Dhammapada Verse 218: Ineffable Upstream

0:01Hello and welcome back to our study of the Dhammapada. Today we continue with verse 218, which reads as follows. Chanda jato anakkhate, manasacha puttoseya, kamesu apati baddhachito, which means one who is intent upon or inclined towards that which is indescribable One is intent upon that which is indescribable, inclined towards it, keen on it. If one's mind leaps or plunges into, really gets into, is thrilled by, is excited by, is fully into, we would say in English, into that, the anakata, the ineffable.

1:57Kamesu apati baddha citto. if one's mind is not bound up or tied down by kama, by sensuality. Such a person is called One who is going upstream One who has a stream going upwards So this story was taught This verse was taught in in response to a story about a elder monk who was getting old and his students, his saddhavi harika, saddhi viharika, the monk who lived with him. So in the time of the Buddha, it was established that new monks should spend some time with a senior monk in order to learn how to become a good monk.

3:37And so they would spend time, sometimes even staying in the same bedroom. They wouldn't have the same bed, but they would live quite close so that the young monk could learn how to live from the old monk. Just watching and following and really taking care of the older monk and so on. So it became sort of mentorship. So it might not be correct to say this was a teacher-student relationship, but it was a mentor and dependent relationship. Let's explain like that.

4:14Just saddhi viharika, one who lives with you. Learn how you be a good monk. And so the monks, I guess there was more than one living with him, asked him, they said, Venerable Sir, what sort of benefits have you gained from the practice? What sort of results? Anything special? Now this monk had indeed practiced and indeed gained something quite special from the Dhamma. He had become what we call an anagami. Anagami. Anagami, sorry. Anagami. Anagami means one who doesn't come back.

5:20It's the third of four stages of enlightenment. When one first experiences nibbana, they're called a sotapanna. Here we have this word sota again. Sota means a stream. That word is used because it means someone who is not going to fall back. They're being pulled towards enlightenment. Use the word stream to indicate that they're on their way. It's like you get on an escalator and you can't go back down again. It just takes you up. But such a person still has a lot of defilements left, potentially.

6:14And so they may still get angry, they may still be craving things, they may still get worried, or may still... They won't be jealous or stingy, but they can still crave and get upset, sad, frustrated, bored. But far less than ordinary people. They've come a long way and they've given up any kind of wrong view about the Dhamma, any doubt about the Dhamma, any wrong practices. They have no inclination to do things that are useless. They'll never make a mistake about what is useful and what is useless.

6:55Thinking something that is useless is actually spiritually beneficial, like rituals or rules. They know the way to become enlightened. the higher stages start to get rid of more of the defilements, and so we have what you call a sakadagami, someone who will come back, but will come back only once. That's because they've worked harder than a sotapanna, they've moved on from there, and they've continued the work to the point where they're only going to come back once, and then after that they'll free themselves completely from suffering.

7:39But an anagami, the third stage, an anagami has gotten rid of completely any kind of sensual desire. I've come to see it for the illusion that it is. And any kind of aversion or a disliking of things. any hatred of others, any anger or frustration or irritation. And so this is who this monk was. He was actually quite advanced. Anyone who could claim to be free from any form of sensual desire is quite impressive. Any kind of aversion or irritation.

8:30It's quite a powerful state. But he thought to himself, you see, because There's a fourth stage. And the fourth stage is very powerful. They say someone who becomes an arahant. See, an arahant is someone who has gotten rid of all delusion as well. So an anagami might still get distracted, might still have conceit. Yeah, conceit is another big one. And anagami might still be conceited, might still be proud of themselves, might still have low self-confidence, feeling bad about the fact that they're not yet an arad.

9:22And it seems that that's what this monk was feeling. He felt kind of guilty for not being an arahant because he thought to himself, you know, with an arahant, an arahant, if a lay person becomes an arahant, they have to ordain. If they don't, they say they will die. There's just two ways. Either they pass away or they become a monk and they go on alms round so they don't have to engage in practices that they just see no use in. I mean like getting a job and seeking out food and that sort of thing.

10:00But in anagami, there are many lay people who became anagamis. And so he thought to himself, this is just, I'm no better than a lay person. even a lay person could become an anagami. And he thought to himself, I'm not going to declare my attainment until I become an arahant. I'll wait until I become an arahant and then I'll let these guys know what I've gotten out of the practice. I really wait until I've realized the complete goal. And so he didn't say anything.

10:36And again and again, time and again, they would ask him and They started to get worried, thinking, why isn't he answering? He must have gained nothing from the practice and is feeling guilty about it. So they were concerned and they asked him again and again. He never said anything. And then he died. He died without becoming an Arahant. And so when he passed away, he was an Anagami. He didn't return. Where did he go? He went to what we call the Suddhavasa.

11:08Suddha means pure and awasa means abode or dwelling. So the pure abodes. They are Brahma worlds, but they're a very special Brahma world. They're a world that beings exist who have become anagami and that's it. Only people have become anagamis, only beings that have become anagamis are reborn there. It's a very special realm of existence. And these monks were quite upset because they didn't know any of this and they thought their teacher had, or their mentor, the guy who they'd looked up to, had gotten nothing out of the practice.

11:55They felt bad for him. Maybe they felt bad for themselves for wasting their time on such a teacher. And they went to the Buddha and they were crying apparently and moaning and wailing and so on. And the Buddha said, what's this all about? and said oh venerable sir our poor teacher just passed away and the Buddha said well haven't I taught that this is the nature of things to pass away why are you crying about someone dying aren't you real monks hasn't your teacher taught you anything crying about death when death is such an obvious and glaringly a certain part of life.

12:48It's not something to be shocked about or upset about. And they said, well, it's not that. We know that, Venerable Sir. It's just that he died without getting anything. We asked him again and again and he didn't say anything. He must have died and who knows where he went because he had no benefit from the practice. And the Buddha explained to them. He said, oh no, no. My son has been reborn in the Suddhavasa. He just was embarrassed because he was only an anagami and he thought he'd wait until he became an arhat.

13:25And then he taught this verse explaining that really they should have known or could have known or maybe not based on their own state of mind, but it would be possible to know. There's no possibility that that monk could have gone anywhere else because, not of some category, but because of his state of mind, his qualities of mind. And that's what this verse is meant to highlight. So we can get a couple of things from this story. The first is, of course, the most obvious one, and the main lesson of the story, I think, is not to be complacent.

14:16An anagami is such a high attainment, and yet even people, or maybe especially people who have become anagamis, one thing it does to them is make them not complacent. I think there was a story about some anagamis that became complacent and the Buddha had to scold them, admonish them. But here we have, this shows that this monk pointed out an important lesson that even when you have gotten to that state, You have to remember that you still have defilements.

14:56What it means that there's a difference between an anagami and an arahant is that you still have conceit and restlessness and ignorance. You still have desire for form and formlessness and so on. No sensual desire left. And so it's a really good example for us, for people who have maybe not gained anything from the practice, to remind ourselves. You know, some people become content just with calm. They practice meditation for a bit and they feel calm and they become content with that.

15:51Some people gain insight, gain some good understanding about how to live their lives and they become content with that. They become content with something that's really ineffective in the long run. You know, it will have an effect on our lives, but it has no potential for, or it has no guarantee It has no power to free you from suffering. You feel calm and it's very easy to lose that and get back to square one. You gain insight. Maybe it changes your course in life, which is a very good thing.

16:39But who knows how long that will last. It will go away. You'll forget about it. The Buddha said, asantuti bahulo, you want to be a great being, you want to really do something great, something really and truly great, you have to be discontent. Not discontent in the way we normally think about it. The Buddha taught and praised contentment. But discontent about your own spiritual attainments, your own quality of mind. Until you have freed yourself from all bad habits, bad qualities of mind.

17:23Until you've freed yourself from all ignorance, you've come to understand reality just as it is. You should not Be complacent. You should not be content with what you've done. Of course, people who have attained Sotapanna become complacent with good reason, because it's quite a change. It's quite an accomplishment. And your whole being feels different with the peace and the security, the feeling of stability of mind. sakadagami, anagami, it's still possible to become complacent.

18:07So just a reminder of course that in our practice if even an anagami is able to admonish themselves not to be complacent, we should remember the reason why we're practicing. It's not just because it's beneficial to us, that's one way of looking at it, but also because We have things that are unbeneficial that we need to address. We really do have an imperative task to perform. That is to learn, to study, to become familiar and understand and overcome our bad habit, our unwholesome qualities of mind.

18:58So that's the first lesson The second lesson I think is a little more subtle and may or may not be there but it appears that the Buddha is perhaps or you could take this as an admonishment or as a lesson for us not to put too much emphasis on titles, proclamations Identities, you know Like we have these four stages of enlightenment It's very easy for people to obsess about them People saying I've heard people say My goal is to become a Sotapanna in this life Something I don't mean to criticize that But it really isn't A great way to focus I mean, it isn't the most important thing to focus on.

20:00Your focus should be on, of course, being mindful. And this is a good example of the distinction. These monks were so focused on this idea, this switch that they could turn in their minds where they switched from thinking of him as an ordinary person to an enlightened person, that they never even saw how enlightened he was. Right? Because if they lived in the same room with him, It's certainly possible that it's very hard. I mean, it is maybe a third lesson.

20:31It is hard to know whether someone else is enlightenment. It's a very personal thing. But they live so close to him. And I think it's quite possible that had they not been so obsessed with trying to determine whether he was or wasn't, they would be able to instead be very mindful and become in tune with his state of mind and really get a sense that most likely he was not an ordinary being. I think it's very hard to mistake an anagami for an ordinary being.

21:09But third lesson, it can be difficult. You see, even these monks who lived with the anagami didn't know. And they didn't know because two reasons. One, because they weren't paying attention. Two, because it is very hard to know. The Dhamma is pachatang, to be known for oneself. It really isn't always the best to proclaim your attainments. Monks aren't allowed to talk about them with people who aren't monks. But even among monks, sometimes it's better just to Focus more on qualities of mind, you know.

21:51Focus more on what's important. And focus more on oneself. Someone asks you, are you enlightened? You say, why do you care about me? You should turn it back on them and say, the only enlightenment you should be concerned with is your own. Sometimes people try to test. I don't get it so much, but I suppose I have. I don't notice it so much, but I've heard of monks getting tested. I think it happens a lot in Buddhist societies. You have Buddhists who know a lot, and they're very skeptical of other Buddhists, and so they go around to monks and they try to test them to see how enlightened they are.

22:39In some ways it's a good service because it does test the monks. You know, they might try and make them irritated or annoyed. But on the other hand, it's really a waste of that person's life. Why are they so focused on determining whether other people are enlightened? And it becomes a bit of a problem from the other end as well. When someone does identify another person as an enlightened being, correctly or incorrectly, I think it's very common to incorrectly or with insufficient evidence, identify someone else as being enlightened, or oneself even.

23:18I think it's possible to overestimate one's own attainment. And it becomes, you see this is the thing about labels, it becomes an entity. a person who is an arahant, a person who is an anagami, and you put them up on a pedestal and it makes you feel good if they're your teacher, right? My teacher is such and such, which is really awful because them being such and such says nothing about you even if they are. I've seen very pure monks who have very, very poor and impure students or followers Just because you follow the Buddha even said it Just because you follow around If you were to follow around holding on to my robe I can't take you to Nibbana That's not what he said exactly But basically that Sit with me all day Hang out with me all day is nothing to you It has potential to be completely unbeneficial When you could be off meditating and following my teachings He did say that basically so there's the lessons from the story don't be complacent but also don't obsess about titles and categories and so on the focus should be on what the verse focuses on and why I think it may be very well with the Buddha a part of the Buddha's lesson this sort of admonishment not to do that is because of what the Buddha says he says look of course he was an anagami he had all these qualities

25:02Or he had, that's not a lot of qualities But this basic quality of mind That distinguishes someone who is not coming back From someone who is coming back So what is it? Chanda jato anakate Anakate, akata Akata is something that is explained or Discussed Something that is told. So nibbana anakate is the thing which cannot be told, which cannot be explained, not be described. And apparently that's what ineffable means. So we can say it's the ineffable.

25:59It's very different. It's ineffable. The problem with those sorts of words is that it gives it this sort of mystery, which it really shouldn't. We should absolutely understand that that is an essential quality of it, that being ineffable. It doesn't mean it's something that if only we were smarter we could talk about it, we could explain or we could understand, we could conceive of it. It's like the inconceivable. It's a thing that is literally, like actually, inconceivable.

26:33In the sense of there's no concept involved with it, there's no entity per se. It exists, but it exists... In a different way than formed things that you can describe, conceive of That they exist And that's exactly what it is It's that thing that has those qualities Has the quality of being indescribable It's the thing that is indescribable It's the It's that which is outside the realm of being describable. That's just what it is. It's not something mysterious.

27:14It's just that thing. I haven't made it much clearer by saying that, but I just want to explain that it's not meant to make it mysterious or obfuscate the meaning or anything. It's just talking about what is different from everything else. Here I am talking a lot about it. Just trying to explain why it's what it is. And so chanda jata, chanda is an important word. He uses this, I think, because chanda can be used both ways. Chanda actually is often used as a replacement for desire.

28:00In Thai, they say paw jai, which I think is a good, we don't really have a similar way of talking about things in English. But someone is paw jai, jai is the heart, paw is enough. Paw jai means contentment or finding something to be enough. But they use it to mean liking, you know, if you're in regards to food, it means you like it. And so it's kind of used in the sense of liking something, but it more literally means interest, or inclination, intention, in the sense of being intent on something.

28:48So one translator, I think, uses intent on the ineffable. Inclined is a good word, because the Buddha uses this imagery of a tree leaning in one direction. And this is where the distinction is made here. Someone who is inclined towards nibbana, is really very and categorically different from someone who is inclined towards kamma, towards sensuality. And that's the real distinction here. It's a very simple description of the quality of enlightenment, that it inclines away from sensuality and towards the opposite of sensuality.

29:48And so this is it's an important point about this is that it's a description of the problem. What's wrong with us with ordinary life with ordinary inclination, because When you hear about nibbana, for example, when you hear about nibbana, when you hear about the path, when you hear about the direction, it's often quite hard to swallow. It's unpalatable, fearsome even. Some people who really like what the Buddha said will become inclined to practice.

30:37You know, they meet Buddhists and they really feel attracted to the path and to the ideas behind it. But then they hear about Nibbana and it scares them. What is this I've gotten myself into? One meditator told me, wait, do you know what this means? Do you really get what we're doing here? It just shocked him and he couldn't He couldn't get past this because he liked the idea of gaining benefit from meditation, but he understood what the meaning was here.

31:15Yabana involves non-arising. And so often our practice seems to be trying to change our opinion about Nibbana Trying to like it, trying to incline towards it We want to create in our minds this inclination towards Nibbana But it's not quite like that It's in fact the disinclination that we take as our object. It's not that we practice liking it. It's not that we practice or I guess more common, it's not that we repress our distaste for Nibbana, our distaste for having to give up all of this, all of what we enjoy, all of what we seek, all of what we cling to, all of what we are patibhadajita, all of what our minds are are stuck on, are attached to.

32:51Now our practice is understanding this, this taste. I mean, the The struggle in the mind of a Buddhist to come to terms with something as the goal that they really don't like. Really many don't even like the idea of it. They might not admit it. They'll say, yes, yes, nibbana. But when they think about it, it scares them and it's repulsive. It's not about repressing that or trying to be the person who likes that. No, it's about looking at. And that's the actual problem.

33:35Looking at this. Not just that, but looking at the whole reason why that is. Why it is that we're disinclined towards something that really, I mean, it's ineffable. How could you be disinclined? How could you hate it? You see, because our distaste for it, our fear of it, it's nothing to do with it. There's nothing to fear about Nibbana. There's nothing fearsome. It doesn't have fangs or claws or poison. It's not going to say bad things about you or betray you.

34:18It's not even going to arise. No, it's all of the things that it stands in opposition to All of those things again that we cling to And so our whole of our practice, our practice, this is why our practice is not about Nibbana Why is our practice about suffering? Because all of those things that we cling to are actually suffering, are actually dukkha They may not be painful, not all the time, but they're caught up in pain. They're caught up in disappointment.

34:58They have no sukha. Dukha means they can't bring sukha. They can't make us happy. They can't satisfy us. We strive for them again and again and again. And we always have in our mind this idea that they are going to, those things that I don't have yet, I'm going to bring me happiness. Not even intellectually, it's just an inclination. We're a tree leaning in the wrong direction. So that's the way we're going to fall. It's endless. There's no goal.

35:39We're like a dog that has a rash and it keeps scratching. Because there's some Some sort of appeasement that comes from scratching. But the scratching just makes it worse. And so either they end up scratching themselves to death until they bleed and infected and die. Or they stop. They find a way to stop themselves. Perhaps they stop for some time because of the pain that comes from it. But there's no end. You can't get satisfied by getting the things you want.

36:31And so our practice is to learn this, is to understand this, is to become freed from the bind, from the the shackles of sensual desire. We're really shackled to it. We can't be free. We can't be at peace. Because our minds are forcing us, really. We're prisoners to our own patibandha jita, our minds that are bound to sensuality. It's like we're being pulled in that direction by a strong rope. In the meditation, we need a rope in the other direction, and we pull ourselves until we incline towards the ineffable.

37:23And that's how you become udang sota. Udang sota, if you think of it as against the stream, it's like a fish going against the stream. But if you think of it as upstream, I think it probably means more like has a stream going upwards. They're on the escalator upwards. They're heading in the right direction. They're bound in the right direction. Why? Because their mind is inclined in the right direction. And that's really this emphasis and this focus on qualities.

38:01How does the mind incline? Does your mind leap at the thought of peace, Or does it incline towards conflict? When you hear someone does something, says something wrong, do you incline to correct them or punish them for it? When something pleasurable comes, do you incline to get it, to keep it, to get it as close to you and possess it as much as possible? Or do you see it mindfully? Do you see it, experience it, and let it come and let it go? One is the way to stress and prison.

38:53The other is the way to freedom and peace. So I think focusing on, this is a very simple way to describe this distinction, that you shouldn't be concerned that you don't like peace, that you aren't inclined towards things like nibbana and freedom from suffering and cessation, to never be born again. You shouldn't be concerned about that. That's the whole reason. That's the whole crux of this. That's what you have to look at. It's like a challenge in a way, pointing out nibbana, pointing out freedom from suffering.

39:43It's a challenge. It shows you you have to justify. You really do have to examine because now you have an alternative. The thing you don't want. I want these. You have to be able to justify to yourself that it's better than this peaceful, this ultimate peace. Ultimate freedom. And so it means you examine. You don't worry about nibbana for sure, not You examine the tree that you're in until you see there's no fruit on this tree and then you can fly away.

40:27So, some thoughts on the verse for tonight. That's Dhammapada 218. Thank you all for listening.