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When I was overseas, I was in Thailand, teaching a retreat from the Singapore Bodhiniana Singapore group. And it just happened, I never expected I was going to do a sutta class, but the sutta class which I did, one of the ones which even PJ, sort of really liked, it's one of his favorite sutras,was also one of my favorite sutras, and actually all the sutras quantifies one of my favorite sutras, each one of them, but nevertheless, one of the ones I really did like was the imperfection sutras, that was the one about uppercolators about nimitus, because it's nice to talk about deep stuff, it inspires me. But not only that, it was starting off with the story of Anurudha Kimbala and Andia. So when I was at Dhamma Loka last weekend, I had to also do the last sutta class,
for the year, or before the rains retreat at Dhamma Loka, so I also chose that one as well, so it's really fresh in my mind. But the one thing which I liked about it, it was there was a contrast there, before we even got onto uppercolators and deep states of meditation, and that contrast was between the monks at Kosambi and the monks under Anurudha Kimbala and Andia. And the difference was that the monks at Kosambi were arguing, and what they sometimes said, like they were stabbing each other with verbal daggers. And I kind of like that sort of metaphor, because sometimes, if people say nasty things about you, that sometimes it is like being stabbed only you can't see the wounds, like stabbing inside. And I'm sure each one of you have experienced those, the way that people use their speech in a very negative way. And sometimes if, you know, that happens, it just, it really lives a very bad feeling in a person's heart, because unless you're fully enlightened, or it is a non-returner, that sometimes you may have some doubts about your contact, about what you're saying or why you're saying it.
Because those doubts are there, it's very easy for that negativity to get inside of you and to cause a lot of problems. And that's what was happening in Kosambi. You all know that the Buddha was staying there, and the Buddha went to see those monks, you know, who were arguing, and stabbing each other with verbal daggers and stuff.
And when he went to try and heal the problem, I think many of you know what the problem was. It was a problem of Vinaya. It was, should you fill the water tank up in the toilet after you've been there, what happens if there's no water to fill it up with? So it was a tiny argument over a city small thing, it's in my opinion. And nevertheless, that split the whole sangra up between those who followed the Vinaya master and those who followed the Dhamma master. And you can actually have your own view on what was right and what was wrong. The Dhamma master did break the Vinaya, but nevertheless it was a small point. And sometimes that to me, if it's a small point, always let that compassion rule and kindness and forgiveness.And that's why we do have a call-what in this monastery.
I don't know, who's read that call-what in the last three months? Any monks? We hand up? None of you. One, two. One, two, okay, around the back of somewhere. And you can see just how kind of it's ignored. And number two, what is the first rule of that call-what? Sorry? No. No, that's a joke call-what. I wish that was true. No, the first rule is like compassion, kindness, loving kindness. That is more important than everything else. And that is something which is really, really, really important. You may remember just when I performed those ordinations, not actually performed them, but facilitated the first ordinations, peculiar ordinations, over here in this hall. How many years ago, now 13, 14, 15 years ago? And when I first did that, I did try my best to actually get some, basically, authorizations for that. One of the people which I asked was, he was at the time, Chalkum Panyananda. No, no, it wasn't him. Venable Payuta. He's now a very senior monk. He always struck me, very learned, and just also had a very good heart. I remember writing to him before the Bikuni ordinations, and I didn't get a letter back in time, but afterwards he said, please, no, bumble one, sir, please do that, which is the most compassionate. And I always remember that response.
I thought it was a beautiful response. Because when it comes to the, even the Vinaya, you can look at the Vinaya many, many ways. You can take the very strictest, strictest, strictest interpretation, or you can take a compassionate interpretation. And of course, I could take both. I knew that Vinaya, and I knew that kindness, compassion, which was in there to keep sort of the reason for the Vinaya. Not just to reduce your defilements, but also to be an inspiration to those with little faith. And to increase the faith of those with faith. And I had to make our choice in this monastery, not just me, but all the other monks here at the time. But it was one of the occasions where compassion was considered, and it was really important. And that was why this proper uta was known. I don't know how you can be still achieved some debt, because it's really, really old. But nevertheless, that kindness was important. And that was the kindness, which was absent. Now, when they had a big controversy at Cosambi, now I'm right, you're wrong, you're wrong, I'm right.
And no one, I like the way the Buddha said it, that no one knows where those words are coming from. It's like we get into one particular way of looking, and we just, obviously to me it's just one's ego, one sense of self. This is who you are, this is what you think is right. And you just basically block out everything else. And to me that's really a horrible way of living. And even the Buddha could not solve the problem for them. They said, you know, you're the Buddha, please go and live peacefully by yourself. We all thought this out.And could they sort it out? Not at all. And so eventually, this is an important point of that controversy at Cosambi. The people who sorted it out were the lay community in Cosambi. Because what happened was when they saw the Buddha had tried to solve the problem, but they really disrespected him. Isn't the Buddha for goodness' sake?
They disrespected him, they wouldn't even listen to him, let alone sort of obey him.
That the lay people saw that, and so they had a big meeting that the Buddha suddenly disappeared from their city. And so they decided to do this act of not feeding the monks. And you will find our great lay supporters in this monastery. If you give no food to any monk for about a week, they soon come to their senses. They're not fasting, but the lay people were showing their displeasure at the monks. They forgot what they were there for as bikus. And we know what are we here for? We're not here for being right. We're here for being peaceful and being kind, and allowing that peace and that kindness to grow more and more and more. And so what the Buddha then did is why I love this story. He went off into the forest, into the jungle. And when he went off into that jungle, eventually after he met Phinam Anaruda and Kimbala and Nandho, then he went off into this paraleic forest, and he was fed by an elephant.
I kind of love this story. And the elephant would feed him because he was a leader of a herd, but the elephant has got fed up looking after all the other junior elephants.
And I can relate to that. And the...
Please excuse me. You're really good, monks, and I really admire you. I mean that. Sorry? What? The first one was singing?The first one. The first one. Anyway.And so the elephants and the Buddha had no... They loved the thing in common. And so they had been leaders, but now they could kind of retire. And so he was staying in the forest, being fed by the elephant, and he don't need much to survive. The elephant would be water to the Buddha, and every bit of fruit. I think that an apple would be very well looked after by elephants.You think so? Yeah. And also a venerable upa sammo. All those oranges, the elephants could get for you in the morning. You'd be really healthy. And the elephant didn't mind doing that at all. Imagine what it's like, like feeding a Buddha, just by yourself. Even though the elephant probably didn't understand exactly the law of karma, I could still feel the power of it. Sometimes the words can actually hide the emotional content of some of these wonderful teachings of Dhamma. But for the elephant, you're just so happy feeding the Buddha. And a little monkey saw that.
Please, excuse me, you may know the story before, but I love telling it, because it inspires me.
This little monkey saw the elephant feeding the Buddha. So the monkey wanted to get what we call these days a piece of the action.So walking a monkey get for the Buddha.
So he got like a honeycomb. He probably got stung for getting another honey for the Buddha, but he got it anyway and gave that to the Buddha. And the Buddha accepted it.Once the Buddha accepts a gift like that, imagine what it means to you. The amount of happiness and joy which you get from that. And so that's one of the reasons why, as I was taught, and you can understand it very easily, when people give you something, even if you don't want it, you don't like it. Don't tell people, accept it.
I know we just get pulled out of the Buddha. So anyway, just like, please again, excuse me. I remember many times people say, oh, you should get some of these five medicines. It was the panchia, madu, or whatever. They have them in Sri Lanka, often offer it to monks. So they gave some to me once, and I've never been so such a source stomach in my life. So it may be work for some people, but it doesn't work for all monks.
It doesn't work for me, that's for sure. I'm really sick on that. But anyhow, but it was wonderful to be able to receive it from a lay person, because their intention was just so pure, and they wanted to try and make sure I had lived a long time. It was very healthy. But so anyway, the monkey was just so overjoyed.The Buddha received some honey. He went swinging through the trees, and as he was swinging through the trees, he was so overjoyed. He missed the branch and fell down and died. Straight away, I remember telling that story to the Singaporeans in Bangkok, and they all just gasped, you know, it was all poor monkey. It wasn't poor monkey, because that monkey got reborn in the, I think, the tabatings of Elle, which is a pretty big improvement from my kid, living in the forest, just out of joy, out of inspiration. That's one of the reasons why the power of inspiration enjoys immense, especially if you remember you gave a fruit to a Buddha. So actually, how can you improve upon that in these days when the Buddha is not alive anymore?
You can do that by giving of the gift, so the sound of the, of both genders, Bhikkhuni and Bhikusanga, that's supposed to be the highest gift you can give once the Buddha has passed away. That's immense. You have that opportunity now. But anyhow, going back to the poor monkey, got reborn, not poor monkey, but reborn in the tabatings of Elle.Only just for one gift. And anyway, the elephant kept on looking after the Buddha, but soon,once the problem in Kosaambi had been settled, and there was harmony now in that community at Kosaambi, it was an undoing a few of the other monks, a search for the Buddha found him,and said, everything that's been settled in Kosaambi now, and the monks wanted to ask forgiveness, can you please come back? And of course, when the poor elephant heard that and understood what was going on, the poor elephant was kind of heartbroken. And you can imagine what it's like, you've got a Buddha all to yourself to feed, I don't know how long. That was amazing. But anyway, the Buddha said, well, please, elephant, just give one last honor, to the whole Sanga who's come here to collect me.
And that's what that elephant managed to do. And then after feeding all those monks, I don't know how many could have been just four or five, but it was a Sanga-Dana.
And then after feeding the Buddha and Ananda and a few other disciples who came with him,then the Buddha left. And you can imagine that poor elephant has died of being heartbroken. But nevertheless, he remembered all the great good karma he'd done, and the elephant was reborn in the tushita realm. Amazing. When I saw that, you see those statues of the elephants and the monkey feeding the Buddha, it's kind of, for some reason or other, I really love that statue. It inspires me to see if an animal can look after monks and nuns as well. And so this was the, before that, when the Buddha went to see Anaruda, there was just three monks there. First of all, to make another point, when, you know, this was kind of towards the end of the Buddha's life, not so much of disciples.
And so even the parkkeeper who was looking after Anaruda, Kimberler, and Ananda,
didn't recognize who this ascetic was and tried to keep the Buddha out of the park, and stopped him from disturbing his three disciples, did not recognize the Buddha.And so Anaruda recognized the Buddha's voice instead to the parkkeeper. And they'd stop, this is our teacher, let him in. And so they let sort of Anaruda. They let the Buddha come in, and they did all the ceremonies. But that's when the Buddha started asking, how were these three monks living?And they were living peacefully, are you getting enough answers? He said, yes. Now you're living in harmony together. He said, yes. How come? You know that the bikunis from Damasau come today. You remember when I gave you the Awadah this morning? No, that's one of the things I have to ask you. Now you're living in harmony together. And of course these three monks said, yes, we're living in harmony together. How come?
What they said was just so inspiring. He said, whenever there's a job to be done, like when they come in from arms round, whoever comes in first from the arms round, you know, we set the dining hall up. We put out the water for washing, the rubbish bins and everything else which is needed.It's not whose turn it is, which is who comes first, who has the best opportunity to serve and to help. But whoever's last out of the dining hall, they're the ones who tidy up, put things away and cleans up. Again, hardly ever saying anything.We're by voice.He said, that's how we live. And if anything heavy needs to be done, we try not to even speak but to do it by a physical gesture, like a sign that needs some help to live something. When I sort of kind of heard that, you thought this was an ideal monastery. You can't get better than this. They said, no, we never argue because we're like one mind, three different bodies, but one mind. How can you do that? How you can do that, you realize that what's most important if your main goal is the ending of suffering and achieving deep meditations and enlightenment insights?
The only way that can work is if you have few businesses to be done. No things to work out, no conflicts to resolve, no arguments to win.And all of those stuff which can occupy our mind so much. And afterwards, it doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong. It matters that just how much time we've wasted, where we could be in our hearts as peacefully meditating or peacefully resting if it's resting which you need.
And I think, yeah, there's sometimes we need to settle on difficulty because it's bad for, I don't know, or an imidual or a reputation or I don't know for our health. But, you know, a lot of times you think that we do too much. And there's three monks who hardly had to do anything to live in harmony. And of course then, that was afterwards the Buddha asked, well, how have you been doing with your meditation and insights? And they said, they would have been great. You know, they got to these nimitus but they couldn't go further because they had no idea or no teachings on what to do with these nimitus. And the Buddha gave this really powerful message on what the problems of those nimitus are and how to transcend them, how to get past them.
And although those nimitus destabilize, become still and get into the jhanas. And of course that's one of the suitors, the Buddha talked about the three types of jhanas. And it was with, you know, we takka and we chara without, we takka just with the chara, and without we takka or we chara. And it just introduced like the one and a half jhanas, a state of mind between the second and the first jhanas. He said because of that, that's where he got his liberation. And that was to me a beautiful teaching. And it all sort of came from the problems, when we have differences of opinion and arguments, what happens when we put them aside? And just focus on the teachings of the Buddha and like living in harmony together and being at peace and having this forgiveness and not carrying around for days and weeks, who's right and who's wrong.
I still remember Ajahn Chara whenever there was an argument, and someone would ask him, you know, who's right and who's wrong. He said, if there's an argument, you're both wrong.
And I kind of like that. Yeah, I mean somebody may have a more accurate idea and description about, you know, what is closer to truth and something, but it may be closer to the facts, but emotionally it's lacking because it's destroying of harmony and peace. Without that harmony and peace, where can there be sort of any time to be able to get into some nice deep meditation? And it was Ajahn Chara, who was the originator of the quack quack simile. Is it a dark or is it a chicken? And of course if it goes quack quack, it's a dark, most likely. So it's just why don't you say it's a dark or it could be a chicken, so why don't you say it's a chicken? It's not that important. What's important is that peace and harmony, so you can attend to more important things. Without these arguments and differences or opinions, imagine what that life will be like. That is one of the reasons why. No one's going to suggest this or ask this.
How did that six months retreat in silence? It was gorgeous.
In this monastery, for six months I never saw another human being. I saw some eagles in the sky, big doogights and aches, and lots of other animals who were my friends.
But I never saw a human being. My bowl was left in the container, in a box, and was filled up, and so much gratitude for that. And then I washed it, fed the extras to the animals.That's why I saw many animals, but not many monks. Actually no monks. And then washed it and put it in the box for tomorrow.But I never saw anybody. Never did anything. Never sort of wrote anything. I remember I decided six months, I needed some dhamma to ground me. And I just chose it, and I thought, I'll look in the sutra. So I learned how to chant it. Not just chant it, I tried to do the same sutra every day for, I don't know how many weeks. And that was actually just my dhamma teaching. And I was such a beautiful, rich, deep sutra that's all I basically needed. And that's how I got to really understand and know it powerfully. I know these days we have so many resources. It's like information overload, and even dhamma overload. And there's so much stuff we can learn, but this was just one thing.
And I have a really good choice. And that inspired me no end. One of the things that kind of taught me is this part is automatic. You know, if there was a self, you'd be able to tell your body and get healthy, don't get so sick. You tell your perception, your vade in there. I'll please, only happy feeling, no unhappy feeling. Sometimes you even catch yourself doing that. Why do I feel dhamma? Why do I feel weak? Why do I have to have to have pain here and make there? It's not your fault. You know what to blame. Sometimes you can't get rid of it. Sometimes it's some karmic thing.So sometimes what you can always do is always make peace with it.Understand it. Learn from it. Get insight from it. And even, you know, maybe that was how when you can get some really deep meditations, even when you're really, really sick and go zero energy and fever as well. So that doesn't stop you getting deep meditation.
Great insight. When you learn how to let go instead of controlling. That's the sort of thing which the Anata Luck and the Suta teaches you.If it was yours, you'd be able to do something about it. When the Buddha says it's not yours, you just got to let it be.
When you learn what letting be really is, it's so powerful. Sometimes it's all the dhamma you need. But renouncing. Renouncing all the things in the world he used to do before and finding another way to live. And the sign that that way of living is working. It's just like Anna Ruda, Kimberler and Andrea. They're living in peace and harmony. And hardly ever needed to talk to one another. They were silent. They weren't ever arguing. Although they did say that once every five days they would meet together and discuss the dhamma overnight. And that kind of inspired me as well because I know that I don't know if they ever read these sutas in time. But I know that's how Ajahn Mahabua's monastery used to work. Sometimes there was no talk at all for weeks.
Sometimes every four or five days. What would happen is a monk, who was one of Ajahn Mahabua's whoopataks, would go out to all of the monks in that monastery. And to tell them there's a talk tonight, there's a talk tonight. I remember when I visited and they came to the little place, I just had my mosquito, the umbrella on a little bench. And that's why I was sleeping when I was there. There was no free hats available.
And so I remember the monk came around and said, there's a talk tonight and then went off to tell the next monk in the monastery. And that's actually how they would discuss the dhamma. And I kind of really liked that. It was noticed every Wednesday. Or every Tuesday, a vinnya class, or whenever you do the vinnya classes or suta classes.
When there was a need, then they let people know there's a talk on. And because of that, people would value when the teacher could tell when the talk was really needed.
And thereby be able to not just to talk, but to supply the space, the peace, the freedom, where you did have the opportunity to spend hours by yourself. Not just looking at the internet or reading books or sleeping, but getting your mind to be really still. I was telling a few of the lay people at lunchtime today that it's kind of amazing just when you get close to somebody's great monks and nuns in the past. It was what I was in Thailand the last day that I was invited to, where I used to stay. When I was in Bangkok, I used to call it Yom Kesserie's house and in the garden.She'd been very smart and she'd built a kutie. And in that kutie, Adjian Chai used to stay. Adjian, which is now Adjian Preean, Adjian Ben. I saw so many great monks in that sort of kutie. And of course they'd stayed there overnight and they'd slept there and meditated there. And that was the amazing thing. They'd actually meditated there. And sometimes, you know, you didn't really need any instruction.
You just sat down on the floor there where you knew that's what Adjian Chai used to meditate. And just that even thought, that recollection, you just really go and do some very nice deep samadhi.I was kind of surprised. Where did that come from? Because I was tired. But it was just that memory, that inspiration of some of the great, okay, let's call them what they should be called Arahats. You know, where they'd meditated, goodness. There was made meditation so easy. It's not arguing. Where they're in Arahat, where they're not in Arahat. Adjian Chai, I lived with him for such a long time.
I can actually say, yes. Other monks, you know, you just believe me or you just believe somebody else. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not. But certainly, you can feel it in the floor where you just sat down to meditate. A brilliant. And that's one of the reasons why, you know, what do you need to become fully enlightened? You need to become a stream winner.You do need the words of another, the inspiration from someone else who's an Arahat. But a lot of times we put too much into it.
Too much force, too much ideas, too much talking, and not enough harmony and peace. When you realize what's truly important in the practice of a monk and a nun, and even a lay person, you understand, yes, you do that work. You finish it, do it well.
Because service is important.But you do not have to do too much service. And so that's one of the reasons why, that when we do the roster, I don't know who's going to be doing the roster for the range retreat. There's a couple of monks that are going to ban you for working. Stay in your heart.And just rest. And just imagine, recall all that you've done in the past.And have that same opportunity which I had, you know, to have, like, not six months, maybe, but at least three months during the range retreat. Three months of solitude.Three months of being able to be really peaceful. Three months, actually, to totally let go. Because all of you had enough instructions. You know, actually you've probably got, you know, full of dhamma. There's words and ideas. But it hasn't allowed it to soak in to that emotional world which will basically control you much more than ideas to.And there you can actually be, you find it actually works.
Please remember that the double tsubuda taught. It does not rely upon your effort. Said that carefully. I mean it.It relies on your ability to let go, not to do, not to struggle or strive, but to be able to understand how this path works. And inspire yourself rather than motivate yourself. That's what I said.I think at lunchtime or somewhere today, don't meditate like your turbans on fire.Because if you do that, you know, you just burn your head. And meditate with that kindness, understanding, you know, being holding on to way too much, including burning turbans. Put it down.Relax. And after a while, you know, you're all got too much motivation.Listen it. Find that beautiful middle way where you're inspired. And that inspiration is that it is a type of bliss.You know, sometimes you hear a talk and understand it and say, wow.It really just gets this pure energy which is not coming from you, not coming from a sense of self which is trying to control the five candies. It's coming from this beautiful sense of you can't resist it. This is where you leap towards this beautiful meditation object. So my can't resist it. You get drawn in and it's gorgeous path.
That's one of the wonderful things to realize that this path is a path of bliss. Bliss upon bliss upon bliss. A pretty amazing thing to realize.We just kind of destroy it sometimes. But you know, not flooding the ways of animuda and kimbula and nandia.If something needs to be done, you just do it. Don't make a big thing about it. If something needs to be cleaned, you just clean it. It doesn't matter who does it. If you've got the energy, you can do it.You just don't do it.Then afterwards, you just sit down and don't waste, you know, what they call the chagangusati. The reflection on all the good stuff you've done. You know, I must admit, because I've been here longer than any of you. You know, the amount of every time I look at this hall here, I can remember some of the stuff which went on here.A good example I was talking about this even today at tea time. You see these, they call sissertrusses. Even though we had an engineer do all the drawings and basically take responsibility. When we put the tiles, you know, on this roof, just the sissertrusses, they opened up much more than expected.
They were pushing the wall on the non-side over there over. And so I caught the engineer. And usually engineers, he's quite a well-known engineer in Perth, very busy. Usually he said, well, maybe next week, I've got a bit of time. When I said, look, the wall's falling over, and he knew that as a mug, you don't lie, he came straight away.
And I remember him took a look and said, oh, that's okay. He was actually quite relieved.So what we did with his approval, I don't know how he would approve this, but we lifted up the roof with three aqua props. That's all, three little tiny, not tiny, but those strong metal poles. And lifted up the whole roof, it was on the screw, so he didn't have to be superman to lift it up. And then we did the brickwork on that wall, just the top three or four layers. And then let the aqua props down, and the roof came down, it was fine. But I always remember just some of the stuff we did, we could have argued, we can fix it. Sometimes you rely on heavenly beings to help, and they always seem to help out their goodness.
But this is actually just how we can do some jobs when we need to. And I remember that sort of stuff, the confidence and faith which I kind of had in those days, and the fitness, and the ability to trust. And that led to in nice meditations, you had the ability to trust. This is what the Buddha said, you could actually feel it happen, you were mindful enough, to understand not just the peace, but the emotional part of meditation. To be able to perceive it in such a way that it was a wonderful delightful thing to do. And even now sometimes you know, do huge amounts of work and getting old, feel tired. Sometimes you just notice you don't want to meditate because you know, it feels unpleasant. You'd rather just go to sleep, but it kind of resists that.
Because I know that if you just give it a little bit, a few more minutes, and not just meditate through endurance or watching the clock, I should meditate another quarter an hour. But no, just feel the meditation. Get to know the emotional quality in the meditation. And get to feel the joy which starts to come up from the meditation. Never be afraid of that part of meditation which is joyful and powerful and beautiful.
And whatever you need, whatever works for you, that's where you start to give meditation. The peace, the beauty, the joy, the bliss. That becomes more important for you than the who's right and who's wrong a bit.And now who's the best teacher, what's the best monastery, what's the best food, how long you should be sitting for.
That sort of stuff just makes you just so tired. And doesn't it inspire many people? There's one of the reasons why, just always if you talk about even any monk, even if you think about Devadatta, you had good meditation,but it said you'd become fully enlightened in some future life. A nice thing to say. So with all of those types of teachings, we take away the negativity which is so common in our western world anyway. In the Asian world as well, but maybe not as much. I don't know these days. But anyhow, we take away that negativity.Always look at the nice things which other people do. Always the nice things which your fellow monks do. Look at each other with kindness. And as you look at each other with kindness, see if you're not living up to that or you can do it a little bit better to be kind to the people you live with.
This is a big monastery.
People are different levels of their practice. Sometimes you may think that some people are lazy,but don't ever think like that. It is where they need to be at this particular time. And understand that sometimes it's very hard to embrace another monk's mind.They go with all sorts of tough times. Your job is to be kind to them, especially possibly can and care for them. And imagine this is a big monastery here. It's a big monastery over in Damasara. Imagine if you can try and live up to that monastery where they're visited after cosambi. Where there's no arguments. Most weren't perfect at that time. They could look at each other in just publicly or just thinking privately, always with thoughts of love and kindness. How privileged I am to be living with such a community.Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu.I like the sound of God's awareness.
Thank you for listening.
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