120: Retreat Dhamma Talk 15: Nutriments for the Mind

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Tasabado Rahado Sama Sambodasa Nam Tasabhado Rahado Sama Sambodasa Namo Tasabado Arto Sama Sambodasa Retreat Series Dhamma talk number fifteen that last Dhamma talk we mention that when the object is arising at the moment one must approach it with speed, rapidity, with force, jump onto it. These are the description we give how one has to be very attentive to the object that is arising so that one can be aware at the moment it's arising. Sometimes these words are quite confusing to some people because these words give a different kind of meaning to different people. So let us see what does it mean by one must jump onto the object forcefully direct the mind to the object rapidly with great speed. So in here, let's see, let's build up a scenario. A person is going to a very, very important meeting. You must be there on time. And that way, when that person is heading towards that meeting, that person will not be looking here, looking there, or checking out the people around or looking at the shop. So to speak, ignoring, not giving any attention to the people or things around and go straight. The mind is totally focused towards the meeting and go with speed, not like casually strolling. With a certain speed, but at the same time not running, of course, but paying no attention to any other thing. Because one to be at the meeting on time. So that would be the idea when the one is observing the object that is arising. That kind of focus, that kind of direction, looking forward to that kind of sense one must apply when one is observing the object that is arising. Let's take another scenario. We all know track and feel they are running, racing. Let's say a hundred meter dash. So as soon as the bell rings, everybody gets out of their gate and just ran and ran and ran. They are not looking at the left or the right, they are not looking at the crowd, they are not listening to the sounds, anything. Only thing is totally focused so that it reached the destination or the final goal. And at the same time, one is very careful not to trespass onto the another person's lane. You must stay within your lane. They are not checking out anything, but the mind is totally focused to the goal and go with great speed as fast as one can. So that would be the another example how a yogi must be observing, directing the attention to the object that is arising. With an example, then it becomes a little more clear. Otherwise, just a descriptive word. People can think differently and interpret differently. So one must aim at the object and got in touch with the object with speed with rapidity, not taking casual pace. So we are doing this. Why are we doing this? We are practicing this Satipathana Vipassana meditation. In short, observing with great power on the object that is arising at the moment. Every object that is arising at the present moment. That's a key point, present moment. We are doing this because we want to escape from the stressful situation. And one word is they call it suffering, dukkha. We want to escape from this dukkha. So what is this dukkha or suffering? There's the Buddhist said sappa dukkat sum or I forgot. But in any way basically in English straight plain word. It is birth is suffering duka. Okay. Jati is duka. And then decay or aging is duka. And then marana death is dukkha. So in other words, birth is suffering. Okay. Aging or decay is suffering. Death is suffering. And what is this? Birth, decay and death. It is referring to the this body. Okay? This physical body. This physical body is dukkha suffering. And also this mind. This mind is dukkha suffering. In other words, this body and mind. Nama and rupa is suffering. And of course, we can go farther down detail, this body and mind into the five aggregates. Okay? Aggregates of materiality, aggregates of feeling and sensation, aggregates of perception, aggregates of mental formations, and aggregates of consciousness. This five aggregates is suffering. Sabadoka Pamosana. That's a Buddhist word. And these are the meaning. So in short, life is suffering. Existence is suffering. So in life, there are a lot more suffering than the pleasure. But we always deny the fact of suffering. Whenever there's suffering, you don't talk about it, you sweep under the rug, you try to act tough, you say it. Great things, successful things, you talk about it. But we always deny the fact of dukkha suffering. In general, there are a lot more suffering than the pleasantness or sukha in life. And even when we say sukkha or pleasantness, we are talking about the five sense pleasure. The pleasure or sukkha, happiness that arises through the contact of the five senses. Beautiful object, beautiful sound, beautiful smell, beautiful taste, and beautiful touch. And all the memories of these things you just memory recall and you have the pleasure again or happiness again. That kind of pleasure, that kind of happiness. And these are very little compared to the stressful part of life. But we never admit it, we keep on going. So there we are. Life is suffering, dukkha. Okay. In other words, nama and rupa is dukkha. In other words, five aggregates is dukkha suffering. Five aggregates, nama rupa or self is the first noble truth. That's a fact. And in here, our existence is, according to the Buddha, is suffering. Majority part is suffering. And even the pleasures are simply the sixth sense pleasure. But in here we don't have to contend or stay with content with it. This is what it is, this is what life gives us. We have no choice. That's the way it is. Some people just take it, fatalistic view and then stay with it. Or some with a some different distorted view of karma and they stay with it, fate, they stay with it. And Buddha say, no, that's not it. There is peace, in other words, peace or bliss, which is beyond this pleasure and peace that we get from the sense pleasure. There's a peace. Okay, Santi Sukha, supreme peace. There it exists beyond the sense pleasure. This sense pleasure, we have these things, we get this happiness based on the object that we come and contact, or based on the acquisition or momentary possession of this object, we have this pleasure. So these happiness, these pleasures, these peace are condition. Okay? They come with a condition. When the condition is there, you have this happiness. When the condition is changed, then that happiness and peace is also gone. They are momentary pleasure, momentary happiness, momentary peace. Because they are conditioned. But there is another kind of peace. That is, it doesn't have any condition. It is not a peace that comes from a condition. Peace which has no condition. And that peace which has no condition, peace, happiness, bliss, supreme peace can be achieved, can be attained. You can achieve it. Not by wishing, not by somebody else's supports and help, not somebody else giving it to you. But you can still achieve this. And how can we achieve this? Supreme peace. And to achieve this supreme peace, the Buddha gave us a tool. He said, it is there. It is far more superior than the sense pleasure. You can achieve it, but there you must give effort, you must practice. The Buddha gave us a roadmap. He said, I cannot give it to you. Nobody can give it to you. You cannot wish and attain it. You must actually do it for yourself. And I can give you the roadmap. So he gave us the roadmap. And that roadmap is called Satipatthana Vipassana. Okay? Mindfulness and sight meditation. Of course, we must practice ourselves. And we are practicing what? To escape from this suffering. To escape from this five aggregates. So we practice. And when we practiced it, what happened? Most of the people have an idea. If I practice this meditation, there will be peace, there will be happiness coming in. That kind of okay. Belief already is set in. So with that in mind, they learn and they come and practice. They go to retreat. And in retreat, day one, day two, day three. There's no peace. Okay, there's no happiness. Still, there's a pain here, pain there. In other words, you even suffer, you think you even suffer more than your daily life. That's the way you begin to feel, and that's the way you begin to think and believe, and even say, I come here to get peace and happiness, and here I'm suffering more. Some yogis actually say it aloud to their teachers. So in here one must understand, okay, we don't get something for nothing. We always have to work hard or you have to pay to get something. And here you want to have this bliss or peace, supreme peace. And to get that peace, even the momentary peace, even the peace that you can achieve at the earlier part of your practice, you must invest something for it. Without investing it, you cannot have that peace or sukkha. To get sukkha, what do you invest? You have to invest dukkha. If you invest dukkha, you will get sukka. That's why while you are practicing, all the aliya parts are all these pains, physical pain, mental pains, agitation, irritation, anxiety, worry, boredom, all these things. They are there. And what are they? They are all dukkha, dukkha, dukkha, dukkha. But at the same time you are practicing and you are experiencing things directly. So you can say you are investing all the dukkas. When you invest, you are not just throwing it away, you are putting it in. So here you have to experience all these unpleasant feelings and sensations, both physical and mental pain. You are investing this dukkha to get sukha. If you want sukha, you must invest dukkha, which means you must practice, you must experience pains, all the physical pains and mental pains, they become very prominent and dominant in your meditation. Before you are sweeping it under the rug, you don't even know you are always adjusting, adjusting, changing, changing, searching, searching for comfort. But in here, the way it is being directed, one must face it. And they become even more pronounced, more suffering. That means only at the end of suffering you will find sukkha, this santi sukha. In other words, you have to overcome all these physical pain and mental pain, sukkha widana and dukkha vidana. And even neutral sensation, any kind of sensation you must overcome to achieve this sukkha or bliss. At the end of dukkha, you will find sukkha. That's one way of looking at it. And also there's another saying there. At the end of sukkha, there is dukkha, totally reverse from that. And what does it mean by the end of sukkha is dukkha? And in here, sukkha is refer to the worldly pleasure, sense pleasure. The first one is sukkha rafar to the santi sukkha, the end of all physical and mental pain you experience. Santi sukkat, supreme bliss or happiness. And here the end of sukkha. The end of sukkha means we are experiencing in our daily life everything based on the conditions, based on these sights and sounds and smells and tasks and teach. These things we experience, these pleasure. But as we all know, they come, condition changed, they passed away. When they passed away, the pain sets in. Because you lost something that you like, you lost something that you love. That means the end of sukkha. Sense pleasure and dukkha set in. You lost your job, you lost your fame, you lost a loved one, you have problems at work. These are the ones that set in. But before you lost it, you have it. That means you have the pleasure. That's why it's also said at the end of sukkat, there is dukkha. And the first one is at the end of dukkat, there is sukkat. One must understand that way. And if you understand that way clearly, you can climb step by step by step. One can go that way. So in here we must overcome all these physical and mental unpleasantness, dukkha. And when you have eliminated or overcome, then you will find the peace and happiness which is unconditioned. Of course, going through face by face, step by step. And in here now, we are observing. We are observing all physical pain, mental pain that are arising. Or you can say you are observing the five aggregates, basically. Physical pain, mental pain is only aggregates of feeling. We are not only observing aggregates of feeling. Not only dukkha withina, we are observing all five aggregates. Whatever is arising, we do not choose, we simply observe what is arising. So when these things are arising, what happened? To put it in a different way, five aggregates, to just simplify it. Objects are arising, physical objects are arising, mental objects are arising, and you are observing these physical objects and mental objects, moment to moment to moment. But what are these physical and mental objects under the normal circumstances, under the normal condition? These physical and mental objects are killesa bhumi. Kilesa bhumi means it is the place where killesa, mental defilement reside. Mental defilement reside on these all physical and mental objects which we are observing. Under normal circumstances, these are the place of residence for the mental defilements. So if you go come and in contact with these objects, what happens? Loba greed or craving, dosa anger or irritation or frustration, moha not truly knowing exactly what is naturally happening and arising. This kind of mental state arises. So in other words, loba, dosha and moha, greed, anger, and delusion arise. Whenever greed, anger and delusion arise in your actions, in every action, what happened? They took you to the wrong path, wrong channel, wrong solution, confrontation. Basically, confrontation, you become, you all they always take you to the confrontation mode, which produce stretch, stress, and which produce suffering. That's where it is. It goes into that channel. Because these objects are resident plates for mental defilements. But if you are observing, okay, if you are observing, if you are aware of that object at the moment of arising with precision, at that moment, in other words, you are fully mindful of that object at the moment of arising. Automatically it becomes a binyabhumi. These objects automatically become the residence place for the wisdom. The change automatically occurs. And that change is based directly on the awareness, precise awareness of the object at the moment of arising. So that is how it goes. So if you are not aware of the object that is arising, automatically dukkha suffering is arising. And if you are aware of the object at that moment, there is no dukkha, no suffering. In other words, there is no loba, dosa or moha. That's the way it directly changes into. So to look at this change, let's look at into the in a different scenario. Different scenario is always go back to this Stipathana Vipassana, mindfulness, insight. Let's look at our body, the physical body. This physical body is in reality our cells that we have in our body. They are always arising and passing away. Some cell arises, they exist, and they die, they passed away. And when they pass away, another cell took its place, and so on and so on and so on. That's what's happening in our body. Our cells are, they arise, they exist, they pass away, replaced by another cell, and so on. And in a rupa especially, they come as a unit and as a group. They grow and they grow and they grow. So this body is constantly, that is the operation or the nature of the cell. They grow, they exist, they die, they grow, they exist, they die, replaced by another, replaced by another. But the replacement cell, there is a some relationship with the outer foods, you can call it. So when we breathe polluted air, that's one way. When we breathe fresh air, that's another way, more oxygen. And also the same thing, we are drinking the sugar polluted drinks, or very pure water, that's another thing. And also nutrition, whether we are eating junk food and fast food, or whether we are eating the fresh foods, nutritious food. That is another thing. In other words, we need a constant nutrition, good proper nutrition, good food, good drinks. Good air. And those are the things it is within our capability to choose and to provide. And if we keep on putting this nutritious air, drink, and food, what happened was the cells are just changing, changing, changing all the time. But whenever the cells change, the old one dies and the new one arises. That new cell has a stronger quality, healthier quality, better quality than the old cell. They are directly related. Old cells disappear, new cell arises. But based on what kind of nutrition you are providing, they become a better cell, better cell, better cell, stronger cell, which means your immune system becomes stronger, you become healthier, fitter, fresher. That's what's happening. And the same thing. You provide junk food and then sugar bloated water and polluted air. The cell that new cells that are generating become inferior and weaker and weaker and weaker. That's a fact. And we can accept it very easily because we know it is, we have experienced it is, science says it is. So that's the scenario we approach, the body. But what we are is not only the body, the body and the mind. The mind too. What is the mind? The mind arises and passed away, the mind arises and passed away. The condition, the passing away of the old mind, is the condition for the new mind to arise. Passing away of the old mind or consciousness is the cause, and the arising of the new mind is the effect. That is constantly all the time happening. As long as in this life, as long as we are alive, that process is going on. Old mind passes away, new mind arises, old mind passes away, new mind arises. And in here too. Even though old mind arises and new mind comes in, there's a connection, causal relationship between the old mind and the new mind. The same thing. Just like the one, the example we give in detail about the body, it's also true for the mind. And in here is the mind also needs nutrients. Just the body needs nutrients for the new self to be stronger, healthier, and fitter. The new minds, if you want a stronger, fitter, healthier mind to arise in the place of the old mind, you need to provide mental nutrients, nutrients for the mind. That's also the fact. Because just like the old one. Let's look at a bigger picture scenario. A kid's growing up, okay, let's call it a teenager growing up. Teenager growing up, and if teenager has grown up in the environment of uh hooligans, okay. Automatically that kid will think like them, speak like them, behave like them, which is the inferior quality of the behavior. But these behaviors are all due to the mental state. In other words, there's a lot of negative mental states, mental, negative mental emotions are arising and arising and arising, and the kids become a bad kid also. And here let's go back to the level of the mind. There's our old mind, it's there at the present moment, and suddenly it disappears in its place, a new mind comes in. But this environment is, what is it, it is constantly feeding negative mental state. Negative mental states are feeding constantly. Because of that, any and every new mind that arises become inferior and weaker and inferior and weaker and inferior and weaker. In other words, all the minds that are succeeding the old mind, they are always weaker and inferior than the one that passed away. And the mental state totally go down the drain. Why? Because you are feeding things like jealousy and envy, conceit, anger, hatred, ill will. Okay, greed, obception. These are the mental states. These are the negative mental nutrients like carbon dioxide, like sugar, full of sugar, drinking water and junk food. This is the mental junk food. Mental sugar and mental pollution, they are feeding all the time into this mind. And every mind that grows becomes weaker and inferior, weaker and inferior. That's one way. But let's look at the other way. The other way is if you provide the right nutriments to the mind, what happened? The same thing. Your mind is right now, let's say, very already a very stable mind. Then you feed in good nutriments, mental nutriments. This stable mind passed away, and then new mind arises, along with the good nutriments, mental nutriments, and the new mind becomes stronger. Not only stable, firm, strong, and so on and so on. Every new mind that is arising becomes stronger and stronger, more cultured, more gentle, more compassionate, more loving. These are the kind of mind that are succeeding the old one. To be able to have that kind of a new mind that is constantly arising in us to become better and stronger and superior, full with loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. We must feed the right mental nutriment. Good nutriments for the mind. It is required. So what are these good nutriments? Okay, yeah. We say good nutriments. Of course, we all know if you look at it. What is consciousness? Consciousness or the mind. What is mind? Mine is the consciousness plus mental factors. Mental factors are the new the nutrients we are taking. They are some poisonous kind and they are very good, high quality kind. Both of them, out of that 52, though the good and the bad and the ugly are there. And in here, Buddha pick out. Specifically, the first one is faith. You have faith in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Especially for us is the Dharma. We are in the age of Dharma. Okay, learning from the Sangha, of course. Sadha. Sadha is you have a confidence in this practice. And then chanda. Chanda is you want a desire. What is the desire? Desire to achieve the goal or objective or benefits that this Dhamma could bring. You must have a desire for it. If you don't have a desire, you can't. So those three. First of all is faith, secondly is desire, and thirdly, you're just applying effort to have the right qualities of mental product. But these are the ways. Without these three ways, you can't. And what are you putting effort to? You are putting effort to be mindful. Okay, mindfulness can be, and Buddha always talks not only to the point of moment-to-moment meditation and observation. It covers the whole spectrum of life in your life, in your daily life, in your work life, in your social life. And you're reflective, contemplated, meditative. Every moment the Buddha gave us these cover about this. And there are so many levels of mindfulness. These mindfulness you are applying based on the condition and environment, you are applying effort to have the right kind of mindfulness for that condition. Of course, we all know the best and the most superior kind of mindfulness is to be able to be aware or know. The object, physical or mental, at the moment that is arising, the present moment. Not only one, but continuously one after the other. Every present moment, every present moment. Present moments come and go, but there's still another new present moment, new present moment. One must be with it. That kind of sati. But you must face with the first three faith, desire, and effort. And applied it, and sati will come to be. And then when you have this mindfulness sati continuously, concentrations go side by side. And then finally, of course, it will unfold the true nature. So these things faith, desire, effort, mindfulness, concentration with the natural unfolding of wisdom. These are the nutrients of the mind. And if you feed these nutriments to your mind, what happened was every mind, every consciousness that is arises. Whenever the old one passed away, the new one arises, the old one passed away, the new one arises. Every new one that is arising becomes stronger and better and stronger and better. Quality becomes stronger and better. In what way? Let's generalize it. These new minds, they are full with love and kindness, they are full with confession, they are full with sympathetic joy, they are full with equanimity, generosity, needless to say. Morality is endowed. And these qualities rise and rise and rise. Whenever these qualities rise, that means your consciousness is becoming a better consciousness, a better consciousness, superior consciousness. Moment to moment to moment, consciousness by consciousness, it becomes better and better. Why? We are repeatedly feeding the right and correct nutrients to the mind. What are they? Sadha, Chanda, Wariya, Sati, Samadhi and Pinya. These are the right nutrients. You feed the mind, you feed the mind, and then every mind that arises become better. Because the natural law of the mind or the consciousness is the old one must pass away for the new one to arise. That is number one. And the quality of the new mind always depends on what kind of nutrients it is providing. Cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect. And that's how each mind becomes stronger and better, stronger and better. Eventually to the point of total maturity. And when you reach to the point of total maturity, which means you have unfolded the true nature of mind and matter. That is, you are at the gate, you are at the door of this Santi Sukha, which is supreme peace. And one what is nibbana. That's why we are practicing to feed the right nutrients to a mind. Because minds are always arising and passing, they are not constant, they are always changing, but they have the causal relationship between the old and the new. And the quality of the new one depends on what kind of nutriments you are taking in. Paliwar is called the more za. Damor is the mark or za is nutrients. Okay? Nutriments of Dharma. You feed nutrients of Dharma to the mind and then you will have a superior mind. On with that superior mind you will have the supreme peace. So may all of you be able to practice Satipatthana Vipassana meditation, feeding the mind constantly, repeatedly, continuously this mental nutriment or nutriment for the mind, and may you be able to attain supreme peace as soon as possible. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu Buddhambuj Dumbujemy Sangam Pujami. Thank you very much.