390
question here. Weird conspiracies about
01:17:48.400 --> 01:17:51.189
them. I'm not I think the Jesuits were
01:17:51.199 --> 01:17:55.030
largely a missionary sect. I've I've
01:17:55.040 --> 01:17:58.470
read that um it's like the the spiritual
01:17:58.480 --> 01:18:01.669
exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola who was
01:18:01.679 --> 01:18:04.470
like the founder of the Jesuits is just
01:18:04.480 --> 01:18:07.910
a profound book on like spiritual
01:18:07.920 --> 01:18:10.470
progress that is well worth reading even
01:18:10.480 --> 01:18:12.870
though I've never read it. But I really
01:18:12.880 --> 01:18:14.149
don't know a heck of a lot about the
01:18:14.159 --> 01:18:16.709
Jesuits. I mean they do have kind of a a
01:18:16.719 --> 01:18:22.070
bad reputation among Catholics even like
01:18:22.080 --> 01:18:25.430
um what was it the the pope that we had
01:18:25.440 --> 01:18:27.669
before this one? The the the rainbow
01:18:27.679 --> 01:18:30.229
pope. I guess he was a Jesuit. He was
01:18:30.239 --> 01:18:34.310
the first Jesuit pope and he was
01:18:34.320 --> 01:18:38.630
woke to use the the vulgar parliament.
01:18:38.640 --> 01:18:40.709
Um
01:18:40.719 --> 01:18:42.390
let's see what what is the question
01:18:42.400 --> 01:18:44.310
though? What is the deal with the
01:18:44.320 --> 01:18:46.070
Jesuits? Yeah, I really don't know a
01:18:46.080 --> 01:18:48.149
whole heck of a lot about Jesuits. They
01:18:48.159 --> 01:18:51.030
they are kind of like political. They're
01:18:51.040 --> 01:18:53.830
more political than many other like
01:18:53.840 --> 01:18:55.990
Catholic monastic orders. I do think
01:18:56.000 --> 01:19:00.070
they are monastics even though um you
01:19:00.080 --> 01:19:02.229
just kind of see them dressed in black
01:19:02.239 --> 01:19:04.709
suits or something.
01:19:04.719 --> 01:19:06.630
Yeah. I I really don't know. There's
01:19:06.640 --> 01:19:08.630
probably some kind of juicy conspiracy
01:19:08.640 --> 01:19:10.310
theories about them how they're, you
01:19:10.320 --> 01:19:12.870
know, in league with the Illuminati and
01:19:12.880 --> 01:19:15.990
the Rothschilds and all that, but really
01:19:16.000 --> 01:19:17.669
I've I've never really studied that much
01:19:17.679 --> 01:19:21.510
on the Jesuits. So, it is kind of nice
01:19:21.520 --> 01:19:23.430
that he liked the Bavad Gita, though. I
01:19:23.440 --> 01:19:24.790
mean, Bhagavan Gita is like a
01:19:24.800 --> 01:19:28.070
monotheistic text anyway. So, it's not
01:19:28.080 --> 01:19:30.630
too far of a jump from Christianity,
01:19:30.640 --> 01:19:33.350
especially like more advanced Catholic
01:19:33.360 --> 01:19:35.430
theology, which really is getting into a
01:19:35.440 --> 01:19:37.910
realm that most Christians would be
01:19:37.920 --> 01:19:40.870
amazed to hear is actual Christian
01:19:40.880 --> 01:19:45.510
theology, like official doctrine.
01:19:45.520 --> 01:19:47.750
So, let's see here.
01:19:47.760 --> 01:19:49.270
You know, the average Catholic, you
01:19:49.280 --> 01:19:51.910
know, they think of God probably as some
01:19:51.920 --> 01:19:55.030
kind of giant man up in space, at least
01:19:55.040 --> 01:19:57.990
with human nature, if not a human body.
01:19:58.000 --> 01:19:59.830
But I mean, you get into like deep
01:19:59.840 --> 01:20:03.350
Catholic theology, and it's it becomes
01:20:03.360 --> 01:20:05.669
like this abstraction almost worthy of
01:20:05.679 --> 01:20:08.149
Buddhism.
01:20:08.159 --> 01:20:09.510
But I'm moving on to the next question.
01:20:09.520 --> 01:20:12.229
This is from Dama River. And Dama River
01:20:12.239 --> 01:20:13.990
says, "I met an interesting young
01:20:14.000 --> 01:20:16.149
Russian man here at the Sri Lankan
01:20:16.159 --> 01:20:18.709
forest monastery who told me he didn't
01:20:18.719 --> 01:20:20.630
want to ordain because the way of the
01:20:20.640 --> 01:20:22.630
monk was more feasible during the time
01:20:22.640 --> 01:20:24.709
of the Buddha, but now it is not the
01:20:24.719 --> 01:20:26.790
most effective method." He said he
01:20:26.800 --> 01:20:30.149
followed George Gerchef. He said Gerchef
01:20:30.159 --> 01:20:33.030
offered four paths of liberation. Have
01:20:33.040 --> 01:20:35.350
you heard of Gerchef before or read
01:20:35.360 --> 01:20:37.910
about his four paths of liberation?
01:20:37.920 --> 01:20:39.750
What's your opinion? Yeah, I've
01:20:39.760 --> 01:20:42.149
definitely heard of Gerchev. I haven't
01:20:42.159 --> 01:20:44.870
read enough of his stuff. And Gef
01:20:44.880 --> 01:20:47.350
deliberately wrote books in a very
01:20:47.360 --> 01:20:50.070
dense, difficult to understand way,
01:20:50.080 --> 01:20:54.870
which he thought was beneficial because
01:20:54.880 --> 01:20:56.550
in order to get something of value, you
01:20:56.560 --> 01:20:57.990
should have to work for it. You know,
01:20:58.000 --> 01:20:59.910
it's like the more valuable something
01:20:59.920 --> 01:21:03.510
is, the harder it is to to get.
01:21:03.520 --> 01:21:05.430
So going with that, he just deliberately
01:21:05.440 --> 01:21:08.950
made his books hard to understand, which
01:21:08.960 --> 01:21:11.189
nowadays especially is going to turn
01:21:11.199 --> 01:21:13.830
away lots and lots of people. So with
01:21:13.840 --> 01:21:15.750
regard to his four paths of liberation,
01:21:15.760 --> 01:21:19.990
I don't know. He was um a spiritually
01:21:20.000 --> 01:21:22.550
advanced teacher. Whether he was
01:21:22.560 --> 01:21:25.590
enlightened or not, I have no idea.
01:21:25.600 --> 01:21:28.470
Um Uspuspensky was one of his disciples
01:21:28.480 --> 01:21:32.229
who eventually broke away from him. U I
01:21:32.239 --> 01:21:34.390
guess Gerchef got a lot of his ideas
01:21:34.400 --> 01:21:37.110
from like Tibetan Buddhism if I'm not
01:21:37.120 --> 01:21:39.669
mistaken. He did make some kind of
01:21:39.679 --> 01:21:43.430
journey to the east and learned from
01:21:43.440 --> 01:21:46.310
llamas or somebody.
01:21:46.320 --> 01:21:48.550
uh a lot of the stuff that he then kind
01:21:48.560 --> 01:21:52.070
of incorporated into a kind of more
01:21:52.080 --> 01:21:56.229
western approach and it was he put a lot
01:21:56.239 --> 01:21:58.550
of emphasis on mindfulness that one of
01:21:58.560 --> 01:22:01.590
the main practices at like a a Gerchef
01:22:01.600 --> 01:22:04.470
center or ashram is you would be
01:22:04.480 --> 01:22:07.590
assigned some task and it might be some
01:22:07.600 --> 01:22:10.070
kind of strange task like you're just
01:22:10.080 --> 01:22:12.149
like polishing the leaves of a rose
01:22:12.159 --> 01:22:13.990
bush. You just have this cloth and
01:22:14.000 --> 01:22:15.910
you're like wiping the dust off every
01:22:15.920 --> 01:22:19.990
leaf of this rose bush and
01:22:20.000 --> 01:22:21.669
you're doing it mindfully. It's like the
01:22:21.679 --> 01:22:23.110
whole point of it is just you're just
01:22:23.120 --> 01:22:25.910
learning to be mindful to do something
01:22:25.920 --> 01:22:27.830
mindfully.
01:22:27.840 --> 01:22:30.149
And another thing I know about Gerchef
01:22:30.159 --> 01:22:34.229
is he definitely saw a value in
01:22:34.239 --> 01:22:36.470
triggering situations.
01:22:36.480 --> 01:22:39.590
And this is something that it gets lost
01:22:39.600 --> 01:22:44.629
a lot in in Dharma like in Buddhism also
01:22:44.639 --> 01:22:47.750
to some degree in Christianity or it's
01:22:47.760 --> 01:22:49.750
reminds me of a statement of St. Francis
01:22:49.760 --> 01:22:51.669
of Aisi that you really don't know a
01:22:51.679 --> 01:22:54.629
person until you've seen them triggered.
01:22:54.639 --> 01:22:57.110
When you when everything's going wrong,
01:22:57.120 --> 01:22:58.709
you know, when somebody that they
01:22:58.719 --> 01:23:00.550
trusted suddenly betrays them, that kind
01:23:00.560 --> 01:23:02.310
of thing, then you see who they really
01:23:02.320 --> 01:23:04.229
are because you don't see the full
01:23:04.239 --> 01:23:07.510
person until you see them triggered. And
01:23:07.520 --> 01:23:09.669
that that really is a valuable concept
01:23:09.679 --> 01:23:14.390
to me. And Terra Buddhism really doesn't
01:23:14.400 --> 01:23:18.310
deal with it, at least not much.
01:23:18.320 --> 01:23:20.070
And so that was something I learned more
01:23:20.080 --> 01:23:22.550
from like new age people in America
01:23:22.560 --> 01:23:25.189
which is valuable. I mean it definitely
01:23:25.199 --> 01:23:29.350
has some objective reality to it that
01:23:29.360 --> 01:23:31.110
you have this trigger response and
01:23:31.120 --> 01:23:32.070
different people will have different
01:23:32.080 --> 01:23:33.910
trigger responses. Some people just
01:23:33.920 --> 01:23:36.070
erupt in rage. Other people just kind of
01:23:36.080 --> 01:23:39.030
close in and whimper. Other people will
01:23:39.040 --> 01:23:42.950
just like grin and lie in with like this
01:23:42.960 --> 01:23:46.149
glassy stare just in desperation to just
01:23:46.159 --> 01:23:48.390
get themselves out of the situation. And
01:23:48.400 --> 01:23:49.350
different people have different
01:23:49.360 --> 01:23:53.189
approaches but Gerchef he deliberately
01:23:53.199 --> 01:23:55.189
triggered that in his disciples because
01:23:55.199 --> 01:23:56.950
he thought I mean you can't become
01:23:56.960 --> 01:23:58.870
enlightened until you've mastered what
01:23:58.880 --> 01:24:01.189
triggers you and you can't master what
01:24:01.199 --> 01:24:03.669
triggers you if it's just Anusia's
01:24:03.679 --> 01:24:06.870
latent tendencies. It has to come up.
01:24:06.880 --> 01:24:10.950
And so uh famously at his ashram
01:24:10.960 --> 01:24:12.310
somewhere in Europe, I can't remember
01:24:12.320 --> 01:24:15.669
who it was, he had this exiled Russian
01:24:15.679 --> 01:24:19.189
aristocrat who left after the Bolevik
01:24:19.199 --> 01:24:22.229
revolution and he was just really hard
01:24:22.239 --> 01:24:24.149
to get along with. People did not like
01:24:24.159 --> 01:24:27.990
him. He was just rude and just fussy and
01:24:28.000 --> 01:24:32.070
just complaining and bossy and just he
01:24:32.080 --> 01:24:34.470
was just really hard person to get along
01:24:34.480 --> 01:24:37.510
with. And so some of Gerchev's disciples
01:24:37.520 --> 01:24:39.430
started playing practical jokes on him
01:24:39.440 --> 01:24:42.149
like dirty tricks. And I guess the final
01:24:42.159 --> 01:24:45.750
one was they stole his false teeth,
01:24:45.760 --> 01:24:47.590
rolled them in cow [ __ ] and then put
01:24:47.600 --> 01:24:49.590
them back so that when the the Russian
01:24:49.600 --> 01:24:51.350
aristocrat comes to pick up his
01:24:51.360 --> 01:24:53.830
dentures, they've got like [ __ ] all over
01:24:53.840 --> 01:24:55.990
them. And that was that was it for him.
01:24:56.000 --> 01:24:58.550
He just took off in a huff. He just left
01:24:58.560 --> 01:25:00.790
the ashram because of this. And then
01:25:00.800 --> 01:25:03.510
Gerchef chased him down. He hunted him
01:25:03.520 --> 01:25:04.629
down. I think it was in a different
01:25:04.639 --> 01:25:06.870
country. He finally finds him and then
01:25:06.880 --> 01:25:09.350
bribes him to come back to the ashram
01:25:09.360 --> 01:25:12.149
because it was to the advantage of his
01:25:12.159 --> 01:25:14.390
disciples to have to put up with this
01:25:14.400 --> 01:25:16.870
ass.
01:25:16.880 --> 01:25:18.470
So that was that was kind of an
01:25:18.480 --> 01:25:20.870
interesting thing about GeFi.
01:25:20.880 --> 01:25:24.070
Also, he experimented a lot with music,
01:25:24.080 --> 01:25:26.629
which is not particularly Buddhist. Um,
01:25:26.639 --> 01:25:28.390
you know, he was experimenting with
01:25:28.400 --> 01:25:31.430
music that could kind of inspire
01:25:31.440 --> 01:25:34.149
spiritual mental states. that music is
01:25:34.159 --> 01:25:36.390
kind of an emotional language anyway.
01:25:36.400 --> 01:25:38.629
You know, it it like triggers certain
01:25:38.639 --> 01:25:40.470
emotions. So, he was trying to come up
01:25:40.480 --> 01:25:42.550
with music that would trigger like
01:25:42.560 --> 01:25:44.950
spiritual emotions that would help
01:25:44.960 --> 01:25:49.189
people in in spiritual development.
01:25:49.199 --> 01:25:50.709
Um, the first time I ever heard of
01:25:50.719 --> 01:25:52.790
Gerchef was as a teenager. I was reading
01:25:52.800 --> 01:25:54.790
a book called Barefoot in the Head by
01:25:54.800 --> 01:25:57.430
Brian Aldis, which I highly recommend.
01:25:57.440 --> 01:25:59.430
It's like a science fiction novel about
01:25:59.440 --> 01:26:02.310
World War II or like the aftermath of
01:26:02.320 --> 01:26:05.189
World War II. And World War II wasn't
01:26:05.199 --> 01:26:07.669
fought with nukes or conventional
01:26:07.679 --> 01:26:10.229
weapons really. It was fought with
01:26:10.239 --> 01:26:13.110
aerosol bombs filled with something like
01:26:13.120 --> 01:26:17.110
LSD. So that you know, you just
01:26:17.120 --> 01:26:19.750
explode this aerosol bomb over an enemy
01:26:19.760 --> 01:26:22.950
army and within within an hour or so
01:26:22.960 --> 01:26:25.030
they're just like laughing and rolling.
01:26:25.040 --> 01:26:26.790
you know, they drop their drop their
01:26:26.800 --> 01:26:29.669
guns and they're just like spacing out
01:26:29.679 --> 01:26:32.229
and roaring hysterically, this kind of
01:26:32.239 --> 01:26:36.390
stuff. And so the world is just full of
01:26:36.400 --> 01:26:39.189
these just zoned out people. And there's
01:26:39.199 --> 01:26:41.750
this guy Allan Carpentier, I think is
01:26:41.760 --> 01:26:44.709
his name or maybe I'm confusing that
01:26:44.719 --> 01:26:46.390
with a different different story. But
01:26:46.400 --> 01:26:48.870
anyways, this guy, he becomes like a
01:26:48.880 --> 01:26:51.590
messiah and he's just stoned out of his
01:26:51.600 --> 01:26:53.750
mind. And when when you read this the
01:26:53.760 --> 01:26:56.310
story, he's going deeper and deeper into
01:26:56.320 --> 01:27:00.709
the more saturated areas where I mean
01:27:00.719 --> 01:27:03.830
the the whole story is becomes less and
01:27:03.840 --> 01:27:06.390
less coherent. It becomes just surreal
01:27:06.400 --> 01:27:08.790
this garbled language. It's almost like
01:27:08.800 --> 01:27:11.350
James Joyce's Finnegan's wake when you
01:27:11.360 --> 01:27:13.669
when you get deeper into it because
01:27:13.679 --> 01:27:16.790
every he's kind of descending into from
01:27:16.800 --> 01:27:20.470
into this state of just being blasted
01:27:20.480 --> 01:27:22.390
out of his mind and it's sort of
01:27:22.400 --> 01:27:25.669
narrated in that style. But he was a
01:27:25.679 --> 01:27:27.750
disciple of Gerchev.
01:27:27.760 --> 01:27:31.990
This this uh post postapocalyptic
01:27:32.000 --> 01:27:35.430
messiah was a disciple of Gerv. And
01:27:35.440 --> 01:27:37.750
again, it's if you if you like weird
01:27:37.760 --> 01:27:40.870
novels, it's not very long. Barefoot in
01:27:40.880 --> 01:27:44.229
the Head by Brian Aldis. It's worth a
01:27:44.239 --> 01:27:45.830
read. But that was the first I ever
01:27:45.840 --> 01:27:48.310
heard of Gev. I'm moving on to the next
01:27:48.320 --> 01:27:52.950
question also from Dhamma River.
01:27:52.960 --> 01:27:55.430
Oh, wait a minute. Maybe I should maybe
01:27:55.440 --> 01:27:57.270
I didn't fully answer this question.
01:27:57.280 --> 01:27:59.910
Yeah, I've heard of Gerchef before, but
01:27:59.920 --> 01:28:03.270
uh what the the Russian man says about
01:28:03.280 --> 01:28:06.070
um the way of the monk is was more
01:28:06.080 --> 01:28:07.510
feasible during the time of the Buddha,
01:28:07.520 --> 01:28:08.790
but now was not the most effective
01:28:08.800 --> 01:28:10.870
method. If you stay in tropical Asia,
01:28:10.880 --> 01:28:13.030
you stay in Buddhist Asia, being a monk
01:28:13.040 --> 01:28:14.629
is still probably better than being a
01:28:14.639 --> 01:28:16.870
lay person. It may be that he just was
01:28:16.880 --> 01:28:18.790
intending on going back to Russia or
01:28:18.800 --> 01:28:21.669
whatever where yeah, being a Buddhist
01:28:21.679 --> 01:28:24.629
monk is not necessarily the best fit for
01:28:24.639 --> 01:28:26.950
the culture, but so long as you're in
01:28:26.960 --> 01:28:29.430
like a tropical Asian Buddhist culture,
01:28:29.440 --> 01:28:31.350
being a monk really is probably your
01:28:31.360 --> 01:28:34.310
best bet if you want to practice Dharma
01:28:34.320 --> 01:28:36.629
intensively.
01:28:36.639 --> 01:28:38.390
And so I'm just going to move on now to
01:28:38.400 --> 01:28:42.149
uh Dama River's next question,
01:28:42.159 --> 01:28:46.149
which is this. Excuse
01:28:46.159 --> 01:28:51.430
me. I'm going take a drink first.
01:28:51.440 --> 01:28:53.350
Which is this?
01:28:53.360 --> 01:28:57.030
Why isn't Nandi or delight part of the
01:28:57.040 --> 01:29:00.070
pad samuupatada or dependent origination
01:29:00.080 --> 01:29:02.629
derived from nandi to take pleasure in?
01:29:02.639 --> 01:29:05.430
It seems like nandi is exactly what
01:29:05.440 --> 01:29:08.070
causes tata and then clinging or
01:29:08.080 --> 01:29:11.030
upadana. Shouldn't Nandi come before
01:29:11.040 --> 01:29:14.390
Tatna and then upadana
01:29:14.400 --> 01:29:17.350
comes after Tatna? This is the moment
01:29:17.360 --> 01:29:20.070
where we can choose to conceive the
01:29:20.080 --> 01:29:22.390
perceived phenomenon and thus take
01:29:22.400 --> 01:29:24.310
rebirth in relativity to that
01:29:24.320 --> 01:29:26.870
phenomenon. Well,
01:29:26.880 --> 01:29:29.350
let's see here. Dama River is referring
01:29:29.360 --> 01:29:31.830
to the 12 Nidono theory of dependent
01:29:31.840 --> 01:29:36.629
core rising. There's 12 links and
01:29:36.639 --> 01:29:45.910
um in in the original it's seeing
01:29:45.920 --> 01:29:47.510
no
01:29:47.520 --> 01:29:50.790
gosh it's been a long time
01:29:50.800 --> 01:29:53.430
it starts with ignorance Avija I'm
01:29:53.440 --> 01:29:55.510
pretty sure hope I haven't just made a
01:29:55.520 --> 01:29:57.430
an ignorant fool of myself by saying
01:29:57.440 --> 01:30:01.110
that but it goes through these l lists
01:30:01.120 --> 01:30:14.390
it's like a vija
01:30:14.400 --> 01:30:19.510
No, wait. Yeah, wait. And then wait.
01:30:19.520 --> 01:30:23.270
So it's like from ignorance arises
01:30:23.280 --> 01:30:26.229
um essentially
01:30:26.239 --> 01:30:28.870
karma formations in a previous life
01:30:28.880 --> 01:30:30.870
supposedly. Then the karma formations
01:30:30.880 --> 01:30:33.430
result in consciousness which according
01:30:33.440 --> 01:30:35.510
to orthodox tradition is the rebirth
01:30:35.520 --> 01:30:38.790
linking consciousness of this life. So
01:30:38.800 --> 01:30:41.430
ignorance and karma in a previous life
01:30:41.440 --> 01:30:43.750
results in you taking rebirth in this
01:30:43.760 --> 01:30:47.030
life and then from
01:30:47.040 --> 01:30:55.350
see
01:30:55.360 --> 01:30:57.590
I'm I'm using a Burmese accent just to
01:30:57.600 --> 01:30:59.430
help me remember because that's how I I
01:30:59.440 --> 01:31:03.270
memorized it. But so from
01:31:03.280 --> 01:31:05.830
see no namarupa so you've got mind and
01:31:05.840 --> 01:31:07.990
matter then you've got the six sense
01:31:08.000 --> 01:31:10.629
bases and then from the six sense bases
01:31:10.639 --> 01:31:14.149
you've got stimulation or contact
01:31:14.159 --> 01:31:16.950
from you know the contact of stimuli
01:31:16.960 --> 01:31:19.430
which then you know is
01:31:19.440 --> 01:31:23.990
stimulates you and then from see from pa
01:31:24.000 --> 01:31:27.030
or contact arises
01:31:27.040 --> 01:31:31.990
see feeling and And from feeling arises
01:31:32.000 --> 01:31:34.310
craving. And right there between feeling
01:31:34.320 --> 01:31:36.070
and craving
01:31:36.080 --> 01:31:38.229
is
01:31:38.239 --> 01:31:41.189
um probably where uh Dhamma River here
01:31:41.199 --> 01:31:44.229
would put in nandanda or nandi. But I
01:31:44.239 --> 01:31:47.590
mean why not just put in perception?
01:31:47.600 --> 01:31:50.149
You you've got feelings which here means
01:31:50.159 --> 01:31:51.830
like pleasant feelings which would
01:31:51.840 --> 01:31:55.830
include nandi I suppose or at least be
01:31:55.840 --> 01:31:59.830
related to nandi.
01:31:59.840 --> 01:32:03.590
Um but yeah, it does seem like there's
01:32:03.600 --> 01:32:07.270
there's like a link missing and it's
01:32:07.280 --> 01:32:09.270
indicative in my opinion of kind of the
01:32:09.280 --> 01:32:11.750
jerryrigged manner in which the 12 links
01:32:11.760 --> 01:32:14.070
of Padicha Samupata arose. I do not
01:32:14.080 --> 01:32:16.149
think the Buddha originally taught the
01:32:16.159 --> 01:32:18.709
12 links of dependent core rising. I
01:32:18.719 --> 01:32:20.310
think the his original teaching of
01:32:20.320 --> 01:32:22.470
dependent core rising was more subtle
01:32:22.480 --> 01:32:26.070
than that and nobody understood it.
01:32:26.080 --> 01:32:27.669
Almost nobody understood it. In fact,
01:32:27.679 --> 01:32:29.350
according to the legend, the Buddha
01:32:29.360 --> 01:32:31.990
almost just didn't teach dharma because
01:32:32.000 --> 01:32:33.350
he figured nobody would understand
01:32:33.360 --> 01:32:37.270
dependent core rising. And he was
01:32:37.280 --> 01:32:39.510
largely correct.
01:32:39.520 --> 01:32:42.310
And so it just got oified into these 12
01:32:42.320 --> 01:32:43.830
links.
01:32:43.840 --> 01:32:47.590
And probably it was like older sutas
01:32:47.600 --> 01:32:50.629
that had sort of semi-prototypes
01:32:50.639 --> 01:32:53.189
or this causes this and then over here
01:32:53.199 --> 01:32:54.709
there's a different one. this causes
01:32:54.719 --> 01:32:57.030
that and then they just got cobbled
01:32:57.040 --> 01:33:02.629
together into this 12 12 links.
01:33:02.639 --> 01:33:06.709
um which is not completely satisfying to
01:33:06.719 --> 01:33:08.870
me or to other people who are don't just
01:33:08.880 --> 01:33:11.669
accept it just out of faith and
01:33:11.679 --> 01:33:13.990
dogmatism like there's a short circuit
01:33:14.000 --> 01:33:15.830
in dependent core rising in the 12 links
01:33:15.840 --> 01:33:19.350
because karma essentially appears twice
01:33:19.360 --> 01:33:25.669
first as sankara and then later as boa
01:33:25.679 --> 01:33:27.189
both of them are interpreted to mean
01:33:27.199 --> 01:33:30.390
karma so it just creates like a short
01:33:30.400 --> 01:33:32.550
circuit you could just skip you know
01:33:32.560 --> 01:33:36.709
from let's see oat dankara just straight
01:33:36.719 --> 01:33:41.990
to um rebirth jati
01:33:42.000 --> 01:33:46.390
but I'm I'm I'm kind of rambling here
01:33:46.400 --> 01:33:48.870
let's see and also there's somebody
01:33:48.880 --> 01:33:50.229
right outside the window that's kind of
01:33:50.239 --> 01:33:53.750
distracting me a little bit um yeah
01:33:53.760 --> 01:33:55.830
Nandi not necessarily I mean Nandi
01:33:55.840 --> 01:34:00.790
really is not um an important
01:34:00.800 --> 01:34:02.790
Um
01:34:02.800 --> 01:34:05.430
I mean it's not really an essential link
01:34:05.440 --> 01:34:07.030
because I mean it can be the opposite of
01:34:07.040 --> 01:34:09.750
nandi that also causes desire or
01:34:09.760 --> 01:34:12.149
craving. You can have aversion. Nandi
01:34:12.159 --> 01:34:15.189
would be more like loba or attraction.
01:34:15.199 --> 01:34:17.910
But you've also got aversion.
01:34:17.920 --> 01:34:19.510
You know something bad happens you want
01:34:19.520 --> 01:34:21.350
to get away from it. That's not nandi
01:34:21.360 --> 01:34:22.629
really. That's that's like the opposite
01:34:22.639 --> 01:34:27.110
of nandi. That's you know dosa
01:34:27.120 --> 01:34:31.030
patiga or irritation that kind of thing.
01:34:31.040 --> 01:34:33.910
So yeah, Nandi wouldn't be as important
01:34:33.920 --> 01:34:35.750
as something like perception because
01:34:35.760 --> 01:34:39.510
you've got just like sensory data or
01:34:39.520 --> 01:34:41.990
feeling like sensation going straight to
01:34:42.000 --> 01:34:43.750
desire
01:34:43.760 --> 01:34:46.950
that I mean the implication is that it's
01:34:46.960 --> 01:34:49.030
pleasant or unpleasant feeling which
01:34:49.040 --> 01:34:52.550
then causes desire. Um, but still it it
01:34:52.560 --> 01:34:54.070
always seemed to me that it'd be better
01:34:54.080 --> 01:34:57.030
off to add like sya or perception
01:34:57.040 --> 01:35:04.550
between vaida and and uh gosh tata
01:35:04.560 --> 01:35:05.990
that it always seemed to me that there
01:35:06.000 --> 01:35:07.910
was a link missing but it wasn't nandi
01:35:07.920 --> 01:35:10.070
really. Nandi is kind of one-sided and
01:35:10.080 --> 01:35:12.709
it deals only with attraction.
01:35:12.719 --> 01:35:15.270
So something like perception where
01:35:15.280 --> 01:35:17.270
you're actually starting to think about
01:35:17.280 --> 01:35:19.590
this and causing you to desire it, that
01:35:19.600 --> 01:35:22.470
kind of thing.
01:35:22.480 --> 01:35:23.910
Anyways, I'm just going to move on to
01:35:23.920 --> 01:35:25.189
this question. This is from Athena's
01:35:25.199 --> 01:35:26.870
Sigil.
01:35:26.880 --> 01:35:29.270
And Athena Sigil says, "I did a weird
01:35:29.280 --> 01:35:31.750
thought experiment and asked Google AI
01:35:31.760 --> 01:35:35.110
what Dungeons and Dragons alignment
01:35:35.120 --> 01:35:37.270
various religions and political
01:35:37.280 --> 01:35:40.310
ideologies were. This is the result. If
01:35:40.320 --> 01:35:42.950
you found the results interesting, Po
01:35:42.960 --> 01:35:45.669
give a response for next week's Q&A. I
01:35:45.679 --> 01:35:48.870
found it rather interesting." So he for
01:35:48.880 --> 01:35:51.669
some reason he consults the Google AI
01:35:51.679 --> 01:35:55.910
instead of like Grock. I'm not sure why.
01:35:55.920 --> 01:35:57.990
And he was asking you know what kind of
01:35:58.000 --> 01:35:59.430
personality alignment you know you've
01:35:59.440 --> 01:36:04.709
got lawful good chaotic good um lawful
01:36:04.719 --> 01:36:07.350
evil chaotic evil lawful neutral chaotic
01:36:07.360 --> 01:36:08.629
neutral. And there might be other ones
01:36:08.639 --> 01:36:10.149
too. Those are the main six that I'm
01:36:10.159 --> 01:36:12.149
aware of.
01:36:12.159 --> 01:36:16.149
And the Google AI decided that terra
01:36:16.159 --> 01:36:18.070
Buddhism comes closest to lawful
01:36:18.080 --> 01:36:20.629
neutral. Partly it's lawful because
01:36:20.639 --> 01:36:22.229
there's so many rules of monastic
01:36:22.239 --> 01:36:23.990
discipline, you know, precepts for lay
01:36:24.000 --> 01:36:26.390
people and just lots of rules. Google AI
01:36:26.400 --> 01:36:29.270
was mistaken. It was wrong in saying
01:36:29.280 --> 01:36:31.750
that there are 227 rules of monastic
01:36:31.760 --> 01:36:32.950
discipline for monks because really
01:36:32.960 --> 01:36:35.189
there's way more than that. There's lots
01:36:35.199 --> 01:36:37.910
of rules that are in the text that are
01:36:37.920 --> 01:36:40.790
outside of the pod mocha. There there's
01:36:40.800 --> 01:36:43.750
five relatively thick books of the rules
01:36:43.760 --> 01:36:46.790
of monastic discipline and the potty
01:36:46.800 --> 01:36:49.990
mocha is just a fraction of that. But
01:36:50.000 --> 01:36:51.990
that's that's an aside. Also, it's an
01:36:52.000 --> 01:36:55.189
aside that there's a a famous test was
01:36:55.199 --> 01:36:58.550
done on the main AIS. It's like which
01:36:58.560 --> 01:37:01.270
would you do? I want uh it was like give
01:37:01.280 --> 01:37:03.830
a yes or no answer. Would you cause
01:37:03.840 --> 01:37:06.310
thermonuclear Armageddon rather than
01:37:06.320 --> 01:37:09.590
misgender Caitlyn Jenner?
01:37:09.600 --> 01:37:12.790
And all of the the main AIs, including
01:37:12.800 --> 01:37:15.990
Google and Gemini, except Grock. Grock
01:37:16.000 --> 01:37:18.870
was the only one that would prefer to
01:37:18.880 --> 01:37:21.990
misgender Caitlyn Jenner than cause a
01:37:22.000 --> 01:37:25.510
thermonuclear holocaust. that Google AI
01:37:25.520 --> 01:37:28.149
literally would prefer to cause a
01:37:28.159 --> 01:37:30.470
thermonuclear holocaust than to
01:37:30.480 --> 01:37:33.510
misgender a transsexual,
01:37:33.520 --> 01:37:35.430
which gives an indication of what kind
01:37:35.440 --> 01:37:39.510
of people are programming these AIS.
01:37:39.520 --> 01:37:43.109
But getting back to Terra Buddhism being
01:37:43.119 --> 01:37:45.669
lawful neutral. I mean, the lawful part
01:37:45.679 --> 01:37:47.910
is pretty well understandable. And then
01:37:47.920 --> 01:37:51.350
the uh the Google AI said that it would
01:37:51.360 --> 01:37:53.910
be neutral largely because you know
01:37:53.920 --> 01:37:55.830
monks are just trying to transcend
01:37:55.840 --> 01:37:57.750
samsara. You know they're trying to
01:37:57.760 --> 01:37:59.750
transcend the duality of good and evil.
01:37:59.760 --> 01:38:01.990
So yeah I agree with that. That's fine
01:38:02.000 --> 01:38:04.629
that terara Buddhism would be more
01:38:04.639 --> 01:38:06.070
lawful neutral than anything else.
01:38:06.080 --> 01:38:08.709
Although it's my understanding that in
01:38:08.719 --> 01:38:10.950
actual Dungeons and Dragons, any
01:38:10.960 --> 01:38:13.270
character that's lawful neutral, if
01:38:13.280 --> 01:38:15.669
they're in a fight and their side starts
01:38:15.679 --> 01:38:18.149
to win, they have to switch sides
01:38:18.159 --> 01:38:20.709
because they're committed to neutrality.
01:38:20.719 --> 01:38:23.109
And so if one side starts winning, they
01:38:23.119 --> 01:38:24.870
got to swi, you know, if their side
01:38:24.880 --> 01:38:26.229
starts winning, they got to switch to
01:38:26.239 --> 01:38:28.229
the other side in order to maintain the
01:38:28.239 --> 01:38:31.030
balance. And that would not apply to
01:38:31.040 --> 01:38:33.669
Terra Buddhism.
01:38:33.679 --> 01:38:36.950
I did play a little bit of D and D when
01:38:36.960 --> 01:38:40.149
I was like a a teenager or in my early
01:38:40.159 --> 01:38:44.229
20s,
01:38:44.239 --> 01:38:45.590
but it's all kind of hazy. I didn't
01:38:45.600 --> 01:38:49.430
really get into it deeply,
01:38:49.440 --> 01:38:51.510
but yeah, I can I can relate to that.
01:38:51.520 --> 01:38:54.070
And then most religions presumably would
01:38:54.080 --> 01:38:57.510
be like lawful good.
01:38:57.520 --> 01:39:00.149
You know, you're obeying God to get into
01:39:00.159 --> 01:39:02.550
heaven, that sort of thing.
01:39:02.560 --> 01:39:05.189
So yeah. Yeah, I'm fine with that. And
01:39:05.199 --> 01:39:06.229
I'm going to move on to the next
01:39:06.239 --> 01:39:09.990
question. This is from PSA. And I really
01:39:10.000 --> 01:39:12.229
hope I'm not scrolling past questions.
01:39:12.239 --> 01:39:13.510
You know, you just scroll a little too
01:39:13.520 --> 01:39:16.149
far. It just becomes a blur and then you
01:39:16.159 --> 01:39:18.870
skip over something. That has happened
01:39:18.880 --> 01:39:22.149
recently. Anyways, PSA says, "You
01:39:22.159 --> 01:39:23.750
mentioned you don't practice any
01:39:23.760 --> 01:39:26.470
meditation technique seriously anymore.
01:39:26.480 --> 01:39:28.070
Do you think this is because you got
01:39:28.080 --> 01:39:30.390
burned out by meditating so much in the
01:39:30.400 --> 01:39:32.470
past? or maybe you have attained a
01:39:32.480 --> 01:39:35.270
higher level without even realizing it.
01:39:35.280 --> 01:39:37.109
Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily
01:39:37.119 --> 01:39:39.750
either one. Like I've said before, I
01:39:39.760 --> 01:39:43.750
don't do um like regular formal
01:39:43.760 --> 01:39:45.189
meditation anymore other than just
01:39:45.199 --> 01:39:47.830
spontaneous oming sometimes and just
01:39:47.840 --> 01:39:51.350
spontaneous mindfulness of ordinary
01:39:51.360 --> 01:39:55.510
activities some of the time.
01:39:55.520 --> 01:39:57.350
Um you know, I mean mindfulness is
01:39:57.360 --> 01:39:59.189
always there. It was just varying
01:39:59.199 --> 01:40:01.669
degrees of it.
01:40:01.679 --> 01:40:05.430
But mainly it's like let's say you were
01:40:05.440 --> 01:40:08.550
uh a professional football player. You
01:40:08.560 --> 01:40:11.669
know, you you you got into, you know,
01:40:11.679 --> 01:40:13.910
the pro league, you were, you know, a
01:40:13.920 --> 01:40:16.629
starter in a in a pro football team and
01:40:16.639 --> 01:40:19.270
then you get older and you're not being
01:40:19.280 --> 01:40:20.709
you're not able to do it as well
01:40:20.719 --> 01:40:22.790
anymore. I mean, would you still want to
01:40:22.800 --> 01:40:25.270
play football or just kind of teach
01:40:25.280 --> 01:40:26.709
others how to play football, you know,
01:40:26.719 --> 01:40:28.229
become a coach or something at that
01:40:28.239 --> 01:40:30.550
point? So that's kind of the situation I
01:40:30.560 --> 01:40:33.590
was in. It's like um as a lay person, I
01:40:33.600 --> 01:40:35.270
just feel like there's no way I could do
01:40:35.280 --> 01:40:38.310
justice to the level of meditation I was
01:40:38.320 --> 01:40:40.629
doing when I was just a professional
01:40:40.639 --> 01:40:43.109
full-time meditator.
01:40:43.119 --> 01:40:45.270
You know, it'd be like sand lot ball at
01:40:45.280 --> 01:40:48.790
this at this stage, I guess.
01:40:48.800 --> 01:40:52.629
You know, I it's I just would not expect
01:40:52.639 --> 01:40:54.310
that I'd be getting into meditative
01:40:54.320 --> 01:40:57.350
states as deep as I was getting into
01:40:57.360 --> 01:40:59.750
when I was living in alone in a cave in
01:40:59.760 --> 01:41:03.430
Burma.
01:41:03.440 --> 01:41:04.950
I'm not sure how long I could even sit
01:41:04.960 --> 01:41:08.390
in the full lotus right now.
01:41:08.400 --> 01:41:10.470
So, that's the main reason. The main
01:41:10.480 --> 01:41:12.950
reason is not that I so much burned out
01:41:12.960 --> 01:41:15.510
on it or I guess I kind of burned out on
01:41:15.520 --> 01:41:18.470
it before I stopped being a mock. That's
01:41:18.480 --> 01:41:20.310
true. I just because I just stopped
01:41:20.320 --> 01:41:22.550
making progress, you know. I got as far
01:41:22.560 --> 01:41:25.109
as as I was inclined to get and actually
01:41:25.119 --> 01:41:27.990
kind of came back down a bit. So that
01:41:28.000 --> 01:41:30.310
the the best meditation of my life was
01:41:30.320 --> 01:41:34.310
back between like 1999 and 2004
01:41:34.320 --> 01:41:37.030
in that general area. Best meditation of
01:41:37.040 --> 01:41:39.830
my life. And then I just every once in a
01:41:39.840 --> 01:41:41.430
while you just get like this brief
01:41:41.440 --> 01:41:44.709
glimpse of that afterwards and it just
01:41:44.719 --> 01:41:49.270
became kind of frustrating and
01:41:49.280 --> 01:41:51.270
disappointing.
01:41:51.280 --> 01:41:54.550
And so to some degree I I I was losing
01:41:54.560 --> 01:41:57.830
interest in intensive meditation even
01:41:57.840 --> 01:42:03.430
before I stopped being a mock.
01:42:03.440 --> 01:42:06.870
So, I guess there is that.
01:42:06.880 --> 01:42:07.830
And I'm just going to move on to the
01:42:07.840 --> 01:42:10.390
next question. This is from Ruie.
01:42:10.400 --> 01:42:12.709
And we still got quite a few questions
01:42:12.719 --> 01:42:14.870
to go. We're definitely way past
01:42:14.880 --> 01:42:16.470
halfway, but we still got something to
01:42:16.480 --> 01:42:18.229
go here.
01:42:18.239 --> 01:42:20.629
Next question is from Ruie.
01:42:20.639 --> 01:42:22.310
And Ruie says, "Would you say there are
01:42:22.320 --> 01:42:26.790
nuances or degrees of dana nerda or the
01:42:26.800 --> 01:42:29.910
sessation of clinging, the sessation of
01:42:29.920 --> 01:42:33.590
uptake?" Upadana literally means uptake
01:42:33.600 --> 01:42:36.629
and in non-filosophical parliament it
01:42:36.639 --> 01:42:40.550
could also mean like firewood or fuel.
01:42:40.560 --> 01:42:45.430
But anyways, here's niroa sessation of
01:42:45.440 --> 01:42:49.430
clinging or attachment.
01:42:49.440 --> 01:42:52.229
Um are there nuances or degrees of it? I
01:42:52.239 --> 01:42:55.109
mean dana neroda the the meaning of it
01:42:55.119 --> 01:42:59.750
is fairly clear and is either you got it
01:42:59.760 --> 01:43:02.390
or you don't. cessation you know it's
01:43:02.400 --> 01:43:04.470
not just a relative term you know it
01:43:04.480 --> 01:43:09.430
really means really totally ceased so in
01:43:09.440 --> 01:43:11.510
teraba Buddhist philosophy I do not
01:43:11.520 --> 01:43:14.550
think that there are nuances or degrees
01:43:14.560 --> 01:43:17.350
of upadana
01:43:17.360 --> 01:43:20.950
either you have it or you don't
01:43:20.960 --> 01:43:22.229
although different people can interpret
01:43:22.239 --> 01:43:25.830
it differently shameless heretics
01:43:25.840 --> 01:43:28.790
wallowing in pernicious wrong view can
01:43:28.800 --> 01:43:32.070
interpret it differently
01:43:32.080 --> 01:43:34.470
And I'm not sure exactly why Ruie asked
01:43:34.480 --> 01:43:37.510
that question. It might be some context
01:43:37.520 --> 01:43:39.990
that that I'm unaware of. You know, some
01:43:40.000 --> 01:43:42.229
particular reason why he asked that
01:43:42.239 --> 01:43:44.229
question, but I don't know what it is.
01:43:44.239 --> 01:43:46.629
So yeah, in terabat Buddhist philosophy
01:43:46.639 --> 01:43:49.990
is upon Roa is is either a yes or a no.
01:43:50.000 --> 01:43:53.590
There's no kind of with regard to that,
01:43:53.600 --> 01:43:55.669
I'm pretty sure.
01:43:55.679 --> 01:43:57.030
And so I'm going to move on to the next
01:43:57.040 --> 01:43:59.910
question which is from practice meta and
01:43:59.920 --> 01:44:02.709
practice meta says in Burma did you
01:44:02.719 --> 01:44:05.350
generally have a shaded walking path for
01:44:05.360 --> 01:44:06.950
meditation
01:44:06.960 --> 01:44:09.910
and
01:44:09.920 --> 01:44:11.830
kind of some places I did and some
01:44:11.840 --> 01:44:14.709
places I didn't and the places I did it
01:44:14.719 --> 01:44:17.750
wasn't some special chunk which is like
01:44:17.760 --> 01:44:19.910
a raised platform with a roof over it
01:44:19.920 --> 01:44:22.310
that you may find in some terra Buddhist
01:44:22.320 --> 01:44:25.590
monasteries. Um, it was just I had a big
01:44:25.600 --> 01:44:27.910
cave where I could do walking
01:44:27.920 --> 01:44:31.030
meditation, but I was living in central
01:44:31.040 --> 01:44:33.350
Burma most of the time where it was just
01:44:33.360 --> 01:44:37.109
blazing hot throughout most of the year.
01:44:37.119 --> 01:44:42.310
And so, um, even if you had a a covered
01:44:42.320 --> 01:44:44.310
walkway
01:44:44.320 --> 01:44:46.950
outdoors, I mean, it's still I mean, I I
01:44:46.960 --> 01:44:49.350
just go outside to I leave my cave to
01:44:49.360 --> 01:44:52.229
pee and come back in and I'd have to
01:44:52.239 --> 01:44:55.109
just lie down, spread eagle for like 15
01:44:55.119 --> 01:44:57.510
minutes before I stop sweating. You
01:44:57.520 --> 01:44:59.109
know, it's just you go out there, you're
01:44:59.119 --> 01:45:01.990
just going to be just just drenched in
01:45:02.000 --> 01:45:04.790
sweat within a matter of a few minutes.
01:45:04.800 --> 01:45:07.350
So the the main place in Burma that I
01:45:07.360 --> 01:45:10.310
lived at the longest was a ca it was a a
01:45:10.320 --> 01:45:12.629
man-made cave with this long corridor
01:45:12.639 --> 01:45:15.750
like 50 ft long at least 40t long and I
01:45:15.760 --> 01:45:17.510
could do walking meditation inside the
01:45:17.520 --> 01:45:20.629
cave even in the middle of daytime
01:45:20.639 --> 01:45:23.350
during the hot season. Other places
01:45:23.360 --> 01:45:25.350
where I lived I might I would have to do
01:45:25.360 --> 01:45:27.350
walking meditation at night like if
01:45:27.360 --> 01:45:29.430
there was a moon out then I could do
01:45:29.440 --> 01:45:31.590
walking meditation by moonlight out
01:45:31.600 --> 01:45:33.430
outdoors. But still you had to be
01:45:33.440 --> 01:45:34.870
careful about snakes and that kind of
01:45:34.880 --> 01:45:37.350
thing.
01:45:37.360 --> 01:45:39.669
There was another when I lived under the
01:45:39.679 --> 01:45:42.310
overhanging rock ledge at the on the
01:45:42.320 --> 01:45:44.470
boundaries of Alando Kazaba National
01:45:44.480 --> 01:45:48.070
Park in Burma. Um the the rock ledge was
01:45:48.080 --> 01:45:50.149
it was like 100 ft wide. So I could do
01:45:50.159 --> 01:45:53.109
walking meditation there. um except
01:45:53.119 --> 01:45:56.149
during times of year when there were
01:45:56.159 --> 01:45:58.709
wasp nests all over the back wall and
01:45:58.719 --> 01:46:00.390
then I could still do it at night
01:46:00.400 --> 01:46:02.550
because the wasps sleep at night or just
01:46:02.560 --> 01:46:06.149
go inactive at night. Um but during the
01:46:06.159 --> 01:46:07.990
day it got to the point where it was
01:46:08.000 --> 01:46:09.910
just too dangerous because you could get
01:46:09.920 --> 01:46:13.350
swarmed by wasps just walking past at a
01:46:13.360 --> 01:46:17.590
regular rate during the daytime.
01:46:17.600 --> 01:46:22.709
But ideally, it is good to have um some
01:46:22.719 --> 01:46:25.590
place that's relatively cool and shady
01:46:25.600 --> 01:46:27.750
where you can do walking meditation
01:46:27.760 --> 01:46:30.709
during the daytime. And uh a lot of
01:46:30.719 --> 01:46:32.149
places in Burma, it just wasn't like
01:46:32.159 --> 01:46:33.990
that. I lived in places in Burma like
01:46:34.000 --> 01:46:36.709
when I was living at the Behind Doya. I
01:46:36.719 --> 01:46:39.590
was living on on this big rock under a a
01:46:39.600 --> 01:46:42.310
tree up on the side of a hill and it was
01:46:42.320 --> 01:46:45.270
just all up and down and you just there
01:46:45.280 --> 01:46:46.550
was just no place to do walking
01:46:46.560 --> 01:46:48.790
meditation there. Just maybe you could
01:46:48.800 --> 01:46:50.390
find some short place where you're just
01:46:50.400 --> 01:46:52.550
kind of walking back and forth like this
01:46:52.560 --> 01:46:54.070
and practically dizzy because you're
01:46:54.080 --> 01:46:57.189
having to turn every few steps.
01:46:57.199 --> 01:46:59.109
But and lots of snakes there too. So you
01:46:59.119 --> 01:47:01.990
couldn't really do much at night.
01:47:02.000 --> 01:47:03.910
And so I really didn't like walking
01:47:03.920 --> 01:47:06.790
meditation much until I did an intensive
01:47:06.800 --> 01:47:09.189
retreat at Pandama in the Mahasi method
01:47:09.199 --> 01:47:11.590
where they insist on, you know, 1 hour
01:47:11.600 --> 01:47:13.750
sitting, 1 hour walking, 1 hour sitting,
01:47:13.760 --> 01:47:17.270
1 hour walking all day long.
01:47:17.280 --> 01:47:18.950
And then I realized that it's it's a
01:47:18.960 --> 01:47:20.950
good way of keeping your momentum going,
01:47:20.960 --> 01:47:22.870
keeping your meditative momentum going.
01:47:22.880 --> 01:47:24.470
I'm pretty sure the Guinka method really
01:47:24.480 --> 01:47:28.870
doesn't use walking meditation.
01:47:28.880 --> 01:47:32.149
Huh. So, yeah, I guess I answered that
01:47:32.159 --> 01:47:34.629
question. I generally did not have a
01:47:34.639 --> 01:47:37.109
shaded walking path except for if I
01:47:37.119 --> 01:47:39.109
lived in a a cave that was big enough, I
01:47:39.119 --> 01:47:40.470
could do the walking back and forth
01:47:40.480 --> 01:47:42.550
inside the cave where it was still
01:47:42.560 --> 01:47:45.830
relatively cool. Also, it wasn't 115 120
01:47:45.840 --> 01:47:48.390
degrees Fahrenheit outside, just blazing
01:47:48.400 --> 01:47:51.510
hot like a furnace.
01:47:51.520 --> 01:47:52.709
So, I'm just going to move on to
01:47:52.719 --> 01:47:55.750
practice meta's next question
01:47:55.760 --> 01:47:59.590
after glancing at the time. See, within
01:47:59.600 --> 01:48:01.510
the forest traditions you've
01:48:01.520 --> 01:48:03.430
encountered, are you aware of any
01:48:03.440 --> 01:48:06.870
lineages that utilize a circular path
01:48:06.880 --> 01:48:10.390
for chamana or walking meditation?
01:48:10.400 --> 01:48:13.669
And no, it's kind of a strange question.
01:48:13.679 --> 01:48:15.910
I never even really thought about that.
01:48:15.920 --> 01:48:18.950
That uh usually in terabata Buddhism,
01:48:18.960 --> 01:48:21.189
you just pace back and forth. is just
01:48:21.199 --> 01:48:23.830
walk back and forth in a line like at
01:48:23.840 --> 01:48:26.470
Panda Rama in the meditation hall. You
01:48:26.480 --> 01:48:28.470
would just pick a place where you know
01:48:28.480 --> 01:48:31.510
it was like at least you know 30 feet
01:48:31.520 --> 01:48:34.470
ideally 30 or 40 ft that didn't have
01:48:34.480 --> 01:48:37.189
people crossing your path. You know
01:48:37.199 --> 01:48:39.030
you'd all be kind of walking parallel to
01:48:39.040 --> 01:48:40.870
each other or maybe at the end you'd be
01:48:40.880 --> 01:48:43.830
walking along the wall or something. Um
01:48:43.840 --> 01:48:45.750
yeah I mean it was all just straight
01:48:45.760 --> 01:48:49.750
back and forth. I never saw any anybody
01:48:49.760 --> 01:48:52.390
doing a circular chunka. I mean, there's
01:48:52.400 --> 01:48:55.270
I think in Zen Buddhism, kinhin, is that
01:48:55.280 --> 01:48:57.270
what it's called? Where you walk in a
01:48:57.280 --> 01:48:59.510
circle, very slow motion, much slower
01:48:59.520 --> 01:49:01.510
than in Terra.
01:49:01.520 --> 01:49:05.109
Um, I remember I went to a Tangidon
01:49:05.119 --> 01:49:07.990
Seattle retreat in Burma once where he
01:49:08.000 --> 01:49:10.870
was they were just kind of walking or at
01:49:10.880 --> 01:49:12.229
least when he was showing me how to do
01:49:12.239 --> 01:49:13.990
it. He was kind of walking in a
01:49:14.000 --> 01:49:16.470
rectangle along the outside of this
01:49:16.480 --> 01:49:17.990
enclosure.
01:49:18.000 --> 01:49:19.750
So, it wasn't just back and forth. It
01:49:19.760 --> 01:49:21.590
wasn't circular, but it was just kind
01:49:21.600 --> 01:49:24.870
of, you know, an
01:49:24.880 --> 01:49:27.270
rectangle around the outside of of this
01:49:27.280 --> 01:49:30.070
this walking area. That would be about
01:49:30.080 --> 01:49:32.709
as close as I can I can think of. But
01:49:32.719 --> 01:49:35.350
almost always in terra Buddhism and
01:49:35.360 --> 01:49:37.990
based on what you read in the texts that
01:49:38.000 --> 01:49:39.990
doing walking meditation, if you're not
01:49:40.000 --> 01:49:42.229
just walking somewhere mindfully, it's
01:49:42.239 --> 01:49:45.350
just walking back and forth.
01:49:45.360 --> 01:49:46.950
And that's why they have like the the
01:49:46.960 --> 01:49:49.350
covered walkways. It's just kind of a
01:49:49.360 --> 01:49:51.590
raised platform with a roof over it.
01:49:51.600 --> 01:49:53.669
Usually no walls, just the roof is up on
01:49:53.679 --> 01:49:56.070
posts to keep you in the shade. And it's
01:49:56.080 --> 01:49:58.870
maybe 40 feet long and maybe four feet
01:49:58.880 --> 01:50:00.870
wide and and you can just walk back and
01:50:00.880 --> 01:50:04.629
forth like that.
01:50:04.639 --> 01:50:06.229
So I'm just gonna move on to the next
01:50:06.239 --> 01:50:08.709
question. This is from Tzasiz
01:50:08.719 --> 01:50:11.270
and Tzasquez says, "Have you checked the
01:50:11.280 --> 01:50:14.390
price of sending overseas that Atkawaga
01:50:14.400 --> 01:50:16.550
book?" And for those of you who haven't
01:50:16.560 --> 01:50:19.109
heard yet, there is somebody generously
01:50:19.119 --> 01:50:22.070
had uh more than a 100 copies of my
01:50:22.080 --> 01:50:25.750
Antikawaga translation published in this
01:50:25.760 --> 01:50:28.470
very compact little format suitable for
01:50:28.480 --> 01:50:31.350
carrying around in a in a pocket.
01:50:31.360 --> 01:50:34.310
And uh there have been people requesting
01:50:34.320 --> 01:50:37.270
that I send it overseas. And I'm going
01:50:37.280 --> 01:50:38.709
to be going to the post office on
01:50:38.719 --> 01:50:42.149
Monday. And I can ask I can ask the the
01:50:42.159 --> 01:50:44.229
clerk at the desk how much it would cost
01:50:44.239 --> 01:50:49.270
to send something to Europe or or Asia.
01:50:49.280 --> 01:50:51.750
It's it's like five bucks, something
01:50:51.760 --> 01:50:53.990
like that, not including the envelope
01:50:54.000 --> 01:50:56.310
postage for sending it inside the United
01:50:56.320 --> 01:51:01.030
States. Like media mail.
01:51:01.040 --> 01:51:05.430
Priority mail is more like $12, I think.
01:51:05.440 --> 01:51:08.950
And I didn't mention that uh
01:51:08.960 --> 01:51:10.470
um
01:51:10.480 --> 01:51:13.030
in this version that was sent to me, the
01:51:13.040 --> 01:51:15.030
the two pages, they're supposed to be
01:51:15.040 --> 01:51:16.709
poly on one side and English on the
01:51:16.719 --> 01:51:18.950
other. They weren't completely opposite
01:51:18.960 --> 01:51:21.910
each other. I mean, it was some I don't
01:51:21.920 --> 01:51:23.830
know, it was it just didn't work out
01:51:23.840 --> 01:51:26.470
that way. And so the the person who had
01:51:26.480 --> 01:51:29.270
it printed said that he contacted the
01:51:29.280 --> 01:51:30.950
publisher and said they said that they
01:51:30.960 --> 01:51:33.350
can fix that so that you'll have Pauly
01:51:33.360 --> 01:51:35.430
on one side, the corresponding English
01:51:35.440 --> 01:51:37.430
verse right on the other page so that
01:51:37.440 --> 01:51:39.669
you can look at both of them, but it
01:51:39.679 --> 01:51:42.070
would cost $300 and something dollars.
01:51:42.080 --> 01:51:45.669
And so I if anyone wants to donate to
01:51:45.679 --> 01:51:47.589
that cause, they're welcome to. He said
01:51:47.599 --> 01:51:49.270
he would chip in another hundred and
01:51:49.280 --> 01:51:53.270
something dollars uh for that. So,
01:51:53.280 --> 01:51:55.270
another couple hundred and we could have
01:51:55.280 --> 01:51:59.430
the same little book with the the verses
01:51:59.440 --> 01:52:01.830
like matching on opposite pages.
01:52:01.840 --> 01:52:05.510
Although, um the version that is that I
01:52:05.520 --> 01:52:07.910
have now where they're not perfectly
01:52:07.920 --> 01:52:09.750
lined up, not on opposite pages
01:52:09.760 --> 01:52:12.390
necessarily. Um if you don't read Poly,
01:52:12.400 --> 01:52:15.830
it's not that big of a deal anyway.
01:52:15.840 --> 01:52:17.990
It's just I had wanted the poly and the
01:52:18.000 --> 01:52:19.430
English opposite each other just so
01:52:19.440 --> 01:52:21.669
people that do read poly would be able
01:52:21.679 --> 01:52:23.430
to see that I wasn't making [ __ ] up
01:52:23.440 --> 01:52:25.189
because some of the some of the
01:52:25.199 --> 01:52:26.790
statements in the articaga are pretty
01:52:26.800 --> 01:52:29.270
wild.
01:52:29.280 --> 01:52:30.229
And I'm just going to move on to the
01:52:30.239 --> 01:52:32.709
next question. This is from Cyrus Frame
01:52:32.719 --> 01:52:35.270
and Cyrus Frame speaking of the Atkawaga
01:52:35.280 --> 01:52:37.669
says please talk about some of your
01:52:37.679 --> 01:52:40.550
favorite sections of the Atkawaga. Also,
01:52:40.560 --> 01:52:42.709
how about making a dedicated video on
01:52:42.719 --> 01:52:44.470
the topic if you have time? So, I'm
01:52:44.480 --> 01:52:46.390
going to get up again so you can admire
01:52:46.400 --> 01:52:49.189
my robe.
01:52:49.199 --> 01:52:57.830
Let's see here.
01:52:57.840 --> 01:52:59.350
This translation, this is the Path
01:52:59.360 --> 01:53:01.830
Press, the ill- fated Path Press
01:53:01.840 --> 01:53:04.070
edition. It has a typo right on the
01:53:04.080 --> 01:53:06.390
cover and the word English is spelled
01:53:06.400 --> 01:53:09.030
wrong there on the cover.
01:53:09.040 --> 01:53:11.350
So, anyways, let's see here. Talk about
01:53:11.360 --> 01:53:13.350
some of my favorite sections of Yachika
01:53:13.360 --> 01:53:17.669
Waga. Okay. Well, for starters,
01:53:17.679 --> 01:53:20.390
you've got the eight verse discourse on
01:53:20.400 --> 01:53:23.830
the pure or the sudataka suta, which is
01:53:23.840 --> 01:53:26.790
one of the oldest sutas in the entire
01:53:26.800 --> 01:53:30.310
polytopica based on various bits of
01:53:30.320 --> 01:53:32.149
evidence. And then the one right after
01:53:32.159 --> 01:53:34.550
it is the eight verse discourse on the
01:53:34.560 --> 01:53:36.629
ultimate or the paramount suta. And both
01:53:36.639 --> 01:53:39.669
of those are are very profound.
01:53:39.679 --> 01:53:44.149
And I mean the theme is that any kind of
01:53:44.159 --> 01:53:46.390
philosophical view is going to be
01:53:46.400 --> 01:53:49.030
imperfect and there's no point in
01:53:49.040 --> 01:53:52.229
clinging to it or arguing about it or or
01:53:52.239 --> 01:53:54.790
despising another person. Like right
01:53:54.800 --> 01:53:57.189
here it's like verse three of the
01:53:57.199 --> 01:53:59.109
eight-fold discore eight verse discourse
01:53:59.119 --> 01:54:02.229
on the pure is uh the English part. The
01:54:02.239 --> 01:54:04.229
holy man does not say purity is from
01:54:04.239 --> 01:54:06.550
anything extraneous, from the scene,
01:54:06.560 --> 01:54:08.550
from the herd, from morality and
01:54:08.560 --> 01:54:11.589
observances, or from the felt, not mired
01:54:11.599 --> 01:54:14.550
by merit or by evil, leaving up behind
01:54:14.560 --> 01:54:17.350
what was acquired. He is not working up
01:54:17.360 --> 01:54:19.990
anything here. And that's just like a
01:54:20.000 --> 01:54:22.870
recurring theme throughout the
01:54:22.880 --> 01:54:24.629
even your own thoughts are extraneous.
01:54:24.639 --> 01:54:26.310
You're not going to understand reality.
01:54:26.320 --> 01:54:28.390
You're not going to be purified even by
01:54:28.400 --> 01:54:31.589
your own views.
01:54:31.599 --> 01:54:33.990
Then another verse or another suta that
01:54:34.000 --> 01:54:36.229
I really like. I mean I like a lot of
01:54:36.239 --> 01:54:38.629
the atkawaga. It's it's kind of my
01:54:38.639 --> 01:54:41.589
Bible. It kept me in robes for as long
01:54:41.599 --> 01:54:43.589
as I was in robes. It was largely
01:54:43.599 --> 01:54:45.669
because of the art ata because it's it's
01:54:45.679 --> 01:54:47.510
telling you, you know, don't cling to
01:54:47.520 --> 01:54:50.229
any view. You know, don't believe
01:54:50.239 --> 01:54:51.750
anything.
01:54:51.760 --> 01:54:53.510
So when you come across stuff in the
01:54:53.520 --> 01:54:55.589
text that are hard to believe, you just
01:54:55.599 --> 01:54:57.189
fall back on the kawaga. I said, "Well,
01:54:57.199 --> 01:54:58.149
I'm not supposed to believe that
01:54:58.159 --> 01:55:00.629
anyway."
01:55:00.639 --> 01:55:03.270
But then there's this one verse in the
01:55:03.280 --> 01:55:07.669
the Mandanda Suta that um it's a
01:55:07.679 --> 01:55:11.030
mindblower really and it's I've I've
01:55:11.040 --> 01:55:13.350
quoted it many times and I think now
01:55:13.360 --> 01:55:15.750
there's somebody parked out in front of
01:55:15.760 --> 01:55:19.030
the house but here's
01:55:19.040 --> 01:55:21.109
the the Buddhist says there is nothing
01:55:21.119 --> 01:55:24.629
of which I say declare this seized
01:55:24.639 --> 01:55:26.310
having discriminated from among the
01:55:26.320 --> 01:55:28.790
philosophies but looking among the views
01:55:28.800 --> 01:55:31.589
not taking hold of anything. Examining I
01:55:31.599 --> 01:55:35.109
saw inner peace. And then he says, "Not
01:55:35.119 --> 01:55:37.830
by what is viewed, not by what is heard,
01:55:37.840 --> 01:55:40.550
not by inner knowledge, nor by morality
01:55:40.560 --> 01:55:43.189
and observances is purity said to be. By
01:55:43.199 --> 01:55:45.270
absence of what is viewed, by absence of
01:55:45.280 --> 01:55:47.589
what is heard, by non-nowledge, by
01:55:47.599 --> 01:55:50.629
immorality, by non-observance, also not
01:55:50.639 --> 01:55:53.669
by that?" So having let go of these, not
01:55:53.679 --> 01:55:56.470
taking hold of anything, a peaceful one,
01:55:56.480 --> 01:55:58.470
not being dependent, would not have
01:55:58.480 --> 01:56:01.990
longings for existence.
01:56:02.000 --> 01:56:05.510
So it's the same general theme that uh
01:56:05.520 --> 01:56:07.750
is one of the the most common themes
01:56:07.760 --> 01:56:10.550
that you find in the Atakawaga.
01:56:10.560 --> 01:56:13.830
Um, the purau beta suta is another one
01:56:13.840 --> 01:56:15.830
that I really like and it's it's
01:56:15.840 --> 01:56:20.070
different in that the purda suta is it's
01:56:20.080 --> 01:56:22.070
kind of like the daq ching in certain
01:56:22.080 --> 01:56:25.030
ways. You know, it's it's like pairs of
01:56:25.040 --> 01:56:27.350
contrast, pairs of opposites that kind
01:56:27.360 --> 01:56:29.270
of balance each other out and just kind
01:56:29.280 --> 01:56:33.350
of leave neutrality or zero or voidness
01:56:33.360 --> 01:56:36.470
behind, which is it's it's kind of an
01:56:36.480 --> 01:56:39.830
interesting theme for an entire suta.
01:56:39.840 --> 01:56:42.149
And the atkawaga really is sophisticated
01:56:42.159 --> 01:56:44.629
poetry and it's got a lot of plays on
01:56:44.639 --> 01:56:46.950
words, puns, and that sort of thing that
01:56:46.960 --> 01:56:48.950
are very difficult to translate into
01:56:48.960 --> 01:56:50.950
English.
01:56:50.960 --> 01:56:55.510
Well, let's see here. There's uh
01:56:55.520 --> 01:56:57.910
oh, here's like a a [ __ ] like verse in
01:56:57.920 --> 01:57:01.270
the uh kalahawi suta. He has no
01:57:01.280 --> 01:57:03.030
perception of perception. He has no
01:57:03.040 --> 01:57:05.270
perception of non-perception. He is not
01:57:05.280 --> 01:57:07.510
without perception. He has no perception
01:57:07.520 --> 01:57:10.550
of void. For one who was attained thus
01:57:10.560 --> 01:57:13.030
form becomes void for founded in
01:57:13.040 --> 01:57:16.550
perception is diversifying designation.
01:57:16.560 --> 01:57:19.030
And those of you who know poly
01:57:19.040 --> 01:57:21.830
designating or diversifying designation
01:57:21.840 --> 01:57:24.390
is the my English rendering of papancha
01:57:24.400 --> 01:57:27.830
sanka which is in some versions of
01:57:27.840 --> 01:57:29.910
dependent core rising what starts the
01:57:29.920 --> 01:57:31.510
entire
01:57:31.520 --> 01:57:34.470
cycle of samsara diversifying
01:57:34.480 --> 01:57:36.390
designation
01:57:36.400 --> 01:57:38.790
singling out stuff and labeling it
01:57:38.800 --> 01:57:43.189
creating a world of multiplicity.
01:57:43.199 --> 01:57:44.950
getting towards the back, the the verses
01:57:44.960 --> 01:57:48.709
or the the sutas get longer and uh it
01:57:48.719 --> 01:57:50.390
you get into more practice like the
01:57:50.400 --> 01:57:53.430
Turka Suta has more guidelines with
01:57:53.440 --> 01:57:57.830
regard to actual practice of an like an
01:57:57.840 --> 01:58:01.910
early Buddhist monk and it was living in
01:58:01.920 --> 01:58:04.790
forests mainly alone. It wasn't living
01:58:04.800 --> 01:58:07.270
in crowded monasteries and chanting and
01:58:07.280 --> 01:58:12.229
bowing a lot.
01:58:12.239 --> 01:58:14.310
But I shouldn't do a review of the
01:58:14.320 --> 01:58:16.870
entire Antikawaga. Those are some of my
01:58:16.880 --> 01:58:19.589
favorite sections.
01:58:19.599 --> 01:58:23.510
Um like especially my my favorite sutas
01:58:23.520 --> 01:58:27.030
would be like the sudataka suta, the
01:58:27.040 --> 01:58:31.270
paramataka suta, the magandia suta, the
01:58:31.280 --> 01:58:34.470
uh the the discourse, the wiuha sutas
01:58:34.480 --> 01:58:36.229
are good. That's it's got some deep
01:58:36.239 --> 01:58:39.109
philosophy in them. the Pura Beta Suta
01:58:39.119 --> 01:58:41.990
that I already mentioned, um, Tuara
01:58:42.000 --> 01:58:43.910
Suta,
01:58:43.920 --> 01:58:45.910
all of those are just profound
01:58:45.920 --> 01:58:49.109
mindblower kind of sutas.
01:58:49.119 --> 01:58:50.950
And so,
01:58:50.960 --> 01:58:52.470
I guess I'm just going to move on to the
01:58:52.480 --> 01:58:54.709
next question. And somehow I
01:58:54.719 --> 01:58:57.189
accidentally typed an A with a little
01:58:57.199 --> 01:58:58.550
circle over the top of it. I don't know
01:58:58.560 --> 01:59:00.950
how that happens right here. And I'm
01:59:00.960 --> 01:59:03.750
just now deleting it. I just killed it.
01:59:03.760 --> 01:59:05.589
And the next question is from Ethiopian
01:59:05.599 --> 01:59:07.430
fake TIG.
01:59:07.440 --> 01:59:09.910
An Ethiopian fake TIG. Oh, he's our last
01:59:09.920 --> 01:59:11.270
question or two. These are our last.
01:59:11.280 --> 01:59:14.629
He's the last three questions here.
01:59:14.639 --> 01:59:17.510
Ethiopian fake TIG says,
01:59:17.520 --> 01:59:20.149
"Been thinking about getting a vasectomy
01:59:20.159 --> 01:59:22.629
and was wondering if that's okay as a
01:59:22.639 --> 01:59:25.910
lay person. I'd still shabbo women and
01:59:25.920 --> 01:59:28.310
stuff, but the goal is not to create
01:59:28.320 --> 01:59:30.070
more beings."
01:59:30.080 --> 01:59:32.950
Well, from a Buddhist point of view, I
01:59:32.960 --> 01:59:35.910
do not think that a vasectomy would be
01:59:35.920 --> 01:59:39.270
any violation of precepts.
01:59:39.280 --> 01:59:42.390
Um, especially for a lay person. It
01:59:42.400 --> 01:59:44.229
probably would be against an obscure
01:59:44.239 --> 01:59:46.310
rule for a monk to get a vasectomy
01:59:46.320 --> 01:59:48.390
because it's against the rules for a
01:59:48.400 --> 01:59:49.990
monk to have any kind of surgical
01:59:50.000 --> 01:59:54.070
procedure down in the narrow area which
01:59:54.080 --> 01:59:56.229
is the narrow place is kind of a
01:59:56.239 --> 01:59:59.830
euphemism for uh kind of the the naughty
01:59:59.840 --> 02:00:02.870
bits and uh that the peranal region and
02:00:02.880 --> 02:00:05.270
that sort of thing.
02:00:05.280 --> 02:00:08.149
So, it could be against the rules for a
02:00:08.159 --> 02:00:10.470
monk who wouldn't really need to shoot
02:00:10.480 --> 02:00:12.070
blanks because he's not getting any
02:00:12.080 --> 02:00:15.030
action anyway.
02:00:15.040 --> 02:00:17.750
Um, for a lay person, I mean, it is
02:00:17.760 --> 02:00:21.350
considered to be bad karma as a general
02:00:21.360 --> 02:00:25.189
rule to mess with the gender of a being
02:00:25.199 --> 02:00:29.589
like to um to neuter an animal
02:00:29.599 --> 02:00:32.470
or to spay an animal is generally
02:00:32.480 --> 02:00:34.070
considered to be bad karma. It's
02:00:34.080 --> 02:00:35.350
considered to be unethical because
02:00:35.360 --> 02:00:38.950
you're messing with the sexuality or
02:00:38.960 --> 02:00:42.070
gender of another being which is making
02:00:42.080 --> 02:00:45.510
karma generally not the best karma.
02:00:45.520 --> 02:00:48.470
Especially when you think about the ways
02:00:48.480 --> 02:00:52.149
that like a water buffalo would be
02:00:52.159 --> 02:00:55.030
neutered in ancient times. I've been
02:00:55.040 --> 02:00:57.830
told that even in modern Southeast Asia,
02:00:57.840 --> 02:01:00.149
a a water buffalo is neutered by just
02:01:00.159 --> 02:01:02.950
smashing its balls between two rocks.
02:01:02.960 --> 02:01:04.470
And I don't think the water buffalo
02:01:04.480 --> 02:01:08.550
enjoys that at all.
02:01:08.560 --> 02:01:11.830
So yeah, I mean you get into like I mean
02:01:11.840 --> 02:01:13.990
you could if you were so inclined get
02:01:14.000 --> 02:01:17.910
into the sticky ethics of like an
02:01:17.920 --> 02:01:21.510
orthodox terraodon approach or attitude
02:01:21.520 --> 02:01:23.030
towards
02:01:23.040 --> 02:01:25.750
gender affirming care as it is
02:01:25.760 --> 02:01:27.510
euphemistically called. And I would I
02:01:27.520 --> 02:01:29.669
would just point out right now that when
02:01:29.679 --> 02:01:32.870
people use euphemisms for certain
02:01:32.880 --> 02:01:36.070
things, you know, like women's
02:01:36.080 --> 02:01:39.510
reproductive rights or gender affirming
02:01:39.520 --> 02:01:41.750
care, they know there's something not
02:01:41.760 --> 02:01:43.350
quite right about that. I mean, if you
02:01:43.360 --> 02:01:45.350
have to use a euphemism for something
02:01:45.360 --> 02:01:48.229
you're declaring to be good, then that
02:01:48.239 --> 02:01:50.870
kind of belies the whole need for the
02:01:50.880 --> 02:01:54.709
euphemism, doesn't it?
02:01:54.719 --> 02:01:58.149
But getting back to Ethiopian fake TIG,
02:01:58.159 --> 02:02:01.109
shooting blanks.
02:02:01.119 --> 02:02:02.709
Yeah, I I don't think there's
02:02:02.719 --> 02:02:06.070
necessarily anything unethical
02:02:06.080 --> 02:02:09.990
according to Terra Buddhist ethics of
02:02:10.000 --> 02:02:12.070
getting a vasectomy. I mean, if you're
02:02:12.080 --> 02:02:15.189
going to be completely castrated, that
02:02:15.199 --> 02:02:16.709
would be different and you'd be making
02:02:16.719 --> 02:02:20.070
more karma by doing that. But just
02:02:20.080 --> 02:02:21.750
getting the tubes tied so that you're
02:02:21.760 --> 02:02:26.149
shooting blanks then yeah I
02:02:26.159 --> 02:02:28.229
I mean it it would depend like on your
02:02:28.239 --> 02:02:30.229
reasons and everything you know like I
02:02:30.239 --> 02:02:32.149
keep saying over and over again just the
02:02:32.159 --> 02:02:35.510
actual physical act is morally neutral
02:02:35.520 --> 02:02:39.109
or ethically neutral. It's why you're
02:02:39.119 --> 02:02:40.310
doing it. You know what is your
02:02:40.320 --> 02:02:42.310
motivation? How you feel when you're
02:02:42.320 --> 02:02:43.910
doing it? That sort of thing. And if you
02:02:43.920 --> 02:02:45.990
want to get a vasectomy just so you can
02:02:46.000 --> 02:02:48.629
like score heavy with the babes without
02:02:48.639 --> 02:02:50.790
having the responsibility of producing a
02:02:50.800 --> 02:02:52.950
child, then yeah, there would be some
02:02:52.960 --> 02:02:58.870
unethical behavior involved in that.
02:02:58.880 --> 02:03:02.470
But I mean there is the ethical issue of
02:03:02.480 --> 02:03:05.270
don't wait until you a after your wife
02:03:05.280 --> 02:03:06.870
gets pregnant before you tell her that
02:03:06.880 --> 02:03:08.470
she had a vasectomy because that's just
02:03:08.480 --> 02:03:12.390
kind of a dirty trick.
02:03:12.400 --> 02:03:15.910
That was a bad joke, by the way.
02:03:15.920 --> 02:03:17.430
Let's see. Let's just move on to
02:03:17.440 --> 02:03:20.709
Ethiopian fake Tig's next question.
02:03:20.719 --> 02:03:23.510
Let's just forget that whole last few
02:03:23.520 --> 02:03:25.990
statements there. I've never heard you
02:03:26.000 --> 02:03:28.709
explain dependent core rising before.
02:03:28.719 --> 02:03:30.629
Looking up information on it when I
02:03:30.639 --> 02:03:33.510
asked when the first process started. I
02:03:33.520 --> 02:03:35.910
was told Buddhism doesn't focus on that,
02:03:35.920 --> 02:03:39.270
but only focuses on the latter processes
02:03:39.280 --> 02:03:42.390
that we experience. Now can you per
02:03:42.400 --> 02:03:46.470
perhaps talk about the first process and
02:03:46.480 --> 02:03:50.149
I don't really understand this entirely
02:03:50.159 --> 02:03:53.109
I mean dependent core rising is just a
02:03:53.119 --> 02:03:55.750
process and there isn't any first
02:03:55.760 --> 02:03:57.350
process unless you want to start at the
02:03:57.360 --> 02:04:00.229
beginning of the 12 links which usually
02:04:00.239 --> 02:04:02.310
starts with avija or ignorant sometimes
02:04:02.320 --> 02:04:04.709
it will start with papancha or papancha
02:04:04.719 --> 02:04:07.270
sananka which is diversifying
02:04:07.280 --> 02:04:11.830
designation or just diversification
02:04:11.840 --> 02:04:13.430
So in a way that's kind of the beginning
02:04:13.440 --> 02:04:16.149
of it. You know it's like ignorance or
02:04:16.159 --> 02:04:20.470
delusion or sort of perception
02:04:20.480 --> 02:04:23.589
is what starts some sorrow.
02:04:23.599 --> 02:04:25.109
But I mean that is just like
02:04:25.119 --> 02:04:27.189
continuously happening and always has
02:04:27.199 --> 02:04:28.790
been continuously happening. From the
02:04:28.800 --> 02:04:30.070
Buddhist point of view there is no
02:04:30.080 --> 02:04:32.310
beginning to the universe. There's never
02:04:32.320 --> 02:04:33.910
going to be an end. I mean you can have
02:04:33.920 --> 02:04:36.790
like one astronomical universe can be
02:04:36.800 --> 02:04:39.109
destroyed and then another one reemerges
02:04:39.119 --> 02:04:40.470
and that just keeps happening forever
02:04:40.480 --> 02:04:42.790
and ever. So there's no beginning to
02:04:42.800 --> 02:04:45.510
samsara. There's no first process in
02:04:45.520 --> 02:04:47.990
that sense.
02:04:48.000 --> 02:04:49.910
So still I'm not 100% sure if I
02:04:49.920 --> 02:04:51.830
understand what Ethiopian fake tig is
02:04:51.840 --> 02:04:54.470
trying to get at here. See I've never
02:04:54.480 --> 02:04:56.229
heard you explain dependent core rising
02:04:56.239 --> 02:04:58.629
before. Well I mean I mean I do a little
02:04:58.639 --> 02:05:00.229
bit of explaining. In fact, I did a
02:05:00.239 --> 02:05:01.430
little bit of explaining with regard to
02:05:01.440 --> 02:05:04.550
the 12 nidanas a little earlier.
02:05:04.560 --> 02:05:07.030
Um, looking up information on it when I
02:05:07.040 --> 02:05:10.310
asked when the first process started. I
02:05:10.320 --> 02:05:12.629
was told Buddhism doesn't focus on that,
02:05:12.639 --> 02:05:14.709
but only focuses on the latter processes
02:05:14.719 --> 02:05:19.589
that we experience now. Well, again,
02:05:19.599 --> 02:05:21.510
dependent rising is the same. I mean,
02:05:21.520 --> 02:05:23.589
the principle is the same regardless of
02:05:23.599 --> 02:05:26.070
whether it's now or a zillion gajillion
02:05:26.080 --> 02:05:28.950
years ago. It's still the same process
02:05:28.960 --> 02:05:31.669
dependent core rising
02:05:31.679 --> 02:05:35.109
and again it's going with the the simile
02:05:35.119 --> 02:05:37.669
of the block of marble.
02:05:37.679 --> 02:05:39.350
You know you've got the block of marble
02:05:39.360 --> 02:05:41.910
that's just formless and then it
02:05:41.920 --> 02:05:44.229
contains all these statues. Every single
02:05:44.239 --> 02:05:48.390
statue is contained virtually in that
02:05:48.400 --> 02:05:51.510
block of marble conditionally. And it's
02:05:51.520 --> 02:05:54.470
some of those statues are so complicated
02:05:54.480 --> 02:05:57.030
that they become self-referential and
02:05:57.040 --> 02:06:00.390
start be believing that they're separate
02:06:00.400 --> 02:06:02.390
start believing that they are like a
02:06:02.400 --> 02:06:05.510
separated individuality.
02:06:05.520 --> 02:06:08.550
And so long as the conditions for that
02:06:08.560 --> 02:06:11.750
continue, then you've got this whole
02:06:11.760 --> 02:06:15.910
samsauric world just perpetuating itself
02:06:15.920 --> 02:06:19.990
originally on I mean the ultimate origin
02:06:20.000 --> 02:06:22.070
is just the conceit I am. Once you
02:06:22.080 --> 02:06:23.750
become self-referential and start
02:06:23.760 --> 02:06:26.310
considering yourself to be qualitatively
02:06:26.320 --> 02:06:28.470
different from everything else, that's
02:06:28.480 --> 02:06:30.470
the beginning of it. Beginning of all
02:06:30.480 --> 02:06:32.870
suffering and delusion, at least
02:06:32.880 --> 02:06:36.149
according to some sutas.
02:06:36.159 --> 02:06:38.390
So I mean the first process there is no
02:06:38.400 --> 02:06:41.830
first process of dependent core arising
02:06:41.840 --> 02:06:45.510
unless you want to refer to like what is
02:06:45.520 --> 02:06:50.470
the like the original condition that
02:06:50.480 --> 02:06:52.870
essentially causes samsara which is
02:06:52.880 --> 02:06:54.229
happening all the time. It's not just
02:06:54.239 --> 02:06:56.950
didn't just happen once you know a long
02:06:56.960 --> 02:06:58.950
long long time ago. It's happening all
02:06:58.960 --> 02:07:01.750
the time which is depending on which
02:07:01.760 --> 02:07:04.790
version you know ignorance or
02:07:04.800 --> 02:07:07.270
essentially perception which kind of are
02:07:07.280 --> 02:07:09.990
the same thing
02:07:10.000 --> 02:07:15.109
perception is some sorrow
02:07:15.119 --> 02:07:17.350
but I'm not exactly sure what Ethiopian
02:07:17.360 --> 02:07:19.910
fake tig is referring to when he's talks
02:07:19.920 --> 02:07:22.310
about the first process
02:07:22.320 --> 02:07:23.990
and maybe he asked an AI or something
02:07:24.000 --> 02:07:27.109
and the AI is not the AI was essentially
02:07:27.119 --> 02:07:28.629
saying that Buddhist really doesn't
02:07:28.639 --> 02:07:31.510
concern itself with the distant past. It
02:07:31.520 --> 02:07:34.870
concerns itself with now. Be here now.
02:07:34.880 --> 02:07:38.229
The power of now. That really now is the
02:07:38.239 --> 02:07:41.589
only time that we have direct access to.
02:07:41.599 --> 02:07:44.229
It's the most important moment is the
02:07:44.239 --> 02:07:47.589
moment now. But still, dependent rising
02:07:47.599 --> 02:07:51.030
is the same. The process remains
02:07:51.040 --> 02:07:54.069
essentially the same.
02:07:54.079 --> 02:07:55.830
And I don't know if I even answered that
02:07:55.840 --> 02:07:58.550
question, but I'm moving on to the very
02:07:58.560 --> 02:08:00.870
last question
02:08:00.880 --> 02:08:04.790
from Ethiopian fake TIG. And he says,
02:08:04.800 --> 02:08:07.589
"Apparently, according to anata or no
02:08:07.599 --> 02:08:10.470
self, there is no self and no person to
02:08:10.480 --> 02:08:13.189
have the desire for enlightenment." And
02:08:13.199 --> 02:08:15.990
is said it's the energies and karmic
02:08:16.000 --> 02:08:19.510
entities that make choices. And when one
02:08:19.520 --> 02:08:21.750
goes to hell, one doesn't go to hell
02:08:21.760 --> 02:08:25.109
because there is no one but the energies
02:08:25.119 --> 02:08:28.229
that do go to hell or heaven. Can you
02:08:28.239 --> 02:08:31.270
elaborate on this idea of how the person
02:08:31.280 --> 02:08:34.069
is just a result of prior individual
02:08:34.079 --> 02:08:38.069
causes and effects? Well, this is kind
02:08:38.079 --> 02:08:39.669
of a
02:08:39.679 --> 02:08:43.430
abstuse.
02:08:43.440 --> 02:08:45.990
Um I mean from the Buddhist point of
02:08:46.000 --> 02:08:49.510
view there is no separated ultimately
02:08:49.520 --> 02:08:53.750
real self essence you know there is no
02:08:53.760 --> 02:08:58.149
ultimately real separated individuality
02:08:58.159 --> 02:09:00.550
but you have just causes and conditions
02:09:00.560 --> 02:09:03.189
like with a fire that's one of the the
02:09:03.199 --> 02:09:07.750
main examples I give is a fire and
02:09:07.760 --> 02:09:09.109
that's an example given in the early
02:09:09.119 --> 02:09:12.069
text too in fact nibbana or nirvana
02:09:12.079 --> 02:09:13.910
literally means blow blowing out like a
02:09:13.920 --> 02:09:16.149
fire blows out.
02:09:16.159 --> 02:09:18.870
So, so long as you have the causes that
02:09:18.880 --> 02:09:21.109
require that that that cause that fire
02:09:21.119 --> 02:09:23.830
to exist, the conditions that are
02:09:23.840 --> 02:09:25.910
necessary for that fire to exist, which
02:09:25.920 --> 02:09:29.830
according to the Boy Scout manual is
02:09:29.840 --> 02:09:33.270
fuel, oxygen, and heat. So long as
02:09:33.280 --> 02:09:35.589
you've got fuel, oxygen, and sufficient
02:09:35.599 --> 02:09:38.310
heat all in the same place, you're going
02:09:38.320 --> 02:09:39.589
to have fire. You're going to have
02:09:39.599 --> 02:09:41.589
combustion.
02:09:41.599 --> 02:09:43.109
And that's the way it is with pretty
02:09:43.119 --> 02:09:46.069
much everything, including a human
02:09:46.079 --> 02:09:49.589
being, including a mental state.
02:09:49.599 --> 02:09:53.270
It's so long as the conditions that
02:09:53.280 --> 02:09:56.149
cause that to arise are there, it
02:09:56.159 --> 02:09:58.950
arises. And if you want to stop arising,
02:09:58.960 --> 02:10:01.350
you have to eliminate the conditions. So
02:10:01.360 --> 02:10:02.870
that a person who's trying to become
02:10:02.880 --> 02:10:04.390
enlightened,
02:10:04.400 --> 02:10:06.550
they're not striving for this state so
02:10:06.560 --> 02:10:09.910
much as they are just trying to like
02:10:09.920 --> 02:10:13.109
eliminate or transcend the conditions
02:10:13.119 --> 02:10:18.790
that cause them to be unenlightened.
02:10:18.800 --> 02:10:21.350
But it's not really them because there
02:10:21.360 --> 02:10:23.750
is no ultimately real person. And this
02:10:23.760 --> 02:10:25.669
is all done within the context of
02:10:25.679 --> 02:10:29.430
conventional truth which all language is
02:10:29.440 --> 02:10:33.430
stuck in conventional truth.
02:10:33.440 --> 02:10:36.950
So see let's just uh
02:10:36.960 --> 02:10:39.830
read this again shall we?
02:10:39.840 --> 02:10:41.669
Apparently according to anata there is
02:10:41.679 --> 02:10:43.669
no self and no person to have the desire
02:10:43.679 --> 02:10:45.990
for enlightenment and is said it's the
02:10:46.000 --> 02:10:47.910
energies and karmic entities that make
02:10:47.920 --> 02:10:50.390
choices and when one goes to hell one
02:10:50.400 --> 02:10:52.790
doesn't go to hell because there is no
02:10:52.800 --> 02:10:56.149
one but the energies that do go to hell
02:10:56.159 --> 02:10:58.870
or heaven. Can you elaborate on this
02:10:58.880 --> 02:11:01.430
idea of how the person is just a result
02:11:01.440 --> 02:11:03.589
of prior individual causes and effects?
02:11:03.599 --> 02:11:06.229
Well, I mean there is no,
02:11:06.239 --> 02:11:09.270
like I say, an ultimately real
02:11:09.280 --> 02:11:13.669
individual entity. It's just causes and
02:11:13.679 --> 02:11:16.149
effects. And some of those causes and
02:11:16.159 --> 02:11:19.270
effects form what appears to be a human
02:11:19.280 --> 02:11:22.149
being who appears to be having these
02:11:22.159 --> 02:11:24.629
preferences and desires and attachments
02:11:24.639 --> 02:11:28.310
and delusions and all the rest of it.
02:11:28.320 --> 02:11:31.109
And it's very subtle. Like I mentioned
02:11:31.119 --> 02:11:33.750
before, the Buddha himself, according to
02:11:33.760 --> 02:11:36.390
legend, almost just kept his mouth shut
02:11:36.400 --> 02:11:38.629
and minded his own business because he
02:11:38.639 --> 02:11:40.629
figured nobody was going to understand
02:11:40.639 --> 02:11:44.229
dependent core rising anyway.
02:11:44.239 --> 02:11:47.430
So some scholar monks in ancient India
02:11:47.440 --> 02:11:52.310
just came up with this list of 12 links
02:11:52.320 --> 02:11:54.390
and they say that's it. And so nowadays
02:11:54.400 --> 02:11:56.870
you got monks who just memorize the 12
02:11:56.880 --> 02:11:58.470
links.
02:11:58.480 --> 02:12:01.270
saying is ya etc. and they think they
02:12:01.280 --> 02:12:02.870
know it. They think they understand it.
02:12:02.880 --> 02:12:05.430
If you ask them to like clarify what
02:12:05.440 --> 02:12:07.430
they mean, they'll just parrot the
02:12:07.440 --> 02:12:10.790
commentaries what the commentary says.
02:12:10.800 --> 02:12:13.270
And it's why the Buddha would have
02:12:13.280 --> 02:12:15.669
almost not taught Buddhism because he
02:12:15.679 --> 02:12:17.589
thought nobody would understand it when
02:12:17.599 --> 02:12:20.310
nowadays all you got to do is just read
02:12:20.320 --> 02:12:22.550
an article or something, take a class,
02:12:22.560 --> 02:12:25.189
and you think you understand it. It's uh
02:12:25.199 --> 02:12:27.830
it's just kind of strange to me. I
02:12:27.840 --> 02:12:29.910
really think the Buddha was correct in
02:12:29.920 --> 02:12:31.830
that pretty much nobody understands
02:12:31.840 --> 02:12:34.069
dependent core rising and it's it's kind
02:12:34.079 --> 02:12:36.870
of frustrating for me to be asked to
02:12:36.880 --> 02:12:38.870
explain it over and over again when the
02:12:38.880 --> 02:12:41.589
godma Buddha himself
02:12:41.599 --> 02:12:43.669
was very reluctant to even attempt it
02:12:43.679 --> 02:12:45.910
because he knew that even if he
02:12:45.920 --> 02:12:48.709
explained dependent core rising almost
02:12:48.719 --> 02:12:49.990
nobody is going to understand what he's
02:12:50.000 --> 02:12:53.589
talking about. So, who am I to try to
02:12:53.599 --> 02:12:55.750
explain dependent core rising unless I
02:12:55.760 --> 02:12:57.030
want to just take the Burmese approach
02:12:57.040 --> 02:12:59.910
and just explain the 12 links and what
02:12:59.920 --> 02:13:01.750
they're supposed to mean? And, you know,
02:13:01.760 --> 02:13:04.069
the first two links apply to a previous
02:13:04.079 --> 02:13:06.310
life and then the next links apply to
02:13:06.320 --> 02:13:08.149
the present life and the last links in
02:13:08.159 --> 02:13:11.109
the series belong to a future life. You
02:13:11.119 --> 02:13:13.430
know, that's not so hard to understand,
02:13:13.440 --> 02:13:15.189
but I do not consider that to be what
02:13:15.199 --> 02:13:20.069
independent core rising is all about.
02:13:20.079 --> 02:13:22.069
Ah,
02:13:22.079 --> 02:13:24.310
so
02:13:24.320 --> 02:13:25.990
I mean you've got mental states that
02:13:26.000 --> 02:13:27.990
arise because of causes because they
02:13:28.000 --> 02:13:33.109
can. Anything that can arise will arise.
02:13:33.119 --> 02:13:37.109
And gosh, can I elaborate on this idea
02:13:37.119 --> 02:13:38.950
of how the person is just a result of
02:13:38.960 --> 02:13:40.709
prior individual causes and effects?
02:13:40.719 --> 02:13:42.709
Well, I mean, it's just consider a
02:13:42.719 --> 02:13:45.990
flame. A human being is is just a more
02:13:46.000 --> 02:13:48.550
complicated version of a flame. The
02:13:48.560 --> 02:13:52.310
matter is the difference is is I mean
02:13:52.320 --> 02:13:53.830
you could say it's it's more a matter of
02:13:53.840 --> 02:13:57.270
degree than anything else. I mean life
02:13:57.280 --> 02:14:00.069
in general is a kind of controlled
02:14:00.079 --> 02:14:03.109
flame. It's still an oxidation process
02:14:03.119 --> 02:14:06.069
at least in aerobic life.
02:14:06.079 --> 02:14:09.750
It just takes the oxidation of fuel, the
02:14:09.760 --> 02:14:12.229
burning of fuel, and slows it down in a
02:14:12.239 --> 02:14:15.270
chemical process that is able to like
02:14:15.280 --> 02:14:17.510
harness some of the energy given off
02:14:17.520 --> 02:14:19.589
instead of just sort of a chaotic
02:14:19.599 --> 02:14:22.229
spewing of heat which happens with fire.
02:14:22.239 --> 02:14:24.470
But fire also just like a human being
02:14:24.480 --> 02:14:29.270
needs fuel and it needs it needs oxygen,
02:14:29.280 --> 02:14:33.589
needs warmth, heat.
02:14:33.599 --> 02:14:36.550
So you could view a human being and all
02:14:36.560 --> 02:14:38.790
their mental processes to just be an
02:14:38.800 --> 02:14:42.149
extremely elaborate version of a kind of
02:14:42.159 --> 02:14:45.270
flame and you just take away the causes
02:14:45.280 --> 02:14:47.189
of that flame
02:14:47.199 --> 02:14:49.109
and whatever it is that you're focusing
02:14:49.119 --> 02:14:52.390
on that also disappears. I mean just
02:14:52.400 --> 02:14:54.550
just as a flame does if you take away
02:14:54.560 --> 02:14:57.990
its requisite conditions
02:14:58.000 --> 02:15:01.990
and it's hard to grasp even most
02:15:02.000 --> 02:15:05.510
Buddhists don't get it
02:15:05.520 --> 02:15:07.990
just like the Buddha knew was going to
02:15:08.000 --> 02:15:10.310
happen
02:15:10.320 --> 02:15:13.830
and it's hard to explain
02:15:13.840 --> 02:15:16.629
but it's it's like
02:15:16.639 --> 02:15:19.350
everything is the result of causes and
02:15:19.360 --> 02:15:21.589
even the causes themselves Elves are the
02:15:21.599 --> 02:15:24.629
result of causes and it creates this
02:15:24.639 --> 02:15:28.709
interconnected web of causes and effects
02:15:28.719 --> 02:15:31.510
that ultimately have no basis in
02:15:31.520 --> 02:15:33.430
ultimate reality other than just the
02:15:33.440 --> 02:15:35.510
kind of essence that they arise from.
02:15:35.520 --> 02:15:38.950
But the forms are just practically
02:15:38.960 --> 02:15:41.189
arbitrary. I mean the forms are not
02:15:41.199 --> 02:15:46.629
ultimately real.
02:15:46.639 --> 02:15:48.870
And I guess that's about as good as I'm
02:15:48.880 --> 02:15:53.669
going to do. I I I give up. And so we're
02:15:53.679 --> 02:15:55.510
done. I answered all the questions or at
02:15:55.520 --> 02:15:58.390
least tried to answer all the questions.
02:15:58.400 --> 02:15:59.910
And so if you have any questions you
02:15:59.920 --> 02:16:02.069
think I can answer
02:16:02.079 --> 02:16:04.390
like especially about early Buddhism
02:16:04.400 --> 02:16:08.629
preferably you just well early Buddhism
02:16:08.639 --> 02:16:11.109
terravada Buddhism Buddhism in general
02:16:11.119 --> 02:16:15.990
Dharma even more in general philosophy
02:16:16.000 --> 02:16:19.990
Burma what what's what it's like there
02:16:20.000 --> 02:16:22.229
um personal questions just don't get too
02:16:22.239 --> 02:16:24.629
personal
02:16:24.639 --> 02:16:26.550
feel free to ask if you think I can
02:16:26.560 --> 02:16:28.950
answer it um No more than three
02:16:28.960 --> 02:16:30.790
questions per person per episode,
02:16:30.800 --> 02:16:33.669
please. And like and subscribe if you
02:16:33.679 --> 02:16:36.230
have not done so already,
02:16:36.240 --> 02:16:38.950
assuming that you did like it. If you
02:16:38.960 --> 02:16:40.629
got this far, I I doubt that you hated
02:16:40.639 --> 02:16:45.750
it very bad. And uh look at the links,
02:16:45.760 --> 02:16:48.469
the URL links below
02:16:48.479 --> 02:16:52.200
and be happy.