Question & Answer #172: from Intolerant Christians to the Value of Zen

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Okay then.
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Hello and welcome to question and answer
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number 172.
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I am your host Po Basa. And of course
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172 is not a prime number. It is in fact
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2 * 2 * 43.
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And we got kind of a long list of
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questions today. So I shouldn't really
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take up too much time with a lengthy
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preamble. Just introduce you to the
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beverage. So I got that. I've also
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prepared I've got the the bobblehead
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heretic mahayana monk
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and so
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oh got the emergency backup little paper
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umbrella with no emergency backup
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beverage. So I'm kind of taking a risk
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by not having the emergency backup
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beverage. But we'll just see how it
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goes.
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And I suppose I should just like wade
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into this. just start answering
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questions
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relentlessly like some sort of question
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terminator.
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And the first question is from Romeo.
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And I I'm always resisting the urge for
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like the wherefore art thou Romeo stuff.
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So I'm just don't even wait for it
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because it's not going to happen.
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Romeo says, "Although I was raised
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Catholic, I have long since left
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Christianity behind. Every now and then
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my interest in Buddhism comes up in
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conversation with people in my life who
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remain devout Christians. This sometimes
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lead to some awkward moments. The
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reaction I usually get from them is a
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mix of concern, confusion, fear, and a
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bit of disdain.
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Let's see here. Recently, one
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particularly zealous family member even
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gave me a warning that my going too
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deeply into Buddhism would open me up to
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evil spirits and demons.
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A few Google searches later, and I came
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to find that this aversive view of
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Buddhism is not limited to people in my
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life, I even came across an article from
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a Christian preacher that warns against
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something as innocuous and beneficial as
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mindfulness meditation of all things.
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Have you ever come across this paranoia
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view of Buddhism from followers of other
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religions either online or in your
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everyday life? If so, how do you respond
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to them? How do you make sense of such
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warped views of Buddhism?
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So I mean probably the most extreme
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reaction from a Christian from a non
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Buddhist that I got um ever was I used
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to uh do a lot of commenting in the
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Breitbart comment sections and my like
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my name in the the Breitbart comment
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sections is politically incorrect
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Buddhist. So Buddhist is in my name. And
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as you may imagine, Breitbart gets a lot
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of like conservative sort of bluecollar
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type Christian people, not highly
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intellectual. You know, it's like the
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the the the IQ level of Breitbart
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comments is somewhat lower than like the
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IQ level of like X.
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That's just the way it works out. You're
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not you don't really go to Breitbart
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comments for the purpose of having like
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a stimulating conversation.
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It can happen, but I mean your odds are
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better on other platforms. So anyways,
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uh somebody just saw like my name
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politically incorrect Buddhist in the
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comments and they were this person was
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they were they were like saying that
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like mantras like when you meditate
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using a mantra that really you're you're
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like calling out the names of demons so
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that they can like possess you more
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easily. And also there is saying that
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the the weird contortions of the body
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confusing Buddhism with like hata yoga
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is like making it easier for the demons
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to get in which is pretty extreme and
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some like hysterically intolerant
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preacher probably told them this stuff
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and they just believe it.
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That was that would be like the most
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extreme example of what Romeo was
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talking about. I remember um one time
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like a supervisor at work who's a really
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nice guy, you know, just like the the
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blue collar just you know goes probably
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goes to church, maybe he goes to church,
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I don't know, but he's a Christian
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and uh he he asked about my YouTube
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channel or something and I said it's
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like I I answer questions about Buddhist
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philosophy and he asked me, "Are you a
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Buddhist?" And I said, "More Buddhist
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than anything else." And then he just
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kind of made the sound like
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maybe it wasn't as extreme as that. I
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mean, he didn't jerk the head sideways
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or anything, but it was just sort of
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like this kind of a sound that uh
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indicated that he was not exactly
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satisfied with my answer.
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And of course,
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when I was a junior monk, before I even
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went to Burma, still in California,
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there was this really nice Jehovah's
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Witness guy who would come like once a
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week trying to convert me. And uh I
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remember one time, I mean, he was giving
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me lots of these Jehovah Witness
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pamphlets, you know, like Watchtower
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magazine and all this stuff. So finally
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one time I tried to give him it was like
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a little booklet like a ginka booklet
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you know I just just you know sort of
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turn about his fair play and all that so
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I tried to offer him this and he didn't
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do it really consciously but he recoiled
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from that pamphlet as though I were
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trying to hand him like a a centipede or
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something you know it was like like real
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just genuine like deep aversion like
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whoa you know he just backed up. You
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know, he didn't want to even touch it.
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But let's see here. Let's just get to
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the actual question. Let's see.
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Have you ever come across this paranoia
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view of Buddhism from followers of other
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religions, either online or in your
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everyday life? Yeah. Well, I've answered
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that part. If so, how do you respond to
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them? Well, I mean, just not responding
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is probably best. And I mean, they're
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not like right in my face. It's not like
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any kind of confrontational thing, you
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know, like some ignorant person in
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Breitbart comments. I might like calmly
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explain the truth of the situation. I
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mean, that would that's probably best,
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you know, just calmly, more or less
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rationally explain to them, you know,
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how they are mistaken in their
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assumptions.
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with regard to the supervisor at work. I
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mean, he just kind of made this sound
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and and I just, you know, just didn't
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didn't really follow up on that.
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So, let's see. How do I respond? I
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answered that part. And so, how do you
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make sense of such warped views of
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Buddhism? Well, I mean it is strange
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because like for example, especially in
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like the the contemplative orders of
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Christianity like you know Carmelite
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Christians, Carmelite Catholics I should
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say or um you know some of the Greek
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Orthodox or just Russian Orthodox
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Orthodox sects you know they have yogic
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practice not just aseticism and prayer
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but also they've got mindfulness
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practice they call recollection at least
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St. John of the Cross called what what a
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Buddhist calls mindfulness recollection
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which is kind of weird because
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recollection means memory and the
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polyword sad in like ordinary parliament
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in in the northern Ganges or northern
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India Ganges Valley in the Buddhist time
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I mean it also mainly means memory. So
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why like completely like dismissing
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memory and being in the present moment
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came to be called recollection for the
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Catholics and you know like mindfulness
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which like recollection in in ancient
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India also is is something that I really
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do not understand. I don't know if
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there's any connection or it was just
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some weird coincidence where
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essentially just like abolishing the
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memory and just being in the present
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moment gets used I mean the word for it
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is a word that means memory that part I
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don't understand but like the practices
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of in Buddhism practices like in the
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discouse carmealites of of whom St. John
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of the Cross was an ordained member is
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very similar. The main differences are
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just the the theory, you know, it's just
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the like the narrative and that kind of
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thing, but the actual practice is
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remarkably similar and some of the
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insights that arise from that practice
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that aren't like attached to some dogma
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and like you know like conforming to
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some dogma. Those also are remarkably
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similar like some of the insights of St.
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John of the Cross are very similar to
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what you can find in in the sutas.
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So
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I mean there is that similarity and it's
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mainly just the like the theory part you
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know it's like the view part that that
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is like the stumbling block
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in my opinion
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especially for Christians it seems
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um let's see there was something else I
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was going to say oh yeah with regard to
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like Catholics I mean one thing you can
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say to a like a Christian especially if
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they're a Catholic or or or orthodox
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is that I mean there are many people
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consider the Buddha to be a Catholic
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saint or Christian saint St. Josephhat
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although technically it's not exactly
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true because um St. Josephhat is a
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corrupted form of one of the bodhicattas
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existences
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as detailed in in a jotica story. So
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there was like this Jotica story in you
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know Jotica stories are like a genre of
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of Buddhist literature in which you take
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like a like an Asups fable some kind of
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of like a folk tale probably that had
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existed in India since before the
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Buddhist time a lot of them anyway and
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then you just sort of tack on like a
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Buddhist moral at the end and the Buddha
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saying that this character in the story
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was me in a former life And that's that
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character was like Sar Puta and that
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character was Ananda. That kind of
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stuff.
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And one of these stories was so popular
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that it got translated into Arabic like
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when the the Arabs were like the Muslims
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were on the borders of India maybe
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hadn't actually done much invading yet.
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And so they they translated into Arabic
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where the word bodhicattva or bodhicatta
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became bodhisaf and then it traveled
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westwards across caravan routes. By the
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time it got to like Georgia or Armenia
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it was like loisaf and then when it got
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to Greece or the Greekeaking world at
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the time it became Yosaf which then in
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in Latin became Yosphhatus or in English
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Josephhat. and he was canonized as a
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saint in the middle age in the middle
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ages and I have been told that there is
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at least two churches dedicated to St.
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Joseph. One's one's in Sicily I think
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the other one I think is maybe southern
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France or something and a Catholic
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priest told me once that there was a a
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monastery a Christian monastery in
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Germany that had a shrine to all the
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saints the the shrine to St. Josephhat
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was just a Buddha image just sitting in
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meditation,
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but technically it wasn't really the
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Buddha because it was the Buddha in a
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previous incarnation which Christians
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don't even believe in most Christians.
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Anyways, I mean the reason why
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some Christians have this attitude, I
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mean it some of it's just right in the
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Bible, you know, it's like um the gospel
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according to John, I'm pretty sure says
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that you can only attain the kingdom of
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heaven through Jesus. So, anyone else is
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going to go to hell except for maybe a
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few like Jewish patriarchs from the Old
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Testament.
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they might get into heaven just because
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they were, you know, pre-Christian
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Jewish patriarchs,
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biblical ones.
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But one of the main reasons why
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Christianity has prospered as well as it
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has for over a thousand years is simply
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hysterical intolerance.
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You know, like in ancient Rome, you had
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a very eclectic religious system. You
00:13:22.800 --> 00:13:24.389
had all kinds of different religions.
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.870
It's it was paganism. One person's
00:13:26.880 --> 00:13:29.509
worshiping mainly this god. Another one
00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.750
is a votery of that goddess. You know,
00:13:31.760 --> 00:13:33.990
Sabel, you know, you got a worshshiper
00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.910
of Sabel. And then you've got someone
00:13:35.920 --> 00:13:39.269
who is, you know, a devote of Apollo.
00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:40.870
And then you've got some guy who's a
00:13:40.880 --> 00:13:43.509
member of the Orphic mysteries. You got
00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.190
another person down the road who
00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.790
worships the the Egyptian goddess Isis.
00:13:48.800 --> 00:13:50.389
Then you've got some, you know,
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.710
Epicurans that don't worship any gods
00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:54.949
and you've got, you know, stoic
00:13:54.959 --> 00:13:57.910
philosophers and just, I mean, it was
00:13:57.920 --> 00:14:00.710
very eclectic, kind of like what um, you
00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:03.509
know, Western civilization has become,
00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:05.110
you know, starting like in the 20th
00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.990
century.
00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.509
But then, but then Christianity came
00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.910
along and they weren't willing to play
00:14:11.920 --> 00:14:13.509
ball that way. They weren't willing to
00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:15.829
to share the playing field, you know.
00:14:15.839 --> 00:14:19.110
They were it was like only we are right.
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:21.110
Everyone else is a devil worshipper. You
00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:22.870
know, they just converted all the pagan
00:14:22.880 --> 00:14:25.509
gods and goddesses into demons. You're
00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:27.030
all going to burn in hell. I mean, they
00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:28.949
were quite willing to consign their own
00:14:28.959 --> 00:14:31.110
ancestors, their own recent ancestors,
00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.990
maybe their own parents to to eternal
00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:38.069
damnation simply because they didn't
00:14:38.079 --> 00:14:41.750
follow the new belief system. And that
00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:44.790
hysterical intolerance actually is a is
00:14:44.800 --> 00:14:47.590
a winning strategy. If you're just too
00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:51.750
tolerant, then you just accept
00:14:51.760 --> 00:14:53.910
people that that are not tolerant and
00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:55.269
then they're just going to like force
00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.350
you out or just persecute you or
00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:58.470
whatever as soon as they get the
00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.870
opportunity.
00:15:00.880 --> 00:15:03.509
So historical intolerance is is to some
00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.550
degree built into Christianity. You
00:15:06.560 --> 00:15:08.470
know, there's some of that the roots of
00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.150
that are already found in the New
00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:11.750
Testament
00:15:11.760 --> 00:15:15.509
and it's has served Christianity well, I
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:19.670
guess. You know, just
00:15:19.680 --> 00:15:22.310
like u Gibbons decline fall the Roman
00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:24.069
Empire. He's talking about like the late
00:15:24.079 --> 00:15:25.990
empire when it was well into decline,
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.350
well into like Christianity where you
00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.829
would have just riots in the streets
00:15:31.839 --> 00:15:33.750
over I mean people literally killing
00:15:33.760 --> 00:15:35.829
each other. Blood blood flowing in the
00:15:35.839 --> 00:15:38.150
street over like disagreements on
00:15:38.160 --> 00:15:40.550
whether the the Holy Spirit emanates
00:15:40.560 --> 00:15:43.189
directly from the father or it direct or
00:15:43.199 --> 00:15:45.350
it emanates indirectly from the father
00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:47.750
through the son. And that was like a
00:15:47.760 --> 00:15:52.949
major major like like dogmatic battle
00:15:52.959 --> 00:15:55.430
that went on in the late Roman Empire
00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.949
with literally people killing each other
00:15:56.959 --> 00:15:58.790
over it when really I mean they couldn't
00:15:58.800 --> 00:16:01.189
possibly know this. It's just a matter
00:16:01.199 --> 00:16:04.470
of we got to all believe the same thing.
00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:07.509
We have to be on exactly the same page.
00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:12.470
And it's it's hysterical intolerance
00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.069
combined with a certain amount of
00:16:14.079 --> 00:16:15.910
ignorance of other belief systems where
00:16:15.920 --> 00:16:17.269
you can just believe, you know, they're
00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.949
they're all just worshiping devils.
00:16:20.959 --> 00:16:24.470
I mean, you see that on axelot even just
00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:27.030
like might have even been today that I'm
00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:29.189
seeing that, you know, Islam is not a
00:16:29.199 --> 00:16:32.470
real religion. It's just like this like
00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.949
political cult or it's the worship of
00:16:34.959 --> 00:16:36.710
Satan. There's people saying that on
00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:38.870
Acts, you know, that Islam is really a
00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:41.590
kind of devil worship. And I mean, I
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.629
don't I just can't go that far, you
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.269
know. I I can I can accept that Islam,
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:49.350
the founder of Islam, was a kind of
00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:52.629
caravan bandit turned into a warlord,
00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:54.710
but I wouldn't go so far as to say that
00:16:54.720 --> 00:17:00.470
Muslims are literally worshiping Satan.
00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.870
So,
00:17:02.880 --> 00:17:05.829
let's see. Did I answer the question?
00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.069
How do I make sense of such warped views
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.390
of Buddhism?
00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:12.150
It's mainly hysterical intolerance
00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:15.909
combined with ignorance of what dharma
00:17:15.919 --> 00:17:17.270
is all about. And the best way to deal
00:17:17.280 --> 00:17:21.750
with is just calmly explain things.
00:17:21.760 --> 00:17:23.270
And of course, in all likelihood,
00:17:23.280 --> 00:17:24.309
they're not going to accept the
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:25.590
explanation very much, but at least
00:17:25.600 --> 00:17:27.110
you're not going to be fueling any kind
00:17:27.120 --> 00:17:29.270
of argument by, you know, getting heated
00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:31.190
and like arguing back at them, anything
00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:37.110
like that.
00:17:37.120 --> 00:17:38.549
So I guess I should just move on the
00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.630
next question. As I say, there is kind
00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:42.470
of a longish list of questions. I mean,
00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.630
it's middle path between too many
00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.950
questions and not enough questions. So
00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.350
it's a good Buddhist Q&A here. And the
00:17:49.360 --> 00:17:52.310
next question is from Thoughtf Fog. And
00:17:52.320 --> 00:17:54.390
Thoughtfog says, "Would a monk be a
00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.190
valuable contribution to society worthy
00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.510
of food stamps?"
00:17:59.520 --> 00:18:01.990
So I mean
00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.710
you I I don't fully understand this
00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:08.630
question. I mean I assume thoughtf is
00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.630
asking are monks like
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.029
an asset to the society such that we
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:19.669
should be giving monks food stamps and I
00:18:19.679 --> 00:18:21.590
mean technically food stamps you don't
00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:23.270
associate that with people who are
00:18:23.280 --> 00:18:26.310
assets to society. you you you you tend
00:18:26.320 --> 00:18:29.190
to associate food stamps with people
00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:32.070
that really aren't able to contribute
00:18:32.080 --> 00:18:34.310
much to society and so they need to be
00:18:34.320 --> 00:18:36.390
like taking more than they give or some
00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:40.070
such. Um but
00:18:40.080 --> 00:18:42.390
the thing I mean I when I was a people
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:44.310
were were like suggesting this kind of
00:18:44.320 --> 00:18:45.830
stuff to me too. you know, you should
00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:47.510
get like the free bus pass and you
00:18:47.520 --> 00:18:50.870
should you should go on like an EBT or
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:52.870
food stamps or whatever it is. And it
00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:55.510
just it just didn't seem right as a
00:18:55.520 --> 00:18:58.230
monk. I mean, a food food stamps you use
00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:00.549
them as money. You go to the store and
00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:03.350
buy food with food stamps, which I mean,
00:19:03.360 --> 00:19:05.350
a monk should not be using money or
00:19:05.360 --> 00:19:08.710
anything that is used as money. So, that
00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.909
would rule it out right there.
00:19:11.919 --> 00:19:13.909
Same thing with like the the bus pass
00:19:13.919 --> 00:19:16.070
kind of a thing. If you're using it as
00:19:16.080 --> 00:19:20.070
money in lie of money, then it's
00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:24.070
technically a no no.
00:19:24.080 --> 00:19:28.150
And so for a monk, you'd be a monk would
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.630
be better off just like going to a food
00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:33.270
kitchen, going to a soup kitchen, that
00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:35.669
kind of thing where you've got like
00:19:35.679 --> 00:19:39.350
generous people generally not funded by
00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:40.789
the government, you know, this is like
00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.510
private charity as a general rule who
00:19:43.520 --> 00:19:45.029
just out of the goodness of their heart
00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:47.430
are helping people and the monk would be
00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.590
associating with like homeless drug
00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:53.909
addicts and so forth, but I mean that's
00:19:53.919 --> 00:19:55.990
And I consider that like a monk who is
00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:59.590
really homeless in in America. I mean,
00:19:59.600 --> 00:20:00.870
there's a good chance he'd be living
00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:04.070
like in a in a homeless encampment with
00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:08.070
like mentally ill drug addicts, which I
00:20:08.080 --> 00:20:09.750
mean, he wouldn't have much to steal,
00:20:09.760 --> 00:20:11.750
that kind of thing. So I mean he certain
00:20:11.760 --> 00:20:13.669
monks with a certain kind of temperament
00:20:13.679 --> 00:20:16.630
very benevolent kind of you know social
00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.630
sort of temperament might be able to do
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.350
well in a homeless encampment just going
00:20:21.360 --> 00:20:23.909
to a food kitchen for for their food. I
00:20:23.919 --> 00:20:26.070
mean I did know one monk who lived on
00:20:26.080 --> 00:20:28.549
the outskirts of San Diego. I think he
00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.950
was staying in a wildlife refuge on the
00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:32.630
outskirts of San Diego and every day
00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:35.590
he'd walk into a like a Christian soup
00:20:35.600 --> 00:20:38.470
kitchen to get his food
00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.230
and they just put it into his bowl and
00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:42.230
they were fine with that. So that would
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.909
be more appropriate I think than using
00:20:45.919 --> 00:20:48.870
food stamps as a kind of
00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:52.549
substitute for money.
00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:54.310
But monks are a valuable contribution,
00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:57.270
but a valuable contribution to society.
00:20:57.280 --> 00:20:58.789
Even though technically they're supposed
00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:02.630
to be, you know, removed from society,
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.430
you know, they renounce society,
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:10.549
they should not be particularly social.
00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:12.870
But private charity is much better than
00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:17.029
government, large, you know, socialism.
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.830
private charity is infinitely superior
00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:23.029
to socialism. Um in the ex to especially
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:24.789
from a moral point of view or a
00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.990
spiritual point of view where the person
00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.789
who is like
00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:34.549
engaging in private charity is gathering
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.149
up treasures in heaven to use Christian
00:21:36.159 --> 00:21:37.750
terminology. I mean you're you're doing
00:21:37.760 --> 00:21:39.350
something meritorious. you're you're
00:21:39.360 --> 00:21:41.350
being generous. Whereas just having the
00:21:41.360 --> 00:21:43.669
money automatically deducted from your
00:21:43.679 --> 00:21:47.750
paycheck and then squandered by some
00:21:47.760 --> 00:21:50.789
inefficient government bureaucracy
00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:54.230
is not nearly as beneficial as a general
00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:56.870
rule. I assume there are exceptions to
00:21:56.880 --> 00:21:59.510
that.
00:21:59.520 --> 00:22:01.590
But yeah, go to a soup kitchen instead
00:22:01.600 --> 00:22:03.830
of going on food stamps if you are a
00:22:03.840 --> 00:22:05.909
monk in the west. And I'm just going to
00:22:05.919 --> 00:22:07.110
move on. Next question. This is from
00:22:07.120 --> 00:22:10.310
Drip Walker and Drip Walker says, "What
00:22:10.320 --> 00:22:14.149
do you think of Evola's take on anata or
00:22:14.159 --> 00:22:16.950
no self? It seems to me that he morphs
00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:19.510
the concept of not self or no self into
00:22:19.520 --> 00:22:22.390
some kind of weird higher self thing.
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.630
And it has been a very long time since
00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:29.510
I've read um Evola's take on Buddhism.
00:22:29.520 --> 00:22:31.909
Um I have read you know the famous book
00:22:31.919 --> 00:22:33.750
you know like the name of which I don't
00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:35.350
even remember the path to awakening or
00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:37.190
something like that.
00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.710
in English. But um yeah, it did seem to
00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:44.549
me that I does kind of glorify
00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:47.110
Buddhism, you know, like he's got the
00:22:47.120 --> 00:22:48.950
the Buddhist arant, you know, the
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:50.630
Buddhist enlightened being as some kind
00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.029
of Nietian Superman.
00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:55.750
So I mean he's taking Buddhism and
00:22:55.760 --> 00:22:59.270
trying to like reconcile it with
00:22:59.280 --> 00:23:00.870
fascism.
00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.870
So, you've got like you have to have
00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:05.750
like the the Superman who is like the
00:23:05.760 --> 00:23:09.510
the saint, the Buddhist saint. And yeah,
00:23:09.520 --> 00:23:13.029
I I I think that Dripwalker is correct
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.590
that probably Evola
00:23:15.600 --> 00:23:17.669
just takes the no self thing and just
00:23:17.679 --> 00:23:21.029
kind of turns it into like a unity with
00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:22.710
the higher self, you know, sort of like
00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:26.630
the God man kind of a thing, which uh
00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.669
yeah, I think you do have to distort
00:23:29.679 --> 00:23:33.590
Buddhism at least a little bit to really
00:23:33.600 --> 00:23:37.590
reconcile it with like Evola's preferred
00:23:37.600 --> 00:23:43.750
form of fascism.
00:23:43.760 --> 00:23:45.909
And by fascism, I don't necessarily mean
00:23:45.919 --> 00:23:50.230
capital F Italian fascism that had
00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:51.830
Mussolini as its leader. I'm just
00:23:51.840 --> 00:23:54.390
talking about like small fascism
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:57.430
in general.
00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.230
So yeah, I really don't recall his take
00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:03.430
on no self well enough to really comment
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.990
on it in any kind of detail. So I'm just
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:06.950
going to move on to the next question.
00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:10.149
This is from Jojo Do
00:24:10.159 --> 00:24:13.750
speaking of fascism. Jo says, "Do you
00:24:13.760 --> 00:24:17.029
think Hitler would have given a merciful
00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:20.470
death to Brian Rue on on account of his
00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:23.669
bipolar disorder? If so, why did Brian
00:24:23.679 --> 00:24:26.070
ever support him?" I'm asking as someone
00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:28.070
who has been labeled a schizophrenic.
00:24:28.080 --> 00:24:29.990
So, that's that's another question. We
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:32.230
got to we got to separate these. And
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.149
while I'm separating these, I might as
00:24:34.159 --> 00:24:36.870
well say that um I would prefer that
00:24:36.880 --> 00:24:40.950
people use not use hyphens instead of
00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:45.190
dashes because I have I go in and I have
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:47.110
to change all the hyphens into dashes
00:24:47.120 --> 00:24:49.430
because it's just not good punctuation.
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.470
It is wrong.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:55.029
So, let's get back to Joe's question. Do
00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:56.310
you think Hitler would have given a
00:24:56.320 --> 00:24:58.549
merciful death to Brian Ru on a kind of
00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:02.149
his bipolar disorder? Um,
00:25:02.159 --> 00:25:05.110
I mean it depends. I mean, would Hitler
00:25:05.120 --> 00:25:07.350
have actually known Brian Ru? I mean, if
00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:09.669
he would he have met Brian Rue, then I
00:25:09.679 --> 00:25:11.350
mean, he might have liked him. You know,
00:25:11.360 --> 00:25:14.549
Brian Rue would be a fanboy probably.
00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:16.710
And so, I mean, Hitler wouldn't just be
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:20.230
like having people executed that were
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.830
like strenuously in his favor.
00:25:23.840 --> 00:25:25.430
So, I mean, he may have been completely
00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.510
merciful to I mean, there were some
00:25:27.520 --> 00:25:30.310
fairly nutty Nazis that were relatively
00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:32.230
high up in the in the pecking order. So,
00:25:32.240 --> 00:25:34.230
it may be that Brian Rue would just I
00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:36.789
mean, he'd be put in charge of the Nazi
00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:40.149
party in some remote province or
00:25:40.159 --> 00:25:44.070
something. Who knows?
00:25:44.080 --> 00:25:46.310
Um, but it may be that I'm that if
00:25:46.320 --> 00:25:48.710
Hitler had never met Brian Rue, I mean,
00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:51.110
I don't know what his policies were with
00:25:51.120 --> 00:25:55.269
regard to people diagnosed with some
00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:58.070
mental disorder that were were they just
00:25:58.080 --> 00:26:00.070
thrown into concentration camps? It may
00:26:00.080 --> 00:26:02.310
be that I mean, some of the really
00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:05.029
extreme cases like criminally insane,
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:07.669
that kind of stuff. Yeah, I wouldn't be
00:26:07.679 --> 00:26:10.630
surprised. But um I really don't know
00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.470
enough about the social policies of the
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.549
the the German National Socialist
00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:20.070
Workers Party um to know I mean what
00:26:20.080 --> 00:26:24.230
they did with people who just were like
00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:27.990
I mean they weren't a danger to anybody
00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.909
you know they're like the benevolent
00:26:29.919 --> 00:26:33.669
kind of eccentric weird person
00:26:33.679 --> 00:26:36.070
who may have this or that label attached
00:26:36.080 --> 00:26:38.390
to them from like a psychological
00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:40.390
perspective,
00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.750
but I think Hitler was kind of
00:26:43.760 --> 00:26:46.549
he was tolerant of eccentric people, I'm
00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:48.149
pretty sure, so long as they weren't
00:26:48.159 --> 00:26:50.070
like opposing
00:26:50.080 --> 00:26:52.789
the Nazi party.
00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:56.549
So, yeah, I don't know.
00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:59.350
It's just kind of a weird question
00:26:59.360 --> 00:27:01.909
seems to me, but I would like to think
00:27:01.919 --> 00:27:06.470
that uh that Brian Rue if he existed and
00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:10.070
Brian actually believes that he was uh I
00:27:10.080 --> 00:27:12.230
think he was like a Luftwaffa pilot or
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:16.070
something in in National Socialist
00:27:16.080 --> 00:27:18.549
Germany in his previous his previous
00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:23.590
life. So, I mean, in his previous life,
00:27:23.600 --> 00:27:25.269
I mean, he may have died in a plane
00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:26.950
crash or something, may have died in
00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:29.269
battle, but he wasn't put to death by
00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:31.669
the Nazi party. Assuming that Brian is
00:27:31.679 --> 00:27:33.669
correct that in his previous existence
00:27:33.679 --> 00:27:37.190
before this one, that he was actually
00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:39.909
was in
00:27:39.919 --> 00:27:42.950
Germany under Adolf Hitler, Adolf as
00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:46.390
they would prefer.
00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:47.909
So
00:27:47.919 --> 00:27:50.789
yeah, I mean bipolar disorder and just I
00:27:50.799 --> 00:27:52.149
think it was called manic depression
00:27:52.159 --> 00:27:55.909
back in those days and
00:27:55.919 --> 00:27:57.990
yeah I I really don't think that he
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:03.510
would have been seen as any kind of like
00:28:03.520 --> 00:28:05.430
deadwood in society, anything like that.
00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.630
So long as he was in favor of the party
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:10.470
that I'm sure there's a good chance he
00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:13.430
would have found a place for him or just
00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:14.870
leave him alone and let him do his
00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:17.029
thing.
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:20.470
So, I'm just going to move on to Jodo's
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:22.230
next question, which is the second half
00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:24.710
of the first question. If so, why did
00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:27.350
Brian ever support him? I'm asking as
00:28:27.360 --> 00:28:28.470
someone who has been labeled a
00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:30.710
schizophrenic. Well, I mean, I don't
00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:33.669
know. Bri, Brian obviously would not
00:28:33.679 --> 00:28:37.110
consider himself to have been put to
00:28:37.120 --> 00:28:41.190
death by the uh you know under the
00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:44.870
policies of the furer that uh you know
00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:47.990
he does believe that he was in Nazi
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:50.389
Germany in a pre in his previous
00:28:50.399 --> 00:28:53.350
existence and you know it prospered for
00:28:53.360 --> 00:28:55.830
him except for like I mean eventually I
00:28:55.840 --> 00:28:57.669
think he I think he did like die in a
00:28:57.679 --> 00:29:00.070
plane crash. his plane got shot down or
00:29:00.080 --> 00:29:01.830
something maybe.
00:29:01.840 --> 00:29:05.350
So I mean Brian supported him partly
00:29:05.360 --> 00:29:08.789
because Brian bless his heart. I mean he
00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:10.710
just cannot accept any official
00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:12.710
narrative. So you know the official
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:15.590
narrative is that Hitler was like just
00:29:15.600 --> 00:29:19.909
evil. So I mean Brian is is he does he's
00:29:19.919 --> 00:29:22.549
going to go the other way. And I mean
00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.870
partly I mean he he did have like some
00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:27.430
kind of vision or something in his youth
00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:30.310
like which caused him to start you know
00:29:30.320 --> 00:29:31.750
putting two and two together with regard
00:29:31.760 --> 00:29:33.830
to his previous existence as a luftwafa
00:29:33.840 --> 00:29:35.830
pilot.
00:29:35.840 --> 00:29:39.110
Um and he just Brian I mean he doesn't
00:29:39.120 --> 00:29:41.510
talk about national socialism much
00:29:41.520 --> 00:29:43.430
anymore partly because he's got so much
00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.590
grief from it. You know just people I
00:29:47.600 --> 00:29:51.669
mean just shun him because of it. But um
00:29:51.679 --> 00:29:53.430
I mean he sincerely doesn't think that
00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:55.669
Hitler did anything wrong. You know, I
00:29:55.679 --> 00:29:57.669
don't think he's he'd go so far as to
00:29:57.679 --> 00:29:59.750
deny the Holocaust, but he would go
00:29:59.760 --> 00:30:03.269
along with somebody like David Irving
00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.269
who I think is that his name? David
00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:07.350
Irving who, you know, sort of like an
00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:11.510
alternate historian who, I mean, it
00:30:11.520 --> 00:30:14.070
allows that, you know, quite a lot of
00:30:14.080 --> 00:30:18.310
Jewish people and others did die under
00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:21.190
under the like the the German National
00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:23.990
Socialist Party in the 30s and first
00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.029
half of the 40s. But Hitler, according
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:29.190
to Brian Rue, Hitler really didn't know
00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:32.149
about that. I mean it was just
00:30:32.159 --> 00:30:34.230
um you know this stuff that was going
00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:35.990
on. Hitler was just paying attention to
00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.710
other stuff and you know it was going on
00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:41.510
and Hitler did not order it. Did not
00:30:41.520 --> 00:30:44.470
necessarily approve of it. Although at
00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:46.870
the end I mean a lot of of Jewish people
00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:48.870
were were dying at the end just from
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.990
like uh typhus epidemics in the camps
00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:54.710
and just starvation because towards the
00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:56.070
end of the war things were getting so
00:30:56.080 --> 00:30:57.590
bad that the Germans could hardly even
00:30:57.600 --> 00:31:01.269
feed their own soldiers.
00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:04.870
So Brian supported and to some degree
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:07.669
maybe still supports Adolf Hitler
00:31:07.679 --> 00:31:09.830
because Brian sincerely does not believe
00:31:09.840 --> 00:31:12.950
that Adolf Hitler was like some evil
00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:16.230
psychopath that he was just sort of like
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:18.310
a hero who didn't do anything wrong but
00:31:18.320 --> 00:31:19.990
is just the victim of negative
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:23.029
propaganda and you know a certain
00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:26.789
ethnicity not liking him at all and kind
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:28.950
of running the running the narrative and
00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:31.190
so forth, you know, pressuring the
00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:32.870
United States to get into the war and
00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:36.870
all that.
00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:38.389
So,
00:31:38.399 --> 00:31:40.549
I mean, it's kind of convoluted as you
00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:42.789
might expect,
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:45.590
but uh yeah, Brian supports Hitler
00:31:45.600 --> 00:31:47.750
because he does not consider Hitler to
00:31:47.760 --> 00:31:50.470
have been an evil person. I mean from
00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:53.110
even a Buddhist point of view which is
00:31:53.120 --> 00:31:56.549
kind of strange but I mean personally I
00:31:56.559 --> 00:32:00.389
do not think that Hitler was a saint or
00:32:00.399 --> 00:32:02.870
a sage but on the other hand I don't
00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:04.950
think that he was as bad as Stalin for
00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:06.789
example. Stalin killed more people than
00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:09.350
Hitler did. Mao killed more people than
00:32:09.360 --> 00:32:13.190
Stalin and Hitler combined.
00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:16.149
But it's quite okay to endorse Marxism
00:32:16.159 --> 00:32:18.789
still even though Nazism,
00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:21.669
National Socialism or just fascism in
00:32:21.679 --> 00:32:24.230
general is considered just to be like
00:32:24.240 --> 00:32:27.750
absolute evil. you know, even to just be
00:32:27.760 --> 00:32:30.549
associated with it is, you know, like
00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:32.389
people on the left will use that as a
00:32:32.399 --> 00:32:35.110
weapon against somebody when really
00:32:35.120 --> 00:32:39.269
Marxism historically is responsible for
00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:42.630
way more deaths and more misery than all
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:47.669
the forms of fascism combined.
00:32:47.679 --> 00:32:50.470
But I think I'm just wandering toddling
00:32:50.480 --> 00:32:54.070
away from the from the topic here.
00:32:54.080 --> 00:32:55.430
So, let's just go on to the next
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:59.830
question also from Jodo.
00:32:59.840 --> 00:33:01.190
And this is kind of a good question. He
00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:02.870
says, "Now that Brian has been allowed
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:05.110
back on YouTube after being kicked off
00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:08.870
like at least 12 times, can can you
00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.430
restore the lost videos of you and his
00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:14.710
talks?" And to tell you the truth, um,
00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:17.110
most of the videos that I did with Brian
00:33:17.120 --> 00:33:18.950
back when I was a monk, I never even put
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:21.110
onto YouTube. I was for a while I was
00:33:21.120 --> 00:33:24.230
just kind of uploading old videos with
00:33:24.240 --> 00:33:26.710
Brian and I got about halfway through
00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:28.630
the the list. There's we did a lot of
00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:31.350
videos and then just kind of lost
00:33:31.360 --> 00:33:35.430
interest and so I've got way more old
00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:39.029
videos of me and Brian on Bitshoot than
00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:42.549
than on YouTube because um as Joe Doe
00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:44.710
here has implied, YouTube used to be
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:48.630
pretty sensorious. I got lots of videos
00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:51.590
taken down just because of just some
00:33:51.600 --> 00:33:54.549
casual mention of something in the past.
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:57.669
Whereas now, thanks largely thanks to
00:33:57.679 --> 00:34:00.310
Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the the
00:34:00.320 --> 00:34:04.070
sensoriousness of social media has has
00:34:04.080 --> 00:34:06.950
been lifted to a great degree.
00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:10.230
So you got people just like using the
00:34:10.240 --> 00:34:13.589
n-word on X and it's just it's fair game
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:15.669
now. Apparently,
00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:17.829
you can say that the 2020 election was
00:34:17.839 --> 00:34:23.349
rigged and not just lose your job
00:34:23.359 --> 00:34:26.069
or whatever.
00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:29.190
But, uh, yeah, so there's lots of old
00:34:29.200 --> 00:34:30.869
videos that never even got put onto
00:34:30.879 --> 00:34:33.270
YouTube. And most of them, I mean, there
00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:34.790
were a few because of those casual
00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:38.310
mentions and so forth, but um, a few of
00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:40.389
them did get taken down, but most of
00:34:40.399 --> 00:34:42.470
them that were put on YouTube are still
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:46.230
up. Um, it is true unfortunately that
00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:48.470
some of the videos that Brian and I did
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.109
with venerable Ajan Punadammo got taken
00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:52.790
down. Some of some of the most popular
00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:55.430
videos that I did, it was like a group
00:34:55.440 --> 00:34:58.310
discussion between Ajan Punadamo Brian
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:02.550
and me about various topics that some of
00:35:02.560 --> 00:35:06.150
those got taken down. So yeah, I've that
00:35:06.160 --> 00:35:08.310
Joe Doe is not the first person to
00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:10.630
suggest that those videos, especially
00:35:10.640 --> 00:35:12.950
the ones with Ajan Punodamo should be
00:35:12.960 --> 00:35:17.589
like put back up on YouTube now that uh
00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:22.390
the uh symbolic book burnings of the
00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:26.310
Biden administration have have uh have
00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:28.870
passed.
00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:30.710
So
00:35:30.720 --> 00:35:32.550
let's just uh move on to the next
00:35:32.560 --> 00:35:34.390
question.
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:37.510
This is from Jimmy Lad.
00:35:37.520 --> 00:35:39.910
And I there's I suppose I could just
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:41.910
start putting up old videos with Brian
00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:43.910
again, especially the ones with Ajan
00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:46.790
Puna Damo that got taken down. But uh
00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:48.550
I'm answering the question to Jimmy Lad
00:35:48.560 --> 00:35:51.589
now. Jimmy Lad says, "Where can we learn
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:54.390
more about the concept of mind generated
00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:57.030
karmic demons in the commentary
00:35:57.040 --> 00:36:00.870
tradition?"
00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:04.150
So this is in response
00:36:04.160 --> 00:36:06.630
This is in response to uh a statement I
00:36:06.640 --> 00:36:09.030
made in the previous Q&A where the
00:36:09.040 --> 00:36:12.390
demons in hell in Buddhist cosmology are
00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:14.870
not real beings. They're just like
00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:17.190
holographic projections
00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:19.910
that are generated by the karma of the
00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:24.870
denisens of the hell realms. And um how
00:36:24.880 --> 00:36:28.310
I learned about this is I happened to be
00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:31.430
at Pa Doya in southern Burma visiting a
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:34.630
German monk there. And I was just kind
00:36:34.640 --> 00:36:37.190
of curious about I don't know if I
00:36:37.200 --> 00:36:38.950
brought this up with him or I brought it
00:36:38.960 --> 00:36:41.750
up elsewhere and he just decided to
00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:45.430
respond to that while I was there, but I
00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:47.270
used to wonder where the like the demons
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:49.829
in hell fit in the 31 plains of
00:36:49.839 --> 00:36:52.310
existence. You know, there is no demon
00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:55.190
realm really. There's the Assuras, but
00:36:55.200 --> 00:36:57.270
never in the text does it say that it's
00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:00.150
Assuras in hell that are like boiling
00:37:00.160 --> 00:37:02.150
people in pitch and like hacking them
00:37:02.160 --> 00:37:04.630
with axes and this kind of stuff. You
00:37:04.640 --> 00:37:07.430
know, the the actual torturers in hell.
00:37:07.440 --> 00:37:09.670
Um there's not really a connection
00:37:09.680 --> 00:37:11.670
between them and the Assura realm. So,
00:37:11.680 --> 00:37:14.470
what are they? You know, I mean, would
00:37:14.480 --> 00:37:16.310
they just be denisens in hell that are
00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:19.030
like trustees, you know, just they get
00:37:19.040 --> 00:37:20.790
promoted because of good behavior so
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:22.550
that they get to like torture everyone
00:37:22.560 --> 00:37:24.310
else? That kind of thing, you know? I
00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:25.910
was wondering about that. And this
00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:27.430
German monk told me that in the
00:37:27.440 --> 00:37:29.750
commentarial tradition,
00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:31.589
they're I mean, they're not real beings.
00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:34.790
They're they're just like um you know,
00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:36.630
holographic projections. And he also
00:37:36.640 --> 00:37:39.030
said that the celestial nymphs in the
00:37:39.040 --> 00:37:40.790
heaven realms are the same way, which is
00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:43.109
kind of kind of a ripoff. I mean, some
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:45.670
people they're doing this striving to
00:37:45.680 --> 00:37:47.109
get into heaven realm so they can have
00:37:47.119 --> 00:37:48.950
the herm of celestial nymphs. And it
00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:50.870
turns out the herm of celestial nymphs
00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:53.349
are all like, you know, celestial blowup
00:37:53.359 --> 00:37:54.710
dolls or something. You know, there's
00:37:54.720 --> 00:37:58.950
there's not really a woman there or a
00:37:58.960 --> 00:38:02.950
nymph, I should say. And I really don't
00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:04.630
know where in the commentaries. I mean
00:38:04.640 --> 00:38:07.750
he was more orthodox than me you know he
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:11.589
was he would scoff at my my pernicious
00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:13.910
wrong views sometimes you know just in a
00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:15.990
very smug way it's like that's wrong
00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:17.670
because in this suta the Buddha says
00:38:17.680 --> 00:38:20.150
this you know that was as far as he was
00:38:20.160 --> 00:38:21.990
concerned that was a conclusive
00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:25.510
reputation of any argument it's like the
00:38:25.520 --> 00:38:27.589
Buddha says this in this sutas therefore
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:30.230
you are wrong you know that was kind of
00:38:30.240 --> 00:38:32.550
his approach and our friendship really
00:38:32.560 --> 00:38:34.550
didn't last extremely extremely long
00:38:34.560 --> 00:38:36.390
time.
00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:38.069
Partly just because of that attitude of
00:38:38.079 --> 00:38:41.109
his or just this this smug kind of
00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:43.270
attitude.
00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:45.349
But I I assume that he is correct that
00:38:45.359 --> 00:38:47.670
somewhere in the commentarial tradition
00:38:47.680 --> 00:38:50.150
it it mentions that the demons in hell
00:38:50.160 --> 00:38:52.470
and the celestial nymphs in heaven
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:54.790
really are not conscious beings that
00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:58.310
they're just a kind of projection. But I
00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:00.230
really don't know what where in the
00:39:00.240 --> 00:39:01.990
commentaries you can find. There's a
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:04.310
good chance that AI is sophisticated
00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:06.870
enough. You could ask Grock, you know,
00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:10.310
where in the the polyatagas
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:12.630
it mentions this and Grock might
00:39:12.640 --> 00:39:13.910
actually be able to come up with an
00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:16.870
answer,
00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:19.030
but I mean, I really have not read a
00:39:19.040 --> 00:39:20.950
whole lot of commentarial tradition. I
00:39:20.960 --> 00:39:24.069
mean, the the um Wisudi manga, I've read
00:39:24.079 --> 00:39:26.310
the Wizi manga, which is sort of like
00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:29.109
the central hub of the poly commentarial
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:31.270
tradition. And I've read some of the,
00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:33.030
you know, like the Jotica stories, not
00:39:33.040 --> 00:39:35.349
just the verses, but the stories and
00:39:35.359 --> 00:39:38.230
also the stories to like the the ghost
00:39:38.240 --> 00:39:40.310
stories, the pato watu and so forth.
00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:42.230
Technically, that's commentary. It's
00:39:42.240 --> 00:39:45.670
just the verses that are scripture or
00:39:45.680 --> 00:39:48.150
canonical. So, I have read some
00:39:48.160 --> 00:39:49.990
commentary, but not a whole lot. I never
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:51.349
had a whole lot of use for the
00:39:51.359 --> 00:39:53.109
commentary. Sometimes if you're reading
00:39:53.119 --> 00:39:57.349
Vineia, there's just like this obscure
00:39:57.359 --> 00:40:00.069
word that is not a common word in poly.
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:01.910
In fact, sometimes you'll find a word
00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:04.790
that's found only in the entire chapica,
00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:08.550
only in this this passage, and you don't
00:40:08.560 --> 00:40:11.109
really have enough context to know what
00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:13.109
it means. Therefore, sometimes you can
00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:15.589
look into the the commentary and see
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:17.829
what the commentary says and still take
00:40:17.839 --> 00:40:19.270
it with a grain of salt because
00:40:19.280 --> 00:40:21.349
sometimes the commentators didn't know
00:40:21.359 --> 00:40:23.910
either. And so they just would make a
00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:26.230
wild guess without admitting that they
00:40:26.240 --> 00:40:28.390
were making a wild guess. That happens
00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:30.390
in the commentarial tradition. Sometimes
00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:34.069
you've got monks from south India and
00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:36.950
son Sri Lanka that are trying to
00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:41.510
interpret like cultural con like like
00:40:41.520 --> 00:40:44.390
what how do you say it like cultural
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:48.150
norms and also like flora and fauna of
00:40:48.160 --> 00:40:52.150
north India centuries previously and
00:40:52.160 --> 00:40:55.190
sometimes they just guess and they don't
00:40:55.200 --> 00:40:59.750
admit that they're guessing.
00:40:59.760 --> 00:41:02.630
So, let's see here.
00:41:02.640 --> 00:41:05.910
Yeah. So, where can we learn more about
00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:07.589
the concept of mind generated karmic
00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:09.990
demons and celestial nymphs in the
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:12.069
commentary tradition? Yeah, you're just
00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:15.349
I it's it's in there. I'm pretty sure,
00:41:15.359 --> 00:41:17.510
but I really don't know exactly which
00:41:17.520 --> 00:41:19.270
commentary states it. And there's lots
00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:21.990
of commentaries.
00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:26.150
Every text in the in the Polytopica has
00:41:26.160 --> 00:41:29.990
has its commentaries. So,
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:32.150
good luck finding it unless you can find
00:41:32.160 --> 00:41:34.390
some expert on the commentaries or maybe
00:41:34.400 --> 00:41:36.710
an maybe AI or something could could
00:41:36.720 --> 00:41:39.109
locate it for you. And I'm just going to
00:41:39.119 --> 00:41:40.309
move on to the next question. This is
00:41:40.319 --> 00:41:43.589
from Yoshi Buouie. And Yoshi Buouie asks
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:46.790
a good question. Did God Buddha commit
00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:48.870
an offense when he proclaimed to the
00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:51.430
general public that he was enlightened?
00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:53.030
And this is following up on a statement
00:41:53.040 --> 00:41:56.550
I made in the previous Q&A that
00:41:56.560 --> 00:41:59.190
um for a monk to proclaim his
00:41:59.200 --> 00:42:01.670
enlightenment or even to proclaim that
00:42:01.680 --> 00:42:04.550
he has attained Janna
00:42:04.560 --> 00:42:07.190
to a lay person is forbidden. It is
00:42:07.200 --> 00:42:09.430
against the rules even if it's true. I
00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:10.870
mean if it's false then he's
00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:12.309
excommunicated for life. if he's
00:42:12.319 --> 00:42:14.950
knowingly lying about having attained
00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:17.270
superhuman mental states, which would
00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:18.790
include enlightenment, but also would
00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:20.870
include like psychic powers and even
00:42:20.880 --> 00:42:23.829
Janna, you know, like deep meditative
00:42:23.839 --> 00:42:27.270
states. If he's telling the truth, it's
00:42:27.280 --> 00:42:29.349
still against the rules cuz monks aren't
00:42:29.359 --> 00:42:31.430
supposed to be bragging to lay people
00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:34.630
about this kind of stuff.
00:42:34.640 --> 00:42:36.790
So, did did the Buddha commit an offense
00:42:36.800 --> 00:42:38.069
when he proclaimed to the general public
00:42:38.079 --> 00:42:39.910
that he was enlightened? Um,
00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:41.910
technically, yeah, you'd think so,
00:42:41.920 --> 00:42:45.270
wouldn't you? In fact, there's also it's
00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:48.069
it's a similar rule that a monk isn't
00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:51.270
supposed to perform, you know, psychic
00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:53.190
powers. You know, he's not supposed to
00:42:53.200 --> 00:42:55.510
do miracles in front of lay people.
00:42:55.520 --> 00:42:58.230
Whereas the Buddha, I mean, his most
00:42:58.240 --> 00:43:01.750
outstanding flouting of that rule was
00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:03.589
the so-called twin miracle where the
00:43:03.599 --> 00:43:06.150
Buddha levitated up into the air and
00:43:06.160 --> 00:43:08.309
then he started spraying water out of
00:43:08.319 --> 00:43:10.390
one half of his body and fire out of the
00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:12.069
other half. And then he would switch it
00:43:12.079 --> 00:43:14.870
up so the side that was spraying water
00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:17.349
is now spraying fire and vice versa. And
00:43:17.359 --> 00:43:18.870
then he switched it up so it became like
00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:21.349
the top half and the bottom half while
00:43:21.359 --> 00:43:24.230
he's levitating in the sky in order to
00:43:24.240 --> 00:43:27.430
impress these brahinss with his psychic
00:43:27.440 --> 00:43:30.150
powers and it's just flies in the face
00:43:30.160 --> 00:43:32.630
of you know repeated admonitions that
00:43:32.640 --> 00:43:34.470
you find in the text where monks aren't
00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:37.750
supposed to do that kind of stuff. But I
00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:39.670
mean in that case I think that the twin
00:43:39.680 --> 00:43:42.710
miracle probably is mythology stuff that
00:43:42.720 --> 00:43:46.470
got added later and the people who added
00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:48.550
it considered
00:43:48.560 --> 00:43:51.030
including this miracle to be more
00:43:51.040 --> 00:43:53.990
important than the Buddha following his
00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:55.990
own rules.
00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.910
And it could be I mean it's it is pro
00:43:59.920 --> 00:44:02.309
more plausible anyway that the Buddha
00:44:02.319 --> 00:44:04.230
would go around saying that he was
00:44:04.240 --> 00:44:06.390
enlightened you know declaring himself
00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:09.190
to be the Buddha although in the text he
00:44:09.200 --> 00:44:13.030
generally refers to himself as the tagat
00:44:13.040 --> 00:44:15.829
which doesn't necessarily claim that
00:44:15.839 --> 00:44:17.270
he's enlightened. It just means that he
00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:19.589
has attained the state of suchness or
00:44:19.599 --> 00:44:22.470
thusness and which kind of implies that
00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:24.950
he's enlightened but I mean in a way it
00:44:24.960 --> 00:44:28.230
could be a kind of euphemism
00:44:28.240 --> 00:44:31.750
but it's really hard to say you know to
00:44:31.760 --> 00:44:36.309
what extent the poly texts are reliable
00:44:36.319 --> 00:44:39.349
objective history and to what extent
00:44:39.359 --> 00:44:40.950
they're like paraphrase and to what
00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:43.349
extent you know it's just like mythology
00:44:43.359 --> 00:44:47.670
gets added in and Just because it seems
00:44:47.680 --> 00:44:49.349
plausible
00:44:49.359 --> 00:44:51.510
doesn't mean that it's necessarily true.
00:44:51.520 --> 00:44:53.109
I mean that's one thing that really
00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:57.030
struck me as a monk is that some western
00:44:57.040 --> 00:44:59.190
monks are very intelligent. You know
00:44:59.200 --> 00:45:02.390
it's like generally most Buddhist monks,
00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:04.230
western Buddhist monks have like a
00:45:04.240 --> 00:45:05.990
college education. You know it's
00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:10.069
intelligent open-minded people. And so
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:12.230
they have to kind of admit, it's kind of
00:45:12.240 --> 00:45:14.950
embarrassing, maybe bad taste or bad
00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:17.430
manners for them to admit that the texts
00:45:17.440 --> 00:45:19.270
are wrong about like the earth being
00:45:19.280 --> 00:45:21.510
flat and floating on water, that kind of
00:45:21.520 --> 00:45:25.270
thing. But so so they're willing to kind
00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.270
of dismiss the fire breathing cobra
00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:29.190
dragons and the flat earth floating on
00:45:29.200 --> 00:45:32.309
water and eclipses of the sun and moon
00:45:32.319 --> 00:45:34.870
being caused by an osura named Rahu
00:45:34.880 --> 00:45:36.470
swallowing them into his mouth. That
00:45:36.480 --> 00:45:38.230
kind of thing. But when it gets to the
00:45:38.240 --> 00:45:40.470
actual philosophy stuff, then they
00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:42.790
think, well, it's completely reliable.
00:45:42.800 --> 00:45:45.990
But what are the odds that all the fake
00:45:46.000 --> 00:45:49.030
stuff is going to be obviously fake or
00:45:49.040 --> 00:45:51.349
all the false stuff is going to appear
00:45:51.359 --> 00:45:55.349
to be obviously false to a westerner in
00:45:55.359 --> 00:45:58.069
the 20th or 21st century?
00:45:58.079 --> 00:46:02.150
that probably most of the fake stuff
00:46:02.160 --> 00:46:05.829
that gets added, the spirious
00:46:05.839 --> 00:46:08.069
contents of the of the sutas and so
00:46:08.079 --> 00:46:11.349
forth is stuff that might seem
00:46:11.359 --> 00:46:13.910
reasonable, you know, it might seem
00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:16.230
entirely possible, including stuff like
00:46:16.240 --> 00:46:19.430
the Buddha not just bragging
00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:21.030
grandiosely.
00:46:21.040 --> 00:46:22.790
I mean, that kind of stuff I consider to
00:46:22.800 --> 00:46:25.109
be fake, but even just to admit that he
00:46:25.119 --> 00:46:27.829
was enlightened. I mean, it kind of goes
00:46:27.839 --> 00:46:29.990
against other teachings in the sutras
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:31.910
and it's something that could easily be
00:46:31.920 --> 00:46:33.510
added.
00:46:33.520 --> 00:46:35.589
So,
00:46:35.599 --> 00:46:39.829
but let's let's just get all this um
00:46:39.839 --> 00:46:41.430
ambivalence
00:46:41.440 --> 00:46:44.309
or vagory. No, that's a different that's
00:46:44.319 --> 00:46:46.230
that vagory doesn't mean vagueness, does
00:46:46.240 --> 00:46:49.430
it? Um, let's just set that aside and
00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:51.829
just take the text at face value. Just
00:46:51.839 --> 00:46:55.109
assume that it's all true.
00:46:55.119 --> 00:46:59.990
Then I mean did he commit an offense by
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:01.589
claiming to the general public that he
00:47:01.599 --> 00:47:03.109
was enlightened or did he commit an
00:47:03.119 --> 00:47:05.910
offense by performing miracles in public
00:47:05.920 --> 00:47:08.790
in front of lay people? Um it would be
00:47:08.800 --> 00:47:13.109
against the precepts that he laid down,
00:47:13.119 --> 00:47:15.030
but you could say that the Buddha
00:47:15.040 --> 00:47:17.030
himself was exempt because he's the one
00:47:17.040 --> 00:47:19.109
that makes the rules. You know, sort of
00:47:19.119 --> 00:47:22.390
like some totalitarian dictator can't
00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:24.470
really break the law because he is the
00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:27.349
law. What he says goes. And if he says
00:47:27.359 --> 00:47:30.069
this is the law for everybody except me,
00:47:30.079 --> 00:47:31.990
then who's going to who's going to deny
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:34.950
that? Who's going to say, "No, Mr.
00:47:34.960 --> 00:47:37.270
Dictator, you got to follow your own
00:47:37.280 --> 00:47:39.190
laws." And then, of course, you wind up
00:47:39.200 --> 00:47:43.190
in a camp or something.
00:47:43.200 --> 00:47:45.349
Not that the Buddha was a totalitarian
00:47:45.359 --> 00:47:48.069
dictator, but when he's the one who's
00:47:48.079 --> 00:47:50.150
laying down the rules, I mean, he's the
00:47:50.160 --> 00:47:52.870
creator of the system, then it may be
00:47:52.880 --> 00:47:55.030
that he has some leeway that he can
00:47:55.040 --> 00:47:59.990
fudge on his own rules.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:03.430
But yeah, that is with regard to the the
00:48:03.440 --> 00:48:06.230
miracles, I can be skeptical that the
00:48:06.240 --> 00:48:08.069
Buddha really did perform the twin
00:48:08.079 --> 00:48:10.630
miracle, for example. But with regard to
00:48:10.640 --> 00:48:13.990
calling himself fully enlightened,
00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:16.309
it's possible that he didn't like
00:48:16.319 --> 00:48:19.510
historically and that that stuff just
00:48:19.520 --> 00:48:22.790
got attributed to him later on.
00:48:22.800 --> 00:48:24.150
It may be that he really did call
00:48:24.160 --> 00:48:26.309
himself the dagattop
00:48:26.319 --> 00:48:29.270
but that would be a kind of
00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:31.589
I don't know
00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:34.150
it's in a way sort of sidstepping claims
00:48:34.160 --> 00:48:35.750
to full enlightenment by just saying
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:38.390
I've attained thus
00:48:38.400 --> 00:48:43.990
you know I am what I am kind of a thing
00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:46.309
but technically yeah it would be against
00:48:46.319 --> 00:48:48.470
the rules and I'm just going to move on
00:48:48.480 --> 00:48:50.230
to the next question and this isn't
00:48:50.240 --> 00:48:53.030
really a question this is from my Buddha
00:48:53.040 --> 00:48:54.870
and he just made a statement in the
00:48:54.880 --> 00:48:56.790
comments under under the previous
00:48:56.800 --> 00:48:59.510
YouTube video that I might as well
00:48:59.520 --> 00:49:02.150
comment on it because it just seems like
00:49:02.160 --> 00:49:04.230
something that I should comment on.
00:49:04.240 --> 00:49:06.470
Maitraa Buddha says, "Your current job
00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:09.270
seems to disturb and pollute your mind.
00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:11.589
It is my belief that you should become a
00:49:11.599 --> 00:49:13.430
philosophy instructor at a local
00:49:13.440 --> 00:49:15.430
community college. You would probably
00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:17.589
make a greater salary than you already
00:49:17.599 --> 00:49:20.309
make." So,
00:49:20.319 --> 00:49:22.710
um, my current the reason why he said
00:49:22.720 --> 00:49:25.589
that is probably because I mentioned in
00:49:25.599 --> 00:49:27.670
the previous Q&A that every once in a
00:49:27.680 --> 00:49:29.510
while I'll get like these semi
00:49:29.520 --> 00:49:31.990
nightmares associated with work. You
00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:35.750
know, it's just like this neverending
00:49:35.760 --> 00:49:37.829
work that has to be done. You know, I
00:49:37.839 --> 00:49:40.950
operate a forklift. I load and unload
00:49:40.960 --> 00:49:44.069
like truck trailers. And, you know, I
00:49:44.079 --> 00:49:45.910
sometimes I'll have these dreams of just
00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:47.990
keep loading and loading. It's just this
00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:50.150
the freight just keeps appearing and or
00:49:50.160 --> 00:49:52.150
else the freight doesn't have like a
00:49:52.160 --> 00:49:54.309
like a pro code. You can't scan it to
00:49:54.319 --> 00:49:55.589
know where it's supposed to go. That
00:49:55.599 --> 00:49:56.790
kind of thing, but you have to do
00:49:56.800 --> 00:49:59.510
something with it. Just these kind of
00:49:59.520 --> 00:50:01.829
sort of like school anxiety dreams
00:50:01.839 --> 00:50:05.109
happen. And I mean most people probably
00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:06.950
have school anxiety dreams, at least in
00:50:06.960 --> 00:50:08.549
the West, people that have actually
00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:11.670
attended like high school.
00:50:11.680 --> 00:50:13.990
And I mean, I've had weird anxiety
00:50:14.000 --> 00:50:16.309
dreams about like airports, you know,
00:50:16.319 --> 00:50:18.309
like the the bad guy chasing you through
00:50:18.319 --> 00:50:21.190
an airport, that kind of thing. But it
00:50:21.200 --> 00:50:23.109
is true. My current job is is an
00:50:23.119 --> 00:50:24.870
aggravating
00:50:24.880 --> 00:50:29.829
um sometimes stressful job. And I got to
00:50:29.839 --> 00:50:31.589
fix my collar again. Let's see. Go like
00:50:31.599 --> 00:50:35.190
that. Okay.
00:50:35.200 --> 00:50:39.430
So, I mean, to some degree, and a lot of
00:50:39.440 --> 00:50:42.790
it is just I'm not really a social
00:50:42.800 --> 00:50:45.829
person. I was a hermit for many years,
00:50:45.839 --> 00:50:48.309
just literally like a recluse for many
00:50:48.319 --> 00:50:50.309
years. And now I'm just surrounded by
00:50:50.319 --> 00:50:52.390
people. And like I mentioned before, the
00:50:52.400 --> 00:50:54.230
average IQ of the people working on that
00:50:54.240 --> 00:50:56.870
dock is probably below 90. And so, you
00:50:56.880 --> 00:50:58.870
got a certain amount of like blockheads
00:50:58.880 --> 00:51:00.950
that you're dealing with, people that
00:51:00.960 --> 00:51:03.990
just mess things up. And I and there's
00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:05.589
just lots of it. There just people just
00:51:05.599 --> 00:51:08.630
swarm forklifts just swarming sometimes
00:51:08.640 --> 00:51:11.109
and when it's really busy, you know, 20
00:51:11.119 --> 00:51:13.990
forklifts all on the same dock just all
00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:15.430
getting everybody getting in everybody
00:51:15.440 --> 00:51:17.670
else's way.
00:51:17.680 --> 00:51:20.069
So yeah, I mean it it can be an
00:51:20.079 --> 00:51:22.870
aggravating unpleasant job. I do admit
00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:25.190
that in a way it's it's like a kind of
00:51:25.200 --> 00:51:27.750
aesthetic practice but it's not a very
00:51:27.760 --> 00:51:29.589
spiritually advanced aesthetic practice
00:51:29.599 --> 00:51:32.870
just because the whole like psychic
00:51:32.880 --> 00:51:38.230
atmosphere of the place is not very high
00:51:38.240 --> 00:51:40.790
let's say
00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:43.030
so then my tray Buddha says that is it's
00:51:43.040 --> 00:51:45.109
his belief that I should become a
00:51:45.119 --> 00:51:46.630
philosophy instructor at a local
00:51:46.640 --> 00:51:49.270
community college and yeah I've
00:51:49.280 --> 00:51:51.829
considered that my sweetheart has has
00:51:51.839 --> 00:51:55.829
suggested similar stuff. Um, like
00:51:55.839 --> 00:51:57.589
there's a place called Bob Jones
00:51:57.599 --> 00:51:59.589
University here in Greenville, South
00:51:59.599 --> 00:52:02.470
Carolina, and uh, you know, she was
00:52:02.480 --> 00:52:03.750
telling me I should try to get a job
00:52:03.760 --> 00:52:06.549
there. But it turns out Bob Jones is
00:52:06.559 --> 00:52:10.390
like a a Christian school and I wouldn't
00:52:10.400 --> 00:52:11.910
really be able to teach comparative
00:52:11.920 --> 00:52:14.069
religion there very well. Especially
00:52:14.079 --> 00:52:16.790
because um I applied there once for a
00:52:16.800 --> 00:52:19.030
forklift job, you know, working in their
00:52:19.040 --> 00:52:22.390
warehouse for moving around
00:52:22.400 --> 00:52:24.150
pallets of books or something. I don't
00:52:24.160 --> 00:52:27.190
know. And in order to get a job there,
00:52:27.200 --> 00:52:30.790
you had to avow that you declared Christ
00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:33.109
to be your savior and Mary was a virgin
00:52:33.119 --> 00:52:35.670
and all this. and and I just couldn't do
00:52:35.680 --> 00:52:37.589
that. I wasn't going to lie and say,
00:52:37.599 --> 00:52:39.430
"Oh, yeah. I'm I'm a good I'm a
00:52:39.440 --> 00:52:42.390
believing Christian."
00:52:42.400 --> 00:52:46.549
But, uh it's my understanding that
00:52:46.559 --> 00:52:48.870
community college instructors probably
00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:50.309
don't make a whole heck of a lot of
00:52:50.319 --> 00:52:52.309
money. I mean, I'm I'm making I mean,
00:52:52.319 --> 00:52:55.349
I'm not rich at all and I'm I'm still
00:52:55.359 --> 00:52:58.549
working on an hourly wage, but still, I
00:52:58.559 --> 00:53:01.030
mean, I'm living a relatively
00:53:01.040 --> 00:53:03.270
comfortable life up until some disaster
00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:07.750
strikes.
00:53:07.760 --> 00:53:09.349
And one of the main advantages of the
00:53:09.359 --> 00:53:11.589
current job I've got, I get a lot of
00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:13.109
physical exercise. I got to get off the
00:53:13.119 --> 00:53:14.630
forklift again and again. I'm not
00:53:14.640 --> 00:53:17.190
climbing around like a like a squirrel
00:53:17.200 --> 00:53:20.150
or a monkey on these on this freight.
00:53:20.160 --> 00:53:22.150
It's just loaded into the into the
00:53:22.160 --> 00:53:24.230
trailers. In order to like strap stuff
00:53:24.240 --> 00:53:25.670
to the wall and secure it and
00:53:25.680 --> 00:53:27.190
everything, I got to lift up heavy
00:53:27.200 --> 00:53:29.990
things. And so I get exercise, which is
00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:32.630
good because I'm not good at artificial
00:53:32.640 --> 00:53:34.470
exercise. I'm not good at like working
00:53:34.480 --> 00:53:39.430
out. So natural exercise is good for my
00:53:39.440 --> 00:53:42.309
body even if it's causing me a certain
00:53:42.319 --> 00:53:47.829
amount of frustration and aggravation.
00:53:47.839 --> 00:53:50.870
Um, but being a philosophy instructor at
00:53:50.880 --> 00:53:52.470
a local community college, I mean, it's
00:53:52.480 --> 00:53:55.430
it's possible. Yeah, maybe when I get
00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:57.030
too old to be climbing around like a
00:53:57.040 --> 00:53:58.549
monkey and lifting heavy weights, I
00:53:58.559 --> 00:54:01.430
might actually look into that.
00:54:01.440 --> 00:54:04.390
But I'm probably not going to be looking
00:54:04.400 --> 00:54:07.109
for a different job anytime soon, unless
00:54:07.119 --> 00:54:08.950
something
00:54:08.960 --> 00:54:13.910
radical happens.
00:54:13.920 --> 00:54:14.870
And I'm just going to move on to the
00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:15.990
next question because that wasn't even
00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:17.430
really a question. I didn't even have to
00:54:17.440 --> 00:54:19.349
answer that one.
00:54:19.359 --> 00:54:21.510
So, this is from someone whose name
00:54:21.520 --> 00:54:24.390
apparently is spelled in cerillic
00:54:24.400 --> 00:54:27.030
characters and I think it is pronounced
00:54:27.040 --> 00:54:30.950
something like dian zamnol
00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:33.589
which in English translates according to
00:54:33.599 --> 00:54:36.069
Google translate into aesthetic journey.
00:54:36.079 --> 00:54:37.990
So, let's just call this person
00:54:38.000 --> 00:54:41.109
aesthetic journey. An aesthetic journey
00:54:41.119 --> 00:54:44.069
says, "They say Buddha taught two
00:54:44.079 --> 00:54:47.670
truths, mundane and super mundane.
00:54:47.680 --> 00:54:50.470
But did Buddha really teach any mundane
00:54:50.480 --> 00:54:52.470
truths?"
00:54:52.480 --> 00:54:54.470
Well, yeah. Of course he did. In fact,
00:54:54.480 --> 00:54:57.190
pretty much everything that he taught
00:54:57.200 --> 00:54:59.829
like verbally
00:54:59.839 --> 00:55:03.510
was mundane truth because in Buddhism
00:55:03.520 --> 00:55:06.309
there are the the two truths.
00:55:06.319 --> 00:55:09.349
You've got samuri satcha or conventional
00:55:09.359 --> 00:55:11.670
truth and you've got paramata satcha or
00:55:11.680 --> 00:55:14.549
ultimate truth. And when you're talking
00:55:14.559 --> 00:55:17.349
about people for example, you know, I,
00:55:17.359 --> 00:55:21.589
you, him, her, they, them, we, us, you
00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:23.829
know, any kind of talking about people,
00:55:23.839 --> 00:55:26.309
that's always conventional truth because
00:55:26.319 --> 00:55:29.109
ultimately there is no self.
00:55:29.119 --> 00:55:31.670
And like almost everything you talk
00:55:31.680 --> 00:55:35.430
about in in regular language, I mean,
00:55:35.440 --> 00:55:38.470
it's dealing with conventional truth.
00:55:38.480 --> 00:55:40.390
It's not dealing with the absolute. It's
00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:42.870
not dealing with ultimate truth.
00:55:42.880 --> 00:55:45.109
It is true that according to that Abid
00:55:45.119 --> 00:55:48.069
Dhama scholars con consider Abid Damaama
00:55:48.079 --> 00:55:49.510
to be ultimate truth but I don't believe
00:55:49.520 --> 00:55:51.589
that for one second. I don't think that
00:55:51.599 --> 00:55:53.510
ultimate truth can be put into words at
00:55:53.520 --> 00:55:57.190
all. Any any truth that you tell with
00:55:57.200 --> 00:56:00.870
words is going to be conventional truth
00:56:00.880 --> 00:56:03.270
like the Daqing says the name that can
00:56:03.280 --> 00:56:06.789
be named is not the eternal name.
00:56:06.799 --> 00:56:08.470
That the highest truth cannot be
00:56:08.480 --> 00:56:10.789
symbolized if you symbolize it like with
00:56:10.799 --> 00:56:12.789
words. It's not the highest truth
00:56:12.799 --> 00:56:16.069
anymore. It's just symbols.
00:56:16.079 --> 00:56:18.150
Like the the contean thing in itself
00:56:18.160 --> 00:56:21.030
cannot be explained in words.
00:56:21.040 --> 00:56:22.789
I mean, you can kind of dance around it
00:56:22.799 --> 00:56:24.150
a little bit. Sort of like Buddhists
00:56:24.160 --> 00:56:26.630
dance around Nirvana a little bit,
00:56:26.640 --> 00:56:28.870
trying to explain it, but you really
00:56:28.880 --> 00:56:30.950
can't. So, you just keep your efforts to
00:56:30.960 --> 00:56:33.990
a minimum really.
00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:38.870
So the Buddha spoke in patti or wara
00:56:38.880 --> 00:56:40.789
which it's just like language of the
00:56:40.799 --> 00:56:43.349
world that I mean you have to use
00:56:43.359 --> 00:56:45.030
because you're in the world you're a
00:56:45.040 --> 00:56:47.510
human being so you've got to use this
00:56:47.520 --> 00:56:50.230
symbolic stuff you know you got to have
00:56:50.240 --> 00:56:54.390
this weird convention where the sound
00:56:54.400 --> 00:56:59.750
tree symbolizes this big plant outside.
00:56:59.760 --> 00:57:01.510
I mean, what what are the similarities
00:57:01.520 --> 00:57:05.270
between the sound tree and an actual
00:57:05.280 --> 00:57:08.069
tree? I mean, we don't even know what an
00:57:08.079 --> 00:57:09.990
actual tree is like because we're
00:57:10.000 --> 00:57:12.069
symbolizing it, but even by seeing it
00:57:12.079 --> 00:57:17.589
and perceiving it.
00:57:17.599 --> 00:57:22.470
So, um it'd be a a maybe a a a better
00:57:22.480 --> 00:57:24.630
question is did the Buddha really teach
00:57:24.640 --> 00:57:28.390
any ultimate truths? because all he can
00:57:28.400 --> 00:57:31.349
do is just kind of point the way and and
00:57:31.359 --> 00:57:34.390
there's like that Zen story. I think
00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:37.430
it's uh one of the the famous coons
00:57:37.440 --> 00:57:40.789
where um the Buddha started the the
00:57:40.799 --> 00:57:43.510
patriarchal succession by one day
00:57:43.520 --> 00:57:45.589
instead of saying anything you know at
00:57:45.599 --> 00:57:47.349
the time when he usually delivers his
00:57:47.359 --> 00:57:50.950
sermons to the monks instead he just
00:57:50.960 --> 00:57:53.510
sits there in front of everybody with
00:57:53.520 --> 00:57:55.829
this flower and he's just twirling the
00:57:55.839 --> 00:57:58.950
flower between his fingers like this and
00:57:58.960 --> 00:58:01.510
the only person who got it was
00:58:01.520 --> 00:58:05.910
Mahakasapa or Kasiapa
00:58:05.920 --> 00:58:09.829
who smiled because he understood whereas
00:58:09.839 --> 00:58:12.470
nobody else did. And I mean the whole
00:58:12.480 --> 00:58:14.150
point of it is you can't really teach
00:58:14.160 --> 00:58:16.789
ultimate truth in words. So the Buddha
00:58:16.799 --> 00:58:18.710
was just kind of twirling a flower to
00:58:18.720 --> 00:58:21.910
try and silently convey something that
00:58:21.920 --> 00:58:25.109
words can't convey. And that was like
00:58:25.119 --> 00:58:27.030
the beginning of Zen Buddhism. According
00:58:27.040 --> 00:58:29.990
to, you know, Zen people, that's when
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:32.069
Zen Buddhism began. When the Buddha gave
00:58:32.079 --> 00:58:34.150
his his flower discourse, when he didn't
00:58:34.160 --> 00:58:35.750
say anything, he just sat there twirling
00:58:35.760 --> 00:58:38.789
a flower
00:58:38.799 --> 00:58:42.789
or a paper umbrella.
00:58:42.799 --> 00:58:44.390
So
00:58:44.400 --> 00:58:46.230
yeah, yeah, the Buddha really did teach
00:58:46.240 --> 00:58:47.829
lots of mundane truths. And the
00:58:47.839 --> 00:58:49.910
question, the better question is, did he
00:58:49.920 --> 00:58:52.309
teach any ultimate truths? And the he
00:58:52.319 --> 00:58:54.069
couldn't do it directly. He couldn't do
00:58:54.079 --> 00:58:56.549
it using words. All he can do is show
00:58:56.559 --> 00:58:58.470
the way and then you've got to find out
00:58:58.480 --> 00:59:00.950
for yourself. You know, it's like
00:59:00.960 --> 00:59:02.630
somebody who's never tasted vanilla
00:59:02.640 --> 00:59:04.870
before asking you what vanilla tastes
00:59:04.880 --> 00:59:07.589
like. It's like, what are you going to
00:59:07.599 --> 00:59:09.190
say?
00:59:09.200 --> 00:59:11.109
You You could sit there and explain to
00:59:11.119 --> 00:59:13.190
this person what vanilla tastes like for
00:59:13.200 --> 00:59:15.829
hours to your just exhausted and horse.
00:59:15.839 --> 00:59:18.630
They're still not going to have a clue.
00:59:18.640 --> 00:59:19.910
They still won't know what vanilla
00:59:19.920 --> 00:59:23.510
tastes like. The only way to tell or to
00:59:23.520 --> 00:59:25.349
teach someone what vanilla tastes like
00:59:25.359 --> 00:59:27.589
is you just give them instructions. you
00:59:27.599 --> 00:59:29.510
know, you go and get some vanilla and
00:59:29.520 --> 00:59:31.109
taste it and then you'll know what
00:59:31.119 --> 00:59:33.510
vanilla tastes like because even if you
00:59:33.520 --> 00:59:36.789
have like a like a master's degree or a
00:59:36.799 --> 00:59:39.030
doctorate in chemistry,
00:59:39.040 --> 00:59:40.710
you know, you you've you've worked out
00:59:40.720 --> 00:59:43.829
all the, you know, the neuronal pathways
00:59:43.839 --> 00:59:45.990
and and whatever it takes, you know, how
00:59:46.000 --> 00:59:48.710
the the molecules in the vanilla like
00:59:48.720 --> 00:59:50.470
interact with your taste buds and how
00:59:50.480 --> 00:59:52.470
the the perception is formed in your
00:59:52.480 --> 00:59:55.109
brain and all that. Still, you can't
00:59:55.119 --> 00:59:57.510
explain what vanilla tastes like.
00:59:57.520 --> 00:59:59.510
I mean, you could know all that chemical
00:59:59.520 --> 01:00:01.670
stuff and if you haven't tasted Venol
01:00:01.680 --> 01:00:02.950
yourself, you're still not going to
01:00:02.960 --> 01:00:07.030
know.
01:00:07.040 --> 01:00:09.990
So, so the Buddha just taught the way on
01:00:10.000 --> 01:00:13.030
how to know the highest like super
01:00:13.040 --> 01:00:15.829
mundane ultimate truth because it cannot
01:00:15.839 --> 01:00:18.390
be put into words.
01:00:18.400 --> 01:00:19.510
And I'm just going to move on to
01:00:19.520 --> 01:00:21.750
aesthetic journey's second question
01:00:21.760 --> 01:00:26.390
which is what percentage of the py mocha
01:00:26.400 --> 01:00:30.069
are sila bata paramasa in your opinion.
01:00:30.079 --> 01:00:34.069
Um see the py mocha is like the the 227
01:00:34.079 --> 01:00:36.470
rules for a biku. There's more for for
01:00:36.480 --> 01:00:38.870
nuns and some other schools of Buddhism
01:00:38.880 --> 01:00:40.630
have different numbers, but it's like
01:00:40.640 --> 01:00:44.069
the the standard list of
01:00:44.079 --> 01:00:46.549
rules of monastic discipline that have
01:00:46.559 --> 01:00:48.710
to be recited every two weeks at
01:00:48.720 --> 01:00:50.950
monasteries or supposedly they're
01:00:50.960 --> 01:00:53.510
supposed to be recited u every two weeks
01:00:53.520 --> 01:00:55.270
at monasteries the full moon and the new
01:00:55.280 --> 01:00:58.069
moon days and silabata paramasa
01:00:58.079 --> 01:01:01.109
literally means like clinging to
01:01:01.119 --> 01:01:03.910
morality and observances.
01:01:03.920 --> 01:01:07.750
So I mean really I mean the commentaries
01:01:07.760 --> 01:01:09.750
really don't understand silabata
01:01:09.760 --> 01:01:11.750
paramasa. It's one of the one of those
01:01:11.760 --> 01:01:13.430
words that got distorted by the
01:01:13.440 --> 01:01:16.470
commentaries and like misinterpreted by
01:01:16.480 --> 01:01:19.829
the commentaries. So that like dogmatic
01:01:19.839 --> 01:01:22.630
orthodox terabara Buddhists don't know
01:01:22.640 --> 01:01:24.710
what silabata paramasa is because they
01:01:24.720 --> 01:01:26.230
follow the commentaries and in my
01:01:26.240 --> 01:01:29.190
opinion the commentaries are wrong. the
01:01:29.200 --> 01:01:30.789
commentaries
01:01:30.799 --> 01:01:33.829
I mean usually sila bata uh it
01:01:33.839 --> 01:01:35.910
translates into English as like rights
01:01:35.920 --> 01:01:38.710
and rituals but really sila means
01:01:38.720 --> 01:01:43.190
morality and bata or vata means
01:01:43.200 --> 01:01:44.870
observances
01:01:44.880 --> 01:01:47.750
so really it's clinging to morality and
01:01:47.760 --> 01:01:48.950
observances and if you read the
01:01:48.960 --> 01:01:51.829
atikawaga it it warns against clinging
01:01:51.839 --> 01:01:56.150
even to like genuine morality
01:01:56.160 --> 01:01:58.470
that if you think that keeping five
01:01:58.480 --> 01:01:59.510
priest precepts is going to get you
01:01:59.520 --> 01:02:01.349
enlightened. That's cling to to rights
01:02:01.359 --> 01:02:02.630
and rituals. I mean, if you're just
01:02:02.640 --> 01:02:04.789
clinging to this, you're like attached
01:02:04.799 --> 01:02:07.510
to following these rules. Even though
01:02:07.520 --> 01:02:09.990
they're they're valid moral rules, don't
01:02:10.000 --> 01:02:11.829
kill, don't steal, don't lie, that kind
01:02:11.839 --> 01:02:14.950
of thing. Then if you if you're still
01:02:14.960 --> 01:02:16.950
clinging to that that's still silabata
01:02:16.960 --> 01:02:19.430
paramasa even though the commentarial
01:02:19.440 --> 01:02:22.069
tradition has interpreted in this weird
01:02:22.079 --> 01:02:24.150
way like the standard def or the
01:02:24.160 --> 01:02:26.470
standard example of silabata paramasa in
01:02:26.480 --> 01:02:29.990
the commentaries is the like the dog
01:02:30.000 --> 01:02:32.470
aesthetics and the the boine aesthetics
01:02:32.480 --> 01:02:34.789
that that lived in the Buddhist time who
01:02:34.799 --> 01:02:37.270
would imitate animals
01:02:37.280 --> 01:02:39.750
is in the sense in in the hope that they
01:02:39.760 --> 01:02:41.109
would become enlightened through that.
01:02:41.119 --> 01:02:43.190
It's like some people think that cows
01:02:43.200 --> 01:02:44.870
are just naturally enlightened. You
01:02:44.880 --> 01:02:46.710
know, they just naturally follow five
01:02:46.720 --> 01:02:48.549
precepts, you know, they don't they
01:02:48.559 --> 01:02:50.069
don't kill, they don't steal, they don't
01:02:50.079 --> 01:02:53.510
lie, you know, that kind of thing. And
01:02:53.520 --> 01:02:56.470
so by imitating cows or dogs, you know,
01:02:56.480 --> 01:02:58.630
just going around on all fours and just
01:02:58.640 --> 01:03:01.670
like grazing, not not speaking human
01:03:01.680 --> 01:03:04.069
languages, that kind of thing, that that
01:03:04.079 --> 01:03:06.870
is like the the commentarial,
01:03:06.880 --> 01:03:09.270
you know, practically the definition is
01:03:09.280 --> 01:03:11.670
by behaving like a dog or behaving like
01:03:11.680 --> 01:03:13.750
a cow. But I mean if you read the
01:03:13.760 --> 01:03:15.829
atikawaga and you really look into these
01:03:15.839 --> 01:03:18.630
things that the Buddha really was
01:03:18.640 --> 01:03:21.670
warning against clinging even to valid
01:03:21.680 --> 01:03:27.589
morals. Don't cling to anything
01:03:27.599 --> 01:03:30.470
sort of like Ajan Sha used to say if
01:03:30.480 --> 01:03:32.230
right view becomes wrong view if you
01:03:32.240 --> 01:03:34.470
cling to it.
01:03:34.480 --> 01:03:37.349
So I mean in that sense
01:03:37.359 --> 01:03:39.349
um I mean the py mocha rules themselves
01:03:39.359 --> 01:03:41.270
are not clinging to anything. It's not
01:03:41.280 --> 01:03:43.510
silabata paramasa
01:03:43.520 --> 01:03:45.109
because
01:03:45.119 --> 01:03:47.990
um I mean some monks are obsessed with
01:03:48.000 --> 01:03:50.390
vignia and so they cling to all the
01:03:50.400 --> 01:03:53.109
rules and so it'd be 100%.
01:03:53.119 --> 01:03:55.430
Other other monks either they're
01:03:55.440 --> 01:03:58.069
enlightened or completely shameless and
01:03:58.079 --> 01:03:59.589
they don't cling to any of the rules so
01:03:59.599 --> 01:04:01.910
it would be 0%. So that would be more
01:04:01.920 --> 01:04:03.829
subjective. the silabata paramas
01:04:03.839 --> 01:04:05.589
especially the paramasa the clinging
01:04:05.599 --> 01:04:07.430
part
01:04:07.440 --> 01:04:11.190
that's just uh
01:04:11.200 --> 01:04:12.870
I mean that's that's subjective that's
01:04:12.880 --> 01:04:15.990
not in the rules themselves so I think
01:04:16.000 --> 01:04:19.109
what aetic journey really is asking
01:04:19.119 --> 01:04:21.829
is what percentage of the pimoka are are
01:04:21.839 --> 01:04:25.750
vata and not sila the wata is just
01:04:25.760 --> 01:04:28.230
observances you know it's just etiquette
01:04:28.240 --> 01:04:31.190
whereas the sila is real sila you know
01:04:31.200 --> 01:04:33.670
so you You know, there's a monk's rule
01:04:33.680 --> 01:04:36.069
that you're not supposed to you're not
01:04:36.079 --> 01:04:39.029
supposed to kill animals. It's a pacidia
01:04:39.039 --> 01:04:40.870
offense to kill an animal. Whether it's
01:04:40.880 --> 01:04:42.710
a mosquito or an elephant, it's the same
01:04:42.720 --> 01:04:45.430
offense. Well, I mean, that's that's
01:04:45.440 --> 01:04:48.710
that's still sila, but vata or just
01:04:48.720 --> 01:04:51.829
observances, it's like some of them are
01:04:51.839 --> 01:04:54.630
serious rules like sana rule. Second
01:04:54.640 --> 01:04:59.190
most most serious category of offense is
01:04:59.200 --> 01:05:02.150
if you build a hut that's more than
01:05:02.160 --> 01:05:04.069
certain dimensions,
01:05:04.079 --> 01:05:06.230
you know, more than like 7 and 1/2 ft by
01:05:06.240 --> 01:05:09.029
like 5t, you know, they're tiny tiny
01:05:09.039 --> 01:05:10.870
hut. If you build anything bigger than
01:05:10.880 --> 01:05:13.750
that, then that's a sada offense. So
01:05:13.760 --> 01:05:15.750
that would be an more of an observance
01:05:15.760 --> 01:05:18.309
because it's not really immoral
01:05:18.319 --> 01:05:20.870
to build a big hut. And in fact, if
01:05:20.880 --> 01:05:22.789
you're building it for yourself, it's
01:05:22.799 --> 01:05:24.309
not allowed to be that big. But if it's
01:05:24.319 --> 01:05:26.710
like for the SA, if I if I remember
01:05:26.720 --> 01:05:28.470
correctly, somebody's willing to donate
01:05:28.480 --> 01:05:30.150
it to the SA, then it can be bigger than
01:05:30.160 --> 01:05:32.309
those dimensions. Or just shaving your
01:05:32.319 --> 01:05:35.510
head, wearing robes of a certain
01:05:35.520 --> 01:05:38.150
material and a certain color. Those are
01:05:38.160 --> 01:05:40.549
just observances. Not eating in the
01:05:40.559 --> 01:05:42.390
afternoon is just an observance. There's
01:05:42.400 --> 01:05:45.910
nothing inherently immoral with eating
01:05:45.920 --> 01:05:47.910
dinner
01:05:47.920 --> 01:05:50.710
anymore than eating breakfast.
01:05:50.720 --> 01:05:54.470
So if you get if you ask that way you
01:05:54.480 --> 01:05:56.309
know what percentage of the py mochoka
01:05:56.319 --> 01:06:00.069
are observances and not morality that
01:06:00.079 --> 01:06:01.829
they're just like ancient Indian
01:06:01.839 --> 01:06:04.870
aesthetic etiquette
01:06:04.880 --> 01:06:06.870
then
01:06:06.880 --> 01:06:09.029
I would guess probably more than half of
01:06:09.039 --> 01:06:13.109
them I mean I'd have to go through know
01:06:13.119 --> 01:06:15.190
one by one in order to really make like
01:06:15.200 --> 01:06:19.670
a precise kind of estimate but maybe
01:06:19.680 --> 01:06:22.470
twothirds of them. You know, it's like
01:06:22.480 --> 01:06:24.309
there's some of these rules. It's like
01:06:24.319 --> 01:06:27.430
the nisia pacidia rules. It's like you
01:06:27.440 --> 01:06:30.549
have to your sitting cloth has to have a
01:06:30.559 --> 01:06:32.549
certain percentage of you can't have
01:06:32.559 --> 01:06:34.549
more than a certain percentage of black
01:06:34.559 --> 01:06:37.190
goat wool in it. This kind of thing or
01:06:37.200 --> 01:06:39.670
you're not allowed to carry
01:06:39.680 --> 01:06:43.750
goat wool more than a certain distance.
01:06:43.760 --> 01:06:46.309
This sort of thing. I mean, it's even
01:06:46.319 --> 01:06:49.750
handling money. I mean, technically
01:06:49.760 --> 01:06:53.270
there's nothing immoral in with regard
01:06:53.280 --> 01:06:55.670
to holding a dollar bill in your hand. I
01:06:55.680 --> 01:06:57.829
mean, that's not immoral, but it's
01:06:57.839 --> 01:07:00.390
against the rules. So, yeah, I'd say at
01:07:00.400 --> 01:07:03.670
least twothirds of the potty mocha rules
01:07:03.680 --> 01:07:06.150
and vine rules in general, because most
01:07:06.160 --> 01:07:08.549
vineia rules are not in the potty mocha.
01:07:08.559 --> 01:07:10.870
They're beyond, you know, they're just
01:07:10.880 --> 01:07:14.150
additional to the potty mocha. then
01:07:14.160 --> 01:07:16.150
yeah, I'd guess at least 2/3, probably
01:07:16.160 --> 01:07:18.230
more than 2/3
01:07:18.240 --> 01:07:20.549
of the rules are just observances
01:07:20.559 --> 01:07:24.630
instead of of morality. But when you
01:07:24.640 --> 01:07:26.630
start like trying to get rid of the
01:07:26.640 --> 01:07:30.789
observances to make um like monastic
01:07:30.799 --> 01:07:32.870
discipline more amendable to western
01:07:32.880 --> 01:07:34.870
civilization or something, then you're
01:07:34.880 --> 01:07:36.710
just up. And once you open
01:07:36.720 --> 01:07:39.109
the door to changing stuff, then people
01:07:39.119 --> 01:07:40.309
are just going to keep changing and
01:07:40.319 --> 01:07:42.549
changing and changing until it's just
01:07:42.559 --> 01:07:45.750
unrecognizable. It's it's fubar.
01:07:45.760 --> 01:07:48.390
So you're better off just dealing with
01:07:48.400 --> 01:07:51.270
the inconvenience of following ancient
01:07:51.280 --> 01:07:52.870
Indian rules. If you want to be a
01:07:52.880 --> 01:07:55.670
terraodin monastic, then you just follow
01:07:55.680 --> 01:07:57.190
the rules. Preferably without clinging
01:07:57.200 --> 01:07:58.710
to them too much. At first, you're going
01:07:58.720 --> 01:08:00.710
to cling to them just to get them down.
01:08:00.720 --> 01:08:02.150
you know, you don't want to break the
01:08:02.160 --> 01:08:04.309
rules, but then it could become second
01:08:04.319 --> 01:08:07.270
nature after couple years and then you
01:08:07.280 --> 01:08:08.789
don't have to cling to anything anymore
01:08:08.799 --> 01:08:13.029
and it's just automatic pretty much
01:08:13.039 --> 01:08:15.270
whether it's moral or or just
01:08:15.280 --> 01:08:17.349
observances.
01:08:17.359 --> 01:08:18.470
So, I'm just going to move on to
01:08:18.480 --> 01:08:20.870
aesthetic journeys. Next question is, do
01:08:20.880 --> 01:08:23.189
you like Putin?
01:08:23.199 --> 01:08:25.910
And I've never met the man personally.
01:08:25.920 --> 01:08:27.590
Um, but I really don't have anything
01:08:27.600 --> 01:08:29.829
against him. I mean, supposedly he's a
01:08:29.839 --> 01:08:32.309
he's like a gangster, you know? He's
01:08:32.319 --> 01:08:34.630
he's this ruthless person that has his
01:08:34.640 --> 01:08:38.309
political opponents arrested andor
01:08:38.319 --> 01:08:41.990
assassinated, that kind of thing.
01:08:42.000 --> 01:08:45.189
But,
01:08:45.199 --> 01:08:49.669
um, I mean, I as as a world leader, as a
01:08:49.679 --> 01:08:53.030
national leader, I mean, I think that I
01:08:53.040 --> 01:08:55.110
mean, America could be friends with
01:08:55.120 --> 01:08:58.070
Russia and Putin.
01:08:58.080 --> 01:09:01.349
I I don't and they could be allies.
01:09:01.359 --> 01:09:03.349
>> I don't see how Putin's any worse than
01:09:03.359 --> 01:09:05.669
the leader of China
01:09:05.679 --> 01:09:07.829
or a number of other other leaders I
01:09:07.839 --> 01:09:09.349
could mention. I mean, I would prefer
01:09:09.359 --> 01:09:13.430
Putin to Vanderlayan.
01:09:13.440 --> 01:09:16.229
At least Putin's still got a he's got an
01:09:16.239 --> 01:09:21.030
intact pair of testicles.
01:09:21.040 --> 01:09:23.349
So, yeah, Putin probably is relatively
01:09:23.359 --> 01:09:25.349
good for Russia. I think the whole
01:09:25.359 --> 01:09:28.870
Ukraine thing, I mean, and it's just
01:09:28.880 --> 01:09:31.669
bleeding resources and money and and
01:09:31.679 --> 01:09:34.070
manpower and stuff for Russia for a long
01:09:34.080 --> 01:09:38.229
time. But, uh, yeah, I think Putin is
01:09:38.239 --> 01:09:41.349
probably I mean, if if he's leading
01:09:41.359 --> 01:09:44.870
Russia towards an improved state over
01:09:44.880 --> 01:09:47.990
the way it was before him, then he's he
01:09:48.000 --> 01:09:49.990
must be doing something okay. Of course,
01:09:50.000 --> 01:09:51.110
you could say the same thing about
01:09:51.120 --> 01:09:52.709
Stalin. I mean, Stalin pretty much
01:09:52.719 --> 01:09:55.590
industrialized Russia,
01:09:55.600 --> 01:09:58.630
but Stalin was not a good guy.
01:09:58.640 --> 01:10:00.870
And so, I mean, with regard to like a
01:10:00.880 --> 01:10:03.110
political leader, and this applies to
01:10:03.120 --> 01:10:05.590
Trump, too. I mean,
01:10:05.600 --> 01:10:07.590
in a way, you have to like differentiate
01:10:07.600 --> 01:10:12.070
between like is he a nice person, is he
01:10:12.080 --> 01:10:14.630
a good person or and then is he a good
01:10:14.640 --> 01:10:17.750
leader? Because a good leader isn't
01:10:17.760 --> 01:10:20.550
necessarily a nice guy. And a nice guy
01:10:20.560 --> 01:10:22.070
certainly is not necessarily a good
01:10:22.080 --> 01:10:24.390
leader. Like Jimmy Carter was probably a
01:10:24.400 --> 01:10:27.830
nice guy, relatively speaking, but he
01:10:27.840 --> 01:10:31.669
wasn't. He was history has laid down the
01:10:31.679 --> 01:10:34.630
verdict that he was not a good president
01:10:34.640 --> 01:10:37.590
or like uh what's his name? Valentinian
01:10:37.600 --> 01:10:40.950
the great. He was a late he was a Roman
01:10:40.960 --> 01:10:43.830
emperor like around the year like the
01:10:43.840 --> 01:10:46.470
late 300s.
01:10:46.480 --> 01:10:49.189
And I mean he was just a sociopath. He
01:10:49.199 --> 01:10:51.669
was just he was just this cruel,
01:10:51.679 --> 01:10:55.430
sadistic bastard of a human being. But
01:10:55.440 --> 01:10:57.189
he got the name the great. He didn't
01:10:57.199 --> 01:10:58.790
call himself that. It was other people
01:10:58.800 --> 01:11:00.870
were calling him the great because even
01:11:00.880 --> 01:11:03.430
though he was a sadistic sociopathic
01:11:03.440 --> 01:11:05.830
bastard who would have people put to
01:11:05.840 --> 01:11:07.270
death, beaten to death with clubs or
01:11:07.280 --> 01:11:09.189
whatever just for making like a minor
01:11:09.199 --> 01:11:13.590
trivial mistake, still he was doing his
01:11:13.600 --> 01:11:16.790
best to serve Rome and lead Rome to
01:11:16.800 --> 01:11:19.510
greatness and kind of undo some of the
01:11:19.520 --> 01:11:22.229
mistakes that his predecessors made. And
01:11:22.239 --> 01:11:24.229
Rome was prospering under him. So, he
01:11:24.239 --> 01:11:26.149
was a good leader despite the fact that
01:11:26.159 --> 01:11:28.870
he was a cruel, sadistic, sociopathic
01:11:28.880 --> 01:11:33.110
bastard.
01:11:33.120 --> 01:11:35.910
But getting back to to Putin, I've got
01:11:35.920 --> 01:11:37.669
nothing against the man. Tell you the
01:11:37.679 --> 01:11:40.790
truth. I do I do think it would be good
01:11:40.800 --> 01:11:43.990
if the United States and Russia could be
01:11:44.000 --> 01:11:47.270
allies instead of, you know, you've got
01:11:47.280 --> 01:11:50.870
some kind of status quo establishment
01:11:50.880 --> 01:11:53.189
that wants to just keep the cold war
01:11:53.199 --> 01:11:56.709
going, but they can't really have a cold
01:11:56.719 --> 01:11:59.510
war against our real adversary, which is
01:11:59.520 --> 01:12:01.510
China. You know, China is a greater
01:12:01.520 --> 01:12:05.030
threat to America than Russia is, but
01:12:05.040 --> 01:12:07.830
it's just we've got doing too much
01:12:07.840 --> 01:12:09.270
business. You know, they they're selling
01:12:09.280 --> 01:12:11.350
us all this, you know, cheap electronics
01:12:11.360 --> 01:12:14.870
and stuff that
01:12:14.880 --> 01:12:16.950
we can't we can't badmouth China very
01:12:16.960 --> 01:12:19.350
much, even though they're a greater
01:12:19.360 --> 01:12:20.950
threat to the United States than Russia
01:12:20.960 --> 01:12:23.590
is.
01:12:23.600 --> 01:12:25.669
So, with regard to Putin, yeah, he's all
01:12:25.679 --> 01:12:28.630
right. In a way, I kind of like Putin
01:12:28.640 --> 01:12:31.590
kind of, but I really don't know lots
01:12:31.600 --> 01:12:33.590
and lots about him. And I'm sure he is
01:12:33.600 --> 01:12:36.470
just a ruthless person, not as bad as
01:12:36.480 --> 01:12:39.830
Valentinian the Great.
01:12:39.840 --> 01:12:40.950
And I'm just going to move on this
01:12:40.960 --> 01:12:43.270
question. This is from PSA.
01:12:43.280 --> 01:12:46.070
And PSA says, "Do you think the dude is
01:12:46.080 --> 01:12:47.910
an American version of a renuncient
01:12:47.920 --> 01:12:49.350
semi-enlight being?" And he's referring
01:12:49.360 --> 01:12:53.110
to the big Labowski. I can't remember.
01:12:53.120 --> 01:12:57.270
Um, is it Jeff Bridges play plays the
01:12:57.280 --> 01:13:01.030
dude in in The Big Labowski?
01:13:01.040 --> 01:13:03.750
Um, so do I think he was an American
01:13:03.760 --> 01:13:05.750
version of a renuncient semi-light being
01:13:05.760 --> 01:13:07.669
he might be sort of like a Hollywood
01:13:07.679 --> 01:13:09.990
attempt at portraying somebody like
01:13:10.000 --> 01:13:12.709
that, but I mean he wasn't really
01:13:12.719 --> 01:13:14.790
semi-enlightened. you know, he had a
01:13:14.800 --> 01:13:16.709
certain wisdom sort of like a certain
01:13:16.719 --> 01:13:20.709
kind of, you know, hippie wisdom to him
01:13:20.719 --> 01:13:23.350
and he didn't I mean, he was relatively
01:13:23.360 --> 01:13:26.149
patient, you know, he had a certain
01:13:26.159 --> 01:13:27.669
amount of Christian charity towards
01:13:27.679 --> 01:13:29.669
other people. He wasn't really
01:13:29.679 --> 01:13:31.669
confrontational. He wasn't a cruel
01:13:31.679 --> 01:13:34.070
person, you know, he he was a relatively
01:13:34.080 --> 01:13:35.669
good person with a certain amount of
01:13:35.679 --> 01:13:38.630
wisdom, but I don't think that he was
01:13:38.640 --> 01:13:40.550
really
01:13:40.560 --> 01:13:43.830
uh like a semi-enlightened being.
01:13:43.840 --> 01:13:45.350
Maybe that's what Hollywood was trying
01:13:45.360 --> 01:13:48.310
to portray, but it didn't. I really
01:13:48.320 --> 01:13:51.430
don't think so. So PSA's second
01:13:51.440 --> 01:13:53.830
question. On which stage of the path
01:13:53.840 --> 01:13:55.910
would you categorize someone like that?
01:13:55.920 --> 01:13:58.870
Putina. I would consider him to be a
01:13:58.880 --> 01:14:01.669
puja, which means he is not in any of
01:14:01.679 --> 01:14:04.470
the four stages of Buddhist saintthood.
01:14:04.480 --> 01:14:05.910
But then again, I'm skeptical with
01:14:05.920 --> 01:14:08.470
regard to pretty much all of the stages
01:14:08.480 --> 01:14:10.709
of Buddhist saintthood.
01:14:10.719 --> 01:14:13.030
even like Arahan ship to some degree
01:14:13.040 --> 01:14:15.990
because within the context of Samsara it
01:14:16.000 --> 01:14:24.709
may be just at best a kind of paradox
01:14:24.719 --> 01:14:26.709
and I do think that the other stages
01:14:26.719 --> 01:14:29.430
sodapana and so forth originally had
01:14:29.440 --> 01:14:31.990
different meanings before somebody
01:14:32.000 --> 01:14:35.030
crafted them into this system of the
01:14:35.040 --> 01:14:38.550
four stages of like Buddhist aryahood. I
01:14:38.560 --> 01:14:41.110
do not think that the Buddha himself
01:14:41.120 --> 01:14:45.510
advocated the four stages,
01:14:45.520 --> 01:14:48.870
but that's just my opinion.
01:14:48.880 --> 01:14:50.149
And I'm just going to move on. Next
01:14:50.159 --> 01:14:52.790
question. This is from Master Poe.
01:14:52.800 --> 01:14:56.790
And Master Poe says, "On hope, don't you
01:14:56.800 --> 01:14:59.270
hope the Buddhist point of view on
01:14:59.280 --> 01:15:01.110
reality is true?"
01:15:01.120 --> 01:15:02.630
Um
01:15:02.640 --> 01:15:04.950
I mean there might be a certain
01:15:04.960 --> 01:15:08.229
subliminal level of hope with regard to
01:15:08.239 --> 01:15:11.990
that. Um but in like in Buddhism they
01:15:12.000 --> 01:15:15.270
talk more about confidence.
01:15:15.280 --> 01:15:18.630
But in my case I mean the Buddhist point
01:15:18.640 --> 01:15:23.350
of view is not ultimately true. So I
01:15:23.360 --> 01:15:24.790
mean just going with conventional truth
01:15:24.800 --> 01:15:25.990
and ultimate truth like I was talking
01:15:26.000 --> 01:15:27.669
about before. I mean it's not ultimately
01:15:27.679 --> 01:15:29.830
true. There's a certain amount of
01:15:29.840 --> 01:15:34.310
delusion involved in believing anything.
01:15:34.320 --> 01:15:37.110
So that kind of kicks that in the head a
01:15:37.120 --> 01:15:40.070
little bit. But
01:15:40.080 --> 01:15:44.709
I do use a lot of Buddhism as a working
01:15:44.719 --> 01:15:47.430
hypothesis, a con very convenient
01:15:47.440 --> 01:15:49.350
working hypothesis
01:15:49.360 --> 01:15:53.750
that seems to work well. It works better
01:15:53.760 --> 01:15:57.350
in my opinion than say scientific
01:15:57.360 --> 01:15:59.910
realism. Although to some degree a
01:15:59.920 --> 01:16:01.750
certain amount of scientific realism is
01:16:01.760 --> 01:16:04.950
also a good thing. It does result in a
01:16:04.960 --> 01:16:09.990
rather robust point of view.
01:16:10.000 --> 01:16:11.910
So hope like I was saying in the
01:16:11.920 --> 01:16:15.350
previous Q&A is is desire. It's like
01:16:15.360 --> 01:16:18.870
you're you want something to to be the
01:16:18.880 --> 01:16:20.390
case.
01:16:20.400 --> 01:16:24.229
And I don't know, I don't it's it's not
01:16:24.239 --> 01:16:26.870
really a matter of like craving in my
01:16:26.880 --> 01:16:28.470
opinion.
01:16:28.480 --> 01:16:30.630
Um it's just sort of a convenient
01:16:30.640 --> 01:16:34.870
working hypothesis that I have been
01:16:34.880 --> 01:16:38.149
benefiting from for many years at this
01:16:38.159 --> 01:16:42.630
point. But yeah, there could be I mean
01:16:42.640 --> 01:16:46.070
to the extent that I do hope Buddhism is
01:16:46.080 --> 01:16:49.189
true and I really don't feel it. But to
01:16:49.199 --> 01:16:51.830
the extent if I do have that at some
01:16:51.840 --> 01:16:54.390
subliminal level, it would be a kind of
01:16:54.400 --> 01:16:59.189
subliminal unenlightenment.
01:16:59.199 --> 01:17:01.910
So I'm just going to move on to uh
01:17:01.920 --> 01:17:03.430
Master Po's second question, which is
01:17:03.440 --> 01:17:05.750
like a followup on the first one. He
01:17:05.760 --> 01:17:08.390
says, "Whatever one's world view is, it
01:17:08.400 --> 01:17:11.270
takes hope. Faith and hope go hand in
01:17:11.280 --> 01:17:13.669
hand. Does it not?" So that's the only
01:17:13.679 --> 01:17:16.149
actual question at the end is go hand in
01:17:16.159 --> 01:17:19.189
hand. And faith, faith and hope don't
01:17:19.199 --> 01:17:20.950
necessarily go hand in hand, but both of
01:17:20.960 --> 01:17:23.270
them are delusional. Faith is
01:17:23.280 --> 01:17:26.149
delusional. Faith is belief and belief
01:17:26.159 --> 01:17:27.669
is thinking that you know something that
01:17:27.679 --> 01:17:30.870
you don't really know.
01:17:30.880 --> 01:17:32.550
Faith, I mean, you're never going to
01:17:32.560 --> 01:17:34.709
know that the contean thing in itself,
01:17:34.719 --> 01:17:37.910
which is actual truth, actual reality.
01:17:37.920 --> 01:17:39.030
You're never going to know that through
01:17:39.040 --> 01:17:41.110
faith unless it's like St. John of the
01:17:41.120 --> 01:17:44.149
Cross's dark faith. I mean, St. John the
01:17:44.159 --> 01:17:47.030
Cross had this phenomenon called dark
01:17:47.040 --> 01:17:51.030
faith and it was it was based on like
01:17:51.040 --> 01:17:53.270
profound like what what a Buddhist would
01:17:53.280 --> 01:17:55.910
call Janna I guess it's sort of like a
01:17:55.920 --> 01:17:57.830
Christian version of that high
01:17:57.840 --> 01:18:00.470
contemplation he called it where you
01:18:00.480 --> 01:18:01.990
just dismiss everything from your mind
01:18:02.000 --> 01:18:05.590
that is not God so you can't imagine God
01:18:05.600 --> 01:18:07.830
so out goes the imagination you can't
01:18:07.840 --> 01:18:10.229
sense God through the senses out go the
01:18:10.239 --> 01:18:11.830
sense you know the whole sensory
01:18:11.840 --> 01:18:15.110
apparatus you can't reason out God. You
01:18:15.120 --> 01:18:17.510
can't figure out God intellectually. Out
01:18:17.520 --> 01:18:19.590
goes the intellect. So you just dismiss
01:18:19.600 --> 01:18:21.750
all these mental states, all these
01:18:21.760 --> 01:18:23.270
perceptions,
01:18:23.280 --> 01:18:26.470
and until everything that isn't God is
01:18:26.480 --> 01:18:30.229
dismissed. And then you realize there's
01:18:30.239 --> 01:18:32.790
still something there in your mind.
01:18:32.800 --> 01:18:34.310
After you've dismissed everything that
01:18:34.320 --> 01:18:36.630
can be dismissed, still there's
01:18:36.640 --> 01:18:39.110
something there. And according to St.
01:18:39.120 --> 01:18:40.470
John of the Cross, that's like the
01:18:40.480 --> 01:18:43.830
spirit of God. And that is dark faith.
01:18:43.840 --> 01:18:46.950
You know, it's like it's beyond mere
01:18:46.960 --> 01:18:50.870
intellectual belief or emotional belief.
01:18:50.880 --> 01:18:54.470
It's you you just know it, which in a
01:18:54.480 --> 01:18:57.510
way is not really faith. I guess the New
01:18:57.520 --> 01:18:59.110
Testament like St. Paul in the New
01:18:59.120 --> 01:19:01.110
Testament says, you know, that
01:19:01.120 --> 01:19:03.030
Christianity, I mean, he he honestly
01:19:03.040 --> 01:19:05.590
admits Christianity is based on faith
01:19:05.600 --> 01:19:07.510
rather than knowledge. You know, because
01:19:07.520 --> 01:19:09.270
if you really know it, then it doesn't
01:19:09.280 --> 01:19:11.669
you don't need faith anymore. Faith is
01:19:11.679 --> 01:19:14.550
this belief. In a way, it's hoping
01:19:14.560 --> 01:19:18.790
something is true. I guess
01:19:18.800 --> 01:19:20.709
both faith and hope are unenlightened
01:19:20.719 --> 01:19:25.990
mental states. In my opinion,
01:19:26.000 --> 01:19:29.270
the term sadda in Pali is often
01:19:29.280 --> 01:19:31.910
translated as faith,
01:19:31.920 --> 01:19:34.310
but some western translators don't like
01:19:34.320 --> 01:19:36.070
that and they'll replace the word faith
01:19:36.080 --> 01:19:38.550
with like confidence. And then there are
01:19:38.560 --> 01:19:42.790
at least two verses in in the the sutas
01:19:42.800 --> 01:19:44.709
that say that a monk shouldn't have
01:19:44.719 --> 01:19:47.830
faith. One is in the dharmapara
01:19:47.840 --> 01:19:49.510
and then another one is in the at aka
01:19:49.520 --> 01:19:52.630
waga where you just don't have faith.
01:19:52.640 --> 01:19:54.310
And
01:19:54.320 --> 01:19:56.390
I agree with that because faith is
01:19:56.400 --> 01:19:59.510
belief and belief is delusion.
01:19:59.520 --> 01:20:02.470
Belief is some sorrow.
01:20:02.480 --> 01:20:06.950
Perception is some sorrow.
01:20:06.960 --> 01:20:09.510
So you can say faith and hope go hand in
01:20:09.520 --> 01:20:12.229
hand, but both of them are going hand in
01:20:12.239 --> 01:20:16.470
hand down some samsaric path.
01:20:16.480 --> 01:20:18.229
They may eventually get you to
01:20:18.239 --> 01:20:20.229
enlightenment, but before you become
01:20:20.239 --> 01:20:21.430
enlightened, you're going to have to
01:20:21.440 --> 01:20:24.390
dismiss the faith and hope.
01:20:24.400 --> 01:20:25.910
And once you're enlightened, you're not
01:20:25.920 --> 01:20:27.830
going to have any faith or hope. At
01:20:27.840 --> 01:20:33.030
least that's what the texts imply.
01:20:33.040 --> 01:20:36.630
So let's see here.
01:20:36.640 --> 01:20:38.790
Yeah. Well, I mean, Master Po does say
01:20:38.800 --> 01:20:42.149
whatever one's world view is, it takes
01:20:42.159 --> 01:20:45.110
hope and and maybe faith, but a world
01:20:45.120 --> 01:20:48.390
view is ultimately delusional.
01:20:48.400 --> 01:20:51.270
You know, it's it's like a perceptual
01:20:51.280 --> 01:20:53.910
belief system. And perceptual belief
01:20:53.920 --> 01:20:58.550
systems are samsara.
01:20:58.560 --> 01:20:59.510
I'm just going to move on. Next
01:20:59.520 --> 01:21:02.630
question. This is Dhama River. And Dama
01:21:02.640 --> 01:21:04.870
River says, "Have you read the protocols
01:21:04.880 --> 01:21:06.870
of the learned elders of Zion?" We got
01:21:06.880 --> 01:21:09.669
kind of a like a a Nazis-esque theme
01:21:09.679 --> 01:21:12.470
going here. Dama River, I I kind of
01:21:12.480 --> 01:21:13.830
interrupted myself, which is rather
01:21:13.840 --> 01:21:15.669
rude. So, I'm just going to go back to
01:21:15.679 --> 01:21:17.830
Dama River here saying, "Have you read
01:21:17.840 --> 01:21:21.030
the Protocols of the Learned Elders of
01:21:21.040 --> 01:21:23.110
Zion? Could you share your thoughts?"
01:21:23.120 --> 01:21:25.189
No, I have not read the Protocols of the
01:21:25.199 --> 01:21:27.430
Learned Elders of Zion. I have read
01:21:27.440 --> 01:21:31.350
about them a little bit where supposedly
01:21:31.360 --> 01:21:35.350
it's kind of like a uh what's the like a
01:21:35.360 --> 01:21:37.510
hoax, you know, it's sort of a
01:21:37.520 --> 01:21:39.750
fraudulent thing that was based on a
01:21:39.760 --> 01:21:41.990
novel that was written considerably
01:21:42.000 --> 01:21:44.390
earlier than the protocols were that a
01:21:44.400 --> 01:21:46.310
large a large part of the protocols of
01:21:46.320 --> 01:21:49.350
the learned elders of Zion is supposedly
01:21:49.360 --> 01:21:52.390
based on a novel that was written much
01:21:52.400 --> 01:21:54.870
earlier. And that's about all I know
01:21:54.880 --> 01:21:57.430
about it. I mean it's a lot of the sort
01:21:57.440 --> 01:22:01.430
of the so-called anti-semites
01:22:01.440 --> 01:22:04.550
out there will you know cite the
01:22:04.560 --> 01:22:06.550
protocols of the learned elders of Zion
01:22:06.560 --> 01:22:11.510
which supposedly has like the agenda for
01:22:11.520 --> 01:22:13.830
the Jews
01:22:13.840 --> 01:22:15.990
to like you know undermine Western
01:22:16.000 --> 01:22:17.990
civilization and take control and all
01:22:18.000 --> 01:22:20.470
that but I mean I've never bothered to
01:22:20.480 --> 01:22:23.990
read it and probably never will
01:22:24.000 --> 01:22:25.910
and I do I think that to some degree
01:22:25.920 --> 01:22:29.110
it's it's like propaganda.
01:22:29.120 --> 01:22:32.390
Not necessarily like Hebrew propaganda,
01:22:32.400 --> 01:22:36.790
but more like anti-Hebrew propaganda.
01:22:36.800 --> 01:22:40.310
That's just what little I know about it.
01:22:40.320 --> 01:22:41.910
And so I'm just going to move on to Dama
01:22:41.920 --> 01:22:44.390
River's next question,
01:22:44.400 --> 01:22:46.550
which is I watched the interview with
01:22:46.560 --> 01:22:49.189
you and Brian Rue,
01:22:49.199 --> 01:22:51.669
how social justice is practically the
01:22:51.679 --> 01:22:54.149
opposite of Buddhism and they don't want
01:22:54.159 --> 01:22:57.510
men to be men. And you mentioned how you
01:22:57.520 --> 01:23:00.470
used to have a Dutch friend who stopped
01:23:00.480 --> 01:23:02.470
being your friend when she realized you
01:23:02.480 --> 01:23:04.790
were leaning towards the right. It
01:23:04.800 --> 01:23:06.870
reminded me of a young liberal white
01:23:06.880 --> 01:23:10.310
Canadian feminist friend I used to have.
01:23:10.320 --> 01:23:12.550
She was going to university at the time
01:23:12.560 --> 01:23:14.550
and told me she was working on a project
01:23:14.560 --> 01:23:17.270
with other people to send men to a place
01:23:17.280 --> 01:23:20.149
like a concentration camp where men
01:23:20.159 --> 01:23:23.910
could be re-educated on how to be men. I
01:23:23.920 --> 01:23:26.310
thought she was joking, but she was dead
01:23:26.320 --> 01:23:28.070
serious. What are your thoughts and
01:23:28.080 --> 01:23:29.830
feelings on being sent to a
01:23:29.840 --> 01:23:32.550
concentration camp to be re-educated on
01:23:32.560 --> 01:23:35.030
how to be a man? And your teacher is a
01:23:35.040 --> 01:23:37.189
young white liberal feminist from
01:23:37.199 --> 01:23:40.950
Canada. Well, that that Dutch friend who
01:23:40.960 --> 01:23:42.470
stopped being my friend when she
01:23:42.480 --> 01:23:44.070
realized I was leaning towards the
01:23:44.080 --> 01:23:45.910
right, she was actually the one who
01:23:45.920 --> 01:23:49.590
inadvertently redpilled me because one
01:23:49.600 --> 01:23:51.750
time she sent me a link from it was
01:23:51.760 --> 01:23:53.910
Black Pigeon Speaks. It was some video
01:23:53.920 --> 01:23:55.830
from Black Pigeon Speaks. This is back
01:23:55.840 --> 01:23:58.229
in like 2015
01:23:58.239 --> 01:24:02.310
about how women and like feminism like
01:24:02.320 --> 01:24:04.950
women involved in politics destroys
01:24:04.960 --> 01:24:07.030
civilizations and she was kind of
01:24:07.040 --> 01:24:08.790
confused by it. She asked for my opinion
01:24:08.800 --> 01:24:12.070
and I watched it and it just like on the
01:24:12.080 --> 01:24:14.310
sidebar on YouTube you get all this you
01:24:14.320 --> 01:24:16.870
may also like kind of stuff suggested
01:24:16.880 --> 01:24:19.350
viewings and I start watching like
01:24:19.360 --> 01:24:22.629
Sargon of a CAD and and and like uh
01:24:22.639 --> 01:24:25.510
Stefan Molno and and people like that
01:24:25.520 --> 01:24:28.070
and that just it was like three days of
01:24:28.080 --> 01:24:31.189
just horrified fascination just seeing
01:24:31.199 --> 01:24:33.590
how insane the left had gone and it
01:24:33.600 --> 01:24:36.470
pretty much cured me of any leftward
01:24:36.480 --> 01:24:38.709
leanings or tendency sees to vote
01:24:38.719 --> 01:24:40.870
Democrat.
01:24:40.880 --> 01:24:43.910
And so I mean I would I would remind her
01:24:43.920 --> 01:24:46.229
occasionally like this is because of
01:24:46.239 --> 01:24:49.590
you. I'm red pill because of you.
01:24:49.600 --> 01:24:52.070
Yeah. That pretty much ended that. But
01:24:52.080 --> 01:24:55.590
um let's see where Oh yeah. And this
01:24:55.600 --> 01:24:57.510
same person
01:24:57.520 --> 01:25:00.390
uh shared with me uh a paper that she
01:25:00.400 --> 01:25:03.110
had written for some university class in
01:25:03.120 --> 01:25:07.270
Europe about redefining masculinity. And
01:25:07.280 --> 01:25:10.709
it was like the the alternatives to like
01:25:10.719 --> 01:25:13.910
patriarchal toxic masculinity were all
01:25:13.920 --> 01:25:17.750
men becoming like more
01:25:17.760 --> 01:25:22.390
empathetic and and like nurturing
01:25:22.400 --> 01:25:24.870
and and non-aggressive and so forth. So
01:25:24.880 --> 01:25:28.070
essentially redefining masculinity into
01:25:28.080 --> 01:25:30.310
femininity, you know, it's like every
01:25:30.320 --> 01:25:33.590
option that was given in the paper was
01:25:33.600 --> 01:25:35.590
there's like two or three options, two
01:25:35.600 --> 01:25:38.310
or three alternatives were just like men
01:25:38.320 --> 01:25:41.590
becoming more feminine.
01:25:41.600 --> 01:25:43.270
So that's that was really a thing and
01:25:43.280 --> 01:25:44.950
it's going on in universities. Maybe not
01:25:44.960 --> 01:25:48.149
quite as much as in 2015
01:25:48.159 --> 01:25:50.950
when it was really just reaching like a
01:25:50.960 --> 01:25:53.510
fever pitch,
01:25:53.520 --> 01:25:56.229
but
01:25:56.239 --> 01:25:57.910
yeah, I think this pendulum is starting
01:25:57.920 --> 01:26:00.310
to swing the other way now. But let's
01:26:00.320 --> 01:26:03.110
get to to the actual question here. What
01:26:03.120 --> 01:26:04.550
are your thoughts and feelings on being
01:26:04.560 --> 01:26:06.310
sent to a concentration camp to be
01:26:06.320 --> 01:26:08.790
re-educated on how to be a man? And your
01:26:08.800 --> 01:26:10.310
teacher is a young white liberal
01:26:10.320 --> 01:26:13.910
feminist from Canada. Um, yeah. Yeah, I
01:26:13.920 --> 01:26:15.030
mean it it would depend on the
01:26:15.040 --> 01:26:17.910
circumstances, I suppose. I don't think
01:26:17.920 --> 01:26:21.669
I'd be a very good very very very good
01:26:21.679 --> 01:26:23.830
subject, you know. I don't think they
01:26:23.840 --> 01:26:26.470
they would succeed in really changing my
01:26:26.480 --> 01:26:28.629
point of view other than maybe just
01:26:28.639 --> 01:26:30.709
making me even more vehemently
01:26:30.719 --> 01:26:34.310
non-feminist.
01:26:34.320 --> 01:26:37.510
It reminds me of there was some old
01:26:37.520 --> 01:26:40.310
science fiction movie kind of science
01:26:40.320 --> 01:26:41.990
fiction movie. It was like a dystopian
01:26:42.000 --> 01:26:44.149
kind of movie from like the 19 late
01:26:44.159 --> 01:26:45.830
1970s
01:26:45.840 --> 01:26:48.629
and it was some actor that was
01:26:48.639 --> 01:26:50.790
specialized in like bee movies. John
01:26:50.800 --> 01:26:54.070
Saxon, I think, was the star of it. And
01:26:54.080 --> 01:26:57.510
he he winds up in like this
01:26:57.520 --> 01:26:59.590
post
01:26:59.600 --> 01:27:03.270
postmodern feminist society where the
01:27:03.280 --> 01:27:07.189
men are treated like slaves and they're
01:27:07.199 --> 01:27:10.310
fed this I mean their food has is laced
01:27:10.320 --> 01:27:13.990
with this drug that makes them very like
01:27:14.000 --> 01:27:16.310
beta and passive and subservient and
01:27:16.320 --> 01:27:18.550
everything to just so that the the women
01:27:18.560 --> 01:27:20.550
can keep them under keep the men under
01:27:20.560 --> 01:27:23.430
control. And this John Saxon guy, he
01:27:23.440 --> 01:27:26.870
just kind of stops eating the food and
01:27:26.880 --> 01:27:29.910
uh eventually just like rebelss, you
01:27:29.920 --> 01:27:33.430
know. And of course in in these these
01:27:33.440 --> 01:27:35.270
shows, it's inevitable that like one of
01:27:35.280 --> 01:27:37.189
the the female leaders, you know, one of
01:27:37.199 --> 01:27:40.390
these these butch feminists who is like
01:27:40.400 --> 01:27:42.390
just taking charge and and running
01:27:42.400 --> 01:27:45.590
everything, she's secretly like the play
01:27:45.600 --> 01:27:48.950
thing of some ultra masculine barbarian
01:27:48.960 --> 01:27:51.110
on the outskirts of society. that kind
01:27:51.120 --> 01:27:54.149
of thing. They always fall for like the
01:27:54.159 --> 01:27:57.590
super macho hero guy.
01:27:57.600 --> 01:27:59.189
Uh so I might be something like that
01:27:59.199 --> 01:28:01.830
John Saxon guy where you know I'd be
01:28:01.840 --> 01:28:05.669
just sort of biting my time. I mean just
01:28:05.679 --> 01:28:08.149
like these kind of feminists they just
01:28:08.159 --> 01:28:11.270
really overestimate their own power.
01:28:11.280 --> 01:28:14.149
They don't like the idea that feminism
01:28:14.159 --> 01:28:16.550
has become a thing in the west simply
01:28:16.560 --> 01:28:20.070
because men allowed it to happen. that
01:28:20.080 --> 01:28:23.110
women couldn't just seize power without
01:28:23.120 --> 01:28:26.070
men consenting to it because men are
01:28:26.080 --> 01:28:28.470
stronger than women as a general rule at
01:28:28.480 --> 01:28:31.990
least with regard to you know like
01:28:32.000 --> 01:28:37.189
aggression that kind of stuff.
01:28:37.199 --> 01:28:38.870
So
01:28:38.880 --> 01:28:40.390
what are my thoughts and feelings on
01:28:40.400 --> 01:28:42.229
being sent to a concentration camp to be
01:28:42.239 --> 01:28:44.470
re-educated and how to be a man? In
01:28:44.480 --> 01:28:47.189
other words, how to be a unic would be
01:28:47.199 --> 01:28:49.430
what they would be teaching. and your
01:28:49.440 --> 01:28:50.790
teacher is a young white liberal
01:28:50.800 --> 01:28:53.189
feminist from Canada.
01:28:53.199 --> 01:28:55.189
Yeah. I don't know. It would depend on
01:28:55.199 --> 01:28:56.790
the liberal feminist and all that. It
01:28:56.800 --> 01:28:58.470
would just depend on the circumstances
01:28:58.480 --> 01:29:05.990
on how I would navigate the situation.
01:29:06.000 --> 01:29:07.110
I'm going to move on to the next
01:29:07.120 --> 01:29:10.629
question here. This is from Cyrus Frame,
01:29:10.639 --> 01:29:12.550
one of the few people who asks questions
01:29:12.560 --> 01:29:14.950
on Rumble.
01:29:14.960 --> 01:29:18.870
And Cyrus frame says in the atikawaga
01:29:18.880 --> 01:29:22.149
there are these lines. If by view purity
01:29:22.159 --> 01:29:24.790
is for a man or by knowledge he abandons
01:29:24.800 --> 01:29:27.669
unease then he who is already encumbered
01:29:27.679 --> 01:29:30.629
is purified by something extra. Indeed
01:29:30.639 --> 01:29:32.790
the view betrays him claiming in that
01:29:32.800 --> 01:29:35.669
way. And I commend Cyrus frame for using
01:29:35.679 --> 01:29:38.390
my own translation of the Aikawaga.
01:29:38.400 --> 01:29:40.790
That was my translation of the following
01:29:40.800 --> 01:29:43.750
poly here. And I'm going to use Burmese
01:29:43.760 --> 01:29:45.430
pronunciation, so it's going to sound
01:29:45.440 --> 01:30:04.310
weird.
01:30:04.320 --> 01:30:06.229
So,
01:30:06.239 --> 01:30:08.310
uh, Cyrus frame continues here, what I
01:30:08.320 --> 01:30:10.550
understand by the first line is that
01:30:10.560 --> 01:30:13.430
some people pursue purity through views.
01:30:13.440 --> 01:30:15.669
The second line, some people chase
01:30:15.679 --> 01:30:17.750
knowledge to gain comfort, which reminds
01:30:17.760 --> 01:30:20.870
me of Jeremy Hillary Boob in the Nowhere
01:30:20.880 --> 01:30:23.910
Man scene in Yellow Submarine. However,
01:30:23.920 --> 01:30:25.750
I do not understand the last two lines.
01:30:25.760 --> 01:30:28.629
Okay, so let's just go over this verse
01:30:28.639 --> 01:30:32.310
from the Atika Waga. If by view purity
01:30:32.320 --> 01:30:36.870
is for a man, which means that people in
01:30:36.880 --> 01:30:38.950
ancient India and nowadays like some
01:30:38.960 --> 01:30:42.790
Christians believe that you're going to
01:30:42.800 --> 01:30:45.590
become enlightened or reach the fullness
01:30:45.600 --> 01:30:48.790
of your potential by believing the right
01:30:48.800 --> 01:30:51.510
belief.
01:30:51.520 --> 01:30:53.590
And then so the next line is or by
01:30:53.600 --> 01:30:56.550
knowledge he abandons unease. And really
01:30:56.560 --> 01:30:59.430
these are just they mean the same thing.
01:30:59.440 --> 01:31:01.750
If by view purity is for a man or by
01:31:01.760 --> 01:31:03.990
knowledge he abandons unease is
01:31:04.000 --> 01:31:05.750
essentially saying if by view purity
01:31:05.760 --> 01:31:09.270
isn't for a man which is to say by
01:31:09.280 --> 01:31:12.550
knowledge he abandons unease.
01:31:12.560 --> 01:31:16.550
So either way it's like your beliefs are
01:31:16.560 --> 01:31:19.990
getting you into a state of of purity.
01:31:20.000 --> 01:31:22.229
you know, sort of like
01:31:22.239 --> 01:31:27.430
ghana yoga in in in Hinduism or in yoga
01:31:27.440 --> 01:31:32.390
where it's like you realize the truth
01:31:32.400 --> 01:31:36.470
that and the truth is some kind of like
01:31:36.480 --> 01:31:38.149
perceptual
01:31:38.159 --> 01:31:41.910
world view. It's not just like some
01:31:41.920 --> 01:31:43.430
ineffable
01:31:43.440 --> 01:31:47.750
like like void, you know. It's it's not
01:31:47.760 --> 01:31:52.709
like that. is you have realized truths
01:31:52.719 --> 01:31:54.790
you know you have understood you know
01:31:54.800 --> 01:31:58.229
the laws of reality this kind of thing
01:31:58.239 --> 01:32:00.550
it's not just like dismissing all
01:32:00.560 --> 01:32:02.390
perception it's still perceptual
01:32:02.400 --> 01:32:04.070
apparently
01:32:04.080 --> 01:32:05.750
so
01:32:05.760 --> 01:32:07.910
getting to the third line then he who is
01:32:07.920 --> 01:32:10.070
already encumbered is purified by
01:32:10.080 --> 01:32:13.590
something extra which means I mean from
01:32:13.600 --> 01:32:16.390
the Buddhist point of view your beliefs
01:32:16.400 --> 01:32:17.990
are what are preventing you from Being
01:32:18.000 --> 01:32:20.550
enlightened, your beliefs are weighing
01:32:20.560 --> 01:32:24.310
you down. You are encumbered by views
01:32:24.320 --> 01:32:27.430
and perceptions and beliefs.
01:32:27.440 --> 01:32:29.590
And the atakawaga just says over and
01:32:29.600 --> 01:32:31.270
over again, don't have views,
01:32:31.280 --> 01:32:34.310
perceptions, or beliefs.
01:32:34.320 --> 01:32:36.470
So, you're encumbered, you're weighed
01:32:36.480 --> 01:32:39.830
down by all these ideas, these
01:32:39.840 --> 01:32:42.550
unenlightened perceptions.
01:32:42.560 --> 01:32:44.550
Um, and you so you think you're going to
01:32:44.560 --> 01:32:47.750
be purified by just having a different
01:32:47.760 --> 01:32:49.270
perception.
01:32:49.280 --> 01:32:50.790
You think that you're already weighed
01:32:50.800 --> 01:32:53.510
down by these beliefs, but you just add
01:32:53.520 --> 01:32:56.790
a few more beliefs to to just sort of
01:32:56.800 --> 01:32:59.189
pull pull it all together like the rug
01:32:59.199 --> 01:33:01.270
in the big Labowski, you know, it pulls
01:33:01.280 --> 01:33:06.070
the room together. The I mean, really,
01:33:06.080 --> 01:33:07.669
you're you're just more encumbered.
01:33:07.679 --> 01:33:09.590
You're just more weighed down by beliefs
01:33:09.600 --> 01:33:12.470
by adding some new belief. I mean,
01:33:12.480 --> 01:33:13.910
you're you're just even more weighed
01:33:13.920 --> 01:33:15.350
down. Even if you get rid of some of the
01:33:15.360 --> 01:33:16.790
old beliefs to make room for the new
01:33:16.800 --> 01:33:20.229
belief, you're still just encumbered by
01:33:20.239 --> 01:33:23.830
these clings to views.
01:33:23.840 --> 01:33:25.910
And so the last line is indeed the view
01:33:25.920 --> 01:33:28.070
betrays him claiming in that way because
01:33:28.080 --> 01:33:31.990
you're saying that I'm unenlightened
01:33:32.000 --> 01:33:35.270
which means I have delusional views but
01:33:35.280 --> 01:33:37.910
I just add some new delusional view
01:33:37.920 --> 01:33:40.709
because all views are are just by nature
01:33:40.719 --> 01:33:43.590
delusional. are all samsaric
01:33:43.600 --> 01:33:46.070
that you're not going to become
01:33:46.080 --> 01:33:50.229
enlightened by just clinging to any any
01:33:50.239 --> 01:33:55.110
world view or any system of world views.
01:33:55.120 --> 01:33:57.110
I mean, there's plenty of orthodox
01:33:57.120 --> 01:33:59.430
Buddhist dogmatic scholars out there who
01:33:59.440 --> 01:34:02.709
just cling to what the Buddha taught and
01:34:02.719 --> 01:34:04.149
still they're not still they're not
01:34:04.159 --> 01:34:06.070
enlightened.
01:34:06.080 --> 01:34:09.110
They just don't get it.
01:34:09.120 --> 01:34:11.270
So, that's what it means. I mean it's
01:34:11.280 --> 01:34:14.950
like if you think that by knowing the
01:34:14.960 --> 01:34:17.189
right thing or having the right belief
01:34:17.199 --> 01:34:21.030
system is going to get you enlightened,
01:34:21.040 --> 01:34:24.390
you know, then the belief system is is
01:34:24.400 --> 01:34:26.070
really what's keeping you from being
01:34:26.080 --> 01:34:28.070
enlightened. So in a way it's just
01:34:28.080 --> 01:34:33.030
self-contradictory.
01:34:33.040 --> 01:34:35.750
And I hope I explained that well enough
01:34:35.760 --> 01:34:36.870
because I'm moving on to the next
01:34:36.880 --> 01:34:39.350
question. This is from Nearmmit
01:34:39.360 --> 01:34:41.590
and Nemmit says, "How to deal with
01:34:41.600 --> 01:34:44.550
injustice at work. There was a big
01:34:44.560 --> 01:34:46.629
promotion recently in my office. They
01:34:46.639 --> 01:34:49.110
promoted some 10 people. I didn't get
01:34:49.120 --> 01:34:51.430
the promotion, but what hurts more is
01:34:51.440 --> 01:34:53.270
not that I that I didn't get a
01:34:53.280 --> 01:34:55.270
promotion, but people who I have trained
01:34:55.280 --> 01:34:57.750
got it before me. And with due respect,
01:34:57.760 --> 01:34:59.510
they are not on my level when it comes
01:34:59.520 --> 01:35:00.950
to being effective and getting things
01:35:00.960 --> 01:35:05.270
done. So Nitt knows way better than I do
01:35:05.280 --> 01:35:08.390
like why they might have been promoted
01:35:08.400 --> 01:35:12.629
even if he was more qualified to be
01:35:12.639 --> 01:35:14.149
promoted like he was the one who was
01:35:14.159 --> 01:35:15.590
teaching them and still knows more than
01:35:15.600 --> 01:35:18.310
them. I mean it could be like a DEI
01:35:18.320 --> 01:35:21.590
stuff it could be nepotism you know it
01:35:21.600 --> 01:35:23.750
could be you know these kind of reasons
01:35:23.760 --> 01:35:26.149
just sort of like village politics or
01:35:26.159 --> 01:35:27.990
something. It's like, well, we need we
01:35:28.000 --> 01:35:29.750
need more women in upper management, so
01:35:29.760 --> 01:35:31.990
we'll just promote, you know, her and
01:35:32.000 --> 01:35:34.709
her and her. That kind of thing.
01:35:34.719 --> 01:35:36.310
I don't really know what the details
01:35:36.320 --> 01:35:39.110
are. But, I mean, if you work for a
01:35:39.120 --> 01:35:41.910
place that has unjust systems like that,
01:35:41.920 --> 01:35:44.870
then you might consider just moving
01:35:44.880 --> 01:35:46.950
elsewhere, just getting a different job
01:35:46.960 --> 01:35:48.709
somewhere else. I mean, that's kind of
01:35:48.719 --> 01:35:51.110
what I was doing. the the place I worked
01:35:51.120 --> 01:35:53.189
at before, the place where I'm working
01:35:53.199 --> 01:35:57.270
at now, um the the the upper management
01:35:57.280 --> 01:35:59.750
was largely incompetent. And one of the
01:35:59.760 --> 01:36:01.910
reason why they were incompetent, there
01:36:01.920 --> 01:36:03.830
were a lot of like college educated
01:36:03.840 --> 01:36:07.669
white women that were just hired just
01:36:07.679 --> 01:36:10.550
largely through DEI and there's a lot of
01:36:10.560 --> 01:36:13.350
like progay stuff. This was like we're
01:36:13.360 --> 01:36:16.470
making construction materials and it
01:36:16.480 --> 01:36:18.790
would not have surprised me if there
01:36:18.800 --> 01:36:20.470
there was like some decree came from
01:36:20.480 --> 01:36:22.390
above that we're going to be flying gay
01:36:22.400 --> 01:36:25.030
pride flags over these shops selling
01:36:25.040 --> 01:36:28.149
construction materials which would just
01:36:28.159 --> 01:36:31.189
obviously would would tank business
01:36:31.199 --> 01:36:33.990
because most construction workers,
01:36:34.000 --> 01:36:37.430
people that buy like metal roofing and
01:36:37.440 --> 01:36:40.470
so forth, they really tend to be more
01:36:40.480 --> 01:36:43.110
conservative. live in South Carolina
01:36:43.120 --> 01:36:46.790
anyhow than elsewhere
01:36:46.800 --> 01:36:49.270
or then then you know you go to
01:36:49.280 --> 01:36:50.870
Starbucks and it's it's just kind of
01:36:50.880 --> 01:36:52.390
what you expect but you want to go buy
01:36:52.400 --> 01:36:54.790
metal roofing I mean you don't really
01:36:54.800 --> 01:36:57.270
care about gay pride and all that and
01:36:57.280 --> 01:36:59.270
the upper management was really
01:36:59.280 --> 01:37:01.669
supportive of that kind of thing and
01:37:01.679 --> 01:37:04.950
just bragging about how Newsweek
01:37:04.960 --> 01:37:06.870
magazine found their business to be one
01:37:06.880 --> 01:37:09.510
of the most inclusive progressive kind
01:37:09.520 --> 01:37:12.629
of businesses to work for and I mean it
01:37:12.639 --> 01:37:15.590
was like a kind of group think going on
01:37:15.600 --> 01:37:18.470
so that like in people that actually had
01:37:18.480 --> 01:37:21.669
good ideas would get they'd either fire
01:37:21.679 --> 01:37:24.149
get fired or leave and it was just the
01:37:24.159 --> 01:37:26.550
people that agreeing with the agenda you
01:37:26.560 --> 01:37:29.350
know that that would stay and things
01:37:29.360 --> 01:37:31.270
just got worse and worse until finally I
01:37:31.280 --> 01:37:35.750
just had enough and I just I was gone
01:37:35.760 --> 01:37:37.750
but again I don't know what the
01:37:37.760 --> 01:37:40.070
situation is in Nermit's place of
01:37:40.080 --> 01:37:41.830
business, you know, what is the
01:37:41.840 --> 01:37:44.790
motivation for them to be hiring people
01:37:44.800 --> 01:37:46.950
that are less qualified and overlooking
01:37:46.960 --> 01:37:49.270
people who are more qualified? I mean,
01:37:49.280 --> 01:37:52.390
in America, the usual explanation for
01:37:52.400 --> 01:37:57.189
that would be like diversity hires or
01:37:57.199 --> 01:37:59.510
sometimes it would be like nepotism or
01:37:59.520 --> 01:38:04.070
or that kind of thing too.
01:38:04.080 --> 01:38:08.229
So yeah, I mean if it's either you can
01:38:08.239 --> 01:38:11.109
just have equinimity, just accept, well
01:38:11.119 --> 01:38:12.790
that's just the way it is and just keep
01:38:12.800 --> 01:38:16.550
doing a good job. Um or just go
01:38:16.560 --> 01:38:19.669
elsewhere, I guess. Or I mean depending
01:38:19.679 --> 01:38:22.629
on who your like supervisor is, who your
01:38:22.639 --> 01:38:24.229
boss is. I mean you could go in and have
01:38:24.239 --> 01:38:26.390
a talk with the boss, you know, why is
01:38:26.400 --> 01:38:28.870
this and they might explain it to you. I
01:38:28.880 --> 01:38:31.750
don't know.
01:38:31.760 --> 01:38:33.590
But I mean the Buddhist explanation of
01:38:33.600 --> 01:38:35.189
dealing with injustice at work would be
01:38:35.199 --> 01:38:37.109
pretty much like the first two options
01:38:37.119 --> 01:38:39.590
that I gave is either have equinimity.
01:38:39.600 --> 01:38:40.950
You know, it's just all in accordance
01:38:40.960 --> 01:38:43.990
with your own comma or I mean if it's
01:38:44.000 --> 01:38:46.709
just really bad just find a better place
01:38:46.719 --> 01:38:49.510
to work.
01:38:49.520 --> 01:38:51.830
But sort of the middle path might be go
01:38:51.840 --> 01:38:53.430
in and have a talk with the manager and
01:38:53.440 --> 01:38:56.310
see see what his explanation is. And you
01:38:56.320 --> 01:38:58.709
might say, well, we got we're under
01:38:58.719 --> 01:39:01.510
pressure to to have these young
01:39:01.520 --> 01:39:04.390
diversity hires.
01:39:04.400 --> 01:39:05.590
So, I'm just going to move on to the
01:39:05.600 --> 01:39:09.189
next question. This is from Uiosis,
01:39:09.199 --> 01:39:11.510
formerly known as Stellar Supreme and
01:39:11.520 --> 01:39:13.510
more formerly known as Libra Lam and a
01:39:13.520 --> 01:39:15.910
whole slew of other names.
01:39:15.920 --> 01:39:18.310
And Uiosis, formerly known as Stellar
01:39:18.320 --> 01:39:20.550
Supreme, etc., etc.,
01:39:20.560 --> 01:39:22.870
says this, "Things have started to click
01:39:22.880 --> 01:39:25.109
for me about my attitudes toward
01:39:25.119 --> 01:39:27.750
Buddhist practice. So, excuse my
01:39:27.760 --> 01:39:30.790
heavy-handed question. Do you feel that
01:39:30.800 --> 01:39:33.030
you betrayed the Buddha's direction of
01:39:33.040 --> 01:39:36.229
only engaging in solitary practice under
01:39:36.239 --> 01:39:39.270
the condition that one only do so if
01:39:39.280 --> 01:39:41.430
they have sufficient concentration and
01:39:41.440 --> 01:39:43.590
mental stability and they don't
01:39:43.600 --> 01:39:45.910
cultivate fear, dread, and mental
01:39:45.920 --> 01:39:48.550
imbalance? Considering the practice is
01:39:48.560 --> 01:39:51.350
aimed at one's dying mental state on
01:39:51.360 --> 01:39:54.149
account of the hysteric disorder that
01:39:54.159 --> 01:39:56.470
you developed and the loss of interest
01:39:56.480 --> 01:39:58.709
in practice with the further
01:39:58.719 --> 01:40:02.149
consideration that the Buddha advised up
01:40:02.159 --> 01:40:03.910
who was not established in the
01:40:03.920 --> 01:40:06.229
development of the concentration states
01:40:06.239 --> 01:40:09.830
of the nine Janna and Nibana that
01:40:09.840 --> 01:40:12.550
because of his deficiency he should heed
01:40:12.560 --> 01:40:15.830
this advice. Quote, "Upali, you should
01:40:15.840 --> 01:40:18.629
live with the SA or community. As you
01:40:18.639 --> 01:40:21.109
live with the SA, you will be at ease."
01:40:21.119 --> 01:40:23.750
Unquote. With the further consideration
01:40:23.760 --> 01:40:26.550
that if you are not at ease with the SA
01:40:26.560 --> 01:40:28.870
nor the solitary life, then the
01:40:28.880 --> 01:40:31.350
requisite path would be at the very
01:40:31.360 --> 01:40:33.189
least going back to the basics of
01:40:33.199 --> 01:40:35.270
developing concentration as a lay person
01:40:35.280 --> 01:40:38.470
who carries out the four duties.
01:40:38.480 --> 01:40:40.550
I'm not trying to go hard on you.
01:40:40.560 --> 01:40:42.790
Hyphen, which I had to turn into a dash.
01:40:42.800 --> 01:40:45.430
These are just difficult facts that I
01:40:45.440 --> 01:40:47.830
have been facing off with in my personal
01:40:47.840 --> 01:40:49.669
life, considering my sweetheart probably
01:40:49.679 --> 01:40:51.350
won't put up with the dullness of my
01:40:51.360 --> 01:40:53.910
severe mentality toward the duties of
01:40:53.920 --> 01:40:55.590
lay Buddhist practice and that I will
01:40:55.600 --> 01:40:57.590
likely need to revive my drive toward
01:40:57.600 --> 01:40:59.430
the monastic life because I have
01:40:59.440 --> 01:41:01.830
experience with states of concentration
01:41:01.840 --> 01:41:04.310
and feel a duty to train them in a life
01:41:04.320 --> 01:41:06.470
that accommodates their higher training
01:41:06.480 --> 01:41:08.070
in accordance with the development of
01:41:08.080 --> 01:41:09.510
the fruits of the contemplative life
01:41:09.520 --> 01:41:13.270
outlined in the samya palasuta. Uh, end
01:41:13.280 --> 01:41:15.910
of question. But this I mean stellar
01:41:15.920 --> 01:41:19.590
supreme, etc., etc., he has this weird
01:41:19.600 --> 01:41:21.109
way of communicating. I mean, my
01:41:21.119 --> 01:41:22.709
sweetheart trying to understand this
01:41:22.719 --> 01:41:26.790
question actually asked an AI program to
01:41:26.800 --> 01:41:29.990
try and interpret it into plain English.
01:41:30.000 --> 01:41:32.149
I think I kind of understand it though.
01:41:32.159 --> 01:41:35.109
but he's he's got a really abstract,
01:41:35.119 --> 01:41:37.910
verbose, complicated, convoluted way of
01:41:37.920 --> 01:41:40.070
communicating that sometimes, frankly, I
01:41:40.080 --> 01:41:42.390
I don't really understand.
01:41:42.400 --> 01:41:44.629
So, anyways, let's see. It's going to
01:41:44.639 --> 01:41:47.030
take some unpacking, I guess, since
01:41:47.040 --> 01:41:49.189
there's all these different convoluted
01:41:49.199 --> 01:41:51.430
strands all kind of interwoven in this
01:41:51.440 --> 01:41:54.790
question or series of questions or or
01:41:54.800 --> 01:41:57.669
something. Do I feel that I betrayed the
01:41:57.679 --> 01:41:59.510
Buddhist direction of only engaging in
01:41:59.520 --> 01:42:03.990
solitary practice? Um, no. Because I
01:42:04.000 --> 01:42:06.390
mean probably the best thing that could
01:42:06.400 --> 01:42:08.310
have happened to me as a monk would be I
01:42:08.320 --> 01:42:11.430
find an enlightened teacher. I mean that
01:42:11.440 --> 01:42:13.030
is like one of the best things you can
01:42:13.040 --> 01:42:15.189
do. Not just a teacher that you consider
01:42:15.199 --> 01:42:17.430
to be enlightened
01:42:17.440 --> 01:42:19.910
and that happens a lot. But you really
01:42:19.920 --> 01:42:24.870
find a teacher who is like an a master.
01:42:24.880 --> 01:42:27.910
And I've always had bad luck or bad
01:42:27.920 --> 01:42:30.070
karma with regard to teachers like that.
01:42:30.080 --> 01:42:32.790
I mean in school I had good teachers but
01:42:32.800 --> 01:42:36.149
as a monk I never really found a monk
01:42:36.159 --> 01:42:38.709
that I I wanted to emulate. I just I
01:42:38.719 --> 01:42:42.390
want to be like that. I never found one
01:42:42.400 --> 01:42:45.510
that that you like you you when I first
01:42:45.520 --> 01:42:47.590
went to Burma I had a very short list of
01:42:47.600 --> 01:42:50.310
three seats that I thought might really
01:42:50.320 --> 01:42:51.669
have attainment. One of them was
01:42:51.679 --> 01:42:54.390
upandid. Two months at Panda Rama cured
01:42:54.400 --> 01:42:56.870
me of that. Another one was Tangidon
01:42:56.880 --> 01:43:00.629
Seattle. Just 10 days or just a few days
01:43:00.639 --> 01:43:03.030
at his meditation retreat center cured
01:43:03.040 --> 01:43:05.189
me of of the idea that he really had
01:43:05.199 --> 01:43:07.750
attained something really like
01:43:07.760 --> 01:43:09.270
superhuman,
01:43:09.280 --> 01:43:11.669
you know, like really advanced wisdom.
01:43:11.679 --> 01:43:14.709
The other one would be Muhamy Zodica who
01:43:14.719 --> 01:43:16.629
still is very intelligent, a good
01:43:16.639 --> 01:43:19.830
meditator, but I mean in his later years
01:43:19.840 --> 01:43:22.550
he was kind of a hypochondric and just
01:43:22.560 --> 01:43:24.229
kind of started living in a house in
01:43:24.239 --> 01:43:28.470
town with his daughter which I mean
01:43:28.480 --> 01:43:30.470
he wasn't really accepting disciples
01:43:30.480 --> 01:43:33.590
anyway that when I first came to Burma
01:43:33.600 --> 01:43:38.229
my teacher my acharia venerable Pakogus
01:43:38.239 --> 01:43:40.550
wanted to send me to Mahameyan Uzora
01:43:40.560 --> 01:43:41.830
because he spoke spoke fluent English,
01:43:41.840 --> 01:43:43.510
was very intelligent, had kind of a
01:43:43.520 --> 01:43:46.390
western point of view. Mahameyan Usuza
01:43:46.400 --> 01:43:47.910
did not want to deal with foreign
01:43:47.920 --> 01:43:49.669
disciples. He had had bad experiences
01:43:49.679 --> 01:43:53.109
with foreign monks already.
01:43:53.119 --> 01:43:56.149
So, I mean, he wasn't really an option.
01:43:56.159 --> 01:43:59.990
But so, I mean, I just did not have
01:44:00.000 --> 01:44:02.390
a teacher that I really wanted to
01:44:02.400 --> 01:44:04.550
emulate. Ironically, one of the the
01:44:04.560 --> 01:44:06.950
spiritual teachers I would most be
01:44:06.960 --> 01:44:08.629
inclined to say, "Yeah, I want to be
01:44:08.639 --> 01:44:12.070
like him." would be Nim Kuroli Baba
01:44:12.080 --> 01:44:14.470
right there up there on the altar. Even
01:44:14.480 --> 01:44:17.990
though he was obese, he died of like
01:44:18.000 --> 01:44:21.109
diabetic shock. I think he was really
01:44:21.119 --> 01:44:24.390
rotunded partly just because of you know
01:44:24.400 --> 01:44:28.149
sort of the way he he worked out the
01:44:28.159 --> 01:44:30.390
we don't need to get into that. But I
01:44:30.400 --> 01:44:33.990
mean his only possessions were a loin
01:44:34.000 --> 01:44:37.030
cloth, a blanket and a water pot and a
01:44:37.040 --> 01:44:40.070
and a diary. I mean allegedly those were
01:44:40.080 --> 01:44:42.870
his only possessions. And in the diary
01:44:42.880 --> 01:44:44.310
he wrote the same thing every day. He
01:44:44.320 --> 01:44:46.550
just wrote Rom.
01:44:46.560 --> 01:44:49.830
It was like his his meditation mantra.
01:44:49.840 --> 01:44:52.229
I mean you see pictures of his diary.
01:44:52.239 --> 01:44:54.950
It's all just Ram.
01:44:54.960 --> 01:44:58.790
All of it.
01:44:58.800 --> 01:45:01.270
So
01:45:01.280 --> 01:45:02.950
gosh,
01:45:02.960 --> 01:45:06.149
where do I I kind of lost the thread,
01:45:06.159 --> 01:45:10.149
but uh yeah. So I mean if I had found a
01:45:10.159 --> 01:45:12.390
good teacher or even like a really good
01:45:12.400 --> 01:45:15.030
community I would have gone there but I
01:45:15.040 --> 01:45:18.149
never really did. So I was pretty much
01:45:18.159 --> 01:45:22.550
on my own. Like monasteries I mean you
01:45:22.560 --> 01:45:24.470
go to monasteries and you see that I
01:45:24.480 --> 01:45:28.550
mean almost all monasteries in Burma
01:45:28.560 --> 01:45:30.870
is like they're not following Vineia.
01:45:30.880 --> 01:45:32.550
They're not even trying to follow Vineia
01:45:32.560 --> 01:45:34.310
correctly or even in the relatively
01:45:34.320 --> 01:45:36.390
strict monasteries. You know, there's
01:45:36.400 --> 01:45:38.070
this rule, you must follow Vineia, but
01:45:38.080 --> 01:45:39.270
then the monks are secretly not
01:45:39.280 --> 01:45:40.870
following Vineia. Monks are secretly
01:45:40.880 --> 01:45:43.669
handling money and this kind of thing.
01:45:43.679 --> 01:45:46.470
So, I learned fairly quickly that if I
01:45:46.480 --> 01:45:49.270
wanted to be a conscientious monk, I
01:45:49.280 --> 01:45:51.910
should avoid monasteries. And I just
01:45:51.920 --> 01:45:54.070
never found an enlightened teacher or
01:45:54.080 --> 01:45:55.750
anywhere near to an enlightened teacher
01:45:55.760 --> 01:45:58.550
that I could really just want to emulate
01:45:58.560 --> 01:46:01.430
and just trust what they told me. And
01:46:01.440 --> 01:46:03.270
there's like the culture barrier between
01:46:03.280 --> 01:46:05.910
a westerner and a Burmese monk. Of
01:46:05.920 --> 01:46:07.430
course, I was ordained in a Burmese
01:46:07.440 --> 01:46:10.310
tradition. Spent most of my monkhood in
01:46:10.320 --> 01:46:12.470
Burma. And there's like this cultural
01:46:12.480 --> 01:46:15.590
barrier where the Burmese still have
01:46:15.600 --> 01:46:18.470
like this medieval attitude towards
01:46:18.480 --> 01:46:20.709
Buddhism. You know, everything in the
01:46:20.719 --> 01:46:23.669
text is true. You know, you can't
01:46:23.679 --> 01:46:27.189
question any of it. And I just can't do
01:46:27.199 --> 01:46:29.189
that. I mean, it my mind just doesn't
01:46:29.199 --> 01:46:34.229
work that way. And so I was on my own.
01:46:34.239 --> 01:46:37.030
No good community to join. I mean it's
01:46:37.040 --> 01:46:40.229
like some people advised me to like join
01:46:40.239 --> 01:46:42.470
an Ajan Cha monastery but other monks
01:46:42.480 --> 01:46:44.870
who knew me fairly well would would warn
01:46:44.880 --> 01:46:46.550
me there's no way you you'd make it an
01:46:46.560 --> 01:46:49.510
Ajan Cha monastery because even a Jan
01:46:49.520 --> 01:46:51.430
Cha monastery it's still like
01:46:51.440 --> 01:46:53.750
conformitybased.
01:46:53.760 --> 01:46:56.229
You have to fit in. You wear the uniform
01:46:56.239 --> 01:46:57.830
even if the uniform is not in accordance
01:46:57.840 --> 01:47:00.629
with line. you know, you wear the the
01:47:00.639 --> 01:47:02.550
pajamas underneath or, you know, the the
01:47:02.560 --> 01:47:04.390
kung fu pajamas or whatever it is they
01:47:04.400 --> 01:47:06.310
wear underneath their their robes in the
01:47:06.320 --> 01:47:09.109
West even though it's against the rules
01:47:09.119 --> 01:47:11.750
technically. I mean, you do that or
01:47:11.760 --> 01:47:13.830
you're just seen as a troublemaker. It's
01:47:13.840 --> 01:47:15.669
conformity oriented. Everyone has to
01:47:15.679 --> 01:47:18.709
like fit in and I'm just I'm just not
01:47:18.719 --> 01:47:21.270
going to do that.
01:47:21.280 --> 01:47:25.030
So, just being solitary and doing the
01:47:25.040 --> 01:47:27.030
best I could on my own was the best I
01:47:27.040 --> 01:47:29.510
could do. And I did fairly well. I mean
01:47:29.520 --> 01:47:31.030
with regard to let's see here the
01:47:31.040 --> 01:47:33.590
hysteric disorder that I developed. I
01:47:33.600 --> 01:47:36.709
mean even Arahans apparently have
01:47:36.719 --> 01:47:39.030
hysteric disorders. I mean you just know
01:47:39.040 --> 01:47:41.910
anything about Sigman Freud
01:47:41.920 --> 01:47:45.270
then I mean he wasn't like some sort of
01:47:45.280 --> 01:47:47.669
infallible oracle like the the Edypus
01:47:47.679 --> 01:47:49.189
complex and all that I really don't have
01:47:49.199 --> 01:47:51.109
much use for. But still, what he said
01:47:51.119 --> 01:47:54.790
about hysteria seems pretty valid that
01:47:54.800 --> 01:47:57.590
you have these natural urges and a
01:47:57.600 --> 01:48:00.709
civilized person represses these natural
01:48:00.719 --> 01:48:02.709
urges because you can't just be like
01:48:02.719 --> 01:48:04.470
fondling every pretty woman you come
01:48:04.480 --> 01:48:06.470
across. That sort of thing. You can't
01:48:06.480 --> 01:48:08.629
just take whatever you want. You can't
01:48:08.639 --> 01:48:10.629
just like punch anybody you don't like.
01:48:10.639 --> 01:48:13.350
You have to repress your urges, restrain
01:48:13.360 --> 01:48:15.830
yourself, self-restraint,
01:48:15.840 --> 01:48:18.149
which is basic to Buddhist practice.
01:48:18.159 --> 01:48:22.149
Then these urges don't just disappear.
01:48:22.159 --> 01:48:24.470
They just get pushed into your
01:48:24.480 --> 01:48:26.470
subconscious mind where they build up
01:48:26.480 --> 01:48:28.229
pressure until they start percolating up
01:48:28.239 --> 01:48:30.310
to the surfaces up to the surface as
01:48:30.320 --> 01:48:33.430
neurotic symptoms. Especially hysterical
01:48:33.440 --> 01:48:34.470
symptoms which can be like
01:48:34.480 --> 01:48:37.189
psychossematic illnesses, weird
01:48:37.199 --> 01:48:40.070
behavioral ticks like me clearing my
01:48:40.080 --> 01:48:42.390
throat a lot could could qualify as
01:48:42.400 --> 01:48:44.149
that. Although there's also a certain
01:48:44.159 --> 01:48:46.550
genetic aspect to me clearing my throat
01:48:46.560 --> 01:48:53.189
a lot. My mother was the same way.
01:48:53.199 --> 01:48:56.709
So let's see here.
01:48:56.719 --> 01:48:59.910
Getting to uh the Buddha's advice to up
01:48:59.920 --> 01:49:02.390
and if the his advice to the pali
01:49:02.400 --> 01:49:05.189
involves the nine Janna then yeah
01:49:05.199 --> 01:49:06.870
obviously that's an anacronism. It
01:49:06.880 --> 01:49:08.229
shouldn't shouldn't be taken too
01:49:08.239 --> 01:49:10.629
seriously because the Buddha didn't
01:49:10.639 --> 01:49:13.910
teach nine Janna. He taught four in all
01:49:13.920 --> 01:49:15.510
likelihood.
01:49:15.520 --> 01:49:18.470
Even the somaya palasuta doesn't mention
01:49:18.480 --> 01:49:23.669
anything more than four janna.
01:49:23.679 --> 01:49:25.830
And the somaya palasuta is a relatively
01:49:25.840 --> 01:49:29.109
old suta. So old that some of the later
01:49:29.119 --> 01:49:31.990
additions into orthodoxy didn't make it
01:49:32.000 --> 01:49:35.910
into the samaya palasut.
01:49:35.920 --> 01:49:38.149
So let's see here. Yeah, live with the
01:49:38.159 --> 01:49:40.470
songo. Yeah, good luck finding a good SA
01:49:40.480 --> 01:49:42.629
where everyone is like following the
01:49:42.639 --> 01:49:45.270
rules correctly and really striving for
01:49:45.280 --> 01:49:46.870
enlightenment. I was really idealistic
01:49:46.880 --> 01:49:49.350
when I first became a monk and before I
01:49:49.360 --> 01:49:50.629
became a monk. When I was intending to
01:49:50.639 --> 01:49:52.390
become a monk, I just assumed I'm going
01:49:52.400 --> 01:49:54.390
to be joining the brotherhood of these
01:49:54.400 --> 01:49:56.870
wise men striving for enlightenment and
01:49:56.880 --> 01:49:58.550
they'll all be wiser than me because
01:49:58.560 --> 01:50:00.709
they'd been striving longer. And then
01:50:00.719 --> 01:50:04.550
you get into an actual monastery
01:50:04.560 --> 01:50:07.109
and it's not like that at all. I was
01:50:07.119 --> 01:50:10.790
very like sullen, very disillusioned
01:50:10.800 --> 01:50:12.390
when I first became a monk just because
01:50:12.400 --> 01:50:15.189
I was surrounded by these Asian monks.
01:50:15.199 --> 01:50:17.590
And west, some Western monks are like, a
01:50:17.600 --> 01:50:19.189
lot of Western monks are like this, too.
01:50:19.199 --> 01:50:21.830
I mean, they're not even trying.
01:50:21.840 --> 01:50:23.030
They're just try, they just want to live
01:50:23.040 --> 01:50:25.189
an easy life.
01:50:25.199 --> 01:50:27.430
I mean, they might have a devout
01:50:27.440 --> 01:50:29.910
Buddhist belief system, but they're just
01:50:29.920 --> 01:50:31.510
striving for a better rebirth. They're
01:50:31.520 --> 01:50:35.270
not even trying for enlightenment.
01:50:35.280 --> 01:50:37.109
I remember one time the Jehovah's
01:50:37.119 --> 01:50:38.550
Witness who used to come and try and
01:50:38.560 --> 01:50:40.950
convert me about once a week asked one
01:50:40.960 --> 01:50:43.270
of the senior monks, one of the Burmese
01:50:43.280 --> 01:50:45.910
monks, you know, why are you a monk? And
01:50:45.920 --> 01:50:48.310
it was like he got this embarrassed look
01:50:48.320 --> 01:50:50.310
on his face and he was like, because I
01:50:50.320 --> 01:50:52.790
want to attain nibbana, you know, it's
01:50:52.800 --> 01:50:54.870
like a question mark at the end cuz
01:50:54.880 --> 01:50:58.709
that's what he's supposed to say. But
01:50:58.719 --> 01:50:59.990
that was just what he was supposed to
01:51:00.000 --> 01:51:03.109
say, so he said it.
01:51:03.119 --> 01:51:05.830
So, let's see here.
01:51:05.840 --> 01:51:07.350
Did I answer the question? I think maybe
01:51:07.360 --> 01:51:09.910
I kind of did.
01:51:09.920 --> 01:51:12.550
Let's see. I'm gonna kind of review this
01:51:12.560 --> 01:51:15.109
long complicated question. Man, it
01:51:15.119 --> 01:51:17.590
scrolls way up there. Okay. Do I feel I
01:51:17.600 --> 01:51:19.270
betrayed the Buddhist direction of only
01:51:19.280 --> 01:51:21.430
engaging in solitary practice under the
01:51:21.440 --> 01:51:23.109
condition that one only do so if they
01:51:23.119 --> 01:51:25.109
have sufficient concentration? Well, I
01:51:25.119 --> 01:51:28.070
mean I mean you can do solitary practice
01:51:28.080 --> 01:51:30.390
as a beginner practically. I mean once
01:51:30.400 --> 01:51:32.870
once you've gotten enough wasa under
01:51:32.880 --> 01:51:35.590
your belt you know once you've you're
01:51:35.600 --> 01:51:37.910
you're like no longer independence upon
01:51:37.920 --> 01:51:41.750
a teacher but even if if you're still
01:51:41.760 --> 01:51:44.310
you know it's been be less than five
01:51:44.320 --> 01:51:46.149
years that you've been a monk you can
01:51:46.159 --> 01:51:47.990
still go off and live alone if you're
01:51:48.000 --> 01:51:50.629
you're making progress and I was making
01:51:50.639 --> 01:51:54.070
progress for a long time
01:51:54.080 --> 01:51:56.550
so and mental stability I'm relatively
01:51:56.560 --> 01:51:58.629
fairly stable mentally I'm not really a
01:51:58.639 --> 01:52:00.149
flighty kind person. I'm not
01:52:00.159 --> 01:52:03.589
flip-flopping and that kind of thing.
01:52:03.599 --> 01:52:05.830
So,
01:52:05.840 --> 01:52:07.510
yeah,
01:52:07.520 --> 01:52:09.510
I think I I think I pretty much answered
01:52:09.520 --> 01:52:12.149
that. If I could have found a good
01:52:12.159 --> 01:52:13.990
community in which I would have fit in
01:52:14.000 --> 01:52:16.709
that was led by like a a really wise
01:52:16.719 --> 01:52:18.310
monk that I would want to emulate, that
01:52:18.320 --> 01:52:20.390
I could really take seriously, that's
01:52:20.400 --> 01:52:22.070
what I should have done. But I just
01:52:22.080 --> 01:52:25.589
never encountered that situation.
01:52:25.599 --> 01:52:28.149
And so I'm just going to move on to
01:52:28.159 --> 01:52:30.629
what's his name now? Usis
01:52:30.639 --> 01:52:32.550
formerly known as seller supreme more
01:52:32.560 --> 01:52:34.709
formerly known as Libra etc. Second
01:52:34.719 --> 01:52:36.390
question
01:52:36.400 --> 01:52:37.990
which is as follows. Do you agree with
01:52:38.000 --> 01:52:40.470
this advice? If one struggles at
01:52:40.480 --> 01:52:43.030
advancing in concentration development,
01:52:43.040 --> 01:52:45.430
they should remain as a monastic working
01:52:45.440 --> 01:52:48.149
on insight development in the capacity
01:52:48.159 --> 01:52:50.709
of the three marks of existence because
01:52:50.719 --> 01:52:53.510
that is conducive to liberation at the
01:52:53.520 --> 01:52:56.870
last mental state before death. Well,
01:52:56.880 --> 01:52:59.990
not necessarily. I mean you see if you
01:53:00.000 --> 01:53:02.390
struggle at advancing in concentration
01:53:02.400 --> 01:53:05.030
development still you have the option of
01:53:05.040 --> 01:53:09.189
of just mindfulness general mindfulness
01:53:09.199 --> 01:53:11.109
um which is one reason why mindfulness
01:53:11.119 --> 01:53:13.030
is much more popular among westerners
01:53:13.040 --> 01:53:15.030
like compulsively thinking westerners
01:53:15.040 --> 01:53:17.510
who can't just get into like deep like
01:53:17.520 --> 01:53:21.830
concentrative states that in a way
01:53:21.840 --> 01:53:24.870
having a more moving target of just
01:53:24.880 --> 01:53:27.510
doing basic mindfulness practice tend
01:53:27.520 --> 01:53:29.510
tends to work better for most
01:53:29.520 --> 01:53:32.229
Westerners, it seems. But I I didn't
01:53:32.239 --> 01:53:35.589
even Let's see.
01:53:35.599 --> 01:53:37.430
Huh. Okay, I'm just going to have to
01:53:37.440 --> 01:53:40.470
like recollect myself here and sort of
01:53:40.480 --> 01:53:43.109
get back on the track of this question.
01:53:43.119 --> 01:53:45.430
Should one remain as a monastic working
01:53:45.440 --> 01:53:47.750
on insight development? I mean, you
01:53:47.760 --> 01:53:50.390
there's more that in the capacity of the
01:53:50.400 --> 01:53:51.990
three marks of existence. I mean,
01:53:52.000 --> 01:53:53.990
there's so much more to dam than just
01:53:54.000 --> 01:53:55.830
doing that. I mean, just dealing with
01:53:55.840 --> 01:53:59.430
your basic defilements, dealing with
01:53:59.440 --> 01:54:01.510
your urges and and like your
01:54:01.520 --> 01:54:05.030
preferences, that kind of thing. Um, I
01:54:05.040 --> 01:54:06.950
mean, you can use the context or like
01:54:06.960 --> 01:54:08.870
the the theme of the three marks of
01:54:08.880 --> 01:54:11.830
existence as a kind of unifying
01:54:11.840 --> 01:54:14.390
theme to your practice,
01:54:14.400 --> 01:54:17.830
but I mean, there's there's so many
01:54:17.840 --> 01:54:20.310
so many routes or emphases you can make
01:54:20.320 --> 01:54:22.149
depending on where you're at
01:54:22.159 --> 01:54:28.550
spiritually.
01:54:28.560 --> 01:54:30.310
So let's see if one struggles in
01:54:30.320 --> 01:54:33.669
advancing in concentration development.
01:54:33.679 --> 01:54:35.990
I mean
01:54:36.000 --> 01:54:38.709
it sometimes I'm reminded of there's a
01:54:38.719 --> 01:54:40.950
suta I don't remember what suta it is
01:54:40.960 --> 01:54:43.589
where it's talking about a certain monk
01:54:43.599 --> 01:54:48.070
who he's got like strong defilements you
01:54:48.080 --> 01:54:52.149
know he's got lots of loba dosa and moa
01:54:52.159 --> 01:54:55.510
and so he's just doing his best with
01:54:55.520 --> 01:54:58.629
weeping face just beating his breast you
01:54:58.639 --> 01:55:01.350
know just sort of like the the guy in
01:55:01.360 --> 01:55:02.950
the Bible dear God please have mercy
01:55:02.960 --> 01:55:05.990
upon me a sinner. He's just sort of like
01:55:06.000 --> 01:55:10.550
enduring this ordeal of self-restraint.
01:55:10.560 --> 01:55:13.109
And the result of that is when he dies,
01:55:13.119 --> 01:55:14.390
he doesn't become enlightened, but at
01:55:14.400 --> 01:55:17.189
least he goes to heaven.
01:55:17.199 --> 01:55:19.109
And that's I mean that's in the sutas.
01:55:19.119 --> 01:55:21.589
It's it's kind of a you know it's it's
01:55:21.599 --> 01:55:23.270
praised by the Buddha. At least it's
01:55:23.280 --> 01:55:27.109
it's given as a as like a potential
01:55:27.119 --> 01:55:30.070
scenario for some monks that I mean, you
01:55:30.080 --> 01:55:32.390
just not ripe for enlightenment yet.
01:55:32.400 --> 01:55:34.709
still you just kind of force yourself to
01:55:34.719 --> 01:55:37.510
follow the rules and be a good monk as
01:55:37.520 --> 01:55:40.070
good as you can that still there's going
01:55:40.080 --> 01:55:42.470
to be karmic payoff for that you're at
01:55:42.480 --> 01:55:46.470
least going to go to heaven.
01:55:46.480 --> 01:55:48.790
So I mean it's there's it's so
01:55:48.800 --> 01:55:51.109
complicated there's so many you don't
01:55:51.119 --> 01:55:53.270
just follow a cookbook method. I mean to
01:55:53.280 --> 01:55:55.350
some degree you've got to follow like
01:55:55.360 --> 01:55:57.270
your intuition
01:55:57.280 --> 01:56:00.310
or if you've got a good wise teacher you
01:56:00.320 --> 01:56:01.510
can just follow what your teacher
01:56:01.520 --> 01:56:03.189
advises you instead of making these
01:56:03.199 --> 01:56:07.669
decisions on your own.
01:56:07.679 --> 01:56:11.270
So it's it's I mean it can work just
01:56:11.280 --> 01:56:13.990
emphasizing the three marks of existence
01:56:14.000 --> 01:56:15.910
but then again I mean it's not the only
01:56:15.920 --> 01:56:17.990
possible way of doing it and it's going
01:56:18.000 --> 01:56:21.750
to depend on just numerous
01:56:21.760 --> 01:56:23.430
variables
01:56:23.440 --> 01:56:25.189
and it's it's going to be infinitely
01:56:25.199 --> 01:56:28.470
complex situation that it's it's not
01:56:28.480 --> 01:56:31.189
just one sizefits-all. It's not just one
01:56:31.199 --> 01:56:33.030
explanation for how things should be
01:56:33.040 --> 01:56:35.430
done.
01:56:35.440 --> 01:56:37.830
And I'm just going to move on to Uiosis,
01:56:37.840 --> 01:56:39.750
formerly known as Stellar Supreme,
01:56:39.760 --> 01:56:41.510
formerly known as Libra Lamb's next
01:56:41.520 --> 01:56:45.589
question, which is as follows.
01:56:45.599 --> 01:56:47.750
You noted in your studies in archaic
01:56:47.760 --> 01:56:51.030
Buddhism episode on the Saka Pa Suta
01:56:51.040 --> 01:56:53.430
that you regard it to be a composite
01:56:53.440 --> 01:56:56.070
suta that to some degree discredits
01:56:56.080 --> 01:56:59.510
archaic material as corrupted by ancient
01:56:59.520 --> 01:57:03.109
politics. I understand why you would say
01:57:03.119 --> 01:57:06.149
this, but I find it hard to believe that
01:57:06.159 --> 01:57:08.070
there could be teachings that are so
01:57:08.080 --> 01:57:10.629
potent that they could include things
01:57:10.639 --> 01:57:13.270
like the perfected mind, like an
01:57:13.280 --> 01:57:18.229
eightfaceted gem of digaya 2 or halting
01:57:18.239 --> 01:57:20.870
the autonomic nervous system. I
01:57:20.880 --> 01:57:22.629
understand these are doubtful claims to
01:57:22.639 --> 01:57:25.350
many people also wherein Buddha wisdom
01:57:25.360 --> 01:57:27.430
is even possible to arrive at
01:57:27.440 --> 01:57:30.310
organically by sheer willpower. these
01:57:30.320 --> 01:57:31.750
days.
01:57:31.760 --> 01:57:34.870
My question is, if many people have
01:57:34.880 --> 01:57:37.350
their own signs to the depth of the
01:57:37.360 --> 01:57:39.350
Buddha's wisdom, like your own
01:57:39.360 --> 01:57:42.310
experience with malaria in the rain,
01:57:42.320 --> 01:57:44.629
what reason do we really have to believe
01:57:44.639 --> 01:57:47.750
that this is a matter of free will and
01:57:47.760 --> 01:57:49.589
not simply the Buddha being a man
01:57:49.599 --> 01:57:51.430
fortunate enough to be at a high stage
01:57:51.440 --> 01:57:54.629
of bonga maturation
01:57:54.639 --> 01:57:58.070
that such high strangeness is possible
01:57:58.080 --> 01:58:00.229
like with human birth being so rare to
01:58:00.239 --> 01:58:03.830
come by. Who is to say this even has
01:58:03.840 --> 01:58:06.550
temporal reference on a human scale and
01:58:06.560 --> 01:58:09.830
isn't just a causal opportunism wherein
01:58:09.840 --> 01:58:12.229
say stream enterers
01:58:12.239 --> 01:58:14.870
experienced their last seven lives eons
01:58:14.880 --> 01:58:17.750
apart and wherein in the past can be
01:58:17.760 --> 01:58:21.030
traced back for eons things can't be
01:58:21.040 --> 01:58:23.669
traced forward contrary to Abid Dhama
01:58:23.679 --> 01:58:25.270
such that the Buddha just knows his
01:58:25.280 --> 01:58:27.270
dispensation will age in an
01:58:27.280 --> 01:58:29.589
opportunistic way the world is pretty
01:58:29.599 --> 01:58:32.070
wild with paranormal phenomena like with
01:58:32.080 --> 01:58:35.030
your ashtray anecdote. So, it shouldn't
01:58:35.040 --> 01:58:36.390
be a big deal for Buddhism to have
01:58:36.400 --> 01:58:39.270
folkloric features to it. I am reminded
01:58:39.280 --> 01:58:41.189
of the handful of leaves simile. Sorry,
01:58:41.199 --> 01:58:42.950
massive question with many threads, lots
01:58:42.960 --> 01:58:44.950
on my mind. Yeah, this it's it's a
01:58:44.960 --> 01:58:46.550
massive question that's going all over
01:58:46.560 --> 01:58:48.629
the place. So, that it's hard to say
01:58:48.639 --> 01:58:51.430
exactly what the question is. Like about
01:58:51.440 --> 01:58:53.910
halfway down it was my question is and
01:58:53.920 --> 01:58:55.990
then it's just continues with with the
01:58:56.000 --> 01:58:58.950
rambling. I mean, possibly as like a
01:58:58.960 --> 01:59:02.390
matter of like discipline
01:59:02.400 --> 01:59:03.910
that people should try to keep their
01:59:03.920 --> 01:59:07.189
question down to 50 words or less
01:59:07.199 --> 01:59:09.430
because I mean when you get into like
01:59:09.440 --> 01:59:11.830
like a 500word long question or a
01:59:11.840 --> 01:59:14.310
thousandword long question as a general
01:59:14.320 --> 01:59:19.270
rule it's more than just one question.
01:59:19.280 --> 01:59:22.310
So let's see here. I mean, I did say
01:59:22.320 --> 01:59:25.430
that the sakapa suta is probably corrupt
01:59:25.440 --> 01:59:28.149
in that it's got like an archaic central
01:59:28.159 --> 01:59:30.390
portion and then it's got like a much
01:59:30.400 --> 01:59:34.390
later beginning and ending kind of like
01:59:34.400 --> 01:59:36.950
jotica stories.
01:59:36.960 --> 01:59:39.109
So yeah, I mean that's that's mainly
01:59:39.119 --> 01:59:40.550
what I was saying that the central
01:59:40.560 --> 01:59:43.350
portion of the sakapa suta is like an
01:59:43.360 --> 01:59:48.310
archaic protoicha samup.
01:59:48.320 --> 01:59:52.790
Okay, but this part I understand why you
01:59:52.800 --> 01:59:54.390
would say this, but I find it hard to
01:59:54.400 --> 01:59:55.589
believe that there would be teachings
01:59:55.599 --> 01:59:57.510
that are so potent they could include
01:59:57.520 --> 02:00:01.750
things like the perfected mind of or
02:00:01.760 --> 02:00:04.229
halting the autonomic nervous system
02:00:04.239 --> 02:00:06.070
where in Buddha wisdom is even possible
02:00:06.080 --> 02:00:08.229
to arrive at organically by sheer will
02:00:08.239 --> 02:00:10.950
willpower these days. Yeah, this is it's
02:00:10.960 --> 02:00:13.350
getting really obscure. My question is,
02:00:13.360 --> 02:00:15.750
and then he gets to the question, if
02:00:15.760 --> 02:00:17.990
many people have their own signs to the
02:00:18.000 --> 02:00:20.470
depths of the Buddha's wisdom,
02:00:20.480 --> 02:00:23.510
um what reason do we really have to
02:00:23.520 --> 02:00:25.350
believe that this is a matter of free
02:00:25.360 --> 02:00:27.750
will and not simply the Buddha being a
02:00:27.760 --> 02:00:28.950
man fortunate enough to be at a high
02:00:28.960 --> 02:00:32.629
stage of bonga maturation? I mean, this
02:00:32.639 --> 02:00:35.189
is it's just such an unnecessarily
02:00:35.199 --> 02:00:38.390
obscure way of asking a question.
02:00:38.400 --> 02:00:42.149
Seriously.
02:00:42.159 --> 02:00:45.109
Oh boy. Okay. Well, with regard to banga
02:00:45.119 --> 02:00:46.629
maturation, I mean, that doesn't even
02:00:46.639 --> 02:00:48.470
really make any sense as far as I can
02:00:48.480 --> 02:00:51.430
tell. Bwanga, according to according to
02:00:51.440 --> 02:00:53.589
the Abidama philosophy, is just a kind
02:00:53.599 --> 02:00:55.830
of test pattern in your mind when you're
02:00:55.840 --> 02:00:58.070
not thinking any anything in particular
02:00:58.080 --> 02:00:59.750
and it doesn't change over the course of
02:00:59.760 --> 02:01:01.750
your life.
02:01:01.760 --> 02:01:06.470
Um and this free will stuff. I mean the
02:01:06.480 --> 02:01:10.070
the best I can make of this question
02:01:10.080 --> 02:01:12.390
is like to what extent should we
02:01:12.400 --> 02:01:18.070
consider success in dharma to just be
02:01:18.080 --> 02:01:21.109
like you're just ripe for enlightenment
02:01:21.119 --> 02:01:24.390
rather than like some person just
02:01:24.400 --> 02:01:27.030
striving and developing like
02:01:27.040 --> 02:01:29.589
systematically
02:01:29.599 --> 02:01:34.390
and yeah I mean the Buddha was ripe I
02:01:34.400 --> 02:01:36.390
mean he had his parameies were fulfilled
02:01:36.400 --> 02:01:40.070
according to tradition and that's like
02:01:40.080 --> 02:01:42.709
the main ar the main one of the main
02:01:42.719 --> 02:01:45.030
statements I get from Burmese people you
02:01:45.040 --> 02:01:47.510
know about how they've been born into a
02:01:47.520 --> 02:01:49.830
Burmese culture or Buddhist culture you
02:01:49.840 --> 02:01:51.270
know they've been Buddhists their entire
02:01:51.280 --> 02:01:55.910
lives but still me as a westerner I as a
02:01:55.920 --> 02:01:59.109
westerner could just adopt Buddhism and
02:01:59.119 --> 02:02:00.709
then start practicing it at a higher
02:02:00.719 --> 02:02:02.629
level than them they say that's because
02:02:02.639 --> 02:02:04.149
of your paramy
02:02:04.159 --> 02:02:06.470
You know, it's just your past karma.
02:02:06.480 --> 02:02:09.830
It's not like just anybody can practice
02:02:09.840 --> 02:02:11.669
dharma and become enlightened. There's
02:02:11.679 --> 02:02:13.830
no guarantee. And most people just are
02:02:13.840 --> 02:02:16.149
not ripe for for dharma practice. In
02:02:16.159 --> 02:02:17.990
fact, most people couldn't even practice
02:02:18.000 --> 02:02:20.149
dharma correctly. They would just crack
02:02:20.159 --> 02:02:25.669
up trying to practice dharma correctly.
02:02:25.679 --> 02:02:28.390
Even some meditation instructors would
02:02:28.400 --> 02:02:31.109
crack up if they really were required to
02:02:31.119 --> 02:02:32.870
practice dharma correctly. they just
02:02:32.880 --> 02:02:37.750
could not do it.
02:02:37.760 --> 02:02:40.310
So I mean it's a largely a matter of are
02:02:40.320 --> 02:02:41.910
you ripe for enlightenment and it
02:02:41.920 --> 02:02:44.070
doesn't have to be like obviously like
02:02:44.080 --> 02:02:45.990
according to the text Angulim Mala who
02:02:46.000 --> 02:02:48.149
was a serial killer
02:02:48.159 --> 02:02:51.589
nevertheless had like a mature enough
02:02:51.599 --> 02:02:54.870
spiritual route that he could become
02:02:54.880 --> 02:02:56.629
enlightened in that life. If he was
02:02:56.639 --> 02:02:59.109
converted to Buddhism, converted away
02:02:59.119 --> 02:03:01.430
from being a spiritual a spiritual
02:03:01.440 --> 02:03:04.629
killer, a serial killer,
02:03:04.639 --> 02:03:08.070
he became enlightened. So, um it's the
02:03:08.080 --> 02:03:10.629
the systematic practice that may be
02:03:10.639 --> 02:03:13.750
required to kind of bring your
02:03:13.760 --> 02:03:16.709
parameies, your your past mo spiritual
02:03:16.719 --> 02:03:19.030
momentum to the surface, something like
02:03:19.040 --> 02:03:21.669
that. But free will, I mean, I don't
02:03:21.679 --> 02:03:23.589
even necessarily believe that free will
02:03:23.599 --> 02:03:25.589
exists. If it does exist in this world,
02:03:25.599 --> 02:03:27.750
it's it's a paradox. Like maybe an
02:03:27.760 --> 02:03:30.390
inexplicable paradox.
02:03:30.400 --> 02:03:33.830
Free will logically is impossible.
02:03:33.840 --> 02:03:35.910
And also from the Buddhist point of view
02:03:35.920 --> 02:03:38.790
especially when you have no self. Then
02:03:38.800 --> 02:03:40.870
what is I mean how can you have free
02:03:40.880 --> 02:03:44.149
will with no self? Free will require
02:03:44.159 --> 02:03:46.709
some kind of autonomous individual to
02:03:46.719 --> 02:03:49.030
have the free will. It would seem to me
02:03:49.040 --> 02:03:51.109
that the free will itself would have to
02:03:51.119 --> 02:03:53.910
be some kind of autonomous
02:03:53.920 --> 02:03:59.750
function which is ruled out in Buddhism.
02:03:59.760 --> 02:04:03.109
So
02:04:03.119 --> 02:04:06.470
various people just take upon themselves
02:04:06.480 --> 02:04:09.910
Buddhist training. Some of them are like
02:04:09.920 --> 02:04:13.030
more mature than others and they get
02:04:13.040 --> 02:04:17.430
farther with it.
02:04:17.440 --> 02:04:19.510
And that's about I mean that's about all
02:04:19.520 --> 02:04:21.990
I can say really
02:04:22.000 --> 02:04:23.750
because I mean the question is so
02:04:23.760 --> 02:04:25.669
obscure that it's really hard to tease
02:04:25.679 --> 02:04:28.070
out what actually is is the question. It
02:04:28.080 --> 02:04:29.669
seems to me that the the main point of
02:04:29.679 --> 02:04:32.870
the question is just does a person
02:04:32.880 --> 02:04:34.550
become enlightened just because they're
02:04:34.560 --> 02:04:39.350
just fortunate and have like the enough
02:04:39.360 --> 02:04:41.109
karmic
02:04:41.119 --> 02:04:44.229
capital to just fall into enlightenment
02:04:44.239 --> 02:04:46.870
or is it some sort of systematic effort
02:04:46.880 --> 02:04:49.030
through strength of willpower and so
02:04:49.040 --> 02:04:51.830
forth and
02:04:51.840 --> 02:04:54.470
in the west I think it's more the latter
02:04:54.480 --> 02:04:56.229
because most westerners who have some
02:04:56.239 --> 02:04:57.990
sort of awakening experience erience.
02:04:58.000 --> 02:04:59.990
They they have it accidentally, you
02:05:00.000 --> 02:05:01.589
know, they have a near-death experience
02:05:01.599 --> 02:05:04.550
or something that just jolts them out of
02:05:04.560 --> 02:05:06.550
the some soric rut that they've been in
02:05:06.560 --> 02:05:09.990
for who knows how long. But it may be
02:05:10.000 --> 02:05:11.669
that you need some kind of systematic
02:05:11.679 --> 02:05:14.629
practice at least to kind of clear your
02:05:14.639 --> 02:05:17.910
mind and set yourself up for the
02:05:17.920 --> 02:05:21.350
availability of that
02:05:21.360 --> 02:05:23.750
whatever it is that happens, the crisis
02:05:23.760 --> 02:05:27.830
that jolts you out of some sorrow.
02:05:27.840 --> 02:05:29.109
And I think I'm just going to move on to
02:05:29.119 --> 02:05:31.589
the next question. This is a very short
02:05:31.599 --> 02:05:34.070
question. This is from Ruie. How much
02:05:34.080 --> 02:05:38.070
value do you place on ethmology?
02:05:38.080 --> 02:05:40.229
And I mean, that's it's kind of an
02:05:40.239 --> 02:05:42.870
interesting question. How much value do
02:05:42.880 --> 02:05:45.669
you place on etmology? I mean, I like
02:05:45.679 --> 02:05:48.149
etmologies. I'm interested in etmology.
02:05:48.159 --> 02:05:50.470
Sometimes I'll look up etmologies of
02:05:50.480 --> 02:05:53.109
words and sometimes it can help you to
02:05:53.119 --> 02:05:55.430
understand the meaning of the word but
02:05:55.440 --> 02:05:57.910
not always like the word the English
02:05:57.920 --> 02:06:00.790
word understanding. I mean literally it
02:06:00.800 --> 02:06:02.950
means you're standing under something
02:06:02.960 --> 02:06:04.709
but I mean how does that help you to
02:06:04.719 --> 02:06:06.950
understand what the word understanding
02:06:06.960 --> 02:06:08.550
means?
02:06:08.560 --> 02:06:12.070
So, um it's it's really interesting like
02:06:12.080 --> 02:06:15.430
just following uh like Indo-Uropean
02:06:15.440 --> 02:06:18.149
roots, that kind of thing. That's
02:06:18.159 --> 02:06:19.750
interesting to me. Like most people
02:06:19.760 --> 02:06:22.390
wouldn't realize that the word goose in
02:06:22.400 --> 02:06:25.589
English has the same Indo-Uropean
02:06:25.599 --> 02:06:29.830
etmology as the word Hamsa in Pali or in
02:06:29.840 --> 02:06:33.109
Sanskrit, which usually is translated as
02:06:33.119 --> 02:06:35.750
swan or wild goose. But I'm pretty sure
02:06:35.760 --> 02:06:39.270
the Hamsa bird is the ruddy shell duck
02:06:39.280 --> 02:06:41.750
which is like a goose.
02:06:41.760 --> 02:06:45.589
So how does Hamsa and goose how are they
02:06:45.599 --> 02:06:48.709
derived from the same word? Well uh
02:06:48.719 --> 02:06:50.709
goose the English word goose comes from
02:06:50.719 --> 02:06:53.589
like the the Germanic word gans like
02:06:53.599 --> 02:06:55.750
still is found in in like the word
02:06:55.760 --> 02:06:58.709
gander which is a male goose and from
02:06:58.719 --> 02:07:02.229
gans to hamsa as it's a lot closer. It's
02:07:02.239 --> 02:07:05.430
more obvious that way.
02:07:05.440 --> 02:07:07.750
So sometimes the etmologies of words can
02:07:07.760 --> 02:07:09.830
help you to understand the meaning or at
02:07:09.840 --> 02:07:12.629
least the original meaning of the word
02:07:12.639 --> 02:07:16.229
but it's not really necessary and uh
02:07:16.239 --> 02:07:19.350
indulging in fake etmologies like like
02:07:19.360 --> 02:07:22.709
the commentaries do a lot you know like
02:07:22.719 --> 02:07:24.870
the word beu
02:07:24.880 --> 02:07:26.790
you know it means usually translated as
02:07:26.800 --> 02:07:30.470
monk or sometimes as like mendicant beu
02:07:30.480 --> 02:07:32.709
and it's like the the commentaterial
02:07:32.719 --> 02:07:35.750
tradition has this weird folk etmology
02:07:35.760 --> 02:07:41.669
that it's like um it's like ba ead which
02:07:41.679 --> 02:07:45.030
means one who sees the danger in samsara
02:07:45.040 --> 02:07:47.589
when really the real etmology of the
02:07:47.599 --> 02:07:49.990
word beu the more likely etmology anyway
02:07:50.000 --> 02:07:55.430
is it means beggar beam bead beu bead is
02:07:55.440 --> 02:07:58.470
is like the verb form of beu and it
02:07:58.480 --> 02:08:02.790
means to ask for to beg for
02:08:02.800 --> 02:08:05.830
bea Pam is another noun form of that
02:08:05.840 --> 02:08:09.030
same verb which means alms food
02:08:09.040 --> 02:08:13.350
given to a beggar.
02:08:13.360 --> 02:08:15.510
So how much value do I place on it? I
02:08:15.520 --> 02:08:17.750
mean it's not really necessary to know
02:08:17.760 --> 02:08:19.669
etmologies except for maybe in a few
02:08:19.679 --> 02:08:21.750
cases. You want to know what a word
02:08:21.760 --> 02:08:23.990
means? Like the word asawa can help you
02:08:24.000 --> 02:08:27.430
to understand what what asawas mean you
02:08:27.440 --> 02:08:30.310
know it means like influx influence
02:08:30.320 --> 02:08:33.109
something that flows in that is becomes
02:08:33.119 --> 02:08:35.109
like an encumbrance.
02:08:35.119 --> 02:08:37.430
It's like sticks to you that kind of
02:08:37.440 --> 02:08:39.189
thing. I mean it can help you to
02:08:39.199 --> 02:08:42.149
understand certain things but I mean not
02:08:42.159 --> 02:08:45.510
necessarily.
02:08:45.520 --> 02:08:48.550
So, I mean, it has some value, but it's
02:08:48.560 --> 02:08:52.069
not like invaluable.
02:08:52.079 --> 02:08:53.270
And I'm just going to move on. Next
02:08:53.280 --> 02:08:55.109
question. This is from Ethiopian fake
02:08:55.119 --> 02:08:59.109
TIG. And Ethiopian fake TIG says, after
02:08:59.119 --> 02:09:00.709
I look at the clock and see, we've been
02:09:00.719 --> 02:09:03.430
going for over two hours already. Yeah,
02:09:03.440 --> 02:09:04.790
this is this is going to be a long one.
02:09:04.800 --> 02:09:09.109
This is Yeah. Ethiopian fake Tig says,
02:09:09.119 --> 02:09:11.510
"Daniel Ingram has a book called
02:09:11.520 --> 02:09:13.350
Mastering the Core Teachings of the
02:09:13.360 --> 02:09:15.910
Buddha. And in it he explains the stages
02:09:15.920 --> 02:09:18.310
of insight in a very westernfriendly
02:09:18.320 --> 02:09:21.109
way. The connotation of the entire thing
02:09:21.119 --> 02:09:22.950
is that one can start the insight
02:09:22.960 --> 02:09:25.750
practice and finish it. He himself
02:09:25.760 --> 02:09:28.470
claims to be an arahant and he has done
02:09:28.480 --> 02:09:31.270
some form of study to prove that his
02:09:31.280 --> 02:09:33.510
brain waves are unique to that of a
02:09:33.520 --> 02:09:35.750
regular person. What are your thoughts
02:09:35.760 --> 02:09:37.910
on people like him? And do you think
02:09:37.920 --> 02:09:39.669
just about anyone can complete the
02:09:39.679 --> 02:09:41.510
stages of insight with just a few years
02:09:41.520 --> 02:09:43.510
of practice? because that is how
02:09:43.520 --> 02:09:45.109
everyone is treating it and claiming
02:09:45.119 --> 02:09:48.229
that they have achieved equinimity.
02:09:48.239 --> 02:09:51.830
Well, like in my answer to uosis
02:09:51.840 --> 02:09:53.990
is not every I mean most people just are
02:09:54.000 --> 02:09:56.470
not right for enlightenment that even if
02:09:56.480 --> 02:09:58.390
they try to practice correctly, they
02:09:58.400 --> 02:10:01.030
won't be able to. It'll just drive them
02:10:01.040 --> 02:10:04.470
into some sort of mental breakdown or
02:10:04.480 --> 02:10:07.270
meltdown or something.
02:10:07.280 --> 02:10:08.950
So, what are my thoughts on Daniel
02:10:08.960 --> 02:10:11.109
Ingram?
02:10:11.119 --> 02:10:12.870
My best guess with regard to Daniel
02:10:12.880 --> 02:10:16.310
Ingram is that he is a sociopath.
02:10:16.320 --> 02:10:19.430
That I mean anyone I mean like on his
02:10:19.440 --> 02:10:21.270
website I looked at his website years
02:10:21.280 --> 02:10:23.750
ago when I was a monk. The like the
02:10:23.760 --> 02:10:26.149
homepage of his website the first thing
02:10:26.159 --> 02:10:29.430
you see is him bragging and listing off
02:10:29.440 --> 02:10:31.669
all these attainments. It was with just
02:10:31.679 --> 02:10:33.430
like becoming fully enlightened was like
02:10:33.440 --> 02:10:37.189
one of the like the minor ones.
02:10:37.199 --> 02:10:39.750
And so I think he's probably a hustster.
02:10:39.760 --> 02:10:41.589
I mean, he's a clever one and he's got
02:10:41.599 --> 02:10:44.870
some kind of insight like a lot of like
02:10:44.880 --> 02:10:46.550
cult leaders have. I mean, you don't
02:10:46.560 --> 02:10:48.790
become a cult leader just by just being
02:10:48.800 --> 02:10:50.470
a truck driver and deciding, well, I'm
02:10:50.480 --> 02:10:52.470
I'm tired of driving trucks. I'm just
02:10:52.480 --> 02:10:53.910
going to become a cult leader. You have
02:10:53.920 --> 02:10:57.030
to have like charisma and like a glib
02:10:57.040 --> 02:10:59.750
way of explaining like difficult
02:10:59.760 --> 02:11:02.550
subjects, especially spiritual ones that
02:11:02.560 --> 02:11:04.790
just sound like you're this fountain of
02:11:04.800 --> 02:11:06.950
wisdom, when that's not necessarily the
02:11:06.960 --> 02:11:08.629
case. Like Osho was another one. the
02:11:08.639 --> 02:11:11.669
Bagwan Shiraj Nish, he'd be kind of the
02:11:11.679 --> 02:11:13.589
same way. I'm not even sure if the
02:11:13.599 --> 02:11:15.910
Bagwan himself would would go as far as
02:11:15.920 --> 02:11:19.350
Daniel Ingram and just brag about how
02:11:19.360 --> 02:11:22.149
enlightened he is.
02:11:22.159 --> 02:11:24.550
The so-called Jed McKenna is another one
02:11:24.560 --> 02:11:27.750
of these who just brags and brags and
02:11:27.760 --> 02:11:29.990
brags about how enlightened he is. And
02:11:30.000 --> 02:11:32.550
anyone like that, I mean, that's red
02:11:32.560 --> 02:11:34.629
flags.
02:11:34.639 --> 02:11:37.750
That's it's like something that
02:11:37.760 --> 02:11:39.830
according to the text a really
02:11:39.840 --> 02:11:41.910
enlightened person
02:11:41.920 --> 02:11:44.229
shouldn't do even though like it was
02:11:44.239 --> 02:11:46.069
mentioned earlier on the Buddha himself
02:11:46.079 --> 02:11:48.310
in the text is continually doing this
02:11:48.320 --> 02:11:50.950
stuff but I'm skeptical as to whether
02:11:50.960 --> 02:11:53.109
the Buddha himself really did that kind
02:11:53.119 --> 02:11:55.430
of stuff.
02:11:55.440 --> 02:11:58.149
But I saw uh like a video with Daniel
02:11:58.159 --> 02:11:59.910
Ingramman. He seems just like this
02:11:59.920 --> 02:12:01.910
nervous fidgety kind of guy. Not like
02:12:01.920 --> 02:12:04.950
you'd expect from a fully enlightened
02:12:04.960 --> 02:12:10.870
being, but that's just my best guess.
02:12:10.880 --> 02:12:13.189
So, let's see.
02:12:13.199 --> 02:12:15.270
Do I think that just about anyone can
02:12:15.280 --> 02:12:17.030
complete the stages of insight with just
02:12:17.040 --> 02:12:20.629
a few years of practice? No, I do not.
02:12:20.639 --> 02:12:22.390
Yeah. Okay. So, I guess I answer that
02:12:22.400 --> 02:12:25.430
question. I'm very skeptical. Um, I'm
02:12:25.440 --> 02:12:27.030
not just going to like flat out assert
02:12:27.040 --> 02:12:30.950
that Daniel Ingram is like a fraud and a
02:12:30.960 --> 02:12:34.390
sociopath, but that would kind of be
02:12:34.400 --> 02:12:37.430
like a plausible guess based on what
02:12:37.440 --> 02:12:40.069
what I know of him,
02:12:40.079 --> 02:12:43.189
which isn't very much, I have to admit.
02:12:43.199 --> 02:12:44.390
I mean, there have been some of these
02:12:44.400 --> 02:12:47.109
enlightened beings like uh Andrew Cohen,
02:12:47.119 --> 02:12:50.069
I think was his name, who he was sort of
02:12:50.079 --> 02:12:52.149
a Daniel Ingram type. He was declaring
02:12:52.159 --> 02:12:54.629
himself to be fully enlightened until
02:12:54.639 --> 02:12:57.669
after years of this, he kind of got into
02:12:57.679 --> 02:13:01.109
some kind of unsaavory
02:13:01.119 --> 02:13:03.430
thing going with a female supporter or
02:13:03.440 --> 02:13:05.750
something. And then some of his
02:13:05.760 --> 02:13:07.270
supporters were saying, "No, wait.
02:13:07.280 --> 02:13:08.470
You're not really enlightened if you're
02:13:08.480 --> 02:13:10.229
doing that." And then he actually said,
02:13:10.239 --> 02:13:12.629
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess I
02:13:12.639 --> 02:13:14.470
was mistaken." Because you can be
02:13:14.480 --> 02:13:16.790
mistaken. Even an honest person can
02:13:16.800 --> 02:13:19.030
believe that they're enlightened or have
02:13:19.040 --> 02:13:21.109
some attainment. And really, they're
02:13:21.119 --> 02:13:22.550
just overestimating their own
02:13:22.560 --> 02:13:24.149
attainment.
02:13:24.159 --> 02:13:26.790
So, that's possible, too.
02:13:26.800 --> 02:13:29.350
So, it may be that Daniel Ingram isn't a
02:13:29.360 --> 02:13:31.669
deliberate fraud, but at the same time,
02:13:31.679 --> 02:13:33.350
he's not fully enlightened either. He
02:13:33.360 --> 02:13:35.750
just kind of thinks he is. That's a
02:13:35.760 --> 02:13:38.550
possibility, too. But all the bragging
02:13:38.560 --> 02:13:41.270
about how enlightened he is is that just
02:13:41.280 --> 02:13:44.470
seems like a red flag to me.
02:13:44.480 --> 02:13:45.589
And I'm just going to move on to
02:13:45.599 --> 02:13:49.350
Ethiopian fake Tig's next question
02:13:49.360 --> 02:13:52.069
which is as follows. While reading
02:13:52.079 --> 02:13:55.510
Yungian books, I have come across the
02:13:55.520 --> 02:13:58.310
idea that a coming of age ritual for
02:13:58.320 --> 02:14:00.229
boys needs to be done for them to mature
02:14:00.239 --> 02:14:03.750
into men. I have also realized that what
02:14:03.760 --> 02:14:07.030
keeps men infantilized is this idea that
02:14:07.040 --> 02:14:09.189
something bad might happen here or
02:14:09.199 --> 02:14:12.629
there. uninitiated men have high levels
02:14:12.639 --> 02:14:15.830
of stress hormones like w like women do
02:14:15.840 --> 02:14:18.550
and don't take the risk and do what's
02:14:18.560 --> 02:14:20.790
needed to be on their own. What are your
02:14:20.800 --> 02:14:22.550
thoughts on this and a coming of age
02:14:22.560 --> 02:14:24.629
ritual for men these days? Well, my
02:14:24.639 --> 02:14:26.709
coming of age ritual was on my 16th
02:14:26.719 --> 02:14:28.950
birthday when I got drunk as a skunk and
02:14:28.960 --> 02:14:31.510
higher than the proverbial Georgia pine
02:14:31.520 --> 02:14:33.910
both for the first time in my life and
02:14:33.920 --> 02:14:35.830
it just opened up like this whole new
02:14:35.840 --> 02:14:38.310
world for me.
02:14:38.320 --> 02:14:40.470
But um yeah, I've got a book on the book
02:14:40.480 --> 02:14:41.750
is Battle for the Mind by William
02:14:41.760 --> 02:14:43.030
Sergeant. That is one of the most
02:14:43.040 --> 02:14:44.950
important books I ever read. I recommend
02:14:44.960 --> 02:14:46.310
it to anybody even though it was written
02:14:46.320 --> 02:14:49.669
back around like 1950 or something.
02:14:49.679 --> 02:14:54.709
And he talks about um how
02:14:54.719 --> 02:14:57.669
higher vertebrates including humans and
02:14:57.679 --> 02:15:00.229
Pavlov's dogs are governed by habit.
02:15:00.239 --> 02:15:02.310
We're just kind of locked into habitual
02:15:02.320 --> 02:15:05.430
habit habit patterns which are from a
02:15:05.440 --> 02:15:08.470
Buddhist point of view karmic. And it
02:15:08.480 --> 02:15:11.910
takes some kind of crisis to to knock us
02:15:11.920 --> 02:15:14.550
out of this habitual habit pattern. It's
02:15:14.560 --> 02:15:16.709
like even if that these habit patterns
02:15:16.719 --> 02:15:19.350
are like dysfunctional and cause us to
02:15:19.360 --> 02:15:21.510
be unhappy, you know, we can go through
02:15:21.520 --> 02:15:24.229
life just a miserable mess. So long as
02:15:24.239 --> 02:15:27.830
it's keeping us, you know, like above
02:15:27.840 --> 02:15:30.069
water, you know, it's like so long as
02:15:30.079 --> 02:15:32.229
it's keeping us alive and functioning,
02:15:32.239 --> 02:15:33.510
it's good enough. And just
02:15:33.520 --> 02:15:35.750
instinctively, we cling to it. We don't
02:15:35.760 --> 02:15:37.990
want to let it go until we get into this
02:15:38.000 --> 02:15:40.229
crisis situation when our habitual way
02:15:40.239 --> 02:15:41.910
of dealing with reality just isn't
02:15:41.920 --> 02:15:44.790
working anymore. And then we have like
02:15:44.800 --> 02:15:48.390
this breakdown. And then we become very
02:15:48.400 --> 02:15:51.750
open to suggestion. And that is
02:15:51.760 --> 02:15:54.149
capitalized on by various people. Like
02:15:54.159 --> 02:15:56.950
Chinese brainwashing was like this where
02:15:56.960 --> 02:15:59.270
you just break the person down in this
02:15:59.280 --> 02:16:02.390
indoctrination camp, you know, through
02:16:02.400 --> 02:16:04.709
just working them half to death, not
02:16:04.719 --> 02:16:06.310
giving them enough food, not allowing
02:16:06.320 --> 02:16:08.149
them enough sleep until they have like a
02:16:08.159 --> 02:16:10.870
breakdown. And then like the commasar,
02:16:10.880 --> 02:16:13.350
the the polit the the communist party
02:16:13.360 --> 02:16:15.189
representative comes in and starts
02:16:15.199 --> 02:16:16.950
indoctrinating you and you just soak it
02:16:16.960 --> 02:16:18.950
up like a sponge and become a good
02:16:18.960 --> 02:16:21.430
communist afterwards.
02:16:21.440 --> 02:16:25.350
You know, like 1984, you know, that the
02:16:25.360 --> 02:16:27.109
ministry of truth or whatever it was.
02:16:27.119 --> 02:16:28.950
No, not the Ministry of Truth, but you
02:16:28.960 --> 02:16:31.270
know, the place where they get sent to
02:16:31.280 --> 02:16:34.230
get indoctrinated, you know, room nine
02:16:34.240 --> 02:16:38.870
or whatever it was is like that. like um
02:16:38.880 --> 02:16:41.030
indoctrination methods of like the
02:16:41.040 --> 02:16:42.790
Stalinist Soviet Union was like that
02:16:42.800 --> 02:16:44.549
where they get you not only to confess
02:16:44.559 --> 02:16:45.990
to trying to overthrow the government
02:16:46.000 --> 02:16:48.230
but actually get you to believe that you
02:16:48.240 --> 02:16:49.669
were trying to overthrow the government
02:16:49.679 --> 02:16:51.750
through the same kind of stuff just lack
02:16:51.760 --> 02:16:54.629
of sleep, just horrible conditions.
02:16:54.639 --> 02:16:56.709
You're being eaten alive by bed bugs.
02:16:56.719 --> 02:16:57.830
You know, you're wearing clothes that
02:16:57.840 --> 02:16:59.270
are way too big, so you got to hold your
02:16:59.280 --> 02:17:01.030
pants up all the time. And then you're
02:17:01.040 --> 02:17:03.349
just like being sent into this you don't
02:17:03.359 --> 02:17:04.709
have enough sleep. You're sleepd
02:17:04.719 --> 02:17:06.150
deprived. You get sent into this room
02:17:06.160 --> 02:17:08.230
where they're just like just hounding
02:17:08.240 --> 02:17:09.990
you, asking the same questions over and
02:17:10.000 --> 02:17:11.669
over again. Why did you do it? Why did
02:17:11.679 --> 02:17:13.669
you do it? This kind of thing until you
02:17:13.679 --> 02:17:15.589
just have this breakdown actually start
02:17:15.599 --> 02:17:17.910
believing that you did it. And it turns
02:17:17.920 --> 02:17:21.110
out like military basic training, you
02:17:21.120 --> 02:17:22.950
know, like full metal jacket kind of
02:17:22.960 --> 02:17:25.910
stuff. I mean, that does the same thing.
02:17:25.920 --> 02:17:29.589
It breaks down this soft, wimpy city guy
02:17:29.599 --> 02:17:32.549
and he has this kind of crisis and then
02:17:32.559 --> 02:17:35.429
the drill instructor just reforms him
02:17:35.439 --> 02:17:38.070
into this fighting machine that will not
02:17:38.080 --> 02:17:40.309
hesitate to obey an order. Some
02:17:40.319 --> 02:17:42.629
religious methods like Methodism started
02:17:42.639 --> 02:17:44.790
off this way where you you trigger this
02:17:44.800 --> 02:17:47.190
breakdown by just pounding away at the
02:17:47.200 --> 02:17:49.110
fact that if you don't repent, you're
02:17:49.120 --> 02:17:51.190
going to burn in hell forever and ever.
02:17:51.200 --> 02:17:53.349
And they people just could not argue
02:17:53.359 --> 02:17:55.190
against it. you know, it was just the
02:17:55.200 --> 02:17:58.230
1700s in rural England. I mean, that was
02:17:58.240 --> 02:17:59.589
just the truth. I mean, you couldn't
02:17:59.599 --> 02:18:02.389
really argue against it. And so, uh,
02:18:02.399 --> 02:18:04.870
like John Wesley, they would just pound
02:18:04.880 --> 02:18:06.870
away at this. If you don't repent of
02:18:06.880 --> 02:18:08.469
your sins, you're going to burn in hell
02:18:08.479 --> 02:18:09.669
forever and ever. And then they'd give
02:18:09.679 --> 02:18:12.790
these fire and brimstone sermons about
02:18:12.800 --> 02:18:14.709
what it's like to be tortured in hell.
02:18:14.719 --> 02:18:16.150
And people would just start freaking
02:18:16.160 --> 02:18:18.469
out. You know, they'd be foaming at the
02:18:18.479 --> 02:18:20.549
mouth like in convulsions on the floor,
02:18:20.559 --> 02:18:21.910
but when they finally come to their
02:18:21.920 --> 02:18:23.830
senses, they were born again. And that's
02:18:23.840 --> 02:18:25.669
when you had like the Methodist, you
02:18:25.679 --> 02:18:28.150
know, the the indoctrinators, you know,
02:18:28.160 --> 02:18:30.870
like helping them to become good
02:18:30.880 --> 02:18:32.629
Christians. This sort of thing. And like
02:18:32.639 --> 02:18:35.270
in tribal societies, the manhood rituals
02:18:35.280 --> 02:18:37.830
are the same where these kids, they'd
02:18:37.840 --> 02:18:40.070
get the like the Jesus scared out of
02:18:40.080 --> 02:18:41.669
them, you know, doing these manhood
02:18:41.679 --> 02:18:43.910
rituals or just being sent off into a
02:18:43.920 --> 02:18:46.070
forest alone to survive this kind of
02:18:46.080 --> 02:18:48.950
stuff. They'd have the crisis and then
02:18:48.960 --> 02:18:53.030
they'd get reformed into these men
02:18:53.040 --> 02:18:55.589
worthy of being, you know, warriors of
02:18:55.599 --> 02:18:58.309
the tribe who will just sacrifice their
02:18:58.319 --> 02:18:59.509
life for the benefit of the tribe
02:18:59.519 --> 02:19:01.270
without hesitation.
02:19:01.280 --> 02:19:03.669
That kind of thing happens has happened
02:19:03.679 --> 02:19:07.110
in humanity in various contexts for
02:19:07.120 --> 02:19:10.309
since the stone age. And now it is true
02:19:10.319 --> 02:19:12.549
that people just do not have these
02:19:12.559 --> 02:19:16.150
initiation ceremonies anymore.
02:19:16.160 --> 02:19:17.910
these rituals where you go through like
02:19:17.920 --> 02:19:20.469
a crisis stage that where then you
02:19:20.479 --> 02:19:22.870
become malleable and can be like
02:19:22.880 --> 02:19:26.230
indoctrinated.
02:19:26.240 --> 02:19:27.830
So let's see what's the actual question
02:19:27.840 --> 02:19:29.910
here.
02:19:29.920 --> 02:19:31.589
What are your thoughts on this in a
02:19:31.599 --> 02:19:33.750
coming of age ritual? Yeah, I mean to
02:19:33.760 --> 02:19:35.750
some some degree in the west coming of
02:19:35.760 --> 02:19:38.230
age rituals I mean joining the military
02:19:38.240 --> 02:19:41.030
where you go through basic training and
02:19:41.040 --> 02:19:44.389
you're still in kind of a a tough level
02:19:44.399 --> 02:19:46.790
of the military. like in the army now
02:19:46.800 --> 02:19:50.790
it's or the navy um it I' I've read
02:19:50.800 --> 02:19:52.389
articles about how it's just got totally
02:19:52.399 --> 02:19:55.270
wimpy and you're not really doing
02:19:55.280 --> 02:19:57.750
anything remotely resembling you know
02:19:57.760 --> 02:20:00.790
the recruits in full metal jacket where
02:20:00.800 --> 02:20:03.429
you've got the guy threatening to gouge
02:20:03.439 --> 02:20:05.670
out your eyeballs and skull you and
02:20:05.680 --> 02:20:08.790
this kind of thing.
02:20:08.800 --> 02:20:10.790
So,
02:20:10.800 --> 02:20:13.590
let's see. What are my thoughts on this
02:20:13.600 --> 02:20:15.429
and a coming of age ritual for men these
02:20:15.439 --> 02:20:17.990
days? Yeah, the coming of age ritual. I
02:20:18.000 --> 02:20:20.469
mean, I I'm unaware of really going
02:20:20.479 --> 02:20:23.830
through anything like that until
02:20:23.840 --> 02:20:27.110
Well, no. I've I've had my my crisis
02:20:27.120 --> 02:20:29.990
like when I was like 16, 17 years old, I
02:20:30.000 --> 02:20:33.750
had like a spiritual crisis that um
02:20:33.760 --> 02:20:36.230
resulted in significant spiritual
02:20:36.240 --> 02:20:37.910
growth.
02:20:37.920 --> 02:20:39.510
So,
02:20:39.520 --> 02:20:41.990
um, in my case, the the like the coming
02:20:42.000 --> 02:20:44.950
of age ceremony was just kind of
02:20:44.960 --> 02:20:47.349
spontaneous and just thrust upon me by
02:20:47.359 --> 02:20:49.270
circumstance.
02:20:49.280 --> 02:20:51.110
Well, I mean, if you could even call it
02:20:51.120 --> 02:20:54.230
a coming of age ceremony, not the 16th
02:20:54.240 --> 02:20:56.469
birthday, but just like the spiritual
02:20:56.479 --> 02:20:58.950
crisis that resulted in my father
02:20:58.960 --> 02:21:00.710
sending me to a youth counselor who
02:21:00.720 --> 02:21:03.270
happened to be a spiritual guy, giving
02:21:03.280 --> 02:21:07.990
me Ram Doss books to read, etc., etc.
02:21:08.000 --> 02:21:09.910
Um, I don't know if it's so much the
02:21:09.920 --> 02:21:12.150
initiation. I mean, the in this kind of
02:21:12.160 --> 02:21:14.950
initiation, it can have good results or
02:21:14.960 --> 02:21:16.309
bad results. Turning into a good
02:21:16.319 --> 02:21:18.150
communist is not necessarily a good
02:21:18.160 --> 02:21:19.990
result.
02:21:20.000 --> 02:21:22.150
So, it can be used for for good or for
02:21:22.160 --> 02:21:24.230
bad.
02:21:24.240 --> 02:21:26.710
Um, I think it's it's more just like a
02:21:26.720 --> 02:21:29.190
feminized culture. It's not so much the
02:21:29.200 --> 02:21:32.230
lack of these indoctrinate or these like
02:21:32.240 --> 02:21:34.950
coming of age ceremonies that it's not
02:21:34.960 --> 02:21:36.710
necessarily the lack of that that's
02:21:36.720 --> 02:21:39.190
turning men into
02:21:39.200 --> 02:21:41.590
social unics, culturally castrated
02:21:41.600 --> 02:21:44.070
social unics. It's just growing up in a
02:21:44.080 --> 02:21:47.270
feminized society where being masculine
02:21:47.280 --> 02:21:49.990
is considered to be toxic. It's a
02:21:50.000 --> 02:21:53.270
problem and men are just sort of like
02:21:53.280 --> 02:21:59.429
discriminated against for being men.
02:21:59.439 --> 02:22:01.830
a real alpha male, I guess, would just
02:22:01.840 --> 02:22:04.550
like say, "Fuck that. I'm being who I
02:22:04.560 --> 02:22:07.830
am." But a lot of the, you know, sort of
02:22:07.840 --> 02:22:10.550
young guys who, I don't know, maybe they
02:22:10.560 --> 02:22:12.389
just didn't have much of an opportunity
02:22:12.399 --> 02:22:14.550
for that. You know, they have sort of a
02:22:14.560 --> 02:22:16.309
beta father,
02:22:16.319 --> 02:22:18.950
>> feminized mother, feminist mother, that
02:22:18.960 --> 02:22:20.469
kind of thing. You know, it's just sort
02:22:20.479 --> 02:22:24.469
of like a a handicap.
02:22:24.479 --> 02:22:28.309
But I mean, being really like just a
02:22:28.319 --> 02:22:30.870
total animal of a man where you're like
02:22:30.880 --> 02:22:33.510
punching holes in walls for no good
02:22:33.520 --> 02:22:35.110
reason, that kind of thing. That's not
02:22:35.120 --> 02:22:38.710
good either.
02:22:38.720 --> 02:22:41.190
But like athletics was another kind of
02:22:41.200 --> 02:22:44.790
way of, you know, just being a wrestler
02:22:44.800 --> 02:22:47.510
or a football player in junior high or
02:22:47.520 --> 02:22:49.510
high school that could help you to sort
02:22:49.520 --> 02:22:52.469
of instill you some masculine virtues.
02:22:52.479 --> 02:22:54.630
So I really don't think that this kind
02:22:54.640 --> 02:22:56.469
of
02:22:56.479 --> 02:23:00.070
reforming initiation putting you into a
02:23:00.080 --> 02:23:03.590
state of crisis is necessary, but having
02:23:03.600 --> 02:23:07.510
um like a culture that promotes
02:23:07.520 --> 02:23:10.230
um you know masculinity that doesn't
02:23:10.240 --> 02:23:13.349
demonize masculinity. ancient Sparta. I
02:23:13.359 --> 02:23:15.750
don't know if the ancient Spartans had
02:23:15.760 --> 02:23:17.910
their manhood rituals other than just
02:23:17.920 --> 02:23:22.070
the toughness of of raising boys and to
02:23:22.080 --> 02:23:25.270
be fighters, that kind of thing.
02:23:25.280 --> 02:23:28.230
So, I think it's more just a culture, a
02:23:28.240 --> 02:23:30.870
feminized culture is more pernitious
02:23:30.880 --> 02:23:35.590
than the modern loss of like manhood
02:23:35.600 --> 02:23:37.429
rituals, that kind of thing, where you
02:23:37.439 --> 02:23:39.510
got to have these cuts made without
02:23:39.520 --> 02:23:41.429
flinching. You know, you got to keep
02:23:41.439 --> 02:23:43.990
like a complete poker face while they're
02:23:44.000 --> 02:23:45.990
making the cuts in your chest and like
02:23:46.000 --> 02:23:48.469
putting ashes in so that it'll become
02:23:48.479 --> 02:23:50.710
like these wel like scars that are like
02:23:50.720 --> 02:23:53.270
decorations, badges of honor kind of a
02:23:53.280 --> 02:23:57.349
thing. It's not really necessary to be a
02:23:57.359 --> 02:23:58.870
man,
02:23:58.880 --> 02:24:01.990
but having some kind of culture that
02:24:02.000 --> 02:24:05.030
promotes masculine virtues is much more
02:24:05.040 --> 02:24:06.550
important in my opinion. And I'm just
02:24:06.560 --> 02:24:09.110
going to move on to
02:24:09.120 --> 02:24:12.710
Ethiopian fake Tig's next question.
02:24:12.720 --> 02:24:14.870
He says, "There is an ancient Hawaiian
02:24:14.880 --> 02:24:19.349
practice called hooponopono.
02:24:19.359 --> 02:24:22.790
It's a kind of Did I say that right?
02:24:22.800 --> 02:24:25.030
Hoopo."
02:24:25.040 --> 02:24:27.750
Yeah, it's hoponop po. It's a kind of
02:24:27.760 --> 02:24:29.670
transcendental meditation type of
02:24:29.680 --> 02:24:33.270
practice where you repeat the mantra the
02:24:33.280 --> 02:24:36.070
the he's got mantra the mantra I love
02:24:36.080 --> 02:24:38.550
you thank you have you ever heard of it
02:24:38.560 --> 02:24:40.309
and thoughts on transcendental
02:24:40.319 --> 02:24:41.990
meditation I don't know much about
02:24:42.000 --> 02:24:43.590
transcendental meditation you know it
02:24:43.600 --> 02:24:45.510
was brought to the west by the maharishi
02:24:45.520 --> 02:24:48.710
mahash yogi and it was in fashion among
02:24:48.720 --> 02:24:51.429
celebrities like the Beatles went to the
02:24:51.439 --> 02:24:55.030
Maharishi's ashram and uh it inspired
02:24:55.040 --> 02:24:56.870
the song sexy sadi
02:24:56.880 --> 02:25:00.870
possibly uh come together.
02:25:00.880 --> 02:25:02.469
Um
02:25:02.479 --> 02:25:04.790
but I mean the Hawaiian practice of ho
02:25:04.800 --> 02:25:08.150
ponop po never heard of it before u
02:25:08.160 --> 02:25:10.070
where you repeat the mantra I love you
02:25:10.080 --> 02:25:13.510
thank you it reminds me of there's a ram
02:25:13.520 --> 02:25:16.389
das book where he wrote about or he he
02:25:16.399 --> 02:25:18.710
it's a transcript of his talks I think
02:25:18.720 --> 02:25:22.870
but he was talking about uh some Tibetan
02:25:22.880 --> 02:25:26.150
llama came up with a mantra to help
02:25:26.160 --> 02:25:28.389
Tibetan people understand the western
02:25:28.399 --> 02:25:31.590
mind and it was this mantra of like
02:25:31.600 --> 02:25:33.750
please please sorry thank you please
02:25:33.760 --> 02:25:35.590
please please sorry thank you you just
02:25:35.600 --> 02:25:38.230
keep doing this and it helps you to get
02:25:38.240 --> 02:25:39.590
insight into what it's like to be a
02:25:39.600 --> 02:25:41.270
westerner
02:25:41.280 --> 02:25:44.150
that's what it reminds me of because it
02:25:44.160 --> 02:25:46.070
obviously doesn't remind me of any
02:25:46.080 --> 02:25:48.389
transcendental meditation
02:25:48.399 --> 02:25:50.389
p practiced by ancient Hawaiians who are
02:25:50.399 --> 02:25:52.790
cannibals I mean it didn't make them all
02:25:52.800 --> 02:25:55.190
that saintly apparently
02:25:55.200 --> 02:25:56.630
because they were still practicing
02:25:56.640 --> 02:25:58.230
ritual cannibalism although I guess
02:25:58.240 --> 02:26:03.030
Catholics practice ritual cannibalism to
02:26:03.040 --> 02:26:07.510
at their secret ceremonies.
02:26:07.520 --> 02:26:11.830
So yeah, I mean doing just doing
02:26:11.840 --> 02:26:13.590
meditating on the mantra I love you,
02:26:13.600 --> 02:26:15.830
thank you. I mean it might work for some
02:26:15.840 --> 02:26:17.670
people. It might help. It might make you
02:26:17.680 --> 02:26:21.830
be a more like benevolent or empathetic
02:26:21.840 --> 02:26:24.950
sort of person possibly. I mean you
02:26:24.960 --> 02:26:26.309
could try it and see what it does. See
02:26:26.319 --> 02:26:29.590
what the effects are.
02:26:29.600 --> 02:26:30.870
But I really don't know that much about
02:26:30.880 --> 02:26:33.270
transcendental meditation. It was a big
02:26:33.280 --> 02:26:36.389
deal back in the late60s though.
02:26:36.399 --> 02:26:37.670
So I'm just going to move on. Next
02:26:37.680 --> 02:26:38.950
question. This is from Sedarta
02:26:38.960 --> 02:26:41.110
Lohachita.
02:26:41.120 --> 02:26:43.190
And Sedarta Lohachita says, "Do you know
02:26:43.200 --> 02:26:45.830
if there is any equivalent in an old
02:26:45.840 --> 02:26:48.389
European language to the word dharma?"
02:26:48.399 --> 02:26:50.070
Well, if you wanted to find an
02:26:50.080 --> 02:26:52.630
equivalent in an old European language
02:26:52.640 --> 02:26:54.389
to the word dharma, your best bet would
02:26:54.399 --> 02:26:56.630
probably be Lithuanian.
02:26:56.640 --> 02:26:59.830
look up like some equivalent to the word
02:26:59.840 --> 02:27:01.990
dharma in Lithuanian,
02:27:02.000 --> 02:27:03.349
you know, maybe it would have the same
02:27:03.359 --> 02:27:07.030
etmology as Dharma. Um, that might be
02:27:07.040 --> 02:27:09.110
your best bet because Lithuanian is is
02:27:09.120 --> 02:27:13.190
very um conservative Indo-Uropean
02:27:13.200 --> 02:27:15.830
language and it comes very close in many
02:27:15.840 --> 02:27:18.230
respects to Indic languages like Poly
02:27:18.240 --> 02:27:21.510
and Sanskrit. It's it's remarkable how
02:27:21.520 --> 02:27:23.910
close to Poly and Sanskrit Lithuanian
02:27:23.920 --> 02:27:26.150
can be at times.
02:27:26.160 --> 02:27:28.630
Um but the word dharma is just a weird
02:27:28.640 --> 02:27:32.550
word like in Pali it's dharma and it is
02:27:32.560 --> 02:27:36.150
like a noun form of the verb d which
02:27:36.160 --> 02:27:40.550
means to bear to hold up and
02:27:40.560 --> 02:27:42.870
before the Buddhist time it came to mean
02:27:42.880 --> 02:27:46.309
law like law is what holds up society I
02:27:46.319 --> 02:27:49.190
guess
02:27:49.200 --> 02:27:50.790
um and then it came to mean like
02:27:50.800 --> 02:27:52.389
philosophy
02:27:52.399 --> 02:27:54.389
also it has the meaning of anything
02:27:54.399 --> 02:27:59.110
ultimately real, not just uh some
02:27:59.120 --> 02:28:01.670
ephemeral phenomenon that is just
02:28:01.680 --> 02:28:03.990
relatively real, but anything. I mean,
02:28:04.000 --> 02:28:06.309
it could just mean anything.
02:28:06.319 --> 02:28:08.230
Like in the first verse of the tamapata,
02:28:08.240 --> 02:28:11.590
it apparently means just things.
02:28:11.600 --> 02:28:14.710
Um but it in the commentarial tradition
02:28:14.720 --> 02:28:17.030
it's interpreted to mean mental states
02:28:17.040 --> 02:28:19.510
like in the first verse of the dhamapata
02:28:19.520 --> 02:28:22.469
which then the commentator Buddha Gos
02:28:22.479 --> 02:28:25.190
has to explain why the dharmapata would
02:28:25.200 --> 02:28:27.190
say that that consciousness precedes
02:28:27.200 --> 02:28:28.630
mental states when really they're
02:28:28.640 --> 02:28:30.950
simultaneous.
02:28:30.960 --> 02:28:32.870
But we don't have to go there although
02:28:32.880 --> 02:28:35.110
we already did.
02:28:35.120 --> 02:28:39.990
So I mean there is no equivalent in in
02:28:40.000 --> 02:28:42.870
English to the word dharma or dharma
02:28:42.880 --> 02:28:45.670
because dharma or dharma has so many
02:28:45.680 --> 02:28:47.990
meanings. You know it can mean
02:28:48.000 --> 02:28:50.469
philosophy. It can mean law. It can mean
02:28:50.479 --> 02:28:52.550
something that's ultimately real. It can
02:28:52.560 --> 02:28:55.110
mean mental states. It probably can mean
02:28:55.120 --> 02:28:56.550
a bunch of other things I'm just not
02:28:56.560 --> 02:28:59.030
thinking of right now.
02:28:59.040 --> 02:29:02.389
But um if there is any equivalent in an
02:29:02.399 --> 02:29:04.710
old European language or the closest
02:29:04.720 --> 02:29:06.630
you're going to get to an equivalent for
02:29:06.640 --> 02:29:08.150
for a word that has so many different
02:29:08.160 --> 02:29:11.349
meanings just there are like conditioned
02:29:11.359 --> 02:29:16.710
by ancient like Indo-arian culture then
02:29:16.720 --> 02:29:19.910
I would I would go with try Lithuanian.
02:29:19.920 --> 02:29:21.510
If you don't find it in Lithuanian
02:29:21.520 --> 02:29:22.950
there's a good chance there just isn't
02:29:22.960 --> 02:29:25.670
one.
02:29:25.680 --> 02:29:26.870
So, I'm just going to move on to the
02:29:26.880 --> 02:29:30.469
next question which is from Tzasiz
02:29:30.479 --> 02:29:33.349
and uh I do hope this this Q&A doesn't
02:29:33.359 --> 02:29:38.150
turn into four hours. I just saying
02:29:38.160 --> 02:29:41.030
Tzas says, "Do you think it is possible
02:29:41.040 --> 02:29:42.710
to predict lottery numbers?" I don't see
02:29:42.720 --> 02:29:44.389
why not. Anything imaginable is
02:29:44.399 --> 02:29:45.910
possible.
02:29:45.920 --> 02:29:48.389
So, yeah, it's possible. Sure. Why
02:29:48.399 --> 02:29:49.670
wouldn't it be possible to predict
02:29:49.680 --> 02:29:53.110
lottery numbers?
02:29:53.120 --> 02:29:54.870
It would be kind of liinal. I mean, if
02:29:54.880 --> 02:29:57.190
anyone consistently predicted lottery
02:29:57.200 --> 02:30:01.110
numbers, then in a way, you'd be sort of
02:30:01.120 --> 02:30:03.990
creating like a like a tension spot in
02:30:04.000 --> 02:30:05.750
the matrix,
02:30:05.760 --> 02:30:07.990
which could then cause the matrix to to
02:30:08.000 --> 02:30:09.830
crash or something if it got too
02:30:09.840 --> 02:30:12.230
extreme.
02:30:12.240 --> 02:30:13.830
But yeah, it's definitely possible. I
02:30:13.840 --> 02:30:15.270
don't see I don't see why it wouldn't be
02:30:15.280 --> 02:30:17.190
possible. And I'm just going to move on
02:30:17.200 --> 02:30:18.630
to Trz because this is the next
02:30:18.640 --> 02:30:20.870
question. What is it with all these
02:30:20.880 --> 02:30:23.910
fortune teller monks in terraada? Well,
02:30:23.920 --> 02:30:25.670
it's sort of like I was saying earlier
02:30:25.680 --> 02:30:29.030
that most Asian monks really are not
02:30:29.040 --> 02:30:31.110
striving for enlightenment.
02:30:31.120 --> 02:30:34.150
And so in Burma,
02:30:34.160 --> 02:30:35.510
uh there are a lot of fortune teller
02:30:35.520 --> 02:30:36.870
monks. Also, there are a lot of
02:30:36.880 --> 02:30:39.270
alchemist monks. Also, there are a lot
02:30:39.280 --> 02:30:41.429
of just, you know, astronaut monks who
02:30:41.439 --> 02:30:43.030
are just taking up space. I mean,
02:30:43.040 --> 02:30:45.830
there's like in in the Zen, they'd be
02:30:45.840 --> 02:30:48.790
called uh clothes hangers and rice bags
02:30:48.800 --> 02:30:50.070
because, you know, all they're good for
02:30:50.080 --> 02:30:52.710
is just to hang clothes on and to put
02:30:52.720 --> 02:30:55.590
rice into.
02:30:55.600 --> 02:31:00.070
Um, so yeah, I remember reading
02:31:00.080 --> 02:31:01.750
back when I was a monk about the Thai
02:31:01.760 --> 02:31:05.670
forest tradition in Ajan man, how like
02:31:05.680 --> 02:31:08.710
over a hundred years ago in Thailand,
02:31:08.720 --> 02:31:10.790
there was almost no forest tradition at
02:31:10.800 --> 02:31:12.870
all. There were almost no monks who are
02:31:12.880 --> 02:31:14.389
really striving for enlightenment. Like
02:31:14.399 --> 02:31:16.710
in Sri Lanka, even nowadays, there are a
02:31:16.720 --> 02:31:18.070
lot of monks who think there's there's
02:31:18.080 --> 02:31:19.270
just no more enlightenment in this
02:31:19.280 --> 02:31:20.550
world. There's no point even trying.
02:31:20.560 --> 02:31:23.750
Just be a scholar. Just memorize the the
02:31:23.760 --> 02:31:26.950
the texts and just preserve the text by
02:31:26.960 --> 02:31:29.270
memorizing them and learning, you know,
02:31:29.280 --> 02:31:31.270
the ex Jesus and all and that's that's
02:31:31.280 --> 02:31:34.790
the best you can do.
02:31:34.800 --> 02:31:38.950
So in uh like Ajan man's time that
02:31:38.960 --> 02:31:41.590
people just were not used to monks that
02:31:41.600 --> 02:31:43.670
actually practiced monks were like
02:31:43.680 --> 02:31:46.469
secular clergy and a lot were fortune
02:31:46.479 --> 02:31:49.030
tellers. A lot were like herbal healers.
02:31:49.040 --> 02:31:51.110
There's there's some herbal healer monks
02:31:51.120 --> 02:31:54.309
in Burma too. Tangidon had his own line
02:31:54.319 --> 02:31:56.790
of herbal medicines. But if you you'd
02:31:56.800 --> 02:31:59.110
read what he would say about health,
02:31:59.120 --> 02:32:01.429
you'd realize that I mean he didn't
02:32:01.439 --> 02:32:03.590
know. You know, I remember reading some
02:32:03.600 --> 02:32:06.389
of the stuff of Tanji Doniato
02:32:06.399 --> 02:32:09.910
that he's saying like for for the teeth
02:32:09.920 --> 02:32:12.389
white things are best, but the best
02:32:12.399 --> 02:32:15.590
white thing for the teeth is salt. For
02:32:15.600 --> 02:32:18.389
general health, bitter things are best,
02:32:18.399 --> 02:32:20.870
but the best bitter things for general
02:32:20.880 --> 02:32:24.550
health are neem fruits and neem leaves.
02:32:24.560 --> 02:32:27.030
You know, this this was like his health
02:32:27.040 --> 02:32:29.990
advice to people like bitter things in
02:32:30.000 --> 02:32:32.950
general. I mean, most natural occurring
02:32:32.960 --> 02:32:36.389
poisons are bitter, but we don't need to
02:32:36.399 --> 02:32:39.110
go there even though we already did.
02:32:39.120 --> 02:32:41.429
So, fortune teller monks in Terravada.
02:32:41.439 --> 02:32:44.630
Yeah, fortune teller monks and teachers,
02:32:44.640 --> 02:32:46.950
you know, teaching grade schools, you
02:32:46.960 --> 02:32:49.429
know, that kind of thing. That was that
02:32:49.439 --> 02:32:51.429
was a big thing. Like in in Burmese, the
02:32:51.439 --> 02:32:54.950
word Jon means monastery and school
02:32:54.960 --> 02:32:57.990
because traditionally
02:32:58.000 --> 02:33:00.230
you just kids would get like up to like
02:33:00.240 --> 02:33:01.830
a fourth grade education just going to
02:33:01.840 --> 02:33:03.190
the monastery and the monks would be
02:33:03.200 --> 02:33:04.790
teaching them how to read and write and
02:33:04.800 --> 02:33:06.870
do arithmetic.
02:33:06.880 --> 02:33:09.349
So there's that. There's herbal herbal
02:33:09.359 --> 02:33:13.830
healers. There's alchemists who I mean
02:33:13.840 --> 02:33:16.710
there's supposedly a number of monks in
02:33:16.720 --> 02:33:20.550
Burma who can transmute base metals into
02:33:20.560 --> 02:33:23.110
gold even though you don't see large
02:33:23.120 --> 02:33:27.830
piles of gold around in Burma.
02:33:27.840 --> 02:33:30.150
So it's it's largely just a traditional
02:33:30.160 --> 02:33:32.230
thing. It's a kind of an esoteric thing
02:33:32.240 --> 02:33:34.309
that you kind of it's kind of mysterious
02:33:34.319 --> 02:33:36.950
and exalted that that monks can kind of
02:33:36.960 --> 02:33:41.510
practice and you know ignorant villagers
02:33:41.520 --> 02:33:43.030
don't know any better and just assume
02:33:43.040 --> 02:33:45.349
that's what they're supposed to be doing
02:33:45.359 --> 02:33:47.349
that kind of thing. Palm readers,
02:33:47.359 --> 02:33:49.349
astrologers, that kind of thing. It's
02:33:49.359 --> 02:33:51.590
pretty common. And one of the main
02:33:51.600 --> 02:33:54.070
reasons is that Dharma has become
02:33:54.080 --> 02:33:58.230
corrupt and most monks just aren't monks
02:33:58.240 --> 02:34:00.070
because they want to strive for
02:34:00.080 --> 02:34:02.550
enlightenment in this very life. they
02:34:02.560 --> 02:34:06.309
just you know for whatever reasons
02:34:06.319 --> 02:34:10.309
various reasons why uh like some Burmese
02:34:10.319 --> 02:34:13.030
villager will become a monk
02:34:13.040 --> 02:34:15.270
and desire for enlightenment isn't it
02:34:15.280 --> 02:34:18.230
probably isn't in the top 10 of the most
02:34:18.240 --> 02:34:21.590
common reasons
02:34:21.600 --> 02:34:24.950
not in the top three definitely
02:34:24.960 --> 02:34:27.270
so it's just the way it is and I'm going
02:34:27.280 --> 02:34:29.910
to move on to Trasaziz's third question
02:34:29.920 --> 02:34:31.429
what about a new video with auto
02:34:31.439 --> 02:34:33.429
excelsia your Yeah, it's that's
02:34:33.439 --> 02:34:35.750
possible. New videos with Brian probably
02:34:35.760 --> 02:34:37.750
going to happen. Possibly even new
02:34:37.760 --> 02:34:40.469
videos with Ajan Punadamo.
02:34:40.479 --> 02:34:42.950
So yeah, it's possible. It's just that
02:34:42.960 --> 02:34:45.590
I'm lazy. I work for a living. I work
02:34:45.600 --> 02:34:48.150
hard even though I'm lazy. So on
02:34:48.160 --> 02:34:50.230
weekends when I don't have to work, I
02:34:50.240 --> 02:34:54.630
tend to be lazy.
02:34:54.640 --> 02:34:57.750
But if he comes up with a good idea for
02:34:57.760 --> 02:35:01.429
us to talk about, strangely the the most
02:35:01.439 --> 02:35:03.349
one of the most popular videos I have on
02:35:03.359 --> 02:35:07.590
YouTube is Otto and me talking about um
02:35:07.600 --> 02:35:10.950
esoteric Hitlerism of all things from a
02:35:10.960 --> 02:35:14.710
more or less Buddhist perspective.
02:35:14.720 --> 02:35:17.670
So yeah, it'll it's it's probably going
02:35:17.680 --> 02:35:19.830
to happen. And I'm just going to move on
02:35:19.840 --> 02:35:21.190
to the next question. And we're getting
02:35:21.200 --> 02:35:22.469
close to the bottom here. I don't think
02:35:22.479 --> 02:35:24.150
this this probably won't even be three
02:35:24.160 --> 02:35:27.190
hours. So, we're doing all right.
02:35:27.200 --> 02:35:28.950
See here. Next question is from
02:35:28.960 --> 02:35:31.030
Xenithoid.
02:35:31.040 --> 02:35:33.510
And Xenithoid says, "What do you make of
02:35:33.520 --> 02:35:36.790
Carl Jung's quote? For a tree to reach
02:35:36.800 --> 02:35:39.190
up to heaven, its roots must reach down
02:35:39.200 --> 02:35:42.150
to hell." In the context of Buddhism, I
02:35:42.160 --> 02:35:44.389
think this may be true and that one will
02:35:44.399 --> 02:35:46.309
have to have their dark night of the
02:35:46.319 --> 02:35:48.870
soul. But to achieve full enlightenment,
02:35:48.880 --> 02:35:51.830
anything unpure must be erased
02:35:51.840 --> 02:35:53.990
completely. In many sutras, the Buddha
02:35:54.000 --> 02:35:55.750
says, "Tatna must be cut off at the
02:35:55.760 --> 02:35:58.950
roots." Well, one thing that I mean,
02:35:58.960 --> 02:36:01.110
this quote from Yung, for a tree to
02:36:01.120 --> 02:36:03.429
reach up to heaven, its roots, its roots
02:36:03.439 --> 02:36:05.429
must reach down to hell reminds me of
02:36:05.439 --> 02:36:06.950
William Blakes's the marriage of heaven
02:36:06.960 --> 02:36:09.750
to heaven and hell, which was like my
02:36:09.760 --> 02:36:12.309
bible as as a high school student. that
02:36:12.319 --> 02:36:15.910
and the madman by uh Khalil Jibron.
02:36:15.920 --> 02:36:18.630
Those were like my two Bibles. The
02:36:18.640 --> 02:36:20.309
Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William
02:36:20.319 --> 02:36:24.070
Blake and The Mad Man by Khil Jibron.
02:36:24.080 --> 02:36:25.910
Those were like my two Bibles when I was
02:36:25.920 --> 02:36:29.110
like 17 years old.
02:36:29.120 --> 02:36:30.790
And The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
02:36:30.800 --> 02:36:33.349
points out that you can't just have good
02:36:33.359 --> 02:36:35.750
without bad.
02:36:35.760 --> 02:36:39.590
I mean, it's a dichotomy. You good and
02:36:39.600 --> 02:36:42.550
bad have to balance out.
02:36:42.560 --> 02:36:45.030
Heaven and hell. You can't have one
02:36:45.040 --> 02:36:49.030
without the other.
02:36:49.040 --> 02:36:51.429
But with regard to Buddhism, I mean,
02:36:51.439 --> 02:36:53.190
yeah, it's it's this it's that way in
02:36:53.200 --> 02:36:54.790
Buddhism, too. I mean, they don't really
02:36:54.800 --> 02:36:56.950
emphasize it, but it's like good and
02:36:56.960 --> 02:37:00.710
evil have to both be abolished by a biku
02:37:00.720 --> 02:37:02.309
who's striving for enlightenment. You
02:37:02.319 --> 02:37:04.309
don't want bad karma. You don't want
02:37:04.319 --> 02:37:06.710
good karma either. Karma is for lay
02:37:06.720 --> 02:37:09.910
people. So the monk has to abandon good
02:37:09.920 --> 02:37:12.950
and evil. The whole duality of good and
02:37:12.960 --> 02:37:20.150
bad. The wise monk just dismisses them.
02:37:20.160 --> 02:37:22.870
So let's see.
02:37:22.880 --> 02:37:25.030
To achieve full enlightenment, anything
02:37:25.040 --> 02:37:26.710
impure must be erased completely.
02:37:26.720 --> 02:37:28.550
Anything pure must be erased completely.
02:37:28.560 --> 02:37:31.110
I mean, you just don't even go there.
02:37:31.120 --> 02:37:33.990
You're not wallowing in this samsaric
02:37:34.000 --> 02:37:37.990
dualism of good and evil.
02:37:38.000 --> 02:37:40.230
So, Dowoism really puts more of an
02:37:40.240 --> 02:37:42.790
emphasis on this, but in Buddhism also,
02:37:42.800 --> 02:37:46.309
it's like uh the wise monk, I mean, he's
02:37:46.319 --> 02:37:48.870
not trying to do good any more than he's
02:37:48.880 --> 02:37:51.910
trying to do evil.
02:37:51.920 --> 02:37:54.469
I mean, you just transcend the duality
02:37:54.479 --> 02:37:57.349
of it.
02:37:57.359 --> 02:37:58.870
But if you're going to have heaven,
02:37:58.880 --> 02:38:01.030
you're going to have hell. I mean,
02:38:01.040 --> 02:38:02.150
you're going to have plus, you're going
02:38:02.160 --> 02:38:03.190
to have minus. You're going to have
02:38:03.200 --> 02:38:04.389
good, you're going to have bad. You're
02:38:04.399 --> 02:38:05.670
going to have if you have beautiful,
02:38:05.680 --> 02:38:08.070
you're going to have ugly. So long as
02:38:08.080 --> 02:38:10.150
you're dealing in that samsaric
02:38:10.160 --> 02:38:14.790
dualistic way of of perceiving things.
02:38:14.800 --> 02:38:17.590
Like I've said before in accordance with
02:38:17.600 --> 02:38:20.389
my principle of subjective equilibrium
02:38:20.399 --> 02:38:23.510
that if a person somehow managed to
02:38:23.520 --> 02:38:25.670
eliminate all of what he considers to be
02:38:25.680 --> 02:38:28.870
bad in his life, one of two things is
02:38:28.880 --> 02:38:30.230
going to happen. either a whole bunch of
02:38:30.240 --> 02:38:31.910
new bad stuff is going to have to take
02:38:31.920 --> 02:38:34.469
the place of the old bad stuff or the
02:38:34.479 --> 02:38:36.550
line differentiating good and bad is
02:38:36.560 --> 02:38:39.030
going to shift so that the lower half of
02:38:39.040 --> 02:38:40.790
what he used to call good now becomes
02:38:40.800 --> 02:38:45.510
bad.
02:38:45.520 --> 02:38:48.309
So
02:38:48.319 --> 02:38:51.110
I do think Carl Young's quote is correct
02:38:51.120 --> 02:38:54.630
in in like a samsaric dualistic context.
02:38:54.640 --> 02:38:56.309
For a tree to reach up to heaven, its
02:38:56.319 --> 02:38:58.950
roots must reach down to hell. Yeah, I
02:38:58.960 --> 02:39:02.550
can I can I can live with that.
02:39:02.560 --> 02:39:03.670
So, I'm just going to move on to the
02:39:03.680 --> 02:39:05.349
next question. This is from Daario, and
02:39:05.359 --> 02:39:08.790
he's the last questioner of this Q&A.
02:39:08.800 --> 02:39:10.790
And I almost always get taken by
02:39:10.800 --> 02:39:12.950
surprise because for some reason the
02:39:12.960 --> 02:39:14.950
little bar on the side that shows how
02:39:14.960 --> 02:39:17.670
far down you are. It it somehow messes
02:39:17.680 --> 02:39:19.910
up and and it it just doesn't work
02:39:19.920 --> 02:39:22.230
right. So that it's like I'm halfway
02:39:22.240 --> 02:39:24.150
down. The little bar thing is like
02:39:24.160 --> 02:39:25.750
halfway down the document and all of a
02:39:25.760 --> 02:39:27.349
sudden boom, I'm at the the last
02:39:27.359 --> 02:39:28.550
question even though there's not a lot
02:39:28.560 --> 02:39:32.950
of empty space below the last question.
02:39:32.960 --> 02:39:35.590
Anyways, Daario says, "What is your
02:39:35.600 --> 02:39:38.469
position on Zen Buddhism?" Not the
02:39:38.479 --> 02:39:42.230
westernized and liberal form or or this
02:39:42.240 --> 02:39:44.950
this form. See, look at his head's
02:39:44.960 --> 02:39:49.030
little head's bobbling.
02:39:49.040 --> 02:39:51.429
But uh okay, I I let's just start the
02:39:51.439 --> 02:39:53.510
question over again. The bobble-headed
02:39:53.520 --> 02:39:56.469
monk distracted me
02:39:56.479 --> 02:39:58.790
ever so briefly. What is your position
02:39:58.800 --> 02:40:01.349
on Zen Buddhism? Not the westernized and
02:40:01.359 --> 02:40:03.429
liberal form, but the actual teachings
02:40:03.439 --> 02:40:06.389
of Bodhi Dharma and the sects that pay
02:40:06.399 --> 02:40:08.230
more respect to the original teachings
02:40:08.240 --> 02:40:11.270
of the Buddha and more importantly, do
02:40:11.280 --> 02:40:13.750
you think that Zen Buddhism can be a
02:40:13.760 --> 02:40:15.750
path to enlightenment and Nirvana? Well,
02:40:15.760 --> 02:40:17.270
I guess that's two questions, isn't it?
02:40:17.280 --> 02:40:19.030
Let's just separate them and I'll deal
02:40:19.040 --> 02:40:21.190
with the first question first. What is
02:40:21.200 --> 02:40:23.510
my position on Zen Buddhism? Well, I
02:40:23.520 --> 02:40:25.590
have said before I was converted to
02:40:25.600 --> 02:40:28.309
Terravada, my intention was to become a
02:40:28.319 --> 02:40:31.590
Stoz Zen monk. My original plan after I
02:40:31.600 --> 02:40:33.429
decided to become a monk was to become a
02:40:33.439 --> 02:40:37.110
Zen monk. And
02:40:37.120 --> 02:40:39.750
part of the reason for that is that I
02:40:39.760 --> 02:40:41.510
thought Zen Buddhism was like Zen
02:40:41.520 --> 02:40:45.590
Buddhism in the books where you've got
02:40:45.600 --> 02:40:48.870
these mysterious men wearing black
02:40:48.880 --> 02:40:51.270
standing around speaking in riddles and
02:40:51.280 --> 02:40:54.309
hitting each other with sticks. And I
02:40:54.319 --> 02:40:56.150
mean I could I could relate to that. I
02:40:56.160 --> 02:40:58.469
mean, I could that just seemed like
02:40:58.479 --> 02:41:00.950
attractive to me as an option, like a
02:41:00.960 --> 02:41:03.510
career option to be a man dressed in
02:41:03.520 --> 02:41:06.950
black, very enigmatic, just talking in
02:41:06.960 --> 02:41:08.710
riddles and and beating people with
02:41:08.720 --> 02:41:12.150
sticks. I mean, it really seemed like,
02:41:12.160 --> 02:41:14.469
you know, a worthwhile way of spending
02:41:14.479 --> 02:41:17.670
one's life. And then I went to an actual
02:41:17.680 --> 02:41:19.349
Zen monastery and I found out it wasn't
02:41:19.359 --> 02:41:21.429
like that at all. Nobody would dare to
02:41:21.439 --> 02:41:23.190
hit anybody with a stick at that
02:41:23.200 --> 02:41:26.230
monastery. And it was lots of pure land
02:41:26.240 --> 02:41:29.190
Buddhism was mixed in. And I was told
02:41:29.200 --> 02:41:31.750
that in Zen Buddhism that for some
02:41:31.760 --> 02:41:34.550
reason traditional Zen Buddhism has just
02:41:34.560 --> 02:41:36.870
absorbed lots of pure land Buddhism
02:41:36.880 --> 02:41:38.950
which I've never had any use at all for
02:41:38.960 --> 02:41:41.190
pure land Buddhism. Zen Buddhism like in
02:41:41.200 --> 02:41:43.670
the in the books like in the the Coons,
02:41:43.680 --> 02:41:45.910
the the Blue Cliff record or the Mumon
02:41:45.920 --> 02:41:48.389
Khan, that kind of thing. I really like
02:41:48.399 --> 02:41:50.309
that. I was really drawn to that. I
02:41:50.319 --> 02:41:53.270
really like the
02:41:53.280 --> 02:41:57.110
um sort of the disorientation of coons,
02:41:57.120 --> 02:41:58.710
you know, it's sort of like trying to
02:41:58.720 --> 02:42:02.550
break through the intellectual process
02:42:02.560 --> 02:42:04.790
and which is, you know, samsara
02:42:04.800 --> 02:42:07.670
essentially.
02:42:07.680 --> 02:42:10.150
So yeah, I do think that Zen Buddhism
02:42:10.160 --> 02:42:12.870
does have a just remove the pure land
02:42:12.880 --> 02:42:16.389
elements which I got no use for and just
02:42:16.399 --> 02:42:18.309
some of the
02:42:18.319 --> 02:42:21.270
like even even if you dismiss the pure
02:42:21.280 --> 02:42:23.270
land elements, there's still a lot of
02:42:23.280 --> 02:42:27.349
weird like later Mahayana philosophy and
02:42:27.359 --> 02:42:31.349
cosmology and mythologies like Vrochina,
02:42:31.359 --> 02:42:32.790
you know, there's a lot of mention of
02:42:32.800 --> 02:42:37.750
Vrochina in in like Zen texts. There's
02:42:37.760 --> 02:42:40.309
no mention at all in in terra you know
02:42:40.319 --> 02:42:42.630
it's just like a later thing like these
02:42:42.640 --> 02:42:44.469
bodhic sattvas and all this you know the
02:42:44.479 --> 02:42:47.349
mahayana elements in zen also I really
02:42:47.359 --> 02:42:50.070
don't have much use for but zen as just
02:42:50.080 --> 02:42:51.830
iconoclastic
02:42:51.840 --> 02:42:56.469
and don't rely on dogmas you know you
02:42:56.479 --> 02:42:57.910
meet the Buddha in the road kill him
02:42:57.920 --> 02:43:00.870
that kind of stuff um and just the the
02:43:00.880 --> 02:43:06.150
coons you know like um there was uh
02:43:06.160 --> 02:43:08.950
there's One coan I really like Joe Joza.
02:43:08.960 --> 02:43:11.190
This he's an obscure I mean he's pretty
02:43:11.200 --> 02:43:13.670
much known only from this one
02:43:13.680 --> 02:43:15.349
There was this monk named Joe Joza. At
02:43:15.359 --> 02:43:17.190
least that's the Japanese version of his
02:43:17.200 --> 02:43:20.550
Chinese name. And he asked possibly
02:43:20.560 --> 02:43:23.429
Renzai. He asked some Zen master, you
02:43:23.439 --> 02:43:25.670
know, what is the what is the essence of
02:43:25.680 --> 02:43:28.950
the teachings of Buddha? And the the Zen
02:43:28.960 --> 02:43:31.270
master just like comes up to him, grabs
02:43:31.280 --> 02:43:34.630
him and just like shoves him.
02:43:34.640 --> 02:43:37.910
And Joe Joseph stood still. You know,
02:43:37.920 --> 02:43:39.349
he's just kind of confused. He doesn't
02:43:39.359 --> 02:43:41.510
know what to do. And so another monk who
02:43:41.520 --> 02:43:43.670
who witnessed this says, "Joe Joa, Joe
02:43:43.680 --> 02:43:46.309
Joseph, why don't you bow?" So Joe
02:43:46.319 --> 02:43:48.150
Joseph gets down and starts bowing. And
02:43:48.160 --> 02:43:50.630
while he's bowing, he becomes
02:43:50.640 --> 02:43:52.710
enlightened
02:43:52.720 --> 02:43:54.790
and that kind of thing. I mean, it's
02:43:54.800 --> 02:43:56.389
interesting to me because there's
02:43:56.399 --> 02:43:58.070
obviously some meaning to it, even
02:43:58.080 --> 02:44:01.349
though it's like this paradoxical non
02:44:01.359 --> 02:44:04.469
really not rational or logical really,
02:44:04.479 --> 02:44:08.710
but it it kind of makes sense to me.
02:44:08.720 --> 02:44:10.630
You know, a lot of a lot of coons are
02:44:10.640 --> 02:44:12.710
like that. I mean, it makes sense
02:44:12.720 --> 02:44:14.550
without making sense, sort of, which is
02:44:14.560 --> 02:44:16.469
a zen-like
02:44:16.479 --> 02:44:19.910
thing to say, I guess. So, Zen Buddhism,
02:44:19.920 --> 02:44:21.590
I've I've liked Zen Buddhism. I don't
02:44:21.600 --> 02:44:23.190
like the pure land elements. I'm not
02:44:23.200 --> 02:44:25.750
particularly fond of of the Mahayana
02:44:25.760 --> 02:44:28.630
elements. The emphasis on bodhic sattvas
02:44:28.640 --> 02:44:32.150
over like arahans that kind of thing
02:44:32.160 --> 02:44:34.070
that just becoming fully enlightened
02:44:34.080 --> 02:44:37.110
just somehow isn't good enough. That's
02:44:37.120 --> 02:44:40.870
clearly not what god Buddha was teaching
02:44:40.880 --> 02:44:44.070
but u and also eating bamboo shoots. I
02:44:44.080 --> 02:44:46.790
really do not like bamboo shoots and
02:44:46.800 --> 02:44:48.630
they eat lots of bamboo shoots at Zen
02:44:48.640 --> 02:44:51.510
monasteries or so I have read. So I
02:44:51.520 --> 02:44:55.190
wouldn't like that very much. But yeah,
02:44:55.200 --> 02:44:57.750
it's just sort of the austerity and the
02:44:57.760 --> 02:45:00.710
simplicity of Zen with or without the
02:45:00.720 --> 02:45:03.030
coons. I mean, you soden doesn't do much
02:45:03.040 --> 02:45:05.429
stuff, you know? It's it's just
02:45:05.439 --> 02:45:08.710
more like shikant taza or just sort of
02:45:08.720 --> 02:45:11.429
um a kind of meditation that I was
02:45:11.439 --> 02:45:13.670
doing. I used to call it second gear
02:45:13.680 --> 02:45:14.950
where you're just watching the mind
02:45:14.960 --> 02:45:18.389
intently just observing you know just
02:45:18.399 --> 02:45:20.550
trying to catch anything as it arises
02:45:20.560 --> 02:45:22.870
trying to catch any thought just as it
02:45:22.880 --> 02:45:26.630
begins to arise that kind of thing.
02:45:26.640 --> 02:45:29.030
But the the one mon the Zen monastery I
02:45:29.040 --> 02:45:31.830
went to in California, it just kind of
02:45:31.840 --> 02:45:33.830
cured me of any desire to become a Zen
02:45:33.840 --> 02:45:36.070
monk. And then I went to a Terravada
02:45:36.080 --> 02:45:38.309
place after that and it just seemed
02:45:38.319 --> 02:45:40.790
pretty obvious to me that the Terravada
02:45:40.800 --> 02:45:42.950
monastery came closer to what the Buddha
02:45:42.960 --> 02:45:46.469
originally taught than the the Zen place
02:45:46.479 --> 02:45:49.030
I went to. There's just way too many
02:45:49.040 --> 02:45:52.070
like ceremonies and chanting and bowing
02:45:52.080 --> 02:45:54.950
and all this that I've really never been
02:45:54.960 --> 02:45:58.230
into ceremonies. Um, in terra Buddhism,
02:45:58.240 --> 02:45:59.830
there are ceremonies, but there's always
02:45:59.840 --> 02:46:02.309
a reason for the ceremony instead of
02:46:02.319 --> 02:46:05.670
just like gratuitous bowing to doorways
02:46:05.680 --> 02:46:09.590
and that kind of thing.
02:46:09.600 --> 02:46:12.150
So, yeah, Zen Buddhism would be my
02:46:12.160 --> 02:46:15.110
second choice after Terravada, I guess,
02:46:15.120 --> 02:46:17.590
of of the extent schools of Buddhism in
02:46:17.600 --> 02:46:20.230
existence. And it was originally my
02:46:20.240 --> 02:46:23.670
intention to become a STO Zen monk until
02:46:23.680 --> 02:46:27.030
I got more experience with like Zen as
02:46:27.040 --> 02:46:29.110
it actually is not in the books but as
02:46:29.120 --> 02:46:32.150
it actually is and or at least as it
02:46:32.160 --> 02:46:34.710
actually is in America and Terravada
02:46:34.720 --> 02:46:37.990
Buddhism. So Terravada Buddhism came
02:46:38.000 --> 02:46:40.230
seems pretty obvious to come closer to
02:46:40.240 --> 02:46:41.910
what the Buddha originally taught
02:46:41.920 --> 02:46:43.670
especially if you're reading books like
02:46:43.680 --> 02:46:47.269
the Sutin Pa.
02:46:47.279 --> 02:46:50.070
So let's see. Did I answer the question
02:46:50.080 --> 02:46:51.670
yet? What is your position on Zen
02:46:51.680 --> 02:46:53.510
Buddhism? Yeah, I guess I gave my
02:46:53.520 --> 02:46:57.269
position on Zen Buddhism. So um
02:46:57.279 --> 02:47:01.830
secondly, Dario says or Daario. And more
02:47:01.840 --> 02:47:03.510
importantly, do you think that Zen
02:47:03.520 --> 02:47:05.510
Buddhism can be a path to enlightenment
02:47:05.520 --> 02:47:07.830
and Nirvana? Yeah, I think that they're
02:47:07.840 --> 02:47:10.230
probably assuming that anybody becomes
02:47:10.240 --> 02:47:11.910
enlightened in this world, in this
02:47:11.920 --> 02:47:15.190
samsaric environment. Just assuming for
02:47:15.200 --> 02:47:16.870
the sake of argument that anybody has
02:47:16.880 --> 02:47:19.269
become fully enlightened. I see no
02:47:19.279 --> 02:47:22.389
reason why a lot of the Zen masters that
02:47:22.399 --> 02:47:24.950
you read about um I see no reason why
02:47:24.960 --> 02:47:27.670
they would not be fully enlightened.
02:47:27.680 --> 02:47:29.750
And sometimes you come across a
02:47:29.760 --> 02:47:33.030
statement like in the the platform sutra
02:47:33.040 --> 02:47:36.150
of Hui Ning which I guess is is now
02:47:36.160 --> 02:47:38.309
considered to be like a forgery not
02:47:38.319 --> 02:47:41.670
really u taught by Hui Ning. But in this
02:47:41.680 --> 02:47:43.750
platform sutra of hu nang there is this
02:47:43.760 --> 02:47:45.590
statement that really made an impression
02:47:45.600 --> 02:47:49.110
on me that is I mean when you become
02:47:49.120 --> 02:47:50.790
enlightened you look around and you
02:47:50.800 --> 02:47:52.790
notice that everybody else is is also
02:47:52.800 --> 02:47:55.030
enlightened you know it's like you look
02:47:55.040 --> 02:47:56.870
through the world with enlightened eyes
02:47:56.880 --> 02:48:01.429
you see enlightenment you see nibbana
02:48:01.439 --> 02:48:03.990
which kind of reminds me of St. Paul
02:48:04.000 --> 02:48:05.670
Paul of Tarsus in the New Testament
02:48:05.680 --> 02:48:07.590
saying to the pure man all things are
02:48:07.600 --> 02:48:10.630
pure.
02:48:10.640 --> 02:48:13.429
So there there's some insight. It seems
02:48:13.439 --> 02:48:15.429
like a statement like that may have been
02:48:15.439 --> 02:48:18.230
based on actual experience of some Zen
02:48:18.240 --> 02:48:21.190
master even if it wasn't Hui Nang
02:48:21.200 --> 02:48:24.309
himself.
02:48:24.319 --> 02:48:26.870
So yeah, I mean Zen Buddhism can be a
02:48:26.880 --> 02:48:28.550
path to enlightenment and Nirvana. I
02:48:28.560 --> 02:48:30.870
think Hinduism, some some types of
02:48:30.880 --> 02:48:33.110
Hinduism can be a path to enlightenment
02:48:33.120 --> 02:48:36.309
nirvana. I think St. John of the Cross
02:48:36.319 --> 02:48:40.230
who was a Catholic, a Roman Catholic
02:48:40.240 --> 02:48:42.150
Christian. I think he may have been
02:48:42.160 --> 02:48:44.389
enlightened.
02:48:44.399 --> 02:48:46.950
It's possible. I mean, sometimes people
02:48:46.960 --> 02:48:50.070
are just ripe and so they can somehow
02:48:50.080 --> 02:48:52.309
manage to become enlightened
02:48:52.319 --> 02:48:55.670
in spite of their culture or in spite or
02:48:55.680 --> 02:48:58.070
largely in spite of their religion. Some
02:48:58.080 --> 02:49:00.550
of the some of the doctrines of Roman
02:49:00.560 --> 02:49:03.670
Catholicism are not really like
02:49:03.680 --> 02:49:05.910
conducive to enlightenment. Like the
02:49:05.920 --> 02:49:08.630
idea that no one is worthy, you know,
02:49:08.640 --> 02:49:10.309
it's only the grace of God that's going
02:49:10.319 --> 02:49:11.590
to get you into heaven. That kind of
02:49:11.600 --> 02:49:13.349
thing. I mean, that just sort of implies
02:49:13.359 --> 02:49:15.510
that nobody's going to be perfected. You
02:49:15.520 --> 02:49:18.230
know, Jesus himself denies being good in
02:49:18.240 --> 02:49:19.910
the New Testament. Somebody calls him
02:49:19.920 --> 02:49:21.750
like good teacher or something. And
02:49:21.760 --> 02:49:23.349
Jesus says, "Why do you call me good?
02:49:23.359 --> 02:49:26.230
There's none good except God." which
02:49:26.240 --> 02:49:28.870
seems to imply I mean not only that
02:49:28.880 --> 02:49:31.990
Jesus was denying being good or God but
02:49:32.000 --> 02:49:34.469
he he was denying that anyone is perfect
02:49:34.479 --> 02:49:36.790
including himself
02:49:36.800 --> 02:49:38.630
but then along comes St. John of the
02:49:38.640 --> 02:49:42.309
cross who is the the the mystical doctor
02:49:42.319 --> 02:49:44.790
of the Catholic Church. Anything he says
02:49:44.800 --> 02:49:46.790
on the topic of mysticism is considered
02:49:46.800 --> 02:49:48.790
to be official dogma of the Catholic
02:49:48.800 --> 02:49:52.150
Church. He's saying that you can that
02:49:52.160 --> 02:49:55.429
there is the stage of perfection that an
02:49:55.439 --> 02:49:58.309
adept at high contemplation can reach
02:49:58.319 --> 02:49:59.910
this stage of perfection where their
02:49:59.920 --> 02:50:02.630
self-will is mortified. They no longer
02:50:02.640 --> 02:50:05.269
have any self-will. They no longer have
02:50:05.279 --> 02:50:09.030
any china using poly terminology and so
02:50:09.040 --> 02:50:11.269
they become just this instrument of God
02:50:11.279 --> 02:50:13.110
an instrument of divinity. They're like
02:50:13.120 --> 02:50:16.150
God's puppet
02:50:16.160 --> 02:50:18.870
and I mean St. St. John of the Cross was
02:50:18.880 --> 02:50:20.469
apparently teaching this based on his
02:50:20.479 --> 02:50:23.269
own insight, his own experience. And
02:50:23.279 --> 02:50:25.910
this comes very close to like the
02:50:25.920 --> 02:50:29.429
Buddhist Ara who is making generating no
02:50:29.439 --> 02:50:31.269
will because he's not generating any
02:50:31.279 --> 02:50:35.190
karma and karma is will.
02:50:35.200 --> 02:50:36.710
Although from the Buddhist point of
02:50:36.720 --> 02:50:38.309
view, you don't say that you're just a
02:50:38.319 --> 02:50:40.550
like a puppet of God that you're no
02:50:40.560 --> 02:50:42.550
longer acting on your own will that
02:50:42.560 --> 02:50:45.110
you're acting or that you're acting on
02:50:45.120 --> 02:50:47.190
divine will. I mean they don't really
02:50:47.200 --> 02:50:49.030
have that
02:50:49.040 --> 02:50:52.230
to to fall back on as a kind of theory
02:50:52.240 --> 02:50:55.910
to explain the reality in Buddhism. So I
02:50:55.920 --> 02:50:58.309
mean in terra or the the commentarial
02:50:58.319 --> 02:51:00.870
tradition or or uh abidama they have to
02:51:00.880 --> 02:51:03.670
come up with karaachita which is some
02:51:03.680 --> 02:51:05.990
way of explaining how an enlightened
02:51:06.000 --> 02:51:08.630
monk an enlightened being still
02:51:08.640 --> 02:51:11.269
functions without generating any any
02:51:11.279 --> 02:51:12.950
volition
02:51:12.960 --> 02:51:17.510
without having any will.
02:51:17.520 --> 02:51:19.030
So anyways getting back to the to
02:51:19.040 --> 02:51:21.830
Daario's question here do you think that
02:51:21.840 --> 02:51:23.269
Zen Buddhism can be a path to
02:51:23.279 --> 02:51:26.870
enlightenment and nirvana? Yeah, I do.
02:51:26.880 --> 02:51:29.670
Um, especially if you're following like
02:51:29.680 --> 02:51:32.150
the oldfashioned kind of zen, you know,
02:51:32.160 --> 02:51:34.630
like Joe,
02:51:34.640 --> 02:51:37.670
that kind of thing.
02:51:37.680 --> 02:51:41.110
Um, but then again, I mean, being a
02:51:41.120 --> 02:51:43.349
discussed caralite like St. John of the
02:51:43.359 --> 02:51:46.389
Quran, St. John of the cross could be a
02:51:46.399 --> 02:51:48.070
path to enlightenment in Nirvana being a
02:51:48.080 --> 02:51:51.269
vdantist Hindu, a shyite Hindu like
02:51:51.279 --> 02:51:52.870
Ramanamahari,
02:51:52.880 --> 02:51:58.630
a Vishnavite Hindu like Nim Karoli Baba.
02:51:58.640 --> 02:52:01.269
Yeah. Or I mean for some people I mean
02:52:01.279 --> 02:52:03.110
it's like you don't even have to be
02:52:03.120 --> 02:52:06.950
religious. you just have like this store
02:52:06.960 --> 02:52:10.309
of of like karmic momentum or or just
02:52:10.319 --> 02:52:11.830
wisdom
02:52:11.840 --> 02:52:14.469
from past lives presumably and then you
02:52:14.479 --> 02:52:16.150
have like a near-death experience or
02:52:16.160 --> 02:52:18.070
some such and it just jolts you into
02:52:18.080 --> 02:52:21.510
into a state of higher consciousness.
02:52:21.520 --> 02:52:24.630
So yeah, I do think that Zen can be a
02:52:24.640 --> 02:52:26.070
path to enlightenment and nervana.
02:52:26.080 --> 02:52:27.670
That's I could have just answered that
02:52:27.680 --> 02:52:30.309
whole question with just yes, but then
02:52:30.319 --> 02:52:31.990
you miss out on all the extraneous
02:52:32.000 --> 02:52:35.750
verbiage and we're done. That's it. I'm
02:52:35.760 --> 02:52:37.349
done.
02:52:37.359 --> 02:52:39.269
Which is good because the the beverage
02:52:39.279 --> 02:52:42.389
is pretty much empty. So, like I should
02:52:42.399 --> 02:52:43.670
always say at the beginning and
02:52:43.680 --> 02:52:45.990
practically never do. If you have any
02:52:46.000 --> 02:52:47.590
questions you think I can answer,
02:52:47.600 --> 02:52:50.150
especially with regard to like dharma,
02:52:50.160 --> 02:52:52.630
early Buddhism, Terravada Buddhism, just
02:52:52.640 --> 02:52:55.269
dharma in general, philosophy, that kind
02:52:55.279 --> 02:52:58.070
of thing. Um, feel free to ask. I can't
02:52:58.080 --> 02:52:59.830
absolutely guarantee that I'll be able
02:52:59.840 --> 02:53:02.309
to answer the question, but and
02:53:02.319 --> 02:53:03.750
especially I can't guarantee that I'll
02:53:03.760 --> 02:53:05.510
answer it to your satisfaction, but I'll
02:53:05.520 --> 02:53:08.630
give it a shot anyway.
02:53:08.640 --> 02:53:12.630
And uh like and subscribe if you like or
02:53:12.640 --> 02:53:15.750
have liked at least parts of what I have
02:53:15.760 --> 02:53:17.269
said.
02:53:17.279 --> 02:53:21.269
And uh oh, let's see what else. Be sure
02:53:21.279 --> 02:53:23.910
to check out the URL links below the
02:53:23.920 --> 02:53:25.429
video.
02:53:25.439 --> 02:53:28.950
Um, and that's it. Yeah, be happy and
02:53:28.960 --> 02:53:31.429
stuff.
02:53:31.439 --> 02:53:34.230
And I'm going to turn her off now.
02:53:34.240 --> 02:53:37.800
What I'm going to do