Here’s a 58-min recorded video Dhamma Talk (123MB .mp4 - Tip: tap and hold to “Download link”, or right click to “Save Link As…“).

Topics:

  • Theravada Forest Monasticism, meditation, practice, wildlife, jungle life, survival, family atmosphere amongst the monks, preparing for the difficult psychological surprises in the future, cultural differences, Sri Lanka, Na Uyana, monks, traditional medicine, snakes


Sutta References:

  • SN 36.6 - “The Dart”

    “Bhikkhus, when the uninstructed worldling is being contacted by a painful feeling, he sorrows, grieves, and laments; he weeps beating his breast and becomes distraught. He feels two feelings—a bodily one and a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, and then they would strike him immediately afterwards with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by two darts. So too, when the uninstructed worldling is being contacted by a painful feeling … he feels two feelings—a bodily one and a mental one.

    “Being contacted by that same painful feeling, he harbours aversion towards it. When he harbours aversion towards painful feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling lies behind this. Being contacted by painful feeling, he seeks delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the uninstructed worldling does not know of any escape from painful feeling other than sensual pleasure. When he seeks delight in sensual pleasure, the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant feeling lies behind this. He does not understand as it really is the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these feelings. When he does not understand these things, the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling lies behind this.

    “If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. This, bhikkhus, is called an uninstructed worldling who is attached to birth, aging, and death; who is attached to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; who is attached to suffering, I say.

    “Bhikkhus, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep beating his breast and become distraught. He feels one feeling—a bodily one, not a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, but they would not strike him immediately afterwards with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by one dart only. So too, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling … he feels one feeling—a bodily one, not a mental one.

Pali terms:

  • sati: mindfulness; presence; recollection; awareness
  • sampajañña: attentiveness; clear awareness; full comprehension
  • saddhā: faith (in); belief (in); trust (in); lit. “putting heart”
  • saṃvega: dismay; anxiety; sense of urgency
  • kalyāṇamitta: with excellent friends; with good spiritual companions

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