Dhamma Talk Video 41: Perpetual Distractedness in Samsara

Here’s an 57-min recorded video Dhamma Talk (107MB .mp4).

Topics:

• Samsara, Saṃsāra, Bhava, being, becoming, existence, wandering, searches, analogy of Indiana Jones, adventuring, seeking, searching, sensual pleasures, “it’s all been done”, stories, worldview, planes of existence, heavenly rebirth, deities

Sutta References:

• MN 54: “To Potaliya”
• SN 49.35: “Ten Discourses on Searches, Etc.” “…there are these three searches. What three? The search for sensual pleasures, the search for continued existence, and the search for a spiritual path. These are the three searches.”

Other References:

• Timeline of History - according to Western Science

  Years Before the Present

  • 13.5 billion: Matter and energy appear. Beginning of physics. Atoms and molecules appear. Beginning of chemistry.
  • 4.5 billion: Formation of planet Earth.
  • 3.8 billion: Emergence of organisms. Beginning of biology.
  • 6 million: Last common grandmother of humans and chimpanzees.
  • 2.5 million: Evolution of the genus Homo in Africa. First stone tools.
  • 2 million: Humans spread from Africa to Eurasia. Evolution of different human species.
  • 500,000: Neanderthals evolve in Europe and the Middle East.
  • 300,000: Daily usage of fire.
  • 200,000: Homo sapiens evolves in East Africa.
  • 70,000: The Cognitive Revolution. Emergence of fictive language. Beginning of history. Sapiens spread out of Africa.
  • 45,000: Sapiens settle Australia. Extinction of Australian megafauna.
  • 30,000: Extinction of Neanderthals.
  • 16,000: Sapiens settle America. Extinction of American megafauna.
  • 13,000: Extinction of Homo floresiensis. Homo sapiens the only surviving human species.
  • 12,000: The Agricultural Revolution. Domestication of plants and animals. Permanent settlements.
  • 5,000: First kingdoms, script and money. Polytheistic religions.
  • 4,250: First empire – the Akkadian Empire of Sargon.
  • 2,500: Invention of coinage – a universal money. The Persian Empire – a universal political order ‘for the benefit of all humans’. Buddhism in India – a universal truth ‘to liberate all beings from suffering’.
  • 2,000: Han Empire in China. Roman Empire in the Mediterranean. Christianity.
  • 1,400: Islam.
  • 500: The Scientific Revolution. Humankind admits its ignorance and begins to acquire unprecedented power. Europeans begin to conquer America and the oceans. The entire planet becomes a single historical arena. The rise of capitalism.
  • 200: The Industrial Revolution. Family and community are replaced by state and market. Massive extinction of plants and animals. The Present Humans transcend the boundaries of planet Earth. Nuclear weapons threaten the survival of humankind. Organisms are increasingly shaped by intelligent design rather than natural selection.

Pocket Mod (and you’ll need to install LibreOffice to open and print this, and I used the free “Linux Biolinum O” font mentioned here):

• Favorite Lists of Dhamma, which includes:
  • 5 factors of right speech
  • 5 Faculties/Powers
  • 5 Hindrances
  • 5 Aggregates
  • 7 Factors of Enlightenment
  • AN 8.37 “The Good Person’s Gifts”
  • AN 8.25 “Mahānāma”: “In what way, Bhante, is a lay follower practicing for his own welfare and for the welfare of others?”

License:

• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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Digital Signing and Checksum (of the .mp4 video file above):

• GnuPG signature: Ajahn_Subharo_Dhamma_Talk_Stream_041.mp4.sig; search for GnuPG pubkey 0x28e15963710c0624 here.
• SHA256sum: 293862030b940d4e25bf9a3e8d678efa7beb65fc6af7eadd06070a802e961962