Looking Down

0:05Good evening everyone. Welcome to our live broadcast. The audio is all messed up. How did I fix it last time? Robin hey bun thing you're not here yet I got caught in a storm lots of trees down on the road oh are you coming alone or is your husband with you on this time I'm working this week okay That should be, oh that's wrong. Yeah. Using the wrong microphone. Okay. So. Tonight's quote is about eating. No, it's about livelihood. read at the end it's about how one makes one's living specifically know how religious people make their living what religious people focus on there are religious practices that are low religious practices and are not worthy of one who is One who is seeking to become free from suffering.

2:53I'm not worthy of a Buddhist monk at any rate. So there's looking down and there's looking up. Looking down is looking at the signs, mundane signs. Looking up is looking at divine signs. Also not good. There are those who act as messengers and errand boys. This is one thing that monks aren't allowed to do. We're not allowed to run errands for people. Because we are living off the charity of others. We have given up financial security and solubility, that's the word, in favor of the homeless life.

4:12And so we rely upon charity. Now, if we start working for people well first of all it's going against our our determination to be free from all that but it's also setting one up for sort of the obligation so you ingratiate yourself with people by doing them errands and then they give you food and then they come to to think of it in a different way. Rather than being charity, it's wages. The dynamic breaks down. It's no longer a religious thing. It's now employment.

5:18Well, as far as palmistry, I don't know how that works. There's another category. But that's looking at all. So the going on errands is looking at the four directions, even looking at the four directions. This is a symbols, symbolism. Eating and eating, looking in four directions is a metaphor for living religious life as a, as a go-between or an errand boy. And looking at the points between is a metaphor for palmistry, et cetera. I guess that has to do with the body, maybe.

6:34I seek my food rightly and rightly do I eat it after I have sought it. So rightfully means without expectation, without insinuation or ingratiation, simply because people want to give and in return leading a life that is pure and setting an example and offering teaching, religious teaching, which is the one thing that monks and religious people should do for lay people, is offer them teachings that allow them to become more religious and more spiritual, offering them a part in the spiritual life.

7:46Sort of an interesting quote from monastics, but not much else. We have questions today. Let's look at some questions. Oh, Robin disappeared, because I'm on my own. Let's see. How far back do I have to go? Some way back here. Too much chatting. We've lost all the questions. Too much chatting. What do you think? This is a chat box? Meditators. It shouldn't be chatting. Some monks sleep in the floor on a bed made or a bed made of rock. Do you do the same?

8:54I sleep on the carpet, actually. Sleeping on a bed made of rock. I don't know how healthy that would be. Actually, it would be quite unhealthy, I'm assuming. Monks were supposed to sleep on simple mattresses, but mattresses were allowed. Sleeping on the floor is good, on a carpet or so on. You don't sleep too much. You said we should guard our mind. What instance of us is used to guard the mind? Is it the mind itself, the consciousness? Yes, the mind is what guards the mind.

9:53So better to meditate after waking up or after breakfast. Well, the Visuddhimanga does mention, I think it's the Visuddhimanga mentions that eating is useful for meditation especially in the morning because it's hard to focus and the stomach is is not settled until you've had some porridge or oatmeal for breakfast no rice porridge or or you know that kind of thing it's called it would be a sort of a simple uh plain breakfast to calm the stomach And so what part is that?

10:49I think it might be in the I'm not sure. So eating first is useful. Are the hindrances viewed as hindering equanimity or hindering concentration or hindering any peaceful positive qualities of mind states? I think specifically it's about hindering concentration. It's a good question. I mean, in general, they are hindrances. They hinder everything. They're in general bad for you. But I think... The probably the orthodox answer would be the word hindrance is used to indicate the hindering of concentration.

11:39That's the hindering of wisdom as well because concentration leads to wisdom. Or focus you might say rather than concentration. But they hinder positive qualities in mind states in general. It doesn't even hinder success in life, in a mundane sense. You can't succeed if you have these five, or it's harder to succeed with them. Ni does not mean Nibbana, Sankhya, you've got it. No, no, no, no. Maybe that's a commentarial answer. But Ni just means out or away.

12:24Varana means toward. That's not the real etymology. Maybe the commentary talks about that. Give me the real etymology. It comes from the verb niwareti. It's a verb. It's nothing to do with Nibbana. Let's look at the commentary. Niwareta. It's a simple word. Nothing to do with nibbana. Because nibbana isn't about the ni, it's about the vana. And it's a good example. The ni at the beginning is a prefix meaning out or away or out from, from kind of thing.

13:58Near, near means without, without or out of, or away. War means like toward. It's probably the same as the English ward, to ward away something. So Nivarana means to ward away. And a hindrance is something that keeps you away, keeps you from. Nivarana. Nirvana is away from or out of bondage, free from bondage. Move isn't happening yet. It's happening It's happening Saturday. I guess we're doing some packing before then. Robin was going to be here today, but she got caught up in a storm.

15:12Can you accept boxes of food and tea from different countries? I can't accept food. I also can't accept money. So the best way is through our organization. You can go to our support page and look at ways to support there. As far as food for me, I've been accepting gift cards to Subway or Pita Pit or Starbucks or Tim Hortons. And these gift cards can all be purchased online. If you purchase them online, the company sends me an e-give or sends a card in the mail or something there's different ways they do that but I'm not sure how much I'll be using that in the future because where we're living there are not any convenient stores like that so we'll either hopefully try and get a steward someone to come and stay and and prepare food or I'll go to the local we'll try and set something up with the local restaurant so that I have food there.

16:27Hopefully, I'll be able to stay alive a little longer. OK, please use the green or orange button to preface your questions. Otherwise, I won't be able to find them. where was could you please speak to how the lay person can make a living what guidelines to follow for those that do touch money yeah i mean on the one hand you have to understand that there aren't going to be too many concrete guidelines because again it's not so much about what you do but about how you do it That being said, there are some basic concrete guidelines, but they're very much common sense from a Buddhist point of view.

17:36So any livelihood that breaks the five precepts is wrong. Any livelihood that directly involves substances that harm individuals is wrong. So selling poison, selling weapons, selling animals, selling poisons, weapons, living beings, humans, I think is the fourth. I can never remember these things. I usually can't actually. Poisons, weapons, living beings. Intoxicants, I guess, is the fifth, right? This is all wrong. Anything that's involved. So, but it comes down to, to some extent, common sense.

18:44If what you're doing is involved in harming or if you have to do harmful things to make a living, then it's problematic. I guess I would say many types of livelihood are indirectly involved in unwholesome things or involved in unwholesome things that are mild. Even entertainment isn't considered the greatest livelihood because it's involved in what we would call unwholesome desire. There's desire involved, playing with people's emotions, that kind of thing.

19:26You use quantum physics to support Buddhism, something I find compelling. Does Buddhism believe in a single universe or a multiverse or other? Buddhism doesn't have too many beliefs and it isn't focused on beliefs. Buddhism is much more about the truth of reality which is very much in the present moment here and now. It's nothing to do with far away things. It has to do with one's own experience within this six-foot frame. Our universe has no size.

19:59Our universe is not single or multiple. Our universe is an experience. It's a series of experiences. That's what our tradition of Buddhism focuses on. What do you think of Thich Nhat Hanh and his monasteries in the Plum Village Monasteries and Blu Kiff Monasteries? Sorry, I don't think too much about them. I mean, I don't think about them too much. Is it okay to directly try to notice the elements? When I know it as a rising and falling, I get a mental picture of the belly rising and falling.

20:44It does not happen when I focus on the tension. You can just say tense if you want. But if you get a mental picture, you just say seeing, seeing. fine for it not to be amenable to your will when you see the pictures you see. I mean, the Buddha didn't require you to say things like Earth or so on. He said, . When going, one knows I go. I'm walking. When you say walking, you get a picture of your feet? No. Walking is meant to be a description of the feeling, the element.

21:33But you still say walking, or you say sitting, or so on. I wouldn't worry too much about that. But if you do see the image, you would say seeing. the mind stops inclining forming words and starts to black out rhythmically so we force it to form noting word we don't force it if the mind starts to black out whatever that means you would say knowing knowing or feeling feeling calm calm quiet quiet You should use a word based on what you're experiencing.

22:21The word is a reminder. It's sati. It's cultivation of mindfulness. You're reminding yourself it's just this so that you don't react to it. When a kamma is being committed, can there be situations when the role of free will becomes insignificant? For example, a person has a view that killing animals is okay and if an mosquito bites him, causing anger to arise, would he still be able to refrain from killing it, given that no other factors intervene?

22:55And that's very, I don't think you're making things overly complicated. If the mosquito bite causes anger to arise, one has failed in being mindful of the feeling. If the feeling comes and one knows it as a feeling, there will be no anger arising. If anger arises, it's already too late. Depending on one's state of mind, that anger might result in killing the animal. But there's required more than anger. There's required wrong view, I think. I should think.

23:44Because a Sotapanna couldn't Give rise to the thoughts of that killing is the right answer. would have to intervene without wholesome mind state one. It's not that it didn't intervene in time for the anger, but the anger is only one mind state. After the anger, there has to be the thought, I should kill this, the thought, kill. And that thought has to have, once that thought arises, there has to be a response of an anger and a delusion response to that thought.

24:31So there, without, it's about whether Hiri-otipa intervene at that point. They've already, they've already missed the chance for the, to stop the anger from arising. But anger isn't enough, it requires It requires the thought to kill and the reaction to that. All right. I'm going to give it a rest there for tonight. I'm going to do my meditation. I skipped my evening meditation. I'm going to go do it now. One more question. I remember hearing that you said we practice Satipatthana, but I also heard you say that we practice Anapanasati.

25:40What do you mean? Is it a combination? Anapanasati. Sati means mindfulness. Sati is Satipatthana. Anapana means the breath. So if you're watching the breath, that's Anapanasati. But Sati, if you're using the If you're using the elements, then it's satipatthana. You're focusing on the elements. So when you watch the stomach, you say to yourself, rising, falling, that's both watching the breath and watching the element. So it's both anapanasati and satipatthana.

26:23In the future, do you plan on going back to Thailand? Oh, I don't think too much about the future. In the future, I plan on moving to Hamilton about 10 minutes down the road. Is it fair to say that an Arahant has the perfect free will since they are not swayed by the defilements? I don't know. I don't like using terms like free will. determinism. I wouldn't say such a thing. I would say an Arahant has perfect freedom. Besides the fact that they still have to live, still have to eat, still have to suffer physically.

27:16Besides that, they're pretty much free. Is exercising and other presumed health habits just another attachment? Well, to some extent you could argue that it's functional. Exercise to some limited extent is functional, but for the most part exercise is because we eat too much. We didn't eat too much. We wouldn't need to exercise nearly as much as most people do. play sports and that kind of thing. It's all because of too much food. If you ate just enough to survive, you wouldn't need to do much exercising to keep yourself healthy.

28:06That being said, for some exercise is useful and some amount of healthiness is reasonable and that's a good, just good practice. But often we become very much obsessed with health and that's a problem. You try to be too healthy. too obsessed with always being healthy, then you won't be able to deal with sickness. You'll be very much averse and concerned and afraid of sickness. You shouldn't be afraid of getting sick. You should be ready and able to deal with sickness when it comes.

28:53And so obsessing about health is somewhat counter to that. OK, I'm really going this time. Good night, everyone. Good night. See you next time.