Here’s an 62-min recorded video Dhamma Talk (114MB .mp4).

Topics:

  • Anatta, not-self, sense of self, rebirth, consciousness, simile of the cows who come out the carelessly-open barn gate first, Brahmaviharas, peace, mindfulness, restraint, craving, name-and-form, the Deathless Element, the six sense bases, the six consciousnesses, knowledge, vijja, letting go


Sutta References:

  • SN 35.247 - The Simile of the Six Animals

    “And how, bhikkhus is there nonrestraint? Here, having seen a form with the eye, a bhikkhu is intent upon a pleasing form and repelled by a displeasing form. He dwells without having set up mindfulness of the body, with a limited mind, and he does not understand as it really is that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder. Having heard a sound with the ear … Having cognized a mental phenomenon with the mind, he is intent upon a pleasing mental phenomenon and repelled by a displeasing mental phenomenon. He dwells without having set up mindfulness of the body, with a limited mind, and he does not understand as it really is that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder.

    “Suppose, bhikkhus, a man would catch six animals—with different domains and different feeding grounds—and tie them by a strong rope. He would catch a snake, a crocodile, a bird, a dog, a jackal, and a monkey, and tie each by a strong rope. Having done so, he would tie the ropes together with a knot in the middle and release them. Then those six animals with different domains and different feeding grounds would each pull in the direction of its own feeding ground and domain. The snake would pull one way, thinking, ‘Let me enter an anthill.’ The crocodile would pull another way, thinking, ‘Let me enter the water.’ The bird would pull another way, thinking, ‘Let me fly up into the sky.’ The dog would pull another way, thinking, ‘Let me enter a village.’ The jackal would pull another way, thinking, ‘Let me enter a charnel ground.’ The monkey would pull another way, thinking, ‘Let me enter a forest.’

    “Now when these six animals become worn out and fatigued, they would be dominated by the one among them that was strongest; they would submit to it and come under its control. So too, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu has not developed and cultivated mindfulness directed to the body, the eye pulls in the direction of agreeable forms and disagreeable forms are repulsive; the ear pulls in the direction of agreeable sounds and disagreeable sounds are repulsive; the nose pulls in the direction of agreeable odours and disagreeable odours are repulsive; the tongue pulls in the direction of agreeable tastes and disagreeable tastes are repulsive; the body pulls in the direction of agreeable tactile objects and disagreeable tactile objects are repulsive; the mind pulls in the direction of agreeable mental phenomena and disagreeable mental phenomena are repulsive.

    “It is in such a way that there is nonrestraint.

    “And how, bhikkhus, is there restraint? Here, having seen a form with the eye, a bhikkhu is not intent upon a pleasing form and not repelled by a displeasing form. He dwells having set up mindfulness of the body, with a measureless mind, and he understands as it really is that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder. Having heard a sound with the ear … Having cognized a mental phenomenon with the mind, he is not intent upon a pleasing mental phenomenon and not repelled by a displeasing mental phenomenon. He dwells having set up mindfulness of the body, with a measureless mind, and he understands as it really is that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, wherein those evil unwholesome states cease without remainder. It is in such a way that there is restraint.

    “Suppose, bhikkhus, a man would catch six animals—with different domains and different feeding grounds—and tie them by a strong rope. He would catch a snake, a crocodile, a bird, a dog, a jackal, and a monkey, and tie each by a strong rope. Having done so, he would bind them to a strong post or pillar. Then those six animals with different domains and different feeding grounds would each pull in the direction of its own feeding ground and domain. The snake would pull one way, thinking, ‘Let me enter an anthill’ … (as above) … The monkey would pull another way, thinking, ‘Let me enter a forest.’

    “Now when these six animals become worn out and fatigued, they would stand close to that post or pillar, they would sit down there, they would lie down there. So too, bhikkhus, when a bhikkhu has developed and cultivated mindfulness directed to the body, the eye does not pull in the direction of agreeable forms nor are disagreeable forms repulsive; the ear does not pull in the direction of agreeable sounds nor are disagreeable sounds repulsive; the nose does not pull in the direction of agreeable odours nor are disagreeable odours repulsive; the tongue does not pull in the direction of agreeable tastes nor are disagreeable tastes repulsive; the body does not pull in the direction of agreeable tactile objects nor are disagreeable tactile objects repulsive; the mind does not pull in the direction of agreeable mental phenomena nor are disagreeable mental phenomena repulsive.

    “It is in such a way that there is restraint.

    “‘A strong post or pillar’: this, bhikkhus, is a designation for mindfulness directed to the body. Therefore, bhikkhus, you should train yourselves thus: ‘We will develop and cultivate mindfulness directed to the body, make it our vehicle, make it our basis, stabilize it, exercise ourselves in it, and fully perfect it.’ Thus should you train yourselves.”

  • “Kāḷaka/Kālakārāma Sutta”: AN 4.24, see pg. 16 in “Magic of the Mind”:

    a Tathāgata does not conceive of a visible thing as apart from sight; he does not conceive of an unseen; he does not conceive of a ’thing-worth-seeing’; he does not conceive about a seer.

    “He does not conceive of an audible thing as apart from hearing; he does not conceive of an unheard; he does not conceive of a ’thing-worth-hearing’; he does not conceive about a hearer.

    “He does not conceive of a thing to be sensed as apart from sensation; he does not conceive of an unsensed; he does not conceive of a ’thing-worth-sensing’; he does not conceive about one who senses.

    “He does not conceive of a cognizable thing as apart from cognition; he does not conceive of an uncognized; he does not conceive of a ’thing-worth-cognizing;’ he does not conceive about one who cognizes.

    “Thus, monks, the Tathāgata being such-like in regard to all phenomena seen, heard, sensed, and cognized, is ’such.’ Moreover, than he who is ’such,’ there is none other greater or more excellent, I declare.

Other References:

  • U.G. Krishnamurti’s “The Mystique of Enlightenment”:

    Alright, you want to find out for yourself what this truth is. Can you find out? Can you capture the truth and hold it and say “This is truth?” Whether you accept or reject, it’s the same: it depends on your personal prejudices and predilections. So if you want to discover the truth for yourself, whatever it is, you are not in a position to either accept or reject. You assume that there is such a thing as truth you assume that there is such a thing as reality (ultimate or otherwise) – it is that assumption that is creating the problem, the suffering, for you. Look here, I want to experience God, truth, reality or what you will, so I must understand the nature of the experiencing structure inside of me before I deal with all that. I must look at the instrument I am using. You are trying to capture something that cannot be captured in terms of your experiencing structure, so this experiencing structure must not be there in order that the other thing may come in. What that is, you will never know. You will never know the truth, because it’s a movement. It’s a movement! You cannot capture it, you cannot contain it, you cannot express it. It’s not a logically ascertained premise that we are interested in. So, it has to be your discovery. What good is my experience? We have thousands and thousands of experiences recorded – they haven’t helped you. It’s the hope that keeps you going – “If I follow this for another ten years, fifteen years, maybe one of these days I will….” because hope is the structure.

    Q: So he spends a lifetime and finally discovers that he’s discovered nothing.

    UG: Nothing. That’s the discovery. So-called self-realization is the discovery for yourself and by yourself that there is no self to discover. That will be a very shocking thing – “Why the hell have I wasted all my life?” It’s a shocking thing because it’s going to destroy every nerve, every cell, even the cells in the marrow of your bones. I tell you, it’s not going to be an easy thing, it’s not going to be handed over to you on a gold platter. You have to become completely disillusioned, then the truth begins to express itself in its own way. I have discovered that it is useless to try to discover the truth. The search for truth is, I have discovered, absurd, because it’s a thing which you cannot capture, contain, or give expression to.

    you can’t ask for a thing which you don’t know, and you don’t know a thing about this – now or then – even assuming for a moment that you are an enlightened man, you have no way of knowing anything about it. This can never become a part of your knowledge.

    This has understood that it is not possible to experience anything any more. I don’t know if I quite make myself clear. The individuality, the isolation, the separation (or whatever you want to call it) is not there any more. What separates you, what isolates you, is your thought – it creates the frontiers, it creates the boundaries. And once the boundaries are not there, it is boundless, limitless. Not that you can experience that boundlessness and limitlessness of your consciousness; the content of your consciousness is so immense that you can’t say anything about it. That is why I use the words “It’s a state of not knowing.” You really don’t know. But how do you know that you do not know? It’s not that you say to yourself that you do not know; but in relation to the ordinary state of consciousness you have no way of knowing that at all – nobody has any way. There is not even an attempt on your part to grasp something.

    the experiencing structure comes to an end. If you don’t recognize what you are looking at – that flower as a flower, that rose as a rose – it means you are not there . What are you? You are nothing but a bundle of all these experiences, the knowledge you have about them.

    I see, and I don’t know what I’m looking at. My sensory perceptions are at their peak capacity, but still there is nothing inside of me which says “That is green. That is brown. You have white hair. You wear glasses….” The knowledge I have about things is in the background – it is not operating.

    It is total surrender – throwing in the towel, throwing in the sponge – and what comes out of that is jnana (wisdom). it is not surrender in the ordinary sense of the word; it means there isn’t anything you can do. That is total surrender – total helplessness. It can’t be brought about through any effort or volition of yours. If you want to surrender to something, it’s only to get something. That’s why I use the words ‘a state of total surrender’. It’s a state of surrender where all effort has come to an end, where all movement in the direction of getting something has come to an end. All wanting, be it this wanting or that wanting, is totally absent.

    It is a very simple thing – so simple that the complex structure does not want to leave it alone. But at the same time I ask “Is there anything that you can do?” Nobody can create the hunger. I always give the simile of the rice husk: when once it is lighted, it goes on burning, burning, burning, till the whole thing is burnt up. It is a thing which you cannot artificially create. You will probably be inspired or hypnotized by some kind of go-getter or hypnotist – there are so many. There is no such thing as experience here. You seem to know. You imagine. Imagination must come to an end. I don’t know how to put it. The absence of imagination, the absence of will, the absence of effort, the absence of all movement in any direction, on any level, in any dimension – that is the thing. That is a thing that cannot be experienced at all – it is not an experience. You are interested in experiencing bliss, beatitude, love, God knows what, but that is a worthless thing. If I experience bliss, is that bliss? It is created by the knowledge I have. It is the knowledge. To be free from knowledge is not an easy thing. You are that knowledge - - not only the knowledge that you have acquired in this life, but the knowledge of millions and millions of years, everybody’s experiences. People have some experiences, you see, and on that they build a tremendous superstructure. Q: You say it’s a simple thing, but then you say it’s a difficult thing. UG: No, you see, the thing is so simple that the complex structure does not want to leave it alone.

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