Full Transcript for Question & Answer #207: from the Mulamadhyamaka Karika to What to Do in Bodh Gaya

00:03:59.760 --> 00:04:02.710 of nagarja 00:04:02.720 --> 00:04:04.710 and mere mentions of nagarina are not 00:04:04.720 --> 00:04:06.869 sufficient for me to put on the majam 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:08.550 fez 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:10.070 just in case any of you are out there 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.789 wondering. 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:15.589 So yeah, there's three main translations 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.310 or at least there were, you know, 10, 15 00:04:18.320 --> 00:04:21.590 years ago. And of the three, the one I 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:24.710 would most be interested in reading 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.030 would be the translation by David 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.790 Kupahana, which is like University of 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.629 Hawaii maybe. I don't know. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:38.390 But that one would be probably the most 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:40.390 most to the liking of Terravada 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:43.430 Buddhists, I guess. 00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:46.310 I mean, probably the the ideal situation 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:48.070 is that you would read all three 00:04:48.080 --> 00:04:49.830 translations or however many are out 00:04:49.840 --> 00:04:52.629 there and then compare and contrast and 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:55.430 decide for yourself which would be best. 00:04:55.440 --> 00:04:58.230 But since Kalupahana kind of is 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:00.790 sympathetic towards Terravada or has a 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.749 reputation for being that way, then that 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:05.749 would be the translation I would read if 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:08.469 I were going to read a translation of 00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:12.230 Nagarja's Mula Majama carak. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:13.430 And so I'm just going to move on to the 00:05:13.440 --> 00:05:14.710 next question. This is from the 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:18.790 protoseud. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:20.629 And the protoseud 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:23.510 posted this question recently, but under 00:05:23.520 --> 00:05:26.950 Q&A number 194. 00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:29.350 So, 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.230 um I mean you can post questions under 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:34.550 old videos, not the most recent one, but 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:36.950 like videos from a year ago if you want 00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:39.909 to, but you should do that only if you 00:05:39.919 --> 00:05:42.310 really are kind of lukewarm with regard 00:05:42.320 --> 00:05:44.710 to getting an answer because I don't 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.469 always notice questions that are posted 00:05:48.479 --> 00:05:50.950 under old videos. Usually when I'm 00:05:50.960 --> 00:05:54.310 collating the list of the questions, I 00:05:54.320 --> 00:05:57.590 just go to the most recent uh videos, 00:05:57.600 --> 00:06:00.230 you know, the most recent Q&A videos on 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:04.150 Bitshoot, YouTube, and uh Rumble. And 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:07.990 then I also check the uh the Discord 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.309 server and occasionally I'll check 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.430 emails or other things. if I can recall, 00:06:13.440 --> 00:06:14.710 you know, if it's still fresh in my 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:16.550 memory that I remember seeing somebody 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.189 asking a question through email, I'll go 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.590 there and check that too. But sometimes 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:24.479 it slips my mind. 00:06:24.489 --> 00:06:25.110 [clears throat and cough] 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.350 So anyways, getting back to the 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:30.230 protoseudo monk, [snorts] he says, "How 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:32.870 come you didn't learn fluent Burmese 00:06:32.880 --> 00:06:36.950 despite being in Burma for 30 years? I I 00:06:36.960 --> 00:06:39.189 thought it would be a worthy investment 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:41.270 as the language gives you access to 00:06:41.280 --> 00:06:44.230 domat talks books and to speak with the 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:46.150 people. Well, that's that's kind of the 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:48.150 reason I didn't want to learn Burmese. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:50.469 Didn't want to learn Burmese. Um, when I 00:06:50.479 --> 00:06:53.749 first went to Burma, I had like this 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:56.070 ideal of not learning Burmese at all, 00:06:56.080 --> 00:06:58.550 just so I wouldn't be wasting my time 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.589 conversing with the Hoy Paloy, so to 00:07:01.599 --> 00:07:03.990 speak. You know, it's like I was going 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.629 to learn Poly and then the only people I 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.510 could really communicate with would be 00:07:09.520 --> 00:07:11.430 people that know English, of course, but 00:07:11.440 --> 00:07:15.350 also like scholars who are fluent in 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:16.870 Poly, 00:07:16.880 --> 00:07:19.350 but it just was not realistic. I found 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:21.749 that it is pretty much necessary if 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:23.830 you're going to be wandering around like 00:07:23.840 --> 00:07:27.510 alone without a babysitter, 00:07:27.520 --> 00:07:29.110 then you pretty much have to to speak 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.950 the language. not necessarily with 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:32.629 complete fluency but enough to get the 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:35.270 point across and to understand the point 00:07:35.280 --> 00:07:37.110 when somebody else is trying to get the 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:40.790 point across to you in Burmese. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:42.790 So I mean I wasn't I didn't live in 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.550 Burma for 30 years. I was a monk for 30 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.110 years, but I spent maybe 24 years 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:49.670 approximately in Burma. And the rest of 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:52.390 the the rest of the time was spent in 00:07:52.400 --> 00:07:56.230 America and Indonesia mostly 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.350 with a little bit of time in India, 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.670

Japan, and Thailand 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:04.150 and plus a few airports like in in 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.749 Malaysia, that kind of thing. So, let's 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:10.230 see here. How come you didn't learn 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.390 fluent Burmese despite being in Burma 00:08:12.400 --> 00:08:14.550 for 30 years? I thought it would be a 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.629 worthy investment as the lang language 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:18.550 gives you access to domat talks. Yeah, 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.110 but they're Burmese domat talks. See, 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:24.629 that's one thing that a lot of people 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:27.670 don't fully appreciate is that the 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:30.469 Burmese have like a medieval attitude 00:08:30.479 --> 00:08:33.909 towards terabara Buddhism. And so it's 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:37.509 like you have 100% stainless steel faith 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:39.509 that everything in the books is true. In 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:41.589 fact, the commentaries are more reliable 00:08:41.599 --> 00:08:44.710 than the poly texts themselves because 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.550 if the poly if in the poly text the 00:08:46.560 --> 00:08:48.790 Buddhist says red, but then the 00:08:48.800 --> 00:08:50.870 commentary says when the Buddhist said 00:08:50.880 --> 00:08:54.150 red here, he really meant blue. If you 00:08:54.160 --> 00:08:55.750 don't read the commentaries, you don't 00:08:55.760 --> 00:08:57.750 know that that when the Buddha said red, 00:08:57.760 --> 00:09:01.269 he really meant blue. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.630 So the Burmese are very dogmatic, 00:09:04.640 --> 00:09:07.190 very little imagination. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.350 Like in this case in particular with 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:12.710 regard to dharma, you know, it's like 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.030 insight they really don't have a whole 00:09:15.040 --> 00:09:17.190 lot of use for. It's like um I've said 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:19.990 before that if a Burmese seat even like 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.910 a meditation master if his personal 00:09:23.920 --> 00:09:27.269 experiences differ from what it says in 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:29.110 the text even in the commentarial 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.990 tradition he will defer to the 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.070 commentarial tradition over his own 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.190 personal experiences. And so once you've 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.389 heard a few Burmese domat talks you've 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.230 pretty much heard them all. there's 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.110 really not a whole lot of diversity with 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:49.590 regard to perspective. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:53.990 So that was one reason why um I mean I 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.389 should I should mention that when I was 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:58.710 a newcomer in Burma, I met an Australian 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.829 monk who was fluent in Burmese. And he 00:10:01.839 --> 00:10:04.230

told me that you cannot hope to 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:07.350 understand Dhama unless you are fluent 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:09.670 in Burmese. Because if you're not fluent 00:10:09.680 --> 00:10:12.230 in Burmese, you can't read the 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.750 Naththeas. And the naththeas are like 00:10:15.760 --> 00:10:18.550 word by word like sort of like 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:19.990 commentaries although it's not an 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:23.190 atagata in poly you know it' be like a a 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:25.509 tikka or an anu tikka something like 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:27.590 that you know it'd be like a sub sub sub 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:30.550 commentary and it's just like sort of 00:10:30.560 --> 00:10:32.790 like interlinear bibles where it has you 00:10:32.800 --> 00:10:35.269 know the the New Testament Greek and the 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:37.670 literal translation and then sort of a 00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:39.430 smoother translation on the other side 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:42.389 of the page or the other page the facing 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:44.550 page. age. 00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:47.829 Um, I mean, it's just once you become 00:10:47.839 --> 00:10:49.990 familiar with the Burmese interpretation 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.630 of Dharma, you realize that you're 00:10:54.640 --> 00:10:56.069 you're just going to get Burmese 00:10:56.079 --> 00:10:58.069 tradition. 00:10:58.079 --> 00:11:00.949 So, the Burmese 00:11:00.959 --> 00:11:03.509 language aspect, I mean, just learn 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:07.670 Poly. I mean once you you you learn pi 00:11:07.680 --> 00:11:09.509 well enough to read the text in the 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:11.910 original poly assuming that poly is the 00:11:11.920 --> 00:11:14.790 original language you don't need Burmese 00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:17.509 interpretations you don't need western 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:19.430 interpretations you can just read the 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.030 text for yourself and then if you have 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:26.389 enough wisdom or intuition you can have 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.470 a little faith in your own wisdom and or 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.910 intuition to kind of make sense of it 00:11:31.920 --> 00:11:33.430 yourself 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:34.949 because you're going to find that if you 00:11:34.959 --> 00:11:37.590 got like any capacity for critical 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.750 thought and independent thinking, you're 00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:41.910 not just going to believe whatever the 00:11:41.920 --> 00:11:43.590 commentary says. Sometimes you're going 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:45.910 to find out that the commentaries are 00:11:45.920 --> 00:11:47.750 just guessing and they don't admit that 00:11:47.760 --> 00:11:51.269 they're guessing. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.550 So, there is that. I mean, it's not 00:11:54.560 --> 00:11:57.430 necessary to understand Dhamma to know 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:59.750 Burmese. I mean, the Dhamma talks are 00:11:59.760 --> 00:12:01.829 just boring. I mean, some of the only 00:12:01.839 --> 00:12:04.470 times that I've ever been just bored as 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:07.190 a monk has been when I'm sitting there 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:09.750 sitting through some long- winded 00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:12.470 Burmese Seattle giving a dama talk 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.150 because I mean there's there's nothing 00:12:14.160 --> 00:12:17.110 new in these domat talks. You've heard 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:21.110 it all hundreds of times before. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.190 But then speaking with the people, I 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:26.470 mean that's not necessarily a good thing 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:28.389 either for a strict monk. you're 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.230 supposed to just go alone like the horn 00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:32.949 of the rhinoceros. There's at least one 00:12:32.959 --> 00:12:34.710 suta, I think it's in the Majimminaya, 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:36.470 that says, I think it's the greater 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:38.949 discourse on voidness that says when a 00:12:38.959 --> 00:12:40.470 monk talks to lay people, he should talk 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:43.269 to them just enough to politely ask them 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.150 to go away. 00:12:46.160 --> 00:12:48.629 So, as a young monk that was very 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.310 idealistic and wanting to be very 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:52.629 strict, I took that seriously. So, I 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:54.870 didn't want to learn fluent colloquial 00:12:54.880 --> 00:12:57.829 Burmese, but also, and this was a big 00:12:57.839 --> 00:13:00.389 one for me, if you are fluent in 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.870 Burmese, you're going to be recruited to 00:13:02.880 --> 00:13:05.990 be an interpreter for Seattle's that, 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.110 you know, they're they're trying to give 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.870 a dama talk to, you know, there might be 00:13:08.880 --> 00:13:10.710 a few Westerners in the audience or like 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:12.069 a personal conversation with a 00:13:12.079 --> 00:13:14.710 westerner. You get recruited to be the 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.670 interpreter. And I really didn't want to 00:13:17.680 --> 00:13:21.030 do that either, especially if you're 00:13:21.040 --> 00:13:24.150 like translating a Dhamma talk and the 00:13:24.160 --> 00:13:26.069 the Seattle that you're that you're 00:13:26.079 --> 00:13:29.430 interpreting for has this sort of 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:33.910 medieval interpretation of Dharma, 00:13:33.920 --> 00:13:36.310 very dogmatic, just slavishly following 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:38.310 the commentaries, even if the original 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.949 poly says something different. 00:13:40.959 --> 00:13:44.470 Then in a way, I mean, it it would put 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:47.030 me into a kind of bind where I'm having 00:13:47.040 --> 00:13:48.550 to tell people with a straight face 00:13:48.560 --> 00:13:51.670 stuff that I don't even believe.

00:13:51.680 --> 00:13:55.829 So, it was just more convenient for me 00:13:55.839 --> 00:13:58.629 to be a kind of recluse, go alone like 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:01.269 the horn of the rhinoceros, know Burmese 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:03.030 well enough to get the point across. 00:14:03.040 --> 00:14:05.030 Like, I spoke Burmese about as well as 00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:07.670 like a seven-year-old Burmese kid, you I 00:14:07.680 --> 00:14:09.509 could I could say like the standard 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:11.110 stuff, but talking about anything 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.990 unusual like fixing cars, that kind of 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.230 thing, like I didn't know the jargon, 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:17.590 you know? I don't know what the Burmese 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.389 word is for carburetor, even though cars 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:25.254 don't have carburetors anymore. 00:14:25.264 --> 00:14:27.030 [sighs] So, I guess I answer that 00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:29.030 question 00:14:29.040 --> 00:14:30.949 fairly 00:14:30.959 --> 00:14:35.350 enough, I guess. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:37.509 Hm. This stuff is actually good. It's 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:41.189 It's like a It's like orange, pineapple, 00:14:41.199 --> 00:14:46.215 banana juice. 00:14:46.225 --> 00:14:47.590 [sighs] 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.230 Let's see here. So, I think I answered 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.470 that question 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:53.990 relatively completely. So, I'm just 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.670 going to move on to the next question. 00:14:55.680 --> 00:14:57.670 This is kind of a strange one. This is 00:14:57.680 --> 00:14:59.509 from the Sabotur. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.990 And the sabatur says, "How would you 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:04.790 compare the hells described in Buddhist 00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:08.629 texts to the tortures and horrors of the 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.430 Roman Empire and medieval Europe?" You 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.110 might as well throw in ancient India, 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:16.550 too. There was some really awful like 00:15:16.560 --> 00:15:19.350 public slow [snorts] executions that 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:21.829 they would do in ancient India that I 00:15:21.839 --> 00:15:24.389 mean, I'm sure the Roman Empire in 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:27.110 medieval Europe really couldn't really 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:30.550 compete. you know, they might tie, but I 00:15:30.560 --> 00:15:31.990 don't think they they cope with anything 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.710 worse than I mean, some of the tortures 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:36.790 like public executions in ancient in the 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:38.949 Buddha's time, you know, they'd drill a 00:15:38.959 --> 00:15:40.389 hole in the top of someone's head and 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.629 then just pour in molten lead or they, 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.430 you know, like flay them alive. I guess 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.189 the Persians were really into that 00:15:47.199 --> 00:15:49.670 skinning people alive stuff. They were 00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:53.030 doing that in ancient India, too. 00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:54.550 So, I mean, that kind of brings it a 00:15:54.560 --> 00:15:56.870 little closer to home. You got hells 00:15:56.880 --> 00:15:58.629 described in the Buddhist text compared 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.590 to the reality of what was going on in 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.389 public executions and torture chambers 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.389 in the Buddhist time in the Ganges 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:09.670 Valley. 00:16:09.680 --> 00:16:11.670 So I guess some of the main differences 00:16:11.680 --> 00:16:14.389 is like the the the hells described in 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:16.790 Buddhist texts. I mean that's that 00:16:16.800 --> 00:16:18.710 applies to everybody, you know, and it's 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.470 just hot just glowing red iron is like 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:25.590 and just I mean just heat and glowing 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.230 red iron are like two of the main images 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.350 you get of Buddhist hells 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:33.590 and you know in the Roman Empire, 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:37.590 medieval Europe like 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.949 at the the wrong end of the the the like 00:16:40.959 --> 00:16:43.749 the judicial or criminal system in India 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:47.430 in the Buddhist time. I mean, you get 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:50.150 like a certain amount of torture, but it 00:16:50.160 --> 00:16:53.910 wasn't like from birth to death, and it 00:16:53.920 --> 00:16:57.350 wasn't always hot. And of course, it was 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.829 humans torturing you instead of demons. 00:17:01.839 --> 00:17:05.750 But yeah, I mean the the tortures and 00:17:05.760 --> 00:17:07.590 horrors of the Roman Empire, medieval 00:17:07.600 --> 00:17:10.710 Europe, like ancient Persia, ancient 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.069 North India. I mean, first of all, it 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:17.909 was very temporary and it applied only 00:17:17.919 --> 00:17:22.549 to a small fraction of the population. 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:24.710 Whereas in the hells, you're being 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.909 tortured this 247 00:17:27.919 --> 00:17:29.990 at least to some degree. I assume you 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.510 get a little bit of rest. get rest 00:17:31.520 --> 00:17:33.510 periods every now and then, but still 00:17:33.520 --> 00:17:37.110 it's hot and you can't die of thirst or 00:17:37.120 --> 00:17:41.430 of heat stroke or anything like that. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.830 So yeah, I mean it's just more 00:17:43.840 --> 00:17:47.350 consistent in in the Buddhist hells than 00:17:47.360 --> 00:17:49.590 it is or the Christian hells for that 00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:53.029 matter than it would be for just some 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.390 criminal in ancient Rome or ancient 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.710 Persia or ancient India or medieval 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:03.029 Europe,

00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:07.190 even Renaissance Europe under the uh 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:11.350 the Holy Inquisition like in Spain. 00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:13.350 So, I'm sure there's very sophisticated 00:18:13.360 --> 00:18:17.127 tortures nowadays, too. 00:18:17.137 --> 00:18:17.750 [sighs and gasps] 00:18:17.760 --> 00:18:19.510 Yeah, but the main comparison is way 00:18:19.520 --> 00:18:21.909 more consistent in hell. And heat is 00:18:21.919 --> 00:18:25.350 always a factor. Always a factor. Plus, 00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:27.270 no matter how much you get tortured, you 00:18:27.280 --> 00:18:29.270 just get better. 00:18:29.280 --> 00:18:31.669 And it can last for millions of years. 00:18:31.679 --> 00:18:34.710 According to the Buddhist cosmology or 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:36.470 mythology or whatever, it can last 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:40.870 billions of years of just 247 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.390 ickiness, 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:45.830 which is way beyond what any human 00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:50.549 torturer could hope to manage. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:51.909 So, I guess I'm just going to move on. 00:18:51.919 --> 00:18:54.070 Next question. This is from Airrain. Oh, 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:55.750 I got to get the I got to get something 00:18:55.760 --> 00:18:59.110 for this. I got to get a an aid. Let's 00:18:59.120 --> 00:19:02.150 see. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:07.669 Where is it? No. 00:19:07.679 --> 00:19:12.310 Where is it? Oh, here it is. 00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:14.230 It was right on top of the pile. I was 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:15.830 like looking underneath it trying to 00:19:15.840 --> 00:19:17.830 find it. 00:19:17.840 --> 00:19:22.870 Okay. So, Aarin says, "Can you read the 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.990 Buddha's last words before he died and 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.830 give your perspective on how this 00:19:27.840 --> 00:19:30.470 applies to each man today in modern 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:33.430 times?" Well, this is the little 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:34.789 notebook that I used to write down 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:36.789 quotes from books that I didn't own but 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.549 was reading. You know, something that I 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.150 saw that was really good. I'd write it 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.710 down in this notebook back when I was a 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.789 monk. And right here on the front page 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.870 right there, probably can't see it. It's 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:48.710 it's all kind of dirty and everything, 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:51.190 but it's the Buddha's last words as they 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:55.270 were recorded in Dean on Dean Kaya 00:19:55.280 --> 00:19:57.909 number 16, the Mahaparin Banana Suta, 00:19:57.919 --> 00:19:59.750 which is all about the death, the 00:19:59.760 --> 00:20:04.070 Buddha's final days and passing away, 00:20:04.080 --> 00:20:08.390 leaving the samsara behind, so to speak. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:11.753 And so his last words were

[snorts] 00:20:11.763 --> 00:20:13.430 [clears throat] 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:15.830 amy 00:20:15.840 --> 00:20:21.510 see amiadama 00:20:21.520 --> 00:20:23.510 sa. 00:20:23.520 --> 00:20:25.750 So the first part is Biku's pay 00:20:25.760 --> 00:20:27.510 attention. I will speak to you. I will I 00:20:27.520 --> 00:20:30.390 will um like 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:34.070 advise you, admonish you, exhort. Exhort 00:20:34.080 --> 00:20:36.789 is a better word. And then the the main 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.870 the main teaching he gives is considered 00:20:38.880 --> 00:20:46.070 to be his last words before he dies. 00:20:46.080 --> 00:20:49.830 And means subject to decay. 00:20:49.840 --> 00:20:52.310 Sankara is any compounded thing. So the 00:20:52.320 --> 00:20:55.510 first sentence is compounded things or 00:20:55.520 --> 00:20:59.270 conditioned things are subject to decay 00:20:59.280 --> 00:21:04.630 and then sa which means work out your 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:06.789 let's see what would be a good 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.549 translation of this sa means just 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:14.070 practice mainly practice with 00:21:14.080 --> 00:21:18.789 uncloudedness of mind 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.110 and I mean as a monk I would I mean 00:21:21.120 --> 00:21:23.909 that's common admonishment like someone 00:21:23.919 --> 00:21:26.950 asks you to be their teacher or like 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:29.990 your preceptor or something then you 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.669 know after they after they make their 00:21:31.679 --> 00:21:33.590 little chant according to the formula 00:21:33.600 --> 00:21:35.990 you say 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.510 or if it's one person 00:21:39.520 --> 00:21:41.830 which is you know just practice with 00:21:41.840 --> 00:21:45.750 diligence. 00:21:45.760 --> 00:21:49.350 So, let's see. Give my perspective on 00:21:49.360 --> 00:21:51.430 how this applies to each man today in 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:52.789 modern times. Well, it doesn't really 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:55.590 apply really to each man today in modern 00:21:55.600 --> 00:21:59.270 times because most modern men really 00:21:59.280 --> 00:22:02.310 they're not spiritually inclined. You 00:22:02.320 --> 00:22:04.149 know, it's just they're just going to do 00:22:04.159 --> 00:22:06.390 what everyone else around them is doing 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.590 and that's good enough. Well, maybe it's 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:12.549 not good enough, but still. 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.669 So, let's see. Dama sankara I mean 00:22:15.679 --> 00:22:17.190 that's something that's everyone should 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.230 keep in mind that everything is subject 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:23.510 to decay you know everything everything 00:22:23.520 --> 00:22:28.390 that has a beginning has an end neo 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:29.990 so I mean that's just an important thing 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.390 for everyone to bear in mind you know 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:34.710 it's like just you should at least 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:36.870 prepare yourself somewhat you know you 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:38.630 buy a cute little puppy just remind 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:40.950 yourself you know around 15 years from 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:44.310 now this puppy's going to die and like 00:22:44.320 --> 00:22:46.710 anybody that you know, you know, it's 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:49.830 like we're not immortal. 00:22:49.840 --> 00:22:51.430 Everyone's going to die eventually. And 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:53.750 it's just remind yourself that you're 00:22:53.760 --> 00:22:57.190 going to die someday. It helps you to be 00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.590 somewhat prepared when that day finally 00:22:59.600 --> 00:23:01.830 comes. You know, it helps you to be at 00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:04.310 least a little more ready because you've 00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:05.830 been considering it. You're not just in 00:23:05.840 --> 00:23:09.590 denial over it. And this apamandina sa 00:23:09.600 --> 00:23:11.590 da I mean it could be interpreted as 00:23:11.600 --> 00:23:14.149 just don't waste time 00:23:14.159 --> 00:23:17.830 which would be kind of a a good advice 00:23:17.840 --> 00:23:21.510 to give to people in general although 00:23:21.520 --> 00:23:24.549 some people would think that watching 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:27.270 Tik Tok videos or playing video games is 00:23:27.280 --> 00:23:29.270 not a waste of time. But I guess that's 00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:31.350 for each person to decide for themselves 00:23:31.360 --> 00:23:32.789 at least once they get they get old 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.390 enough that their parents don't decide 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:39.270 for them. 00:23:39.280 --> 00:23:40.870 So 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:42.870 how this applies to each man today in 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:45.029 modern times? Well, everything is 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.510 impermanent. That's that applies to 00:23:47.520 --> 00:23:50.470 everyone in all times. Ancient, 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:53.750 medieval, modern, future. Yeah, it's 00:23:53.760 --> 00:23:57.029 just everything is impermanent. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:58.789 So, you know, that's it's good to bear 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:01.430 in mind, especially with regard to your 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:03.110 own impermanence. 00:24:03.120 --> 00:24:05.510 I mean, don't just dwell on it and mope 00:24:05.520 --> 00:24:08.310 over it, but at least be prepared. You 00:24:08.320 --> 00:24:10.470 know, just you're going to have to to 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:13.430 face your final moment at some point. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:15.269 And some people would say that is the 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:16.549 most important moment of your life 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.549 because that helps to determine like 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:20.950 your bearing what direction you're going 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:23.029 to be pointing, you know, the moment 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:27.206 after you die. 00:24:27.216 --> 00:24:27.830 [sighs]

00:24:27.840 --> 00:24:30.950 and sad. I mean, it can be interpreted 00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:33.350 in different ways by different people, 00:24:33.360 --> 00:24:35.669 but just make the most of the time 00:24:35.679 --> 00:24:37.909 you've got 00:24:37.919 --> 00:24:39.350 that's essentially what he was saying. 00:24:39.360 --> 00:24:40.789 It's like, you know, your time is 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:42.630 limited, so make the most of what time 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:46.549 you've got. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.029 So, I guess that's 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:51.430 that's about my best shot at giving a 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:54.950 piffy interpretation. [snorts] 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:56.390 So, I'm going to move on to Arin's 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:58.149 second question, which for some reason 00:24:58.159 --> 00:25:01.190 is in quotes. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:03.750 So, I guess Arin is quoting somebody and 00:25:03.760 --> 00:25:07.110 I not sure who Arrain has quoted, but 00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:08.789 the quote is, "Have you ever lost 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:11.510 interest in the things you held sacred?" 00:25:11.520 --> 00:25:13.430 And yeah, I've I've done that a lot of 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.909 times. I mean, I haven't necessarily 00:25:15.919 --> 00:25:18.310 stopped considering them sacred, but 00:25:18.320 --> 00:25:21.430 like especially like I I can become 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.750 somewhat depressed at times. When I was 00:25:23.760 --> 00:25:26.789 a monk, I got relatively seriously 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:29.669 depressed at least twice. 00:25:29.679 --> 00:25:33.510 And it's it's in my case, it it kind of 00:25:33.520 --> 00:25:35.830 runs in my family. So just from like an 00:25:35.840 --> 00:25:37.750 empirical scientific point of view, I 00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:39.029 could say there's like a genetic 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:41.909 component. Both sides of my family, they 00:25:41.919 --> 00:25:44.950 would get depressed sometimes. And I 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.070 found that in my case, you know, I got 00:25:48.080 --> 00:25:49.830 more and more resistance to it just 00:25:49.840 --> 00:25:51.510 because I could see the warning signs of 00:25:51.520 --> 00:25:53.430 it and everything. I' I'd learn over 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:55.029 time, you know, how to deal with it when 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:56.950 it's just trying to get its foot in the 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:58.870 door so that it doesn't get its foot in 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:01.350 the door so easily. But it's like my 00:26:01.360 --> 00:26:03.510 consciousness expands and contracts, you 00:26:03.520 --> 00:26:05.029 know, kind of like the Buddhist cosmos 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:08.789 except at a higher rate. And when my 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:12.390 consciousness is expanded, then this 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:14.470 meditation is seems almost effortless. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:16.710 You wonder how people how you could ever 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:19.430 have difficulty meditating. like you're 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:21.430 really interested in dharma and just 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:24.310 really interested in things in general. 00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:26.230 But then when my mind would contract and 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:28.310 there doesn't seem to be any like 00:26:28.320 --> 00:26:30.549 obvious outward cause and effect for it. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:32.310 Just sometimes it's more expanded, 00:26:32.320 --> 00:26:34.070 sometimes it's more contracted. I'm kind 00:26:34.080 --> 00:26:35.909 of like in an intermediate stage right 00:26:35.919 --> 00:26:38.549 now. But when it's contracted, 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:41.110 meditation is almost impossible. It's 00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:43.269 like trying to balance a marble on the 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:45.110 tip of a sharpened pencil. I mean it 00:26:45.120 --> 00:26:47.350 just I mean theoretically it's possible 00:26:47.360 --> 00:26:49.669 but it just doesn't work very well at 00:26:49.679 --> 00:26:52.390 all and then I'm just lose interest in 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:54.710 meditation, lose interest in dharma, 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:56.470 lose interest in music, don't want to 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:59.190 listen to music then just lose interest 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:01.590 in pretty much everything. 00:27:01.600 --> 00:27:04.470 So at times like that especially I have 00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:06.630 lost interest in the things that I that 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:09.110 I have held sacred. I mean, I can still 00:27:09.120 --> 00:27:11.590 acknowledge that it's like a sacred 00:27:11.600 --> 00:27:14.470 truth or whatever, but still it's just 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.430 like your ability to appreciate it goes 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:20.710 way down. So that I can have a certain 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:23.909 amount of sympathy for certain kinds of 00:27:23.919 --> 00:27:26.549 normies who really don't have any 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:29.190 interest in spirituality at all just 00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.070 because they just never get to that like 00:27:32.080 --> 00:27:35.269 expansive enough stage or if when they 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.230 are in an expansive stage they'll use 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:40.070 that expansiveness towards something 00:27:40.080 --> 00:27:42.070 else just a deeper appreciation of music 00:27:42.080 --> 00:27:46.149 or whatever. 00:27:46.159 --> 00:27:49.510 So yes, I have lost interest at times in 00:27:49.520 --> 00:27:51.830 the things I have held sacred. With 00:27:51.840 --> 00:27:54.710 regard to losing interest permanently in 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:56.549 something that I used to consider 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:58.389 sacred, I can't really think of anything 00:27:58.399 --> 00:28:02.789 offhand. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.630 Yeah. I mean, I have maybe a slightly 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:07.350 lower opinion of certain scriptures than 00:28:07.360 --> 00:28:11.590 I used to. 00:28:11.600 --> 00:28:13.909 So, I would imagine that

there have been 00:28:13.919 --> 00:28:16.630 things that I have held sacred that I no 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.630 longer hold sacred even in my most 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.630 expansive moments. Unless you're so 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:23.029 expansive that everything is sacred. You 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:25.590 know, everything is perfect. 00:28:25.600 --> 00:28:28.710 Even suffering is perfect. That kind of 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:31.269 thing. I mean, I've had I've had states 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:33.990 like that also. at least where you can 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:35.110 not necessarily where you're 00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:36.710 experiencing it directly but at least 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:39.430 you have some appreciation for the idea 00:28:39.440 --> 00:28:42.549 that everything is already perfect as it 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:44.389 is 00:28:44.399 --> 00:28:47.830 kind of like Shakespeare's the tragedy 00:28:47.840 --> 00:28:50.230 of King Lear is considered to be a great 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:52.630 masterpiece even though it's like most 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:55.029 of the main characters all die gruesome 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:57.190 deaths and people are just going insane 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:00.870 with with just misery it's just they've 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.750 said that King Lear is just too too 00:29:03.760 --> 00:29:06.389 immense to be played effectively on a 00:29:06.399 --> 00:29:08.789 stage. And I guess the immensity is just 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:10.710 the immensity of just misery and 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:14.149 insanity 00:29:14.159 --> 00:29:18.230 and evil. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:21.029 But it's like a masterpiece, which is 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:22.230 kind of the point I was trying to get 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:25.029 to. It's like you can look at this world 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:26.549 from a similar point of view. As long as 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:29.190 you're not considering this world to be 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:31.990 ultimate reality, then this world also 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.909 is a kind of dream or a play or 00:29:33.919 --> 00:29:37.110 something where even like the icky parts 00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:42.870 can be considered perfect in a way 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:45.510 because nobody's really being, you know, 00:29:45.520 --> 00:29:47.990 it's not really really happening to any 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.630 real beings in a sense or it's like Nee 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:56.549 Curly Baba up there on the right There 00:29:56.559 --> 00:29:59.190 there's Ram Doss has this story about 00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:03.110 where at the time it was Bangladesh this 00:30:03.120 --> 00:30:06.070 is like 1971 I think about early very 00:30:06.080 --> 00:30:08.950 early '7s and Bangladesh is splitting 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:11.029 away from Pakistan. Bangladesh used to 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:14.310 be East Pakistan, but they were kind of 00:30:14.320 --> 00:30:17.110 getting screwed over by West Pakistan

00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:18.870 where most of the money was and 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.269 everything. And so, you know, they were 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:22.630 just being treated sort of like a 00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:25.510 colony. And so, they just fought for 00:30:25.520 --> 00:30:27.350 their own independence. I don't know how 00:30:27.360 --> 00:30:28.710 hard they had to fight, but there was a 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:31.350 lot of rioting and and misery and stuff 00:30:31.360 --> 00:30:34.149 going on. And so Ramdas who was in India 00:30:34.159 --> 00:30:38.070 at the time he went to his guru Maharaji 00:30:38.080 --> 00:30:41.029 there he is and and said he wanted to 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:43.990 volunteer like driving an ambulance. He 00:30:44.000 --> 00:30:46.789 had like an old Volkswagen mini bus. He 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:49.350 wanted to recruit that as like an 00:30:49.360 --> 00:30:52.230 ambulance and go to Bangladesh and try 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:54.230 to help in any way he could. And 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:57.510 Maharaji who in some people's opinion 00:30:57.520 --> 00:30:59.750 was a fully enlightened being. He got 00:30:59.760 --> 00:31:02.630 kind of like this sad look on his face 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.669 and he says to Ramdas, "Don't you see 00:31:05.679 --> 00:31:08.470 that it's all perfect? 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:12.310 It's all God subhu 00:31:12.320 --> 00:31:15.750 all the manifestation of God." 00:31:15.760 --> 00:31:17.590 And I'm making one hell of a digression 00:31:17.600 --> 00:31:20.389 from the actual question here though. 00:31:20.399 --> 00:31:21.909 Have you ever lost interest in the 00:31:21.919 --> 00:31:24.230 things you has held sacred? And yeah, 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:26.230 it's like every time I'd go through like 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:29.269 a contracted phase in consciousness, the 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:31.590 things that I could acknowledge as 00:31:31.600 --> 00:31:33.830 sacred just aren't as interesting 00:31:33.840 --> 00:31:37.269 anymore. But then also just as you're 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:39.509 like intellectually developing or you 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:41.590 know and then some of the things that 00:31:41.600 --> 00:31:45.350 just through naive and idealism you held 00:31:45.360 --> 00:31:47.029 them as sacred at one time and then 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:49.350 finally you start thinking well actually 00:31:49.360 --> 00:31:52.070 that text is lar is likely to be a 00:31:52.080 --> 00:31:55.750 forgery this kind of stuff. So yeah, it 00:31:55.760 --> 00:31:58.789 has happened. But I don't think with 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:01.909 regard to anything really important. 00:32:01.919 --> 00:32:04.070 It's just as you get wiser, it just more 00:32:04.080 --> 00:32:06.870 there's more and more sacredness instead 00:32:06.880 --> 00:32:10.789 of less and less. 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:13.430 And I'm just going to uh go on to the 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:15.509 next question. And this is kind of a 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:17.830 tough one. I have to admit this is this 00:32:17.840 --> 00:32:20.230 is a tough question. This is from 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:23.430 Thoughtf Fog. and he says, "Longtime 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.509 watcher, recently ran into some money. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.590 I'm going back to school, but I still 00:32:29.600 --> 00:32:32.549 want to end my life prematurely. 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:35.750 Deal with these thoughts every day. I'm 00:32:35.760 --> 00:32:39.590 30. Life is a gray, lonely smoke cloud 00:32:39.600 --> 00:32:42.870 type feeling for me most days. How did 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:45.830 the Buddha give advice to overcome this? 00:32:45.840 --> 00:32:47.909 It's like you think maybe some money 00:32:47.919 --> 00:32:51.509 would help, but no." Yeah. Well, 00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:53.830 starting with an easy part. Yeah, just 00:32:53.840 --> 00:32:55.350 making lots of money is not going to 00:32:55.360 --> 00:32:58.870 make you happy. I mean, just look 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:01.669 Michael Jackson for example. He was 00:33:01.679 --> 00:33:07.029 fabulously fabulously rich, famous, 00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:10.950 but I mean he was a miserable person. Or 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:13.750 there some of those, what was it? J. 00:33:13.760 --> 00:33:16.630 Paul Getty, you know, some of these like 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:18.470 super rich people from a hundred years 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:20.070 ago. 00:33:20.080 --> 00:33:22.549 I mean, they weren't happy either. I 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:24.630 mean, some Roman emperors, the most, you 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.549 know, they'd be arguably the richest, 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:28.230 most powerful person in the world. Some 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:31.110 of them were just miserable humans. At 00:33:31.120 --> 00:33:32.710 the very least, they got the sword of 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:34.470 Damocles hanging over their head all the 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:35.909 time. They're always looking over their 00:33:35.919 --> 00:33:38.470 shoulder for an assassin. 00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:41.509 So, just making money is no guarantee of 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:44.870 happiness. In fact, um there's a reason 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:47.269 why some of the wisest spiritual 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:50.389 teachers in human history, including God 00:33:50.399 --> 00:33:52.950 Buddha and Jesus of Nazareth, 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:55.190 recommended that people who seriously 00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:58.070 want eternal happiness 00:33:58.080 --> 00:34:02.630 should get rid of their money. 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:06.470 Desire is the cause of all suffering. 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:08.790 But let's kind of get higher up in this 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:11.430 question where it's tougher. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.149 Let's see. I guess the actual question 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:15.990 is how did the Buddha give advice to 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:18.950 overcome this? And from a Buddhist point

00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:23.990 of view, it's like just ending your life 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.710 prematurely doesn't solve anything 00:34:26.720 --> 00:34:28.950 because 00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:31.990 it's it's you just get reborn again. You 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:35.829 know, there is rebirth. You it's like 00:34:35.839 --> 00:34:38.069 you don't eliminate your problems. you 00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:39.990 just postpone them and maybe add another 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.389 problem with the mental states of when 00:34:42.399 --> 00:34:50.310 you prematurely self self uh terminated. 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:51.990 So it's something you have to face and 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.869 learn. You know it's like groundhog day. 00:34:54.879 --> 00:34:56.389 You just have to keep going over and 00:34:56.399 --> 00:34:59.990 over again until you get it right. So 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:03.829 postponing it. I mean, I could imagine 00:35:03.839 --> 00:35:06.710 how under certain circumstances, 00:35:06.720 --> 00:35:09.670 life is just so absolutely unbearable 00:35:09.680 --> 00:35:13.349 due to like physical problems or some 00:35:13.359 --> 00:35:16.470 sort of acute external situation where 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:18.390 somebody might just take the easy way 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:21.589 out and think, well, you know, I'll have 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:24.150 at least nine months vacation in some 00:35:24.160 --> 00:35:26.470 woman's belly and then I'll have to go 00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:28.790 through childhood and everything before 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:30.390 I have to start dealing with this [ __ ] 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.910 again. 00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:34.470 So, I mean, that's a choice some people 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:37.349 make, I suppose. 00:35:37.359 --> 00:35:39.349 And then even more people just think, 00:35:39.359 --> 00:35:43.349 well, you only live once, so [ __ ] it. 00:35:43.359 --> 00:35:45.910 But, uh, 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:48.550 see, how did the Buddha give advice to 00:35:48.560 --> 00:35:51.990 overcome this? Well, I mean, partly it's 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:55.750 mindfulness. Just, you know, be present, 00:35:55.760 --> 00:35:57.589 just experience all of it. There's a 00:35:57.599 --> 00:36:01.589 certain heroic courage involved in in 00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:03.829 spiritual practice where you know even 00:36:03.839 --> 00:36:06.069 if something is unpleasant you you you 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:08.870 like examine it closely you with your 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:10.950 mind wide open and do your best to 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:13.670 accept it. You know this is the way it 00:36:13.680 --> 00:36:15.990 is. I mean that's the cause of all 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:17.430 suffering is wanting things to be 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:20.230 different than they are. 00:36:20.240 --> 00:36:22.790 And it seems like thought fog may have 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:24.390 chronic depression just like that 00:36:24.400 --> 00:36:27.715 contracted mental phase that that 00:36:27.725 --> 00:36:29.190 [clears throat] I've talked about just a 00:36:29.200 --> 00:36:31.829 few minutes ago. 00:36:31.839 --> 00:36:33.430 So I can sympathize with that. I mean 00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:35.750 I've gone through phases. I'm not like 00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:39.190 permanently stuck in that situation. 00:36:39.200 --> 00:36:41.670 But I assume that thought fog as human 00:36:41.680 --> 00:36:43.750 beings go is relatively fortunate. Not 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:45.030 just with regard to the money but with 00:36:45.040 --> 00:36:47.349 regard to being exposed to dharma for 00:36:47.359 --> 00:36:50.630 example being relatively intelligent 00:36:50.640 --> 00:36:52.470 you know being able being relatively 00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:54.310 clearminded with regard to a lot of 00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:58.710 things. So 00:36:58.720 --> 00:37:01.990 it would seem the thing to do is just 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:03.910 face the trouble instead of run away 00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:05.589 from it. 00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:07.910 Learn to master it. Learn to deal with 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:10.470 it. you know, learn to accept the 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:12.950 situation or see what problems can be 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:15.109 fixed and then just set about fixing 00:37:15.119 --> 00:37:18.310 them. I mean, one thing you do is just 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:21.190 do a good deed. I learned I I learned 00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:23.270 that like during my times of like 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:25.510 contraction and depression. One thing 00:37:25.520 --> 00:37:27.510 always accomplish something every day. 00:37:27.520 --> 00:37:28.870 You know, even if it's just cleaning 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:31.829 your room or whatever, just never just 00:37:31.839 --> 00:37:33.910 fail to accomplish anything. Never just 00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:36.550 lie in bed, leave everything undone so 00:37:36.560 --> 00:37:38.310 that that day just seems like a waste 00:37:38.320 --> 00:37:41.190 and a stagnation of your life. You know, 00:37:41.200 --> 00:37:42.710 always accomplish something. And if you 00:37:42.720 --> 00:37:44.790 can like you got this money and it's not 00:37:44.800 --> 00:37:47.030 helping you, it's not making you happy, 00:37:47.040 --> 00:37:49.430 then at the very least, I mean, you 00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:51.430 could use that money to help other 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:55.510 people. And I mean, it does 00:37:55.520 --> 00:37:58.550 for most people, it helps you to be 00:37:58.560 --> 00:38:00.150 happier if you make other people 00:38:00.160 --> 00:38:02.150 happier. 00:38:02.160 --> 00:38:04.630 You know, Christmas is coming up. So, 00:38:04.640 --> 00:38:06.550 you know, 00:38:06.560 --> 00:38:08.630 little kids that don't have toys, give 00:38:08.640 --> 00:38:12.550 them toys, be like Santa Claus, 00:38:12.560 --> 00:38:16.069 something like that. 00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:18.470 But with regard to Buddha's advice to 00:38:18.480 -->

00:38:21.270 overcome this, I mean I mean to exist is 00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:24.069 to suffer. So Buddha's advice is to 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:26.230 overcome samsara 00:38:26.240 --> 00:38:27.910 because you're always going to be 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:28.870 there's always going to be a certain 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:31.109 amount of dooka or unhappiness involved 00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:35.829 in life. And he certainly did not advise 00:38:35.839 --> 00:38:37.910 auto termination. 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:42.230 He advised dharma practice. 00:38:42.240 --> 00:38:44.790 Understand why you are unhappy. You know 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:46.150 it's like if you're unhappy it's because 00:38:46.160 --> 00:38:47.990 you desire something. So what do you 00:38:48.000 --> 00:38:50.870 desire? And a lot of people it's just 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:52.550 they never really formulate to 00:38:52.560 --> 00:38:55.270 themselves what it is that they desire. 00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:57.990 And it might be nothing better more than 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:01.190 just anything different from this. I 00:39:01.200 --> 00:39:03.510 just don't like the way things are now. 00:39:03.520 --> 00:39:05.190 So I want them to be different. And 00:39:05.200 --> 00:39:08.950 that's what's causing the suffering. 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:12.630 my woman just the last night. And my 00:39:12.640 --> 00:39:15.910 woman, she's she's wonderful and I love 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:17.510 her dearly, but she has the most 00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:20.230 horrible taste in entertainment shows 00:39:20.240 --> 00:39:21.829 imaginable. 00:39:21.839 --> 00:39:24.470 And last night, she was watching a 00:39:24.480 --> 00:39:29.430 YouTube video of this Instagram thought 00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.230 for for lack of a better term who is 00:39:32.240 --> 00:39:34.390 talking to a therapist. 00:39:34.400 --> 00:39:36.950 And I mean she is just spinning out all 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:41.589 this these problems that most males of 00:39:41.599 --> 00:39:43.109 the species I mean it wouldn't even 00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:45.990 occur to them to to generate problems 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:47.910 for themselves like this. It's like you 00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:51.750 know I'm I'm so depressed because nobody 00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:54.390 understands me. But then I'm afraid that 00:39:54.400 --> 00:39:55.910 if they did understand me they would 00:39:55.920 --> 00:39:58.310 think I was boring and wouldn't like me. 00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:01.109 And it's just on and on and on for like 00:40:01.119 --> 00:40:04.069 an hour straight of her just like 00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:07.109 spewing out this this complicated 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:08.870 reasons and she wish she had a different 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:11.109 childhood with a different vibe and all 00:40:11.119 --> 00:40:14.310 this kind of stuff and it's like it's 00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:20.950 just self-inflicted suffering. 00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:23.510 So anyways, I can't

exactly remember 00:40:23.520 --> 00:40:27.589 what got me onto that little rant, 00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:31.510 but I mean take Dhamma seriously, 00:40:31.520 --> 00:40:34.710 especially the the first noble truth of 00:40:34.720 --> 00:40:39.109 Buddhism to exist is to suffer. And like 00:40:39.119 --> 00:40:44.630 there are no 100% happy people anywhere 00:40:44.640 --> 00:40:47.109 anywhere. I mean, even in heaven, even 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:49.670 up in the heaven realms, the gods up 00:40:49.680 --> 00:40:53.270 there aren't 100% happy. So, just try to 00:40:53.280 --> 00:40:54.870 understand 00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:57.750 your own dooka. I mean, that would be a 00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:01.190 worthy a worthy pursuit. Just trying to 00:41:01.200 --> 00:41:02.870 understand it and sort of make peace 00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:05.750 with it. make peace with some sorrow 00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:08.470 because that's one way you transcend 00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:11.109 some sorrow is just through accepting it 00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:13.510 and making peace with it rather than 00:41:13.520 --> 00:41:15.750 struggling against it. Trying to use 00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:18.230 like cime rouge tactics against your own 00:41:18.240 --> 00:41:21.750 defilements just makes things worse in a 00:41:21.760 --> 00:41:26.550 lot of respects. 00:41:26.560 --> 00:41:28.069 But yeah, the Buddha was giving advice 00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:30.230 to everybody with regard to essentially 00:41:30.240 --> 00:41:31.990 this problem. It's more acute for some 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:33.670 people than for others. 00:41:33.680 --> 00:41:36.630 But to exist is to suffer and samsara is 00:41:36.640 --> 00:41:41.670 uh it's sort of like a a crucible. 00:41:41.680 --> 00:41:44.150 So I mean you just take the shitty cards 00:41:44.160 --> 00:41:46.710 you've been dealt along with some good 00:41:46.720 --> 00:41:49.190 ones and just play them as skillfully as 00:41:49.200 --> 00:41:51.109 you can and just try to understand the 00:41:51.119 --> 00:41:53.510 situation. Try to understand what it is 00:41:53.520 --> 00:41:56.069 that you are craving. 00:41:56.079 --> 00:41:57.750 And you might find that it's something 00:41:57.760 --> 00:42:00.230 ridiculous. You know, some people it's 00:42:00.240 --> 00:42:02.069 like they're they're in a foul mood 00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:03.589 because it's a rainy day and they wanted 00:42:03.599 --> 00:42:07.430 to go out and do something outside and 00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:11.349 it's like all the the desire for it to 00:42:11.359 --> 00:42:13.030 stop raining isn't going to make it stop 00:42:13.040 --> 00:42:15.510 raining. 00:42:15.520 --> 00:42:17.190 So, you just make peace with the fact 00:42:17.200 --> 00:42:18.870 that it's a rainy day and you can't go 00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:20.950 outside unless you have an umbrella or a 00:42:20.960 --> 00:42:24.790 raincoat or something. 00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:28.069 But I do sympathize with thought fog and 00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:32.069 uh I mean just basic dharma is dealing 00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:35.030 with this situation 00:42:35.040 --> 00:42:37.829 uh maybe at a more subliminal chronic 00:42:37.839 --> 00:42:41.270 level than just acute you know just 00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:47.030 wanting to autoterminate. 00:42:47.040 --> 00:42:50.710 But if Buddhism or dharma is correct I 00:42:50.720 --> 00:42:53.349 mean it's not an escape. 00:42:53.359 --> 00:42:54.630 You're gonna have to you're gonna have 00:42:54.640 --> 00:42:57.349 to face whatever is the problem sooner 00:42:57.359 --> 00:43:10.710 or later. So don't waste time. 00:43:10.720 --> 00:43:13.750 This is Siova and Seipad Zedunai here. 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:15.270 And some people could probably guess 00:43:15.280 --> 00:43:17.829 that this would be Seio Zida just from 00:43:17.839 --> 00:43:20.150 the first question. 00:43:20.160 --> 00:43:22.950 He says, "If a war broke out and the 00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:25.109 governments enacted conscription to 00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:27.510 fight, what do you think the best place 00:43:27.520 --> 00:43:30.470 to escape would be?" And then in 00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:32.710 parenthesis, he says, "PS, don't mention 00:43:32.720 --> 00:43:36.069 my nationality on stream." 00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:37.750 because he doesn't want the secret 00:43:37.760 --> 00:43:40.069 police bash bashing in his door or 00:43:40.079 --> 00:43:41.990 something probably. 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:44.470 So if a war broke out and the 00:43:44.480 --> 00:43:46.230 governments enacted conscription to 00:43:46.240 --> 00:43:48.150 fight, what do I think would be the best 00:43:48.160 --> 00:43:51.190 place to escape? Volunteering as a 00:43:51.200 --> 00:43:53.750 stretcherbearer. Be a medic. Volunteer 00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:55.670 as a medic. That way you don't have to 00:43:55.680 --> 00:43:59.670 kill anybody and you don't have to like 00:43:59.680 --> 00:44:01.190 make it look like you're a coward 00:44:01.200 --> 00:44:05.430 either. [snorts] 00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:08.230 I think section Cadina just doesn't want 00:44:08.240 --> 00:44:12.950 to be fighting and dying for the sake of 00:44:12.960 --> 00:44:16.950 Zog or corporate interests or you know 00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:20.470 some other cynical you know cynical 00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:23.670 cause unworthy of dying over 00:44:23.680 --> 00:44:25.750 but 00:44:25.760 --> 00:44:27.510 yeah I mean even Mahatma Gandhi was 00:44:27.520 --> 00:44:29.349 willing to fight in World War I or he 00:44:29.359 --> 00:44:31.990 didn't fight he volunteered to serve in 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:35.030 World War I as a stretcher bearer And 00:44:35.040 --> 00:44:36.950 probably I mean I'm too old to get 00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:39.510 drafted at this point. 00:44:39.520 --> 00:44:41.990 Um you know I didn't I really didn't 00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:43.670 want to join. I mean when I was a young 00:44:43.680 --> 00:44:47.190 man they did have uh selective

service 00:44:47.200 --> 00:44:48.710 and I mean you couldn't get a student 00:44:48.720 --> 00:44:50.470 loan or anything like that if you were 00:44:50.480 --> 00:44:53.030 eligible to to sign up for this and you 00:44:53.040 --> 00:44:56.470 didn't. So at first I was just not going 00:44:56.480 --> 00:44:58.550 to sign up for it just as a matter of 00:44:58.560 --> 00:45:01.109 principle. And my father pretty much 00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:03.349 bered me into signing up because I mean 00:45:03.359 --> 00:45:05.030 he was in the army. So I come I come 00:45:05.040 --> 00:45:07.349 from a military family. 00:45:07.359 --> 00:45:10.550 And so I said, "All right." So I signed 00:45:10.560 --> 00:45:12.150 up for the selective service and then 00:45:12.160 --> 00:45:15.270 didn't get drafted or anything. 00:45:15.280 --> 00:45:18.069 But uh yeah, I think one of the best 00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:22.309 things you could do is uh just I mean 00:45:22.319 --> 00:45:23.910 most 00:45:23.920 --> 00:45:26.550 most military positions are not combat 00:45:26.560 --> 00:45:29.670 positions anyway. And just with my own 00:45:29.680 --> 00:45:31.190 personality, I might just volunteer to 00:45:31.200 --> 00:45:34.470 be a medic, like a combat medic, which 00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:37.030 requires a lot of courage, I think, even 00:45:37.040 --> 00:45:38.150 though even if you're not killing 00:45:38.160 --> 00:45:40.470 anybody, because like my father used to 00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:42.470 say, who he was a combat medic, too 00:45:42.480 --> 00:45:44.870 during World War II. He said, you know, 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:46.790 the medic has to go where the biggest 00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:49.750 damn fool in the whole unit goes because 00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:52.630 he's got to go pick him up. He's got to 00:45:52.640 --> 00:45:54.630 drag him to safety because that idiot 00:45:54.640 --> 00:45:59.510 went right out and got himself shot. 00:45:59.520 --> 00:46:02.069 But yeah, I do not recommend at all 00:46:02.079 --> 00:46:05.829 anybody draft dodging, just running away 00:46:05.839 --> 00:46:07.270 and hiding [laughter] if they're asked 00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:10.672 to fight for their country. 00:46:10.682 --> 00:46:12.470 [clears throat] 00:46:12.480 --> 00:46:14.950 But there might be other ways of going 00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:16.710 about it. I guess it used to be like in 00:46:16.720 --> 00:46:18.790 America that the Peace Corps was kind of 00:46:18.800 --> 00:46:21.750 like an alternative to the military, 00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:24.230 something like that. 00:46:24.240 --> 00:46:25.910 But 00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:28.309 yeah, I'm I'm really not going to advise 00:46:28.319 --> 00:46:30.230 people to 00:46:30.240 --> 00:46:34.470 run away from from like their patriotic 00:46:34.480 --> 00:46:37.349 duty, which may be all cynical and you 00:46:37.359 --> 00:46:39.670 know, it's like 00:46:39.680 --> 00:46:43.750 all that, but still, I'm just no, I 00:46:43.760 --> 00:46:45.589 would not recommend to anybody just be a 00:46:45.599 --> 00:46:47.910 draft dodger. 00:46:47.920 --> 00:46:49.510 So, I'm just going to move on to Sea 00:46:49.520 --> 00:46:52.870 Action Cadet's next question. 00:46:52.880 --> 00:46:54.710 Do you think it would be good to bring 00:46:54.720 --> 00:46:57.829 back Neandertols and other types of 00:46:57.839 --> 00:47:01.030 humans and protohumans just to see what 00:47:01.040 --> 00:47:03.670 they were like? I can understand other 00:47:03.680 --> 00:47:06.150 kinds of creatures, but bringing back 00:47:06.160 --> 00:47:08.950 something so close to human and having 00:47:08.960 --> 00:47:12.230 no one it could relate to possibly seems 00:47:12.240 --> 00:47:14.950 to have some ethical implications of 00:47:14.960 --> 00:47:17.670 them just being born to suffer without 00:47:17.680 --> 00:47:21.190 community. I mean, maybe they could, but 00:47:21.200 --> 00:47:24.790 we don't know that beforehand. 00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:29.030 Well, I don't think I mean, Neandertols, 00:47:29.040 --> 00:47:30.870 they wouldn't be all that different from 00:47:30.880 --> 00:47:33.030 us. I I still am of the opinion that 00:47:33.040 --> 00:47:35.510 they're still homo sapiens. 00:47:35.520 --> 00:47:37.829 It's just taxonomy with the closer you 00:47:37.839 --> 00:47:40.230 get to humans, the just the more 00:47:40.240 --> 00:47:43.430 subjective and irrational taxonomy gets 00:47:43.440 --> 00:47:47.349 in in the the science of biology. 00:47:47.359 --> 00:47:50.950 So you know a human and a chimpanzee 00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:52.550 ought to be in the same genus. Even 00:47:52.560 --> 00:47:55.030 Lanaeus the founder of modern taxonomy 00:47:55.040 --> 00:47:57.990 knew this that humans and chimpanzees 00:47:58.000 --> 00:47:59.990 should belong to the same genus were 00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:03.750 that closely related. But Lanaeus knew 00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:05.349 that he'd be excommunicated from the 00:48:05.359 --> 00:48:07.430 church if he said that. And so he put 00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:09.430 them in not only different genre but 00:48:09.440 --> 00:48:13.430 different families 00:48:13.440 --> 00:48:17.030 and Neandertols. It's like if if all of 00:48:17.040 --> 00:48:19.910 a sudden they they were to discover a 00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:21.910 tribe of Neandertols living in some 00:48:21.920 --> 00:48:23.670 remote valley of the Himalayan 00:48:23.680 --> 00:48:25.510 mountains, 00:48:25.520 --> 00:48:28.230 then you'd have leftists immediately 00:48:28.240 --> 00:48:30.390 arguing that not only are they not a 00:48:30.400 --> 00:48:31.910 different species from us, they're not 00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:33.910 even a different race because races 00:48:33.920 --> 00:48:37.190 don't exist 00:48:37.200 --> 00:48:39.910 because of, you know, the leftist gospel 00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:43.750 that, you know, everyone is the same. 00:48:43.760 --> 00:48:48.230 Everyone is interchangeable. 00:48:48.240 -->

00:48:50.470 So 00:48:50.480 --> 00:48:52.150 would it be a good thing to bring back 00:48:52.160 --> 00:48:54.069 Neandertols and other types of humans or 00:48:54.079 --> 00:48:55.430 produce humans just to see what they 00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:57.589 were like? Well, I mean whether it's a 00:48:57.599 --> 00:48:59.670 good thing or not is a matter of matter 00:48:59.680 --> 00:49:02.309 of personal opinion. I guess some people 00:49:02.319 --> 00:49:03.829 would see it as a good thing and some 00:49:03.839 --> 00:49:06.150 people wouldn't. I don't think it's 00:49:06.160 --> 00:49:07.910 necessary at all. I think it'd be way 00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:10.790 more interesting to bring back like a 00:49:10.800 --> 00:49:12.790 woolly mammoth, which they're getting 00:49:12.800 --> 00:49:16.390 close to being able to do. Dodo birds, 00:49:16.400 --> 00:49:19.990 stellar sea cows, or or like some of the 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:22.390 weirder kinds of dinosaurs, that kind of 00:49:22.400 --> 00:49:24.390 thing. That would be more interesting to 00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:26.069 me. 00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:28.309 Then bringing back like Homo erectus. 00:49:28.319 --> 00:49:31.190 It'd be kind of cruel to a homo erectus, 00:49:31.200 --> 00:49:34.230 but you know, you sort of clone a homo 00:49:34.240 --> 00:49:36.870 erectus somehow. 00:49:36.880 --> 00:49:38.549 Then, 00:49:38.559 --> 00:49:40.390 you know, I mean, from their point of 00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:44.470 view, they'd be in kind of a Well, it's 00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:47.589 hard to say. I know, subjectively, 00:49:47.599 --> 00:49:49.030 they'd have it easy. They'd be like 00:49:49.040 --> 00:49:52.230 celebrities, I guess, so long as um, you 00:49:52.240 --> 00:49:54.950 know, it was like publicized that they 00:49:54.960 --> 00:49:58.230 existed. You know, they'd get good food. 00:49:58.240 --> 00:49:59.670 They wouldn't have to be busting their 00:49:59.680 --> 00:50:02.390 ass trying to stay away from cave bears 00:50:02.400 --> 00:50:04.630 or leopards or whatever. you know, 00:50:04.640 --> 00:50:06.790 they'd have an easy life. They wouldn't 00:50:06.800 --> 00:50:09.270 be able to communicate very well, but I 00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:11.510 mean, a chimpanzeee raised in captivity 00:50:11.520 --> 00:50:13.589 is in even worse situation with regard 00:50:13.599 --> 00:50:17.349 to that. 00:50:17.359 --> 00:50:19.270 So, yeah, I mean, there's there's 00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:21.910 certainly going to be like ethical 00:50:21.920 --> 00:50:23.829 complications with regard to damn near 00:50:23.839 --> 00:50:27.430 anything along those lines. 00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:28.950 So, 00:50:28.960 --> 00:50:31.270 let's see. Yeah, I don't think it's 00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:33.910 necessary at all. 00:50:33.920 --> 00:50:35.670 And I I really with regard to a lot of 00:50:35.680 --> 00:50:39.829 it, it's really not that difficult to 00:50:39.839 --> 00:50:43.829 to guess what they were like. 00:50:43.839 --> 00:50:46.150 I mean, Neanderls, I mean, we at least 00:50:46.160 --> 00:50:48.950 we we've seen their artwork on cave 00:50:48.960 --> 00:50:50.870 walls. Some of that's Neandertol stuff, 00:50:50.880 --> 00:50:52.470 I think. 00:50:52.480 --> 00:50:54.870 Um, we've seen like their how they 00:50:54.880 --> 00:50:56.790 buried the dead. So, we know have some 00:50:56.800 --> 00:50:59.030 insight into their burial rituals and 00:50:59.040 --> 00:51:00.549 that kind of thing, which can give you 00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:03.670 insight into into like their personality 00:51:03.680 --> 00:51:07.109 into into their their mental world, 00:51:07.119 --> 00:51:09.349 but yeah, I mean, a lot of the stuff, I 00:51:09.359 --> 00:51:10.230 mean, we're never going to know 00:51:10.240 --> 00:51:12.230 everything. So, I mean, there's some 00:51:12.240 --> 00:51:15.190 stuff you might as well just make peace 00:51:15.200 --> 00:51:17.349 with with your ignorance on the subject 00:51:17.359 --> 00:51:20.069 and move on. 00:51:20.079 --> 00:51:21.670 So let's just move on to the next 00:51:21.680 --> 00:51:24.230 question which is also from Siova Cipad 00:51:24.240 --> 00:51:26.790 Zeno 00:51:26.800 --> 00:51:30.470 Sioad Zena says still can't find any 00:51:30.480 --> 00:51:33.670 textual evidence casual sex is worse 00:51:33.680 --> 00:51:37.190 than sex in a relationship in Buddhism 00:51:37.200 --> 00:51:39.349 have you ever seen it or do you think 00:51:39.359 --> 00:51:41.349 many people just project it onto the 00:51:41.359 --> 00:51:45.910 teachings due to bias and in the text in 00:51:45.920 --> 00:51:49.670 the sutas the main argument 00:51:49.680 --> 00:51:53.030 with regard to defining kame suumachara 00:51:53.040 --> 00:51:54.790 which is you know the third precept of 00:51:54.800 --> 00:51:57.910 the five precepts sensual misconduct you 00:51:57.920 --> 00:52:00.150 know I undertake the precept to abstain 00:52:00.160 --> 00:52:03.430 from sensual misconduct that the 00:52:03.440 --> 00:52:05.750 definition the stock definition in the 00:52:05.760 --> 00:52:08.230 texts and I can't recall any particular 00:52:08.240 --> 00:52:09.990 suta I know it's in the majimminaya at 00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:12.790 least once is just a list of the kinds 00:52:12.800 --> 00:52:15.030 of women that a man should avoid and 00:52:15.040 --> 00:52:18.549 it's always women that are already kind 00:52:18.559 --> 00:52:23.430 of owned by somebody else. You know, 00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:26.630 they're spoken for. 00:52:26.640 --> 00:52:31.349 And so, I mean, casual sex really 00:52:31.359 --> 00:52:34.630 doesn't get a lot of mention in the text 00:52:34.640 --> 00:52:37.270 as a definition for kamisuumachara, 00:52:37.280 --> 00:52:39.670 although there are other sutas talking 00:52:39.680 --> 00:52:44.069 about like immorality in a man and like 00:52:44.079 --> 00:52:46.630 whoring and gambling and drinking. you 00:52:46.640 --> 00:52:49.510 know, it's all bad stuff. It's

like um 00:52:49.520 --> 00:52:51.510 just like messing around with 00:52:51.520 --> 00:52:54.069 prostitutes. It is mentioned in the text 00:52:54.079 --> 00:52:56.230 not as a definition of sensual 00:52:56.240 --> 00:52:58.870 misconduct, but as a definition of just 00:52:58.880 --> 00:53:04.390 bad conduct for a lay person. 00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:06.150 So, 00:53:06.160 --> 00:53:09.430 let's see any textual evidence. Casual 00:53:09.440 --> 00:53:11.670 sex is worse than sex in a relationship. 00:53:11.680 --> 00:53:14.150 In Buddhism, you read the text, you can 00:53:14.160 --> 00:53:16.950 see that there is even if it isn't 00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:20.230 spelled out, you know, as a definition 00:53:20.240 --> 00:53:24.069 of the third precept, that still for a 00:53:24.079 --> 00:53:27.430 man and a woman to be having a like a 00:53:27.440 --> 00:53:31.750 monogous loving relationship is ideal 00:53:31.760 --> 00:53:38.549 for a man who is not ready for celibacy 00:53:38.559 --> 00:53:41.030 and is unwilling or unable to renounce 00:53:41.040 --> 00:53:44.230 the world. 00:53:44.240 --> 00:53:45.990 So, you get into the commentaries and 00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:47.990 yeah, the commentaries will will get 00:53:48.000 --> 00:53:50.230 more in detail with regard to stuff 00:53:50.240 --> 00:53:52.630 beyond just this list. You know, it's 00:53:52.640 --> 00:53:55.349 like another man's wife, another man's 00:53:55.359 --> 00:53:59.910 fiance, another man's slave girl, um a 00:53:59.920 --> 00:54:02.069 woman or a girl who is still under the 00:54:02.079 --> 00:54:05.589 protection of her father or mother or 00:54:05.599 --> 00:54:09.990 guardian or big brother, even like a a 00:54:10.000 --> 00:54:11.510 female inmate who's under the 00:54:11.520 --> 00:54:14.150 guardianship of the prison guards. This 00:54:14.160 --> 00:54:18.470 kind of stuff. Um 00:54:18.480 --> 00:54:21.270 what else? I can't remember all the all 00:54:21.280 --> 00:54:24.870 the forbidden women on the on the list, 00:54:24.880 --> 00:54:26.549 but a lot of women like if they got a 00:54:26.559 --> 00:54:28.470 pimp, I mean that that would that'd be 00:54:28.480 --> 00:54:30.230 under their protection supposedly, 00:54:30.240 --> 00:54:31.990 although the pimp presumably would want 00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:34.069 the business. So that might be somewhat 00:54:34.079 --> 00:54:37.589 of a complication. 00:54:37.599 --> 00:54:41.430 So yeah, I mean prostitutes weren't as 00:54:41.440 --> 00:54:44.230 low status necessarily in ancient India 00:54:44.240 --> 00:54:46.470 in the Buddhist time as they are in the 00:54:46.480 --> 00:54:50.630 modern west. You know like Pali who 00:54:50.640 --> 00:54:52.710 offered the Buddha one of his last meals 00:54:52.720 --> 00:54:55.990 before he died. She was highass 00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:57.510 cortisan. 00:54:57.520 --> 00:55:01.589 I think she was a a Padesa Kyani, which 00:55:01.599 --> 00:55:04.870 was it was like the city council of of 00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:09.109 any sizable town would have like the 00:55:09.119 --> 00:55:12.390 Padesa Kalyani who was like the like a 00:55:12.400 --> 00:55:15.910 high highass cortisan who was sort of on 00:55:15.920 --> 00:55:18.790 the the the government payroll for 00:55:18.800 --> 00:55:21.349 entertaining visiting dignitaries, that 00:55:21.359 --> 00:55:23.190 kind of stuff. 00:55:23.200 --> 00:55:25.030 And I mean the Buddha himself like I 00:55:25.040 --> 00:55:27.190 just said I mean he accepted an 00:55:27.200 --> 00:55:31.190 invitation to a meal from this cortisan. 00:55:31.200 --> 00:55:33.190 So and then she eventually converted to 00:55:33.200 --> 00:55:35.670 Buddhism became an arahant you know 00:55:35.680 --> 00:55:37.589 Amapali's verses are some of the most 00:55:37.599 --> 00:55:41.030 famous verses in the terriata. 00:55:41.040 --> 00:55:43.510 But yeah there's not as much emphasis on 00:55:43.520 --> 00:55:46.790 casual sex being 00:55:46.800 --> 00:55:50.230 um bad. I mean, all sex from the 00:55:50.240 --> 00:55:52.230 Buddhist point of view is something that 00:55:52.240 --> 00:55:54.950 is it's just kind of like it's what 00:55:54.960 --> 00:55:57.349 normies do. It's it's the the gama dama. 00:55:57.359 --> 00:55:58.710 I think that's what it's called. Just 00:55:58.720 --> 00:56:00.710 sort of vulgar, you know, it's just the 00:56:00.720 --> 00:56:04.390 way of the village. 00:56:04.400 --> 00:56:06.549 So, I mean, probably from a Buddhist 00:56:06.559 --> 00:56:08.549 point of view, casual sex might have its 00:56:08.559 --> 00:56:10.470 advantages because you've got less 00:56:10.480 --> 00:56:14.950 attachment to to one person or to one 00:56:14.960 --> 00:56:17.190 house, to one family, that kind of 00:56:17.200 --> 00:56:19.430 thing. So yeah, you could argue from a 00:56:19.440 --> 00:56:22.470 Buddhist point of view that casual sex 00:56:22.480 --> 00:56:25.910 is not nearly as bad as it is in like 00:56:25.920 --> 00:56:27.589 Christianity 00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:30.230 or like traditionally before we got 00:56:30.240 --> 00:56:35.430 into, you know, postmodern Christianity, 00:56:35.440 --> 00:56:38.390 but I mean, you can find it in there. 00:56:38.400 --> 00:56:41.510 It's not like extremely 00:56:41.520 --> 00:56:43.349 it's not emphasized a whole hell of a 00:56:43.359 --> 00:56:44.950 lot, 00:56:44.960 --> 00:56:47.349 but even for a man to be messing around 00:56:47.359 --> 00:56:50.470 with like [clears throat] slave girls or 00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:53.430 prostitutes, this kind of stuff, it is 00:56:53.440 --> 00:56:56.549 seen as an indication that he is of more 00:56:56.559 --> 00:56:59.270 low moral caliber. 00:56:59.280 --> 00:57:02.150 And you can find sutas with regard to, 00:57:02.160 --> 00:57:04.789 you know, what is downfall for a man or, 00:57:04.799 --> 00:57:06.789 you know, what makes a man an outcast, 00:57:06.799 --> 00:57:09.829 this kind of stuff. And some of that 00:57:09.839

--> 00:57:14.630 stuff is in there. 00:57:14.640 --> 00:57:17.910 But like Seovatza 00:57:17.920 --> 00:57:20.390 is seems to want to believe because he's 00:57:20.400 --> 00:57:23.030 brought this issue up a number of times 00:57:23.040 --> 00:57:27.270 that uh it's not as bad in Buddhism as 00:57:27.280 --> 00:57:32.470 it is in like Christianity. 00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:34.230 So let's just move on to the next 00:57:34.240 --> 00:57:37.030 question. This is from Romeo. 00:57:37.040 --> 00:57:38.630 We're getting into some political stuff 00:57:38.640 --> 00:57:42.309 here. Romeo says, "Whether it is New 00:57:42.319 --> 00:57:44.710 York City Mayor Mom Donnie creating 00:57:44.720 --> 00:57:47.109 government-run grocery stores or 00:57:47.119 --> 00:57:50.710 so-called Democrat socialists gaining 00:57:50.720 --> 00:57:52.390 political traction throughout the 00:57:52.400 --> 00:57:55.190 country. Like it or not, communism is on 00:57:55.200 --> 00:57:57.910 the rise in America. As someone who grew 00:57:57.920 --> 00:58:00.789 up in the 70s and 80s at the tail end of 00:58:00.799 --> 00:58:02.789 the of the Cold War with the Soviet 00:58:02.799 --> 00:58:05.510 Union, it is almost surreal for me to 00:58:05.520 --> 00:58:08.230 witness this. The growth of communism 00:58:08.240 --> 00:58:10.630 here has led me to recall the Red Scare 00:58:10.640 --> 00:58:13.589 from the 1950s when guys like Senator 00:58:13.599 --> 00:58:16.150 McCarthy tried to sound the alarm at the 00:58:16.160 --> 00:58:18.549 infiltration of suspected communists. 00:58:18.559 --> 00:58:20.150 The government had a body called the 00:58:20.160 --> 00:58:23.109 House unamerican unamerican committee 00:58:23.119 --> 00:58:25.430 which deemed communists as subversives 00:58:25.440 --> 00:58:27.190 and tried to root them out. President 00:58:27.200 --> 00:58:29.589 Eisenhower even signed a law called the 00:58:29.599 --> 00:58:32.950 Communist Control Act of 1954 which 00:58:32.960 --> 00:58:35.430 totally outlawed the Communist Party. 00:58:35.440 --> 00:58:37.430 Back then it was commonly accepted that 00:58:37.440 --> 00:58:39.430 communism was antithetical to the 00:58:39.440 --> 00:58:41.589 American way. What is your take on the 00:58:41.599 --> 00:58:43.349 recent rapid growth of communism in the 00:58:43.359 --> 00:58:45.990 US? Okay, so that's the actual question 00:58:46.000 --> 00:58:48.950 here. What is your take on the recent 00:58:48.960 --> 00:58:51.109 rapid growth of communism in the US? 00:58:51.119 --> 00:58:54.230 Well, it has happened before. 00:58:54.240 --> 00:58:56.150 Like Romeo was saying, there was kind of 00:58:56.160 --> 00:58:58.549 a lot of that back in like the 50s. 00:58:58.559 --> 00:59:01.349 There were communist agitators back 00:59:01.359 --> 00:59:04.309 then. And like back in like the 1920s, 00:59:04.319 --> 00:59:06.789 excuse me, 00:59:06.799 --> 00:59:08.870 my [snorts] foot itched. back in the 00:59:08.880 --> 00:59:12.150 1920s. I mean, so communism, 00:59:12.160 --> 00:59:16.470 I mean, it has its upsurges in America 00:59:16.480 --> 00:59:19.670 as it has upsurges elsewhere, too. Some 00:59:19.680 --> 00:59:21.190 of those upsurges actually were 00:59:21.200 --> 00:59:23.510 successful and wound up taking over 00:59:23.520 --> 00:59:26.069 entire countries. 00:59:26.079 --> 00:59:28.390 Although it that is happening a little 00:59:28.400 --> 00:59:30.230 less now. We've just got sort of like 00:59:30.240 --> 00:59:32.870 feminized socialism just kind of 00:59:32.880 --> 00:59:35.750 gradually spreading throughout Western 00:59:35.760 --> 00:59:38.470 civilization with the United States 00:59:38.480 --> 00:59:41.349 being one of the last holdouts. Eastern 00:59:41.359 --> 00:59:43.510 Europe and the United States are like 00:59:43.520 --> 00:59:47.349 the last holdouts against this like 00:59:47.359 --> 00:59:54.870 socialized feministic self-castration. 00:59:54.880 --> 00:59:57.270 So my take on the recent rapid growth of 00:59:57.280 --> 01:00:00.390 communism in the US, I mean partly 01:00:00.400 --> 01:00:04.549 communism depends on like youthful 01:00:04.559 --> 01:00:06.150 naive. 01:00:06.160 --> 01:00:09.349 So it's like young young like college 01:00:09.359 --> 01:00:11.510 students. They don't have enough 01:00:11.520 --> 01:00:13.990 experience with life to know that 01:00:14.000 --> 01:00:17.190 communism just doesn't work. I mean 01:00:17.200 --> 01:00:19.990 really communists or Marxists have no 01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:22.069 excuse at this point. somebody like my 01:00:22.079 --> 01:00:24.870 father who was kind of lean socialist 01:00:24.880 --> 01:00:26.710 but he was like macho he was sort of 01:00:26.720 --> 01:00:29.030 like a Jack London kind of macho 01:00:29.040 --> 01:00:30.710 socialist 01:00:30.720 --> 01:00:34.069 a strong union man but I mean in his 01:00:34.079 --> 01:00:36.470 defense and in Jack London's defense 01:00:36.480 --> 01:00:39.750 they didn't have a full century of 01:00:39.760 --> 01:00:42.069 stagnating and failed economies 01:00:42.079 --> 01:00:45.190 totalitarianism and occasional genocide 01:00:45.200 --> 01:00:50.230 to point out that like far-left systems 01:00:50.240 --> 01:00:53.349 do not work. And even now, like mom 01:00:53.359 --> 01:00:56.789 Donnie or like the the mayor in Seattle, 01:00:56.799 --> 01:00:58.870 let's just go with the mayor of Seattle 01:00:58.880 --> 01:01:03.349 who was like this trust fund kid who was 01:01:03.359 --> 01:01:05.829 supported by her parents. 01:01:05.839 --> 01:01:07.190 She just decides we're going to have a 01:01:07.200 --> 01:01:10.390 socialist utopia in Seattle and they 01:01:10.400 --> 01:01:12.390 like they didn't completely defund the 01:01:12.400 --> 01:01:15.349 police, but they did sufficiently. So 01:01:15.359 --> 01:01:17.349 like crime and gang violence is running 01:01:17.359 --> 01:01:19.910 rampant in Seattle now. the billionaires 01:01:19.920 --> 01:01:21.750 or

and a lot of the main companies are 01:01:21.760 --> 01:01:23.910 moving out of Seattle. And her reaction 01:01:23.920 --> 01:01:26.789 to that was all bye. 01:01:26.799 --> 01:01:31.430 And it's like the economy of Seattle and 01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:33.910 the quality of life in Seattle are both 01:01:33.920 --> 01:01:35.670 taking a nose dive. So the last I heard 01:01:35.680 --> 01:01:38.549 I think she was recalled. I think that 01:01:38.559 --> 01:01:40.950 people just had enough of this [ __ ] 01:01:40.960 --> 01:01:43.510 And I mean, that's one thing to do about 01:01:43.520 --> 01:01:46.710 communism in America is just let it let 01:01:46.720 --> 01:01:49.829 it rise up a little bit in in some some 01:01:49.839 --> 01:01:52.549 cities especially and then until people 01:01:52.559 --> 01:01:54.950 realize what a bad idea it is and then 01:01:54.960 --> 01:02:00.432 it dies back down again. 01:02:00.442 --> 01:02:01.349 [sighs] 01:02:01.359 --> 01:02:02.710 I was gonna say something else, but I 01:02:02.720 --> 01:02:04.150 think one of these questions, yeah, the 01:02:04.160 --> 01:02:07.430 third question from Romeo on this topic 01:02:07.440 --> 01:02:10.230 is would be what I'd be answering. So, 01:02:10.240 --> 01:02:13.030 I'll have to hold up on that. 01:02:13.040 --> 01:02:14.470 Yeah. The recent rapid growth of 01:02:14.480 --> 01:02:17.190 communism in the US is partly just the 01:02:17.200 --> 01:02:21.910 the influx of immigrants who don't give 01:02:21.920 --> 01:02:23.750 a [ __ ] about America. They just want 01:02:23.760 --> 01:02:25.829 free stuff. They're they'll vote for 01:02:25.839 --> 01:02:29.109 free stuff. So, of course, you know, 01:02:29.119 --> 01:02:32.150 most of the the illegal immigrants, 01:02:32.160 --> 01:02:35.109 they want communism because that means 01:02:35.119 --> 01:02:36.950 redistribution of wealth and they get a 01:02:36.960 --> 01:02:39.430 bunch of stuff that they don't have. 01:02:39.440 --> 01:02:42.230 And then a lot of like the young college 01:02:42.240 --> 01:02:44.950 people, you know, college educated white 01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:47.510 women who are a greater threat to 01:02:47.520 --> 01:02:50.868 America than communism is that, 01:02:50.878 --> 01:02:53.030 [clears throat] you know, it's like a 01:02:53.040 --> 01:02:54.789 lot of these academics, they're very 01:02:54.799 --> 01:02:56.309 intelligent, but they're still Marxist 01:02:56.319 --> 01:02:58.470 partly because due to their 01:02:58.480 --> 01:03:01.270 intelligence, their love of theory, they 01:03:01.280 --> 01:03:04.549 prefer a beautiful theory to an ugly 01:03:04.559 --> 01:03:07.510 fact. And that's really the situation of 01:03:07.520 --> 01:03:11.030 Marxism in a nutshell. Pref preferring 01:03:11.040 --> 01:03:14.870 unrealistic beautiful theories to ugly 01:03:14.880 --> 01:03:19.190 harsh empirical reality. 01:03:19.200 --> 01:03:21.270 And then if you say, "Well, this is just 01:03:21.280 --> 01:03:23.750 the this is true," they'll they'll just 01:03:23.760 --> 01:03:26.230 accuse you of being a fascist or a 01:03:26.240 --> 01:03:29.029 racist or a or you know, a sexist or 01:03:29.039 --> 01:03:31.510 whatever. Because it's like if you say 01:03:31.520 --> 01:03:33.670 that different ethnicities have 01:03:33.680 --> 01:03:36.230 different cognitive traits that have 01:03:36.240 --> 01:03:38.630 been demonstrated for a century through 01:03:38.640 --> 01:03:40.950 cognitive testing, they'll call you a 01:03:40.960 --> 01:03:43.589 racist because they according to them, 01:03:43.599 --> 01:03:46.309 you want it to be that way. You prefer 01:03:46.319 --> 01:03:48.789 that some ethnicities score lower than 01:03:48.799 --> 01:03:50.470 other ethnicities. And you're just 01:03:50.480 --> 01:03:52.549 pointing out a fact. That's what the 01:03:52.559 --> 01:03:54.789 evidence states. And they'll say, "Oh, 01:03:54.799 --> 01:03:56.789 that's been debunked by these hysterical 01:03:56.799 --> 01:04:01.990 people over here who say it isn't true. 01:04:02.000 --> 01:04:05.510 So yeah, I think communism is I mean the 01:04:05.520 --> 01:04:09.670 more mediocrity and the more decadence 01:04:09.680 --> 01:04:12.549 you get, the more people are going to 01:04:12.559 --> 01:04:14.870 favor communism. 01:04:14.880 --> 01:04:16.950 um just 01:04:16.960 --> 01:04:20.470 for anthropological reasons seems to me 01:04:20.480 --> 01:04:22.549 like below average people who don't have 01:04:22.559 --> 01:04:24.470 an you know they they're below average 01:04:24.480 --> 01:04:27.190 with regard to wealth and they're also 01:04:27.200 --> 01:04:28.630 stupid which is one reason why they're 01:04:28.640 --> 01:04:30.390 below average in wealth. They'll say 01:04:30.400 --> 01:04:32.230 well I'll just vote for the free stuff 01:04:32.240 --> 01:04:33.990 where all the rich people have to take 01:04:34.000 --> 01:04:36.230 the hit who got way too much money 01:04:36.240 --> 01:04:38.309 anyway and they don't think about how 01:04:38.319 --> 01:04:40.309 it's the rich people who are like 01:04:40.319 --> 01:04:42.309 building new companies that employ 01:04:42.319 --> 01:04:44.309 people this kind of thing. And if the 01:04:44.319 --> 01:04:46.470 the taxes just get jacked away the hell 01:04:46.480 --> 01:04:47.750 up, they're just going to move to a 01:04:47.760 --> 01:04:49.430 different state 01:04:49.440 --> 01:04:51.430 where they don't have those taxes or 01:04:51.440 --> 01:04:53.670 even to a different country, just 01:04:53.680 --> 01:04:57.430 outsource. 01:04:57.440 --> 01:04:59.190 But it has happened before and I'm 01:04:59.200 --> 01:05:01.270 really not too worried about it, tell 01:05:01.280 --> 01:05:03.270 you the truth. And I'm just going to 01:05:03.280 --> 01:05:04.950 move on to Romeo's second question 01:05:04.960 --> 01:05:07.910 because the he's got his full three 01:05:07.920 --> 01:05:09.750 questions are all about communism in the 01:05:09.760

--> 01:05:12.549 West. So the second question is could 01:05:12.559 --> 01:05:16.069 you ever see a modern movement akin to 01:05:16.079 --> 01:05:19.109 the red scare catching on and laws like 01:05:19.119 --> 01:05:21.349 the communist control act being passed 01:05:21.359 --> 01:05:23.829 and enforced. 01:05:23.839 --> 01:05:26.390 Um, I don't know if it go quite that 01:05:26.400 --> 01:05:29.190 far, but I mean even just like regular 01:05:29.200 --> 01:05:32.549 MAGA stuff, you know, Trumpism, 01:05:32.559 --> 01:05:35.589 just kicking out illegal aliens and 01:05:35.599 --> 01:05:38.390 kicking out anti-American immigrants who 01:05:38.400 --> 01:05:41.029 are even here illegally 01:05:41.039 --> 01:05:43.029 that who are just they come to America 01:05:43.039 --> 01:05:45.510 on a visa and then they're just like 01:05:45.520 --> 01:05:47.910 bashing America, death to America, you 01:05:47.920 --> 01:05:51.510 know, n the the the terrorists of 911 01:05:51.520 --> 01:05:53.990 were justified and you know, yay for 01:05:54.000 --> 01:05:57.750 them and all this stuff that I mean it's 01:05:57.760 --> 01:05:59.349 like the Buddhist coming down on that 01:05:59.359 --> 01:06:01.750 kind of stuff to some degree you know 01:06:01.760 --> 01:06:04.390 like Antifa which is a communist group 01:06:04.400 --> 01:06:05.990 has been declared a terrorist or a 01:06:06.000 --> 01:06:07.910 domestic terrorist organization by the 01:06:07.920 --> 01:06:09.670 Trump administration 01:06:09.680 --> 01:06:11.510 and then there have been actually some 01:06:11.520 --> 01:06:13.029 Antifa 01:06:13.039 --> 01:06:15.910 you know whatever you want to call them 01:06:15.920 --> 01:06:17.670 anti-fascists 01:06:17.680 --> 01:06:19.750 in quotes because they're fairly 01:06:19.760 --> 01:06:21.430 fascistic with regard to their own 01:06:21.440 --> 01:06:24.069 tactics that I They're they're doing 01:06:24.079 --> 01:06:27.349 prison time now. 01:06:27.359 --> 01:06:28.950 Um, with regard to the Red Scare 01:06:28.960 --> 01:06:30.950 catching on, 01:06:30.960 --> 01:06:32.789 I'm not so sure about that. It's it's 01:06:32.799 --> 01:06:37.190 it's weird that um a lot of the most 01:06:37.200 --> 01:06:39.750 rapidly anti-communist people you see on 01:06:39.760 --> 01:06:41.910 X, for example, on social media in 01:06:41.920 --> 01:06:44.870 general, tend to be like traditionalist 01:06:44.880 --> 01:06:47.589 Christian types. And I tried to point 01:06:47.599 --> 01:06:49.829 out to some them sometimes, you know, I 01:06:49.839 --> 01:06:52.470 do a fair amount of trolling where you 01:06:52.480 --> 01:06:54.950 point out like the earliest Christians 01:06:54.960 --> 01:06:56.950 were communistic. You know, you read the 01:06:56.960 --> 01:06:59.190 acts of the apostles, the first 01:06:59.200 --> 01:07:01.430 Christian church in Jerusalem, they 01:07:01.440 --> 01:07:03.430 would pull all their wealth and then 01:07:03.440 --> 01:07:05.270 redistribute it according to need. I 01:07:05.280 --> 01:07:09.349 mean, that's that's communistic. 01:07:09.359 --> 01:07:11.270 But then of course the Christians will 01:07:11.280 --> 01:07:15.029 just kind of just lash out in 01:07:15.039 --> 01:07:17.510 indignation against me saying I don't 01:07:17.520 --> 01:07:20.870 understand communism or whatever. 01:07:20.880 --> 01:07:22.630 It's kind of similar with pointing out 01:07:22.640 --> 01:07:24.630 that Jesus was a Jew to the Christian 01:07:24.640 --> 01:07:29.349 people who hate Jews. 01:07:29.359 --> 01:07:30.870 I do think that was one of the main 01:07:30.880 --> 01:07:32.870 mistakes made by the the Soviet Union. 01:07:32.880 --> 01:07:35.029 If they had had like a kind of Orthodox 01:07:35.039 --> 01:07:37.510 Christian communism, it might have 01:07:37.520 --> 01:07:39.349 worked better 01:07:39.359 --> 01:07:42.630 because that kind of lifestyle is pretty 01:07:42.640 --> 01:07:46.630 much condoned by the Bible. Even if 01:07:46.640 --> 01:07:48.870 capitalists don't like that part, you 01:07:48.880 --> 01:07:50.390 know, that the gather not up your 01:07:50.400 --> 01:07:51.750 treasures upon the earth part, they 01:07:51.760 --> 01:07:54.136 don't like that either. 01:07:54.146 --> 01:07:55.109 [snorts] 01:07:55.119 --> 01:07:58.230 Let's see here. So, I mean, I don't know 01:07:58.240 --> 01:08:00.950 how akin to the red scare it would be, 01:08:00.960 --> 01:08:03.430 but I think it wouldn't be so much of a 01:08:03.440 --> 01:08:06.549 scare as just, you know, down with 01:08:06.559 --> 01:08:08.870 communism and we're just going to boot 01:08:08.880 --> 01:08:13.349 their sorry asses out of the country. 01:08:13.359 --> 01:08:15.430 I don't think it's quite as scary. 01:08:15.440 --> 01:08:16.870 Partly because we're seeing what's 01:08:16.880 --> 01:08:19.189 happening with feminized socialism 01:08:19.199 --> 01:08:21.910 throughout Western civilization 01:08:21.920 --> 01:08:24.870 except for here in the United States and 01:08:24.880 --> 01:08:27.030 in Eastern Europe. Everywhere else has 01:08:27.040 --> 01:08:28.950 been castrated 01:08:28.960 --> 01:08:32.470 just following insane just just 01:08:32.480 --> 01:08:36.789 objectively ridiculous absurd policies 01:08:36.799 --> 01:08:38.229 like you can't tell the difference 01:08:38.239 --> 01:08:40.630 between boys and girls. 01:08:40.640 --> 01:08:42.390 There's no obvious way of telling the 01:08:42.400 --> 01:08:46.950 difference. 01:08:46.960 --> 01:08:48.390 I think I'm just going to move on to the 01:08:48.400 --> 01:08:52.149 third question. And this is uh Romeo 01:08:52.159 --> 01:08:54.070 saying, "Could you ever see the USA 01:08:54.080 --> 01:08:55.829 going full-blown communist? It wouldn't 01:08:55.839 --> 01:08:57.829 be the USA anymore. I mean, that would 01:08:57.839 --> 01:09:00.309 just have to be overthrown." 01:09:00.319 --> 01:09:02.630 So, I mean, the North American continent 01:09:02.640 --> 01:09:04.229

theoretically could go full-blown 01:09:04.239 --> 01:09:07.829 communist, say 500 years from now or 01:09:07.839 --> 01:09:09.990 whatever, but it wouldn't be the USA 01:09:10.000 --> 01:09:12.082 anymore. 01:09:12.092 --> 01:09:12.470 >> [snorts] 01:09:12.480 --> 01:09:14.229 >> probably wouldn't even be majority white 01:09:14.239 --> 01:09:17.990 people anymore at that point. 01:09:18.000 --> 01:09:20.390 Um, yeah, I don't think it's going to 01:09:20.400 --> 01:09:21.749 happen anytime soon. I don't think it's 01:09:21.759 --> 01:09:24.709 going to happen in my lifetime. 01:09:24.719 --> 01:09:26.149 Although, I'm getting up there in age, 01:09:26.159 --> 01:09:28.229 so my lifetime isn't really extending 01:09:28.239 --> 01:09:31.110 very very far into the future, as far as 01:09:31.120 --> 01:09:35.269 I can tell. 01:09:35.279 --> 01:09:37.669 Yeah. I mean, 01:09:37.679 --> 01:09:39.349 you could see the U I mean, it's hard 01:09:39.359 --> 01:09:42.070 for me even to see the USA as becoming 01:09:42.080 --> 01:09:45.269 so degenerate and castrated as say the 01:09:45.279 --> 01:09:49.510 UK or Canada or Germany. 01:09:49.520 --> 01:09:51.829 This America, 01:09:51.839 --> 01:09:55.110 we still have one ball left. It seems 01:09:55.120 --> 01:09:56.870 everyone else is castrated. America at 01:09:56.880 --> 01:10:00.470 least has one coahone remaining. 01:10:00.480 --> 01:10:02.870 And I don't know, the USA was kind of 01:10:02.880 --> 01:10:07.669 born of this sort of freedom, 01:10:07.679 --> 01:10:10.790 you might say. It was like the the 01:10:10.800 --> 01:10:12.630 venturesome 01:10:12.640 --> 01:10:16.310 spirits of Europe migrated to the USA, 01:10:16.320 --> 01:10:19.350 leaving like the sheep behind to some 01:10:19.360 --> 01:10:21.110 degree. 01:10:21.120 --> 01:10:22.870 And I don't know, I'm just maybe I'm 01:10:22.880 --> 01:10:25.350 just optimistic with regard to the USA, 01:10:25.360 --> 01:10:28.790 but I think uh even for the USA to 01:10:28.800 --> 01:10:32.630 become as degenerate as the UK or Canada 01:10:32.640 --> 01:10:37.110 or Germany at this point is unlikely 01:10:37.120 --> 01:10:39.669 at least any time in the near future, 01:10:39.679 --> 01:10:44.470 but I could be I could be wrong. 01:10:44.480 --> 01:10:45.510 So, I'm just going to move on to the 01:10:45.520 --> 01:10:46.870 next question. This is from Maitraa 01:10:46.880 --> 01:10:48.550 Buddha. 01:10:48.560 --> 01:10:50.310 And Maitraa Buddha says, "Is there a 01:10:50.320 --> 01:10:52.630 genetic component to being able to 01:10:52.640 --> 01:10:55.830 attain Nirvana? Or do all homo sapiens 01:10:55.840 --> 01:10:57.910 sapiens have it within them to attain 01:10:57.920 --> 01:11:01.590 Nirvana? Perhaps to attain Nirvana or 01:11:01.600 --> 01:11:04.390 Buddha, one must be a descendant of the 01:11:04.400 --> 01:11:07.110 Sakya clan. Yeah, I don't think that's 01:11:07.120 --> 01:11:09.430 necessary at all. I mean, with regard to 01:11:09.440 --> 01:11:11.750 that that second part, I guess it's it's 01:11:11.760 --> 01:11:13.990 its own question because it's got its 01:11:14.000 --> 01:11:17.110 own second question mark here. We got to 01:11:17.120 --> 01:11:19.830 separate this. 01:11:19.840 --> 01:11:21.910 So I'm asking I'm answering the second 01:11:21.920 --> 01:11:24.310 question first. 01:11:24.320 --> 01:11:26.870 Perhaps to attain Nirvana or Buddha, one 01:11:26.880 --> 01:11:30.950 must be a descendant of the Sakya clan. 01:11:30.960 --> 01:11:32.229 No, I don't think so. I think there have 01:11:32.239 --> 01:11:34.709 been enlightened nonsakians, 01:11:34.719 --> 01:11:36.870 you know, like enlightened Chinese Zen 01:11:36.880 --> 01:11:38.470 masters who probably were not 01:11:38.480 --> 01:11:44.070 descendants of the Sakya clan. 01:11:44.080 --> 01:11:45.910 In fact, the Sakya clan pretty much got 01:11:45.920 --> 01:11:48.149 wiped out just a few years after the 01:11:48.159 --> 01:11:51.270 time of the Buddha. So, I mean, there'd 01:11:51.280 --> 01:11:53.510 be very few descendants of the Saka clan 01:11:53.520 --> 01:11:55.990 left in existence, it would seem to me, 01:11:56.000 --> 01:11:58.070 because the Sakya clan was pretty much 01:11:58.080 --> 01:12:01.189 genocided. 01:12:01.199 --> 01:12:03.350 So, yeah, I I think that's extremely 01:12:03.360 --> 01:12:05.270 unlikely. So, let's just move up to the 01:12:05.280 --> 01:12:07.590 main first question here. Is there a 01:12:07.600 --> 01:12:09.750 genetic component to being able to 01:12:09.760 --> 01:12:12.390 attain nirvana or do all homo sapiens 01:12:12.400 --> 01:12:13.910 sapiens have it within them to attain 01:12:13.920 --> 01:12:16.709 nirvana? Well, in Zen you've got what is 01:12:16.719 --> 01:12:18.790 called Buddha nature, which is kind of 01:12:18.800 --> 01:12:21.430 like at least the potential for 01:12:21.440 --> 01:12:24.950 enlightenment, but still I would say 01:12:24.960 --> 01:12:28.709 there is like a genetic component to how 01:12:28.719 --> 01:12:31.189 likely it is that you're going to 01:12:31.199 --> 01:12:33.830 realize that potential 01:12:33.840 --> 01:12:37.990 that you know somebody who just has like 01:12:38.000 --> 01:12:40.470 I mean low IQ it really nec isn't 01:12:40.480 --> 01:12:43.270 necessarily like a disqualifier, you 01:12:43.280 --> 01:12:45.990 know, like you got an IQ of 80, for 01:12:46.000 --> 01:12:49.510 example, still I mean there I mean it's 01:12:49.520 --> 01:12:51.030 still possible. Maybe a little more 01:12:51.040 --> 01:12:53.830 difficult for a person with an IQ of 80 01:12:53.840 --> 01:12:55.189 to become enlightened than a person with 01:12:55.199 --> 01:12:58.709 an IQ of like 120 to become enlightened, 01:12:58.719 --> 01:13:01.030 but still I mean there there are like 01:13:01.040 --> 01:13:03.110 these genetic components or like being a 01:13:03.120 --> 01:13:05.430 hotthead. You come from a just a an 01:13:05.440 --> 01:13:08.470 angry violent

family. Some of that is 01:13:08.480 --> 01:13:11.110 genetic. So that's going to be another 01:13:11.120 --> 01:13:13.830 kind of handicap. It might not erase 01:13:13.840 --> 01:13:16.470 your Buddha nature as the Mahayana 01:13:16.480 --> 01:13:19.350 Buddhists call it, but still I mean 01:13:19.360 --> 01:13:21.270 there is a genetic component. It seems 01:13:21.280 --> 01:13:23.669 to me going with like empirical 01:13:23.679 --> 01:13:26.870 scientism, there is a genetic component 01:13:26.880 --> 01:13:29.750 that kind of increases or lowers your 01:13:29.760 --> 01:13:32.470 odds of attaining your potential for 01:13:32.480 --> 01:13:34.470 enlightenment. 01:13:34.480 --> 01:13:37.030 So some person I mean let's just say for 01:13:37.040 --> 01:13:39.030 the sake of argument that everybody at 01:13:39.040 --> 01:13:40.390 least has the potential for 01:13:40.400 --> 01:13:43.350 enlightenment but I mean some people 01:13:43.360 --> 01:13:44.709 it's going to be like just this 01:13:44.719 --> 01:13:48.709 astronomical long shot you know very 01:13:48.719 --> 01:13:50.470 unlikely from a statistical point of 01:13:50.480 --> 01:13:53.270 view whereas from the point of view of 01:13:53.280 --> 01:13:54.790 somebody else they might have a much 01:13:54.800 --> 01:13:57.270 better chance at it not only for social 01:13:57.280 --> 01:13:59.270 reasons you know they born into a dharma 01:13:59.280 --> 01:14:01.830 oriented society for example and they 01:14:01.840 --> 01:14:03.910 just had the right friends and a 01:14:03.920 --> 01:14:06.070 supportive loving family that encouraged 01:14:06.080 --> 01:14:09.350 them to to cultivate wisdom in all this 01:14:09.360 --> 01:14:11.110 but also they just had the like the 01:14:11.120 --> 01:14:14.709 genetic you know you know less mental 01:14:14.719 --> 01:14:19.270 like I don't know mutational load as Dr. 01:14:19.280 --> 01:14:21.669 Dutton would call it. 01:14:21.679 --> 01:14:25.590 So um with regard to whether everybody 01:14:25.600 --> 01:14:27.990 has Buddha nature or not, I mean there 01:14:28.000 --> 01:14:30.470 could be there there might be like first 01:14:30.480 --> 01:14:32.870 of all just extremely 01:14:32.880 --> 01:14:35.189 um like 01:14:35.199 --> 01:14:38.630 oh just extremely what's the word I'm 01:14:38.640 --> 01:14:40.630 trying to come up with you know like 01:14:40.640 --> 01:14:43.189 someone who's who's just got an IQ of 01:14:43.199 --> 01:14:45.030 35. 01:14:45.040 --> 01:14:47.030 You know, I mean, it might be like from 01:14:47.040 --> 01:14:48.950 the point of view of Echart Tollah that 01:14:48.960 --> 01:14:51.430 someone like a like a congenital idiot 01:14:51.440 --> 01:14:53.430 who who can't even talk is just sitting 01:14:53.440 --> 01:14:55.910 there slobbering on himself all day long 01:14:55.920 --> 01:14:58.149 that they could be a kind of orahant 01:14:58.159 --> 01:15:00.229 just because they're like fully in the 01:15:00.239 --> 01:15:01.669 present moment because they don't have 01:15:01.679 --> 01:15:03.590 enough intellect to even think about 01:15:03.600 --> 01:15:06.550 anything but the present moment. I mean, 01:15:06.560 --> 01:15:08.229 some people might argue along those 01:15:08.239 --> 01:15:10.310 lines. uh some people might say like a 01:15:10.320 --> 01:15:12.630 total sociopath 01:15:12.640 --> 01:15:14.070 you know it would take some kind of 01:15:14.080 --> 01:15:16.790 miracle for them to even have the 01:15:16.800 --> 01:15:18.630 potential to become enlightened but 01:15:18.640 --> 01:15:20.229 still there's the potential of a 01:15:20.239 --> 01:15:22.229 potential you know it's like miracles do 01:15:22.239 --> 01:15:25.510 happen so I mean if you accept the 01:15:25.520 --> 01:15:29.189 miraculous you know like um Anguly Mal a 01:15:29.199 --> 01:15:31.990 serial killer converting to Buddhism and 01:15:32.000 --> 01:15:34.070 becoming becoming a fully enlightened 01:15:34.080 --> 01:15:37.030 Norah 01:15:37.040 --> 01:15:39.189 so yeah I do think there would be a 01:15:39.199 --> 01:15:41.030 genetic component with regard to making 01:15:41.040 --> 01:15:43.669 it easier or more difficult to become 01:15:43.679 --> 01:15:46.630 enlightened. 01:15:46.640 --> 01:15:48.070 But I really don't know about the 01:15:48.080 --> 01:15:50.390 genetics of enlightenment. 01:15:50.400 --> 01:15:52.229 I don't know enough about that to really 01:15:52.239 --> 01:15:54.550 make any kind of educated statements 01:15:54.560 --> 01:15:57.189 just because enlightenment really is not 01:15:57.199 --> 01:16:00.229 a samsaric phenomenon. 01:16:00.239 --> 01:16:02.630 Enlightenment is like the transcendence 01:16:02.640 --> 01:16:05.830 of samsara. So from a samsaric point of 01:16:05.840 --> 01:16:07.510 view like I keep saying over and over 01:16:07.520 --> 01:16:09.270 again till I'm getting sick of hearing 01:16:09.280 --> 01:16:11.590 it myself coming out of my own mouth. I 01:16:11.600 --> 01:16:15.270 mean enlightenment or nirvana from from 01:16:15.280 --> 01:16:17.669 a purely samsaric context might be 01:16:17.679 --> 01:16:21.030 completely meaningless. 01:16:21.040 --> 01:16:23.510 I mean you can give it kind of a fake 01:16:23.520 --> 01:16:25.590 meaning but that fake meaning is not 01:16:25.600 --> 01:16:27.830 going to accurately represent what 01:16:27.840 --> 01:16:32.390 enlightenment is or what nirvana is. 01:16:32.400 --> 01:16:33.990 is all going to be just samsaric 01:16:34.000 --> 01:16:35.510 attempts at explaining something that 01:16:35.520 --> 01:16:37.669 isn't samsaric. Anything that you can 01:16:37.679 --> 01:16:39.830 put into words is by definition 01:16:39.840 --> 01:16:44.310 samsaric. 01:16:44.320 --> 01:16:46.550 So 01:16:46.560 --> 01:16:48.790 yeah, so I with regard to a genetic 01:16:48.800 --> 01:16:51.750 component being able to attain nirvana 01:16:51.760 --> 01:16:54.229 just with regard to having what the 01:16:54.239 --> 01:16:56.470 Mahayana

Buddhist call Buddha nature. I 01:16:56.480 --> 01:16:58.470 mean that's just an open question. I 01:16:58.480 --> 01:17:00.070 really can't say what would be a 01:17:00.080 --> 01:17:02.630 disqualifier and what wouldn't be. Being 01:17:02.640 --> 01:17:04.229 a hardened sociopath, would that 01:17:04.239 --> 01:17:07.189 disqualify you? Having a an IQ of 30, 01:17:07.199 --> 01:17:09.750 would that disqualify you? I don't know. 01:17:09.760 --> 01:17:11.990 But it does seem likely to me that 01:17:12.000 --> 01:17:13.830 certain genetic components with regard 01:17:13.840 --> 01:17:17.669 to just intelligence and and like how 01:17:17.679 --> 01:17:21.750 angry of a person you are or just how 01:17:21.760 --> 01:17:24.709 you know like subject to addiction maybe 01:17:24.719 --> 01:17:26.070 or just all these different 01:17:26.080 --> 01:17:29.510 complications could act as handicaps to 01:17:29.520 --> 01:17:31.910 enlightenment. 01:17:31.920 --> 01:17:33.189 So I'm just going to move on. Next 01:17:33.199 --> 01:17:35.590 question. 01:17:35.600 --> 01:17:40.870 This is from Ethiopian fake tig 01:17:40.880 --> 01:17:42.790 and I do sincerely hope that this is 01:17:42.800 --> 01:17:45.750 recording well enough. 01:17:45.760 --> 01:17:49.030 Ethiopian fake TIG says, "If we can't 01:17:49.040 --> 01:17:51.590 control our volition and there is also 01:17:51.600 --> 01:17:54.870 no self, does this mean we have no 01:17:54.880 --> 01:17:57.030 agency and aren't in control of 01:17:57.040 --> 01:17:59.590 anything?" And then in parenthesis, he 01:17:59.600 --> 01:18:02.229 says, "If yes, does this mean things are 01:18:02.239 --> 01:18:04.470 predetermined already?" So, I guess 01:18:04.480 --> 01:18:06.870 that's a different question. 01:18:06.880 --> 01:18:10.070 It's uh separate that. So, I mean, 01:18:10.080 --> 01:18:12.950 listen to this. If we can't control our 01:18:12.960 --> 01:18:17.669 volition and there is also no self, 01:18:17.679 --> 01:18:20.950 does this mean we have no agency? I 01:18:20.960 --> 01:18:24.470 mean, no. Because there is no we. If 01:18:24.480 --> 01:18:28.149 there is no self, there is no we. There 01:18:28.159 --> 01:18:31.590 is no being to have agency or not have 01:18:31.600 --> 01:18:35.910 agency. 01:18:35.920 --> 01:18:38.870 Okay. So, we can't control our volition. 01:18:38.880 --> 01:18:40.630 Well, according to the anatal 01:18:40.640 --> 01:18:42.229 lakanasuta, 01:18:42.239 --> 01:18:43.830 according to tradition, the Buddha's 01:18:43.840 --> 01:18:45.830 second formal discourse which caused his 01:18:45.840 --> 01:18:47.510 first disciples to become fully 01:18:47.520 --> 01:18:49.110 enlightened. 01:18:49.120 --> 01:18:50.790 He's saying that with regard to all of 01:18:50.800 --> 01:18:52.790 the five condas, you cannot say let it 01:18:52.800 --> 01:18:55.110 be this way, let it not be that way and 01:18:55.120 --> 01:18:58.149 reliably have it happen. And one of 01:18:58.159 --> 01:19:02.310 those

fiveas is sankara which includes 01:19:02.320 --> 01:19:04.070 volition. 01:19:04.080 --> 01:19:06.630 So we do not have complete control even 01:19:06.640 --> 01:19:09.030 over our own volitions even assuming 01:19:09.040 --> 01:19:15.189 that there is an us to have them. 01:19:15.199 --> 01:19:18.229 So see if we can't control our valition 01:19:18.239 --> 01:19:20.310 and there is no self does this mean we 01:19:20.320 --> 01:19:22.149 have no agency and we aren't in control 01:19:22.159 --> 01:19:25.189 of anything? I mean there is no we to be 01:19:25.199 --> 01:19:27.510 in control of anything. I mean you've 01:19:27.520 --> 01:19:30.390 got mental states, you've got 01:19:30.400 --> 01:19:33.430 consciousness 01:19:33.440 --> 01:19:35.350 and I mean even the mental states in my 01:19:35.360 --> 01:19:36.790 opinion aren't ultimately real. Although 01:19:36.800 --> 01:19:39.110 from a orthodox terravada point of view 01:19:39.120 --> 01:19:42.709 they are. 01:19:42.719 --> 01:19:45.270 So what exactly is agency? Let's look it 01:19:45.280 --> 01:19:47.590 up in the dictionary. 01:19:47.600 --> 01:19:49.830 Agency 01:19:49.840 --> 01:19:52.149 could have more than one definition. 01:19:52.159 --> 01:19:53.430 Yeah, it's not a business or 01:19:53.440 --> 01:19:55.110 organization. 01:19:55.120 --> 01:19:57.750 Let's see. The ability to make decisions 01:19:57.760 --> 01:19:59.990 and act independently. 01:20:00.000 --> 01:20:02.790 Okay, that's probably it. The ability to 01:20:02.800 --> 01:20:05.270 make decisions and act independently. 01:20:05.280 --> 01:20:06.550 Now, everyone should consult a 01:20:06.560 --> 01:20:08.070 dictionary every once in a while, at 01:20:08.080 --> 01:20:12.790 least twice a week, in my opinion. 01:20:12.800 --> 01:20:13.590 So, [clears throat] 01:20:13.600 --> 01:20:15.910 well, we can clearly make decisions. I 01:20:15.920 --> 01:20:18.709 mean, at least your mental states are 01:20:18.719 --> 01:20:21.350 making decisions within a psalm context. 01:20:21.360 --> 01:20:23.189 Let's just let's just for the sake of 01:20:23.199 --> 01:20:25.990 argument just stay within a samsaric 01:20:26.000 --> 01:20:29.189 content context and say okay we exist in 01:20:29.199 --> 01:20:31.990 samsara we make decisions we're not in 01:20:32.000 --> 01:20:33.830 complete control over what decisions we 01:20:33.840 --> 01:20:36.310 make schopenhau taught that too you can 01:20:36.320 --> 01:20:39.350 certainly decide what you want to decide 01:20:39.360 --> 01:20:41.830 but you can't decide what you want to 01:20:41.840 --> 01:20:44.630 decide I can't remember the exact quote 01:20:44.640 --> 01:20:46.390 of Schopenhau but it was along those 01:20:46.400 --> 01:20:48.229 lines it's like you can certainly make 01:20:48.239 --> 01:20:51.910 decisions you just can't like completely 01:20:51.920 --> 01:20:54.470 determine what decisions you're you're 01:20:54.480 --> 01:20:58.149 able to make. 01:20:58.159 --> 01:21:00.630 So, 01:21:00.640 --> 01:21:03.669 uh there is agency. I guess 01:21:03.679 --> 01:21:05.350 we aren't in control of anything. Well, 01:21:05.360 --> 01:21:07.110 there's no we to be in control. I mean, 01:21:07.120 --> 01:21:09.350 the mental states are arising and 01:21:09.360 --> 01:21:14.470 passing away according to conditions. 01:21:14.480 --> 01:21:16.550 We certainly have the ability to seem 01:21:16.560 --> 01:21:18.390 like we're in control. Like I'm in 01:21:18.400 --> 01:21:20.870 control of of this can of of energy 01:21:20.880 --> 01:21:23.110 drink. I can throw it on the floor if I 01:21:23.120 --> 01:21:27.001 want. I can keep drinking it if I want. 01:21:27.011 --> 01:21:28.950 [clears throat] But 01:21:28.960 --> 01:21:32.229 I mean, it's like it's it's pretty 01:21:32.239 --> 01:21:33.669 likely what I'm going to do with it. I'm 01:21:33.679 --> 01:21:35.510 going to just keep drinking it. It 01:21:35.520 --> 01:21:36.709 wouldn't make sense for me to throw it 01:21:36.719 --> 01:21:38.310 on the floor. Even though theoretically 01:21:38.320 --> 01:21:40.149 I do have the freedom. I could throw it 01:21:40.159 --> 01:21:42.229 on the floor if I wanted to. I'm just 01:21:42.239 --> 01:21:44.709 not gonna. And so that means I mean, do 01:21:44.719 --> 01:21:47.270 I really have the ability to throw it on 01:21:47.280 --> 01:21:49.270 the floor when like my personality 01:21:49.280 --> 01:21:52.550 traits and the conditions and just, you 01:21:52.560 --> 01:21:55.430 know, everything is conspiring that I'm 01:21:55.440 --> 01:21:56.550 going to keep drinking the son of a 01:21:56.560 --> 01:21:57.750 [ __ ] and I'm not just going to throw it 01:21:57.760 --> 01:21:59.669 on the floor? So, do I really have the 01:21:59.679 --> 01:22:00.950 freedom to throw it on the floor if 01:22:00.960 --> 01:22:05.189 there's no way I'm going to do it? 01:22:05.199 --> 01:22:08.149 I mean, this is all philosophy. 01:22:08.159 --> 01:22:09.270 when you don't have to work for a 01:22:09.280 --> 01:22:10.310 living. You can just sit around and 01:22:10.320 --> 01:22:17.270 think about this stuff. 01:22:17.280 --> 01:22:19.830 So, I mean, to some degree, Ethiopian 01:22:19.840 --> 01:22:22.229 fake TIG is just kind of painting 01:22:22.239 --> 01:22:26.709 himself into this weird like grammatical 01:22:26.719 --> 01:22:29.590 corner where I mean, if there is no 01:22:29.600 --> 01:22:33.030 self, then do we still have agency? I 01:22:33.040 --> 01:22:34.870 mean, there if there's no self, there's 01:22:34.880 --> 01:22:37.030 no we to have agency. There might still 01:22:37.040 --> 01:22:38.870 be agency. 01:22:38.880 --> 01:22:41.189 It's just that it would be mental states 01:22:41.199 --> 01:22:43.430 that are endowed with the agency and not 01:22:43.440 --> 01:22:46.229 some supposed soul, 01:22:46.239 --> 01:22:49.830 some some ego entity that that is 01:22:49.840 --> 01:22:52.709 endowed with this agency. 01:22:52.719 --> 01:22:54.390 And we aren't

in control of anything. 01:22:54.400 --> 01:22:56.310 Well, I mean, all depends on how you 01:22:56.320 --> 01:22:59.110 look at it. 01:22:59.120 --> 01:23:02.070 I mean, within a some content context. 01:23:02.080 --> 01:23:05.510 Why do I keep saying content? Context 01:23:05.520 --> 01:23:07.350 then. Yeah, we do have control of some 01:23:07.360 --> 01:23:10.229 things like I can make the dog go 01:23:10.239 --> 01:23:13.189 outside or I can let it stay inside 01:23:13.199 --> 01:23:15.990 for example. 01:23:16.000 --> 01:23:18.070 But 01:23:18.080 --> 01:23:19.910 is it really a free choice or is it kind 01:23:19.920 --> 01:23:22.709 of a deterministic decision to let the 01:23:22.719 --> 01:23:28.550 dog out or not let the dog out? [snorts] 01:23:28.560 --> 01:23:30.790 And uh Buddhism kind of leaves that 01:23:30.800 --> 01:23:34.310 ambiguous because 01:23:34.320 --> 01:23:36.790 it rules out strict determinism, but it 01:23:36.800 --> 01:23:40.709 also rules out strict like free will. 01:23:40.719 --> 01:23:43.910 And so you're in this ambiguous 01:23:43.920 --> 01:23:45.990 liinal kind of state. And I do think 01:23:46.000 --> 01:23:47.669 that if there is anything really 01:23:47.679 --> 01:23:50.070 resembling free will, then it would be a 01:23:50.080 --> 01:23:53.430 kind of liinal paradox caused by the 01:23:53.440 --> 01:23:56.149 human mind being self-reerential. 01:23:56.159 --> 01:23:58.550 you know when like the only way the way 01:23:58.560 --> 01:24:01.830 to produce paradox like with regard to 01:24:01.840 --> 01:24:06.470 um what was his name uh goal Kurt Godal 01:24:06.480 --> 01:24:09.110 you know his theorem and all that that 01:24:09.120 --> 01:24:12.149 once a system becomes self-referential 01:24:12.159 --> 01:24:14.470 then it becomes capable of paradox you 01:24:14.480 --> 01:24:18.470 know like this statement is false that 01:24:18.480 --> 01:24:20.950 sentence this statement is false it's 01:24:20.960 --> 01:24:23.669 neither true nor false and it's it it is 01:24:23.679 --> 01:24:25.830 able to be that way this this 01:24:25.840 --> 01:24:27.430 paradoxical statement that's neither 01:24:27.440 --> 01:24:30.149 true nor false by being self-reerential. 01:24:30.159 --> 01:24:33.590 It refers to itself. And so when humans 01:24:33.600 --> 01:24:37.270 or other minds get up to the level of 01:24:37.280 --> 01:24:39.270 being self-referential, having like a 01:24:39.280 --> 01:24:42.870 self-image referring to oneself, then 01:24:42.880 --> 01:24:44.950 you can spin off these paradoxes which 01:24:44.960 --> 01:24:47.030 might include something along the lines 01:24:47.040 --> 01:24:49.510 of free will. 01:24:49.520 --> 01:24:51.350 Raman Maharshi used to say, "The only 01:24:51.360 --> 01:24:53.750 real free choice you have is whether or 01:24:53.760 --> 01:24:56.550 not to be mindful. 01:24:56.560 --> 01:24:57.990 Well, I mean, you're getting into 01:24:58.000 --> 01:25:00.070 paradox regardless of what you're doing. 01:25:00.080 --> 01:25:02.390 I mean, free will is just logically 01:25:02.400 --> 01:25:05.350 impossible. Either something is I mean, 01:25:05.360 --> 01:25:08.070 if something is free or it isn't free, 01:25:08.080 --> 01:25:12.149 and if it's free, a free decision, then 01:25:12.159 --> 01:25:13.910 I mean, let's start with determinism 01:25:13.920 --> 01:25:15.990 first. I mean, if if if you don't have 01:25:16.000 --> 01:25:17.990 free will and all of your decisions are 01:25:18.000 --> 01:25:20.790 deterministic, then [clears throat] 01:25:20.800 --> 01:25:22.470 it's like, yeah, there's no there's no 01:25:22.480 --> 01:25:25.430 free will with determinism because every 01:25:25.440 --> 01:25:28.470 decision you make would have a cause. 01:25:28.480 --> 01:25:30.709 But if if you make decisions that don't 01:25:30.719 --> 01:25:33.350 have a cause, then I mean, it's it's 01:25:33.360 --> 01:25:35.270 just at random. 01:25:35.280 --> 01:25:37.510 And free will is neither randomness, 01:25:37.520 --> 01:25:39.030 which would be more like an epileptic 01:25:39.040 --> 01:25:41.030 seizure than what most people consider 01:25:41.040 --> 01:25:43.910 to be free will. and or if you're 01:25:43.920 --> 01:25:45.270 completely deterministic, then that's 01:25:45.280 --> 01:25:48.390 not free will either. But I mean, every 01:25:48.400 --> 01:25:50.390 everything including every decision has 01:25:50.400 --> 01:25:52.709 a cause or it doesn't have a cause. If 01:25:52.719 --> 01:25:54.070 it does have a cause, it is 01:25:54.080 --> 01:25:56.149 deterministic and not free. If it 01:25:56.159 --> 01:25:57.669 doesn't have a cause, then it happens at 01:25:57.679 --> 01:26:01.350 random. It can just happen at any time. 01:26:01.360 --> 01:26:03.030 And neither of those accounts for free 01:26:03.040 --> 01:26:06.709 will. So if there is anything resembling 01:26:06.719 --> 01:26:09.270 free will it I'm guessing that it's due 01:26:09.280 --> 01:26:11.830 to some paradox through the human mind 01:26:11.840 --> 01:26:13.110 being human mind to being 01:26:13.120 --> 01:26:15.189 self-reerential and the more you 01:26:15.199 --> 01:26:17.270 meditate the more self-referential you 01:26:17.280 --> 01:26:19.189 become. You're observing your own mind 01:26:19.199 --> 01:26:21.590 carefully which could cause even more 01:26:21.600 --> 01:26:23.110 paradoxes 01:26:23.120 --> 01:26:24.550 including maybe enlightenment which 01:26:24.560 --> 01:26:30.310 would be another paradox. 01:26:30.320 --> 01:26:32.390 Well, this first question from Ethiopian 01:26:32.400 --> 01:26:35.270 fake TIG is it's a difficult one because 01:26:35.280 --> 01:26:39.830 I mean it's it's it refutes itself. The 01:26:39.840 --> 01:26:42.950 question itself just like attacks itself 01:26:42.960 --> 01:26:47.510 and and like destroys itself. 01:26:47.520 --> 01:26:51.110 If we have no self, does that mean we 01:26:51.120 --> 01:26:54.070 have no agency? But there is no we

01:26:54.080 --> 01:26:59.110 to have no self or no agency either. 01:26:59.120 --> 01:27:02.229 Okay. But it's it's it's hard to 01:27:02.239 --> 01:27:04.149 understand this stuff. I have to admit 01:27:04.159 --> 01:27:06.550 it's just not really rational. 01:27:06.560 --> 01:27:08.310 Rationality isn't going to lead you to 01:27:08.320 --> 01:27:10.950 the answer other than rationality 01:27:10.960 --> 01:27:12.149 leading you to the point where you 01:27:12.159 --> 01:27:14.470 realize rationality isn't going to get 01:27:14.480 --> 01:27:16.229 there and then you just kind of like 01:27:16.239 --> 01:27:19.669 leave it behind and just leap into the 01:27:19.679 --> 01:27:23.669 void and there's the answer. 01:27:23.679 --> 01:27:25.510 Okay. [clears throat] 01:27:25.520 --> 01:27:28.390 So Ethiopian fake TIG 01:27:28.400 --> 01:27:31.110 uh in has this paren parenthetical 01:27:31.120 --> 01:27:32.870 semiquest at the end of that first one. 01:27:32.880 --> 01:27:35.030 If yes, does this mean things are 01:27:35.040 --> 01:27:38.950 predetermined already? And again, I mean 01:27:38.960 --> 01:27:41.030 going with the block of marble, anything 01:27:41.040 --> 01:27:47.560 that is possible necessarily exists. 01:27:47.570 --> 01:27:50.790 [sighs] So I don't think that the world 01:27:50.800 --> 01:27:52.629 is necessarily 01:27:52.639 --> 01:27:54.790 predetermined. I mean, even modern 01:27:54.800 --> 01:27:57.270 science has quantum randomness. At a 01:27:57.280 --> 01:27:59.270 subatomic level, you still have 01:27:59.280 --> 01:28:02.149 something that they are inclined to call 01:28:02.159 --> 01:28:03.830 randomness. It could just be that they 01:28:03.840 --> 01:28:06.070 don't understand it, so they're calling 01:28:06.080 --> 01:28:08.629 it random, but really they haven't come 01:28:08.639 --> 01:28:11.510 up with any kind of rational way of 01:28:11.520 --> 01:28:13.750 predicting, you know, when the geer 01:28:13.760 --> 01:28:15.189 counter is going to click, that kind of 01:28:15.199 --> 01:28:17.990 thing. So, they're calling it random. 01:28:18.000 --> 01:28:21.270 And it does make sense to me. 01:28:21.280 --> 01:28:23.590 So yeah, predetermination 01:28:23.600 --> 01:28:27.750 within certain limits I suppose. 01:28:27.760 --> 01:28:30.550 But the Buddha did not like like the 01:28:30.560 --> 01:28:33.189 Ajivaca idea of just strict determinism. 01:28:33.199 --> 01:28:34.629 He said you can go to hell for believing 01:28:34.639 --> 01:28:39.306 that stuff. 01:28:39.316 --> 01:28:40.709 [sighs and gasps] 01:28:40.719 --> 01:28:42.229 You know, I'm already almost finished 01:28:42.239 --> 01:28:43.910 with the emergency backup beverage. I'm 01:28:43.920 --> 01:28:46.790 really thirsty today apparently. 01:28:46.800 --> 01:28:48.950 So let's just move on to Ethiopian fake 01:28:48.960 --> 01:28:52.390 Tig's third question. Well, I guess it's 01:28:52.400 --> 01:28:55.669 his second question because his 01:28:55.679 --> 01:28:59.350 he had like a one and a half question. 01:28:59.360 --> 01:29:01.669 So, the second question says, "I 01:29:01.679 --> 01:29:04.310 remember you saying you half read Oswald 01:29:04.320 --> 01:29:06.870 Spangler's Decline of the West before 01:29:06.880 --> 01:29:09.189 your computer broke down, and I wondered 01:29:09.199 --> 01:29:11.189 what your thought about the overwhelming 01:29:11.199 --> 01:29:14.149 majority of white people now, white 01:29:14.159 --> 01:29:16.149 people who now don't have children, 01:29:16.159 --> 01:29:18.470 don't get married, or don't even do the 01:29:18.480 --> 01:29:20.629 horizontal dance anymore. just because 01:29:20.639 --> 01:29:24.070 they are sick of one another. Um well, 01:29:24.080 --> 01:29:25.430 first of all, there's a slight 01:29:25.440 --> 01:29:28.470 misunderstanding here. Um I I did read 01:29:28.480 --> 01:29:30.470 the first half of Oswalt Spangler's 01:29:30.480 --> 01:29:32.790 Decline of the West um when I was in 01:29:32.800 --> 01:29:35.189 Burma and it was on my computer and 01:29:35.199 --> 01:29:37.110 anytime I would underline something or 01:29:37.120 --> 01:29:40.629 leave a marginal note, it was completely 01:29:40.639 --> 01:29:44.790 recopying the the book and I didn't have 01:29:44.800 --> 01:29:47.030 access to like all these different 01:29:47.040 --> 01:29:49.430 versions. I mean, I I eventually was 01:29:49.440 --> 01:29:51.510 able to find them when it turned out 01:29:51.520 --> 01:29:53.510 that the memory on my computer was just 01:29:53.520 --> 01:29:55.990 maxing out because every time I'd make 01:29:56.000 --> 01:29:58.470 any kind of underline or comment in the 01:29:58.480 --> 01:30:01.189 margins to this book, it was just 01:30:01.199 --> 01:30:03.110 completely recopying the entire book and 01:30:03.120 --> 01:30:06.310 leaving the old copy undded in the guts 01:30:06.320 --> 01:30:09.510 of the computer somewhere. 01:30:09.520 --> 01:30:12.070 But, uh, getting to the actual question 01:30:12.080 --> 01:30:15.510 though, um, what what are my thoughts 01:30:15.520 --> 01:30:17.669 about the overwhelming majority of white 01:30:17.679 --> 01:30:19.590 people now who don't have it's not an 01:30:19.600 --> 01:30:22.229 overwhelming majority. Um, it is true 01:30:22.239 --> 01:30:24.950 that we we're not up to replacement 01:30:24.960 --> 01:30:27.270 level 01:30:27.280 --> 01:30:29.189 that the people that don't have they're 01:30:29.199 --> 01:30:30.950 not having enough children to get to 01:30:30.960 --> 01:30:32.310 replacement level. There's not an 01:30:32.320 --> 01:30:33.830 overwhelming majority of white people 01:30:33.840 --> 01:30:36.070 that don't get married or that don't 01:30:36.080 --> 01:30:38.550 have sex or even that don't have 01:30:38.560 --> 01:30:41.910 children. It's just there's not enough 01:30:41.920 --> 01:30:44.149 supposedly to maintain the population at 01:30:44.159 --> 01:30:46.870 its present level. 01:30:46.880 -->

01:30:50.070 So what's happening though? I mean, it's 01:30:50.080 --> 01:30:52.870 it's all kind of Darwinian in that some 01:30:52.880 --> 01:30:56.229 groups of people are having sex and are 01:30:56.239 --> 01:30:57.750 getting married and are raising 01:30:57.760 --> 01:30:59.669 families, you know, like the Amish 01:30:59.679 --> 01:31:02.629 people, the Mormons, just conservatives 01:31:02.639 --> 01:31:05.590 in general are having more children than 01:31:05.600 --> 01:31:08.790 leftists are. And so the leftists are 01:31:08.800 --> 01:31:10.470 kind of dying out, which is one reason 01:31:10.480 --> 01:31:12.629 why they have to control the educational 01:31:12.639 --> 01:31:16.709 system to recruit more leftists because 01:31:16.719 --> 01:31:18.790 they're not producing more leftists by 01:31:18.800 --> 01:31:21.110 having children. They're just having to 01:31:21.120 --> 01:31:23.430 like recruit the children of 01:31:23.440 --> 01:31:25.990 conservatives over to leftism, which 01:31:26.000 --> 01:31:27.910 isn't too difficult because young people 01:31:27.920 --> 01:31:30.550 tend to lean leftist anyway. You know, 01:31:30.560 --> 01:31:32.070 it's like the there's the famous saying 01:31:32.080 --> 01:31:34.470 attributed to Winston Churchill. I think 01:31:34.480 --> 01:31:37.750 he was quoting somebody else saying that 01:31:37.760 --> 01:31:41.430 a 20 year old, let's see, a 20-year-old 01:31:41.440 --> 01:31:43.910 conservative has no heart and a 01:31:43.920 --> 01:31:48.629 40-year-old liberal has no brain. 01:31:48.639 --> 01:31:50.149 So, young people just kind of lean 01:31:50.159 --> 01:31:51.750 leftwards anyway because they're they 01:31:51.760 --> 01:31:53.510 don't have much experience with actual 01:31:53.520 --> 01:31:56.149 reality and, you know, they just think 01:31:56.159 --> 01:31:58.629 it's more fair and just and virtuous 01:31:58.639 --> 01:32:01.189 that everybody shares, you know, that 01:32:01.199 --> 01:32:02.950 you don't have greed and all this. And 01:32:02.960 --> 01:32:04.709 if everyone were fully enlightened, it 01:32:04.719 --> 01:32:07.430 would just automatically have a kind of 01:32:07.440 --> 01:32:10.310 anarchistic communism probably. But the 01:32:10.320 --> 01:32:14.070 thing is, most people aren't enlightened 01:32:14.080 --> 01:32:17.189 and just socialism and communism just do 01:32:17.199 --> 01:32:19.590 not work very well in real life with 01:32:19.600 --> 01:32:22.790 real humans. 01:32:22.800 --> 01:32:24.310 So 01:32:24.320 --> 01:32:26.390 what's going to happen is that the 01:32:26.400 --> 01:32:28.950 people that are having babies at more 01:32:28.960 --> 01:32:31.110 than replacement rate are going to just 01:32:31.120 --> 01:32:33.430 take over the world. 01:32:33.440 --> 01:32:35.189 At present the main people that are 01:32:35.199 --> 01:32:36.950 having babies above replacement rate are 01:32:36.960 --> 01:32:40.310 subsaharan Africans. If you see a map 01:32:40.320 --> 01:32:43.110 with, you know, like reproductive rate, 01:32:43.120 --> 01:32:45.430 a map of the world with reproductive 01:32:45.440 --> 01:32:47.750 rates with red being the highest and 01:32:47.760 --> 01:32:50.950 blue being the lowest, then subsaharan 01:32:50.960 --> 01:32:52.709 Africa is just bright red. It's it's 01:32:52.719 --> 01:32:54.950 almost the only place on the entire map 01:32:54.960 --> 01:32:58.470 of the globe that has like really high 01:32:58.480 --> 01:33:02.149 reproductive rates is subsaharan Africa. 01:33:02.159 --> 01:33:03.990 And that's that's not good because 01:33:04.000 --> 01:33:05.750 they're either going to have to overflow 01:33:05.760 --> 01:33:08.950 or starve or die of diseases or die of 01:33:08.960 --> 01:33:13.030 machete wars. 01:33:13.040 --> 01:33:14.629 But there are groups, you know, like the 01:33:14.639 --> 01:33:17.990 Amish, the the the Mormons, a lot of 01:33:18.000 --> 01:33:21.350 like like what do you call them? 01:33:21.360 --> 01:33:23.990 Charismatic Christians. Evangelicals. 01:33:24.000 --> 01:33:24.950 That's what I was going to say. 01:33:24.960 --> 01:33:27.590 Evangelical Christians. They're having 01:33:27.600 --> 01:33:28.950 they're having babies. So what's going 01:33:28.960 --> 01:33:31.510 to happen is that they are going to 01:33:31.520 --> 01:33:34.790 eventually rebuild the population 01:33:34.800 --> 01:33:36.709 whereas the other groups that aren't 01:33:36.719 --> 01:33:40.149 having children like decadent, you know, 01:33:40.159 --> 01:33:42.709 decadent leftists are just kind of dying 01:33:42.719 --> 01:33:44.550 out unless they can just recruit the 01:33:44.560 --> 01:33:47.350 children of the Mormons and the Amish 01:33:47.360 --> 01:33:49.110 people 01:33:49.120 --> 01:33:52.790 over to their side. 01:33:52.800 --> 01:33:55.990 So, I'm still 01:33:56.000 --> 01:33:57.910 I'm still not particularly pessimistic 01:33:57.920 --> 01:33:59.430 with regard to the future of the United 01:33:59.440 --> 01:34:01.750 States. 01:34:01.760 --> 01:34:03.910 With regard to Western Europe, the UK, 01:34:03.920 --> 01:34:07.430 Australia, Canada, New Zealand, there's 01:34:07.440 --> 01:34:09.110 no telling. They don't have any balls 01:34:09.120 --> 01:34:11.270 left hardly. So, there's no telling 01:34:11.280 --> 01:34:14.470 what's going to happen. 01:34:14.480 --> 01:34:16.550 So, let's just move on to Ethiopian fake 01:34:16.560 --> 01:34:18.709 Tig's last question here. should have 01:34:18.719 --> 01:34:20.070 been the third question, but then I 01:34:20.080 --> 01:34:23.110 divided his first question into two. 01:34:23.120 --> 01:34:26.149 He says, "I was watching YouTube a while 01:34:26.159 --> 01:34:29.510 back and saw a book about a book." No, I 01:34:29.520 --> 01:34:31.990 saw a video about a book called Jesus in 01:34:32.000 --> 01:34:33.669 the Talmood 01:34:33.679 --> 01:34:36.470 where the book just mentions 01:34:36.480 --> 01:34:38.470 all the time Jesus was

mentioned in the 01:34:38.480 --> 01:34:40.870 Talmood and I remember feeling a certain 01:34:40.880 --> 01:34:43.590 kind of crazy evil feeling as I was 01:34:43.600 --> 01:34:46.550 watching it. Could you maybe say Jesus 01:34:46.560 --> 01:34:49.110 even after his death has some sort of 01:34:49.120 --> 01:34:51.910 spiritual influence left on this planet? 01:34:51.920 --> 01:34:54.870 Well, it's pretty obvious that Jesus in 01:34:54.880 --> 01:34:57.990 some form still has a spiritual 01:34:58.000 --> 01:34:59.990 influence left on this planet. There are 01:35:00.000 --> 01:35:02.950 a lot of Christians who would just 01:35:02.960 --> 01:35:05.110 testify to that that they feel his 01:35:05.120 --> 01:35:08.629 presence in their life. Now, a lot of 01:35:08.639 --> 01:35:10.229 Catholics would include the Virgin Mary 01:35:10.239 --> 01:35:14.790 in that. But there's a an idea that the 01:35:14.800 --> 01:35:18.070 pagans have called an egregor 01:35:18.080 --> 01:35:21.750 where the idea of the egregor is that 01:35:21.760 --> 01:35:24.790 you might have some deity that's just 01:35:24.800 --> 01:35:27.189 made up mythology just right off the 01:35:27.199 --> 01:35:29.189 bat. It never really existed as an 01:35:29.199 --> 01:35:30.709 objective 01:35:30.719 --> 01:35:34.870 as an objective being. But you've got 01:35:34.880 --> 01:35:37.030 hundreds of thousands maybe millions of 01:35:37.040 --> 01:35:40.229 people just firmly believing in this 01:35:40.239 --> 01:35:43.189 entity and they're like contributing 01:35:43.199 --> 01:35:46.149 like mental energy to the existence of 01:35:46.159 --> 01:35:48.390 this being which causes the egregor 01:35:48.400 --> 01:35:50.629 which is a kind of artificial being 01:35:50.639 --> 01:35:53.990 which takes on a kind of existence like 01:35:54.000 --> 01:35:55.830 a like a kind of objective 01:35:55.840 --> 01:35:57.669 self-existence 01:35:57.679 --> 01:36:00.629 just through all these people donating 01:36:00.639 --> 01:36:02.870 mental energy so to speak to its 01:36:02.880 --> 01:36:05.110 existence and so then it becomes like 01:36:05.120 --> 01:36:08.390 like a veritable force able to 01:36:08.400 --> 01:36:10.790 accomplish things in this world and I 01:36:10.800 --> 01:36:14.310 think a lot of the kind of Satany kind 01:36:14.320 --> 01:36:17.590 of beings are this kind of egregor it's 01:36:17.600 --> 01:36:19.270 just a kind of being that is sort of 01:36:19.280 --> 01:36:21.189 like an energetic vampire that's just 01:36:21.199 --> 01:36:24.790 absorbing the belief and faith and other 01:36:24.800 --> 01:36:27.590 spirit or like mental forces from from 01:36:27.600 --> 01:36:29.750 all the believers and it's just sort of 01:36:29.760 --> 01:36:33.030 feeding off that and and sort acquiring 01:36:33.040 --> 01:36:35.510 a kind of self-existence. 01:36:35.520 --> 01:36:37.750 So I think Jesus is one hell of an 01:36:37.760 --> 01:36:40.709 egregor still. Maybe not as much as he 01:36:40.719 --> 01:36:43.350 was a thousand years ago or 500 years 01:36:43.360 --> 01:36:46.470 ago, but still I do think that I mean 01:36:46.480 --> 01:36:48.709 the original Jesus just going with the 01:36:48.719 --> 01:36:52.310 Buddhist concept of you know multiple 01:36:52.320 --> 01:36:54.310 lives and assuming that Jesus was not 01:36:54.320 --> 01:36:56.149 fully enlightened you know he might be 01:36:56.159 --> 01:36:58.550 in some heaven realm now but I mean just 01:36:58.560 --> 01:37:00.390 some heaven realm just removed from 01:37:00.400 --> 01:37:01.590 earth where he doesn't give a damn 01:37:01.600 --> 01:37:04.550 what's going on down here. But it's this 01:37:04.560 --> 01:37:07.830 agregore that's just this being 01:37:07.840 --> 01:37:10.790 generated by the belief of millions of 01:37:10.800 --> 01:37:13.590 people that causes some sort of entity 01:37:13.600 --> 01:37:16.629 to exist that seems to be doing stuff 01:37:16.639 --> 01:37:21.590 that the being they believe in would do. 01:37:21.600 --> 01:37:24.070 And I'm not sure exactly what the Talmud 01:37:24.080 --> 01:37:25.830 says about Jesus. I think the Talmud, 01:37:25.840 --> 01:37:27.189 they don't like Jesus. I think they're 01:37:27.199 --> 01:37:29.590 talking about how Jesus is like burning 01:37:29.600 --> 01:37:33.030 in hell right now or something. 01:37:33.040 --> 01:37:34.790 That that was a major mistake of the 01:37:34.800 --> 01:37:37.030 Jews is they should have just included a 01:37:37.040 --> 01:37:39.590 book of Jesus in the Old Testament. Not 01:37:39.600 --> 01:37:42.950 Jesus son of Sarak but like Jesus son of 01:37:42.960 --> 01:37:46.070 Joseph. 01:37:46.080 --> 01:37:48.390 And I think that would solved a lot of 01:37:48.400 --> 01:37:50.167 problems. 01:37:50.177 --> 01:37:50.870 [clears throat] 01:37:50.880 --> 01:37:55.669 Not all of them of course but some. 01:37:55.679 --> 01:37:57.990 Okay. 01:37:58.000 --> 01:37:59.830 Yeah. I'm not exactly sure what the 01:37:59.840 --> 01:38:01.990 videos were saying about Jesus in the 01:38:02.000 --> 01:38:04.709 Talmud. So I can't really I don't really 01:38:04.719 --> 01:38:07.430 have much to say on that issue. But I do 01:38:07.440 --> 01:38:08.870 think that Jesus is one heck of an 01:38:08.880 --> 01:38:11.030 aggregor and I think the Virgin Mary is 01:38:11.040 --> 01:38:13.590 also 01:38:13.600 --> 01:38:16.709 Jehovah in general. 01:38:16.719 --> 01:38:18.310 I mean you think about it. You think 01:38:18.320 --> 01:38:21.270 about like the the origin of the belief 01:38:21.280 --> 01:38:24.229 in like the Christian God. I mean it 01:38:24.239 --> 01:38:26.629 started off as the Canaanite god L who 01:38:26.639 --> 01:38:29.590 was just like like a leader of of the 01:38:29.600 --> 01:38:32.550 the Canaanite pantheon. He had like a a 01:38:32.560 --> 01:38:36.390 female consort goddess. Then back around 01:38:36.400 --> 01:38:39.590 the time of the mythological Moses, you 01:38:39.600 -->

01:38:43.030 had the Canaanite l in the Midianite war 01:38:43.040 --> 01:38:46.790 god, god of blood and desert storms and 01:38:46.800 --> 01:38:50.229 all that. Um, Yahweh got conflated and 01:38:50.239 --> 01:38:52.390 then they had to kind of like do away 01:38:52.400 --> 01:38:54.870 with the the female goddess consort and 01:38:54.880 --> 01:38:57.510 all that. And then you start having like 01:38:57.520 --> 01:39:01.189 actual Jews or protojews who are 01:39:01.199 --> 01:39:03.430 believing in this conflation of L and 01:39:03.440 --> 01:39:06.950 Yahweh. And then of course you you just 01:39:06.960 --> 01:39:08.310 read the Old Testament, you could see 01:39:08.320 --> 01:39:10.550 that that God is evolving. you know, 01:39:10.560 --> 01:39:12.470 when he was the god of a bunch of 01:39:12.480 --> 01:39:14.870 primitive barbarians, you had this 01:39:14.880 --> 01:39:17.910 primitive barbaric god who eventually 01:39:17.920 --> 01:39:20.390 became more and more wise and and 01:39:20.400 --> 01:39:23.510 sophisticated and civilized as his 01:39:23.520 --> 01:39:25.109 followers became more wise and 01:39:25.119 --> 01:39:27.030 sophisticated and civilized until now 01:39:27.040 --> 01:39:29.590 you've got this largely just an 01:39:29.600 --> 01:39:32.390 abstraction. It's like you go to like a 01:39:32.400 --> 01:39:34.709 Catholic seminary and what they're 01:39:34.719 --> 01:39:36.950 teaching about God like their theology 01:39:36.960 --> 01:39:38.950 is pretty similar to what the the 01:39:38.960 --> 01:39:43.270 vdantists are teaching about Brahman. 01:39:43.280 --> 01:39:46.229 So I mean what what is this this God 01:39:46.239 --> 01:39:48.310 that has these desires and these 01:39:48.320 --> 01:39:50.550 passions and gets pissed off and you 01:39:50.560 --> 01:39:52.870 know wants wants people to do this and 01:39:52.880 --> 01:39:54.310 not do that and even though he's all 01:39:54.320 --> 01:39:55.590 powerful you know they still don't do 01:39:55.600 --> 01:39:57.109 what he wants and he gets pissed off 01:39:57.119 --> 01:40:01.430 about that and I mean 01:40:01.440 --> 01:40:03.910 in a way they're they're sort of tapping 01:40:03.920 --> 01:40:06.629 into a little bit of the absolute 01:40:06.639 --> 01:40:08.950 but I mean the Old Testament God is is 01:40:08.960 --> 01:40:10.709 certainly no personification of the 01:40:10.719 --> 01:40:13.830 absolute. 01:40:13.840 --> 01:40:16.709 So yeah, it's I think agreores are one 01:40:16.719 --> 01:40:19.830 of the main spiritual forces in theistic 01:40:19.840 --> 01:40:23.270 religion. 01:40:23.280 --> 01:40:24.310 And I'm just going to move on to the 01:40:24.320 --> 01:40:26.229 next question. 01:40:26.239 --> 01:40:29.350 This is from Sedarta Lohachita. 01:40:29.360 --> 01:40:31.990 And this is [clears throat] I've thought 01:40:32.000 --> 01:40:33.830 about this a lot and it's one of those 01:40:33.840 --> 01:40:36.070 questions that I kind of complain about 01:40:36.080 --> 01:40:37.750 sometimes like what is the karma of 01:40:37.760 --> 01:40:43.030 action X when actions are completely 01:40:43.040 --> 01:40:45.750 like ethically neutral? But let's get to 01:40:45.760 --> 01:40:47.990 Sedarta Loa's question here. What would 01:40:48.000 --> 01:40:50.390 be the karma created by ordering 01:40:50.400 --> 01:40:53.430 invading a country like Hitler or Putin 01:40:53.440 --> 01:40:56.229 in Ukraine recently? Well, it would 01:40:56.239 --> 01:40:57.669 depend on the mental states of the 01:40:57.679 --> 01:40:59.990 person who makes the order. Like if 01:41:00.000 --> 01:41:02.149 they're like Genghis Khan and they're 01:41:02.159 --> 01:41:04.629 like at the the forefront of the army, 01:41:04.639 --> 01:41:06.550 they're actually participating. 01:41:06.560 --> 01:41:08.550 Alexander the Great or Richard the 01:41:08.560 --> 01:41:09.990 Lionhe Heart where they're actually out 01:41:10.000 --> 01:41:12.229 in the front lines hacking and and 01:41:12.239 --> 01:41:15.669 stabbing with everybody else, then it's 01:41:15.679 --> 01:41:17.590 going to be a different kind of karma 01:41:17.600 --> 01:41:21.030 than you've got like some decadent Roman 01:41:21.040 --> 01:41:25.109 emperor who doesn't actually lead the 01:41:25.119 --> 01:41:27.510 he's Byzantine, let's say, and he just 01:41:27.520 --> 01:41:29.590 stays in the palace with his, you know, 01:41:29.600 --> 01:41:32.149 his his dancing girls and all that and 01:41:32.159 --> 01:41:33.830 just says, you know, do what needs to be 01:41:33.840 --> 01:41:35.830 done, you know, go and go and take care 01:41:35.840 --> 01:41:37.750 of it, you know, you got we've got 01:41:37.760 --> 01:41:40.070 barbarians invading the country or we 01:41:40.080 --> 01:41:42.870 just take it to their country. You just, 01:41:42.880 --> 01:41:44.790 you know, it's it's just the whole 01:41:44.800 --> 01:41:47.030 attitude is going to determine to a 01:41:47.040 --> 01:41:48.709 large degree what the karma is going to 01:41:48.719 --> 01:41:51.430 be. It's the mental states determine the 01:41:51.440 --> 01:41:53.590 karma. But I have considered like 01:41:53.600 --> 01:41:56.470 somebody like Stalin, let's not pick on 01:41:56.480 --> 01:41:59.030 on the furer. Let's just let's let's 01:41:59.040 --> 01:42:00.629 just go with Stalin. He doesn't get 01:42:00.639 --> 01:42:03.189 enough bad press in my opinion. It's 01:42:03.199 --> 01:42:05.270 like 01:42:05.280 --> 01:42:07.910 if if karma 01:42:07.920 --> 01:42:10.790 was kind of the way most Buddhists 01:42:10.800 --> 01:42:12.629 believe it to be, where it's like an eye 01:42:12.639 --> 01:42:14.229 for an eye, a tooth for a tooth with 01:42:14.239 --> 01:42:16.229 regard to what you do to others and what 01:42:16.239 --> 01:42:18.629 comes back at you, then I mean, he's 01:42:18.639 --> 01:42:23.270 going to be just completely trampled on 01:42:23.280 --> 01:42:27.430 for just millennia before his karma 01:42:27.440 -->

01:42:29.350 would be paid off. And I guess that does 01:42:29.360 --> 01:42:30.470 kind of make sense from a Buddhist point 01:42:30.480 --> 01:42:31.830 of view where you're in hell for a 01:42:31.840 --> 01:42:34.550 billion years sometimes, 01:42:34.560 --> 01:42:37.030 but I I don't think that karma 01:42:37.040 --> 01:42:39.669 necessarily works in this eye for an 01:42:39.679 --> 01:42:42.070 eye, tooth for a tooth kind of way 01:42:42.080 --> 01:42:46.310 where, you know, if you get mugged in an 01:42:46.320 --> 01:42:50.550 back alley like tomorrow, God forbid, 01:42:50.560 --> 01:42:52.229 that doesn't mean that you mugged 01:42:52.239 --> 01:42:54.390 somebody in a back alley like in ancient 01:42:54.400 --> 01:42:56.870 Rome or something, you know? It's just 01:42:56.880 --> 01:42:59.270 in a way it's like if you have unh 01:42:59.280 --> 01:43:01.910 wholesome mental states, it makes you 01:43:01.920 --> 01:43:05.270 kind of a bad driver of of your own 01:43:05.280 --> 01:43:08.070 vehicle or it makes you just have bad 01:43:08.080 --> 01:43:10.229 dreams. You know, it's like not 01:43:10.239 --> 01:43:11.669 everything that you experience in a 01:43:11.679 --> 01:43:13.590 dream is necessarily something that you 01:43:13.600 --> 01:43:17.510 did to somebody else in a dream. 01:43:17.520 --> 01:43:20.149 So, it's just like the more skillful you 01:43:20.159 --> 01:43:22.629 are at driving your vehicle, the more 01:43:22.639 --> 01:43:25.910 skillful you are at avoiding crashes. 01:43:25.920 --> 01:43:28.070 I mean, that could be just the basics of 01:43:28.080 --> 01:43:30.709 how karma works. If you've got wisdom 01:43:30.719 --> 01:43:32.790 and virtue, you're going to be a better 01:43:32.800 --> 01:43:35.430 driver of your vehicle than if you don't 01:43:35.440 --> 01:43:38.310 have wisdom and virtue. 01:43:38.320 --> 01:43:42.310 And so getting back to Hitler or Putin 01:43:42.320 --> 01:43:46.629 or Stalin or Polepot or Gerak, King of 01:43:46.639 --> 01:43:50.070 the Vandals, etc., etc., 01:43:50.080 --> 01:43:52.550 Genghis Khan, 01:43:52.560 --> 01:43:55.270 Jenis, as some sticklers would insist 01:43:55.280 --> 01:43:58.470 upon. 01:43:58.480 --> 01:44:01.750 Uh, I mean, it's it's kind of hard to 01:44:01.760 --> 01:44:03.910 believe that they would have to re 01:44:03.920 --> 01:44:06.550 receive every bit of suffering that 01:44:06.560 --> 01:44:10.310 their orders and actions resulted in 01:44:10.320 --> 01:44:12.870 down the line. 01:44:12.880 --> 01:44:15.510 I mean, it's possible and it could take 01:44:15.520 --> 01:44:18.470 millions of years for it all to happen. 01:44:18.480 --> 01:44:22.149 Karma is patient if you can believe what 01:44:22.159 --> 01:44:23.990 Buddhists and Hindus and so forth will 01:44:24.000 --> 01:44:26.709 say about it. 01:44:26.719 --> 01:44:29.590 Um, yeah. I mean, it's just hard to say. 01:44:29.600 --> 01:44:31.830 It's it's you can't really know for a 01:44:31.840 --> 01:44:34.470 fact

exactly how it's going to work out. 01:44:34.480 --> 01:44:36.310 So, what would be the karma created by 01:44:36.320 --> 01:44:39.270 ordering the invasion of a country? I 01:44:39.280 --> 01:44:41.830 mean, like, what kind of karma is Hitler 01:44:41.840 --> 01:44:44.709 going to get for the onloose where Nazi 01:44:44.719 --> 01:44:47.189 Germany just annexed Austria pretty much 01:44:47.199 --> 01:44:49.669 without firing a shot? 01:44:49.679 --> 01:44:52.470 Or I mean it would have been different 01:44:52.480 --> 01:44:54.629 karma if if the Austrians were fighting 01:44:54.639 --> 01:44:58.310 back, you know, like like the Polish did 01:44:58.320 --> 01:45:02.149 or the French. 01:45:02.159 --> 01:45:05.510 But I mean, how does that really alter 01:45:05.520 --> 01:45:08.470 the original order? You know, it's like 01:45:08.480 --> 01:45:10.790 somebody makes an order, we're going to 01:45:10.800 --> 01:45:13.750 invade country X. And so then country X 01:45:13.760 --> 01:45:15.350 realizes they don't have a chance and so 01:45:15.360 --> 01:45:18.070 they just surrender. Well, that's one 01:45:18.080 --> 01:45:20.870 kind of karma. even after the the the 01:45:20.880 --> 01:45:23.910 order was made or they fight back or 01:45:23.920 --> 01:45:26.550 they fight back a little bit, but they 01:45:26.560 --> 01:45:28.390 don't fight back a lot like Belgium in 01:45:28.400 --> 01:45:30.149 World War I when the Germans were going 01:45:30.159 --> 01:45:33.430 through Belgium, neutral territory, 01:45:33.440 --> 01:45:35.030 you know, it's like a matter of honor. 01:45:35.040 --> 01:45:37.590 They still had honor in World War I. 01:45:37.600 --> 01:45:40.870 Honor was still a thing 01:45:40.880 --> 01:45:43.350 in Western civilization. It's not just 01:45:43.360 --> 01:45:47.430 an antiquated, obsolete term. 01:45:47.440 --> 01:45:49.350 Ah, well, I mean, if they fight back a 01:45:49.360 --> 01:45:51.109 little, then that's that's one kind of 01:45:51.119 --> 01:45:52.790 situation. If they just fight to the 01:45:52.800 --> 01:45:54.470 gruesome death, you know, they're just 01:45:54.480 --> 01:45:56.550 fighting to the very end, fighting to 01:45:56.560 --> 01:45:59.109 the the last life of their last soldier 01:45:59.119 --> 01:46:01.350 capable of fighting, then that's going 01:46:01.360 --> 01:46:04.070 to be a different kind of karma, 01:46:04.080 --> 01:46:07.750 a different kind of action. Anyway, 01:46:07.760 --> 01:46:11.910 so you know, Putin, he probably was not 01:46:11.920 --> 01:46:14.550 foreseeing what was going on in Ukraine 01:46:14.560 --> 01:46:18.149 when he made the first order. 01:46:18.159 --> 01:46:20.550 or Hitler. I mean, he thought, you know, 01:46:20.560 --> 01:46:22.790 France was going to be in the bag easily 01:46:22.800 --> 01:46:24.550 and then Russia was going to be pretty 01:46:24.560 --> 01:46:26.709 easy. They didn't even bother to take 01:46:26.719 --> 01:46:29.189 winter uniforms when they invaded 01:46:29.199 --> 01:46:31.590 Russia. 01:46:31.600 --> 01:46:36.070 So I mean this kind of question 01:46:36.080 --> 01:46:38.390 the karma created by ordering invading a 01:46:38.400 --> 01:46:40.470 country I mean it depends on the person 01:46:40.480 --> 01:46:42.070 and it depends on all these other 01:46:42.080 --> 01:46:44.870 factors that the person himself could 01:46:44.880 --> 01:46:47.270 not possibly take into account and it's 01:46:47.280 --> 01:46:48.550 going to be it's going to be his 01:46:48.560 --> 01:46:50.550 reaction to these events. I mean, it's 01:46:50.560 --> 01:46:53.270 like you if you can use have the same 01:46:53.280 --> 01:46:56.149 mental state when you're ordering the 01:46:56.159 --> 01:46:58.550 invasion of a country and it just goes 01:46:58.560 --> 01:47:01.750 really really successfully and you know 01:47:01.760 --> 01:47:04.550 they they they're defeated easily and 01:47:04.560 --> 01:47:06.950 it's it's not doesn't turn into like a 01:47:06.960 --> 01:47:09.750 years's long blood bath and shitfest. 01:47:09.760 --> 01:47:11.590 Well, you can make just sitting in the 01:47:11.600 --> 01:47:12.950 exact same chair with the same mental 01:47:12.960 --> 01:47:14.870 stage. you could order the same invasion 01:47:14.880 --> 01:47:16.790 and then it turns out that all these 01:47:16.800 --> 01:47:18.790 other countries are are backing up the 01:47:18.800 --> 01:47:20.550 country that you're invading to make it 01:47:20.560 --> 01:47:22.310 as hard for you as possible and 01:47:22.320 --> 01:47:23.750 encouraging everyone to fight to the 01:47:23.760 --> 01:47:27.590 death and all this then I mean that you 01:47:27.600 --> 01:47:29.830 sitting there making the order is 01:47:29.840 --> 01:47:32.070 exactly the same either way. So, it's 01:47:32.080 --> 01:47:33.830 going to be a lot of the stuff is 01:47:33.840 --> 01:47:36.709 subsequent mental states when you're 01:47:36.719 --> 01:47:39.350 dealing with, you know, increased 01:47:39.360 --> 01:47:40.950 resistance from the country being 01:47:40.960 --> 01:47:42.709 invaded and, you know, you're getting 01:47:42.719 --> 01:47:45.830 all these u documents stating the death 01:47:45.840 --> 01:47:48.310 tolls and all this or you're having to 01:47:48.320 --> 01:47:50.550 decide whether or not we should bomb 01:47:50.560 --> 01:47:52.629 this apartment complex because we know 01:47:52.639 --> 01:47:54.550 that there's, you know, the resistance 01:47:54.560 --> 01:47:56.629 has a cell in that apartment along with 01:47:56.639 --> 01:48:02.229 all the innocent people around them. 01:48:02.239 --> 01:48:03.830 All kinds of stuff has to be taken in 01:48:03.840 --> 01:48:07.030 consideration. But it's a mental state. 01:48:07.040 --> 01:48:12.470 Karma is is it is a mental state. 01:48:12.480 --> 01:48:14.790 And some people I mean they could be 01:48:14.800 --> 01:48:16.550 making the same orders and getting the 01:48:16.560 --> 01:48:19.270 same results, but one

person has maybe a 01:48:19.280 --> 01:48:22.629 calmer mental state, calmer, less less 01:48:22.639 --> 01:48:24.550 attached mental state. Maybe the other 01:48:24.560 --> 01:48:25.990 person might be just this foam at the 01:48:26.000 --> 01:48:28.229 mouth fanatic. in the foam at the mouth 01:48:28.239 --> 01:48:33.109 fanatic should be making worse karma 01:48:33.119 --> 01:48:34.550 just because he's got worse mental 01:48:34.560 --> 01:48:37.830 states. 01:48:37.840 --> 01:48:39.109 So I think I'm just going to move on to 01:48:39.119 --> 01:48:41.030 the next question. 01:48:41.040 --> 01:48:43.830 This is also from Sedara Loha. He says, 01:48:43.840 --> 01:48:46.790 "If anata governs the impersonal cause 01:48:46.800 --> 01:48:49.830 and effect process of samasara, 01:48:49.840 --> 01:48:52.950 wouldn't the hell realm seem unjust 01:48:52.960 --> 01:48:55.350 since the being who experiences the 01:48:55.360 --> 01:48:57.510 result is not literally the same being 01:48:57.520 --> 01:48:59.830 who performed the action?" Well, there 01:48:59.840 --> 01:49:02.149 was no being at all, but I'm not done 01:49:02.159 --> 01:49:03.830 with this the question yet. Where 01:49:03.840 --> 01:49:06.390 justice is a man-made point of view. No, 01:49:06.400 --> 01:49:08.550 I mean if you think about karma and its 01:49:08.560 --> 01:49:10.310 results the way I I was just talking 01:49:10.320 --> 01:49:12.629 about it a few minutes ago where it's 01:49:12.639 --> 01:49:14.550 not this eye for an eye, tooth for a 01:49:14.560 --> 01:49:17.030 tooth kind of a deal, but it's just you 01:49:17.040 --> 01:49:20.629 are creating your own reality. You are 01:49:20.639 --> 01:49:23.109 creating your own reality as well as you 01:49:23.119 --> 01:49:25.750 can. And some people are messed up and 01:49:25.760 --> 01:49:27.830 they're creating a messed up reality. 01:49:27.840 --> 01:49:29.990 Some people are wise and serene and they 01:49:30.000 --> 01:49:33.910 create a wise and serene reality. 01:49:33.920 --> 01:49:36.149 I mean, where is the unjustice in that? 01:49:36.159 --> 01:49:38.629 I mean, painting a picture, one person 01:49:38.639 --> 01:49:40.149 paints a picture and it's an ugly 01:49:40.159 --> 01:49:41.990 picture and another person paints a 01:49:42.000 --> 01:49:43.430 picture and it's a beautiful picture. Is 01:49:43.440 --> 01:49:45.750 that unjust? 01:49:45.760 --> 01:49:47.510 Because one person's picture is more 01:49:47.520 --> 01:49:49.189 beautiful than the other. Some leftists 01:49:49.199 --> 01:49:50.390 would probably say that and they would 01:49:50.400 --> 01:49:52.550 insist that both pictures are equally 01:49:52.560 --> 01:49:54.790 beautiful just because you can't have 01:49:54.800 --> 01:49:58.149 any kind of disparity of any anyone 01:49:58.159 --> 01:49:59.910 being better in any way than anyone 01:49:59.920 --> 01:50:03.121 else. 01:50:03.131 --> 01:50:05.830 >> [snorts] 01:50:05.840 --> 01:50:08.310 >> Yeah, the hell realm. I mean, the beings 01:50:08.320 --> 01:50:10.629 in the hell realm are creating their own 01:50:10.639 --> 01:50:12.709 existence. Like they're dreaming their 01:50:12.719 --> 01:50:15.350 dream there. So, is it unjust that some 01:50:15.360 --> 01:50:16.870 people have nightmares and some people 01:50:16.880 --> 01:50:18.709 don't? 01:50:18.719 --> 01:50:23.430 Is that unjust? 01:50:23.440 --> 01:50:25.830 Damn. 01:50:25.840 --> 01:50:27.430 Okay, I think I think I answered that 01:50:27.440 --> 01:50:28.870 one. [laughter] 01:50:28.880 --> 01:50:32.310 Let's just move on to the next one. 01:50:32.320 --> 01:50:33.830 H 01:50:33.840 --> 01:50:36.390 sedarthid I mean there's there's no 01:50:36.400 --> 01:50:38.950 beings at all I mean this is the second 01:50:38.960 --> 01:50:41.270 question in this the same Q&A talking 01:50:41.280 --> 01:50:45.990 about how you know if anata is true then 01:50:46.000 --> 01:50:48.229 then the being who experiences the 01:50:48.239 --> 01:50:50.550 result is not literally the same being 01:50:50.560 --> 01:50:53.189 there's no being at all 01:50:53.199 --> 01:50:55.109 read your you guys should just read your 01:50:55.119 --> 01:50:59.750 own questions sometimes 01:50:59.760 --> 01:51:02.310 Okay, next question. Do you know about 01:51:02.320 --> 01:51:05.030 enlightened despatism? Well, I mean, I 01:51:05.040 --> 01:51:06.709 haven't studied up on enlightened 01:51:06.719 --> 01:51:08.390 desperatism. 01:51:08.400 --> 01:51:09.830 Mainly what I would know about 01:51:09.840 --> 01:51:12.149 enlightened despatism would be what I 01:51:12.159 --> 01:51:14.550 infer from the name enlightened 01:51:14.560 --> 01:51:16.149 desperatism. I assume enlightened 01:51:16.159 --> 01:51:19.030 desperatism would be like an enlightened 01:51:19.040 --> 01:51:21.030 autocrat. You know, you've got the 01:51:21.040 --> 01:51:23.109 enlightened philosopher king running a 01:51:23.119 --> 01:51:24.629 country 01:51:24.639 --> 01:51:26.790 with no interference from a parliament 01:51:26.800 --> 01:51:29.030 or anything like that. He might have 01:51:29.040 --> 01:51:31.669 some advisors, but he can overrule the 01:51:31.679 --> 01:51:33.350 advisors whenever he wants to. In fact, 01:51:33.360 --> 01:51:35.350 he could just have them all beheaded if 01:51:35.360 --> 01:51:36.950 he wants, but he doesn't because he's 01:51:36.960 --> 01:51:39.109 enlightened. 01:51:39.119 --> 01:51:42.310 So, yeah. I mean, that's all I know 01:51:42.320 --> 01:51:44.229 about enlightened desperatism. You'd 01:51:44.239 --> 01:51:48.310 have like some enlightened sage tyrant 01:51:48.320 --> 01:51:50.070 or let's not call him a tyrant. Let's 01:51:50.080 --> 01:51:52.790 just call him a desperate, an autocrat, 01:51:52.800 --> 01:51:56.550 a monarch, if you will. 01:51:56.560 --> 01:52:00.550 So, yeah. I mean, history shows that it 01:52:00.560 --> 01:52:02.550 that tends not to work out very well in 01:52:02.560 --> 01:52:05.589 the long run

because 01:52:05.599 --> 01:52:08.790 Marcus Aurelius has Kimotus as his 01:52:08.800 --> 01:52:10.870 successor. 01:52:10.880 --> 01:52:13.030 Maybe not his biological son judging 01:52:13.040 --> 01:52:16.070 from his Marcus Aurelius's wife's 01:52:16.080 --> 01:52:17.589 behavior, 01:52:17.599 --> 01:52:21.109 but still it was his legal son. And I 01:52:21.119 --> 01:52:22.950 mean, he started he pretty much started 01:52:22.960 --> 01:52:25.669 the decline of the Roman Empire. 01:52:25.679 --> 01:52:27.430 I mean, you could say Marcus Aurelius 01:52:27.440 --> 01:52:28.950 started the decline of the Roman Empire 01:52:28.960 --> 01:52:33.030 by like diverging from the tradition of 01:52:33.040 --> 01:52:35.510 adopting a worthy son to be his 01:52:35.520 --> 01:52:38.149 successor and taking his worthless son 01:52:38.159 --> 01:52:40.390 Kimotus to be his successor. I mean, you 01:52:40.400 --> 01:52:42.870 could you could put the whole beginning 01:52:42.880 --> 01:52:45.189 of the fall of the Roman Empire, the the 01:52:45.199 --> 01:52:47.189 decline of it anyway, under the 01:52:47.199 --> 01:52:48.709 shoulders of Marcus Aurelius, who's 01:52:48.719 --> 01:52:50.390 often considered to be the best Roman 01:52:50.400 --> 01:52:54.470 emperor. 01:52:54.480 --> 01:52:56.229 Ah, [sighs] but I mean what is there to 01:52:56.239 --> 01:52:57.750 know about enlightened despatism? It's 01:52:57.760 --> 01:52:59.669 in capital letters, so it could be some 01:52:59.679 --> 01:53:00.870 kind of movement that I don't know 01:53:00.880 --> 01:53:03.430 anything about. 01:53:03.440 --> 01:53:04.870 So, let's just move on to the next 01:53:04.880 --> 01:53:06.550 question. 01:53:06.560 --> 01:53:09.589 Shall we? Yes, we shall. This is from 01:53:09.599 --> 01:53:13.270 Wclick W, which is kind of an unusual 01:53:13.280 --> 01:53:14.870 name. 01:53:14.880 --> 01:53:16.070 Could be [clears throat] Slavic, I 01:53:16.080 --> 01:53:17.430 guess. 01:53:17.440 --> 01:53:21.430 Anyways, Wclick W says, "Does samsara 01:53:21.440 --> 01:53:24.070 emerge from Nirvana or are they 01:53:24.080 --> 01:53:26.310 completely separate? It's my 01:53:26.320 --> 01:53:28.390 understanding that in Hinduism, this 01:53:28.400 --> 01:53:31.669 world is emergent from Brahman." I'm 01:53:31.679 --> 01:53:33.830 wondering if Buddhism treats that 01:53:33.840 --> 01:53:36.870 relationship differently. Well, 01:53:36.880 --> 01:53:39.030 yeah, Buddhism pretty much does because 01:53:39.040 --> 01:53:42.390 Buddhism tends to avoid reifying the 01:53:42.400 --> 01:53:45.910 absolute. So it's just Buddhism is more 01:53:45.920 --> 01:53:48.310 inclined to say that nothing has any 01:53:48.320 --> 01:53:50.950 self essence at all that there's no 01:53:50.960 --> 01:53:54.470 underlying reality which I mean it kind 01:53:54.480 --> 01:53:55.910 of causes problems for Buddhist 01:53:55.920 --> 01:53:59.109 philosophers but it does save them the 01:53:59.119 --> 01:54:01.589 the handicap of getting stuck in 01:54:01.599 --> 01:54:04.950 reifying the absolute. 01:54:04.960 --> 01:54:07.910 Well, I mean I can understand why it's 01:54:07.920 --> 01:54:09.669 like this world [clears throat] is 01:54:09.679 --> 01:54:11.589 emergent from Brahman which is one 01:54:11.599 --> 01:54:14.390 reason why Nim Karoli Baba up there. Get 01:54:14.400 --> 01:54:16.550 my head out of the way says you know 01:54:16.560 --> 01:54:19.510 it's all God subhu don't you see that 01:54:19.520 --> 01:54:21.750 it's all perfect you know it's all a 01:54:21.760 --> 01:54:24.629 manifestation of perfection. 01:54:24.639 --> 01:54:26.310 Hindus can see that more easily than 01:54:26.320 --> 01:54:29.109 Buddhists can because the Buddhists do 01:54:29.119 --> 01:54:32.390 not have samsara as a manifestation of 01:54:32.400 --> 01:54:35.109 some absolute. 01:54:35.119 --> 01:54:38.390 But in my opinion, nirvana it would be 01:54:38.400 --> 01:54:40.229 like infinite pure consciousness if 01:54:40.239 --> 01:54:43.990 you're going to reify it as anything. 01:54:44.000 --> 01:54:47.430 And so everything else is just virtual 01:54:47.440 --> 01:54:49.109 statues 01:54:49.119 --> 01:54:52.470 made from the uncarved block of marble 01:54:52.480 --> 01:54:56.790 of infinite formless consciousness. 01:54:56.800 --> 01:55:00.310 So in my opinion samsara is a kind of 01:55:00.320 --> 01:55:03.990 epipen phenomenon of nirvana. It's not 01:55:04.000 --> 01:55:07.510 ultimately real. Nirvana is Samsara is 01:55:07.520 --> 01:55:11.350 not because Samsara is all the the the 01:55:11.360 --> 01:55:13.830 infinite number of possible statues 01:55:13.840 --> 01:55:15.350 contained in an uncarved block of 01:55:15.360 --> 01:55:17.189 marble. 01:55:17.199 --> 01:55:19.350 But that uncarved block of marble could 01:55:19.360 --> 01:55:22.870 be called Nirvana or Dao or God or 01:55:22.880 --> 01:55:26.310 whatever. Nibbana datu, 01:55:26.320 --> 01:55:30.229 the element of nibbana. 01:55:30.239 --> 01:55:33.910 So yeah in in orthodox 01:55:33.920 --> 01:55:36.950 especially terravada Buddhism is they 01:55:36.960 --> 01:55:41.669 just go with um instead of is they go 01:55:41.679 --> 01:55:43.750 with isn't you know instead of saying 01:55:43.760 --> 01:55:47.189 that that god exists they just say you 01:55:47.199 --> 01:55:49.750 know there there is no god at least no 01:55:49.760 --> 01:55:52.950 eternal one there's no creator god and 01:55:52.960 --> 01:55:58.470 that then how samsara arises with no 01:55:58.480 --> 01:56:02.310 inher apparent like like essence, no 01:56:02.320 --> 01:56:05.669 underlying real essence. That seems to 01:56:05.679 --> 01:56:09.750 be kind of a stumbling block to me. 01:56:09.760 --> 01:56:12.229 But at least they they realize the 01:56:12.239 --> 01:56:15.830 danger of reifying the absolute 01:56:15.840 --> 01:56:18.470 just calling the absolute and it which 01:56:18.480 --> 01:56:20.390 is just turning it into samsara. It's

01:56:20.400 --> 01:56:23.750 just one more symbol in samsara and they 01:56:23.760 --> 01:56:25.430 just pretty much shoot themselves in the 01:56:25.440 --> 01:56:27.830 foot by doing that. So it's like once 01:56:27.840 --> 01:56:29.830 you start getting close to reality, you 01:56:29.840 --> 01:56:36.550 just got to shut up. 01:56:36.560 --> 01:56:38.629 Man, I should had an emergency backup 01:56:38.639 --> 01:56:41.109 backup beverage. 01:56:41.119 --> 01:56:43.030 Okay, so [clears throat] in my opinion, 01:56:43.040 --> 01:56:44.629 samsara 01:56:44.639 --> 01:56:48.629 does like virtually emerge from nirvana, 01:56:48.639 --> 01:56:51.669 although it's not ultimately real. It's 01:56:51.679 --> 01:56:55.669 a kind of like virtual epiphenomenon. 01:56:55.679 --> 01:56:57.669 But from a Buddhist point of view, 01:56:57.679 --> 01:56:59.830 samsara and nirvana, like from the point 01:56:59.840 --> 01:57:01.990 of view of Abidama, they're completely 01:57:02.000 --> 01:57:03.830 separate. They're not the same at all. 01:57:03.840 --> 01:57:07.510 They are just qualitatively different. 01:57:07.520 --> 01:57:11.109 But I don't buy it. I don't even buy 01:57:11.119 --> 01:57:13.189 that consciousness and mental states are 01:57:13.199 --> 01:57:19.030 qualitatively just completely different. 01:57:19.040 --> 01:57:21.350 And I've talked about that many times. 01:57:21.360 --> 01:57:23.510 So let's just move on to W click W's 01:57:23.520 --> 01:57:25.510 second question. 01:57:25.520 --> 01:57:27.990 He says [clears throat] it seems that in 01:57:28.000 --> 01:57:30.149 Hinduism 01:57:30.159 --> 01:57:32.550 the impermanent particulars of life are 01:57:32.560 --> 01:57:35.350 affirmed and sacralized because they are 01:57:35.360 --> 01:57:38.390 manifestations of Brahman even if they 01:57:38.400 --> 01:57:40.790 may involve suffering is the fact that 01:57:40.800 --> 01:57:43.669 Buddhism is rejecting of particulars and 01:57:43.679 --> 01:57:45.430 only concerned about the universal 01:57:45.440 --> 01:57:47.589 evidence that samsara and nirvana are 01:57:47.599 --> 01:57:50.709 completely unrelated. 01:57:50.719 --> 01:57:52.870 Wait is the fact that Buddhism is 01:57:52.880 --> 01:57:55.109 rejecting of particulars and only 01:57:55.119 --> 01:57:58.149 concerned about the universal evidence 01:57:58.159 --> 01:58:00.390 that some sor and nirvana are completely 01:58:00.400 --> 01:58:02.870 unrelated. This is confusing because if 01:58:02.880 --> 01:58:04.790 we call nirvana the universal, it should 01:58:04.800 --> 01:58:07.270 be that which includes the particulars 01:58:07.280 --> 01:58:08.790 inside of it rather than being 01:58:08.800 --> 01:58:11.750 completely separate from them. Yeah. 01:58:11.760 --> 01:58:13.030 Yeah. I think I've pretty much already 01:58:13.040 --> 01:58:14.550 touched upon this in answering the 01:58:14.560 --> 01:58:18.229 previous question. Um I mean terraata 01:58:18.239 --> 01:58:19.990 Buddhists wouldn't

say that nirvana is 01:58:20.000 --> 01:58:22.870 the universal like in abidama philosophy 01:58:22.880 --> 01:58:25.910 which is orthodox terravada 01:58:25.920 --> 01:58:27.830 not probably what the Buddha himself 01:58:27.840 --> 01:58:30.310 originally taught but it is orthodox 01:58:30.320 --> 01:58:33.830 terravada then you've got 128 ultimate 01:58:33.840 --> 01:58:35.910 realities I think if I remember 01:58:35.920 --> 01:58:39.270 correctly one of them is nirvana 01:58:39.280 --> 01:58:41.830 all the rest is samsara the other 127 01:58:41.840 --> 01:58:44.390 are just aspects of samsara 01:58:44.400 --> 01:58:46.790 consciousness there's One consciousness, 01:58:46.800 --> 01:58:50.310 one nirvana. There's I think 28. Wait, 01:58:50.320 --> 01:58:54.310 no. So, 28 different kinds of matter. 01:58:54.320 --> 01:58:56.229 50 01:58:56.239 --> 01:58:59.189 50 something. 52 or 54. Yeah, it's not 01:58:59.199 --> 01:59:04.950 adding up right. So, it's not 128. 01:59:04.960 --> 01:59:07.030 Yeah, I'm I'm getting getting confused 01:59:07.040 --> 01:59:08.709 in my numbers here. But there's more 01:59:08.719 --> 01:59:10.149 than 50 different kinds of mental 01:59:10.159 --> 01:59:11.990 states, all ultimately real, all 01:59:12.000 --> 01:59:14.790 completely different from Nirvana. And I 01:59:14.800 --> 01:59:18.229 do think that Abid Dama really did not 01:59:18.239 --> 01:59:21.430 do any kind of great service to 01:59:21.440 --> 01:59:23.510 Buddhism. 01:59:23.520 --> 01:59:26.629 I think it was like a a huge step 01:59:26.639 --> 01:59:28.149 backwards from the teachings of the 01:59:28.159 --> 01:59:30.149 Buddha. 01:59:30.159 --> 01:59:33.350 So yeah, in in Buddhism they have 01:59:33.360 --> 01:59:35.750 samsara and nirvana, especially terra 01:59:35.760 --> 01:59:38.070 Buddhism, orthodox terra samsara and 01:59:38.080 --> 01:59:40.870 nirvana are completely different. No 01:59:40.880 --> 01:59:44.310 overlap at all. 01:59:44.320 --> 01:59:47.430 But I just don't buy it. 01:59:47.440 --> 01:59:50.550 So I'm kind of more mahayanist or even 01:59:50.560 --> 01:59:54.070 vdantist in my understanding of how 01:59:54.080 --> 01:59:59.030 samsara arises from an absolute 01:59:59.040 --> 02:00:02.470 but still at least I have like a 02:00:02.480 --> 02:00:04.550 Buddhist caution 02:00:04.560 --> 02:00:08.310 and sort of a I don't know disclaimer 02:00:08.320 --> 02:00:11.910 about reifying the absolute because 02:00:11.920 --> 02:00:13.669 talking about the absolute even with a 02:00:13.679 --> 02:00:16.470 capital A doesn't make it the absolute 02:00:16.480 --> 02:00:18.470 is just another word, another some sorry 02:00:18.480 --> 02:00:21.510 delusional symbol. 02:00:21.520 --> 02:00:22.790 So the the closest you're going to get 02:00:22.800 --> 02:00:25.189 to reality is just by shutting up and 02:00:25.199 --> 02:00:29.030 not philosophizing about it. 02:00:29.040 --> 02:00:32.709 So let's just uh move on to Wclick W's 02:00:32.719 --> 02:00:34.629 third question. 02:00:34.639 --> 02:00:36.709 He says, "Mahayana Buddhism and its 02:00:36.719 --> 02:00:40.070 extensions such as Vajriana and Zen use 02:00:40.080 --> 02:00:43.350 the phrase Nirvana is samsara. 02:00:43.360 --> 02:00:45.589 Is this spinal realization the thing 02:00:45.599 --> 02:00:47.589 which allows enlightened beings to act 02:00:47.599 --> 02:00:50.310 in the world and therefore still show a 02:00:50.320 --> 02:00:52.790 degree of concern for the impermanent 02:00:52.800 --> 02:00:55.510 particulars? This to me seems to be the 02:00:55.520 --> 02:00:57.589 only way of squaring the circle of why 02:00:57.599 --> 02:00:59.669 Buddhas and bodhicattvas still inhabit 02:00:59.679 --> 02:01:02.790 samsara and bother to keep unenlightened 02:01:02.800 --> 02:01:05.430 bother to help unenlightened beings. If 02:01:05.440 --> 02:01:08.229 the beings that need help are illusory, 02:01:08.239 --> 02:01:10.870 then enlightened beings must take some 02:01:10.880 --> 02:01:13.350 kind of sacrifice satisfaction in 02:01:13.360 --> 02:01:16.390 engaging with illusion rather than being 02:01:16.400 --> 02:01:18.709 corrupted by it almost like a tandric 02:01:18.719 --> 02:01:20.790 act. Well, I mean, the enlightened 02:01:20.800 --> 02:01:23.030 beings aren't really there either. And 02:01:23.040 --> 02:01:25.109 if an enlightened being appears in this 02:01:25.119 --> 02:01:27.270 world of unenlightened beings, they're 02:01:27.280 --> 02:01:30.310 going to appear as the fruition of the 02:01:30.320 --> 02:01:33.510 karma of unenlightened beings. Like Rahm 02:01:33.520 --> 02:01:35.350 Doss used to always say about Neim Curly 02:01:35.360 --> 02:01:37.669 Baba up there that the better you got to 02:01:37.679 --> 02:01:39.030 know him, the more you realize there was 02:01:39.040 --> 02:01:41.189 really nobody there. That he was just a 02:01:41.199 --> 02:01:43.510 kind of mirror reflecting your own karma 02:01:43.520 --> 02:01:46.870 back at you and presumably enlightened 02:01:46.880 --> 02:01:49.189 beings are like that. That there is no 02:01:49.199 --> 02:01:55.030 individual enlightened being there. 02:01:55.040 --> 02:01:57.189 So 02:01:57.199 --> 02:01:59.109 where's the actual question here? 02:01:59.119 --> 02:02:02.470 Where's the question mark? Let's see. Is 02:02:02.480 --> 02:02:05.270 this final realization that Nirvana is 02:02:05.280 --> 02:02:07.350 samsara the thing which allows 02:02:07.360 --> 02:02:09.030 enlightened beings to act in the world 02:02:09.040 --> 02:02:11.030 and therefore still show a degree of 02:02:11.040 --> 02:02:13.589 concern for the impermanent particulars? 02:02:13.599 --> 02:02:17.430 Not necessarily. I mean like a an 02:02:17.440 --> 02:02:20.149 orthodox terra Buddhist or would not 02:02:20.159 --> 02:02:23.270 believe that Nirvana is samsara 02:02:23.280 --> 02:02:25.350 like an an enlightened Christian would 02:02:25.360 --> 02:02:27.189 still be going on about Jesus and the

02:02:27.199 --> 02:02:30.629 Virgin Mary. 02:02:30.639 --> 02:02:32.790 Schopenhauer had had some interesting 02:02:32.800 --> 02:02:35.189 things to say about how like a 02:02:35.199 --> 02:02:37.350 traditional religion, 02:02:37.360 --> 02:02:40.149 I mean, even a fully enlightened being 02:02:40.159 --> 02:02:41.750 within that religion is still going to 02:02:41.760 --> 02:02:43.750 just be spouting dogmas from that 02:02:43.760 --> 02:02:45.589 religion just because that's the 02:02:45.599 --> 02:02:50.709 cultural context of their existence. 02:02:50.719 --> 02:02:53.510 So what allows enlightened beings to act 02:02:53.520 --> 02:02:56.070 in the world and therefore still show a 02:02:56.080 --> 02:02:59.189 degree of concern is just the karma of 02:02:59.199 --> 02:03:00.629 the unenlightened beings that they're 02:03:00.639 --> 02:03:03.990 interacting with. Seems to me 02:03:04.000 --> 02:03:05.830 that there really is no enlightened 02:03:05.840 --> 02:03:07.830 being there. 02:03:07.840 --> 02:03:11.510 There's nobody there. 02:03:11.520 --> 02:03:14.070 So it's just a kind of 02:03:14.080 --> 02:03:17.109 fruition of karma on the on the part of 02:03:17.119 --> 02:03:19.189 unenlightened beings wallowing in some 02:03:19.199 --> 02:03:21.109 sorrow. 02:03:21.119 --> 02:03:25.189 There's good karma in most cases. 02:03:25.199 --> 02:03:26.950 But I assume that they're probably 02:03:26.960 --> 02:03:29.750 especially like Mahayana Buddhists and 02:03:29.760 --> 02:03:32.870 probably like Hindu swamies who are able 02:03:32.880 --> 02:03:35.430 to realize you know like Nim Koli Baba 02:03:35.440 --> 02:03:38.870 saying it's all God everything is a 02:03:38.880 --> 02:03:42.470 manifestation of God then you know that 02:03:42.480 --> 02:03:45.589 could help them personalitywise 02:03:45.599 --> 02:03:48.070 to you know have mercy and compassion 02:03:48.080 --> 02:03:50.709 and a willingness to help other beings 02:03:50.719 --> 02:03:53.270 even though ultimately it's all just you 02:03:53.280 --> 02:03:55.910 know just sort of like a conditional 02:03:55.920 --> 02:04:01.350 virtual potential manifestation of 02:04:01.360 --> 02:04:03.990 reality or unreality or whatever the 02:04:04.000 --> 02:04:06.709 hell. Language just is not designed for 02:04:06.719 --> 02:04:11.270 talking about this stuff. 02:04:11.280 --> 02:04:14.390 Let's see. 02:04:14.400 --> 02:04:15.830 This seems to me to be the only way of 02:04:15.840 --> 02:04:17.350 squaring the circle of why Buddhist 02:04:17.360 --> 02:04:19.510 Yeah. uh the Buddhas and the Buddhist 02:04:19.520 --> 02:04:23.430 santas I mean there is nobody there 02:04:23.440 --> 02:04:25.430 ultimately 02:04:25.440 --> 02:04:27.510 and they would know that better than we 02:04:27.520 --> 02:04:32.310 do because they'd be living it directly 02:04:32.320 --> 02:04:34.870 but there wouldn't be any they 02:04:34.880 --> 02:04:38.790 because there is no self 02:04:38.800 --> 02:04:41.750 man so some of these Q&As it's just you 02:04:41.760 --> 02:04:43.830 just kind of I'm like wallowing and 02:04:43.840 --> 02:04:45.350 trying to explain stuff that really 02:04:45.360 --> 02:04:47.990 can't be explained 02:04:48.000 --> 02:04:50.070 I mean, even the Buddha didn't try to 02:04:50.080 --> 02:04:52.310 explain a lot of it. He just he he was 02:04:52.320 --> 02:04:57.189 wise enough just not even to go there. 02:04:57.199 --> 02:04:58.550 So, I'm just going to move on to the 02:04:58.560 --> 02:05:00.390 last question. This is the very last 02:05:00.400 --> 02:05:03.189 question from Dhamma River. And Dhamma 02:05:03.199 --> 02:05:06.550 River says, I just arrived in Bodga Gaya 02:05:06.560 --> 02:05:08.629 and my question is very similar to when 02:05:08.639 --> 02:05:11.109 I arrived in Sri Lanka. Do you have any 02:05:11.119 --> 02:05:13.910 recommendations for me while I'm here? 02:05:13.920 --> 02:05:15.910 Sri Lanka was my first time but I've 02:05:15.920 --> 02:05:18.550 been to Bodega Gaya many times before so 02:05:18.560 --> 02:05:20.870 it's quite a different situation. 02:05:20.880 --> 02:05:22.550 Also in Sri Lanka I was living in a 02:05:22.560 --> 02:05:24.870 monastery while here I'll be doing my 02:05:24.880 --> 02:05:27.109 own practice. Well I mean if you've been 02:05:27.119 --> 02:05:30.470 to Bodga many times 02:05:30.480 --> 02:05:33.270 you probably already know 02:05:33.280 --> 02:05:34.950 the main advice I would give you which 02:05:34.960 --> 02:05:36.950 is don't give money to the beggars until 02:05:36.960 --> 02:05:39.510 it's your last day there. Because once 02:05:39.520 --> 02:05:41.990 you give money to the beggars, you you 02:05:42.000 --> 02:05:43.510 might as well just have like a target on 02:05:43.520 --> 02:05:45.910 your back. They're just going to be just 02:05:45.920 --> 02:05:48.870 hounding you mercilessly from for more 02:05:48.880 --> 02:05:51.350 handouts the whole rest of your your 02:05:51.360 --> 02:05:54.470 time there. I remember uh Jack Kornfield 02:05:54.480 --> 02:05:56.149 in one of his books was writing about 02:05:56.159 --> 02:05:57.669 when he went to Bogaya, he made the 02:05:57.679 --> 02:05:59.350 mistake of offering money to some of the 02:05:59.360 --> 02:06:01.589 beggars right off the bat and they were 02:06:01.599 --> 02:06:04.149 just hounding him until finally he had 02:06:04.159 --> 02:06:05.990 like this crowd of beggars all like 02:06:06.000 --> 02:06:08.550 demanding money from him and he's he 02:06:08.560 --> 02:06:11.189 starts trying to to like hand it out but 02:06:11.199 --> 02:06:12.790 they're they're like just snatching at 02:06:12.800 --> 02:06:14.470 it and just people are worrying that 02:06:14.480 --> 02:06:15.510 they're going to run out of money before 02:06:15.520 --> 02:06:16.950 they get to the end of the line and all 02:06:16.960 --> 02:06:19.189 this. So, I mean, it just like turns 02:06:19.199 --> 02:06:21.510 into this mob scene where all he

can do 02:06:21.520 --> 02:06:23.910 is just wad up the money and throw it 02:06:23.920 --> 02:06:26.070 over their heads and just take off 02:06:26.080 --> 02:06:27.910 running while they turn and like 02:06:27.920 --> 02:06:29.510 converge on the money line on the 02:06:29.520 --> 02:06:31.527 ground. 02:06:31.537 --> 02:06:32.069 [clears throat] 02:06:32.079 --> 02:06:34.229 So, I mean, there's that. Really, the 02:06:34.239 --> 02:06:35.830 only other advice I could give with 02:06:35.840 --> 02:06:37.270 regard to Bodga Gaya is that the 02:06:37.280 --> 02:06:39.589 Bhutanese temple was I considered to be 02:06:39.599 --> 02:06:42.470 the most impressive just with regard to 02:06:42.480 --> 02:06:44.470 like the the decorations and that kind 02:06:44.480 --> 02:06:46.229 of thing. Just the the prettiest temple 02:06:46.239 --> 02:06:48.550 in my opinion at the time that I was 02:06:48.560 --> 02:06:51.910 there was the Bhutanese temple. The the 02:06:51.920 --> 02:06:54.550 Burmese temple is just this old rundown 02:06:54.560 --> 02:06:56.790 kind of a place. Has kind of a good vibe 02:06:56.800 --> 02:06:58.470 to it. 02:06:58.480 --> 02:07:00.550 But I mean you might want to go and pay 02:07:00.560 --> 02:07:03.910 your respects to the Seattle there. 02:07:03.920 --> 02:07:06.470 But uh 02:07:06.480 --> 02:07:08.950 yeah, I'm I'm not sure what other advice 02:07:08.960 --> 02:07:12.069 I would give. I mean the Shiva temple 02:07:12.079 --> 02:07:14.229 right across the way from the from Bodga 02:07:14.239 --> 02:07:17.030 Gaya is kind of interesting 02:07:17.040 --> 02:07:19.270 but yeah I really don't have a whole lot 02:07:19.280 --> 02:07:22.229 of advice with regard to going to Boda. 02:07:22.239 --> 02:07:24.069 I remember before I went to Bodga Gaya 02:07:24.079 --> 02:07:25.830 it was like I didn't really know what to 02:07:25.840 --> 02:07:27.189 expect you know you expect that it's 02:07:27.199 --> 02:07:30.229 either just sacred ground where it just 02:07:30.239 --> 02:07:32.950 has this vibe of enlightenment or else 02:07:32.960 --> 02:07:34.709 it's just going to be like this just 02:07:34.719 --> 02:07:36.870 another kind of [ __ ] hole turned into a 02:07:36.880 --> 02:07:39.510 tourist trap kind of a thing. And it had 02:07:39.520 --> 02:07:43.350 aspects of both, I guess. 02:07:43.360 --> 02:07:45.270 Not that I want to refer to Bog Guy as a 02:07:45.280 --> 02:07:48.790 [ __ ] hole, of course, but still. I mean, 02:07:48.800 --> 02:07:51.990 like the beggars, for example, and I 02:07:52.000 --> 02:07:54.229 don't know. 02:07:54.239 --> 02:07:57.589 I mean, it's like a person who really 02:07:57.599 --> 02:08:01.109 isn't open to like a profound vibe 02:08:01.119 --> 02:08:02.470 probably isn't going to feel much of a 02:08:02.480 --> 02:08:04.790 profound vibe there any more than 02:08:04.800 --> 02:08:08.468 anywhere else really. 02:08:08.478 --> 02:08:08.550 >> [snorts] 02:08:08.560 --> 02:08:10.790 >> But I certainly am

not sorry that I went 02:08:10.800 --> 02:08:14.629 to boat gaya. 02:08:14.639 --> 02:08:16.950 But I mean it didn't it wasn't my 02:08:16.960 --> 02:08:20.870 favorite pilgrimage place to go to. Um I 02:08:20.880 --> 02:08:25.750 was really intrigued by um the what is 02:08:25.760 --> 02:08:27.430 it 02:08:27.440 --> 02:08:30.149 the black rock egilli 02:08:30.159 --> 02:08:32.229 and the black rock. just that entire 02:08:32.239 --> 02:08:36.069 area where you had like pacheka Buddhas 02:08:36.079 --> 02:08:37.830 living there before the Buddhist time 02:08:37.840 --> 02:08:41.589 just like aesthetic sages from all these 02:08:41.599 --> 02:08:44.390 different traditions all living there in 02:08:44.400 --> 02:08:46.709 various caves there. That was really one 02:08:46.719 --> 02:08:50.149 of the most interesting places of of 02:08:50.159 --> 02:08:51.750 India with regard to the Buddhist 02:08:51.760 --> 02:08:57.109 pilgrimage places that that I went to. 02:08:57.119 --> 02:09:00.950 Bolture Peak was nice. 02:09:00.960 --> 02:09:04.390 Also, one interesting thing about about 02:09:04.400 --> 02:09:07.109 doing the pilgrimage route in in India 02:09:07.119 --> 02:09:09.750 was going to Sawati, which is where in 02:09:09.760 --> 02:09:12.550 terra Buddhism, it seems like most of 02:09:12.560 --> 02:09:15.189 the sutas came from near Sawati or like 02:09:15.199 --> 02:09:18.149 Anatika's park, Migadawan. No, not 02:09:18.159 --> 02:09:21.830 Migadawan. What is it? Um, 02:09:21.840 --> 02:09:24.470 the Jeta Grove, Jawana, 02:09:24.480 --> 02:09:26.870 which is near Sawati. You go to actual 02:09:26.880 --> 02:09:29.510 where Sawati was and it's you you see no 02:09:29.520 --> 02:09:31.109 indication that there was really a city 02:09:31.119 --> 02:09:33.750 there other than there's like three 02:09:33.760 --> 02:09:35.510 temples there. I think there's like one 02:09:35.520 --> 02:09:36.950 or two Buddhist temples. There's at 02:09:36.960 --> 02:09:39.910 least one Jane temple on this hill where 02:09:39.920 --> 02:09:41.990 Sawati used to be. And aside from that, 02:09:42.000 --> 02:09:43.270 the only way you can tell that there was 02:09:43.280 --> 02:09:45.430 ever a city there, much less a a 02:09:45.440 --> 02:09:48.149 bustling metropolis capital city, is 02:09:48.159 --> 02:09:50.870 that the ground is consists mainly of 02:09:50.880 --> 02:09:53.750 like brick fragments. 02:09:53.760 --> 02:09:56.470 But I've completely wandered away from 02:09:56.480 --> 02:09:58.870 Bodega Gaya, haven't I? Yeah. I really 02:09:58.880 --> 02:10:01.510 don't have much advice other than, you 02:10:01.520 --> 02:10:03.109 know, the advice that Dama River 02:10:03.119 --> 02:10:04.790 probably already knows about waiting 02:10:04.800 --> 02:10:06.550 till the last day if you're going to 02:10:06.560 --> 02:10:09.189 give the beggars anything. And uh I 02:10:09.199 --> 02:10:10.629 wouldn't be surprised if Dama River has 02:10:10.639 --> 02:10:14.550 also seen the uh the Bhutanese temple 02:10:14.560 --> 02:10:16.709 and maybe has gone to the Burmese temple 02:10:16.719 --> 02:10:18.550 and already paid respect to the Seattle 02:10:18.560 --> 02:10:21.510 there. So I guess that's it. It's all 02:10:21.520 --> 02:10:24.629 answered and we're done. And I hope the 02:10:24.639 --> 02:10:27.669 sound quality is acceptable. And I also 02:10:27.679 --> 02:10:32.229 hope that uh you will like and subscribe 02:10:32.239 --> 02:10:34.550 if you have not done so already. My 02:10:34.560 --> 02:10:37.189 woman wants me to plug the book Memoirs 02:10:37.199 --> 02:10:40.069 from Myanmar, which is my most recently 02:10:40.079 --> 02:10:42.629 published book. Very heavy, contains all 02:10:42.639 --> 02:10:45.030 kinds of information. 02:10:45.040 --> 02:10:47.430 Hope you don't have to pay extra postage 02:10:47.440 --> 02:10:50.470 due to the weight of that book. Also, I 02:10:50.480 --> 02:10:51.750 might as well mention, I mean, this is 02:10:51.760 --> 02:10:54.069 just not even a plug. I'm sure WW Tarn 02:10:54.079 --> 02:10:55.990 is long since deceased, but I got this 02:10:56.000 --> 02:10:58.870 book recently because because of my new 02:10:58.880 --> 02:11:02.310 job, I have free time at work. It's like 02:11:02.320 --> 02:11:04.310 I'm overseeing chemical reactions and 02:11:04.320 --> 02:11:07.990 sometimes it'll like heat to 98 degrees 02:11:08.000 --> 02:11:10.790 Celsius and hold for two hours. So, it's 02:11:10.800 --> 02:11:12.229 like if I don't have anything else to 02:11:12.239 --> 02:11:15.669 do, I just read books. And so, I got 02:11:15.679 --> 02:11:16.790 this. I'm going to be reading this 02:11:16.800 --> 02:11:18.229 again. And I read it a long time ago 02:11:18.239 --> 02:11:20.229 back when I was in my 20s. The Greeks in 02:11:20.239 --> 02:11:23.189 Baktria and India. 02:11:23.199 --> 02:11:24.550 A lot of people don't realize that 02:11:24.560 --> 02:11:26.870 northwestern India and pretty much all 02:11:26.880 --> 02:11:29.830 of Afghanistan was ruled by Greeks or 02:11:29.840 --> 02:11:32.390 Macedonians. You know, generals of 02:11:32.400 --> 02:11:35.830 Alexander the Great. 02:11:35.840 --> 02:11:37.350 And the Greeks apparently had a 02:11:37.360 --> 02:11:39.910 significant influence on Buddhism, which 02:11:39.920 --> 02:11:43.430 is kind of interesting in itself. 02:11:43.440 --> 02:11:45.750 So, no more than three questions per 02:11:45.760 --> 02:11:48.629 person per episode. Please like and 02:11:48.639 --> 02:11:51.109 subscribe if you've not done so already 02:11:51.119 --> 02:11:54.920 and be happy.