0:00

Namo Tasa Bhagavatu,

0:04

Arahato Sammar

0:06

Sambhutasa Namo

0:08

Tasa Bhagavatu,

0:12

Arahato Sammar

0:14

Sambhutasa Namo

0:16

Tasa Bhagavatu,

0:19

Arahato Sammar

0:22

Sambhutasa Aparutadi

0:25

Sangama Tasa Thawara

0:29

Iso dehwan Thaba Munjan

0:31

Dusatan Namo

0:48

Tasa Thawara Namo

0:54

Tasa Thawara

1:04

Namo Tasa Thawara Namo Tasa Thawara Namo

1:12

Tasa Thawara Namo

1:26

Tasa Thawara

1:32

So it can be very, there

1:34

is a wide open unknowingness. You

1:37

don't know anything but there

1:39

is just awareness. It's like this

1:41

is open listening,

1:45

not thinking, judging,

1:48

discriminating. No

1:55

past, no future. And

2:15

so the worldly

2:17

life is

2:22

about movement and change, where

2:28

Bhāmaktasatya, or Dhamma, is

2:30

about silence,

2:33

stillness. So

2:37

Dhamma is silent,

2:40

here and now, timeless.

2:46

Where world is about your

2:48

body, how it changes, how

2:52

your senses change, how

2:55

life changes externally,

2:57

internally, the body gets

2:59

older, gets

3:02

illnesses, societies

3:08

change and climate

3:12

changes. This is

3:14

the world that we experience

3:17

through the senses. So

3:20

the Buddha is pointing to Dhamma rather

3:22

than to trying to explain

3:26

the sensual world in

3:29

terms of what it should or shouldn't be. The

3:35

Buddha doesn't mention how the world should be

3:37

or shouldn't be. But

3:41

the world is this relentless,

3:45

inexorable changingness that we

3:48

experience through the senses that we

3:50

have. So

3:55

where is the Dhamma? Because

3:58

the world, the world of the

4:00

senses is considered

4:02

in modern jargon

4:05

to be the real world. But

4:10

in Buddhism, it's the illusory

4:13

world. Its illusion is change.

4:15

It's undependable, unstable, changing,

4:18

dependent on conditions.

4:33

And just to contemplate the function of

4:35

language, as I've

4:37

reflected many times how language is

4:41

very divisive. That's

4:46

its function. It's

4:49

part of the

4:51

world. The world

4:54

has languages, has

4:57

views, opinions, religions,

5:02

organized religions, have views and

5:04

opinions about

5:08

what's moral, immoral, what's right,

5:11

what's wrong. And

5:13

it goes on and on like that. This is the

5:16

world that we, out of ignorance

5:18

of Dhamma, out of ignorance of

5:21

the silence behind the noise, identify

5:23

with the world. And that's why

5:25

we suffer. Because

5:29

the world isn't what it should be. You

5:35

are the way you should be, but

5:40

you are the way you are right now. Just like

5:42

this. So

5:50

we have, you know, we get bachelor's

5:54

degrees, master's, PhDs, and evaluating

5:57

the world and all that.

5:59

its various facets, it's interesting,

6:02

it's boring, it's

6:04

stupid, it's intelligent, it's

6:09

right and wrong, good

6:11

and bad, what should

6:13

be, what shouldn't be. And

6:20

this is all about language, isn't

6:22

it? It's when we have language,

6:25

then we see things

6:27

in terms of right and wrong.

6:33

In religions we can consider

6:35

our religion's right, and

6:39

other religions are wrong, theistic

6:44

religions are wrong, our religion

6:46

is right, and

6:49

on and on like that. So we we

6:52

evaluate things according to

6:54

what we've been told by others, what

6:57

we believe, and

7:02

we tend to express these

7:04

opinions and

7:06

views believing completely, and that

7:09

I'm right, and if you don't agree

7:11

you're wrong. But

7:21

is Dhamma right or wrong? If

7:24

I take refuge in Dhamma, is it about

7:26

right and wrong? Is

7:30

there wrong Dhamma? Is

7:34

there right Dhamma? And

7:37

you know, then we try

7:39

to think of Dhamma in terms of

7:41

good and bad, true and false, right

7:43

and wrong. Dhamma

7:47

is still silent, perfect,

7:52

his apparent here and now, it's

7:55

timeless. So,

8:01

waking up, like Buddha, the

8:04

actual word means awaken, wake

8:08

up, and see,

8:10

Dhamma is here and now, timeless,

8:19

ehi patikal, come and see for yourself.

8:23

It's kind of an invitation or

8:25

encouragement. But

8:33

even with Buddhism, we can be caught in

8:35

our own views about right and wrong and

8:37

we might

8:39

be clever, intelligent, and have

8:42

very intelligent views about how things

8:45

should be. There's

8:49

nothing wrong with that. But

8:57

right views, when

9:01

we talk about the eightfold path, we talk

9:03

about right view and right is a bit

9:06

dodgy, actually, it's perfect view. When

9:11

you realize Dhamma for

9:13

yourself, that's

9:16

enlightenment. Suddenly, you're awake. Your

9:19

true nature is here and now, not the

9:22

forms that you have to endure for

9:25

the lifespan of your body.

9:35

So righteousness is a

9:37

problem with religions

9:41

and politics. Just

9:46

listening to the propaganda, political

9:49

propaganda of the day and

9:51

the name calling

9:53

and the

9:57

criticisms. that

10:00

you hear, you know, and

10:03

who's right and who's wrong and who's a

10:08

monster and who's a savior

10:10

and and

10:12

on and on like that we form opinions

10:14

about our political leaders.

10:23

So these opinions, you know, then we

10:25

tend to project

10:28

them onto others and if you don't

10:30

agree with me then you're wrong. You're

10:39

not a true Theravada and Buddhist if

10:41

you believe

10:44

in bodhisattvas and that's

10:48

Mahayana. So did

10:52

the Buddha teach Mahayana or,

10:54

you know, then we can get

10:57

caught in doubt or in belief?

11:03

And so, you know, to be a true,

11:09

absolutely true to Theravada

11:11

Buddhism can

11:14

make it very critical of any other views

11:17

about Buddhism that

11:21

aren't exactly in line with our

11:23

particular view of

11:26

Theravada. So

11:32

this happens in Christianity, we're

11:34

in Catholics and Protestants, Evangelicals,

11:40

the whole history of wars

11:44

and misery

11:46

caused by righteous views. Now

11:52

righteous views, sometimes

11:57

we can't help having. You

12:02

know, because that's when

12:05

we're conditioned to

12:07

believe in right and wrong, good and bad,

12:10

almost as absolutes. So

12:17

conditioning makes

12:20

us, you know, attached

12:22

to a viewpoint that

12:24

we've been told by

12:28

someone else, maybe your

12:30

mother or father or a priest or a

12:33

pastor or a rabbi, and

12:37

you're told this is absolutely true, this

12:39

is God's will, God

12:41

wants it to be this way. And

12:44

so you believe that, you believe what

12:46

you're told. And

12:49

when things conflict with that

12:51

particular view, then the forces

12:53

of evil, temptation, hell

12:58

raises its ugly head because if

13:01

you're wrong, you go to hell. So

13:04

just to reflect on these, you know,

13:06

to be able to be

13:09

the knower of these thoughts,

13:13

you know, to be stopped thinking

13:16

or to be critical of thinking,

13:19

because to be critical of

13:21

thoughts is still thinking. So

13:27

it's by being a witness to the

13:30

way it is, thinking

13:32

is like this. And

13:39

so you start listening, rather

13:42

than trying to get rid

13:45

of your ego, you're listening

13:47

to it. So

13:53

the ego says one thing, but you're

13:55

the listener, you're not the ego anymore,

13:57

you let go. So this is... a

14:00

kind of abandonment, letting go

14:04

of conditioning. Freeing

14:08

yourself from just the habitual ways

14:11

of belief, ways

14:15

of thinking, identity with

14:18

your body, with the emotions

14:20

you're feeling. I

14:46

like to see it as listening. I

14:48

listen to my ego. After

14:54

all the years, do I still have an ego?

14:56

Have I gotten rid of

14:58

it? Or do

15:01

you detect egotism in me?

15:04

Do you give

15:06

these reflections, my

15:09

lifestyle? You can

15:12

see it as egotistical in some way

15:14

that is critical, because

15:17

you can, according to the ideal, if

15:20

I didn't have an ego, you

15:25

have an idea of getting rid of

15:27

the ego, destroying the ego, rather

15:30

than witnessing the ego. You

15:36

can't destroy the ego

15:40

because the power of

15:43

the worldly

15:45

dumbness affects us. What

15:49

somebody says, how somebody looks,

15:51

affects us. If

15:55

somebody looks at you

15:57

in anger, whether they say anything,

16:00

or not, you kind of feel it.

16:05

Even though they might not be angry with you, when an

16:10

angry person comes into the room,

16:12

you feel it because

16:14

that emotion is quite

16:19

strong. Then

16:22

when we speak on anger, then we

16:27

really get attached to our angry

16:30

view. We

16:32

want to set things right. We want to be

16:35

considered right and put

16:38

them in their place, seek revenge. And

16:45

is that wrong to feel

16:47

the desire for revenge? According

16:52

to ego, we can feel

16:54

guilty about wanting to get

16:56

even with somebody because according

16:59

to mental practices, we should

17:01

love everybody, forgive, and let

17:08

things go, which is good

17:10

advice, to forgive, to spread

17:12

loving kindness. That's

17:15

good advice. So

17:21

we tend to feel guilty when

17:23

we get angry. We might say

17:25

something when we're angry that we

17:28

regret. Then we feel guilt or

17:30

shame. So

17:33

then we want to apologize for our

17:38

mistakes, which

17:41

is good. But

17:45

still, it's like this

17:47

person, me, apologizing for

17:52

something I've said or done that

17:54

offended you

17:56

in some way. Now,

18:01

the knower

18:05

of this, the listener, is

18:09

aware of these tendencies. There are some

18:12

good tendencies like asking for

18:14

forgiveness is a good thing to

18:16

do, good action, good

18:19

speech. Do

18:24

not speak on anger when you're

18:26

aware, then you're

18:28

aware of the anger and let it

18:33

go, meaning you don't get rid of

18:35

it, you still feel it because it's

18:37

part of the conditioning

18:42

that we have through this

18:45

sensual realm. But

18:52

we don't speak or act on it. So

18:56

I've oftentimes reflected in my monastic

18:59

life how I

19:01

rejoice in all the things I've never

19:03

said but felt.

19:14

So feeling is like this,

19:17

when somebody insults you

19:19

or abuses you in

19:21

any way, then you feel this way. You

19:27

know, no matter how alert

19:30

and mindful you are, you're still going to

19:32

feel something because this

19:35

is a feeling realm. The body is

19:38

a sensitive form of the eyes,

19:40

ears, nose, tongue, a

19:43

brain, this realm

19:45

that we have to experience, heat

19:47

and cold, hunger, thirst, fatigue,

19:51

pleasure, pain. So

19:59

this is a... the worldly

20:01

dhammas that we experience

20:04

through these forms

20:06

that we tend to eye out

20:09

of ignorance of dhamma

20:11

we identify with. Now

20:15

the dhamma we take refuge in

20:19

has no form, it's

20:21

formless, but

20:23

it's apparent here and now. So

20:29

you can't see it, hear

20:32

it, smell it, taste it, touch it. When

20:35

you try to think about it then

20:38

you're caught in the thinking realm again.

20:40

You can't reach it with thought with

20:42

most intelligent kind of theories and ideas.

20:54

But awakeness means you

20:56

realize this for yourself, your

20:59

pure perfect

21:01

dhamma, apparent here

21:03

and now, timeless. While

21:09

the world is falling apart around you, it

21:14

might be, you know, things

21:16

go through phases of development

21:18

and decay, change.

21:27

I remember learning, it

21:29

was a head monk and like in

21:31

chit-herst, you know,

21:35

I felt I wanted

21:37

to establish the perfect monastery. And

21:43

so I wanted perfect monks, perfect

21:45

nuns, perfect

21:47

people, but

21:51

nobody that came to chit-herst was

21:53

perfect. So

21:59

this by reflection, I'm reflecting on that, that

22:01

none of us are perfect monks

22:04

or perfect nuns, perfect

22:06

lay people, perfect women, perfect

22:08

men. These

22:10

are ideals. And

22:13

wanting to live in an ideal world is,

22:17

you know, you're never going to

22:19

find that world because it doesn't

22:21

exist. It's imagination.

22:26

So to know the

22:28

world is awakeness. We

22:31

have to experience the

22:34

world through the body and senses,

22:37

but we awaken to it

22:39

that it is impermanent and

22:46

that it's not self. You can't

22:48

find your real self through

22:52

worldly conditions. You're not the earth

22:55

element, the fire element, the water

22:57

element, the air element. You're not

23:00

earth, fire, water, and air. You're not

23:04

anything that

23:07

you can imagine, think about,

23:09

perceive through the senses. So

23:13

we stop trying to

23:15

find Dhamma through belief

23:18

in ideas about Dhamma or

23:20

what great teachers tell

23:22

us Dhamma is, but we begin

23:25

to look inward, open-eyed

23:28

Dhamma. Instead

23:32

of seeking Dhamma as

23:34

some object we hope to

23:36

realize and find, we

23:38

can't find it because

23:41

this is what we are,

23:45

because you're a parent here and now. Before

23:52

you identify with the

23:54

body or the thoughts or the

23:56

emotions, So

24:13

I remember a feeling sometimes that some

24:17

of the monks, nuns

24:20

would be just perfect

24:22

bhikkhus and cilidharas and

24:26

then they disrobe and leave and

24:29

then you're disappointed because the

24:34

ones that you had great

24:36

confidence in leave and disappoint

24:39

you and you had these hopes

24:41

that they would be

24:44

the enlightened masters of

24:47

Dhamma to

24:49

carry on the teaching and the and

24:53

so you you

24:55

know with my clinging to these

24:57

ideas then

25:01

when things change the way you you don't

25:04

want them to be then you

25:06

feel disillusioned disappointed you might

25:08

take it personally it's my

25:11

fault you know

25:14

it's one way of interpreting experience or

25:17

we can just say they don't have

25:19

the the accumulated

25:22

virtues bar me to carry

25:24

on so we

25:26

can put them down as not having

25:28

the the seeing the real

25:30

Dhamma that's

25:33

one excuse or

25:35

we might doubt the tradition or you

25:38

know so we the ego will say

25:40

anything you

25:46

know have certain tendencies like some

25:49

people are always blaming others for

25:52

what's wrong or others

25:54

are blaming themselves the

25:58

introverts blame themselves It's

26:03

probably my fault. I

26:05

shouldn't have said that. I've disappointed. I've

26:08

failed as a teacher, as a Ajahn,

26:11

as a monk, or

26:16

I blame everyone else. You're

26:19

not good enough. You

26:22

misunderstood. You don't really

26:24

understand. You're stupid. Or

26:29

you don't have to borrow me the accumulated

26:32

virtues to live the holy life.

26:35

These are rationalizations

26:38

that we make when we feel

26:42

discouraged or disappointed or

26:44

disillusioned. Now

26:49

listening to these, whether

26:51

it's being introverted or

26:53

extroverted, whatever terms you

26:55

want to use, that

26:59

which is aware, it listens. This

27:02

silent awareness is

27:05

receptive, apparent here and now. Conscious

27:08

awareness here and now. So

27:13

listening to yourself, rationalize,

27:16

justify, blame. We

27:21

all do it, but those

27:23

who have believed their own

27:25

rationalizations, their own views and

27:27

opinions, aren't

27:32

looking in the

27:34

right place. They're

27:37

still going outward expecting life

27:39

to be what they

27:41

think it should be, how things should go

27:43

the way I believe

27:45

what I think. I

27:48

know better than everyone else. And

27:52

let me tell you what's right and wrong. And

27:56

that becomes a dictator. You

28:03

don't believe what I say off in

28:05

your head. The

28:13

awakened one, awakened

28:16

human being, is a listener, learns

28:19

from, that whatever emotions,

28:22

habits you have, whether

28:25

extroverted, introverted, blaming

28:27

others or blaming yourself, these

28:31

things are all based

28:33

on thoughts, on views, on

28:35

opinions. They come and

28:37

go. They flow. They're

28:39

the moving, flowing stream

28:43

in the

28:47

stillness of silence. So

28:53

in terms of when

28:55

the Buddha said,

28:58

I leave you the Dhamma Vinaya,

29:00

the Dhamma, the Vinaya is changing

29:02

form. It's

29:06

about right and wrong or skillful,

29:09

unskillful. Dhamma

29:12

is not about right and wrong,

29:14

skillful, unskillful. So

29:23

the Dhamma, since it

29:25

has no form, you

29:27

can't really, you can point to it.

29:34

Like the Buddha's teachings are all pointers

29:38

at here and now, timeless,

29:41

ahipashikos, see for yourself,

29:43

wake up, be

29:46

the observer, the witness. Find

29:54

out for yourself rather than just believe

29:56

what the scriptures tell you

29:58

or Enlightened

30:00

Masters tell you, you find out

30:02

for yourself. So

30:07

it's budget time, waiti da

30:09

pouenui, to realize this for

30:11

yourself. So

30:30

I personally found it quite interesting

30:35

to just listen. You

30:38

see, you know, I begin to see how

30:41

arrogant I can be, or the

30:44

thoughts that I

30:47

can have, can be

30:49

very cold calculating, or can be

30:52

very emotional or indifferent.

30:57

They can be right or wrong. But

31:04

that which is aware of

31:06

these thoughts, these emotions, isn't

31:09

right or wrong. It's here and now. It's

31:12

mindfulness, conscious

31:15

awareness, here and now. And

31:17

this is where we

31:20

actually find ourselves, always in the

31:22

here and now. The winter's retreat,

31:25

the month of January is past. We've

31:27

got two months left of this precious

31:30

time. Some

31:45

people think the world is, you

31:47

have to experience worldly dhammas. There's

31:51

something to explore, or you

31:54

have to learn from the world. This

31:57

is more thinking. The

32:02

world is impermanent.

32:06

And this, you know, so

32:09

it's, I remember being a graduate

32:12

student in the University of California,

32:16

Berkeley in 1960, and

32:18

how the philosophy

32:20

of the hippies

32:23

was beginning to influence the student

32:25

body of Berkeley. This

32:28

kind of drug scene was

32:30

beginning, and the idea

32:33

was to experience life, experience

32:37

everything, right

32:39

or wrong. You know, you're given the right

32:43

to explore life, to explore

32:45

the world through action and

32:47

speech, which

32:49

seemed very nice when you're

32:51

young. Suddenly when

32:53

you've been brought up about

32:55

having to behave yourself and

32:57

different kind of moral conditioning,

33:00

and suddenly sex

33:03

is available and drugs

33:05

and alcohol and freedom

33:09

to explore life

33:11

sounds terribly exciting. But

33:20

then, you know, you realize through

33:23

that, you know, it's all empty.

33:30

You know, people get addicted, get

33:33

obsessed with sex or drugs.

33:42

And then you lose self-respect

33:44

because just following every desire,

33:46

every movement of your

33:48

mind with action or speech, isn't

33:51

a way to even respect

33:53

yourself. It

33:58

doesn't lead to happiness. momentary

34:00

kind of pleasure or excitement,

34:03

but that's very impermanent. Where,

34:23

you know, I find personally, you know,

34:25

in my own experience of being a

34:27

monk, it's the

34:29

lifestyle I respect. When

34:32

I met Lompocia 1967, you know, I kind of, it was, I

34:39

had ideas about what

34:42

a good monastery should be and what

34:44

Bapong seemed to fit my

34:46

ideal to the time. And

34:50

so, learning

34:53

to live within the Vinaya

34:56

precepts and

34:58

all that was, wasn't

35:01

easy, but it

35:03

certainly gave me a sense

35:05

of I can do it. I respect that I'm

35:08

taking responsibility for

35:11

having to

35:13

do things like bowing

35:15

to a teacher, bowing to a

35:18

Buddha Rupa, you

35:20

know, and when he's been brought up in

35:23

the American Christian tradition, you shouldn't bow

35:25

to anybody. Bow

35:28

to golden images and find

35:30

myself bowing

35:32

to golden images. So

35:36

the conditioning, Christian conditioning

35:41

is one way, but then the actual

35:44

experience of bowing to a Buddha Rupa,

35:48

being aware, using bowing

35:50

as a way of awareness, suddenly,

35:55

you know, you

35:57

feel a sense of respect

35:59

because the Buddha Rupa

36:01

to me is a very

36:03

beautiful icon. I

36:06

don't project on to them kind of

36:08

special powers like

36:11

some people do. That

36:14

some Buddha Rupas have certain psychological

36:19

metaphysical powers. I could,

36:22

you know, he can project that

36:24

onto them, but they are in

36:27

terms of just physically

36:30

as icons, religious icons. They're

36:33

the human form in

36:35

a state of awareness. So

36:38

this Buddha Rupa behind me, golden

36:41

image, you know,

36:44

I found very beautiful.

36:50

Because the Buddha is aware, he's not

36:52

shutting his eyes, he's not plugging up

36:55

his ears, holding his nose,

36:57

his senses

36:59

are still

37:02

operating. And

37:04

that's a beautiful

37:07

icon in religious terms

37:09

because so many religious

37:11

icons are about misery

37:14

and pain, crucifixion,

37:22

hearts with thorns around them,

37:24

things that are rather gruesome. Where

37:27

in this particular tradition,

37:29

the Buddha Rupa is, you

37:32

know, this is my how I see

37:34

and how I relate to Buddha Rupa is that

37:37

they're a beautiful

37:39

iconic form to

37:43

be respected. Well,

37:47

maybe that's an opinion in a view. It

37:50

is in itself, but

37:53

there's a knowing of that. It's

37:55

only that, it's an opinion, a

38:00

I've developed. So

38:04

it doesn't mean I have to get rid of all

38:06

views. I'd say

38:09

Bhutarupa is empty phenomena and that's

38:11

all, but because that's

38:13

true, it's phenomenal

38:15

and it's empty. But then

38:19

in terms of experience,

38:21

you know, in terms

38:23

of sensory experience, this

38:26

is an opinion that

38:28

I find pleasant

38:30

to hold to, but not

38:33

be attached to. If

38:36

there are no Bhutarupas, it's still okay.

38:41

It doesn't have to be Bhutarupas

38:47

because Dhamma is apparent here and

38:49

now and timeless. In

39:02

the training process, training

39:07

under Vinaya, you

39:13

know, Ajahn Chah was very clear in

39:15

his direction of being the witness to

39:17

the way it is. So

39:21

I respected that. He wasn't telling me

39:23

how I should be and

39:26

how to behave with being a

39:28

witness to conform to the

39:32

Vinaya tradition that was practiced

39:34

at Wat Papanga that time. To be

39:39

aware of whether you like

39:42

it or don't like it, agree with it

39:44

or disagree with it, it's fair enough. It's

39:46

all thoughts rising

39:49

and ceasing. So

39:55

from a Western trained

39:57

ego and so conditioning,

40:00

religious conditioning, that was very

40:02

much the, a

40:06

lot of the Vinaya rules I

40:10

didn't understand. I thought they were superfluous,

40:14

unnecessary, fussy.

40:16

So I

40:18

listened to these, to my

40:21

own criticisms of the Vinaya, rather

40:23

than thinking I've got to believe

40:25

that this was established by the

40:27

Buddha, so it's perfect. Because

40:34

I trust it, you know, the direction

40:36

of being the witness, and

40:40

my social, religious conditioning

40:42

was very much based

40:45

on Christianity

40:48

or Western ideals,

40:51

Western idealism. And

41:01

I can actually witness that, it's something

41:03

that comes and goes and changes. And

41:06

then the Katai culture and

41:09

the monastic forms

41:13

would reflect oftentimes the

41:17

American conditioning, because it is

41:20

very different. Conditioning

41:23

is conditioning, it can be

41:25

different, like from Britain to

41:27

America to Australia to France,

41:31

Thailand, India, you

41:34

know, the conditioning is not, social

41:36

conditioning is not uniform,

41:38

it can be very different from

41:40

one country, from one state to

41:43

another. But

41:47

the witnessing isn't European

41:51

or Asian, it's

41:56

not personal. It's

41:59

apparent here in And now, timeless.

42:14

So in Sangha life there are strong

42:18

views and opinions that

42:22

we hear or are kind of upset at this

42:24

or that we agree with. But

42:29

we can be aware

42:31

of this, being aware

42:33

of our own tendency

42:37

to being right and

42:40

imposing my

42:43

righteous views on you,

42:46

one can be aware of that tendency. Because

42:50

my true nature is Dhamma,

42:53

a parent here now, timeless,

42:55

deathless. Singsara

42:59

is all about death. We're

43:04

all going to die,

43:07

these forms sitting here in

43:09

the Salah in the

43:11

temple. We

43:14

know that. But

43:19

we don't like to be reminded because we

43:23

want to live, we want to be

43:25

happy, we want to be right, we

43:27

want to be understood, loved, cared

43:30

for, appreciated. So

43:40

as personalities, you know, we can be

43:44

constantly frustrated because our personalities

43:48

aren't going to be

43:51

the same and live

43:54

in agreement but in conflict. And

43:58

so we began to... realize

44:01

for ourselves, Dhamma,

44:03

it's a realization, it's real, it's

44:06

here and now. It's

44:13

not something created or

44:16

born, it's

44:19

invisible, you can't

44:23

see it or find it because

44:25

that's what you are. So

44:31

I offer this as a reflection.