125: Retreat Dhamma Talk 20: Heedfulness (Apamada)

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SPEAKER_00 0:18

Sama Sambodasa Bhagavad Radho Samma Sambodasa Twenty Retreat Series Dhamma Talk Number Twenty. We have been talking about Sadipatana Vipassana. One who practice Sadipatana Vipassana or one who take the path of Sadipatana Vipassana will and can arrive to the states of Ariya. That path can take up to the point of uh Ariya states or noble person states. Up to that point it can take you there. So when you have uh mindfulness, when you have mindfulness first and foremost is you will achieve or accumulate wholesome karma, good karma. That's number one. That's not only the wholesome karma, but after that one will have is your intelligence will increase. One who has sati mindfulness constantly will have a wholesome karma and then increase in intelligence. Along with that, maturity of life, you will mature very fast. Maturity of life will attain. Not only that, once you have maturity of life, and then in life, we all face all sorts of things, both good and bad, high and low. According to the scripture, if you want to state it's eight loka dharma, you will face these things. And you have a very strong resistance to all these eight loka dharma. These are the benefits come straight up. First and foremost is automatically wholesome karma. Secondly, intelligence increased, thirdly, maturity in life grows very fast, and you have a very good and strong resistance to the attacks of eight Lauka Dharma, both good and bad. And eventually, of course, you will attain a Ryaship. So if one walk the path of full foundation of mindfulness or Satipattana Vipassana, these are the ones one will get and attain. And at the same time, if you don't have mindfulness, if you don't walk that path, if you don't walk the path of being mindful, you become unmindful, what happens is your character becomes gross and aggressive nature. Gross and aggressive nature. First and foremost is the behavior. Do things in an unmanageable way, talk loudly, uncontrollably, relate to people in a very abrupt, aggressive way. When you don't have mindfulness, automatically these happen. And not only that, because of this uncontrollable behavior and nature, you begin to do things that hurts other people, that harms other people, including yourself. In other words, you create disharmony in your environment, in your neighborhood, in your society. That is the path. If you work the path when there is no mindfulness, automatically it goes in that direction. So automatically there are two parts the Buddhist set out. The first one is part with mindfulness, second one is part without mindfulness, which is the right path and the wrong path. In Buddhism, that is the foremost important thing to know the right part and to know what is the wrong part. Because these paths will take you to a different state, different moat, different destination. It seems so simple, but eventually they are like east and west. One take to the east and one take to the west. The right part with mindfulness. The wrong part is without mindfulness. And that is what the Buddha set out. Two parts for us to follow. Of course, the right part is the wholesome part, and the wrong part is the unwholesome part. And in here too, Buddha not only taught to us with only mindfulness, satiet, or not being mindful without satip. Buddha also taught us in many different ways, many different approaches. One thing is one who lives with sati. One who lives with sati, one who is always being careful to be observing with sati in your life. Automatically that person is become disciplined. Very disciplined. Which means from that disciplined nature automatically takes to the taste your behavior physical, verbal behavior become gentle and polite. And your relationship with the society becomes very harmonious. Nonviolence, non-confrontational. It creates harmony, it creates wholesomeness. That is one who has satiq. And these people, as they approach that direction, always their nature are towards wholesomeness. They don't do anything that is heartful and harmful. They don't do anything that can create discomfort in others. It's just simply being with mindfulness. And if a person is in that kind of a state, okay, if a person is behaving that way with discipline, that person is called being hateful, hateful. Pali word is called apamada. Now the Buddhas use a different word to teach us, not just being mindful. When we say mindful, full foundation of mindfulness, he stressed more on how to do it correctly, with precision, with great effort. But when he used the word heatful, so apa madak, heatful, it is the characteristics that spring about how one lives in a life, in a daily life. How you talk, how you do, how you think, all these things come in. It's called upa madha. And also if a person is live without being mindful. As soon as you live without being mindful, there's no discipline. You begin to transgress in terms of your body and speech. It hurts other, it harms other, it creates disharmony, chaos, environment. Nothing you don't really give any care to be precise. Everything is superficial. They don't look at it sometime. They don't even know what they are doing. They don't even know that they are doing wrong, transgressing. Sometimes they do know that they are doing something wrong or what is supposed to be a right thing, but they choose not to. Sometimes they do things that is right but on a very superficial level, just for fame and name. That kind of behavior, that kind of person is called heedless. So the Buddha used two words, apamada and pamada. Apamada is being heatful, pamada is being heedless. It is quite close to sati mindfulness, but not exactly. And this word is being heatful. Buddha stress very much. Mindfulness is some people really practice deeply into it. But as a society, being heatful for the peace and harmony of the society, being mindful is more important. That's why even the last words, his dying words, he called out to all his bhikkhus, his followers, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. Live with full heatfulness. Don't forget. What don't you forget? Don't forget to do wholesome things. Don't forget to avoid unwholesome things. Don't forget to purify your mind. His last dying words. That important. Not only for the sake of attaining nibbana or the end of all forms of suffering, but before that, throughout life in the society, this one word, apamada, is very helpful in every aspect. So that is apamada and pamada. The Buddha approaches us. So in this apamada, the key thing Buddha stress is to do something that is wholesome. Don't forget or be heedful to do that is wholesome. Don't forget or be heedful to avoid that is not wholesome. That is the first step. Then the level of wholesomeness. Remember when we are practicing Satipatthana, the first result is coming, is automatically you accumulate or you have wholesome karma. And in here to stress, to be wholesome and to avoid unwholesome. Look at it in a different way. Let's say if you are eating the wrong food, the wrong food that's not agreeable with you, what happened? You will have illness and disease, stomach problem, diarrhoea, and so on. Because you take the wrong food. If you don't take the wrong food, you'll be free from these diseases. That's one. And also the right food, nutritious food. You know what the nutritious food is. If you don't take the nutritious food, what happens is your health will not be very strong, your strength will not be very strong, you will not get the benefit of the food that you are eating. So the same thing in here, first of all, is if you don't avoid that is hurtful and harmful, all these physical, verbal, and mental actions, you will have all sorts of troubles and problems and very complicated life. And if you don't do the wholesome things, if you don't live with apamada, you will not get the result, you will not get the wholesome karma, you will not get your intelligence, you will not know how to associate with people, you won't get the benefits. That's the way Mada and Apa Mada. So in here, before we start doing things that are good, that are helpful, you must build on a foundation. The foundation is avoid doing evils. Avoid doing that are not good. Avoid doing that are not good is apamada. If you are doing things that are evil or not good, that is pamada. So that is the first. Before you stop thinking about saving the world, first and foremost, you must save yourself. How can you save yourself? By avoiding not to do that is unwholesome. That's the first step. And in here to the Buddha say, not just don't do unwholesome, he doesn't stop that. Actually, he tried to show us in details. Things that one should not practice. There are about ten of them. That is what we all start with, or we should all. Because by not doing these hurtful and harmful things, automatically you created a happy and peaceful environment for yourself as well as the others. Don't think that just simply avoiding is not doing anything. By being not doing anything that is evil or unwholesome, automatically you created a beautiful environment, no chaos, no disaster. In other words, you created peace and happiness around you. You don't even have to go out and lift a finger yet, simply by observing, simply by being hateful. Things that one needs to avoid. You already created it. And in here is we all have had this ten types of two three ducks, things that we need to avoid. Of course, first and foremost is killing. Killing any living beings. If you don't kill anybody, you already created a peaceful environment. The next one is stealing or taking what is not given. You must avoid stealing or you must avoid taking that is not willingly given. By doing so, nobody will be upset or angry because you took their property. In other words, automatically the balance is created. And thirdly, to you avoid sexual misconduct. We know having sexual activities with minors and ones who have their own partners and spouses. These are the three physical deeds one needs to avoid physical. Killing is physical, stealing is physical, and sexual misconduct is physical. Those are the three physical actions we need to avoid. And when you are avoiding things, automatically you are being hateful in terms of physical action. If you are not transgressing these things, you are having apart, hateful. And the next one, of course, is speech. We all know first and foremost is straight out, false speech, lying to hurt and harm other or to protect yourself. By protecting yourself, you are hurting others. You protect yourself in a wrong way. And using harsh and rude speech, we all know how that can hurt others, rude and harsh speech. Even there's a saying, if you beat a person, it hurts. But it hurts for about a few minutes, or an hour. But if you beat somebody with words, it will hurt that person for days and days, if not months, or for life. It can hurt that much. Worse than actual beating. You beat with words. It can hurt another person for life. And then slander trying to break the unity between the two group, two person, okay, who are united. That's also used with words, slander. And the fourth one is, of course, frivolous talk, speech that are not beneficial, constructive, and productive. Among all waste, wasting time is the worst kind of a waste. So those are by speech. So when you do with speech, that is if you avoid these kind of four types of speech, you are having upper mother, being hateful in terms of speech. So altogether seven. What it is is this is in terms of thoughts. In terms of thoughts, wanting somebody else's property that doesn't belong to you. But you actually did not commit in terms of deed or speech, but it's in your thought form. You are thinking, you are skimping, you want it, you want it yourself, you want to have it. That kind of covetousness is also in terms of thought form. Buddha said one must not. And if you are thinking about it, if you are planning in your head, even though you don't do it, okay, that is being heedless, not heedful. But if you don't, then it's apamada. If you do, then it is pamada. And the next one is again in terms of thoughts, you are planning and scheming how to hurt others, how to harm others, how to create destruction to others. That one also is if you are thinking and planning and scheming as such, how to be destructive for other people. That is Bamada, heedless. And if you don't do that, automatically it is heedful. These two, you know, in terms of thoughts, nobody knows, nobody gets hurt. That's a way one can say. But one thing was if you truly understand the nature of mind and matter, all our speech and all our deeds, where do they come from? From thoughts. Without the seed, the thought, no speech arises. Without the seeds of thought, no deed arises. So if you keep thinking again and again and again, eventually it will come to a point. It manifests into a speech and deed. That's why one needs to avoid thinking, wanting to have things that don't belong to you, and wanting to have other people hurt and harmed, being dangerous with anger and fear. That is eight and nine. That's in time of thoughts. And the third and the tenth one is called the right view and the wrong view. And here is only one karma. Use the word karma. What is karma? In a very simplest sense, one doesn't believe in the previous existent, one doesn't believe in the next existent. This is the only existent. So that kind of view. And if you hold that kind of view, it is simply it's not a thought form you're holding it. You don't believe in the previous lives and future lives. Automatically, if you think that way, if you hold that view strongly, you know there are no consequences. Whether you do good, there's no consequences. You do bad, there's no consequences. Mostly people do bad things and it promotes and it encourages people to do more bad or unwholesome things if you hold that view. But if you hold the view, what you are being here right now is from the actions and the evolution of the past lives. And also what you are doing now, there's a consequence, it will go on. The next life, if you do good, there are good results will come, and if you do bad, there will be bad consequences will follow. Automatically, just that simple little viewpoint totally navigates you in a different direction or makes you a decision which way or what direction you will be doing. Even though some people think that you do things, if you do things, and if you don't get caught, so what? No problem, we escape. Some people that way. But let's say, even if you don't get caught, you escape. But all the time, how are you living? You are always living with uh anxiety or worry or fear that you will be exposed or that you will get caught. Automatically, there, there is that negative feeling riding with you all the time. That's the first thing. If you do these things, and even if you don't get caught, that's what is happening. You live with this mental state. That's right in this present life. And if you get caught, what happened? At least the society, your neighbors, your friends, your elders, all the wise people will blame you for your action. It's a blameable nature. That's the first step. If it is more than that, the law, the law will catch you and you will get being you'll be punished. These are all from these duserita, all these actions. If you don't avoid, automatically you can be punished. And after that, your honor is gone, your credibility is gone. Okay, once you have a criminal record, what happened? It's difficult for you to get a job, difficult to do anything, difficult for people to trust you. Automatically, these are the results that follow. And these are right now, right here in this present life. And regardless, if you escape all these things, regardless if you escape all these things, in the next life, you still will be paying for it. You don't really escape. That is the karma, the law of karma. Previous life, this life, next life, and our actions follow, and their consequences follow. Whenever the right condition and right time comes, they arise and you'll pay. If you do good you will receive respectively. If you do bad, you will receive whatever is respective to the bad action. That's why that view number ten, okay, holding a wrong view or matcha deity is Buddha put it in as one of the ten ten things that we need to avoid. So these are the first, if one can avoid these ten okay dusrita, these hurtful, harmful actions in time of body, speech and mind, then that person is called hateful Abmada. Just by watching these very gross, obvious forms of actions, automatically, number one, you have created peace for yourself, within yourself, and you have created peace for everybody around you. Peace and happiness is created. You don't have to go and think and do something. By simply being avoiding these things, you already created a peaceful environment. This is the most fundamental way of being heatful. It creates wholesome karma.

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Okay?

SPEAKER_00 31:40

It creates peace and harmony within yourself and in your surrounding. That is what heatfulness is. And in here, that's what stress. Don't forget to do wholesome things. Don't forget to avoid unwholesome avoid doing unwholesome things. That's the first thing. And to do that, one must be able to understand which one is wholesome and which one is not wholesome. You must know the different path. And how can you identify these two different paths? Okay, of course there are many ways, but the most simplicity and the precise and effective way is simply mindful. When you have mindfulness, you are automatically mindfulness navigates you in the direction of wholesomeness. And when you don't have mindfulness, unmindful, it automatically navigates you to the unwholesome domain. Mindful and unmindful. Because if you look at your life, okay, you have enemies in your life. There are two kinds of enemies. One is external enemies and one is internal enemies. We all have it. Both external and internal enemies. External enemy is not like somebody you're going on a warp with. Somebody you don't like, somebody who doesn't like you, who hates you, can't get along, but still you have to work together and everybody undermining each other. There's enemies, enemies, the external enemy, the bugla, okay, and individuals. These kinds of enemies exist to the greater or lesser degree. And this one is very easy to identify, easy to spot, easy to protect. You can take care of it quite easily. And if you take precaution, you can get away from this kind of danger from the external enemy. But there's another enemy called internal enemy. Internal enemy is, we all know it's the mental defilements, killesa, loba, dosa and moha, which is craving or grasping, aversions, anger, and delusion, uncertainty, undecisiveness. These kind of things, they are at all times in a state of war with you. At all time in a state of war with you. But when you have mindfulness, these wanes. They might still attack, but they cannot penetrate into your zone of safety. But as soon as you don't have that mindfulness, what happens is they never stop. You might stop, you might sleep, but they never stop. They are always attacking and penetrating, and it is taking you to the direction of chaos. That is the second kind of kilisa. And for the second kind of kilisa, you have to be mindful, you have to be heatful. And as they are attacking at you all the time, the stronger your hatefulness, the less destruction comes from this direction. And as soon as your heatfulness wanes, the momentum wanes, their attack becomes stronger, and their effects, their results become stronger. It always is a constant war every living moment till you die and the next and the next and the next life. That's why this hatefulness is so important because we are waging war at all times. And here, let's go to the basic level, all these body speech and mind. Body speech and mind. We avoid doing things. When we avoid doing things, what happens? Automatically, we do not have anything that can be faulted or blameful if we avoid these things. And love by the people around you. Not only that, if you can consistently and persistently maintain that characteristics, automatically the people around you not only love you, they begin to respect you. And eventually it will rise to a position where people start to seek advice from you. That is simply by being heedful, but not on and off. Must be persistent, consistent. Automatically, you don't have to work for it, you automatically receive that honor. People love you, people respect you, and people seek advice from you. You don't have to go and take an education and learn a system. Simply be hateful. Avoid doing things that are unwholesome and do things that are wholesome. So in here, if you keep on doing these things, automatically these kilesa will back off and back off and back off. And how much do you have to do? How much do you need to do? You do all the time. All the time to the point of there's another two mental states that arises. In Pali it is called Hiri and Udapa. Hiri is having a shame, feeling of shame to do anything that is unwholesome, that is not good. Hiri. And Udapa is having a fear or afraid of facing the consequences of the unwholesome deed. Hiri and Udaba. First of all, you become shameful to do anything that is unwholesome. You become repulsive to do anything that is unwholesome. And also you are really scared or afraid or fearful of the consequences of the unwholesome actions. Hiri and Utapa. And when one has hiri and uttapat, that shows automatically that person is a very strong, strongly and consistently and persistently hateful person. If your heatfulness becomes very strong and firm, that too mental state arises in a person. Shame and dread of doing unwholesome thing or results of the unwholesome thing. They call it shame and dread. Hiri and Udab. So one must practice in that and automatically when that mental state arises, you can say that person's mind is very pure. Definitely pure in terms of speech and deed. They won't transgress upon anything, they won't hurt anything and everything. Not only that, their mind is very pure, their mind state is always in a state of wholesomeness. Because whatever consciousness that arises, arises with these two mental factors, hiri and udtapa. One must practice or one must live and one must be heedful with wholesomeness to the point those two become a part of you. And these two Dhamma is very, very important. They were given different names. How important it is. One of the names is called Suda Dhamma. Dhamma is the purity, Dhamma of Purity. Because if one has this hiri and otapa, it's so shameful to do anything that is unwholesome and afraid or dreadful of the consequences. Would never commit anything. So the mind is always pure. That's why Suda, Suda is pure. Suda Dhamma. So if you hear the word Suda Dhamma, it refers to hiri and uttaba, shame and dread of doing that is unwholesome. And also, it is also known and called with another name. Loka Paladharma. Loka Paladharma is translated, it says the guardian Dharma of the world. The guardian dharma of the world. Okay, have these mental state, ashamed to do anything that is unwholesome or dreadful of the consequences, they would never do anything that is hurtful or harmful. They would not go out and kill. They would not rage war. They will not do any livelihoods that is transgressed upon in the slightest way or the greatest way upon other people's properties or even in a mental state. And always they will be creating a happy and peaceful environment. Loving kindness, compassion automatically come in when you have this one. Because when your mind is pure, it becomes a receptacle for the Mitta and Garuna, loving kindness and compassion. So if one has that, automatically it created a more like a paradise or harmonious and beautiful, happy, peaceful society. It creates a beautiful world. That's why it's called Loka Bala Dhamma, Guardian Dharma of the world. That is in a world in the sense of the social order, society, humanity. But also on an individual basis, look at it. In yourself or between you and another person. If you have this hiri and uttaba, let's say you break something, you do something that is unwholesome. Your world, your little environment is broken. There's a destruction, there's distress, unhappiness, everything. Your world falls apart. Depression, your world falls apart. Why? Because you are not ashamed to do something that is unwholesome. And you are not dreadful of the consequences. All that you think is you want the that result, immediate result that you crave for and that you grasp for. That is how your own world, your individual world, or your personal world itself can be broken or be maintained in a beautiful way with these two dharma. Okay, hiri and odapa, opposite case, aharika and anodaba, without shame and without dread. Just that two little flip sides of the coin can create or build a beautiful world or the chaotic and destructive world. That's why it is also known as Lokapala Dhamma, the guardian Dharma of the world on an individual level or on a social level, humanity level. And also this Tiri and Utapa, if you hear the word Dewa Dhamma, they are also known as Dewa Dhamma. What is Dewa means? Dewa me in a sense of bright, light and bright, shining. Okay. In other words, they are not directly selling as Dewar or an angel. It is bright, shine, bright and shine. The Dharma that brightens and shines. Because if one has hiri and uttapa, what happens? Automatically that person's name is known, it's spread. You don't need internet. Automatically, by word of mouth, people simply know. People who knows you talk about you, and even people who doesn't know about you knows your name, heard your name, and they know about you. In other words, your character shines, your name shines and bright, and it has become very uh a symbol of light in the world. That's why it is called Dewa Dharma. So these are the different names for Hiri and Utabad. But to have that in you, to have that as a part of you, one must be heedful, always heedful. So this is how Buddha taught us again. Basically, you can call it a twin brother of the mindfulness. Mindfulness is more precisely how to do what to do exactly in here. But in here is as an individual or as a society or even as a humanity in every state, every day, every life, the interaction world. And there Buddha used the word called Apamada and Pamada, heatfulness and heedlessness. Basically, the twin brother of mindfulness. That's why he used these words as his last dying words Apa Madena Sabhadea. Baikus live without live with heatfulness. What are you heedful? Heedful of being wholesome. Heedful of to avoid unwholesome. Heedful to have the pure mind. Heedful to have the body, speech, and mind pure. And that will it will create wholesome karma. Your intelligence level will increase, your maturity will grow, you will have a very strong and good resistance to all the attacks of the world, the ten, uh, the eight Logadharma, and eventually you will arrive onto the path of the noble person. So may all of you be able to be heatful. As the Buddha said, Live being with hatefulness, and may you be able to good and walk on the path of the noble person as soon as possible. Sadu Sadu Sadu Meritya Dhamu Damabati Patiya Dhambujem Himaya Dhamu Damapati Patiya Shangampujem Hada imaya padibatiya shamranama primu idame banya aswakeana sa piche ho do nya badam sabasadnam emesadha sukida hontu Sadhu Sadu Sadhu. Today we'll have a special term sharing of uh merits to a specific person. It's the Sue is one of the yogi here. She has been away for a few months, she came back, and her uncle in Singapore passed away. Uh his name is Kotai Hao, Kotai Hao, and some passed away a few months back. So in our Buddhist tradition, we always share our good deeds and merits to people who passed away if they happen to be in an existence where they can hear. And if they can hear and uh what we share, if they call sadhu, sadhu, sadhu, and umdra, they are existent in that life, become more comfortable and better. That was the it. But we don't know where that person, he or she may be, but regardless, uh that's not the point. The point is we share what we did. Please uh recite after me with all the wholesome merits we have done, write the same vipassana, observing sila, observing sila, we share all those merits with late kotaiha, with late kotaiha, please, please call anumotana, please call anumotana, we share our wholesome merits, we share our wholesome merits, we share our wholesome merits, we share our wholesome merits, we share our wholesome merits, our wholesome merits, me. Thank you, and uh, welcome back, yogis who are on vacation back to the practice.