Question & Answer #203: from Enlightened Berserkers to the Ethics of Confession ၏ စာသားမှတ်တမ်းအပြည့်အစုံ

the scheduling of same 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.110 because sometimes I'm going to be 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.350 working 12 and a half hour shifts all 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.150 weekend. It's like half the time and 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:26.229 half of that time it'll be days, other 00:02:26.239 --> 00:02:28.150 half nights. Like lately I've been 00:02:28.160 --> 00:02:31.110 working nights. It's like 5:30 p.m. to 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.830 6:00 in the morning, 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:35.270 which is all right. You know, I'm not 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.309 complaining. I prefer 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.390 working nights to having to get up at 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:42.070 like 4 in the morning, which is going to 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.190 be half the time. 00:02:45.200 --> 00:02:51.509 This is my beverage. 00:02:51.519 --> 00:02:52.790 And I was going to say something else, 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:54.150 but I don't remember what it was, so I 00:02:54.160 --> 00:02:57.589 guess it wasn't very important. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.509 So 203 is not a prime number. Some of 00:03:01.519 --> 00:03:02.710 you may have thought it was a prime 00:03:02.720 --> 00:03:04.229 number. You're all geared up to 00:03:04.239 --> 00:03:07.110 celebrate the primeness of it. It's 7* 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.790 29. So get used to it here. I got to 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:13.830 adjust this a little more. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:15.990 Wearing a new shirt that's like two 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.550 sizes too big. My beloved wife 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:21.270 overestimates me to some degree. I guess 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:24.309 Freud defined romantic love as 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.190 overestimation of the sex object. And so 00:03:27.200 --> 00:03:28.869 she gets me clothes that are way too 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.309 big. She got me some boots that were 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:36.390 like an inch too long, at least an inch. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.030 And now it's this shirt, which of course 00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:40.390 a shirt that's too big is still 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.390 wearable. I guess it's in style to wear 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:47.830 like baggy shirts. So it's all good. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.670 And I guess uh may as well just start 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:52.949 answering questions. This is going to be 00:03:52.959 --> 00:03:54.789 kind of a low-key one. I think I'm not 00:03:54.799 --> 00:03:58.229 going to be as animated as usual 00:03:58.239 --> 00:04:00.630 probably just because it's after 00:04:00.640 --> 00:04:04.149 midnight already and I don't know. I'm 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:06.630 just this is my first day off after 12 00:04:06.640 --> 00:04:08.229 and a half hour shifts and I'm just kind 00:04:08.239 --> 00:04:11.589 of feeling lazy, you know, just wanting 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:16.229 to relax all day. 00:04:16.239 --> 00:04:18.310 My only real work project all day was 00:04:18.320 --> 00:04:20.069 cleaning the

filter in the pond 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:21.830 fountain, 00:04:21.840 --> 00:04:25.670 which is uh one of my prides and joys. I 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:30.310 guess my my wife contributed to it to 00:04:30.320 --> 00:04:32.070 some degree, especially with regard to 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:34.469 there's like a bog area on one side and 00:04:34.479 --> 00:04:37.430 some floating plants. She did some gave 00:04:37.440 --> 00:04:39.909 some input with regard to the exact size 00:04:39.919 --> 00:04:42.390 and shape of it, but mostly it's it was 00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:45.030 like my inspiration 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.670 and I do spend a lot of time just like 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:49.670 looking out the window at the pond. It's 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:51.830 right outside our bedroom window, the 00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:53.510 fountain and the goldfishes swimming 00:04:53.520 --> 00:04:55.590 around. I don't think any loaches 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:57.590 survived, so I'm going to have to revise 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.390 my strategy with regard to inoculating 00:05:00.400 --> 00:05:05.350 the pond with dojo loaches. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:07.510 H somehow endlers, which are like 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:11.110 guppies, got into the pond and they're 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:13.270 like having a population explosion, 00:05:13.280 --> 00:05:16.230 which is not particularly good because 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:19.270 when winter comes, I mean, goldfish can 00:05:19.280 --> 00:05:22.469 survive freezing temperatures. I'm 00:05:22.479 --> 00:05:24.550 pretty sure endlers can't. And so 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:25.990 there's going to be a die off of 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:27.990 hundreds of little fishes all at the 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.510 same time when winter hits. 00:05:31.520 --> 00:05:34.070 But we'll just cross that bridge when we 00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:36.230 get to it. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.670 And I'm just going to start answering 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.710 questions. This is from Siovaken Sipad 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.550 Zidana. And Siovakad Zidana says, "Is it 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:46.629 possible that there were enlightened 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:49.430 Vikings or Mongols who committed 00:05:49.440 --> 00:05:53.350 genocide and mass rape? If enlightenment 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:56.870 has no meaning in a samsaric context and 00:05:56.880 --> 00:05:59.510 the actions of the body just do what it 00:05:59.520 --> 00:06:02.150 does, then this would be a strange 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.710 combination." Well, I mean enlightenment 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:08.150 obviously has meaning like verbally. You 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.710 can define it verbally in a samsaric 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:13.110 context. What I'm saying is can it 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:16.150 really exist within the limits of 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:19.590 samsara? I mean you can get close to it 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.270 you know it's like a person can become 00:06:21.280 --> 00:06:23.350 wiser and more saintly and wiser and 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.189 more saintly but can they get to the 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.029 point of just absolute perfection 00:06:29.039 --> 00:06:31.749 with regard to their wisdom and purity 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.950 within a samsaric context that is 00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:37.670 another question 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.990 so I mean even using like samsaric 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.870 definitions an enlightened being for one 00:06:44.880 --> 00:06:46.790 thing they they wouldn't have Pink 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.390 Floyd's wall. You know, it's like they 00:06:50.400 --> 00:06:52.710 wouldn't 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.870 they would have compassion. An 00:06:54.880 --> 00:06:57.110 enlightened being would have compassion 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.309 because they wouldn't be like closed off 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:02.870 to the suffering of other beings around 00:07:02.880 --> 00:07:05.909 them to the extent that beings really 00:07:05.919 --> 00:07:09.110 exist and on and on. It's hard to really 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:10.870 um 00:07:10.880 --> 00:07:13.029 discuss the mental states of an 00:07:13.039 --> 00:07:16.550 enlightened being, intelligently, 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:19.189 or coherently 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:23.110 because again, I mean, second-guessing 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.710 the mental states of an enlightened 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.550 being, which may or may not even really 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:29.510 exist in a samsaric context, is an 00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:32.469 exercise in futility. But let's just go 00:07:32.479 --> 00:07:34.309 with like a more or less Buddhist 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.390 approach or even just common sense. Like 00:07:36.400 --> 00:07:38.150 an enlightened person is going to be 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:40.629 wiser than the average person and 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.110 they're not going to be motivated by 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:47.749 hatred and you know just ill will. You 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:49.990 know they may have some aggressive 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.749 tendencies. They may you know have human 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.230 emotions to some degree. You know they 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.110 may express anger even though in 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:01.589 Buddhism terra Buddhism a fully 00:08:01.599 --> 00:08:03.189 enlightened being doesn't get angry they 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.670 I mean they no delusion no greed hate or 00:08:05.680 --> 00:08:09.029 delusion but somebody like Nim Karoli 00:08:09.039 --> 00:08:11.510 Baba up there on top of the on top of 00:08:11.520 --> 00:08:14.309 the bookcase I mean he would yell he 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:15.990 would hit people he would he would 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:17.670 giggle 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.390 he would he would cry you know he he 00:08:20.400 --> 00:08:23.589 just had the full spectrum of human 00:08:23.599 --> 00:08:24.950 emotions it seems

like I don't know if 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:25.830 he 00:08:25.840 --> 00:08:27.909 expressed hatred, 00:08:27.919 --> 00:08:30.230 but I mean a lot of the human emotions 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.310 were still, you know, part of his 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:37.589 repertoire. 00:08:37.599 --> 00:08:41.589 So you would think that a fully 00:08:41.599 --> 00:08:43.589 enlightened being or someone who's very 00:08:43.599 --> 00:08:45.509 close to being a fully enlightened being 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.430 an extremely wise person 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:53.430 would I mean they would not be motivated 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:56.310 by you know murderous 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:00.070 berserker rage for example. 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:02.710 So, I really doubt that an extremely 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:06.630 wise person would be participating 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:10.150 knowingly and willingly in genocide and 00:09:10.160 --> 00:09:12.710 mass. And it's a word I'm not supposed 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:14.389 to say on YouTube. I've already let it 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:17.110 slip once. Just it's in quotes, you 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:23.110 know. I'm not endorsing it in any way. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.269 So, let's see. Is it possible there were 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:27.030 enlightened Vikings or Mongols who 00:09:27.040 --> 00:09:30.310 committed genocide and mass surprise 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:32.470 sex? 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:34.470 If enlightenment has no meaning in a 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.070 samsaric context, yeah, we already kind 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:37.829 of discussed that. I mean, obviously has 00:09:37.839 --> 00:09:42.230 meaning. All meaning is samsaric. 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:44.870 Any meaning is samsaric. 00:09:44.880 --> 00:09:49.190 Meaning is samsara. You could say 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:50.949 the actions of the body just do what it 00:09:50.959 --> 00:09:52.150 does. And this would be a strange 00:09:52.160 --> 00:09:55.350 combination. Yeah. I don't think so. I 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:59.430 mean there are cases like tantric sages 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.750 like Padma Sambava would be a good 00:10:01.760 --> 00:10:04.310 example. Nim curly baba up there would 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:08.790 be another possible example of a kind of 00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:11.829 enlightened person who is not completely 00:10:11.839 --> 00:10:13.910 saintly. 00:10:13.920 --> 00:10:16.310 You know they they behave in ways that 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:18.550 are considered inappropriate from a 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:22.310 terra Buddhist point of view. But still 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.430 even Padma Sambba I mean they wouldn't 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.710 be like slaughtering monks at 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.509 monasteries and plundering all the gold 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:35.750 and and you know the 00:10:35.760 --> 00:10:38.710 treasure stealing treasures that kind of 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.670 thing is they just would have outgrown 00:10:41.680 --> 00:10:45.509 that sort of thing it would seem to me. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:47.110 But I mean, if you go with certain 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:49.509 Mahayana points of view, we're all 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:51.750 enlightened. Ekart Tollah kind of says 00:10:51.760 --> 00:10:53.190 something similar too. It's like we're 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.269 all enlightened. It's just that for most 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.269 of us, our mind is making so much noise 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.190 that we're distracted by that and don't 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.230 notice that kind of thing. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:05.910 So from from like the point of view of 00:11:05.920 --> 00:11:08.150 some Mahayana Buddhists, you would say 00:11:08.160 --> 00:11:11.030 that Vikings and Mongols, Viking 00:11:11.040 --> 00:11:13.750 berserkers, not just the peaceful ones 00:11:13.760 --> 00:11:15.750 that stay at home and catch fish and 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:19.190 grow barley, but like the berserkers out 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:22.949 there slaughtering Irish monks, that 00:11:22.959 --> 00:11:24.790 kind of thing. 00:11:24.800 --> 00:11:27.910 or the Mongols who are notorious for 00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:31.910 just being completely ruthless like no 00:11:31.920 --> 00:11:35.350 compassion whatsoever except maybe maybe 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:40.470 just maybe for their own people. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:43.829 Yeah. I mean 00:11:43.839 --> 00:11:45.670 some Mahayana philosophers would say 00:11:45.680 --> 00:11:48.470 that even they have the Buddha nature 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.030 and deep down are essentially 00:11:51.040 --> 00:11:52.790 enlightened. 00:11:52.800 --> 00:11:55.269 But it's like this illusory 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:58.389 unenlightenment that's masking the true 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.590 enlightenment. That kind of thing. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.310 But just going with some Sic common 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.949 sense where you've got wiser people and 00:12:06.959 --> 00:12:10.470 more foolish people. Then the people 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:14.310 that are like hacking farmers to death 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:18.150 with battle axes, that kind of thing. 00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:20.310 they tend to be down towards the more 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.870 foolish end as a general rule. 00:12:24.880 --> 00:12:26.790 I mean, I won't say that it's absolutely 00:12:26.800 --> 00:12:29.030 impossible. 00:12:29.040 --> 00:12:31.509 Pretty much anything is possible. Like 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:33.670 David Hume said, anything that can be 00:12:33.680 --> 00:12:36.069 imagined is possible, at least in a 00:12:36.079 --> 00:12:39.910 metaphysical sense. 00:12:39.920 --> 00:12:42.870 So 00:12:42.880 --> 00:12:44.150 I mean the main thing that I would 00:12:44.160 --> 00:12:45.910 disagree with in this question is that 00:12:45.920 --> 00:12:47.430 enlightenment has no meaning in a 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.750 samsaric context. The

only meaning 00:12:49.760 --> 00:12:52.310 enlightenment has is in a samsaric 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:57.350 context. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:12:59.110 But I'm just saying that, you know, 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.710 within the the r scope of samsara, I 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:04.389 mean, you can have wiser people and more 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:07.030 foolish people, but can you have someone 00:13:07.040 --> 00:13:10.150 who has completely transcended samsara 00:13:10.160 --> 00:13:13.990 that's still in samsara physically? 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.550 You know, is it possible to completely 00:13:16.560 --> 00:13:18.150 absolutely 00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:20.790 eliminate all greed, hate, and delusion? 00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:22.069 It would seem that a certain amount of 00:13:22.079 --> 00:13:23.590 attraction and aversion would be 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.310 necessary just to keep stimulus response 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.710 theory going so that people are still 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.710 you know even enlightened people are 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:34.069 still able to like function. 00:13:34.079 --> 00:13:35.670 So then you had like the Abidama 00:13:35.680 --> 00:13:37.829 scholars who came up with Kirya which is 00:13:37.839 --> 00:13:39.269 a whole different kind of consciousness 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.310 that allows enlightened beings to act as 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:45.190 though they have desires but they don't 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.670 really have them. Although Kirya is not 00:13:47.680 --> 00:13:52.310 mentioned anywhere in the sutas. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.470 But did I answer the question? That is 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:56.310 the question. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.310 So is it possible that there were 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:00.949 enlightened Vikings or Mongols who 00:14:00.959 --> 00:14:03.829 committed genocide and mass surprise 00:14:03.839 --> 00:14:05.350 sex? 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.949 And I mean, you could say it's possible, 00:14:08.959 --> 00:14:11.990 at least in a metaphysical sense, 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.590 but 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.069 I mean, it's hard to imagine unless 00:14:16.079 --> 00:14:18.710 you've got a really unorthodox 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.870 interpretation of enlightenment. You 00:14:20.880 --> 00:14:24.230 know, you're like completely tantric in 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.230 your understanding of how enlightenment 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.710 works, then maybe. But from the 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:30.310 Terravada Buddhist point of view, it's 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.189 just no. There's no way. A fully 00:14:33.199 --> 00:14:35.670 enlightened being can't even pill for 00:14:35.680 --> 00:14:38.069 something worth a penny. 00:14:38.079 --> 00:14:41.590 They can't tell the slightest lie. 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:43.509 So, they're certainly not going to be 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:46.629 slaughtering Irish monks 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:50.069 or like destroying entire cities, just 00:14:50.079 --> 00:14:52.629 just wiping entire cities off the face 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:54.710 of the earth, killing most of the 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:57.350 people, saving a few that may be useful 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:05.110 as slaves or ransom. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.590 Anyways, we're dealing in the the realm 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:09.590 of hypotheticals, I think, here. And 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:11.910 it's time to move on to Siobakipad 00:15:11.920 --> 00:15:15.030 Zirna's second question. And this is 00:15:15.040 --> 00:15:17.350 kind of an interesting one. This one 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.150 might actually get closer to people's 00:15:20.160 --> 00:15:23.910 lived experiences. 00:15:23.920 --> 00:15:25.590 He says, "What are the thoughts of 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:27.990 Burmese monks and people on different 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.310 traditions like Terravada from other 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.110 countries, Mahayana Buddhism, Vajriana 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:37.670 Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, etc. Well, 00:15:37.680 --> 00:15:39.509 it's kind of interesting that Burmese 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:41.590 monks, a lot of them don't even know 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.470 that the ties are terra Buddhists. They 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.949 kind of think that only Burmese Buddhism 00:15:46.959 --> 00:15:51.430 plus maybe Sri Lanka are real terra. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:53.749 They think a lot of Burmese people even 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:55.269 though they know they understand 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.509 Terraata Buddhism 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.310 fairly well still they think the ties 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.189 are Mahayana Buddhists 00:16:03.199 --> 00:16:05.590 a lot of them do and so it's kind of 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.829 interesting that one time I was at a Sri 00:16:07.839 --> 00:16:11.350 Lankan monastery in California and one 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.749 of the ladies there a sinhalese lady was 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:16.230 surprised that the Burmese are terra 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.710 Buddhists and not Mahayana Buddhists you 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:20.870 know it's just sort of you assume that 00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:25.910 these is foreigners have wrong view 00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:27.670 which I mean pretty much everybody has 00:16:27.680 --> 00:16:30.230 wrong view 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:32.790 but what is the the the attitudes of 00:16:32.800 --> 00:16:36.790 Burmese monks with regard to Mahayana 00:16:36.800 --> 00:16:39.269 Buddhism I mean they they think well at 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:41.430 least it's Buddhism you know it's it's 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.749 gone off the tracks somewhat you know 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.110 it's like a train that's gone off the 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:50.230 tracks but at least it's still a train 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.069 So yeah, I mean they don't talk about it 00:16:52.079 --> 00:16:53.590 much. They don't really understand it 00:16:53.600 -->

00:16:55.829 much. I mean the Burmese are very 00:16:55.839 --> 00:16:59.189 hardheaded and they're focused on you 00:16:59.199 --> 00:17:01.990 know their tradition Terravada tradition 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:04.309 which they consider the Burmese to have 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.429 like a monopoly on right view 00:17:07.439 --> 00:17:12.069 maybe the Sri Lankans maybe 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:14.470 and so they really don't know what 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.470 Mahayana Buddhism is about much less 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:19.189 Hinduism or Dowoism you know Islam they 00:17:19.199 --> 00:17:22.150 kind of have a little bit of a sort of 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:25.029 stereotype type of what Islam is all 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.590 about. And some of the people, you know, 00:17:27.600 --> 00:17:28.950 they they have some understanding of 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.710 Christianity. 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:31.830 You know, there there are a lot of 00:17:31.840 --> 00:17:33.590 Christian missionaries in Burma and a 00:17:33.600 --> 00:17:36.390 lot of um there's a certain generation 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:38.470 like around my generation or a little 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:41.430 younger. Um most of the people in Burma 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.190 that speak fluent English, especially if 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:45.750 they have an American accent, they went 00:17:45.760 --> 00:17:48.150 to Christian schools and mainly just for 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.990 the education. Almost none of them 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.430 converted to Christianity, but they went 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:54.950 to Christian schools to get a good 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.590 education and they learned how to speak 00:17:57.600 --> 00:18:00.150 fluent English with an American accent. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:01.750 So they they understand something about 00:18:01.760 --> 00:18:03.350 Christianity. They don't really believe 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:04.789 it. You know, they're just kind of 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:08.070 locked in to Terravada Buddhism. Uh with 00:18:08.080 --> 00:18:10.310 regard to Hinduism, 00:18:10.320 --> 00:18:12.789 um there is a certain amount of Hinduism 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.510 in Burma. There's a lot of like um 00:18:15.520 --> 00:18:17.750 Indian people, people of Indian ancestry 00:18:17.760 --> 00:18:20.070 who are still Hindus. Like in the town 00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:23.110 of Mayo, there are a few Hindu temples. 00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:27.750 Um one time I was traveling through 00:18:27.760 --> 00:18:30.310 Oh, it's Mahayan. It's it's this big 00:18:30.320 --> 00:18:32.470 forest. There had to be an armed soldier 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:35.430 with us on the bus to guard the bus from 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.909 bandits as we passed through this 00:18:37.919 --> 00:18:40.230 forest. And it was mostly like a gravel 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.430 road. There were some places where the 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.669 road was completely washed out. The men 00:18:43.679 --> 00:18:45.590 on the bus had to get out and pull the 00:18:45.600 --> 00:18:48.789 bus with ropes through the sand where 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.430 the river had washed out the road, that 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.830 kind of thing. But I remember towards 00:18:53.840 --> 00:18:56.470 the beginning of the road, you know, the 00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:57.909 the beginning of the journey through 00:18:57.919 --> 00:18:59.830 this forest, whereas in one of the last 00:18:59.840 --> 00:19:01.590 places in Burma where there's supposedly 00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:03.909 still rhinoceroses, 00:19:03.919 --> 00:19:07.590 tapers, tigers, that kind of thing. Um, 00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:10.630 there was a a shrine to bait the Nome, 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.750 which means black Vishnu, 00:19:13.760 --> 00:19:18.789 and that's more or less Hindu, I guess. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:22.070 I mean Vishnu his prototype is found in 00:19:22.080 --> 00:19:23.990 the poly texts I'm pretty sure like in 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.230 the um the jagasuta which is one of the 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:30.070 um one of the paras the protection 00:19:30.080 --> 00:19:32.789 chants in terra Buddhism there's mention 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.230 of a of a dva called Isana who I have 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.870 been told is like protovishnu sort of 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.710 like rudra was protoshiva 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.029 or whatever the the Sanskrit equivalent 00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:47.590 of Isana would be was like protovishnu 00:19:47.600 --> 00:19:49.990 and he was I guess he was supposed to be 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.789 like a brother of Saka king of gods and 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.110 he lived in Tawatimsa heaven. He was one 00:19:55.120 --> 00:19:56.710 of the leaders of Tawatimsah heaven 00:19:56.720 --> 00:20:02.470 although he wasn't the supreme leader. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.750 Ah, so I mean the Burmese mainly Burmese 00:20:05.760 --> 00:20:07.350 Buddhists 00:20:07.360 --> 00:20:09.909 they got a firm grasp on orthodox 00:20:09.919 --> 00:20:12.630 terravada Buddhism especially Burmese 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.830 iterations of it and also 00:20:15.840 --> 00:20:19.350 they still follow to some degree the the 00:20:19.360 --> 00:20:22.789 the so-calledNat cult which was a kind 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.909 of polytheism 00:20:25.919 --> 00:20:28.230 that the Burmese followed before they 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.350 converted to Buddhism. the gnat cult is 00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:33.350 I think it's like 31 maybe it was 00:20:33.360 --> 00:20:35.909 originally 30 gnats and then they added 00:20:35.919 --> 00:20:39.270 saka king of gods as leader of the gnats 00:20:39.280 --> 00:20:42.470 and it's it's kind of interesting the 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.710 the preddhist religion of Burma because 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:49.510 um the gnats who are like essentially a 00:20:49.520 --> 00:20:52.710 kind of dava were all um they were

all 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.710 humans in their previous life and they 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.149 all died a violent or unnatural death 00:20:58.159 --> 00:20:59.750 which causes them to become what in 00:20:59.760 --> 00:21:03.750 Burmese is called an a sane. And a sane 00:21:03.760 --> 00:21:06.789 is like a powerful ghost or spirit. If 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:08.710 you die of natural causes, you just kind 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.510 of fade out from old age or sickness. 00:21:11.520 --> 00:21:14.149 Then there's like this smooth smoother 00:21:14.159 --> 00:21:16.549 transition into the next realm. Whereas 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.350 if your life force in full vitality just 00:21:19.360 --> 00:21:22.310 cut off instantaneously, it causes the 00:21:22.320 --> 00:21:27.029 subsequent spirit to be more powerful, 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.630 more have more vitality, and in some 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:34.310 cases to be scarier and more dangerous. 00:21:34.320 --> 00:21:36.710 And so all of these gnats, you know, 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.190 like Lord of the white horse, Lord of 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:43.029 the white elephant, um Min Mahagiri is 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:48.390 one of the the main gnats. um that 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.950 I mean all of them were humans who died 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:53.350 some kind of unnatural death in their 00:21:53.360 --> 00:21:55.430 previous existence and then became like 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:58.630 these deities that were to some degree 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:00.950 feared and propitiated 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:04.870 by preb Buddhist Burmese people and even 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:08.149 to the present day by a lot of them like 00:22:08.159 --> 00:22:11.350 Unu who was the first prime minister of 00:22:11.360 --> 00:22:13.110 independent Burma after independence 00:22:13.120 --> 00:22:17.590 from the British Raj He was having um 00:22:17.600 --> 00:22:19.750 coconut plantations planted all over the 00:22:19.760 --> 00:22:22.470 country and supposedly it was for the 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.630 economy, you know, cultivating coconut 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:27.510 oil and and this kind of stuff, but deep 00:22:27.520 --> 00:22:30.870 down he was a very devout 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:34.070 like believer in Burmese religion. And 00:22:34.080 --> 00:22:37.110 Min Mahagiri likes coconuts. He died in 00:22:37.120 --> 00:22:38.870 a fire. He burned to death in his 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:41.669 previous existence. And so coconut milk 00:22:41.679 --> 00:22:43.830 or coconut water is very soothing to him 00:22:43.840 --> 00:22:47.270 and he likes it. So in order to get Min 00:22:47.280 --> 00:22:49.350 Mahagiri on the side of the Burmese 00:22:49.360 --> 00:22:52.310 nation, Unu the prime minister was 00:22:52.320 --> 00:22:53.990 planting coconut trees all over the 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.149 country. Kind of like later on the 00:22:56.159 --> 00:22:58.070 military dictatorship was planting 00:22:58.080 --> 00:23:00.310 castor oil plants all over the country. 00:23:00.320 --> 00:23:01.590 But that was for a different reason. It 00:23:01.600 --> 00:23:03.590 was still kind of a supernatural reason. 00:23:03.600 --> 00:23:05.270 And I'm just completely digressing. I 00:23:05.280 --> 00:23:07.430 don't give a [ __ ] 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:09.750 But there were the when I was living in 00:23:09.760 --> 00:23:12.390 Burma like in the 1990s early 2000s the 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:14.630 the military government was forcing 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:17.029 people to plant castor oil plants all 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:19.990 over the country and the name for a 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.350 castor oil plant is chetsu bin or just 00:23:23.360 --> 00:23:27.590 cetszu bin just means plant. So castor 00:23:27.600 --> 00:23:31.270 oil plant is cetszu or cetszu I have to 00:23:31.280 --> 00:23:33.990 pronounce it correctly which um the 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:36.230 Burmese use a lot of name magic and 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.710 cetsu has the the initial sounds 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.909 reversed of suchi who was like the Nobel 00:23:43.919 --> 00:23:46.630 Peace Prize winner who was like the the 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.950 figure head of the Burmese democracy 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.510 movement and all that. So, by having a 00:23:51.520 --> 00:23:53.350 plant planted all over the country that 00:23:53.360 --> 00:23:56.950 had the initial sounds reversed, Cetsu 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:00.549 versus Suchi, it was like neutralizing 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:03.909 her influence over the country, which 00:24:03.919 --> 00:24:07.510 maybe worked fairly well. And uhoh, I 00:24:07.520 --> 00:24:09.669 noticed that I'm starting to lag even 00:24:09.679 --> 00:24:16.470 though I rebooted the freaking computer. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:18.149 I really am going to have to get a new 00:24:18.159 --> 00:24:20.390 computer, a stronger computer next next 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:23.029 year sometime. Yeah, the CPU is up to 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.789 49.4%. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:28.549 Maybe if I just don't move around very 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:31.269 much and talk slowly, 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.830 waving my arms too much is just maxing 00:24:33.840 --> 00:24:38.390 out the computer's capacity. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:39.990 But getting back to co of action 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:43.350 cipadino's second question that he asked 00:24:43.360 --> 00:24:47.269 probably hours ago. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:49.830 Um yeah Burmese people in general 00:24:49.840 --> 00:24:52.230 Burmese Buddhists they know their 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.909 tradition and they're just not 00:24:53.919 --> 00:24:55.430 interested in understanding other 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:58.070 traditions very much. You know I've had 00:24:58.080 --> 00:24:59.830 people tell me you know Hinduism is 00:24:59.840 --> 00:25:02.549 wrong view because they believe in self. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:06.310

They have self view. they've got atadi 00:25:06.320 --> 00:25:08.070 and you know I tried to explain to them 00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:11.990 that that the Hindu self view the belief 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:14.950 in atman you know like in the upanishads 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.590 it's really not that different from the 00:25:17.600 --> 00:25:19.750 belief in nibbana 00:25:19.760 --> 00:25:21.430 among Buddhists I mean it's it's just 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:25.510 like this formless void 00:25:25.520 --> 00:25:27.669 but it's that was just a little too 00:25:27.679 --> 00:25:29.110 subtle you know there's nothing really 00:25:29.120 --> 00:25:32.710 they can they can grasp when I try and 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.549 talk that way. It's just they're just 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:37.510 not used to it. 00:25:37.520 --> 00:25:40.630 So yeah, Daoism probably most Burmese 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:41.830 people have never even heard of it. They 00:25:41.840 --> 00:25:46.390 wouldn't even know what it is. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:47.830 And so with that, I think I'm just going 00:25:47.840 --> 00:25:49.350 to move on to the next question after 00:25:49.360 --> 00:25:51.669 spending half an hour answering a 00:25:51.679 --> 00:25:54.149 question that Seio Cadza didn't even 00:25:54.159 --> 00:25:56.230 ask. 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:00.470 So section cipad zena's third question 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.110 for normies life keeps getting faster 00:26:03.120 --> 00:26:05.830 and faster with age and it feels like 00:26:05.840 --> 00:26:08.710 only years have passed when it was in 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:10.630 fact decades. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.510 Is this also true for a monk or does 00:26:13.520 --> 00:26:16.070 life for a veteran monk such as yourself 00:26:16.080 --> 00:26:19.110 feel slowed down like in childhood? 00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:20.549 Well, that's kind of an interesting 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.269 question and I remember I was in like 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:27.830 8th or ninth grade and Mr. Whit, no, it 00:26:27.840 --> 00:26:29.830 wasn't Mr. Whitikin. 00:26:29.840 --> 00:26:32.549 It was it was some teacher I had who 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.269 tried to answer this question or tried 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:37.590 to explain this to us and he was saying 00:26:37.600 --> 00:26:40.710 that when you're 5 years old, a year is 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:44.549 20% of your entire life thus far. When 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:47.350 you're 50 years old, it's only 2% of 00:26:47.360 --> 00:26:50.630 your life. And so that causes kind of a 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:53.350 telescoping of past time and makes it 00:26:53.360 --> 00:26:58.149 seem like time is going faster 00:26:58.159 --> 00:27:01.110 for me. I mean, when I was a monk, I had 00:27:01.120 --> 00:27:04.710 I had noticed that the years still went 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:09.510 by fast, but the minutes went by slower. 00:27:09.520 --> 00:27:12.470 And it seems to me that I mean, when 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:14.549 years going by fast, I mean, that's just 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:17.110 a matter of perspective. And I think 00:27:17.120 --> 00:27:19.110 what my eighth or ninth grade teacher 00:27:19.120 --> 00:27:23.750 was saying may Mr. Whitfield I think 00:27:23.760 --> 00:27:26.390 he's not watching it doesn't matter. I 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:28.710 mean there is some truth to that I think 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:32.789 but it's like sub the subjective like 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:35.590 experience of the passage of time I 00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:37.909 think the more conscious you are the 00:27:37.919 --> 00:27:39.909 more slowly it seems to go by. For 00:27:39.919 --> 00:27:42.149 example, you take some consciousness 00:27:42.159 --> 00:27:47.430 expanding chemical like LSD and five 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.029 minutes can seem like it's taking an 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:53.029 hour because you're experiencing the the 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:56.870 each moment like in greater detail. You 00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:59.110 know, it's like you're more aware of 00:27:59.120 --> 00:28:01.350 each moment which makes it seem like 00:28:01.360 --> 00:28:02.950 it's going by slower because you're 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:05.590 experiencing it more fully. you're 00:28:05.600 --> 00:28:08.870 packing in more data, I guess, so that 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:12.470 it seems to be going by more slowly. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:15.909 So, yeah, I think probably 00:28:15.919 --> 00:28:19.110 the years go by faster because I'm 00:28:19.120 --> 00:28:20.950 getting up there in age. You know, I've 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:23.350 got the Deva Dutas, you know, gray hair 00:28:23.360 --> 00:28:27.669 and wrinkles and few missing teeth, 00:28:27.679 --> 00:28:29.990 but the minutes go by more slowly, it 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:33.029 seems to me. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:35.909 So, it's kind of a trade-off, I guess, 00:28:35.919 --> 00:28:37.590 but it would seem that the more 00:28:37.600 --> 00:28:40.630 conscious you are, the more slowly time 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:43.350 goes by, 00:28:43.360 --> 00:28:46.230 which makes it kind of I mean, there is 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.389 the idea, it's attributed to Albert 00:28:48.399 --> 00:28:50.470 Einstein. He says, if you're sitting on 00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:52.870 a hot stove, you know, a minute seems 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.470 like an hour, but if you're talking to a 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.230 pretty girl, an hour seems like a 00:28:56.240 --> 00:28:59.669 minute. That's relativity. 00:28:59.679 --> 00:29:01.750 So, I mean, if that's the case, I mean, 00:29:01.760 --> 00:29:03.510 it does seem like time flies when you're 00:29:03.520 --> 00:29:07.669 having fun. The old saying that uh going 00:29:07.679 --> 00:29:09.669 with my explanation, when you're 00:29:09.679 --> 00:29:11.510 suffering, you're more conscious than 00:29:11.520 --> 00:29:14.870 when you're not suffering. But it may be 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:16.149 that

when you're suffering, there's just 00:29:16.159 --> 00:29:19.190 kind of more friction seeming to slow 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:21.430 things down 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:23.029 or you're just kind of aware of the 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:24.950 unpleasant stuff. Whereas if you're 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:27.750 having fun in an ordinary sense, you 00:29:27.760 --> 00:29:30.630 know, like the normy kind of fun, you 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:32.149 know, so your mind just kind of is 00:29:32.159 --> 00:29:35.029 accepting everything and just kind of 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:37.269 just I don't know, just kind of you're 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:39.430 in a euphoria that allows time to just 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:40.950 go by. You're not fully conscious, 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:43.269 maybe. I'm not sure. You're going to 00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:44.789 have to ask a psychologist about that 00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:46.470 one. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:49.350 Why does time go seem to go by faster 00:29:49.360 --> 00:29:51.669 when you're having fun? That's a good 00:29:51.679 --> 00:29:54.870 question. 00:29:54.880 --> 00:29:56.710 But I have noticed back in the day when 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.110 I was taking those kind of substances, 00:29:59.120 --> 00:30:01.350 you know, you take, you know, 500 00:30:01.360 --> 00:30:04.549 micrograms of LSD and it makes an five 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:07.430 minutes seem like an hour 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:09.750 and we're lagging again and I don't care 00:30:09.760 --> 00:30:12.149 anymore. 00:30:12.159 --> 00:30:13.430 So, I think I'm just going to move on. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.190 Next question. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.750 I'm sorry I'm not able to like just 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:20.310 conclusively once and for all answer 00:30:20.320 --> 00:30:22.149 some of these questions because 00:30:22.159 --> 00:30:23.909 sometimes people ask questions that I've 00:30:23.919 --> 00:30:27.190 never really considered or I just don't 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:29.830 really know the exact answer. You know, 00:30:29.840 --> 00:30:31.590 it's like especially hypothetical 00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:33.510 questions about like enlightened 00:30:33.520 --> 00:30:36.230 berserkers. It's like I mean you're just 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:38.070 in the realm of conjecture at that point 00:30:38.080 --> 00:30:41.350 it would seem to me and two different 00:30:41.360 --> 00:30:44.149 sages might have two entirely different 00:30:44.159 --> 00:30:45.990 answers like some Burmese would just say 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:48.710 no flatly impossible whereas maybe some 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:51.350 Tibetan monk 00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:52.630 he might have a he might be more 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:56.149 open-minded on the subject. 00:30:56.159 --> 00:30:58.230 Anyways, I'm moving on to the next 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.789 question which is from Master Poe. And 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:02.950 Master Poe says, "Do you think the brain 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:05.110

creates consciousness or do you see it 00:31:05.120 --> 00:31:07.430 as a receiver?" 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:09.510 And 00:31:09.520 --> 00:31:10.630 I don't know, it's kind of a trick 00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:11.990 question. I mean, I've answered this 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:13.830 question before 00:31:13.840 --> 00:31:16.549 that the brain is like a computer. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:19.510 Consciousness is like electricity. So, a 00:31:19.520 --> 00:31:22.389 computer doesn't create electricity. It 00:31:22.399 --> 00:31:25.590 just takes electricity and then like 00:31:25.600 --> 00:31:28.549 complexifies it, organizes it and 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:32.470 utilizes it. So the brain creates mental 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.389 states at least within this version of 00:31:34.399 --> 00:31:35.830 reality. You know this version of 00:31:35.840 --> 00:31:38.870 samsara you can say the brain creates 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:42.710 thoughts or mental states but it's not 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:44.710 creating the substance of consciousness 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:47.750 itself. I I'm personally I'm of the 00:31:47.760 --> 00:31:50.310 opinion that consciousness pervades the 00:31:50.320 --> 00:31:52.230 entire universe. It's just that most of 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:56.710 it isn't like complexified and organized 00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:01.590 into mental states, 00:32:01.600 --> 00:32:04.870 you know, sort of like um in 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:07.750 uh theoretical quantum physics where 00:32:07.760 --> 00:32:11.909 empty space can contain zero energy or 00:32:11.919 --> 00:32:14.070 infinite energy. You know, it's kind of 00:32:14.080 --> 00:32:16.230 like that with consciousness, too. You 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:17.990 could say empty space contains zero 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:20.230 consciousness but also in a sense 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:22.950 depending on how you do the math it can 00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:25.509 contain infinite consciousness 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:27.190 and to a religious person that might be 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:29.190 like the spirit of God pervading the 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:32.870 universe that kind of thing. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:37.190 So yeah, the brain just going with 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.750 you know our version of empirical 00:32:39.760 --> 00:32:42.230 samsara 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:45.190 that even then the brain does not create 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.110 consciousness and scientists really have 00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:49.430 no idea how the brain could possibly 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:51.830 create consciousness. How do 00:32:51.840 --> 00:32:54.789 electrochemical reactions going on in 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:57.110 like neurons 00:32:57.120 --> 00:33:01.350 generate subjective experience? 00:33:01.360 --> 00:33:03.909 To this day, scientists don't have a 00:33:03.919 --> 00:33:07.110 clue. 00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:09.509 So, I mean, it would answer a lot of 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:10.870 questions. You know, it would

solve the 00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:13.190 whole brain body problem and all that if 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:15.909 you just accept that what physicists 00:33:15.919 --> 00:33:19.509 call energy is exactly the same as what 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:23.669 a psychologist calls consciousness. 00:33:23.679 --> 00:33:26.230 You know, it's the same essence. It's 00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:28.549 just that what a psychologist calls 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:30.630 consciousness usually is all 00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:33.669 complexified by a brain. You know, it's 00:33:33.679 --> 00:33:36.630 all turned into mental states 00:33:36.640 --> 00:33:38.630 because consciousness is just the 00:33:38.640 --> 00:33:40.389 substance. You know, it's like water. 00:33:40.399 --> 00:33:43.590 Whereas mental states are like the waves 00:33:43.600 --> 00:33:45.590 or going with the computer analogy 00:33:45.600 --> 00:33:47.750 again. It's like what the computer is 00:33:47.760 --> 00:33:49.990 doing ultimately is electricity, but 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:52.389 it's like organizing, you know, it's 00:33:52.399 --> 00:33:54.870 like turning the electricity into usable 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:56.470 forms 00:33:56.480 --> 00:34:00.710 that's then used and utilized and you 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:02.470 wind up with the computer actually 00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:07.029 accomplishing something. 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:08.550 So, I guess I answered that one 00:34:08.560 --> 00:34:11.589 relatively quickly 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:13.510 and so I'm just going to move on to the 00:34:13.520 --> 00:34:15.669 next question, which is from eventual 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:17.589 muse. 00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:19.829 And I am happy to say that the lag thus 00:34:19.839 --> 00:34:21.829 far hasn't really exceeded about 1 00:34:21.839 --> 00:34:25.109 second. 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:26.550 Those of you who just listen to the 00:34:26.560 --> 00:34:29.829 podcast are lucky because there there 00:34:29.839 --> 00:34:33.750 seems to be lately especially always 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:35.510 some kind of a lag between video and 00:34:35.520 --> 00:34:38.869 audio that comes and goes. it drifts, 00:34:38.879 --> 00:34:41.909 which according to Grock is usually a 00:34:41.919 --> 00:34:44.069 sign that the computer is maxing out on 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:47.909 its CPU capacity or not not really 00:34:47.919 --> 00:34:51.990 maxing out, but getting so so busy that 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:55.510 it just can't keep up. 00:34:55.520 --> 00:34:59.190 Anyways, eventual muse says, "You've 00:34:59.200 --> 00:35:01.190 said many times that you really can't 00:35:01.200 --> 00:35:04.069 judge or speak for enlightened beings. 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:06.630 And of great interest is several times 00:35:06.640 --> 00:35:08.470 you mentioned that village people 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:11.190 considered you as enlightened, inferring 00:35:11.200 --> 00:35:14.150 that they got you wrong. So my question, 00:35:14.160 --> 00:35:16.790

and I'm mostly serious here, how can you 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:20.950 be sure that you are not enlightened?" 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:23.670 And I mean I've never really flatly 00:35:23.680 --> 00:35:25.349 denied being enlightened just because I 00:35:25.359 --> 00:35:26.710 don't want to like shut the door on 00:35:26.720 --> 00:35:28.230 myself because I mean you've got like 00:35:28.240 --> 00:35:30.870 the Mahayana Buddhists and Ehart Tollah 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:32.310 and those people who are saying 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:34.870 everyone's already enlightened. So if 00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:36.630 somebody back when I was a monk 00:35:36.640 --> 00:35:39.510 especially asked me are you enlightened? 00:35:39.520 --> 00:35:41.349 I mean, nobody asked me that now anymore 00:35:41.359 --> 00:35:43.270 really, 00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:46.630 except for eventual muse here, but it 00:35:46.640 --> 00:35:47.990 used to be if someone asked me if I was 00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:49.670 enlightened, I'd say, "If I'm 00:35:49.680 --> 00:35:51.430 enlightened, so are you. If you're not 00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:54.310 enlightened, neither am I." That would 00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:56.630 generally be my standard answer to that 00:35:56.640 --> 00:35:59.349 question. 00:35:59.359 --> 00:36:00.630 So, in a sense, you could say 00:36:00.640 --> 00:36:03.430 everybody's enlightened or nobody is. 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:05.030 You know, it's sort of like either 00:36:05.040 --> 00:36:07.270 everybody's perfect or nobody is. That 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:11.190 kind of thing. 00:36:11.200 --> 00:36:13.750 So, how can I be sure that I'm not 00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:15.270 enlightened? 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:19.270 Well, I mean, especially those of you 00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:21.910 who have a mate, those most of you guys 00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:24.470 are males. And so, if you've got a woman 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:27.190 in your life, you may know that women 00:36:27.200 --> 00:36:31.190 seem to specialize in pushing buttons. 00:36:31.200 --> 00:36:34.069 And like almost the only time I ever 00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:36.710 raise my voice is when I'm just getting 00:36:36.720 --> 00:36:38.390 exasperated 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:41.430 by, you know, some kind of, you know, 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:45.030 female 00:36:45.040 --> 00:36:46.710 I don't I don't I don't even know how to 00:36:46.720 --> 00:36:48.790 say it. 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:52.390 Pushing my buttons. 00:36:52.400 --> 00:36:56.230 So, I mean I mean it's it's fairly 00:36:56.240 --> 00:36:57.670 evident to me that I still have 00:36:57.680 --> 00:36:59.270 preferences. 00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:02.870 I still have, you know, better days and 00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:04.870 worse days, 00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:06.069 that kind of thing. I still have 00:37:06.079 --> 00:37:07.910 attractions and aversions. I mean, they 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:10.230 may be more subtle than the average 00:37:10.240 --> 00:37:12.550 person has, 00:37:12.560 --> 00:37:15.670 but you know, it's still there. I'm 00:37:15.680 --> 00:37:18.390 still human. 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:21.349 So, I mean, from the terravada, Orthodox 00:37:21.359 --> 00:37:23.510 Terravada Buddhist point of view, I 00:37:23.520 --> 00:37:25.270 couldn't possibly be enlightened because 00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:31.589 I mean, I don't even have perfect sila. 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:33.589 But like from the Mahayana Buddhist 00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:35.510 point of view, Ekart Tollola, that kind 00:37:35.520 --> 00:37:38.230 of thing, then the enlightenment is 00:37:38.240 --> 00:37:40.150 there, but it's sort of covered over by 00:37:40.160 --> 00:37:44.710 an illusion that isn't really there. 00:37:44.720 --> 00:37:48.390 And I think I have a little more insight 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:51.910 into that aspect of what enlightenment 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:54.390 kind of is considered to be than most 00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:55.990 people. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:00.470 I'm maybe a little bit uh less opaque 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:02.630 than most people. Although I mean I'm 00:38:02.640 --> 00:38:04.390 not really trying to compare myself with 00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:05.910 others, you know, it's not like any kind 00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:07.910 of contest. 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:10.390 But 30 years as a monk, you know, a 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:12.950 conscientiously practicing monk, you 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.910 know, it does have its fruits. It does 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:18.470 have its good results, maybe I should 00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:23.190 say. 00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:25.270 Plus, I mean, you have to have enough 00:38:25.280 --> 00:38:28.150 wisdom or insight or clarity to even 00:38:28.160 --> 00:38:29.349 want to become a monk in the first 00:38:29.359 --> 00:38:33.349 place. 00:38:33.359 --> 00:38:35.349 So, I mean, I'm not sure that I'm not 00:38:35.359 --> 00:38:36.870 enlightened because, you know, you've 00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:38.630 got people like Ekhart Tollah and the 00:38:38.640 --> 00:38:40.710 Mahayana Buddhists saying everybody's 00:38:40.720 --> 00:38:42.950 enlightened. 00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:45.990 But from a orthodox Terravada Buddhist 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:47.990 point of view, I'm not sure I've ever 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:52.310 met anyone who is fully enlightened. 00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:54.150 So, I'm just going to move on to 00:38:54.160 --> 00:38:57.190 eventual muse's next question. 00:38:57.200 --> 00:38:59.990 He says, or she says, probably he just 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:02.230 going with statistics. Most of my 00:39:02.240 --> 00:39:05.349 viewers are male, like more than 95% of 00:39:05.359 --> 00:39:06.870 them. 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:09.990 Eventual Muse says, "Help me understand 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:13.190 how it is that many seek, desire, and 00:39:13.200 --> 00:39:16.630 work ceaselessly to become streamlined 00:39:16.640 --> 00:39:19.589 enterers." I think eventual muse means

00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:22.870 stream enterers sodaponas. But the very 00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:25.510 desire of wanting this negates the 00:39:25.520 --> 00:39:29.109 entire idea of letting go desires in 00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:31.510 obtaining enlightenment. How do we 00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:33.349 square these conflicting narratives? 00:39:33.359 --> 00:39:35.589 This is a common question and first of 00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:38.630 all a stream enterer is like the lowest 00:39:38.640 --> 00:39:41.030 level of Buddhist saintthood going with 00:39:41.040 --> 00:39:43.349 orthodox terra 00:39:43.359 --> 00:39:46.870 and so they still have desires anyway. 00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:51.109 But I mean the standard question is how 00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:53.589 can you strive for enlightenment? How 00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:56.390 can you desire enlightenment and become 00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:59.990 enlightened? And the question I pretty 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.190 much always give is it's like you become 00:40:05.200 --> 00:40:07.670 motivated for enlightenment. 00:40:07.680 --> 00:40:09.030 Enlightenment, the desire for 00:40:09.040 --> 00:40:10.550 enlightenment replaces all your other 00:40:10.560 --> 00:40:12.470 desires. You get rid of you renounce the 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:15.430 world you know you renounce worldly life 00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:17.270 and you dedicate your life to 00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:20.069 enlightenment. That is your last major 00:40:20.079 --> 00:40:23.990 attachment. You are attached to the idea 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:26.310 of becoming enlightened and you strive 00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:27.829 and you strive and you strive. You 00:40:27.839 --> 00:40:31.589 purify yourself. You practice hard and 00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:33.670 you fail because you still have this 00:40:33.680 --> 00:40:35.829 obstacle of this desire for 00:40:35.839 --> 00:40:37.750 enlightenment. just this one last 00:40:37.760 --> 00:40:41.270 attachment until finally it's like in 00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:45.190 despair you just let go. You know, in a 00:40:45.200 --> 00:40:47.270 way it's like surrender. You know, it's 00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:50.310 almost like giving up 00:40:50.320 --> 00:40:53.349 and it's like this when you hit this 00:40:53.359 --> 00:40:56.870 wall of despair and just let go, you 00:40:56.880 --> 00:40:58.150 know, it's like you can't it's like 00:40:58.160 --> 00:40:59.430 you're beating your head against this 00:40:59.440 --> 00:41:03.190 brick wall. Finally, you just stop 00:41:03.200 --> 00:41:05.430 and it's like your last attachment. 00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:07.670 This, you know, all of your desires and 00:41:07.680 --> 00:41:09.670 attachments kind of coalesed into this 00:41:09.680 --> 00:41:11.750 one big one for desire or for 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:13.829 enlightenment. And then when you just 00:41:13.839 --> 00:41:16.390 let that last one go, 00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:22.230 click, poof, whatever. 00:41:22.240 --> 00:41:24.470 So, it's skillful means, you know, it's 00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:29.910 the it's the raft made of rubbish. 00:41:29.920 --> 00:41:32.390 Ah, let's see. Did I answer the question 00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:34.069 sufficiently for me to move on to the 00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:36.950 next one? The very desire of wanting 00:41:36.960 --> 00:41:39.190 this negates the entire idea of letting 00:41:39.200 --> 00:41:41.829 go desires in obtaining enlightenment. 00:41:41.839 --> 00:41:43.270 You know, they become more and more 00:41:43.280 --> 00:41:45.589 subtle. You know, it's it's skillful 00:41:45.599 --> 00:41:47.589 means in a way. It's it's there's a a 00:41:47.599 --> 00:41:50.230 certain suta about um you know, 00:41:50.240 --> 00:41:54.230 dismissing unwanted thoughts. And one 00:41:54.240 --> 00:41:57.030 way of doing it is you replace one 00:41:57.040 --> 00:41:59.589 unskillful thought with a more subtle, 00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.670 more skillful thought. The way a 00:42:01.680 --> 00:42:04.790 carpenter will drive a peg or a dowel 00:42:04.800 --> 00:42:06.950 out of a plank of wood with a smaller 00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:09.270 piece of wood, you know, and then once 00:42:09.280 --> 00:42:11.270 the the bigger piece is driven out with 00:42:11.280 --> 00:42:13.430 the smaller piece, you toss both of them 00:42:13.440 --> 00:42:15.109 away. 00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:18.950 and using a desire for enlightenment as 00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:21.750 kind of a replacement for all the other 00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:23.910 unenlightened desires of sex, drugs, and 00:42:23.920 --> 00:42:25.510 rock and roll and ice cream and pizza 00:42:25.520 --> 00:42:27.829 and all that. You know, you replace it 00:42:27.839 --> 00:42:29.750 all with a more wholesome, more subtle 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:34.069 kind of desire or attachment. And then, 00:42:34.079 --> 00:42:35.430 you know, you get as far as you can get 00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:37.510 with that, but eventually you have to 00:42:37.520 --> 00:42:40.710 let that go also. 00:42:40.720 --> 00:42:42.790 And that was something that the Burmese 00:42:42.800 --> 00:42:44.950 really had difficulty wrapping their 00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:46.630 head around. You know, they seem to 00:42:46.640 --> 00:42:49.190 think that at the moment of 00:42:49.200 --> 00:42:52.150 enlightenment, the desires fall away. 00:42:52.160 --> 00:42:53.990 Whereas it's like you can't really 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:56.710 become enlightened until the desires 00:42:56.720 --> 00:42:59.589 fall away. They just think that, you 00:42:59.599 --> 00:43:01.750 know, you're not going to be, you know, 00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:05.349 perfectly saintly until after you become 00:43:05.359 --> 00:43:06.870 enlightened. 00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:09.030 But really, it's like you got to be damn 00:43:09.040 --> 00:43:11.349 near perfect before you become 00:43:11.359 --> 00:43:13.030 enlightened. It seems to me, unless 00:43:13.040 --> 00:43:15.589 there's just some radical

transformation 00:43:15.599 --> 00:43:18.470 happens, 00:43:18.480 --> 00:43:22.150 that's an entirely different issue. 00:43:22.160 --> 00:43:27.109 So, yeah, it's skillful means. 00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:29.510 It's just a way of getting closer to the 00:43:29.520 --> 00:43:31.030 goal, 00:43:31.040 --> 00:43:32.950 but eventually you have to let that go, 00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:35.030 too. 00:43:35.040 --> 00:43:37.430 And so I'm just going to move on to 00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:41.270 eventual muse's third question. 00:43:41.280 --> 00:43:43.510 He says, "Do you think a case could be 00:43:43.520 --> 00:43:46.630 made that cows and dogs are enlightened? 00:43:46.640 --> 00:43:48.870 As I'm sure they do not live lives with 00:43:48.880 --> 00:43:51.670 a massive desire to become enlightened." 00:43:51.680 --> 00:43:53.990 Well, Ekhart Tollah in his first famous 00:43:54.000 --> 00:43:57.270 book says that all animals are 00:43:57.280 --> 00:43:59.750 essentially enlightened except for a few 00:43:59.760 --> 00:44:02.390 domesticated ones that have inherited 00:44:02.400 --> 00:44:05.190 neurotic symptoms, unenlightenment from 00:44:05.200 --> 00:44:07.829 their from their masters. So, you might 00:44:07.839 --> 00:44:11.030 have some yappy Shih Tzu or something, 00:44:11.040 --> 00:44:13.829 some little maltes that isn't 00:44:13.839 --> 00:44:16.790 enlightened just because it has become 00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:18.550 neurotic from its interaction with 00:44:18.560 --> 00:44:22.069 humans. That's what Echart Tollah says. 00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:24.390 From the the Orthodox Terra Buddhist 00:44:24.400 --> 00:44:26.790 point of view, animals are in a lower 00:44:26.800 --> 00:44:28.950 realm. They're not enlightened. I mean, 00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:31.430 Echart Tollah's argument is that animals 00:44:31.440 --> 00:44:33.270 are fully in the present moment. You 00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:34.550 know, they're not worrying about the 00:44:34.560 --> 00:44:37.030 future. They're not regretting the past, 00:44:37.040 --> 00:44:39.990 you know, be here now, the power of now. 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:43.349 And so, um, Earullah says that because 00:44:43.359 --> 00:44:45.589 animals are fully in the present moment. 00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:47.829 Walt Whitmann said similar stuff in in 00:44:47.839 --> 00:44:50.230 Leaves of Grass. If any of you are into 00:44:50.240 --> 00:44:54.470 poetry that has no meter or rhyme. 00:44:54.480 --> 00:44:56.630 Um, but I mean there's more to 00:44:56.640 --> 00:44:58.870 enlightenment than just being in the 00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:01.430 present moment. It seems to me going 00:45:01.440 --> 00:45:02.870 from the Buddhist point of view, they're 00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:05.270 still delusional even though they're not 00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:06.790 worried about the future. They're not 00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:08.550 regretting the past. They're not 00:45:08.560 --> 00:45:10.550 wondering what's going on in some other 00:45:10.560 --> 00:45:12.870 part of the world. you know, they're not 00:45:12.880 --> 00:45:14.870 really worried about what some other 00:45:14.880 --> 00:45:16.710 animal thinks of them, that kind of 00:45:16.720 --> 00:45:18.390 thing. You know, they're just be here 00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:21.750 now. But still, they're delusional. They 00:45:21.760 --> 00:45:23.829 think that this is reality, for example. 00:45:23.839 --> 00:45:25.829 They still have desires and fears. You 00:45:25.839 --> 00:45:27.670 know, they're they're like most wild 00:45:27.680 --> 00:45:30.630 animals, it would seem, are motivated by 00:45:30.640 --> 00:45:33.109 fear and hunger. Those would be the two 00:45:33.119 --> 00:45:35.589 main ones. 00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:37.910 And so from a orthodox terravada 00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:39.750 Buddhist point of view, animals really 00:45:39.760 --> 00:45:42.790 are kind of in a kind of lower realm. 00:45:42.800 --> 00:45:44.550 And a similar argument could be used for 00:45:44.560 --> 00:45:47.030 like human babies. You know, some people 00:45:47.040 --> 00:45:49.270 think a human baby could be like fully 00:45:49.280 --> 00:45:51.829 enlightened. And you know, there's like 00:45:51.839 --> 00:45:53.750 Wordssworth wrote intimations of 00:45:53.760 --> 00:45:55.829 immortality. This ode, it's one of his 00:45:55.839 --> 00:45:58.069 more famous poems. He's considered one 00:45:58.079 --> 00:45:59.589 of the giants of English literature, 00:45:59.599 --> 00:46:01.589 even though probably most people don't 00:46:01.599 --> 00:46:03.829 know who Werdsworth was. Nobody's read 00:46:03.839 --> 00:46:07.430 any words lately. 00:46:07.440 --> 00:46:09.270 You know, he wrote this intimations of 00:46:09.280 --> 00:46:11.430 immortality about how small children are 00:46:11.440 --> 00:46:13.190 actually closer to enlightenment or 00:46:13.200 --> 00:46:17.109 closer to God than than adults are. And 00:46:17.119 --> 00:46:19.190 there there is some truth to that. I 00:46:19.200 --> 00:46:22.470 mean, humans, we've got this burden of 00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:26.309 concepts that animals and like small 00:46:26.319 --> 00:46:28.150 children really don't have. You know, 00:46:28.160 --> 00:46:30.710 it's like an adult sees a dandelion and 00:46:30.720 --> 00:46:33.190 it's just like weed. you know, it's just 00:46:33.200 --> 00:46:36.309 you just label it as dandelion or weed. 00:46:36.319 --> 00:46:37.829 You know, you just slap the label on it 00:46:37.839 --> 00:46:40.790 as soon as you you recognize what it is 00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:42.870 and that's it. You know, you don't take 00:46:42.880 --> 00:46:44.870 in any of the fine details, anything 00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:47.190 like that. Or to a little kid, that 00:46:47.200 --> 00:46:49.030 dandelion could be a pretty flower and 00:46:49.040 --> 00:46:50.950 they're just like, you know, in awe of 00:46:50.960 --> 00:46:52.630 the miracle of this pretty flower 00:46:52.640 --> 00:46:55.270 they're holding

in their hand because 00:46:55.280 --> 00:46:58.150 they haven't learned these knee-jerk 00:46:58.160 --> 00:47:01.349 like reflexes practically. it's just a 00:47:01.359 --> 00:47:03.829 weed, you know, just once once you've 00:47:03.839 --> 00:47:06.950 labeled it and just determine that it's 00:47:06.960 --> 00:47:09.750 useless, you know, you just ignore it 00:47:09.760 --> 00:47:15.349 and move on to the next thing. 00:47:15.359 --> 00:47:17.589 But animals, 00:47:17.599 --> 00:47:19.589 yeah, I really don't think that animals 00:47:19.599 --> 00:47:21.430 are fully enlightened. If you get down 00:47:21.440 --> 00:47:23.349 to something that really doesn't even 00:47:23.359 --> 00:47:25.589 have perception, so it doesn't even have 00:47:25.599 --> 00:47:29.430 delusion, you know, like a a tapeworm, 00:47:29.440 --> 00:47:31.109 you know, maybe I shouldn't have picked 00:47:31.119 --> 00:47:33.589 a parasite, but still a tapeworm. It's 00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:37.109 it's got no brain. It's it maybe has 00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:39.270 like unrefined consciousness. Like I was 00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:40.950 saying earlier, consciousness can 00:47:40.960 --> 00:47:43.109 pervade the entire universe, but it's 00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:46.470 not like taking that consciousness and 00:47:46.480 --> 00:47:49.910 like mutating it into mental states that 00:47:49.920 --> 00:47:54.630 then kind of become the the substance of 00:47:54.640 --> 00:47:59.829 like delusion and unenlightenment. 00:47:59.839 --> 00:48:03.510 So yeah, maybe like plants could be 00:48:03.520 --> 00:48:07.430 enlightened in a sense or some animal 00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:09.829 that's so primitive that it doesn't even 00:48:09.839 --> 00:48:14.069 have a mind and no mental states anyway. 00:48:14.079 --> 00:48:16.069 You know those maybe you could say are 00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:17.589 enlightened just like you could say like 00:48:17.599 --> 00:48:19.670 rocks and bricks are enlightened. They 00:48:19.680 --> 00:48:22.870 have no greed, hate or delusion. 00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:25.109 They could have a kind of unrefined 00:48:25.119 --> 00:48:28.069 primordial consciousness pervading them. 00:48:28.079 --> 00:48:30.790 But they have no greed, hate or 00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:33.829 delusion. 00:48:33.839 --> 00:48:37.349 But even a a cow or a dog, I mean, they 00:48:37.359 --> 00:48:39.190 still have attraction and aversion and 00:48:39.200 --> 00:48:42.390 delusion, it seems to me. 00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:46.790 So the way Ram Doss in one of his early 00:48:46.800 --> 00:48:48.870 books described it is like you start 00:48:48.880 --> 00:48:51.430 off, it's like you imagine a clock, an 00:48:51.440 --> 00:48:54.390 oldfashioned one with those hands. 00:48:54.400 --> 00:48:57.190 And so it's like 00:48:57.200 --> 00:49:01.190 midnight is union with God. And then 00:49:01.200 --> 00:49:03.349 it's like when you get to one minute 00:49:03.359 --> 00:49:07.190 past 12, you're starting to create this 00:49:07.200 --> 00:49:11.510 being that is like delusional and like 00:49:11.520 --> 00:49:14.710 separated from God. At least in their 00:49:14.720 --> 00:49:17.430 own mind. In reality they aren't but in 00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:18.790 their own mind you know it's like they 00:49:18.800 --> 00:49:20.790 they've come up with these mental states 00:49:20.800 --> 00:49:23.510 that have sort of identified with 00:49:23.520 --> 00:49:25.510 themselves consider themselves to be 00:49:25.520 --> 00:49:28.150 like closed off you know it started like 00:49:28.160 --> 00:49:30.150 this spiritual 00:49:30.160 --> 00:49:31.990 journey I don't like using the word 00:49:32.000 --> 00:49:34.230 journey but you know it's it's kind of 00:49:34.240 --> 00:49:37.910 started the the unenlightened beings um 00:49:37.920 --> 00:49:39.910 progression 00:49:39.920 --> 00:49:42.309 and so for the first half all the way 00:49:42.319 --> 00:49:44.549 down to 6:00 00:49:44.559 --> 00:49:45.910 they're getting farther farther and 00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:47.990 farther away from enlightenment or 00:49:48.000 --> 00:49:50.309 farther and farther away from ultimate 00:49:50.319 --> 00:49:54.069 reality or God. And then once you get to 00:49:54.079 --> 00:49:57.270 like 1 minute past 6, they start moving 00:49:57.280 --> 00:50:02.790 back up towards, you know, God o' at 12. 00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:06.630 And so animals might be in a sense 00:50:06.640 --> 00:50:08.549 closer to enlightenment. It's like like 00:50:08.559 --> 00:50:10.309 a cow, for example. I mean, they keep 00:50:10.319 --> 00:50:13.510 five precepts perfectly. 00:50:13.520 --> 00:50:15.910 They don't lie. They don't steal. They 00:50:15.920 --> 00:50:17.349 don't kill on purpose. I mean, they 00:50:17.359 --> 00:50:19.430 might eat grass. It's got a snail on it 00:50:19.440 --> 00:50:22.069 or something. They only have sex to 00:50:22.079 --> 00:50:25.349 reproduce. 00:50:25.359 --> 00:50:27.670 You don't have [ __ ] female cows with 00:50:27.680 --> 00:50:29.990 like, you know, plastic udder implants 00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:32.710 and that kind of stuff. 00:50:32.720 --> 00:50:35.430 So, I mean, in a in a way, they have 00:50:35.440 --> 00:50:37.430 less delusion than we do just because 00:50:37.440 --> 00:50:40.790 they have less mind to work with. you 00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:43.190 have less mental states, but you've got 00:50:43.200 --> 00:50:45.030 to get farther and farther away until 00:50:45.040 --> 00:50:47.109 you've reached the maximum distance 00:50:47.119 --> 00:50:48.710 before you start coming back the other 00:50:48.720 --> 00:50:50.950 way, closer and closer to God again. So, 00:50:50.960 --> 00:50:53.349 you got to do the full circle. Just 00:50:53.359 --> 00:50:56.790 because some animals only at 1:00, 00:50:56.800 --> 00:51:00.390 whereas a human might be at 7. You know, 00:51:00.400 --> 00:51:02.710 technically they're closer to the 00:51:02.720 --> 00:51:06.470 absolute than a human

being is. But in 00:51:06.480 --> 00:51:08.470 order for them to reach that absolute, 00:51:08.480 --> 00:51:09.829 they're going to have to go all the way 00:51:09.839 --> 00:51:12.390 around, you know, all the way around to, 00:51:12.400 --> 00:51:14.630 you know, 2 3 4 5 6 all the way back up 00:51:14.640 --> 00:51:17.270 to 12 again. 00:51:17.280 --> 00:51:19.430 That's not really how Terravata Buddhist 00:51:19.440 --> 00:51:21.510 describes it, but that's how Rahm Doss 00:51:21.520 --> 00:51:23.349 described it, you know, along more 00:51:23.359 --> 00:51:26.309 Hinduistic lines in one of his early 00:51:26.319 --> 00:51:31.190 books. 00:51:31.200 --> 00:51:33.349 But from the Orthodox Terra Buddhist 00:51:33.359 --> 00:51:35.109 point of view, animals are in a lower 00:51:35.119 --> 00:51:37.190 realm. You know, they're much worse off 00:51:37.200 --> 00:51:40.790 than we are. And seems to me that's 00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:44.069 pretty much right. 00:51:44.079 --> 00:51:45.829 So, I'm just going to move on to the 00:51:45.839 --> 00:51:49.270 next question. And this is from Craig 00:51:49.280 --> 00:51:52.069 Mofo. I don't know how to pronounce your 00:51:52.079 --> 00:51:55.510 name. Must be French. 00:51:55.520 --> 00:51:58.710 So, Craig ass mofo says, "Do you no 00:51:58.720 --> 00:52:01.109 longer follow the path of the Buddha?" 00:52:01.119 --> 00:52:03.030 And I no longer follow the path of the 00:52:03.040 --> 00:52:06.150 Buddha along monastic lines. In fact, 00:52:06.160 --> 00:52:09.589 I'm I don't even follow perfectly 00:52:09.599 --> 00:52:12.150 the the the path of the Buddha for for 00:52:12.160 --> 00:52:13.990 lay people. 00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:17.270 So, I mean, I still consider Buddhist 00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:19.270 philosophy and Buddhist ethics to be 00:52:19.280 --> 00:52:22.950 essentially correct. Although, I mean, I 00:52:22.960 --> 00:52:26.549 am I do allow myself the privilege of 00:52:26.559 --> 00:52:30.069 critical thought. I am skeptical with 00:52:30.079 --> 00:52:33.910 regard to a lot of it. I have much more 00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:36.309 uh regard for somebody like Jay Krishna 00:52:36.319 --> 00:52:38.549 Murdy than any self-respecting terra 00:52:38.559 --> 00:52:42.549 Buddhist should have. 00:52:42.559 --> 00:52:45.030 But I'm more Buddhist than anything 00:52:45.040 --> 00:52:47.510 else. 00:52:47.520 --> 00:52:49.829 So this kind of leads up to Craig ass 00:52:49.839 --> 00:52:52.470 mofo second question. 00:52:52.480 --> 00:52:54.470 He says, "Isn't your claim that you 00:52:54.480 --> 00:52:57.270 cannot change, that you are who you are 00:52:57.280 --> 00:52:59.990 in complete opposition to the teaching 00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:02.390 of the Buddha? For example, you claim if 00:53:02.400 --> 00:53:04.710 you are an angry person, something like 00:53:04.720 --> 00:53:08.230 that you said, then you cannot change. 00:53:08.240 --> 00:53:10.630 Seems to contradict everything the 00:53:10.640 --> 00:53:13.190 Buddha taught about the self, about 00:53:13.200 --> 00:53:16.230 following his teachings to change into a 00:53:16.240 --> 00:53:17.990 more peaceful, compassionate, 00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:20.549 calm-minded person. Well, Craig Malfo 00:53:20.559 --> 00:53:21.910 wasn't really paying very close 00:53:21.920 --> 00:53:24.230 attention to what I was saying in the 00:53:24.240 --> 00:53:27.910 previous Q&A. I mean, I went through a 00:53:27.920 --> 00:53:31.109 lot of detail about how it takes like 00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:33.190 talking about Battle for the Mind by 00:53:33.200 --> 00:53:34.710 William Sergeant, about how it really 00:53:34.720 --> 00:53:37.829 takes a kind of crisis to knock somebody 00:53:37.839 --> 00:53:40.390 out of a rut. That changing is 00:53:40.400 --> 00:53:42.069 difficult. I never said it was 00:53:42.079 --> 00:53:44.630 impossible, that it doesn't happen. But 00:53:44.640 --> 00:53:48.470 for the average person statistically 00:53:48.480 --> 00:53:51.670 it's unlikely that as a general rule 00:53:51.680 --> 00:53:55.030 people don't change unless 00:53:55.040 --> 00:53:56.950 your perception change like I was also 00:53:56.960 --> 00:53:59.030 mentioning Schopenhau's the four-fold 00:53:59.040 --> 00:54:01.190 root of sufficient reason towards the 00:54:01.200 --> 00:54:03.910 beginning of the the comments I was 00:54:03.920 --> 00:54:05.990 making that Craig ass mofo is responding 00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:08.630 to here. So I mean from the very 00:54:08.640 --> 00:54:11.190 beginning of that discussion in the 00:54:11.200 --> 00:54:13.990 previous Q&A I was talking about how it 00:54:14.000 --> 00:54:18.150 does happen it can happen because like 00:54:18.160 --> 00:54:19.990 from from Schopenhau's point of view the 00:54:20.000 --> 00:54:21.589 only way you can change your behavior is 00:54:21.599 --> 00:54:24.790 to change your perceptions 00:54:24.800 --> 00:54:28.150 and like William Sergeant says in his 00:54:28.160 --> 00:54:30.390 book battle for the mind as a general 00:54:30.400 --> 00:54:33.349 rule we are governed by habit we just 00:54:33.359 --> 00:54:35.349 cling to these habits we are attached to 00:54:35.359 --> 00:54:37.430 these habits and That's kind of the way 00:54:37.440 --> 00:54:40.390 karma is. It's it's like habit energy, 00:54:40.400 --> 00:54:43.109 the force of habit that lets us run on 00:54:43.119 --> 00:54:46.870 autopilot through most of our lives. 00:54:46.880 --> 00:54:49.190 And the only way to really change that 00:54:49.200 --> 00:54:53.190 is through some kind of crisis, some 00:54:53.200 --> 00:54:55.910 kind of emotional breakdown. 00:54:55.920 --> 00:54:58.710 And I was talking about how John Wesley, 00:54:58.720 --> 00:55:00.790 one of the founders of Methodism, used 00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:03.750 this, you know, it's I mentioned all 00:55:03.760 --> 00:55:05.990 that in the previous Q&A. I don't know 00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:08.790 why Craig ass mofo just took out

this 00:55:08.800 --> 00:55:11.829 one bit of that discussion and thought 00:55:11.839 --> 00:55:13.430 that that was all I said about the 00:55:13.440 --> 00:55:15.829 issue. 00:55:15.839 --> 00:55:19.349 So never did I say that is that you 00:55:19.359 --> 00:55:21.829 cannot change. 00:55:21.839 --> 00:55:25.510 But it what does what is necessary is 00:55:25.520 --> 00:55:27.109 you have to change the way you think. 00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:30.710 And as a general rule we resist that. 00:55:30.720 --> 00:55:33.190 And so for a lot of people it takes some 00:55:33.200 --> 00:55:37.109 kind of crisis to just jolt or slam us 00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:39.510 out of this habitual rut that we are in. 00:55:39.520 --> 00:55:42.150 And that can happen accidentally. Like 00:55:42.160 --> 00:55:45.430 most Western people who claim to be 00:55:45.440 --> 00:55:47.510 enlightened or are claimed to be 00:55:47.520 --> 00:55:50.470 enlightened usually get to their state 00:55:50.480 --> 00:55:52.150 accidentally through a near-death 00:55:52.160 --> 00:55:54.870 experience or some existential crisis 00:55:54.880 --> 00:55:56.390 that they weren't planning on, they 00:55:56.400 --> 00:55:58.069 weren't cultivating. It just happened to 00:55:58.079 --> 00:56:00.710 them. Raman Maharshi, another case in 00:56:00.720 --> 00:56:04.549 point, it happened to him accidentally. 00:56:04.559 --> 00:56:06.069 You know, in Buddhism, you're doing it 00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:10.470 deliberately, but I mean, most Buddhists 00:56:10.480 --> 00:56:13.349 go about it in such a comfortable way 00:56:13.359 --> 00:56:15.670 that they don't really trigger the 00:56:15.680 --> 00:56:17.589 crisis. I mean, in the Buddhist time, 00:56:17.599 --> 00:56:19.430 you've got someone who just renounces 00:56:19.440 --> 00:56:21.589 the world, just radical renunciation. 00:56:21.599 --> 00:56:23.349 They're wandering around homeless, 00:56:23.359 --> 00:56:25.510 living in tiger and banditinfested 00:56:25.520 --> 00:56:28.390 jungles, this kind of stuff. I mean, the 00:56:28.400 --> 00:56:31.750 crisis can happen pretty easily. But if 00:56:31.760 --> 00:56:34.230 you're just hanging out in like this 00:56:34.240 --> 00:56:36.390 comfortable monastery, knowing where 00:56:36.400 --> 00:56:37.990 your next meal is coming from, knowing 00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:39.910 where you're going to sleep that night, 00:56:39.920 --> 00:56:42.150 as a general rule, things are so easy 00:56:42.160 --> 00:56:45.109 and peaceful, you just don't hit the 00:56:45.119 --> 00:56:48.230 crisis point unless you are striving 00:56:48.240 --> 00:56:50.230 with all your might to become 00:56:50.240 --> 00:56:52.069 enlightened or whatever to to attain 00:56:52.079 --> 00:56:54.230 this ideal. You can't do it. And then 00:56:54.240 --> 00:56:56.950 you have like the the crisis of I can't 00:56:56.960 --> 00:56:59.910 do it and then you just kind of let go. 00:56:59.920 --> 00:57:01.349 That's something I was I was mentioning 00:57:01.359 --> 00:57:04.549 a little earlier. 00:57:04.559 --> 00:57:08.390 So 00:57:08.400 --> 00:57:11.030 yeah, I mean people do change. I mean 00:57:11.040 --> 00:57:15.910 they can change but most people because 00:57:15.920 --> 00:57:19.030 either they're unwilling to do what is 00:57:19.040 --> 00:57:21.990 necessary or they just don't have it 00:57:22.000 --> 00:57:24.470 happen to them through some near-death 00:57:24.480 --> 00:57:27.030 experience or some such. You know, it's 00:57:27.040 --> 00:57:29.030 it's sort of like, you know, the fat 00:57:29.040 --> 00:57:31.030 lady on the diet that just struggles and 00:57:31.040 --> 00:57:33.030 struggles and and can't lose weight or 00:57:33.040 --> 00:57:34.950 she'll start to lose weight and then 00:57:34.960 --> 00:57:36.870 gain it all back again. Or someone who 00:57:36.880 --> 00:57:39.109 tries to quit smoking and, you know, 00:57:39.119 --> 00:57:40.710 it's like they quit and then start and 00:57:40.720 --> 00:57:43.190 quit and start or, you know, they try 00:57:43.200 --> 00:57:44.630 to, you know, they're they're an 00:57:44.640 --> 00:57:48.309 alcoholic or something. And most of 00:57:48.319 --> 00:57:50.789 these people, you know, they'll try and 00:57:50.799 --> 00:57:53.910 try and try and they just 00:57:53.920 --> 00:57:56.150 mean they're not wholehearted about it 00:57:56.160 --> 00:57:59.270 in many cases 00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:03.030 or, you know, they just don't take it 00:58:03.040 --> 00:58:05.910 seriously enough to get to that point of 00:58:05.920 --> 00:58:08.470 like the breakdown or the crisis that 00:58:08.480 --> 00:58:10.870 just can allow them to really make 00:58:10.880 --> 00:58:14.230 significant change. Like Rahm Doss said 00:58:14.240 --> 00:58:16.789 in one of his early books that I read 00:58:16.799 --> 00:58:19.670 and it haunted me for for most of my 00:58:19.680 --> 00:58:24.630 life that like absolute despair is a 00:58:24.640 --> 00:58:27.589 pre-erequisite for significant spiritual 00:58:27.599 --> 00:58:29.349 growth. 00:58:29.359 --> 00:58:31.589 And as for many years I hoped that he 00:58:31.599 --> 00:58:35.030 was wrong but it seems that he probably 00:58:35.040 --> 00:58:39.349 was right. Like in my life, most of my I 00:58:39.359 --> 00:58:41.349 I've gone through at least two sort of 00:58:41.359 --> 00:58:44.390 spiritual growth spurts and both of them 00:58:44.400 --> 00:58:49.430 were the result of despair. 00:58:49.440 --> 00:58:51.990 So I never said that you cannot change. 00:58:52.000 --> 00:58:54.230 I'm just saying that for the average 00:58:54.240 --> 00:58:57.510 person it is statistically unlikely 00:58:57.520 --> 00:59:00.069 that it takes more than most people are 00:59:00.079 --> 00:59:02.950 willing to invest 00:59:02.960 --> 00:59:04.710 for the sake of changing. And a lot of 00:59:04.720 --> 00:59:05.910 people, they just think you can just 00:59:05.920 --> 00:59:07.990 change. You should just be

different. 00:59:08.000 --> 00:59:10.069 You know, it's like people can judge 00:59:10.079 --> 00:59:11.829 others really easily. You know, it's 00:59:11.839 --> 00:59:14.069 like why don't they just be different? 00:59:14.079 --> 00:59:15.589 You know, I I used to think that way 00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:17.910 about like really obese people where 00:59:17.920 --> 00:59:19.510 it's like, man, why don't they just I 00:59:19.520 --> 00:59:20.630 mean, all you got to do is just eat 00:59:20.640 --> 00:59:23.990 less, maybe get a little more exercise. 00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:26.950 And then it was like you have your own 00:59:26.960 --> 00:59:29.910 attachments. And when you're struggling 00:59:29.920 --> 00:59:32.390 with that, then you, you know, after 00:59:32.400 --> 00:59:35.349 like decades of trying to change 00:59:35.359 --> 00:59:38.630 yourself and having limited success, 00:59:38.640 --> 00:59:40.549 then you have more compassion for other 00:59:40.559 --> 00:59:45.430 people who aren't even trying as hard 00:59:45.440 --> 00:59:48.470 or just don't know how to go about it. 00:59:48.480 --> 00:59:50.710 Cuz as a general rule, we are stuck 00:59:50.720 --> 00:59:53.589 being who we are. Mainly because we 00:59:53.599 --> 00:59:56.309 prefer to be to be stuck being who we 00:59:56.319 --> 00:59:57.990 are. It's just 00:59:58.000 --> 00:59:59.829 We're just creatures of habit and we 00:59:59.839 --> 01:00:03.109 just cling to these habits and resist 01:00:03.119 --> 01:00:05.910 change until our habits just aren't 01:00:05.920 --> 01:00:11.910 working anymore, which is the crisis. 01:00:11.920 --> 01:00:14.630 Okay, so I guess I answered that 01:00:14.640 --> 01:00:16.950 question. So, I'm just going to move on 01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:19.349 to the next question. See how we're 01:00:19.359 --> 01:00:21.109 doing here. 01:00:21.119 --> 01:00:23.990 Not too bad, I guess. Been going for an 01:00:24.000 --> 01:00:28.309 hour. CPU is at 42%. 01:00:28.319 --> 01:00:30.950 Next question is from drip walker and 01:00:30.960 --> 01:00:33.910 dripwalker says can you consider the 01:00:33.920 --> 01:00:36.549 natural state of the mind to be 01:00:36.559 --> 01:00:40.230 nepapancha and nepapancha 01:00:40.240 --> 01:00:42.230 is literally means something like 01:00:42.240 --> 01:00:44.390 nonprololiferation 01:00:44.400 --> 01:00:45.990 nondiffiation 01:00:46.000 --> 01:00:49.670 which is a synonym for nirvana. 01:00:49.680 --> 01:00:51.589 So do I consider the natural state of 01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:53.990 the mind to be nepapancha? consider the 01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:56.630 natural state of consciousness to be 01:00:56.640 --> 01:01:00.390 nepa panchcha. I mean most consciousness 01:01:00.400 --> 01:01:02.069 I mean assuming that the universe is 01:01:02.079 --> 01:01:04.630 pervaded by it that even a a hydrogen 01:01:04.640 --> 01:01:07.190 atom has like this little primordial 01:01:07.200 --> 01:01:09.829 spark of conscious to it then yeah all 01:01:09.839 --> 01:01:12.150 of that would be nepapanchoncho or 01:01:12.160 --> 01:01:15.190 nirvana enlightenment whatever it's only 01:01:15.200 --> 01:01:19.750 when you get into like a delusional mind 01:01:19.760 --> 01:01:23.349 a delusional mental state that 01:01:23.359 --> 01:01:26.150 um you know you get perceptions 01:01:26.160 --> 01:01:28.069 perceptions and volitions 01:01:28.079 --> 01:01:30.150 then you get papancha. That's what 01:01:30.160 --> 01:01:33.430 perceptions do. They differentiate. 01:01:33.440 --> 01:01:36.950 They proliferate. 01:01:36.960 --> 01:01:40.390 So enlightenment or or nirvana going 01:01:40.400 --> 01:01:43.270 with the the term nepopja is just 01:01:43.280 --> 01:01:45.670 nondiffiation. 01:01:45.680 --> 01:01:47.670 When you start dividing the universe up 01:01:47.680 --> 01:01:50.549 into parts, you're in delusional 01:01:50.559 --> 01:01:54.789 samsara. 01:01:54.799 --> 01:01:58.230 So the natural state of just 01:01:58.240 --> 01:02:01.270 consciousness is nepapancha. The natural 01:02:01.280 --> 01:02:03.750 state of perception or mental states is 01:02:03.760 --> 01:02:07.589 papancha or illusion or unenlightenment 01:02:07.599 --> 01:02:11.910 delusion. 01:02:11.920 --> 01:02:14.309 So yeah I'm not exactly sure what drip 01:02:14.319 --> 01:02:15.990 rocker had in mind with regard to the 01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:18.069 mind. Does he mean consciousness or does 01:02:18.079 --> 01:02:20.549 he mean mental states? 01:02:20.559 --> 01:02:22.630 I think most people would equate mind 01:02:22.640 --> 01:02:26.069 with mental states. Although personally 01:02:26.079 --> 01:02:28.549 I mean there's a deeper level of mind 01:02:28.559 --> 01:02:30.789 than mental states which is just 01:02:30.799 --> 01:02:32.710 consciousness itself which is like the 01:02:32.720 --> 01:02:35.990 essence of the mental states. 01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:38.710 So consciousness is essence and mental 01:02:38.720 --> 01:02:40.549 states are form the forms that 01:02:40.559 --> 01:02:43.030 consciousness takes. 01:02:43.040 --> 01:02:47.190 Kind of like this cup is it ceramic or 01:02:47.200 --> 01:02:49.990 is it a mug? I guess it's more of a mug 01:02:50.000 --> 01:02:52.549 than a cup. So, which which is it? Is it 01:02:52.559 --> 01:02:55.349 ceramic or is it a mug? Well, it's both. 01:02:55.359 --> 01:02:58.309 The essence is ceramic 01:02:58.319 --> 01:03:03.270 and the form the function is mug. It's 01:03:03.280 --> 01:03:06.069 holding my coffee, 01:03:06.079 --> 01:03:08.230 which is now lukewarm coffee. But that's 01:03:08.240 --> 01:03:10.390 all right. We're still going through a 01:03:10.400 --> 01:03:13.190 kind of heat wave in upstate South 01:03:13.200 --> 01:03:16.549 Carolina. 01:03:16.559 --> 01:03:18.150 So, 01:03:18.160 --> 01:03:21.349 I guess I answered that question. And 01:03:21.359 --> 01:03:22.870 so, I'm going to move on to Drip 01:03:22.880 --> 01:03:25.589 Walker's second question. He says, "The

01:03:25.599 --> 01:03:29.270 house on fire is the goal to put out the 01:03:29.280 --> 01:03:31.349 fire rather than getting out of the 01:03:31.359 --> 01:03:33.510 house, if you know what I mean." Well, 01:03:33.520 --> 01:03:38.069 he's referring to is the uh traditional 01:03:38.079 --> 01:03:40.710 Buddhist metaphor. It's uh I think 01:03:40.720 --> 01:03:43.910 probably the most famous version of the 01:03:43.920 --> 01:03:46.710 house on fire is from the Lotus Sutra 01:03:46.720 --> 01:03:49.349 which is a Mahayana text. Although the 01:03:49.359 --> 01:03:52.069 Buddha's third discourse after his 01:03:52.079 --> 01:03:54.069 enlightenment according to tradition was 01:03:54.079 --> 01:03:56.390 the fire sermon where he's saying you 01:03:56.400 --> 01:03:58.309 know the the universe is on fire. The 01:03:58.319 --> 01:04:00.950 world is on fire. 01:04:00.960 --> 01:04:04.789 The fires of greed, hate and delusion. 01:04:04.799 --> 01:04:07.190 So just going with the metaphor, we're 01:04:07.200 --> 01:04:09.910 trapped in a burning building. And so 01:04:09.920 --> 01:04:12.630 the Buddhist answer is you get out of 01:04:12.640 --> 01:04:14.309 the building. 01:04:14.319 --> 01:04:18.549 Um part of the like the analogy or the 01:04:18.559 --> 01:04:20.549 metaphor is I mean putting out the fire 01:04:20.559 --> 01:04:23.190 really isn't an option. You know one 01:04:23.200 --> 01:04:27.029 person can't just cure somes sorrow for 01:04:27.039 --> 01:04:29.589 everybody else. So that's one reason why 01:04:29.599 --> 01:04:31.109 it's escaping from the building rather 01:04:31.119 --> 01:04:32.470 than putting out the fire because you 01:04:32.480 --> 01:04:34.549 put out the fire all the beings in the 01:04:34.559 --> 01:04:37.510 universe are now safe. you know, no more 01:04:37.520 --> 01:04:39.190 suffering, no more greed, hate, and 01:04:39.200 --> 01:04:40.710 illusion. And it doesn't work that way. 01:04:40.720 --> 01:04:43.349 All you can do is save yourself. 01:04:43.359 --> 01:04:46.470 So, it could be that a better analogy 01:04:46.480 --> 01:04:48.710 than putting out the fire or even 01:04:48.720 --> 01:04:50.150 escaping the burning building would be 01:04:50.160 --> 01:04:52.630 to become fireproof. 01:04:52.640 --> 01:04:54.470 You know, that would that would do it. 01:04:54.480 --> 01:04:55.750 You know, an enlightened being, you 01:04:55.760 --> 01:04:56.950 know, they're still kind of in the 01:04:56.960 --> 01:04:58.630 burning building. It's just they don't 01:04:58.640 --> 01:05:00.549 get burned anymore. They're they're like 01:05:00.559 --> 01:05:04.150 flame retardant. They're fireproof. 01:05:04.160 --> 01:05:05.589 So I think that might be a better 01:05:05.599 --> 01:05:13.190 analogy than putting out the fire. 01:05:13.200 --> 01:05:14.789 But yeah, it's like an enlightened being 01:05:14.799 --> 01:05:18.710 still is kind of in the burning building 01:05:18.720 --> 01:05:20.950 or or just like going with Plato's cave 01:05:20.960 --> 01:05:23.430 analogy where you know the enlightened 01:05:23.440 --> 01:05:26.309 being is you know first they get loose 01:05:26.319 --> 01:05:28.470 from being chained up facing the wall 01:05:28.480 --> 01:05:30.309 and thinking that the flickering shadows 01:05:30.319 --> 01:05:32.470 are reality. you know, they the the 01:05:32.480 --> 01:05:34.549 first stage of their enlightenment might 01:05:34.559 --> 01:05:37.589 be just the the awareness that they're 01:05:37.599 --> 01:05:39.750 chained up. Then they get loose, but 01:05:39.760 --> 01:05:42.470 they're still kind of in the dark cave, 01:05:42.480 --> 01:05:43.910 the flickering shadows and everything. 01:05:43.920 --> 01:05:45.910 Then they go outside the cave, you know, 01:05:45.920 --> 01:05:47.430 that's kind of escaping from the burning 01:05:47.440 --> 01:05:49.910 building, but then sort of like the 01:05:49.920 --> 01:05:51.990 enlightened being, they come back in and 01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:55.589 try to help others. So, you know, 01:05:55.599 --> 01:05:58.789 they're escaping the fire, escaping the 01:05:58.799 --> 01:06:01.990 burning building. Um, 01:06:02.000 --> 01:06:05.029 yeah, I think just becoming flame proof, 01:06:05.039 --> 01:06:07.750 but then again, I mean, part of the 01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:10.789 analogy is that like if you're trapped 01:06:10.799 --> 01:06:14.789 in a burning building and I mean, it's 01:06:14.799 --> 01:06:16.789 better I mean, if you want to help 01:06:16.799 --> 01:06:19.029 others, first you got to find a way out 01:06:19.039 --> 01:06:21.109 of that burning building. Then if you 01:06:21.119 --> 01:06:25.029 des if if you want if you think it is 01:06:25.039 --> 01:06:26.950 appropriate you can come back into the 01:06:26.960 --> 01:06:29.430 burning building and rescue others by 01:06:29.440 --> 01:06:31.910 showing them the way out. But there are 01:06:31.920 --> 01:06:34.710 a lot of people who they just think that 01:06:34.720 --> 01:06:36.390 staying in the burning building and 01:06:36.400 --> 01:06:38.870 applying first aid to the burn victims 01:06:38.880 --> 01:06:42.630 is the moral thing to do. Whereas from 01:06:42.640 --> 01:06:44.789 the Buddhist point of view, you find a 01:06:44.799 --> 01:06:48.230 way out and then maybe you come back in 01:06:48.240 --> 01:06:49.750 and you help rescue other people. 01:06:49.760 --> 01:06:53.430 Although in reality, most people don't 01:06:53.440 --> 01:06:55.190 know the building's on fire, don't want 01:06:55.200 --> 01:06:57.109 to be rescued, just think that you're a 01:06:57.119 --> 01:06:59.190 nut. 01:06:59.200 --> 01:07:01.190 Sort of like the the people that are 01:07:01.200 --> 01:07:03.510 still chained up in Plato's cave. You 01:07:03.520 --> 01:07:06.470 got the person who's like sort of 01:07:06.480 --> 01:07:08.630 dazzled by the bright sun for the first 01:07:08.640 --> 01:07:10.789 time in his life. He comes back into the 01:07:10.799 -->

01:07:13.029 cave and he's going to seem just like 01:07:13.039 --> 01:07:16.069 disoriented and and just kind of stupid 01:07:16.079 --> 01:07:17.750 to the people that are still chained up 01:07:17.760 --> 01:07:20.630 in there. 01:07:20.640 --> 01:07:22.950 Most people don't want to be 01:07:22.960 --> 01:07:25.109 enlightened. Most people do not want to 01:07:25.119 --> 01:07:27.990 escape from samsara or to transcend 01:07:28.000 --> 01:07:30.630 samsara. They like it. In fact, that's 01:07:30.640 --> 01:07:33.430 why we're here. As a general rule, we're 01:07:33.440 --> 01:07:35.270 not unenlightened because we don't try 01:07:35.280 --> 01:07:36.950 hard enough to become enlightened. We're 01:07:36.960 --> 01:07:39.190 unenlightened because we just want to be 01:07:39.200 --> 01:07:42.549 unenlightened. 01:07:42.559 --> 01:07:44.789 partly just because 01:07:44.799 --> 01:07:47.270 don't know any better as a general rule 01:07:47.280 --> 01:07:52.390 or just force of habit. 01:07:52.400 --> 01:07:54.390 Anyways, 01:07:54.400 --> 01:07:55.670 with that I think I'm just going to move 01:07:55.680 --> 01:07:57.990 on to the next question. This is from 01:07:58.000 --> 01:08:00.470 practice meta 01:08:00.480 --> 01:08:03.270 and practice meta says 01:08:03.280 --> 01:08:06.069 I'm wondering how one knows whether a 01:08:06.079 --> 01:08:08.710 particular monastery is truly the right 01:08:08.720 --> 01:08:11.589 place to ordain. In my case, I've 01:08:11.599 --> 01:08:13.670 already visited several temples in 01:08:13.680 --> 01:08:16.229 Thailand. I found one that felt 01:08:16.239 --> 01:08:18.789 intuitively right and asked to ordain 01:08:18.799 --> 01:08:21.269 there, but they weren't set up to ordain 01:08:21.279 --> 01:08:24.789 foreigners and redirected me elsewhere. 01:08:24.799 --> 01:08:26.789 Since then, I've been thinking about 01:08:26.799 --> 01:08:29.349 continuing to go from temple to temple, 01:08:29.359 --> 01:08:32.070 hoping for a clear lightningbolt moment 01:08:32.080 --> 01:08:34.630 of certainty that tells me this is 01:08:34.640 --> 01:08:37.510 exactly where I belong. But I'm 01:08:37.520 --> 01:08:39.590 wondering if this is a foolish way to go 01:08:39.600 --> 01:08:41.829 about it. Would it be wiser to simply 01:08:41.839 --> 01:08:43.829 pick a suitable monastery even if it 01:08:43.839 --> 01:08:46.149 doesn't feel perfect and allow the path 01:08:46.159 --> 01:08:49.269 to unfold from there? You mentioned that 01:08:49.279 --> 01:08:51.669 you were you just went to your local 01:08:51.679 --> 01:08:53.430 monastery and everything worked out well 01:08:53.440 --> 01:08:55.910 for you. At the same time, it seemed 01:08:55.920 --> 01:08:57.669 like you might not recommend that same 01:08:57.679 --> 01:08:59.430 straightforward approach for someone 01:08:59.440 --> 01:09:02.550 else. Is that correct? Well, first of 01:09:02.560 --> 01:09:04.470 all, I'll mention this last paragraph 01:09:04.480 --> 01:09:07.669 here. Um, I mean it wasn't a local 01:09:07.679 --> 01:09:09.669 monastery. There were no Terravada 01:09:09.679 --> 01:09:13.110 Buddhist monasteries in Washington State 01:09:13.120 --> 01:09:15.669 at that time that I'm aware of. I had to 01:09:15.679 --> 01:09:16.950 go to California. It was the only 01:09:16.960 --> 01:09:19.110 Terravada Buddhist monastery I even 01:09:19.120 --> 01:09:22.789 really knew of in the United States. Mat 01:09:22.799 --> 01:09:24.870 Meta hadn't started yet. The Ajan Cha 01:09:24.880 --> 01:09:27.349 places hadn't started yet. There was 01:09:27.359 --> 01:09:30.390 Tomulu Cab Monastery in Boulder Creek, 01:09:30.400 --> 01:09:33.110 California. Um, I found out about a 01:09:33.120 --> 01:09:34.870 couple other places. there was Bawana 01:09:34.880 --> 01:09:37.829 society over like in what West Virginia 01:09:37.839 --> 01:09:40.789 or something like that. 01:09:40.799 --> 01:09:43.669 Um so I just went to the only place I 01:09:43.679 --> 01:09:46.709 really knew of it at the time could have 01:09:46.719 --> 01:09:50.309 very well been the best forest monastery 01:09:50.319 --> 01:09:53.269 in a terra Buddhist tradition in the 01:09:53.279 --> 01:09:55.350 United States. 01:09:55.360 --> 01:09:57.510 It might have been at the time. Like I 01:09:57.520 --> 01:09:59.750 said this is back before Watt Meta or 01:09:59.760 --> 01:10:03.270 Abayiri or any place like that. 01:10:03.280 --> 01:10:05.990 So, I went there and was ordained there. 01:10:06.000 --> 01:10:08.470 I mean, it was pretty much the obvious 01:10:08.480 --> 01:10:09.990 choice. It was pretty much the only 01:10:10.000 --> 01:10:12.310 place I knew of that I had been to and 01:10:12.320 --> 01:10:16.390 looked at. And I mean, it didn't really 01:10:16.400 --> 01:10:19.590 go all that well. It was it was uh one 01:10:19.600 --> 01:10:21.110 of the monastery attendants referred to 01:10:21.120 --> 01:10:23.830 the place as a [ __ ] accelerator. It's 01:10:23.840 --> 01:10:26.790 like you go to a spiritual place like an 01:10:26.800 --> 01:10:29.430 ashram or a monastery and everyone is 01:10:29.440 --> 01:10:32.390 like restrained. Everyone can't just act 01:10:32.400 --> 01:10:34.630 as they please the way they would, you 01:10:34.640 --> 01:10:37.590 know, to a greater to they can act as 01:10:37.600 --> 01:10:39.590 they please to a less degree than if 01:10:39.600 --> 01:10:41.270 you're out in the world, you know, 01:10:41.280 --> 01:10:43.189 living a worldly life, you know, you're 01:10:43.199 --> 01:10:45.590 more restrained through moral restraint 01:10:45.600 --> 01:10:49.510 and all that. And so it like accelerates 01:10:49.520 --> 01:10:54.630 neurosis and and just [ __ ] 01:10:54.640 --> 01:10:57.270 So yeah, it didn't go very well. And at 01:10:57.280 --> 01:11:00.790 the time that I I left Tomulu Kaba a 01:11:00.800 --> 01:11:02.950 monastery, it was just I mean the 01:11:02.960 --> 01:11:05.110 Burmese people were in open rebellion

01:11:05.120 --> 01:11:06.790 against the board of directors. They're 01:11:06.800 --> 01:11:08.470 trying to just take control of the 01:11:08.480 --> 01:11:09.990 monastery, 01:11:10.000 --> 01:11:11.669 you know, regardless of who owns the 01:11:11.679 --> 01:11:13.990 deed or the property and all that. So it 01:11:14.000 --> 01:11:17.430 was like this uproar going on. You had 01:11:17.440 --> 01:11:20.070 um a German nun there with just a 01:11:20.080 --> 01:11:22.149 classic textbook case of schizophrenia 01:11:22.159 --> 01:11:26.630 who was causing all kinds of just havoc, 01:11:26.640 --> 01:11:29.189 wreaking havoc, you know. It was just 01:11:29.199 --> 01:11:31.110 the place was just it was a [ __ ] storm 01:11:31.120 --> 01:11:33.510 going on at the time that I left. And I 01:11:33.520 --> 01:11:35.189 mean the monks really weren't practicing 01:11:35.199 --> 01:11:36.550 very hard. They weren't following the 01:11:36.560 --> 01:11:38.149 rules of monastic discipline. It was 01:11:38.159 --> 01:11:40.630 just kind of like easygoing Burmese 01:11:40.640 --> 01:11:44.790 cultural center kind of an atmosphere. 01:11:44.800 --> 01:11:46.870 So yeah, I mean it didn't work all that 01:11:46.880 --> 01:11:49.430 well for me. Although in the long run it 01:11:49.440 --> 01:11:52.310 worked out okay, 01:11:52.320 --> 01:11:55.030 but let's uh get up higher up on this 01:11:55.040 --> 01:11:56.790 scroll here with regard to this 01:11:56.800 --> 01:11:59.830 question. Let's see. Been thinking 01:11:59.840 --> 01:12:01.350 continue going from temple to temple 01:12:01.360 --> 01:12:03.030 hoping for a clear lightning bolt 01:12:03.040 --> 01:12:06.630 moment. Um well this reminds me of a 01:12:06.640 --> 01:12:09.990 Vietnamese monk I met in Burma. I was 01:12:10.000 --> 01:12:13.110 senior monk at WBO Wildlife Refuge 01:12:13.120 --> 01:12:16.390 Monastery, WBO Bet Do Jang in 01:12:16.400 --> 01:12:18.870 northwestern Burma. And this Vietnamese 01:12:18.880 --> 01:12:25.030 monk showed up and he was just 01:12:25.040 --> 01:12:26.870 he he had like this phobia of lay 01:12:26.880 --> 01:12:28.950 people. Like he'd be sitting out in 01:12:28.960 --> 01:12:31.430 front of his cave eating his meal. A lay 01:12:31.440 --> 01:12:33.189 person would come to pay respects. He 01:12:33.199 --> 01:12:35.590 would just abandon his food, go into the 01:12:35.600 --> 01:12:37.270 cave, and hide for the whole rest of the 01:12:37.280 --> 01:12:39.030 day. his food would just be baking in 01:12:39.040 --> 01:12:43.030 the sun, you know, for hours because he 01:12:43.040 --> 01:12:45.110 was just terrified of having to deal 01:12:45.120 --> 01:12:47.990 with lay people. And he was extremely 01:12:48.000 --> 01:12:49.910 fussy. I mean, he was he was kind of 01:12:49.920 --> 01:12:52.790 eccentric. Let's just put it that way. 01:12:52.800 --> 01:12:55.510 And he had been in Burma for less than a 01:12:55.520 --> 01:12:57.110 year. He'd already been to more places 01:12:57.120 --> 01:13:00.550 than I had been to in 10 years. And he's 01:13:00.560 --> 01:13:02.709 just, where is a good place? Where is a 01:13:02.719 --> 01:13:05.990 good place? And I told him it's like if 01:13:06.000 --> 01:13:08.550 you have been to that many places 01:13:08.560 --> 01:13:11.350 already and still haven't found a 01:13:11.360 --> 01:13:14.630 suitable place, it may be the problem is 01:13:14.640 --> 01:13:17.189 not with the places but with your own 01:13:17.199 --> 01:13:20.390 mental states. 01:13:20.400 --> 01:13:23.430 because he had been to pretty much every 01:13:23.440 --> 01:13:26.310 reputable monastery in Burma, at least 01:13:26.320 --> 01:13:29.270 the well-known ones, and always finding 01:13:29.280 --> 01:13:31.750 something wrong with each place, never 01:13:31.760 --> 01:13:33.990 finding a place that that he really 01:13:34.000 --> 01:13:36.550 considered to be satisfactory. But he 01:13:36.560 --> 01:13:38.470 was just relentlessly driven to just go 01:13:38.480 --> 01:13:40.229 from one place to the next to the next 01:13:40.239 --> 01:13:42.950 in search of a perfection that he was 01:13:42.960 --> 01:13:44.630 never going to find because his own mind 01:13:44.640 --> 01:13:47.430 wasn't perfect. 01:13:47.440 --> 01:13:50.630 So I think I mean if you haven't found a 01:13:50.640 --> 01:13:52.709 place that just clicks as this is the 01:13:52.719 --> 01:13:55.110 right place. It just feels completely 01:13:55.120 --> 01:13:57.350 right. I mean you may have to go with 01:13:57.360 --> 01:13:59.189 the idea of the first noble truth. 01:13:59.199 --> 01:14:01.590 Everything is dooka. You know no place 01:14:01.600 --> 01:14:05.189 is going to be completely satisfactory. 01:14:05.199 --> 01:14:07.830 And uh you know just find a place where 01:14:07.840 --> 01:14:12.229 at least you've got an abbott who you 01:14:12.239 --> 01:14:15.189 know is a a good teacher has some wisdom 01:14:15.199 --> 01:14:18.229 where the monks are actually practicing 01:14:18.239 --> 01:14:19.750 following the rules of monastic 01:14:19.760 --> 01:14:21.110 discipline. I mean that was another 01:14:21.120 --> 01:14:22.950 problem for me is my own abbott or my 01:14:22.960 --> 01:14:25.270 own preceptor who was the abbott didn't 01:14:25.280 --> 01:14:27.910 particularly even like me. He didn't 01:14:27.920 --> 01:14:29.830 like foreigners in general. He didn't 01:14:29.840 --> 01:14:31.590 like westerners as a general rule 01:14:31.600 --> 01:14:36.310 because we just weren't Burmese enough. 01:14:36.320 --> 01:14:40.070 So yeah, I mean just if you cannot find 01:14:40.080 --> 01:14:43.189 the place that just feels intuitively 01:14:43.199 --> 01:14:47.189 like this is the place, then just find a 01:14:47.199 --> 01:14:51.270 place where at least you've got a wise 01:14:51.280 --> 01:14:54.149 wise good teacher who is willing to 01:14:54.159 --> 01:14:56.470 ordain you and where you know there's 01:14:56.480 -->

01:14:58.630 some discipline, some genuine practice 01:14:58.640 --> 01:15:01.750 going on there and then 01:15:01.760 --> 01:15:03.910 just take it from there. 01:15:03.920 --> 01:15:06.070 It may be that it'll just you'll just 01:15:06.080 --> 01:15:07.910 kind of settle in and it will become the 01:15:07.920 --> 01:15:10.709 right place or I mean at the very least 01:15:10.719 --> 01:15:12.630 you've got a good start. At least you're 01:15:12.640 --> 01:15:15.510 starting with a a strict tradition and a 01:15:15.520 --> 01:15:18.070 wise teacher and all that and then maybe 01:15:18.080 --> 01:15:19.669 few years down the road it may be 01:15:19.679 --> 01:15:22.870 appropriate to go somewhere else. 01:15:22.880 --> 01:15:24.630 But if you can't find the perfect place, 01:15:24.640 --> 01:15:26.470 then go for a place that isn't perfect, 01:15:26.480 --> 01:15:30.149 but at least kind of fits the the 01:15:30.159 --> 01:15:32.950 requisites for a place where you'd want 01:15:32.960 --> 01:15:34.550 to ordain. I mean, you don't want to be 01:15:34.560 --> 01:15:37.110 ordained at some sloppy monastery where 01:15:37.120 --> 01:15:42.950 the monks aren't practicing. 01:15:42.960 --> 01:15:45.110 If you've got uh like a preceptor who 01:15:45.120 --> 01:15:47.270 will be your teacher, who really is like 01:15:47.280 --> 01:15:49.030 a meditation master, then that's 01:15:49.040 --> 01:15:50.870 excellent. 01:15:50.880 --> 01:15:55.910 you're already way ahead of the game. 01:15:55.920 --> 01:15:57.110 So, I'm just going to move on to the 01:15:57.120 --> 01:15:59.750 next question. This is from Romeo. 01:15:59.760 --> 01:16:02.950 And Romeo says, "In your last Q&A 01:16:02.960 --> 01:16:05.030 number 202, 01:16:05.040 --> 01:16:06.950 the first question you addressed was 01:16:06.960 --> 01:16:09.189 about some overlap between Buddhism and 01:16:09.199 --> 01:16:12.149 Dowoism. One of the concepts in Daoism 01:16:12.159 --> 01:16:14.550 that I think is on the mark is the idea 01:16:14.560 --> 01:16:17.189 of yin and yang. that there exists a 01:16:17.199 --> 01:16:19.510 kind of cosmic balance of opposite but 01:16:19.520 --> 01:16:22.790 complimentary forces in the world. Yin, 01:16:22.800 --> 01:16:25.590 the more passive and receptive and more 01:16:25.600 --> 01:16:28.550 traditionally feminine energy and yang, 01:16:28.560 --> 01:16:31.750 the a active and more traditionally 01:16:31.760 --> 01:16:33.910 masculine energy. Does Buddhism 01:16:33.920 --> 01:16:36.470 encompass or address, 01:16:36.480 --> 01:16:39.590 excuse me, the existence of the concepts 01:16:39.600 --> 01:16:42.310 of yin and yang or something similar? 01:16:42.320 --> 01:16:45.110 And I've discussed this before. Um there 01:16:45.120 --> 01:16:47.510 really is nothing 01:16:47.520 --> 01:16:49.750 like clearly 01:16:49.760 --> 01:16:52.790 mirroring the idea of yin and yang in 01:16:52.800 --> 01:16:55.910 terra Buddhism. It's mainly terra that 01:16:55.920 --> 01:16:57.510 that I'm familiar with. I'm most 01:16:57.520 --> 01:17:01.910 familiar with terra and there's nothing 01:17:01.920 --> 01:17:05.750 that's central to Buddhist philosophy 01:17:05.760 --> 01:17:09.030 in like orthodox tradition that compares 01:17:09.040 --> 01:17:11.430 to yin and yang. Probably the closest is 01:17:11.440 --> 01:17:15.910 the locama. It's like five I think it's 01:17:15.920 --> 01:17:19.350 five pairs of opposites like praise and 01:17:19.360 --> 01:17:21.750 blame, success and failure that kind of 01:17:21.760 --> 01:17:25.510 thing where um you're going to be 01:17:25.520 --> 01:17:30.630 encountering you know like both in a pro 01:17:30.640 --> 01:17:33.510 more or less equal measure. 01:17:33.520 --> 01:17:37.510 Locadama, you can look that up. L O K A 01:17:37.520 --> 01:17:41.830 D H A M A. So that's pretty much the 01:17:41.840 --> 01:17:44.470 closest you get to like a dowist idea of 01:17:44.480 --> 01:17:47.910 yin and yang in orthodox terravada. 01:17:47.920 --> 01:17:52.070 But it seems to me that yin and yang 01:17:52.080 --> 01:17:54.870 dependently coarise. That's why they 01:17:54.880 --> 01:17:56.950 exist in the world. It's like according 01:17:56.960 --> 01:17:59.270 to the da jing from the dao you have the 01:17:59.280 --> 01:18:01.590 one. From the one you have the two. From 01:18:01.600 --> 01:18:04.709 the two came the 10,000 things. So yin 01:18:04.719 --> 01:18:06.870 and yang are sort of like the two that 01:18:06.880 --> 01:18:08.790 gives birth to the entire universe of 01:18:08.800 --> 01:18:11.910 duality. 01:18:11.920 --> 01:18:15.189 And I mean that's dependent core rising 01:18:15.199 --> 01:18:18.630 at least from my understanding of it in 01:18:18.640 --> 01:18:21.750 orthodox terra dependent core rising 01:18:21.760 --> 01:18:26.310 kind of oified into the 12 nidana theory 01:18:26.320 --> 01:18:28.550 where this leads to this leads to this. 01:18:28.560 --> 01:18:30.390 sort of like this chain of cause and 01:18:30.400 --> 01:18:35.189 effect that keeps us trapped in samsara. 01:18:35.199 --> 01:18:37.590 But it seems to me that the Buddha 01:18:37.600 --> 01:18:39.990 really didn't teach dependent core 01:18:40.000 --> 01:18:43.750 rising as these 12 links that that was 01:18:43.760 --> 01:18:45.990 just caused by people not really 01:18:46.000 --> 01:18:48.310 understanding dependent core rising. It 01:18:48.320 --> 01:18:51.110 was just too abstract or something. And 01:18:51.120 --> 01:18:54.149 according to legend, the Buddha almost 01:18:54.159 --> 01:18:56.870 didn't teach Buddhism right after his 01:18:56.880 --> 01:18:58.630 enlightenment because he figured nobody 01:18:58.640 --> 01:18:59.990 was going to understand dependent core 01:19:00.000 --> 01:19:06.790 rising and he was pretty much correct. 01:19:06.800 --> 01:19:10.550 So I do think that dependent core rising 01:19:10.560 --> 01:19:13.030 in a way I mean it accounts for dualism 01:19:13.040 --> 01:19:15.590

which would include yin and yang. I mean 01:19:15.600 --> 01:19:19.669 opposites like dependently coarise. You 01:19:19.679 --> 01:19:22.870 can't have positive without negative. 01:19:22.880 --> 01:19:24.630 You can't have inhaling without 01:19:24.640 --> 01:19:27.189 exhaling. They dependently coarise. It's 01:19:27.199 --> 01:19:31.189 like this duality, this like dualistic 01:19:31.199 --> 01:19:33.270 pair of opposites. 01:19:33.280 --> 01:19:34.870 I mean, they support each other. It's 01:19:34.880 --> 01:19:36.070 sort of like the particle and the 01:19:36.080 --> 01:19:38.790 antiparticle coming out of empty space 01:19:38.800 --> 01:19:42.870 in quantum physics. 01:19:42.880 --> 01:19:44.470 you know, out of nothing, you get the 01:19:44.480 --> 01:19:46.229 particle and the antiparticle, which 01:19:46.239 --> 01:19:48.229 usually come back together and 01:19:48.239 --> 01:19:49.830 annihilate each other, and then you 01:19:49.840 --> 01:19:52.709 you're back to zero again. 01:19:52.719 --> 01:19:54.709 But that's that's more along the lines 01:19:54.719 --> 01:19:57.030 of how I interpret dependent cool rising 01:19:57.040 --> 01:20:00.310 or padicha samopata, the whole 12 nidana 01:20:00.320 --> 01:20:02.229 thing. I mean, the evidence really 01:20:02.239 --> 01:20:04.229 doesn't support it very well in my 01:20:04.239 --> 01:20:07.189 opinion. 01:20:07.199 --> 01:20:11.430 I've I mean possibly my greatest 01:20:11.440 --> 01:20:13.030 contribution 01:20:13.040 --> 01:20:18.870 academically to Buddhistic studies is my 01:20:18.880 --> 01:20:22.790 theory of like how the 12 nidana theory 01:20:22.800 --> 01:20:26.950 arose as the standard orthodox 01:20:26.960 --> 01:20:29.590 explanation for padicha samupata or 01:20:29.600 --> 01:20:31.430 dependent co- arising but I think 01:20:31.440 --> 01:20:34.149 originally you know it's this arising 01:20:34.159 --> 01:20:38.149 that arises this being that is you know 01:20:38.159 --> 01:20:41.189 this this cease or this not being that 01:20:41.199 --> 01:20:43.350 is not and this ceasing that ceases 01:20:43.360 --> 01:20:46.709 that's like the the the simple formula 01:20:46.719 --> 01:20:48.149 of dependent core rising that you can 01:20:48.159 --> 01:20:50.390 find in the sutas 01:20:50.400 --> 01:20:53.750 but again it's sort of like how dualism 01:20:53.760 --> 01:20:56.870 arises like pairs of opposites like the 01:20:56.880 --> 01:20:59.110 particle and the antiparticle you know 01:20:59.120 --> 01:21:01.270 they dependently coarise you can't just 01:21:01.280 --> 01:21:03.830 have the antiparticle appear without the 01:21:03.840 --> 01:21:05.350 particle balancing it out and 01:21:05.360 --> 01:21:11.270 maintaining everything at the same zero. 01:21:11.280 --> 01:21:14.709 So originally it may be that dependent 01:21:14.719 --> 01:21:17.030 core rising could have accounted for yin 01:21:17.040 --> 01:21:20.149 and yang could have included a kind of 01:21:20.159 --> 01:21:23.830 yin

and yang sort of idea in early 01:21:23.840 --> 01:21:27.430 Buddhist philosophy but apparently going 01:21:27.440 --> 01:21:30.310 with my theory it was abandoned because 01:21:30.320 --> 01:21:32.790 it wasn't really understood and you wind 01:21:32.800 --> 01:21:36.790 up with this 12 links that that is kind 01:21:36.800 --> 01:21:39.990 of just sort of insert erted into suda 01:21:40.000 --> 01:21:41.990 after suda the same verbatim block of 01:21:42.000 --> 01:21:45.590 words for dependent core rising and 01:21:45.600 --> 01:21:47.910 Buddhist monks like in Burma will 01:21:47.920 --> 01:21:49.830 memorize the 12 links and think they 01:21:49.840 --> 01:21:52.229 understand dependent core rising when 01:21:52.239 --> 01:21:54.870 the Buddha more wisely assumed nobody 01:21:54.880 --> 01:21:56.229 was going to understand dependent core 01:21:56.239 --> 01:22:00.229 rising 01:22:00.239 --> 01:22:04.870 so within traditional orthodox terravada 01:22:04.880 --> 01:22:07.350 probably the 10 loadamas are about as 01:22:07.360 --> 01:22:08.629 close as you're going to get to yin and 01:22:08.639 --> 01:22:11.990 yang Yang, but I do think originally 01:22:12.000 --> 01:22:14.390 Dependent Core Rising had a kind of yin 01:22:14.400 --> 01:22:20.950 and yang um energy to it, so to speak. 01:22:20.960 --> 01:22:22.149 And so I'm just going to move on to the 01:22:22.159 --> 01:22:23.990 next question. 01:22:24.000 --> 01:22:26.390 This is what also from Romeo. And I 01:22:26.400 --> 01:22:27.750 think I may have already answered this 01:22:27.760 --> 01:22:30.390 one because Romeo says, "Regardless of 01:22:30.400 --> 01:22:32.390 what Buddhism says about the existence 01:22:32.400 --> 01:22:35.030 of yin and yang, what is your take on 01:22:35.040 --> 01:22:37.110 the existence of yin and yang?" And 01:22:37.120 --> 01:22:40.149 it's, you know, pairs of opposites in a 01:22:40.159 --> 01:22:44.390 dualistic samsara. That samsara is based 01:22:44.400 --> 01:22:46.790 on dualism. You can't have beauty 01:22:46.800 --> 01:22:49.030 without ugliness. You can't have good 01:22:49.040 --> 01:22:51.270 without bad. You can't have bad without 01:22:51.280 --> 01:22:54.629 good. I mean, it's if you somehow 01:22:54.639 --> 01:22:57.750 eliminated all ugliness from the world, 01:22:57.760 --> 01:22:59.430 which isn't going to happen, but if you 01:22:59.440 --> 01:23:01.990 somehow eliminated all ugliness, like 01:23:02.000 --> 01:23:04.629 just the concept of ugliness disappears. 01:23:04.639 --> 01:23:07.510 the concept of beauty I mean it's that 01:23:07.520 --> 01:23:09.430 concept is going to disappear also 01:23:09.440 --> 01:23:12.390 without ugliness beauty has no meaning 01:23:12.400 --> 01:23:16.709 without badness goodness has no meaning 01:23:16.719 --> 01:23:19.189 so it's it's essentially dualism which 01:23:19.199 --> 01:23:26.629 is from the two came the 10,000 things 01:23:26.639 --> 01:23:27.910 and I hope that's a good enough 01:23:27.920 --> 01:23:31.030 explanation in addition to the the long- 01:23:31.040 --> 01:23:34.070 winded kind of explanation I gave to the 01:23:34.080 --> 01:23:37.110 previous question. 01:23:37.120 --> 01:23:39.990 Um, yeah, I mean just yin and yang has 01:23:40.000 --> 01:23:41.669 like, you know, the the flag of South 01:23:41.679 --> 01:23:45.510 Korea has that on it, you know, just I 01:23:45.520 --> 01:23:47.750 think it's it's more complex or more 01:23:47.760 --> 01:23:49.430 subtle than that. You know, it's not 01:23:49.440 --> 01:23:53.910 just, you know, sort of masculine active 01:23:53.920 --> 01:23:57.590 element and feminine passive element. 01:23:57.600 --> 01:23:59.350 You know, I think, you know, it's just 01:23:59.360 --> 01:24:01.750 any pairs of opposites would fit would 01:24:01.760 --> 01:24:03.350 fit yin and yang. I mean, it maybe they 01:24:03.360 --> 01:24:05.910 just for the whatever reason they chose 01:24:05.920 --> 01:24:09.510 that particular version of a dualistic 01:24:09.520 --> 01:24:12.390 pair of opposites to help explain why 01:24:12.400 --> 01:24:14.229 the universe is the way it is. Sort of 01:24:14.239 --> 01:24:15.990 like in physics, you've got positive and 01:24:16.000 --> 01:24:18.229 negative, you know, positive particles 01:24:18.239 --> 01:24:20.790 and or antiparticles or even the the 01:24:20.800 --> 01:24:23.669 atom has like the positive proton 01:24:23.679 --> 01:24:26.070 balanced out by the negative electrons. 01:24:26.080 --> 01:24:28.550 This kind of thing, you know, it's just 01:24:28.560 --> 01:24:32.390 all through empirical reality. that you 01:24:32.400 --> 01:24:34.390 have to have this kind of paired 01:24:34.400 --> 01:24:37.750 opposites and either yin and yang in 01:24:37.760 --> 01:24:40.950 dowoism represents that in general or if 01:24:40.960 --> 01:24:42.790 they just singled out one particular 01:24:42.800 --> 01:24:46.870 pair of opposites as a kind of cosmic 01:24:46.880 --> 01:24:50.550 you know I don't know sort of a cosmic 01:24:50.560 --> 01:24:55.750 balance kind of thing. 01:24:55.760 --> 01:24:57.750 So I mean with regard to the orthodox 01:24:57.760 --> 01:25:00.149 Dowist yin and yang I mean that's kind 01:25:00.159 --> 01:25:03.910 of a metaphor in a sense whereas I do 01:25:03.920 --> 01:25:07.430 think it's quite you know it's it's 01:25:07.440 --> 01:25:09.430 quite valid 01:25:09.440 --> 01:25:14.229 that this world of samsara is based on 01:25:14.239 --> 01:25:16.070 dualism 01:25:16.080 --> 01:25:17.910 you know just just to perceive anything 01:25:17.920 --> 01:25:19.510 you have to have the dualism of figure 01:25:19.520 --> 01:25:22.149 and ground 01:25:22.159 --> 01:25:23.669 at the very least you have to have that 01:25:23.679 --> 01:25:26.790 much and Then all the the value 01:25:26.800 --> 01:25:28.629 judgments of good and bad, beautiful and 01:25:28.639 --> 01:25:33.270 ugly, all that gets thrown in also. 01:25:33.280 --> 01:25:34.470 And I think I'm just

going to move on. 01:25:34.480 --> 01:25:37.350 Next question. This is from Ethiopian 01:25:37.360 --> 01:25:40.950 fake TIG. And Ethiopian fake TIG says, 01:25:40.960 --> 01:25:43.430 "Can you perhaps point out the problem 01:25:43.440 --> 01:25:46.950 in this Hindu conversation? It's trying 01:25:46.960 --> 01:25:51.350 to solidify the concept of an atman." 01:25:51.360 --> 01:25:53.910 So the student says 01:25:53.920 --> 01:25:56.390 it is a matter of daily experience that 01:25:56.400 --> 01:26:00.550 on waking up the world suddenly appears. 01:26:00.560 --> 01:26:03.990 Where does it come from? Then Maharaj 01:26:04.000 --> 01:26:07.430 says before anything can come into being 01:26:07.440 --> 01:26:10.310 there must be somebody to whom it comes. 01:26:10.320 --> 01:26:12.550 All appearance and disappearance 01:26:12.560 --> 01:26:14.870 presupposes a change against some 01:26:14.880 --> 01:26:17.830 changeless background. Then the student 01:26:17.840 --> 01:26:21.270 says before waking up I was unconscious. 01:26:21.280 --> 01:26:25.030 Then Maharaj says in what sense having 01:26:25.040 --> 01:26:28.470 forgotten or not having experienced 01:26:28.480 --> 01:26:30.390 don't you experience even when 01:26:30.400 --> 01:26:32.950 unconscious? Can you exist without 01:26:32.960 --> 01:26:36.550 knowing a lapse in memory? Is it a proof 01:26:36.560 --> 01:26:38.390 of non-existence? 01:26:38.400 --> 01:26:40.790 And can you validly talk about your own 01:26:40.800 --> 01:26:43.510 non-existence as an actual experience? 01:26:43.520 --> 01:26:45.590 You cannot even say that your mind did 01:26:45.600 --> 01:26:48.310 not exist. Did you not wake up on being 01:26:48.320 --> 01:26:50.870 called? And on waking up was it not the 01:26:50.880 --> 01:26:54.870 sense I am that came first. Some seed of 01:26:54.880 --> 01:26:57.270 consciousness must be existing even 01:26:57.280 --> 01:27:00.870 during sleep or swoon. On waking up the 01:27:00.880 --> 01:27:04.870 experience runs. I am the body in the 01:27:04.880 --> 01:27:07.270 world. It may appear to arise in 01:27:07.280 --> 01:27:09.030 succession but in fact it is all 01:27:09.040 --> 01:27:11.030 simultaneous. A single idea of having a 01:27:11.040 --> 01:27:13.270 body in a world. Can there be the sense 01:27:13.280 --> 01:27:18.149 of I am without being somebody or other? 01:27:18.159 --> 01:27:23.750 Okay, so Ethiopian fake TIG 01:27:23.760 --> 01:27:25.750 asks, can I perhaps point out the 01:27:25.760 --> 01:27:28.390 problem in this Hindu conversation? 01:27:28.400 --> 01:27:30.149 Well, first of all, there's a few things 01:27:30.159 --> 01:27:33.910 here. I mean, the the Hindu swami is 01:27:33.920 --> 01:27:35.510 called Maharaj. I don't know if that's 01:27:35.520 --> 01:27:37.910 Nisara Data Maharaj or some other 01:27:37.920 --> 01:27:41.430 Maharaj. I mean Maharaj is like Maharaji 01:27:41.440 --> 01:27:43.990 up there. Maharaj is very common title 01:27:44.000 --> 01:27:45.910

for some sort of spiritual teacher in 01:27:45.920 --> 01:27:48.709 India. Just means great king. According 01:27:48.719 --> 01:27:51.270 to Ram Das even like barbers can be 01:27:51.280 --> 01:27:53.350 called Maharaj. You know just anybody 01:27:53.360 --> 01:27:56.390 you you want to like brownnose anyone 01:27:56.400 --> 01:27:58.310 you're being really polite to you can 01:27:58.320 --> 01:28:00.390 call them Maharaj. So it's not 01:28:00.400 --> 01:28:03.510 necessarily Nisarata Maharaj. But 01:28:03.520 --> 01:28:05.510 another thing I would point out is that 01:28:05.520 --> 01:28:08.550 this Maharaj is correct that when you're 01:28:08.560 --> 01:28:10.310 in even when you're in a deep sleep, 01:28:10.320 --> 01:28:13.350 you're still conscious. Otherwise, 01:28:13.360 --> 01:28:15.270 nobody would be able to wake you up. You 01:28:15.280 --> 01:28:17.350 wouldn't hear the alarm clock. You 01:28:17.360 --> 01:28:19.669 wouldn't feel somebody shaking you. You 01:28:19.679 --> 01:28:21.350 wouldn't hear somebody calling out your 01:28:21.360 --> 01:28:23.270 name. You wouldn't feel somebody sleing 01:28:23.280 --> 01:28:25.669 you down with a bucket of ice water. 01:28:25.679 --> 01:28:29.669 You'd be like in a coma. 01:28:29.679 --> 01:28:32.229 So even dreamless sleep is still a kind 01:28:32.239 --> 01:28:36.070 of consciousness. 01:28:36.080 --> 01:28:37.510 But let's just get to the actual 01:28:37.520 --> 01:28:39.430 question here. What is the problem in 01:28:39.440 --> 01:28:41.430 this Hindu conversation? It's not really 01:28:41.440 --> 01:28:43.990 a problem. It seems to me he says that 01:28:44.000 --> 01:28:46.709 there has to be some sort of I mean 01:28:46.719 --> 01:28:48.870 there has to be a subject for an object 01:28:48.880 --> 01:28:50.629 is essentially what he's saying. Which 01:28:50.639 --> 01:28:53.430 reminds me of the sins Ming attributed 01:28:53.440 --> 01:28:56.310 to the third Chinese patriarch of Zen 01:28:56.320 --> 01:28:58.149 Buddhism. 01:28:58.159 --> 01:29:01.189 who says in the sen the subject is a 01:29:01.199 --> 01:29:03.350 subject for the object the object is an 01:29:03.360 --> 01:29:05.590 object for the subject again it's 01:29:05.600 --> 01:29:08.870 duality dependent coarising subject and 01:29:08.880 --> 01:29:11.830 object arise simultaneously and depend 01:29:11.840 --> 01:29:13.830 upon each other for their existence they 01:29:13.840 --> 01:29:16.470 cannot exist independently to have a 01:29:16.480 --> 01:29:18.229 subject there must be an object to have 01:29:18.239 --> 01:29:21.030 an object there must be a subject 01:29:21.040 --> 01:29:24.229 so I mean that seems to fit what Maharaj 01:29:24.239 --> 01:29:26.629 here is talking about it's not implying 01:29:26.639 --> 01:29:29.669 there has to be pre-existent self or 01:29:29.679 --> 01:29:33.430 atman. It just means that for there to 01:29:33.440 --> 01:29:37.990 be any awareness of any object. I mean a 01:29:38.000 --> 01:29:40.390 subject has to arise at the same time or 01:29:40.400 --> 01:29:43.910 or be present at the same time. 01:29:43.920 --> 01:29:45.669 But I mean you get rid of the object and 01:29:45.679 --> 01:29:47.910 the subject disappears also. It's just 01:29:47.920 --> 01:29:49.669 that Maharaj is saying that when you're 01:29:49.679 --> 01:29:51.910 in a deep sleep there's still going to 01:29:51.920 --> 01:29:54.709 be a subject. And it may be that he's 01:29:54.719 --> 01:29:56.070 not implying that there has to be an 01:29:56.080 --> 01:29:58.950 object too, but you can't have one 01:29:58.960 --> 01:30:01.430 without the other. You have to I mean 01:30:01.440 --> 01:30:03.669 it's it's sort of like in in terabata 01:30:03.679 --> 01:30:04.870 Buddhism where it's talking about 01:30:04.880 --> 01:30:08.229 consciousness in terab teraba Buddhism 01:30:08.239 --> 01:30:11.669 like wyana the the aggregate of 01:30:11.679 --> 01:30:13.189 consciousness it always has to be 01:30:13.199 --> 01:30:15.910 consciousness of something that the 01:30:15.920 --> 01:30:17.510 object and the consciousness have to 01:30:17.520 --> 01:30:21.830 arise simultaneously. 01:30:21.840 --> 01:30:24.950 So let's see here. Where is the problem 01:30:24.960 --> 01:30:27.510 that Ethiopian fake TIG says exists 01:30:27.520 --> 01:30:29.030 here? 01:30:29.040 --> 01:30:31.030 See, before anything can come into 01:30:31.040 --> 01:30:32.950 being, there must be somebody to whom it 01:30:32.960 --> 01:30:36.310 comes. Well, that's not necessarily true 01:30:36.320 --> 01:30:39.270 because it doesn't the somebody to whom 01:30:39.280 --> 01:30:42.310 it comes doesn't have to exist before 01:30:42.320 --> 01:30:44.790 anything can come to being. They arise 01:30:44.800 --> 01:30:46.470 simultaneously. 01:30:46.480 --> 01:30:50.310 Subject and object dependently co-arise. 01:30:50.320 --> 01:30:54.070 So I guess that could be seen as a 01:30:54.080 --> 01:30:57.430 problem where Maharaj here is implying 01:30:57.440 --> 01:31:00.550 that there has to be an atman first 01:31:00.560 --> 01:31:03.270 before anything arises were actually 01:31:03.280 --> 01:31:05.910 from a more Buddhistic point of view 01:31:05.920 --> 01:31:11.189 subject and object arise simultaneously. 01:31:11.199 --> 01:31:13.189 So let's see here having forgotten or 01:31:13.199 --> 01:31:14.149 not having experienced don't you 01:31:14.159 --> 01:31:16.950 experience even when unconscious? Yeah. 01:31:16.960 --> 01:31:18.709 So he seems to be agreeing with me 01:31:18.719 --> 01:31:19.990 there. 01:31:20.000 --> 01:31:24.470 Um, can you exist without knowing? Yeah. 01:31:24.480 --> 01:31:28.709 So, I mean, it seems to me that it may 01:31:28.719 --> 01:31:31.750 be because he's a Hindu, he is assuming 01:31:31.760 --> 01:31:35.189 that there is a pre-existent Atman. 01:31:35.199 --> 01:31:37.669 But the arguments he's using seem to 01:31:37.679 --> 01:31:40.470 support the idea, at least equally as

01:31:40.480 --> 01:31:43.350 well, as his own theory, that subject 01:31:43.360 --> 01:31:49.830 and object dependently coarize. 01:31:49.840 --> 01:31:52.149 And so, you know, if there's no object, 01:31:52.159 --> 01:31:53.510 there's no subject. And if there's no 01:31:53.520 --> 01:31:57.510 subject, there's no object. 01:31:57.520 --> 01:32:00.229 I guess that that is the problem that 01:32:00.239 --> 01:32:03.750 I'm supposed to point out. Um, so I 01:32:03.760 --> 01:32:05.590 guess I did that. And so I'm just going 01:32:05.600 --> 01:32:07.510 to move on to Ethiopian fake Tig's next 01:32:07.520 --> 01:32:08.870 question. 01:32:08.880 --> 01:32:12.229 He says, "You once said since there is 01:32:12.239 --> 01:32:15.590 no free will in Buddhism and that people 01:32:15.600 --> 01:32:18.070 aren't even in control of their valition 01:32:18.080 --> 01:32:22.470 as well. If all this is true and there 01:32:22.480 --> 01:32:25.669 also is no self and karma is a 01:32:25.679 --> 01:32:28.070 collection of energies and it's the 01:32:28.080 --> 01:32:31.510 karma that is truly real, then what the 01:32:31.520 --> 01:32:34.870 heck is karma really?" Someone once said 01:32:34.880 --> 01:32:37.110 the only real thing is consciousness 01:32:37.120 --> 01:32:40.709 since everything that is only can appear 01:32:40.719 --> 01:32:43.430 in conscious. Everything that is only 01:32:43.440 --> 01:32:45.830 can appear in consciousness. But karma 01:32:45.840 --> 01:32:47.910 seems to be the only real thing in 01:32:47.920 --> 01:32:50.310 Buddhism when you strip away everything 01:32:50.320 --> 01:32:54.470 else that is an illusion. 01:32:54.480 --> 01:32:57.590 Well, in orthodox terra Buddhism, karma 01:32:57.600 --> 01:33:01.270 is real because vition is real. Um I 01:33:01.280 --> 01:33:02.629 mean there's a few things I can mention 01:33:02.639 --> 01:33:06.070 here. Let's see. He says there is no 01:33:06.080 --> 01:33:08.950 free will in Buddhism. Uh it seems to be 01:33:08.960 --> 01:33:11.669 ruled out like in the anata lakanasuta 01:33:11.679 --> 01:33:13.350 considered to be the Buddha's second 01:33:13.360 --> 01:33:14.790 formal discourse after his 01:33:14.800 --> 01:33:16.950 enlightenment. He points out that with 01:33:16.960 --> 01:33:18.709 regard to all of the five condas 01:33:18.719 --> 01:33:22.310 including volition including um which 01:33:22.320 --> 01:33:24.390 one is it? Sankara 01:33:24.400 --> 01:33:26.470 you cannot say let it be this way let it 01:33:26.480 --> 01:33:29.189 not be that way and have it reliably 01:33:29.199 --> 01:33:32.470 happen I mean he's not saying that you 01:33:32.480 --> 01:33:34.550 don't have ab he's not saying that you 01:33:34.560 --> 01:33:38.550 don't have any free will at all 01:33:38.560 --> 01:33:40.310 um it's like with regard to like 01:33:40.320 --> 01:33:43.510 rupaconda your body I mean most of the 01:33:43.520 --> 01:33:46.629 time it's it's like let my arm go up it 01:33:46.639 --> 01:33:49.990 goes up but it's like you get old and 01:33:50.000 --> 01:33:51.830 sick and maybe you're going to say let 01:33:51.840 --> 01:33:53.270 it go up and it's not going to go up 01:33:53.280 --> 01:33:56.070 that time. So it's it's sort of like 01:33:56.080 --> 01:33:58.629 that or like volition you can say you 01:33:58.639 --> 01:34:00.629 know let me not ever be angry ever 01:34:00.639 --> 01:34:02.870 again. Well that's not going to work. 01:34:02.880 --> 01:34:04.629 You can't just decide these kind of 01:34:04.639 --> 01:34:06.709 things. 01:34:06.719 --> 01:34:08.709 So you don't have complete control over 01:34:08.719 --> 01:34:09.990 everything. He's not saying you don't 01:34:10.000 --> 01:34:12.070 have any control over any of the five 01:34:12.080 --> 01:34:13.830 condas. He's just saying you don't have 01:34:13.840 --> 01:34:16.070 complete control over it so that you can 01:34:16.080 --> 01:34:18.310 say that it is you. I mean if it was 01:34:18.320 --> 01:34:21.270 really you if it was really yourself 01:34:21.280 --> 01:34:23.110 according to the argument you'd have 01:34:23.120 --> 01:34:25.750 complete control over it. 01:34:25.760 --> 01:34:27.270 So that's kind of the argument of the 01:34:27.280 --> 01:34:28.950 anatalasuta 01:34:28.960 --> 01:34:32.149 and sort of terra Buddhist terra 01:34:32.159 --> 01:34:35.110 Buddhism's like official position with 01:34:35.120 --> 01:34:39.590 regard to that. Um but he says see if 01:34:39.600 --> 01:34:41.750 all this is true and there also is no 01:34:41.760 --> 01:34:43.590 self and karma is a collection of 01:34:43.600 --> 01:34:45.750 energies and it's the karma that is 01:34:45.760 --> 01:34:48.550 truly real. Well I don't think that 01:34:48.560 --> 01:34:50.950 karma is truly real. I don't think that 01:34:50.960 --> 01:34:54.550 any mental state is truly real. 01:34:54.560 --> 01:34:58.950 Orthodox terra has like I think it's 128 01:34:58.960 --> 01:35:01.270 ultimate realities which would include 01:35:01.280 --> 01:35:05.590 volition which is karma. But I mean 01:35:05.600 --> 01:35:08.390 according to Abidama, you know there's 01:35:08.400 --> 01:35:11.030 128 ultimate realities. So you've got 01:35:11.040 --> 01:35:13.590 nirva nibbana itself. You've got 01:35:13.600 --> 01:35:15.669 consciousness. There's supposedly only 01:35:15.679 --> 01:35:17.350 one kind of consciousness, but it's 01:35:17.360 --> 01:35:20.229 still there's various like flavors of it 01:35:20.239 --> 01:35:22.070 in Abidama. It's kind of weird the way 01:35:22.080 --> 01:35:23.910 they worked that one out. You've got I 01:35:23.920 --> 01:35:26.629 think it's 28 different kinds of matter. 01:35:26.639 --> 01:35:28.470 You know, earth element, fire element, 01:35:28.480 --> 01:35:31.030 wind element. Even the space between 01:35:31.040 --> 01:35:33.110 molecules is considered to be an 01:35:33.120 --> 01:35:35.189 ultimate reality. 01:35:35.199 --> 01:35:37.750 Um, and then I think it's 52

mental 01:35:37.760 --> 01:35:39.669 states which includes volition and also 01:35:39.679 --> 01:35:43.750 includes perception and and a whole slew 01:35:43.760 --> 01:35:45.510 of other mental states including wrong 01:35:45.520 --> 01:35:47.750 view, 01:35:47.760 --> 01:35:50.149 tongue sensitivity, eye sensitivity, you 01:35:50.159 --> 01:35:51.830 know, with regard to the sense organs. 01:35:51.840 --> 01:35:55.030 That's all rupa I'm pretty sure. 01:35:55.040 --> 01:35:58.390 So um from the orthodox terraodern point 01:35:58.400 --> 01:36:01.669 of view karma is not the only reality. 01:36:01.679 --> 01:36:04.310 From my point of view 01:36:04.320 --> 01:36:07.270 consciousness would be what is real. 01:36:07.280 --> 01:36:11.350 That consciousness is the essence like 01:36:11.360 --> 01:36:15.189 porcelain no ceramic earthn wear is the 01:36:15.199 --> 01:36:18.229 essence of this mug. The form is the 01:36:18.239 --> 01:36:23.510 mental state. 01:36:23.520 --> 01:36:27.350 Or let's say you've got the the uncarved 01:36:27.360 --> 01:36:30.390 block of marble. I beat this one to 01:36:30.400 --> 01:36:33.189 death. A lot of people hear me say it 01:36:33.199 --> 01:36:35.430 probably dozens of times by now. They 01:36:35.440 --> 01:36:37.030 still don't fully understand it. Some 01:36:37.040 --> 01:36:39.270 people probably don't. It's just a weird 01:36:39.280 --> 01:36:41.830 idea. The human brain was not designed 01:36:41.840 --> 01:36:44.310 to understand this kind of stuff. 01:36:44.320 --> 01:36:46.709 But you've got this uncarved block of 01:36:46.719 --> 01:36:48.870 marble and contained within that block 01:36:48.880 --> 01:36:52.870 of marble are every possible statue in 01:36:52.880 --> 01:36:56.149 virtual potential conditional form. You 01:36:56.159 --> 01:36:58.790 know, it's every molecule is already in 01:36:58.800 --> 01:37:01.189 the right place for that statue. You 01:37:01.199 --> 01:37:03.669 know, you got, you know, Myron's discus 01:37:03.679 --> 01:37:06.629 thrower. You've got the the Venus demo 01:37:06.639 --> 01:37:09.430 with and without arms. You've got Leia 01:37:09.440 --> 01:37:12.310 Coan and his sons being eaten by snakes. 01:37:12.320 --> 01:37:13.910 You know, you've got Rodan's the 01:37:13.920 --> 01:37:16.070 thinker. You got every possible statue 01:37:16.080 --> 01:37:18.629 in there. Every possible one, including 01:37:18.639 --> 01:37:20.550 an infinite number of statues that 01:37:20.560 --> 01:37:22.790 nobody's ever bothered to carve in real 01:37:22.800 --> 01:37:24.310 life, 01:37:24.320 --> 01:37:26.550 but they're all in there in potential 01:37:26.560 --> 01:37:28.070 form. 01:37:28.080 --> 01:37:32.390 So, perception would be singling out one 01:37:32.400 --> 01:37:35.350 of these statues out of this uncarved 01:37:35.360 --> 01:37:38.310 block, you know, using imagination. And 01:37:38.320 --> 01:37:41.910 karma or volition would be it'd be sort 01:37:41.920 --> 01:37:45.189 of like the

momentum of that perception 01:37:45.199 --> 01:37:48.310 as the perception changes. So you've got 01:37:48.320 --> 01:37:51.030 a a a statue that's dancing. I mean you 01:37:51.040 --> 01:37:53.350 got dancing statues in that block of 01:37:53.360 --> 01:37:54.790 marble also. I mean nobody could really 01:37:54.800 --> 01:37:58.070 carve one but still all I mean it's in 01:37:58.080 --> 01:37:59.830 there in that block of marble. Every 01:37:59.840 --> 01:38:01.990 possible statue even a bunch of 01:38:02.000 --> 01:38:04.149 impossible ones. You've got statues 01:38:04.159 --> 01:38:06.070 moving around doing all kinds of stuff 01:38:06.080 --> 01:38:08.470 in there. 01:38:08.480 --> 01:38:11.830 And so karma or valition is kind of like 01:38:11.840 --> 01:38:16.229 the momentum of one form of a statue 01:38:16.239 --> 01:38:23.030 that is like undergoing change. 01:38:23.040 --> 01:38:24.950 So karma would be the v it would be like 01:38:24.960 --> 01:38:28.870 the momentum of a kind of perceived 01:38:28.880 --> 01:38:31.910 entity. 01:38:31.920 --> 01:38:34.790 But all of it is just I mean only the 01:38:34.800 --> 01:38:37.030 block of marble would be ultimately real 01:38:37.040 --> 01:38:39.669 going with the the metaphor or the 01:38:39.679 --> 01:38:42.870 simile. 01:38:42.880 --> 01:38:44.950 So let's see what is the actual question 01:38:44.960 --> 01:38:48.629 here. What the heck is karma really? 01:38:48.639 --> 01:38:51.669 Yeah, it's the momentum of perceptions 01:38:51.679 --> 01:38:56.870 really. 01:38:56.880 --> 01:38:58.550 So I guess I answer that question. I'm 01:38:58.560 --> 01:39:00.149 going to move on to the next question. 01:39:00.159 --> 01:39:02.550 This is also from Ethiopian fake TIG. 01:39:02.560 --> 01:39:04.629 And Ethiopian fake Tig is asking long 01:39:04.639 --> 01:39:06.950 questions this time. 01:39:06.960 --> 01:39:10.390 I mean, I probably won't do it, but it 01:39:10.400 --> 01:39:12.070 would probably be helpful to me to have 01:39:12.080 --> 01:39:14.870 like a a limit, you know, no more than 01:39:14.880 --> 01:39:18.709 like 120 words per question, something 01:39:18.719 --> 01:39:20.950 like that. I haven't bothered to count 01:39:20.960 --> 01:39:22.870 these. It may be that they're within 120 01:39:22.880 --> 01:39:26.709 anyway. But Ethiopian fake Tig says the 01:39:26.719 --> 01:39:29.990 first time Carl Young and Freud met, 01:39:30.000 --> 01:39:33.350 they spoke for 13 hours nonstop. Well, I 01:39:33.360 --> 01:39:35.830 hope they at least like stopped to drink 01:39:35.840 --> 01:39:38.310 tea or something. Every once in a while, 01:39:38.320 --> 01:39:39.430 one of them might have to go to the 01:39:39.440 --> 01:39:41.350 bathroom. 01:39:41.360 --> 01:39:42.950 Anyways, 01:39:42.960 --> 01:39:45.189 he says, he continues here, and Jung 01:39:45.199 --> 01:39:48.470 explained his idea of synchronicity. He 01:39:48.480 --> 01:39:50.870 went on to explain that once a big table 01:39:50.880 --> 01:39:53.669 in his kitchen completely split in half 01:39:53.679 --> 01:39:56.470 spontaneously. And he said it was the 01:39:56.480 --> 01:39:58.870 psychic energies of the family being 01:39:58.880 --> 01:40:01.830 manifest in real life. Then Jung would 01:40:01.840 --> 01:40:04.629 go on to point out that another one of 01:40:04.639 --> 01:40:06.790 these synchronicities would happen right 01:40:06.800 --> 01:40:10.629 then and there while talking to Freud. 01:40:10.639 --> 01:40:14.390 And then soon as he said that a very 01:40:14.400 --> 01:40:17.109 loud bang would be heard from one of the 01:40:17.119 --> 01:40:19.830 bookshelves in Freud's room. What are 01:40:19.840 --> 01:40:21.669 your thoughts about this phenomenon? So 01:40:21.679 --> 01:40:25.669 it's synchronicity sort of an aausal 01:40:25.679 --> 01:40:27.910 see connecting principle. I think Jung 01:40:27.920 --> 01:40:29.430 caused it. It was sort of like 01:40:29.440 --> 01:40:32.950 significant coincidence. 01:40:32.960 --> 01:40:35.990 And now according to a different legend, 01:40:36.000 --> 01:40:38.950 Einstein went to talk with Young and and 01:40:38.960 --> 01:40:41.270 persuaded him to publish his essay on 01:40:41.280 --> 01:40:43.750 synchronicity because it was still in 01:40:43.760 --> 01:40:50.149 accordance with science at the time. 01:40:50.159 --> 01:40:52.229 Anyways, let's see what's the actual 01:40:52.239 --> 01:40:53.430 question. What are your thoughts about 01:40:53.440 --> 01:40:55.270 this phenomenon of synchronicity? I 01:40:55.280 --> 01:40:57.830 guess anything is possible. I mean from 01:40:57.840 --> 01:41:00.790 from my point of view the world we're 01:41:00.800 --> 01:41:02.870 living in is is like a manifestation of 01:41:02.880 --> 01:41:04.870 our own mental states. I'm not a 01:41:04.880 --> 01:41:06.629 materialist. I do not consider physical 01:41:06.639 --> 01:41:09.189 matter to be real. 01:41:09.199 --> 01:41:12.070 The the world we live in is essentially 01:41:12.080 --> 01:41:13.590 perception. 01:41:13.600 --> 01:41:19.030 Perception is some sorrow. 01:41:19.040 --> 01:41:20.629 So, 01:41:20.639 --> 01:41:22.950 um I mean I could kind of use the 01:41:22.960 --> 01:41:26.550 arguments of one of my favorite books, 01:41:26.560 --> 01:41:28.390 The Trickster in the Paranormal by 01:41:28.400 --> 01:41:31.590 George P. Hansen, who who says that I 01:41:31.600 --> 01:41:33.510 mean, we're living in a world that needs 01:41:33.520 --> 01:41:36.310 order. It needs rules. It needs laws to 01:41:36.320 --> 01:41:41.830 just kind of stave off dangerous chaos. 01:41:41.840 --> 01:41:43.510 You know, the world we're living in in 01:41:43.520 --> 01:41:45.590 our waking consciousness is more stable 01:41:45.600 --> 01:41:48.070 than our dream state where, you know, 01:41:48.080 --> 01:41:49.750 you can be riding a boat and all of a 01:41:49.760 --> 01:41:51.830 sudden it turns into a bus. You know, 01:41:51.840 --> 01:41:53.270 you didn't

get off the boat and onto the 01:41:53.280 --> 01:41:54.790 bus. It just turned into one when you 01:41:54.800 --> 01:41:56.550 weren't noticing. You're talking to 01:41:56.560 --> 01:41:58.709 somebody who stops being that somebody 01:41:58.719 --> 01:42:00.390 and starts being somebody else while 01:42:00.400 --> 01:42:02.070 you're having the conversation with 01:42:02.080 --> 01:42:04.390 them. That kind of thing. And there's 01:42:04.400 --> 01:42:07.910 less order in our dream states than in 01:42:07.920 --> 01:42:11.109 this waking state. But still this waking 01:42:11.119 --> 01:42:14.149 state is not just completely absolutely 01:42:14.159 --> 01:42:17.510 stable. We've got laws of physics so to 01:42:17.520 --> 01:42:20.149 speak, laws of nature, let's say, 01:42:20.159 --> 01:42:22.470 because the physicists aren't making the 01:42:22.480 --> 01:42:24.790 laws. They're just trying to discover 01:42:24.800 --> 01:42:26.629 them. 01:42:26.639 --> 01:42:29.189 Um, and then but apparently according to 01:42:29.199 --> 01:42:31.669 like George P. And even just the laws of 01:42:31.679 --> 01:42:35.109 nature are not enough to fully lock down 01:42:35.119 --> 01:42:38.070 our world into something stable enough 01:42:38.080 --> 01:42:41.910 to hold scary weird like paranormal 01:42:41.920 --> 01:42:45.830 events, chaos at bay. And so we've got 01:42:45.840 --> 01:42:49.189 to have human rules, human laws, 01:42:49.199 --> 01:42:52.149 traditions, taboss, that kind of thing. 01:42:52.159 --> 01:42:55.910 Just like cultural norms and beliefs to 01:42:55.920 --> 01:42:58.709 further stabilize the world we're living 01:42:58.719 --> 01:43:01.590 in. But still, you can't have absolute 01:43:01.600 --> 01:43:04.709 complete stability because then it's 01:43:04.719 --> 01:43:10.149 like the inspiration of like being alive 01:43:10.159 --> 01:43:11.830 would just I mean it' just be like a 01:43:11.840 --> 01:43:15.030 some dead robotic kind of world. There's 01:43:15.040 --> 01:43:18.310 always going to be cracks and weak spots 01:43:18.320 --> 01:43:23.030 between the rules that can allow like 01:43:23.040 --> 01:43:26.950 chaos or magic, the paranormal to to 01:43:26.960 --> 01:43:30.709 kind of seep through into our reality. 01:43:30.719 --> 01:43:33.590 And like George P. Hansen points out in 01:43:33.600 --> 01:43:35.750 his book, there are some people like, 01:43:35.760 --> 01:43:37.669 you know, traditionally witches who 01:43:37.679 --> 01:43:40.790 would deliberately violate taboss. He 01:43:40.800 --> 01:43:42.550 points out that a lot of talented 01:43:42.560 --> 01:43:44.709 psychics, you know, they've got like 01:43:44.719 --> 01:43:46.709 sexual kinks and so forth, you know, 01:43:46.719 --> 01:43:48.310 they're they're never completely 01:43:48.320 --> 01:43:52.229 straight. You know, they sort of create 01:43:52.239 --> 01:43:55.590 limonality. They create weak spots in 01:43:55.600 --> 01:43:58.870 the rules that allows, you know, more 01:43:58.880 --> 01:44:00.870 paranormal stuff to come through. 01:44:00.880 --> 01:44:03.270 Witches would would like harness that, 01:44:03.280 --> 01:44:05.990 channel it, and and utilize it to 01:44:06.000 --> 01:44:08.070 accomplish their their goals, that kind 01:44:08.080 --> 01:44:10.149 of thing. 01:44:10.159 --> 01:44:11.669 You know that's one reason why human 01:44:11.679 --> 01:44:13.750 sacrifice was considered so powerful. It 01:44:13.760 --> 01:44:15.510 was very liinal thing. You know it was 01:44:15.520 --> 01:44:18.229 you were sort of tearing the fabric of 01:44:18.239 --> 01:44:21.750 normality by doing this kind of stuff. 01:44:21.760 --> 01:44:24.149 And then if you were skillful enough you 01:44:24.159 --> 01:44:26.870 could then harness like the chaos energy 01:44:26.880 --> 01:44:28.629 coming through into this version of 01:44:28.639 --> 01:44:31.189 reality to you know accomplish some 01:44:31.199 --> 01:44:36.550 paranormal paranormal goal so to speak. 01:44:36.560 --> 01:44:39.030 So yeah, I think that that 01:44:39.040 --> 01:44:40.629 synchronicity, I mean, it does happen. 01:44:40.639 --> 01:44:42.310 I've I've had like lots of weird 01:44:42.320 --> 01:44:46.390 synchronicities in my life. So 01:44:46.400 --> 01:44:48.310 yeah, I think it does happen. It's it's 01:44:48.320 --> 01:44:50.149 mainly we're like in a more 01:44:50.159 --> 01:44:51.669 sophisticated, 01:44:51.679 --> 01:44:53.750 more conscious level of a dream state, 01:44:53.760 --> 01:44:56.550 but we're still not in ultimate reality. 01:44:56.560 --> 01:44:58.550 that the world we're living in is still 01:44:58.560 --> 01:45:01.030 a kind of dream state or like the matrix 01:45:01.040 --> 01:45:03.830 or some such 01:45:03.840 --> 01:45:07.830 a virtual reality, not an ultimate one. 01:45:07.840 --> 01:45:10.310 So this kind of stuff can come through 01:45:10.320 --> 01:45:13.750 especially for liinal sort of people 01:45:13.760 --> 01:45:17.750 that are like not completely playing by 01:45:17.760 --> 01:45:22.470 all the rules. 01:45:22.480 --> 01:45:25.109 So, I guess I explained that well enough 01:45:25.119 --> 01:45:29.350 for the purposes of this video, I hope. 01:45:29.360 --> 01:45:30.790 And so, I'm just going to move on to the 01:45:30.800 --> 01:45:33.590 next question. And this is from Susan. 01:45:33.600 --> 01:45:36.790 And Susan says, "Hi, I'm a mother who 01:45:36.800 --> 01:45:38.950 listens to your channel." Hi, Susan. 01:45:38.960 --> 01:45:40.709 You're one of the few women that do 01:45:40.719 --> 01:45:42.229 listen to this channel. It's really It's 01:45:42.239 --> 01:45:45.910 like 98% male who listen to this these 01:45:45.920 --> 01:45:49.030 Q&A videos for whatever reason. I'm not 01:45:49.040 --> 01:45:52.229 exactly sure why that is, 01:45:52.239 --> 01:45:55.030 but Susan says, "First, what is your 01:45:55.040 --> 01:45:59.109 favorite movie?" And traditionally, my 01:45:59.119 --> 01:46:01.510 favorite movie is

Monty Python and the 01:46:01.520 --> 01:46:03.990 Holy Grail. 01:46:04.000 --> 01:46:06.950 Um, but the thing is, it's sort of like 01:46:06.960 --> 01:46:08.950 a favorite song where you've listened to 01:46:08.960 --> 01:46:10.709 it so many times that it just doesn't 01:46:10.719 --> 01:46:12.709 have the same effect anymore. I've 01:46:12.719 --> 01:46:14.709 watched Montipython and the Holy Grail 01:46:14.719 --> 01:46:17.910 several times and so, you know, it's 01:46:17.920 --> 01:46:20.870 kind of the freshness of it is kind of 01:46:20.880 --> 01:46:23.270 worn thin. 01:46:23.280 --> 01:46:24.950 Another favorite movie, possibly number 01:46:24.960 --> 01:46:27.270 two, would be The Matrix. 01:46:27.280 --> 01:46:29.109 And some people might think, well, 01:46:29.119 --> 01:46:30.790 Montipython and the Holy Grail and The 01:46:30.800 --> 01:46:32.950 Matrix are like two very different kind 01:46:32.960 --> 01:46:35.109 of movies, but there's similarities 01:46:35.119 --> 01:46:37.030 between MontiPython and the Holy Grail 01:46:37.040 --> 01:46:39.109 and The Matrix. Like both of them are 01:46:39.119 --> 01:46:40.709 dealing with different levels of reality 01:46:40.719 --> 01:46:44.390 within the within the movie. 01:46:44.400 --> 01:46:47.189 Both very imaginative, 01:46:47.199 --> 01:46:50.870 kind of supernatural in certain ways. 01:46:50.880 --> 01:46:52.310 But yeah, Montipython and the Holy 01:46:52.320 --> 01:46:54.390 Grail, especially the whole scene with 01:46:54.400 --> 01:46:56.550 Tim the Enchanter 01:46:56.560 --> 01:46:58.470 is just from from beginning and the Tim 01:46:58.480 --> 01:47:01.430 the Enchanter stuff is is probably my 01:47:01.440 --> 01:47:04.149 favorite part of my favorite movie. 01:47:04.159 --> 01:47:09.430 There are some who call me Tim 01:47:09.440 --> 01:47:11.189 And I'm just going to move on to Susan's 01:47:11.199 --> 01:47:13.510 next question here. 01:47:13.520 --> 01:47:16.870 Next, she says, "I have a son who has 01:47:16.880 --> 01:47:19.510 spent time as a Buddhist, a novice 01:47:19.520 --> 01:47:22.390 Buddhist monk, and identifies as a 01:47:22.400 --> 01:47:25.189 Buddhist. He now has a girlfriend I 01:47:25.199 --> 01:47:28.390 think is abusive. What kind of advice 01:47:28.400 --> 01:47:31.510 can I give him about this? I know that 01:47:31.520 --> 01:47:34.229 he has thought deeply about dedicating 01:47:34.239 --> 01:47:37.109 his life to being a monk. I don't think 01:47:37.119 --> 01:47:39.990 he thinks I understand him, but I only 01:47:40.000 --> 01:47:43.109 want him to find peace and happiness. 01:47:43.119 --> 01:47:46.550 Okay, so you've got a young man who has 01:47:46.560 --> 01:47:50.709 uh a girlfriend that his mother thinks 01:47:50.719 --> 01:47:54.070 may be abusive. And I mean my experience 01:47:54.080 --> 01:47:56.390 as a young man with girlfriends is I 01:47:56.400 --> 01:47:58.790 mean there's a certain amount of 01:47:58.800 --> 01:48:01.750 abusiveness that's

going to be I mean 01:48:01.760 --> 01:48:05.030 women kind of use 01:48:05.040 --> 01:48:07.990 well not all women but it's fairly 01:48:08.000 --> 01:48:10.790 common for women to kind of use a 01:48:10.800 --> 01:48:12.390 certain kind of abuse you know just 01:48:12.400 --> 01:48:15.350 getting pissed off and like having 01:48:15.360 --> 01:48:18.470 scenes or certain ways of trying to 01:48:18.480 --> 01:48:20.390 manipulate the guy this kind of stuff. I 01:48:20.400 --> 01:48:27.030 think that's just natural human nature. 01:48:27.040 --> 01:48:29.430 Yeah, I definitely the one of the main 01:48:29.440 --> 01:48:32.790 girlfriends I had like in college. Yeah, 01:48:32.800 --> 01:48:34.629 my my brother considered her to be 01:48:34.639 --> 01:48:37.830 abusive. 01:48:37.840 --> 01:48:39.189 But the thing is you can learn from 01:48:39.199 --> 01:48:41.350 that. I mean, if he's got some wisdom, I 01:48:41.360 --> 01:48:43.830 mean, he's probably going to either 01:48:43.840 --> 01:48:46.149 realize that she's abusive and do 01:48:46.159 --> 01:48:49.430 something about it, or like like I was 01:48:49.440 --> 01:48:51.750 doing throughout much of my time with 01:48:51.760 --> 01:48:53.270 that particular girlfriend I had in 01:48:53.280 --> 01:48:55.350 college is you just consider the abuse 01:48:55.360 --> 01:48:58.629 to be worth it overall. 01:48:58.639 --> 01:49:00.550 So, 01:49:00.560 --> 01:49:03.750 I mean, a lot of it I mean, it seems 01:49:03.760 --> 01:49:05.189 like throughout the history of the human 01:49:05.199 --> 01:49:07.270 race, you know, men and women, it's it's 01:49:07.280 --> 01:49:09.109 just kind of amazing to me that the male 01:49:09.119 --> 01:49:12.149 and the female psychology still there 01:49:12.159 --> 01:49:14.629 after a million years of human beings on 01:49:14.639 --> 01:49:17.669 this planet, they still just don't fit 01:49:17.679 --> 01:49:19.590 together very well. you know, there's a 01:49:19.600 --> 01:49:22.550 certain amount of like 01:49:22.560 --> 01:49:25.830 friction or just not fitting correctly 01:49:25.840 --> 01:49:27.990 that I mean, it has worked sufficiently 01:49:28.000 --> 01:49:31.030 to keep the perpetuate the species. 01:49:31.040 --> 01:49:32.950 Maybe it's even promoted that to some 01:49:32.960 --> 01:49:35.910 degree, but you'd think that after a 01:49:35.920 --> 01:49:38.310 million years or more that I mean it 01:49:38.320 --> 01:49:39.830 would be a kind of a smoother 01:49:39.840 --> 01:49:41.830 interaction, 01:49:41.840 --> 01:49:44.070 you know, kind of a more functional 01:49:44.080 --> 01:49:48.470 symbiosis like storks or geese have than 01:49:48.480 --> 01:49:52.709 the the weird kind of just sort of I 01:49:52.719 --> 01:49:54.390 don't know what what you call it. I keep 01:49:54.400 --> 01:49:56.470 wanting to say the word anomaly where 01:49:56.480 --> 01:49:59.189 it's just like this anomalous 01:49:59.199 --> 01:50:04.310 fit or it's weird, 01:50:04.320 --> 01:50:07.109 but I mean people just think it's it's 01:50:07.119 --> 01:50:08.470 worth it. You know, sort of like the old 01:50:08.480 --> 01:50:09.990 saying men have about women. You can't 01:50:10.000 --> 01:50:11.030 live with them and you can't live 01:50:11.040 --> 01:50:13.750 without them. 01:50:13.760 --> 01:50:15.830 I mean, you can live with them and you 01:50:15.840 --> 01:50:17.669 can live without them, but you know, 01:50:17.679 --> 01:50:20.550 it's the saying and most men choose not 01:50:20.560 --> 01:50:22.470 to live without a woman. 01:50:22.480 --> 01:50:28.149 I choose not to live without one. 01:50:28.159 --> 01:50:30.629 So, let's see what I'm I'm not exactly 01:50:30.639 --> 01:50:32.950 sure how she is abusive. So, that's one 01:50:32.960 --> 01:50:35.430 thing. You know, if she's just sort of, 01:50:35.440 --> 01:50:37.270 you know, getting mad at him in order to 01:50:37.280 --> 01:50:40.470 like manipulate him, this kind of stuff. 01:50:40.480 --> 01:50:42.709 Um, or pretend to be mad at him or, you 01:50:42.719 --> 01:50:44.390 know, threatening to break up. And then, 01:50:44.400 --> 01:50:46.149 you know, you got the passionate kiss 01:50:46.159 --> 01:50:47.830 and makeup love scene, which is the 01:50:47.840 --> 01:50:51.830 payoff, especially when you're young. 01:50:51.840 --> 01:50:54.149 I mean, it kind of the the the 01:50:54.159 --> 01:50:56.390 passionate kiss and makeup love scene 01:50:56.400 --> 01:50:58.550 really. It's it's sort of like the 01:50:58.560 --> 01:51:00.870 dependent core rising or the the duality 01:51:00.880 --> 01:51:03.510 of the it's like the payoff to to the 01:51:03.520 --> 01:51:06.070 suffering that comes before. 01:51:06.080 --> 01:51:07.910 But exactly how the girlfriend is 01:51:07.920 --> 01:51:13.350 abusive, I'm not sure. Um, I mean, as as 01:51:13.360 --> 01:51:15.189 a mother, I mean, you shouldn't just 01:51:15.199 --> 01:51:18.470 think I I think she's abusive because I 01:51:18.480 --> 01:51:19.750 don't think he's going to have much use 01:51:19.760 --> 01:51:21.669 for that. But I don't know what what the 01:51:21.679 --> 01:51:24.950 son is like either. I mean, probably the 01:51:24.960 --> 01:51:27.990 the most that you could do without 01:51:28.000 --> 01:51:29.910 seeming obtrusive is, you know, what's 01:51:29.920 --> 01:51:31.669 what's the deal with this? you know, 01:51:31.679 --> 01:51:34.229 just kind of casually ask him a question 01:51:34.239 --> 01:51:37.109 about, you know, some sort of um 01:51:37.119 --> 01:51:39.510 spectacle that you observed or some 01:51:39.520 --> 01:51:42.870 such. But I mean, if he is I mean, he's 01:51:42.880 --> 01:51:45.990 young, he's probably all doped up on 01:51:46.000 --> 01:51:49.910 hormones as young people tend to be. So 01:51:49.920 --> 01:51:52.950 I mean so long as he doesn't um you know 01:51:52.960 --> 01:51:55.669 accidentally get her pregnant and be 01:51:55.679 --> 01:51:59.189 like honor driven to do the

right thing 01:51:59.199 --> 01:52:03.589 that kind of thing then uh I mean 01:52:03.599 --> 01:52:05.589 some people I mean people as a general 01:52:05.599 --> 01:52:09.030 rule I mean we tend to learn from our 01:52:09.040 --> 01:52:12.390 mistakes more easily than we learn from 01:52:12.400 --> 01:52:15.510 somebody else's mistakes. 01:52:15.520 --> 01:52:18.070 So, I mean 01:52:18.080 --> 01:52:19.990 I mean I really don't know what the son 01:52:20.000 --> 01:52:22.550 is like, what the possibly abusive 01:52:22.560 --> 01:52:24.950 girlfriend is like. So, I can't really, 01:52:24.960 --> 01:52:27.510 you know, talk about, you know, exactly 01:52:27.520 --> 01:52:31.430 what's going on. Um but I mean if he 01:52:31.440 --> 01:52:32.870 does have wisdom, he apparently has 01:52:32.880 --> 01:52:34.629 enough wisdom that he he has already 01:52:34.639 --> 01:52:37.830 been ordained as a novice monk and 01:52:37.840 --> 01:52:39.990 considers himself to be a Buddhist has 01:52:40.000 --> 01:52:42.870 you know a mind kind of directed towards 01:52:42.880 --> 01:52:47.189 dharma to some degree then I mean I mean 01:52:47.199 --> 01:52:49.030 unless something is really getting out 01:52:49.040 --> 01:52:53.430 of hand then I mean I suppose you should 01:52:53.440 --> 01:52:56.870 have faith in his wisdom and also just 01:52:56.880 --> 01:52:59.589 kind of allow young people to be young 01:52:59.599 --> 01:53:02.950 and do stupid stuff sometimes. 01:53:02.960 --> 01:53:05.430 But I mean, if there is some danger of, 01:53:05.440 --> 01:53:07.669 you know, him getting like permanently 01:53:07.679 --> 01:53:11.030 entangled or, you know, really getting 01:53:11.040 --> 01:53:13.589 like messed with or something, then even 01:53:13.599 --> 01:53:15.510 then, I mean, it's better just kind of 01:53:15.520 --> 01:53:18.390 ask him what's up, this kind of stuff 01:53:18.400 --> 01:53:20.790 than, you know, being too much of a mama 01:53:20.800 --> 01:53:23.030 bear. 01:53:23.040 --> 01:53:25.510 But yeah, it's it's uh I mean I think 01:53:25.520 --> 01:53:29.350 I'd have to have more data to really 01:53:29.360 --> 01:53:32.310 come up with anything more concrete or 01:53:32.320 --> 01:53:35.510 or certain than that. Um you know I 01:53:35.520 --> 01:53:37.910 survived I survived a few girlfriends 01:53:37.920 --> 01:53:41.030 before I became a monk. 01:53:41.040 --> 01:53:44.870 I mean you learn things. 01:53:44.880 --> 01:53:47.990 I I res uh well I I should say it now. 01:53:48.000 --> 01:53:50.390 I'm I resist I was resisting the urge to 01:53:50.400 --> 01:53:53.910 to mention that every man there's one 01:53:53.920 --> 01:53:57.109 YouTube video every man should see to 01:53:57.119 --> 01:53:59.350 help them understand how to how to deal 01:53:59.360 --> 01:54:01.669 with women or you know what woman to 01:54:01.679 --> 01:54:04.310 choose to to live your life with that 01:54:04.320 --> 01:54:06.390 kind of thing. Just look up hot crazy 01:54:06.400 --> 01:54:07.990 matrix 01:54:08.000 --> 01:54:11.189 on YouTube is everything a man needs to 01:54:11.199 --> 01:54:14.149 know about women supposedly. 01:54:14.159 --> 01:54:16.870 But it's some one thing in particular 01:54:16.880 --> 01:54:20.070 from that video has really been helpful 01:54:20.080 --> 01:54:24.229 to me in life and that is that 01:54:24.239 --> 01:54:28.149 with on a scale of 1 to 10 all women at 01:54:28.159 --> 01:54:31.030 least from a man's perspective all women 01:54:31.040 --> 01:54:34.950 are at least a four crazy. 01:54:34.960 --> 01:54:37.109 I mean that just just bearing that in 01:54:37.119 --> 01:54:39.830 mind can cause a man to be much more 01:54:39.840 --> 01:54:43.750 patient and less demanding that I mean 01:54:43.760 --> 01:54:46.629 why isn't she making good sense here? 01:54:46.639 --> 01:54:50.709 That kind of thing. 01:54:50.719 --> 01:54:54.470 But I mean if he is a he's got wisdom 01:54:54.480 --> 01:54:56.229 and that sort of thing. So long as he 01:54:56.239 --> 01:54:59.350 doesn't make some really grave mistake 01:54:59.360 --> 01:55:01.430 like getting her pregnant and then 01:55:01.440 --> 01:55:03.830 feeling duty bound to marry a woman that 01:55:03.840 --> 01:55:06.229 just really is not compatible with him, 01:55:06.239 --> 01:55:08.950 that sort of thing. Then I mean to some 01:55:08.960 --> 01:55:10.550 degree he should be allowed to make his 01:55:10.560 --> 01:55:14.709 own mistakes I think 01:55:14.719 --> 01:55:17.830 man. 01:55:17.840 --> 01:55:19.109 So I'm just going to move on to the next 01:55:19.119 --> 01:55:20.950 question now. 01:55:20.960 --> 01:55:23.270 This is from Phily's 01:55:23.280 --> 01:55:25.669 and Philes says, "If you get good at 01:55:25.679 --> 01:55:27.669 Buddhism, is it like living in this 01:55:27.679 --> 01:55:29.589 world and never feeling a drop of 01:55:29.599 --> 01:55:32.390 cortisol again?" And I'm not exactly 01:55:32.400 --> 01:55:34.629 sure what cortisol is. It's just one of 01:55:34.639 --> 01:55:38.709 those kind of a neuro receptor brain 01:55:38.719 --> 01:55:41.270 modifying hormone kind of thing going on 01:55:41.280 --> 01:55:43.189 up there. 01:55:43.199 --> 01:55:44.950 I guess 01:55:44.960 --> 01:55:47.830 really haven't been uh studying cortisol 01:55:47.840 --> 01:55:49.750 lately. 01:55:49.760 --> 01:55:52.149 Um, you know, it's, you know, I kind of 01:55:52.159 --> 01:55:53.750 put it in the same category as 01:55:53.760 --> 01:55:56.149 endorphins, you know, just one of those 01:55:56.159 --> 01:56:00.870 kind of brain chemicals. 01:56:00.880 --> 01:56:03.589 Let's see here. So, if you get good at 01:56:03.599 --> 01:56:05.510 Buddhism, is it like have leave living 01:56:05.520 --> 01:56:07.189 in this world and never feeling a drop 01:56:07.199 --> 01:56:10.149 of cortisol again? Well, well, I guess 01:56:10.159 --> 01:56:11.669 he's not saying if you're enlightened. 01:56:11.679 --> 01:56:12.870 He's just saying if

you're good at 01:56:12.880 --> 01:56:15.510 Buddhism. And I'm not exactly sure what 01:56:15.520 --> 01:56:17.270 cortisol does. I suppose I should have 01:56:17.280 --> 01:56:19.109 looked it up. Maybe I should just see if 01:56:19.119 --> 01:56:25.589 I can do this. Just uh see C O R T I S O 01:56:25.599 --> 01:56:28.709 L. Everybody should have a 01:56:28.719 --> 01:56:31.270 Everyone should have a dictionary handy. 01:56:31.280 --> 01:56:34.070 Okay. Biochemistry noun. Another term 01:56:34.080 --> 01:56:36.550 for hydrocortisone. So let's look up 01:56:36.560 --> 01:56:38.390 hydrocortisone. Fortunately, I can just 01:56:38.400 --> 01:56:40.470 click the blue link there. says, "A 01:56:40.480 --> 01:56:43.030 steroid hormone produced by the adrenal 01:56:43.040 --> 01:56:46.070 cortex and used medically to treat 01:56:46.080 --> 01:56:48.870 inflammation resulting from eczema and 01:56:48.880 --> 01:56:51.430 rheumatism." 01:56:51.440 --> 01:56:55.910 What the actual freak, 01:56:55.920 --> 01:56:58.229 huh? So, it's a steroid hormone produced 01:56:58.239 --> 01:57:04.149 by the adrenal cortex used to treat 01:57:04.159 --> 01:57:07.030 skin disorders. 01:57:07.040 --> 01:57:08.870 Okay? 01:57:08.880 --> 01:57:11.589 So if you get good at Buddhism, is it 01:57:11.599 --> 01:57:13.510 like living in this world and never 01:57:13.520 --> 01:57:16.790 having a skin disorder? Or see, if you 01:57:16.800 --> 01:57:18.550 never feel a drop of cortisol, maybe you 01:57:18.560 --> 01:57:20.629 got rheumatism and skin disorders that 01:57:20.639 --> 01:57:22.229 you just can't cure because you don't 01:57:22.239 --> 01:57:25.669 have any freaking cortisol. 01:57:25.679 --> 01:57:27.589 I maybe he's talking about endorphins or 01:57:27.599 --> 01:57:29.669 or maybe it's sort of like what's the 01:57:29.679 --> 01:57:31.270 opposite of endorphins that make you 01:57:31.280 --> 01:57:33.430 feel unpleasant. You know, like you got 01:57:33.440 --> 01:57:36.310 the those gruesome experiments on live 01:57:36.320 --> 01:57:38.310 monkeys where they cut off the top of 01:57:38.320 --> 01:57:40.229 their skull and then they put on this 01:57:40.239 --> 01:57:42.470 like cap with electrodes on and they 01:57:42.480 --> 01:57:44.550 have them strapped into this cage where 01:57:44.560 --> 01:57:47.109 they can only like move one finger or 01:57:47.119 --> 01:57:48.870 something. And then they've got to like 01:57:48.880 --> 01:57:51.750 push a button to get like this squirt of 01:57:51.760 --> 01:57:53.830 fruit juice into their mouth. And then 01:57:53.840 --> 01:57:55.270 after they get used to it, they learn 01:57:55.280 --> 01:57:56.629 how to push the button at the right time 01:57:56.639 --> 01:57:58.470 to get the squirt of fruit juice. 01:57:58.480 --> 01:58:00.390 Monkeys like fruit juice. Then they 01:58:00.400 --> 01:58:02.310 switch it up and put salt water into 01:58:02.320 --> 01:58:06.390 their mouth and then it's like the brain 01:58:06.400 --> 01:58:07.830 parts of the brain light up. They're 01:58:07.840 --> 01:58:10.470 like this is something's going wrong 01:58:10.480 --> 01:58:12.550 kind of a thing goes on. Maybe that's 01:58:12.560 --> 01:58:14.390 what Phil is talking about. It's like 01:58:14.400 --> 01:58:17.430 the something going along warning 01:58:17.440 --> 01:58:19.270 cuz I don't know why he would bring up 01:58:19.280 --> 01:58:21.750 like a treatment for rheumatism and what 01:58:21.760 --> 01:58:26.950 was it? Eczema. 01:58:26.960 --> 01:58:29.030 So if you get good at Buddhism, is it 01:58:29.040 --> 01:58:30.470 like living in this world and never 01:58:30.480 --> 01:58:32.629 feeling a drop of cortisol again? Well, 01:58:32.639 --> 01:58:35.189 I mean it's sort of like 01:58:35.199 --> 01:58:37.589 I mean to I I hesitate to say it, but to 01:58:37.599 --> 01:58:38.790 some degree it's sort of like micro 01:58:38.800 --> 01:58:41.350 doing on acid 01:58:41.360 --> 01:58:43.270 where you know it's sort of like I was 01:58:43.280 --> 01:58:44.709 saying earlier where you're you're 01:58:44.719 --> 01:58:48.390 living in each moment more fully. 01:58:48.400 --> 01:58:50.229 And I mean there's certain things you 01:58:50.239 --> 01:58:52.149 take to heart if you're good at Buddhism 01:58:52.159 --> 01:58:55.350 like regret is always bad. It's always 01:58:55.360 --> 01:58:57.430 bad karma just makes things worse. 01:58:57.440 --> 01:59:00.550 Regret and remorse, that kind of thing. 01:59:00.560 --> 01:59:02.790 Um, get good at Buddhism, you have more 01:59:02.800 --> 01:59:04.709 compassion. 01:59:04.719 --> 01:59:07.510 I mean, you can you have more Christian 01:59:07.520 --> 01:59:09.830 charity. I mean, that's one of the main 01:59:09.840 --> 01:59:12.070 benefits that being a monk for 30 years 01:59:12.080 --> 01:59:14.629 has had on me 01:59:14.639 --> 01:59:17.510 is that I mean, I tried for 30 years to 01:59:17.520 --> 01:59:19.910 be a perfected saint and it just didn't 01:59:19.920 --> 01:59:22.310 go as planned. partly for reasons I 01:59:22.320 --> 01:59:24.629 discussed earlier on in this video where 01:59:24.639 --> 01:59:26.870 changing yourself is much easier said 01:59:26.880 --> 01:59:29.270 than done and to some degree we are 01:59:29.280 --> 01:59:34.950 stuck being who we are. 01:59:34.960 --> 01:59:39.430 So it's like if I tried for 30 years 01:59:39.440 --> 01:59:43.030 to become a saint and it just I do not 01:59:43.040 --> 01:59:44.790 have a saintly character. I just do not 01:59:44.800 --> 01:59:46.629 have a saintly temperament. I'm not 01:59:46.639 --> 01:59:49.589 saintly by constitution. 01:59:49.599 --> 01:59:52.709 So I mean if I tried for 30 years to be 01:59:52.719 --> 01:59:55.510 just have everything all worked out, 01:59:55.520 --> 01:59:58.390 have everything you know 01:59:58.400 --> 02:00:01.030 just be completely fine. 02:00:01.040 --> 02:00:03.270 I mean, how can I expect that of other 02:00:03.280 --> 02:00:06.550 people

that I mean, I have much more 02:00:06.560 --> 02:00:08.070 compassion 02:00:08.080 --> 02:00:11.189 for messed up people whose lives are in 02:00:11.199 --> 02:00:13.669 a shambles 02:00:13.679 --> 02:00:15.430 or or whatever, you know, they've got 02:00:15.440 --> 02:00:18.709 these really bad habits, 02:00:18.719 --> 02:00:20.870 you know, just character defects or 02:00:20.880 --> 02:00:25.189 whatever. It's like I just have it like 02:00:25.199 --> 02:00:28.229 this deep feeling now that to some 02:00:28.239 --> 02:00:32.390 degree I should just accept that and not 02:00:32.400 --> 02:00:34.149 expect them to change because they're 02:00:34.159 --> 02:00:37.510 not going to. As a general rule, most of 02:00:37.520 --> 02:00:39.510 them aren't going to change. At least 02:00:39.520 --> 02:00:41.270 they're not going to get rid of this 02:00:41.280 --> 02:00:44.629 character defect. 02:00:44.639 --> 02:00:46.149 So, I mean, some people you're better 02:00:46.159 --> 02:00:47.830 off just not associating with them. 02:00:47.840 --> 02:00:50.550 That's fine. But I mean it's, you know, 02:00:50.560 --> 02:00:52.790 it's just sort of like, you know, go in 02:00:52.800 --> 02:00:54.790 peace, live your own life and I'll go 02:00:54.800 --> 02:00:59.990 this way kind of a thing. 02:01:00.000 --> 02:01:04.390 So that's one aspect of being uh good at 02:01:04.400 --> 02:01:07.189 Buddhism. I guess at least he didn't ask 02:01:07.199 --> 02:01:10.229 me, you know, um what's being fully 02:01:10.239 --> 02:01:12.709 enlightened like? 02:01:12.719 --> 02:01:14.470 Maybe he did that on purpose. Maybe he's 02:01:14.480 --> 02:01:16.950 he's already heard me talk about just 02:01:16.960 --> 02:01:19.109 the futility of trying to second guess a 02:01:19.119 --> 02:01:22.229 fully enlightened being. 02:01:22.239 --> 02:01:23.430 I mean, you're definitely going to be 02:01:23.440 --> 02:01:25.589 more mindful. And that's another thing 02:01:25.599 --> 02:01:27.109 if you're good at Buddhism, this is 02:01:27.119 --> 02:01:31.430 might be another really important one is 02:01:31.440 --> 02:01:33.510 you're kind of like observing yourself 02:01:33.520 --> 02:01:37.030 all the time. It's like if anger or 02:01:37.040 --> 02:01:38.870 greed or something arises, there's a 02:01:38.880 --> 02:01:41.350 certain part of your mind that's just 02:01:41.360 --> 02:01:43.669 observing that, you know, you just get 02:01:43.679 --> 02:01:46.070 so used to being mindful that anything 02:01:46.080 --> 02:01:48.390 that arises, I mean, you can still be 02:01:48.400 --> 02:01:53.750 angry or greedy or whatever or lustful, 02:01:53.760 --> 02:01:55.910 but there's more pronounced of this 02:01:55.920 --> 02:01:57.990 other part of your mind that's just 02:01:58.000 --> 02:01:59.669 observing the whole thing without any 02:01:59.679 --> 02:02:01.669 kind of judgment, 02:02:01.679 --> 02:02:04.390 just being aware of it. And it's from 02:02:04.400 --> 02:02:06.629 that from the perspective of that part 02:02:06.639 --> 02:02:09.030 of your mind, the anger or the greed or 02:02:09.040 --> 02:02:11.030 whatever isn't you, you know, it's it's 02:02:11.040 --> 02:02:13.669 you're like an actor playing a part, 02:02:13.679 --> 02:02:17.030 playing a role, but you're not like 02:02:17.040 --> 02:02:18.950 completely fully identified with it 02:02:18.960 --> 02:02:21.270 anymore. 02:02:21.280 --> 02:02:24.390 So that would be one symptom of having 02:02:24.400 --> 02:02:26.470 practiced Buddhism intensively for many 02:02:26.480 --> 02:02:29.510 years or just being good at it. I think 02:02:29.520 --> 02:02:31.750 for some people it might be like a duck 02:02:31.760 --> 02:02:33.430 takes to water. you wouldn't need to do 02:02:33.440 --> 02:02:34.950 it for many years. You're just good at 02:02:34.960 --> 02:02:36.390 it automatically. Like some people are 02:02:36.400 --> 02:02:38.550 just automatically just they have the 02:02:38.560 --> 02:02:43.910 talent to be good meditators. 02:02:43.920 --> 02:02:46.790 So 02:02:46.800 --> 02:02:48.550 I I'm not sure about the cortisol though 02:02:48.560 --> 02:02:50.390 and I'm going to move on to Phil Lee's 02:02:50.400 --> 02:02:52.310 next question. 02:02:52.320 --> 02:02:54.550 So Phily's second question is do you 02:02:54.560 --> 02:02:57.109 have an internal monologue? Do you think 02:02:57.119 --> 02:02:59.189 it is a good thing? Well, I do get head 02:02:59.199 --> 02:03:02.149 thinkings. Head thinkings is like when 02:03:02.159 --> 02:03:03.750 there's like talking in your head. 02:03:03.760 --> 02:03:05.350 You're like talking inside your own 02:03:05.360 --> 02:03:07.350 head. That's what head thinkings is 02:03:07.360 --> 02:03:12.149 like. Yeah, I get those. But I think I 02:03:12.159 --> 02:03:15.350 mean I've read that some people just 02:03:15.360 --> 02:03:17.189 don't have an internal monologue. I mean 02:03:17.199 --> 02:03:19.750 it's like an alarmingly high percentage 02:03:19.760 --> 02:03:22.709 of humans. I think there might be like 02:03:22.719 --> 02:03:26.310 certain like cultures in this world 02:03:26.320 --> 02:03:28.709 where it's way less common than in the 02:03:28.719 --> 02:03:30.870 west. Western people tend to be 02:03:30.880 --> 02:03:33.350 compulsive thinkers. So that western 02:03:33.360 --> 02:03:35.109 people are much more likely to have an 02:03:35.119 --> 02:03:38.390 internal monologue. And throughout my 02:03:38.400 --> 02:03:40.950 life I have had an internal monologue. 02:03:40.960 --> 02:03:44.390 Although um there are times when I'm 02:03:44.400 --> 02:03:47.830 just not thinking in words. So that you 02:03:47.840 --> 02:03:49.189 know it's like I'm just looking at 02:03:49.199 --> 02:03:50.870 something looking out the window at a 02:03:50.880 --> 02:03:52.790 tree kind of swaying in the breeze or 02:03:52.800 --> 02:03:55.030 whatever and I'm just not thinking in 02:03:55.040 --> 02:03:59.270 words. So, sometimes my my woman, my

02:03:59.280 --> 02:04:01.109 wife will ask me what I'm thinking 02:04:01.119 --> 02:04:02.950 about. And at the time, I just honestly 02:04:02.960 --> 02:04:04.149 have to say, I mean, I wasn't really 02:04:04.159 --> 02:04:06.709 thinking anything. I was just looking at 02:04:06.719 --> 02:04:09.109 the tree or or whatever it was, you 02:04:09.119 --> 02:04:12.070 know, just feeling feeling comfortable 02:04:12.080 --> 02:04:16.070 under the blankets or whatever. So, 02:04:16.080 --> 02:04:18.310 being a monk for many years has reduced 02:04:18.320 --> 02:04:21.030 my internal monologue. I don't think as 02:04:21.040 --> 02:04:23.830 much. Although when it's necessary to 02:04:23.840 --> 02:04:26.629 think, I definitely think. 02:04:26.639 --> 02:04:29.030 And do I think that having an internal 02:04:29.040 --> 02:04:31.510 monologue is a good thing? I don't think 02:04:31.520 --> 02:04:33.430 it's necessarily good or bad. I mean, it 02:04:33.440 --> 02:04:36.470 can be used or abused. 02:04:36.480 --> 02:04:39.669 Um, I think ultimately you'd be better 02:04:39.679 --> 02:04:41.669 off just in a state of intense 02:04:41.679 --> 02:04:43.910 mindfulness so that you'd only be 02:04:43.920 --> 02:04:45.510 thinking when there was a need to be 02:04:45.520 --> 02:04:47.589 thinking about something. 02:04:47.599 --> 02:04:50.790 So, you know, it's from that extent to 02:04:50.800 --> 02:04:53.270 that extent it might be less of a good 02:04:53.280 --> 02:04:56.709 thing, but I mean some people it's like 02:04:56.719 --> 02:04:58.070 they haven't got to the internal 02:04:58.080 --> 02:04:59.990 monologue level yet. Sort of like I was 02:05:00.000 --> 02:05:03.030 talking about animals and like the clock 02:05:03.040 --> 02:05:04.790 that starts at midnight and has to go 02:05:04.800 --> 02:05:06.709 all the way around to get back to to 02:05:06.719 --> 02:05:09.990 like God again. That was quite some time 02:05:10.000 --> 02:05:12.229 ago in this video that I mean it could 02:05:12.239 --> 02:05:13.750 be that some people who are without an 02:05:13.760 --> 02:05:15.669 internal monologue just haven't gotten 02:05:15.679 --> 02:05:19.030 down to like five or six yet. Could be 02:05:19.040 --> 02:05:21.189 something like that. 02:05:21.199 --> 02:05:22.790 So in their case it wouldn't be all that 02:05:22.800 --> 02:05:23.990 great of a thing because they haven't 02:05:24.000 --> 02:05:28.629 even you know reached that level yet. 02:05:28.639 --> 02:05:32.390 I'm not I mean maybe most animals are 02:05:32.400 --> 02:05:33.990 better off not having an internal 02:05:34.000 --> 02:05:35.910 monologue. I mean they don't think in 02:05:35.920 --> 02:05:38.470 words. So most animals would not have an 02:05:38.480 --> 02:05:40.390 internal monologue unless it's just 02:05:40.400 --> 02:05:42.550 like, you know, visual images going off 02:05:42.560 --> 02:05:44.709 in their head, that kind of thing. But I 02:05:44.719 --> 02:05:46.470 mean, what kind of monologue would they 02:05:46.480 --> 02:05:49.270 have? It's just, you know, there dogs 02:05:49.280 --> 02:05:52.390 dream at night. I've read that the 02:05:52.400 --> 02:05:54.629 American possum spends more time 02:05:54.639 --> 02:05:57.270 dreaming than it spends awake. But I 02:05:57.280 --> 02:05:58.390 mean, what are they dreaming about? 02:05:58.400 --> 02:06:00.149 They're just dreaming about, you know, 02:06:00.159 --> 02:06:02.709 eating dog food off of back porches, 02:06:02.719 --> 02:06:04.790 that kind of stuff. 02:06:04.800 --> 02:06:10.070 getting trapped in garbage cans maybe. 02:06:10.080 --> 02:06:11.510 But ultimately having an internal 02:06:11.520 --> 02:06:13.669 monologue is neither good nor bad. I 02:06:13.679 --> 02:06:15.510 mean it depends on whether you use it or 02:06:15.520 --> 02:06:17.830 abuse it. 02:06:17.840 --> 02:06:20.310 But I do think a fully enlightened being 02:06:20.320 --> 02:06:22.870 would be thinking in words only when it 02:06:22.880 --> 02:06:25.189 was necessary for 02:06:25.199 --> 02:06:27.270 you know performing some action that 02:06:27.280 --> 02:06:30.709 required thinking in words. 02:06:30.719 --> 02:06:32.149 And I'm just going to move on to the 02:06:32.159 --> 02:06:33.910 next question which is from Raphael. 02:06:33.920 --> 02:06:36.310 This is kind of an easy one. Can you do 02:06:36.320 --> 02:06:39.430 a chat talk roundtable on Discord? And 02:06:39.440 --> 02:06:41.589 we've done at least one. I think we've 02:06:41.599 --> 02:06:44.870 done one or two in the past on Discord 02:06:44.880 --> 02:06:47.750 just like an audio chat. I think the 02:06:47.760 --> 02:06:49.510 last time we did it was probably at 02:06:49.520 --> 02:06:51.990 least two years ago. That that room in 02:06:52.000 --> 02:06:55.270 Discord does not get used much at all. 02:06:55.280 --> 02:06:57.109 But yeah, it's doable. I mean, we'd have 02:06:57.119 --> 02:07:00.950 to work out some kind of schedule. Um, I 02:07:00.960 --> 02:07:03.669 noticed that I mean, we have a lot of 02:07:03.679 --> 02:07:05.830 people in Europe and in like the Eastern 02:07:05.840 --> 02:07:09.030 Hemisphere in the group. So, we'd have 02:07:09.040 --> 02:07:13.669 to work out a time like gosh, like late 02:07:13.679 --> 02:07:15.990 morning, my time, which would then be 02:07:16.000 --> 02:07:17.990 like early evening in Europe, that kind 02:07:18.000 --> 02:07:20.709 of thing. Maybe that would work. and it 02:07:20.719 --> 02:07:24.229 would have to be like like agreeable to 02:07:24.239 --> 02:07:27.669 my weird work schedule now. 02:07:27.679 --> 02:07:29.350 But yeah, it's possible. I mean, that 02:07:29.360 --> 02:07:31.430 could be discussed on Discord itself, I 02:07:31.440 --> 02:07:34.069 suppose. So, I think I'll just move on 02:07:34.079 --> 02:07:36.550 to the next question. And this is the 02:07:36.560 --> 02:07:38.870 last question 02:07:38.880 --> 02:07:41.669 after a little over two hours. 02:07:41.679 -->

02:07:43.510 And I am happy to say that rebooting the 02:07:43.520 --> 02:07:45.350 computer apparently at least helped a 02:07:45.360 --> 02:07:49.669 little bit in that the the lag rarely 02:07:49.679 --> 02:07:52.310 got more than about 1 second. 02:07:52.320 --> 02:07:54.310 So anyways, this last question is from 02:07:54.320 --> 02:07:56.229 Vtoro 02:07:56.239 --> 02:07:59.830 and Vtoro says is there any positive 02:07:59.840 --> 02:08:02.470 karmic benefit for a Catholic to go to 02:08:02.480 --> 02:08:04.069 confession 02:08:04.079 --> 02:08:06.550 and personally I think yeah it is 02:08:06.560 --> 02:08:10.069 beneficial to confess your misdeeds. In 02:08:10.079 --> 02:08:12.229 fact in terraata Buddhism especially 02:08:12.239 --> 02:08:15.990 among monks then I mean monks are 02:08:16.000 --> 02:08:17.750 required to make confession. 02:08:17.760 --> 02:08:20.390 Unfortunately in terravada Buddhism 02:08:20.400 --> 02:08:23.270 confession has degenerated into this 02:08:23.280 --> 02:08:27.109 ritual formula of blah blah blah in pi 02:08:27.119 --> 02:08:30.229 that means practically nothing. 02:08:30.239 --> 02:08:32.069 Like in in Burma especially it's 02:08:32.079 --> 02:08:33.830 venerable sir I have committed various 02:08:33.840 --> 02:08:36.629 offenses of various types. And that's 02:08:36.639 --> 02:08:38.550 that's as much of a confession as you 02:08:38.560 --> 02:08:41.189 make. I just I broke some rules of 02:08:41.199 --> 02:08:43.109 various sorts 02:08:43.119 --> 02:08:45.350 and I mean you're not saying what the 02:08:45.360 --> 02:08:47.990 rules are in the in the original poly 02:08:48.000 --> 02:08:55.109 it's I it's seeandeanoi 02:08:55.119 --> 02:08:57.589 which is venerable sir I committed an 02:08:57.599 --> 02:09:01.030 offense of such and such name I confess 02:09:01.040 --> 02:09:03.350 it which means you're supposed to say 02:09:03.360 --> 02:09:05.910 what you did in Thailand they get a 02:09:05.920 --> 02:09:07.910 little closer where they'll just say 02:09:07.920 --> 02:09:09.189 what category 02:09:09.199 --> 02:09:11.669 But then they kind of [ __ ] that up by 02:09:11.679 --> 02:09:15.189 just listing every category. So they'll 02:09:15.199 --> 02:09:17.830 they'll just say I I committed offenses 02:09:17.840 --> 02:09:19.750 of this category then I committed 02:09:19.760 --> 02:09:21.910 offenses of this category whether they 02:09:21.920 --> 02:09:23.910 even broke any rules or not in that 02:09:23.920 --> 02:09:25.669 category. You know they'll confess 02:09:25.679 --> 02:09:28.629 pyania offenses. There's a total of four 02:09:28.639 --> 02:09:32.149 pyania offenses that are very obscure 02:09:32.159 --> 02:09:33.750 and 02:09:33.760 --> 02:09:36.470 nobody breaks them anymore, but they 02:09:36.480 --> 02:09:39.910 still confess them. And so it's still 02:09:39.920 --> 02:09:42.870 just meaningless blah blah blah, 02:09:42.880 --> 02:09:45.189 which is unfortunate because I do think 02:09:45.199 --> 02:09:48.149 like if you read the texts, monks are 02:09:48.159 --> 02:09:50.390 supposed to confess when they break a 02:09:50.400 --> 02:09:54.709 rule. And even lay people can confess 02:09:54.719 --> 02:09:58.550 some misdeed that they have perpetrated 02:09:58.560 --> 02:10:02.950 to a monk or a wise teacher as a way of 02:10:02.960 --> 02:10:07.189 helping them to come clean and like help 02:10:07.199 --> 02:10:10.870 them to restrain themselves in future. 02:10:10.880 --> 02:10:14.229 So I do think that it is helpful for 02:10:14.239 --> 02:10:18.229 somebody who has done something wrong to 02:10:18.239 --> 02:10:20.229 confess it. And if you're confessing to 02:10:20.239 --> 02:10:23.589 like a priest or a fellow monk, um 02:10:23.599 --> 02:10:25.669 someone who's compassionate and on your 02:10:25.679 --> 02:10:28.550 side, then some things that I mean you 02:10:28.560 --> 02:10:30.629 wouldn't be able to mention really. You 02:10:30.639 --> 02:10:33.990 know, I I committed this atrocity 02:10:34.000 --> 02:10:35.510 that you know, at least you're 02:10:35.520 --> 02:10:37.669 unbburdening your heart and being open 02:10:37.679 --> 02:10:39.910 and honest about it to at least this one 02:10:39.920 --> 02:10:42.310 other person who may be under a vow of 02:10:42.320 --> 02:10:44.149 not divulging what you did like a 02:10:44.159 --> 02:10:47.189 Catholic priest is supposed to be. 02:10:47.199 --> 02:10:51.430 But still I do think that it has a 02:10:51.440 --> 02:10:53.430 positive effect 02:10:53.440 --> 02:10:55.830 and from the Buddhist point of view one 02:10:55.840 --> 02:10:57.189 of the main reasons for making 02:10:57.199 --> 02:10:59.669 confession is just to help you to 02:10:59.679 --> 02:11:02.390 restrain yourself in future. It's like I 02:11:02.400 --> 02:11:04.550 did this thing and then you're supposed 02:11:04.560 --> 02:11:07.030 to promise that you will restrain 02:11:07.040 --> 02:11:09.350 yourself in future which is another bit 02:11:09.360 --> 02:11:11.589 of meaningless blah blah blah in the 02:11:11.599 --> 02:11:13.990 formula that monks do nowadays where 02:11:14.000 --> 02:11:16.069 it's like you know in the future you 02:11:16.079 --> 02:11:19.430 should restrain yourself and then it's 02:11:19.440 --> 02:11:21.510 like yes sir very good sir I will 02:11:21.520 --> 02:11:24.149 restrain myself when mostly it's they 02:11:24.159 --> 02:11:25.910 just break the same rules over and over 02:11:25.920 --> 02:11:27.589 again it's like a yearslong habit 02:11:27.599 --> 02:11:29.430 sometimes it's like keeping money they 02:11:29.440 --> 02:11:30.790 have no intention of getting rid of 02:11:30.800 --> 02:11:34.550 their 02:11:34.560 --> 02:11:36.149 But 02:11:36.159 --> 02:11:38.629 um so long as it's an honest confession, 02:11:38.639 --> 02:11:40.310 I think the kind of confession that 02:11:40.320 --> 02:11:42.149 terra Buddhist monks make where it's 02:11:42.159 --> 02:11:44.069 just a meaningless blah blah

blah at 02:11:44.079 --> 02:11:46.470 best and at worst it's just flatout 02:11:46.480 --> 02:11:47.990 lying, 02:11:48.000 --> 02:11:51.030 then yeah, you're better off not lying 02:11:51.040 --> 02:11:55.910 or just indulging in meaningless babble. 02:11:55.920 --> 02:11:58.470 But if it's a genuine confession, you 02:11:58.480 --> 02:12:01.990 know, I did this, you know, misdeed and 02:12:02.000 --> 02:12:04.950 I promise I will try harder in future to 02:12:04.960 --> 02:12:08.310 restrain myself, then I think there is 02:12:08.320 --> 02:12:11.510 positive results to be expected of that. 02:12:11.520 --> 02:12:14.229 So I do think that there is a benefit. I 02:12:14.239 --> 02:12:16.709 mean karmic benefit. He asked is there a 02:12:16.719 --> 02:12:19.910 positive karmic benefit? I would assume 02:12:19.920 --> 02:12:23.030 so. I mean like some things it's just 02:12:23.040 --> 02:12:24.790 hard to admit that you did something 02:12:24.800 --> 02:12:26.149 wrong. 02:12:26.159 --> 02:12:30.069 So you force yourself to overcome this 02:12:30.079 --> 02:12:32.069 pride or fear of punishment or whatever 02:12:32.079 --> 02:12:34.229 it is then that would have a karmic 02:12:34.239 --> 02:12:37.990 benefit of you know it's like this 02:12:38.000 --> 02:12:40.310 brutal honesty that is to your own 02:12:40.320 --> 02:12:43.270 detriment that I mean some people just 02:12:43.280 --> 02:12:46.069 cannot go there at all. Some people have 02:12:46.079 --> 02:12:48.470 specialized in like Rahm Doss, one of my 02:12:48.480 --> 02:12:50.870 first spiritual teachers as a teenager. 02:12:50.880 --> 02:12:53.990 He had this amazing 02:12:54.000 --> 02:12:56.870 tendency to just admit really 02:12:56.880 --> 02:13:00.390 embarrassing things about himself that I 02:13:00.400 --> 02:13:03.589 admired. You know, it's like, man, you 02:13:03.599 --> 02:13:05.750 didn't have to say that. That's like TMI 02:13:05.760 --> 02:13:09.270 or some such. But still, I had to admire 02:13:09.280 --> 02:13:12.310 that in him that I mean, it wasn't 02:13:12.320 --> 02:13:14.870 pride, you know, he was just kind of 02:13:14.880 --> 02:13:18.390 admitting the worst stuff about himself. 02:13:18.400 --> 02:13:21.189 And I mean, honesty is definitely 02:13:21.199 --> 02:13:23.669 there's karmic benefit to honesty, 02:13:23.679 --> 02:13:25.030 especially if it's coming with 02:13:25.040 --> 02:13:26.950 difficulty. You know, you're having to 02:13:26.960 --> 02:13:31.830 like force yourself to like blurt out 02:13:31.840 --> 02:13:35.270 this thing that I mean, it could be very 02:13:35.280 --> 02:13:38.390 much damaging to your reputation or 02:13:38.400 --> 02:13:40.390 whatever. You know, you're admitting to 02:13:40.400 --> 02:13:42.069 having done this thing that people are 02:13:42.079 --> 02:13:44.069 wanting to know who did it, that kind of 02:13:44.079 --> 02:13:46.790 thing. Um, I mean, it wouldn't be so 02:13:46.800 --> 02:13:49.189 much that way for a a Catholic 02:13:49.199 --> 02:13:50.870 confession because it's kept a secret. 02:13:50.880 --> 02:13:53.510 I'm pretty sure even like a murderer can 02:13:53.520 --> 02:13:55.990 confess to a Catholic priest. I'm pretty 02:13:56.000 --> 02:13:57.510 sure the priest isn't supposed to go to 02:13:57.520 --> 02:14:00.149 the police. You know, the mass murderer 02:14:00.159 --> 02:14:02.310 that you've been looking for. Yeah, he 02:14:02.320 --> 02:14:04.790 made confession to me the other night. I 02:14:04.800 --> 02:14:06.629 don't think that they're even supposed 02:14:06.639 --> 02:14:09.669 to do that. 02:14:09.679 --> 02:14:11.910 But still, I do think there is a kind of 02:14:11.920 --> 02:14:15.669 catharsis or a closure 02:14:15.679 --> 02:14:18.790 or or at least a it helps you to be 02:14:18.800 --> 02:14:21.669 honest and maybe to restrain yourself in 02:14:21.679 --> 02:14:25.830 future to just confess some misdeed that 02:14:25.840 --> 02:14:28.950 you have done to somebody else. 02:14:28.960 --> 02:14:31.430 And that's it. That's the last question 02:14:31.440 --> 02:14:33.589 and I'm done. 02:14:33.599 --> 02:14:35.030 So, like I should always say at the 02:14:35.040 --> 02:14:36.870 beginning and pretty much never do, if 02:14:36.880 --> 02:14:38.629 you have any questions you think I can 02:14:38.639 --> 02:14:43.030 answer about dharma, essentially, 02:14:43.040 --> 02:14:44.950 philosophy, 02:14:44.960 --> 02:14:47.430 uh certain other things, you know, I've 02:14:47.440 --> 02:14:49.510 got a fair acquaintance with Western 02:14:49.520 --> 02:14:51.350 philosophy, western literature, that 02:14:51.360 --> 02:14:53.189 kind of stuff. I can maybe answer 02:14:53.199 --> 02:14:55.430 questions about that. No more than three 02:14:55.440 --> 02:14:57.990 questions per person per episode. Please 02:14:58.000 --> 02:14:59.910 like and subscribe if you have not done 02:14:59.920 --> 02:15:01.830 so already. 02:15:01.840 --> 02:15:03.589 although I don't like it. If you didn't 02:15:03.599 --> 02:15:06.229 really like it, that might be dishonest. 02:15:06.239 --> 02:15:08.790 And uh check out the URL links below, 02:15:08.800 --> 02:15:10.470 which includes the books I have for sale 02:15:10.480 --> 02:15:13.990 on Amazon, my other links, links to X 02:15:14.000 --> 02:15:16.550 and other kind of socially kind of 02:15:16.560 --> 02:15:22.440 things. And uh be happy.