Dhammarato
Dhammarato Dhammarato is a dhamma teacher in the lineage of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa. Now retired into the Lay life He spent many years as a monk in both Thailand and USA. He lives in Thailand on Kho Phangan and invites all dhamma friends to come hang out. He talks about the supramundane dhamma as instructed by Ajahn Pho the abbot of Wat Suan Mokkh.

The Sangha UK 276 12 15 24

The Sangha UK 276 12 15 24

The Sangha UK 276 12 15 24

Video

Transcript

Dhammarato: Harvin, your mic is making noise. Hello, folks. Welcome to Sunday Afternoon Talk. Today we’re going to guess what talk about the Four Noble Truths all over again. Having basically some new things to say. Carwin, go ahead and ask your question again.

Speaker B: I have watched some of your videos, and I see in many videos you say you don’t like it. Basically, the problem that we are experiencing dukkha is because we don’t like it. Let’s say if it is fear or anything else, many times I hear you repeatedly say, oh, you don’t like it? All right, gonna see how. How that is affect, how that is making the dukkha. How does making my suffering or my dissatisfaction.

Dhammarato: All right, well, let’s talk about the definition of dukkha then first. Now, commonly, in fact, almost exclusively in English language, dukkha is translated as the word suffering, as if it was a big, big deal. And I think that the reason why it was translated as suffering was because the original translations were done by Oxford people from England having a Christian background, and all they could see was crucifixes all over the place. And so they translated dukkha as suffering, almost in the sense of elevating it to a level of spirituality that if you can’t see your troubles, you can’t ask somebody to fix them for you. So we have a dude that really, really, really suffered. And so because he suffered so much, we’ll get him to help us with. Is it that kind of the story? All right. And so this actually puts a wrong emphasis upon dukkha. You’ll have huge numbers of people that will tell you, I’m not suffering. Okay? Politicians not suffering, Wall street not suffering. Karen’s not suffering, cops not suffering. And yet all of those groups and all of the other groups have dukkha. So why is it translated as suffering when in fact, there’s a much more precise definition of it? In fact, you could go so far as to say that if we did Buddhism, like Jehovah’s Witness, wrote some pamphlets down and went knocking on doors telling people, here, you read this and you won’t have any suffering, and they’ll slam the door in your face telling them, telling you they’re not suffering. The problem is, is that there’s various degrees of not liking or dissatisfaction. That in fact, a much better translation into English of the word dukkha would be dissatisfaction. We’re not satisfied. And when we use that word dissatisfaction, that almost gives us the key to the entire teachings of the Buddha. But in fact, he says in Sutta number 22, as well as several other suttas. I’ve lost track of them. At one time, my friend Tun found, I think, five different passages to where the Buddha actually states both formally and now. I only teach one thing, dukkha, duka, nirodha, which can then be translated as dukkha, and the lack of dukkha. Now, in our language, we actually have a word for the opposite of dukkha, which would be dissatisfaction’s opposite would be what? Satisfaction. And if we could live our lives going from one moment to the next to the next, satisfied, what else do you want? Well, some people will say, well, Buddhism is all about enlightenment. What about nibbana? Well, the answer to that would be, can you have nibbana while you’re dissatisfied? What about this high goal of enlightenment that nobody has? Aren’t they dissatisfied because they don’t have enlightenment? And if they were satisfied, completely satisfied, then who needs enlightenment? I’ve got enough. I’m already good enough. And so in that regard, we can begin to understand that the teachings of the Buddha is really all about becoming satisfied, because we can see the dissatisfaction, and we take the right noble effort to make a change to that. Now, there’s many different ways that we can change it. One of the ways of changing it is by changing our location. Let’s make an easy example of that is that it’s not a satisfying place to stand on the freeway, especially during rush hour or especially right after rush hour where people are actually rushing, because normally we think of a rush hour as a traffic jam. But in any case, standing on the freeway is dangerous if we can see that, we’re not going to stand on the freeway. In that regard, you can also say that some countries are very much like a freeway, and it’s often better to be away from those kind of places altogether. And in fact, that’s the reason why I’m on Copangan rather than in Washington, D.C. is because this is a nice, comfortable, safe, satisfying place to be. Even though we’ve been having floods lately, at least the porch here is not flooded. I haven’t gone into the floods. So this is the whole point then, is that while almost all religions leave you in a state of dissatisfaction and even in the state of suffering, the teachings of the Buddha is the only teaching that I know of which has a direct method and a direct path to come out of our dissatisfactions. Now, one of the things that you said was, and in fact you can trace this right into those suttas that give a clear, specific definition of dukkha. And you could see why that some people would see that clear, specific definition of dukkha would translate it as to suffering. They start off with old age, sickness, and death. Well, for some, being sick is definitely suffering. Depends upon how big the pain is. You can be a little bit sick and not suffering, or you can have a whole lot of pain and still not suffer. But in fact, the whole point about the suffering is, is that it’s a mental state, not a biological body state. However, the Buddha is pointing out that most people don’t like it when they’re sick. People don’t like it when they get old. How many of you would prefer to be young? What age would you like to be? Carson, if you could choose what age you wanted to be, what age would you be?

Speaker B: You asked, but I would like to be 25 again.

Dhammarato: But smart like I’m again, huh? Been there, done that. Didn’t get enough of it. Want more? Okay, but can you do that? No. No. All right. If you want to be 25 again and you can’t be 25 again, then that means you’re just dissatisfied with the state that you’re in. Here’s a funny point about that, is that almost all children want to be older than they actually are. They’ll lie. They’ll say, half, like, on my way to. Like, on my way to 8. I know some people that are 11 on their way to 18. They want to be older than they are. But sometime along the way, we start, we change that around. Even at the age of, let us say, 25, some want to be younger. And then at the age of 45, they still want to be younger. And when they get 70, they still want to be younger. And all they’re doing is creating dissatisfaction, because why we can’t change the age. Anybody here able to change their age? I’m not talking about a passport or a document, talking about reality. You can’t change your age, and yet everybody wants to be a different age than what they are. Very few people are satisfied with where they are. How about 78, 79? How many people want to be 78? 79? Anybody? Well, I’m quite satisfied with that. I’ve got a whole lot of been there’s and dones. That’s. And so there’s a whole lot of places that I’ve been that I don’t have to go in. I don’t have to go back there anymore. I’ve already seen what I need to see, and that’s part of the dharma is to learn to be satisfied with what you’ve got, what’s real. And when we’re not satisfied with what’s real, that means that we want something that we don’t have. Now, basically what we’re doing is, is that we’re knocking on the door now in this part of the talk of the Second Noble Truth. So let’s go back and talk about the First Noble Truth a little bit more. A lot of people think that the First Noble Truth, that Dukkha exists. They think of it in the sense of life is dukkha. Yep. That, in fact, I have even seen bumper stickers that say, life’s a bitch or life is shit and then you die.

Speaker B: I had heard, for me was. I thought. I thought. I clearly knew that Buddha had said that life is suffering. That was my understanding.

Dhammarato: Yeah, he does not say that, but he does talk about old age, sickness and death, Arduka, simply because people don’t like it. Then the next part of that definition would be anguish, despair, lamentation, in other words, complaining about it. So whenever we’re complaining about something, that means that we’re dissatisfied. That’s Dukkha. That’s a good example of it. But then in the third part of the definition, he gets right down to it in the sense of wanting things we don’t have, because the wanting things that we don’t have covers all of those previous things. Wanting something that we don’t have or putting up with something that’s hard to endure, hard to put up with. But in fact, if something is difficult to put up with, hard to endure, that’s almost the same thing as wanting to get rid of it. Or another way would be, is that it’s really, really hard to endure not having that bottle of alcohol I want so bad. And so wanting and putting up with things that are hard to endure are double. They’re to. They’re mixed together. And so this basically then leads to the Second Noble Truth, which talks about it in the sense of Moha Lobadosa. And we can see that wanting something that we don’t have is a key ingredient in the Second Noble Truth of causing Dukkha. Now, I have heard over and over and over again, mostly from Mahayana sources, that the source of Dukkha is clinging, wanting, attachment, they say. And yet that may not be actually the case. There’s many different examples I could give you. One is that you’re riding on a bus where you’re standing up and holding on to a pole. You’re attached to that pole as the bus meanders and moves down the road, some people would say in a Buddhist way, oh, well, you’re attached to that pole. That’s dukkha. Why don’t you let go of that pole? If you do, you may find yourself flat on the floor or curled up in a ball in some old lady’s lap or something like that. Then in fact, hanging onto that pole while the bus is in motion is not necessarily a bad thing. So it’s not correct then to define it in this, let us say, almost grandiose, theoretical way of the cause of dukkha without doing some examination of it. All right, now the next point, which is actually what I would like to talk about most of this time, is the third aspect of the the cause of dukkha is the Pali word is also a jiva, not knowing. But the. The word moha actually has a quality of delusion in it. Now, if we are making stuff up, if we don’t like the way reality is, if we’re confused because we don’t know what reality is, then that confusion is also kind of a doubt. And when we’re confused and when we’re doubtful, for instance, we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, we don’t know what the future is going to bring, and we start to make plans. We want the future to be this and we want the future to be that. Then that’s actually a form of ignorance that’s painful because it actually then mollifies or modifies or actually controls what we want and what we don’t want. An example of that would be if you were absolutely and completely okay with whatever happened, then you don’t have to become confused and doubtful about what’s going to happen. You’re okay with it. You’re satisf. You’re so satisfied that you can handle anything that comes. Therefore, why should I worry about what might happen? But for people who experience dukkha, the experience of dukkha is guaranteed that there’s going to be some ignorance in there. Now let me define ignorance in three ways. One is ignorance that we truly don’t like and we would rather have a lie, build up a lie, give ourselves a pep talk or a. A story, perhaps a religious story. We’d rather have a story. We’d rather have a delusion than being void of not knowing. This is why human beings are so delusional. That’s also part of the reason why there is so much lying going on. We lie to one another because we don’t like not knowing. In our culture, it’s not good to not know. They give you tests at school. You can’t drive a car without taking a test, right? And so you got to know how to drive a car. I’ve lived in India for a while. I’ve also been in some other countries. And here in Thailand, it seems to be the same way. Is that where people learn to drive is by driving, not by taking a test out of a book or going to a driver’s school or taking a test like that, a driving test. And look how much anxiety people have about that. To where the kids in Thailand hop on a motorbike and off they go. Very rarely do they wind up in the medical facility. But in fact, every time that I go to the. It’s been several years. But when I was going to the hospital here on Koh Phangan, invariably there would be three, three or four people with half their body bandaged somehow. A foot was bandaged, an ankle was bandaged, a leg, knee, everything was bandaged up. And guess what? All of those people who were wearing bandages at the hospital were Westerners. The Thai people, they weren’t all bandaged up. I think that’s because when they learn, they learn slowly. Pay attention to where you’re going. It’s more important to be safe than it is to be sorry. But Westerners, they hop on these motorbikes. The next afternoon, they’re at the hospital getting their wounds dressed. I find that so curious, especially since so many of them have a driver’s license. They’ve got a piece of paper, they’ve got a license to drive, and yet they can’t. Rome, I hear, is exactly that same way. But I have been in many towns in India, and it’s very much like Rome. Americans, they don’t know what to do in Rome. The people are going in and out and back and forth like that. And there’s actually a fairly little law that you can remember in. In America, they have what is called the right of way. That’s the law. How many of you have ever driven in the United States and know that there’s a rule? I mean, many countries have this also the right of way. This is your lane, right, Mikey, you’ve heard about right of ways?

Speaker C: Yes.

Dhammarato: Don’t cut me off. Right? Don’t cut me off. All right. If you hit me from. If I run into you from behind, you’ve got the right away in front of me, it’s your. Automatically somebody’s your fault because you ran into somebody all Right. In Thailand, they have no such rule as right away. The rule in Thailand is share the road. Now there is a certain amount of accidents in Thailand, but most of the accident they have is out on the big highways. But in town they don’t have accidents because people have to share the road. So that’s also kind of a way of living our lives in general that in the west we are taught that if you know the law, you’ve got the right of way. Do what you will so long as you’re following the rules. And in Thailand, in a Buddhist country, they have a different kind of attitude about it in the sense of share the road. You’re part of the network here, watch out for the other guy because he’s not watching out for you all the time, but most of the time he’s watching out for you. So this is a different attitude. And what we need to do actually here in our group as well as in Western Buddhism is to start changing that particular attitude. Rather than I’ve got the right of way into let’s share, let’s share the road that I’ve got the right of way winds up almost always in some sort of conflict where two different people have the right of way and right into each other they go. But if you have the idea of sharing the road, then we do it like this. And it doesn’t matter which lane you’re in, so long as you don’t hurt anybody, so long as you don’t hit anybody. So part of the problem then of the cause of Dukkha is this delusion that we have the right of way. We have the delusion that we should be able to fix society when we see it’s broken. In fact, part of the delusion is that it’s broken. And if we have much more of an attitude of ah, the world’s okay. The only thing that’s broken is my own attitude about it being broken. So if we can then begin to see that it is okay that we don’t know everything, all we need to know is to stay out of danger. That’s all we need to do is to remember to stay safe, to stay out of danger. Now, I talked about three different kinds of ignorance. Another kind of ignorance is not knowing. And almost all the time when we don’t know something, we don’t like that we don’t like not knowing. The stock market is closed because of the weekend and there’s a whole lot of people that want to know, well, what’s going to happen on Monday. They’re standing there waiting. What’s going to happen? What’s going to happen? I need to know, right? You don’t have to know. Everything is going to be all right. Leave things alone. So, in fact, that kind of ignorance that we were just talking about, that ignorance that we know that we don’t know, we don’t like not knowing. So there’s the dukkha right there in the sense of I want to know. I want something. The facts, the future. And I don’t know what that is. Carbon. Go ahead. You got your hand up?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: What I’m thinking about is, you know, I feel like I. If I follow these teachings, let’s say I feel like I need to completely change my life. You know, I’m in now. I mean, in my life, I still have the feeling like I want to do some things in this. In this world. I’m alive, let’s say, building a business or maybe for. For some people losing weight or gaining weight, you know, starting relationships. I feel like if I really follow this, you know, I can probably right now go in a monastery and sit there and be satisfied. But I see that, and maybe I will do that.

Dhammarato: Seriously.

Speaker B: I’m considering to become a monk. But at the same time. At the same time, I’m also feeling like, you know, I want to do something in the real world, like build a business. I don’t know. I want to do some things. And how can I combine? I don’t know, how can. Can I still, in the real world do things that are difficult?

Dhammarato: Well, let me interject this. And that is. Is that I’m not saying all together to stop doing stuff because none of you are ready to do that. I know what five or six of us in these groups have actually become monks. Daniel and Cat and Eric and David and Kimositu. Got that group. Guess what? Daniel really does understand the Dhamma. But he can only be satisfied where he is. Since he’s been a monk only about a year, he’s been in Udon Thani, he’s been in Royet. He’s been in Chiang Mai. Two different places in Chiang Mai, that he gets that kind of itch. He’s not satisfied. And that part of the practice that I want to teach these guys, that if you want to become a monk so that you can be satisfied, you still have to practice changing your mind. Becoming a monk is not going to do it to you. That you still have to take the opportunity to change your own mind. And you can do that whether you become a monk or Not. But becoming a monk makes it a whole lot easier for several reasons. And one of them is, is that you, if you’re lucky and wise and follow some wise people’s advice, you’ll wind up in a group of wise monks who will help you if you’re not, if you go to the wrong place, you’ll wind up doing whatever the teacher tells you to do. An example of that was, is that Cat, he really wanted to go to Ulan Thani because he had kind of fallen in love with Mahaboa, who died in 2012. And since then it became kind of an enclave of German monks with Martin being the number one monk at the place. In fact, Martin, you could give him credit for actually salvaging the place because all Watts, when they really powerful, well known monk dies, Thai people go to another wat and find another teacher. That’s okay with them. In fact, to go so far is that Wattsu and Mok almost died, but now it’s coming back. But it almost died because there was at one time only down to about 20 monks that were there. So back to Achan Martin. Achan Martin, he was German, and you could take the German out of Germany, but you couldn’t take the German out of the boy. And so he was practicing things and teaching Cat and others, things that go right against the Dhamma. The most clear and obvious one is that there are some Japanese groups who have the style of eating very much in a hurry. You’ve got to eat and be finished because when the teacher puts his bowl down, you got to put your bowl down too. And your teacher was taught to eat in a hurry where that’s not what the Buddha is teaching at all. You can see it really right there in the suttas is that we practice eating in the sense of watching what we’re doing. Eat slowly. All right? And so I’ve also seen videos from Cat where Achan Martin was in a hurry even on Bendabout, been a monk for more than 10 years. And then does anybody know what happened at the this year when Ajahn Martin actually makes a public announcement that he’s gotten tired of all of these Western monks. And basically what he was getting tired of was his own practice. He wanted to go practice where he could find a good teacher who was going to slow him down. But I got Cat to come out of Udantani and go to Wat Suwanmok, and there he’s found slow, easy, peaceful. The same thing was true with him when he was in Royette. He had A really excellent teacher there. His name was. Or his name is Achan Santi, which is actually where the same place that Eric was ordained. So you have Daniel and Eric and Cat, all ordained in Roy Ad. That’s a really excellent place for people to go to become ordained, simply because Ajahn Santi is so laid back. The problem with Achahn Santi being so laid back is that the Westerners, the new monks, they want something from their teacher. They want good Dhamma, they want to be instructed, they want to be kicked around, they want to be spoon fed Dhamma. Well, that’s exactly the style that Ajahn Santi had. Was he better he spoon fed them Dhamma, only the spoon that he had was so tiny that they weren’t nourished by it. And so they became dissatisfied with staying with Ajahnsanthi to where, in fact, that’s the very best place to go is to go be around a senior monk who is so comfortable and so satisfied that he doesn’t bother to teach. But Westerners, they don’t like that. They want somebody who’s going to jawbone all over them. So that second. Going back now to the second noble truth again, we have now talked about two kinds of ignorance. The kind of ignorance that we know that we’re ignorant and we don’t like it at all. So this is the kind of ignorance that we find with young monks who go to Thailand to ordain or anyplace else in the world. They go knowing that they don’t know all of the Dhamma. They don’t know how to live well as a good monk. And they can’t take a monk who does nothing as an excellent example. What do you think about this, is what I’m saying. Chris, I see you smiling there. Thankful for my abbot. Go ahead. He’s. He’s laid back. He.

Speaker C: He’s interested in spreading the Dhamma to Westerners, European backpackers and things like that. But he’s, he’s a laid back, peaceful.

Dhammarato: Easygoing guy, pretty much. So that’s what we’re actually going for. And so we go as Westerners into a what? And get that? And we’re not satisfied with it. We’re not satisfied with being around a really laid back monk. But in fact, Ajahn Po was and always has been really laid back. But he did take enough interest in me to kick my ass from time to time. And so I always loved him so much, even though I would ask him questions and get nothing back when I ask him questions. I got nothing. When I go around doing nothing, he kicks my ass not very often, but enough to wake me up. So that whole point of is, our ignorance is there. We know we’re ignorant and we don’t like being ignorant. And so we want to get lowdown. We want to get the skinny. And for the whole world, most of them, there’s no access to the lowdown, no access to the skinny. And so what they’ll do is they’ll make stuff up. They’ll invent a religion, they’ll invent a political party, they’ll start a business. They’ll do something to occupy their time because they don’t like being in that state of not knowing. And then there is a third kind of ignorance, and that is the ignorance we would call wise ignorance. We don’t know, and it’s okay because in a way, you’ve heard the story. Ignorance is bliss. It took me many years to figure out that that’s exactly right. Ignorance is bliss. If you don’t know, it’s not hurting you. The only thing that ever hurt you is something you knew all about and you don’t like it. But if it’s not there, it can’t hurt. Now, that’s amazing, isn’t it? If you don’t know what it is, then why should you care? Why should you bother to want to know the answer? Well, we will say something like, well, it might be dangerous, but right now it’s not. Not dangerous. It’s not dangerous. And I don’t know. So, Karwan, you got your hand up.

Speaker B: I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I had my hand. But I still have the question. You know, right now it is almost New Year, so most of us, most people in general right now are making gold. You know, some are wanting to lose weight, some are wanting to have better relationships or start a business or anything, you know, and most of things, who.

Dhammarato: Do you know that’s not like that. All of the Westerners that I know of, they still want something. Even those in robes, they still want something. Yeah, but is it that’s free from wanting altogether.

Speaker B: And my thing is this. What is wrong with that, let’s say. What is wrong, let’s say for me to want to lose weight or to want to start a business, I don’t yet see. Why should I give that up?

Dhammarato: Well, there’s a difference between wanting to start a business and starting a business. There’s a difference between starting a business and having it grow. And there’s A difference between having it grow and watching it die, or not just die right out, but have it stolen from you. They’ll cut you a deal. All right. So that’s what’s going on now. We’re not saying, don’t do anything you’re not quite ready to do, that there’s an intermediate step, and that intermediate step is to stop seeing it as I’ve got to do it. Another way of thinking about it is it might be fun if I played with starting a business. Now, one thing that I know about starting a business, and not only from myself, but from, in all respects, everybody who has ever started a business, they wind up working a whole lot harder than they did when they were working for somebody else. The reason for that is why? Because they want to start the business. And because whatever business they’ve started at whatever level that business is, is still not good enough. And so maybe you’ve made your first thousand dollars and you can say, wow, our business is on the way. But tomorrow you say, a thousand. That’s not enough. I want 10,000. And then someday you make 10,000. Wow, 10,000. We’re on our way tomorrow. After that, you say, 10,000. That’s not enough. And we’re always in that state of wanting something. That’s the habit. So we have the wanting and the wanting and the wanting and the wanting. And all we’re really doing is changing the object of desire. But the desire remains. It’s a habit. And that what we practice here is to be able to see that desire. And instead of trying to figure out a way either delusional or hard work, we can recognize. Wait a minute. I don’t need that. I can do without that. You don’t have to start a business. You’ve been in the state of wanting to start a business and wanting to start a business and wanting to start a business till it’s become a habit. But now that that habit is there, anytime that it comes up and you get into a state of wanting to start a business, you can say, aha. I see that. And guess what? Right now, I’m okay. Is that not true, Carmen? Right now you’re okay. You haven’t started a business. You’re okay. How about you, Rick? You not having a business, you’re okay. How about you, Thomas? Right now, you’re okay. You don’t get what you want, but you’re still okay. You’re muted.

Speaker C: I was saying I have started a business, but I. I totally hear what you’re saying. I think seeing it as Something fun to play with is, is that intermediary step. It’s. But it, there is the danger there that you always want more from it and it’s never good enough.

Dhammarato: So that’s what you got to accurate, right? That’s the old habit that we’ve gotten. We were trained in that habit basically from, and I mean basically in reality from day one. What’s the first thing that a baby does after he cries and screams is that he sucks. And we suck every day. We suck and we suck and we suck. We want more and more. And we suck when we’re not wearing diapers and we suck when we start wearing diapers and we suck when we’re wearing knee pants, we suck when we’re wearing long pants, we suck when we’re teenagers, we suck when we’re young adults and we continue to suck for the whole rest of our lives. So in fact what you could say then, if you’re ignorant and not looking at what’s going on is that life itself sucks. No, it doesn’t. Life is just life. The reason life sucks is because you’re the one who’s doing the sucking. Stop wanting things, stop sucking. That’s the real teaching of the Buddha is to be satisfied with what we’ve got. Stop sucking. And most of us go ahead.

Speaker B: So what you’re trying to say is it is not about not start, not about not doing. Let’s say still I can lose weight or start a business as long as I’m satisfied while doing that.

Dhammarato: Well, instead of saying I want to lose weight, you can stay instead. Right now I’ve had enough right now I’m not hungry and I’m not going to eat right now. If you keep doing that, you’ll lose weight. Who needs to have a diet? Who needs to, who needs to talk about a diet? Who needs to go buy a diet? Who needs to go to the doctor about a diet? Just don’t eat right now to do what you want to do, do what you like to do. And in fact almost all of the really big good businesses have been done because somebody started to do something they liked to do. And when they turned it into a business, that’s when they got miserable. And so if you can keep it as a joy, that’s the important thing. So go ahead Ivan.

Speaker C: No, I was just, I was just thinking how funny it would be if everyone know this and then the whole society will collapse. I don’t just feel like saying that out loud.

Dhammarato: Well, I’m not sure that the society is going to Collapse, because everybody knows this. It would only collapse when people not just know it intellectually, but practice it moment by moment by moment by moment. That’s the whole point of the Dhamma, is that it’s not an intellectual piece of paper. But that’s why it’s so good and so many of you know it is to keep coming back to these calls over and over and over again. Ivan’s a good example. He’s changed his life partly because he keeps coming back to these conversations over and over and over again, begins to practice, he begins to hear it. So let me give you another possibility, and that is, I have heard mostly by Christians, by the way, not Catholics, that, oh, well, what would happen to human society if everybody ordained and became a monk? Yes, there is. That’s not going to happen. Look how reluctant you were, Chris. When you started to become a monk, you had big choices to make. In fact, now that you’ve made that choice, you find out, oh, there’s nothing to it. Karwan is thinking about it and he thinks it’s a great big deal until he does it. Now, there’s nothing to it. But most people are not going to be in that state of, oh, there’s nothing to it. In the beginning. They’ve got to practice over and over and over again. Practice to, number one, this is fun. And then number two, there’s nothing to it. When I say nothing to it, ultimately, that means, Sunyata, everything is empty. Nothing matters in the sense of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter. If you stop minding, nothing matters. If you don’t know, then it doesn’t matter. If you don’t know, then you don’t care and for sure nothing matters. But that’s wise ignorance. Wise ignorance is that you know and you know that you don’t know, and that’s perfectly okay. Look, about the election that we’ve had in November 6, so many people wanted this and so many people wanted that. And now that the election is over, the fights have actually gotten worse. Now there’s real hatred. I used to know him when he was a Trump supporter, but now that he’s a Trump voter, I hate his guts. He contributed to my downfall. Except that you haven’t fallen yet. Nothing has happened since the election. All you’ve heard is, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, yak, but nothing’s really happened. Another example of that is Putin. How long, how many months now have we heard about the downfall of Putin? Oh, he’s teetering on the edge. Oh, this is his last chance. Oh, this means that he’s. It’s over. Guess what? It’s not over. We don’t know. Is that okay that we don’t know what’s going to happen in Russia? Is it okay that we don’t know what’s happening in Washington? We don’t know. And nothing really has seemed to have happened. So if we don’t know and we can see that, then we don’t care. That’s wise ignorance. In fact, it’s really wonderful to be ignorant if you can handle it, if you are joyfully ignorant, if you’re wise in your ignorance, that’s the best place to be. Ignorance is bliss. So let’s go back and talk about that other kind of ignorance. That because we are dumb, we know, we don’t know and we don’t like that. Then in fact, this is where. Nick, are you still on? I have Rick Rather. Rick, this is where we had our talk before, and that is that when we know that we don’t know, we don’t like that. So that’s where we’ll make stuff up. Because our only option after that is fear. That you could go so far as to actually say, the second noble truth is greed, ill will and fear. Because in fact, if there’s not fear, you probably don’t have any greed. If you don’t have any fear, then where’s your real will? That we could say then that fear is the primary motivator for everything. Carmen, you want to start a business? Why? If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Is there any of that in there?

Speaker B: Yes.

Dhammarato: Yeah, fear. You want to start a business because you’re afraid not to. You’ve been told, oh, you got to do a business. Oh, you’ve got to go take care of yourself. Oh, you’ve got responsibilities. You’ve got a world to save. You cannot just start a business. You’ve got to start a world saving business. And so that fear is there. Fear is at the bottom of everything. And so this is why it’s very good in our practice to start looking at the things we say to ourselves and the attitudes that we have that bring about a state of fear. Now, that fear can be manifested in many different ways. Just like Dukkha is very subtle, sometimes fear can be very subtle. When it’s kind of big, we can call it anxiety. When fear is ferocious, we can call it anger, rage. But people who are raging, people who are angry, their basis for that is fear. Now, what we can practice instead is safety and security. Now, the word in Pali for fear is baya. And there is a word, abaya, which means not afraid, as in the wat in Northern California, abayagiri, the hill of no fear. Except that in our ignorance, in English, we translate that word abaya to fearlessness, which is another word for bravery. Okay? Those who are brave are not free from fear. They’re, in fact, totally afraid. They’re so afraid that they’re going to go do something about it. Bravery will get you killed. Imagine that you’re, let us say, some sort of primitive warrior. Maybe in Scotland where you’ve got a kilt and you got a sword, maybe you’ve got your face painted half white and half black or red or whatever, and that you got a. You got a warrior, you’re a brave one. You’re in the American Indian system. They called them the warriors, they called them braves. Why dress up in warrior’s uniform and go out and meet an enemy? Because you’ve called him an enemy. There’s the fear. Why can’t you see him as a friend? Instead of taking the time to dress yourself in warrior’s clothes, why don’t you cook a meal so that when he comes, you can say, sit down, friend, enjoy yourself. That’s when we really have safety and security. So don’t confuse bravery, don’t confuse fearlessness with feeling safe and feeling secure and feeling all right, because being brave is just going to make you a fighter. And it’s that way our fear is actually covered up with our bravery, covered up with our anger. And so now we’ve got two different kinds of delusions, the fear and the covering of the fear. So we need to practice by looking at exactly what is fear. How do you feel? What is it? We’re in everybody. It’s a little bit different and we all describe it differently. There’s a whole bunch of stuff that happens in the body when we have fear. One of them is anxiety where the chest gets tight. That’s because there’s adrenaline coming in. We can also feel tired. Tiredness is a kind of fear. Many different kinds of expressions of fear. But the point is, is that when we have fear, we should be able to see it, let it become wise fear, wise ignorance. You can see that there is really nothing to be afraid of. And so you can start talking to yourself like this. This is basic Anapanasati practice is to gladden the mind, bring it out of the fear, bring the mind into a state of safety, security, and comfort. But we have to remember to keep doing that over and over again. Because our primary feeling system is based in ignorance and fear. That’s our number one favorite way of feeling. We even say it in strange ways, like, I was afraid that you weren’t going to call. Was I afraid that you weren’t going to call? No, but that’s part of our language and we use I’m afraid of this and I’m afraid of that. The doctors say I’m afraid when they give somebody a diagnosis, as if you gave somebody the diagnosis and they’re going to attack you physically. That’s not going to happen. So why do we keep talking about it in the sense, I’m afraid of this and I’m afraid of that. Take that language out of your vocabulary. Whenever you start to use the word I’m afraid, stop and check, am I really afraid? No, I’m not afraid. Well, what a relief it is. I’m actually not afraid right now, even though I was about to say that I was afraid. I’m not afraid. And so we need to practice being not afraid, because if you’re not afraid, then there’s very little that you want. Almost all of your wants and desires come from trying to eliminate the fear that we’re having, and we don’t even know we’ve got it. That’s why it’s ignorant, ignorant fear. An example that I see very often is students. When they call the first time and I start talking about the practice, they’ll ask a question and I’ll note that I’ll answer it. Then they’ll ask another question and another question and another question, and they never get down to start to practice with me. They’re just one question after another after another. Why? Because they’re not practicing. They’re full of fear and they want to know all the answers. They want to know every step of the path before they even take the first step of the path. And the right way to practice is to see I’m confused and to say, okay, I’m confused. Never mind, start again. Wow, it feels okay to be confused. Oh, I don’t know how to practice. But at least I can gladden my mind. At least I can take a deep breath. At least I can relax. At least I can gladden my mind. At least I can change my attitude and start practicing that way, coming out of the fear. So that’s what I would invite you to do in your practice, is start looking at the fear that you have so that you can change it. This is A change model. The Buddha’s model is a change model. Right. Noble effort is to come out of those unwholesome thoughts, come out of those unwholesome attitudes, come out of that unwholesome feeling of fear, and relax the body. Just relax. That takes over and over and over again because you’re in such a habit of being afraid. Rick, do you have anything to say about this? Knowing that we’ve covered this somewhat before, I think that.

Speaker C: Well, now that the spot. Nothing is hitting me, but I would say that it’s.

Dhammarato: It’s indeed funny to recognize how much.

Speaker C: Of what you think you want stems from some type of fear. Like, I definitely feel like a lot of the things that I’ve put a lot of time and effort in stem somewhere from the idea of, oh, what if this happens? Or what if this happens?

Dhammarato: Yeah, what if this happened? What does that happen? And we go from that. I mean, starting a business. You know what it’s like to think about starting a business. Well, what about this? What about suppliers? What about financing? What about this? And what. And you haven’t done anything and you’re sitting there petrified just by thinking about starting a business. What about this and what about that? And a better thing to do is, wow, I am so relieved I don’t have to think about that. So you got your hand up, Carmen, go ahead.

Speaker B: I should lower my hand automatically on all the. Sorry. I’m one of those students who have many questions. You know, I’m sorry about that. But. But I do see. Yeah, I do see that as Rick just said that most of what I do is based on fear. But now, for the first time, you said something that I have not heard before. You said the. The ignorant. The ignorant of the fear or something like that. Because I say many times I’m fearful of this or I’m fearful of that. But if I’m really honest, I’m not fearful because right now I’m not afraid of all those things that I think that I’m afraid of. So many times I say I’m afraid of being in a closed environments, but I’m just saying that that many, many of those moments, I’m actually not afraid.

Dhammarato: Okay?

Speaker B: That’s just like identity, me saying that to myself. And it has become like an identity to myself.

Dhammarato: All right? The way that we can talk about that is that sometimes, sometimes things have to sink in. It has to sink in. Another example of that, and I use this for the definition of nirvana, is imagine your car has been out on a trip. It’s been on the road, it’s been going down at highway speeds. The tires have gotten hot, the radiator’s hot, the engine’s hot, the exhaust is hot, even the steering wheel is hot. And we bring the car into the yard and we turn the car off. Guess what? It’s still hot. But if you leave the car off, what’s going to happen to it? If you leave it off, it’s going to cool off. Is that right? Okay, so in our practice we can see that. We can say, oh, there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m okay, I’m alright. Wow, I’m feeling joy. And then the next thought is, yeah, but there’s not enough joy. There’s where the heat comes back in. Or what about this and what about that? That’s heat. And if we can see that heat coming back over and over and over again, we can say, wow. Never mind wow, let me just cool off. Let me chill out again. I don’t know and I don’t care. Everything is alright. Everything is going to cool off. So long as I stop asking, well, what about this and what about that? That’s the way to start to practice is to have wholesome thoughts, have cheerful thoughts. So when we have that thought of, yeah, I have joy. Oh, wait a minute, it’s not enough joy. We can say, aha, I see that, I see that thought that this joy is not good enough. Guess what? It’s good enough. Let me go enjoy a good enough feeling. I don’t have to make it better and make it better. Go ahead, Ivan.

Speaker C: Yeah, I realized how funny it is. Like for me, sometimes there’s hindrances and obstruction. Instead of just cooling off, the mind goes to trying to figure it out. Trying to like see where this will end up. Like making sure that like, like the best possible perfect way I could get rid of it. And then that just creates so much hindrances.

Dhammarato: That’s fear. Trying to get it right is a form of fear. And I might get it screwed up, I might not get it. And the answer to that is, hey, that’s not correct practice. The correct practice is, never mind. I’m okay. Yeah, right. Everything is fine. Wow, what a relief it is. And so we relax again.

Speaker C: Yeah, like it’s so go ahead. Oh, I was just saying, like it’s so interesting because my practice now, I realized I could just tell myself right now, it’s okay, just these four words. There’s just this instant cooling off sensation. So I’m grateful for the practice.

Dhammarato: Yes, Gratitude. That’s cool stuff. So, Carl, do you have anything to say?

Speaker C: I was just gonna say how Carmen was pointing out that he doesn’t get the idea that it’s fear. It’s stemming from a lot of times. And you were saying, Carmen, that it’s just you’re not afraid. You don’t see the fear in that moment. It’s usually. I found for myself. It’s usually just a feeling. Sometimes it’s. It’s. It’s like. It’s the thought. It’s what. What. What kind of feeling that that thought gives you? You know? I mean.

Dhammarato: Mm.

Speaker C: So if you just, like, keep looking for that feeling, you might. You might just find it. You keep just asking and. And then you. And you will see in your senses. It’s more like in the. In a sensory world. It’s not so much in just thinking about it. I think that’s what we’re talking about here, right?

Dhammarato: Yeah. Just start thinking happy thoughts again. Well, I don’t need that. Everything is already. Okay, so eat your vitamins. This is your second or third time on what do you think?

Speaker B: Hello? Hello?

Dhammarato: Hello. Oh, hi. No thoughts, just listen. I didn’t catch that. I said no thoughts. I’m just listening, but I’m outside, so. Connections in and out. Yeah. Micah, can you help me with what she’s saying? They have a spotting connection. Not totally sure what they said.

Speaker C: They said no thoughts, just. No thoughts, just listening.

Dhammarato: Oh, okay. All right, good. Just listen and practice. Listen to your own mind and practice making changes to it. She said.

Speaker C: Yes.

Dhammarato: All right. So, Emre, you have something to say?

Speaker B: Can you hear me?

Dhammarato: Okay, I can hear you now.

Speaker B: Okay. Yeah. Very, very interesting and very enlightening. I remember in one talk, you. You said that the. We have these three fundamental problems, right? This, greed, hatred, and ignorance. And you said, actually the translation is wrong. It should be delusion instead of ignorance. That’s a better translation. And now I understood from this talk is actually fear plus ignorance is delusion. Would you.

Dhammarato: Okay, I agree. If we could be wisely ignorant. Oh, I don’t know. That’s completely different. I don’t know, because I don’t know that fear is going to say, wait a minute, I’ll make something up, and then I won’t have to feel fear anymore because I’m deluded. I mean, that’s the best place that I can think of for religions. That’s how religions are born. They’re born out of the fear that becomes delusion. So let’s stop making stuff up. Let’s see that fear and welcome it and say, yeah, wow, I’m really lucky. I don’t know. I can have fun not knowing. I don’t know and I don’t care. Wow, what a relief it is. And then the what abouts come in. Well, what about Donald Trump? The answer I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m going to be okay no matter what he does.

Speaker B: Think.

Speaker B: Freeze.

Speaker C: That was a great pause, though.

Speaker B: Yeah, that was nice.

Speaker C: I was like that silence really sank in with me.

Speaker B: Mikey, too. So they are both on the same Internet place. So maybe their electricity. There are floods in their place.

Summary of this Dhamma Talk

In this Dhamma talk, Dhammarato explores the Four Noble Truths, focusing on the nature of Dukkha (dissatisfaction) and its causes. He emphasizes that Dukkha is not merely “suffering” but a broader sense of dissatisfaction that arises from not liking our current experience, whether it’s fear, aging, sickness, or unfulfilled desires. Dhammarato critiques the traditional translation of Dukkha as “suffering,” arguing that it was influenced by Christian translators who framed it in terms of spiritual suffering. Instead, he suggests that Dukkha is better understood as dissatisfaction, which is a more precise and practical term for understanding the Buddha’s teachings.

Dhammarato delves into the Second Noble Truth, explaining that the root of Dukkha lies in ignorance (moha), greed (lobha), and ill-will (dosa), but he adds that fear is a primary motivator behind these mental states. He encourages listeners to recognize and address their fears, which often manifest as anxiety, anger, or dissatisfaction. The talk also touches on the importance of satisfaction and how the Buddha’s teachings aim to help individuals find contentment in the present moment, rather than constantly striving for more.

Outline of this Dhamma

Introduction and Definition of Dukkha (0:04)

  • Dhammarato introduces the topic of the Four Noble Truths and the concept of Dukkha.

  • He challenges the common translation of Dukkha as “suffering,” arguing that it is better understood as dissatisfaction.

  • Explains that dissatisfaction arises from not liking or accepting reality as it is.

  • Gives examples of how people often resist things they don’t like, such as aging or sickness.

The Problem with Translating Dukkha as Suffering (1:00)

  • Discusses how early translations of Dukkha as “suffering” were influenced by Christian perspectives.

  • Argues that this translation misrepresents the Buddha’s teachings, as not everyone sees themselves as suffering.

  • Explains that dissatisfaction is a more accurate translation, as it captures the subtle nature of Dukkha.

  • Uses the example of politicians and Wall Street executives who may not see themselves as suffering but still experience Dukkha.

The Buddha’s Teaching on Dukkha (4:00)

  • Dhammarato references Sutta 22, where the Buddha states that he only teaches Dukkha and the cessation of Dukkha.

  • Explains that the opposite of Dukkha is satisfaction, and the goal of the Buddha’s teachings is to achieve satisfaction.

  • Discusses how Enlightenment (Nibbana) is not about achieving something new but about being completely satisfied with what is.

The Role of Ignorance (Moha) in Dukkha (16:00)

  • Introduces the concept of moha (ignorance or delusion) as a key cause of Dukkha.

  • Explains that ignorance leads to confusion and dissatisfaction, as we don’t understand reality as it is.

  • Gives examples of how people create stories or delusions to avoid the discomfort of not knowing.

  • Discusses how fear often underlies ignorance, as we fear the unknown and try to control it.

Fear as a Primary Cause of Dukkha (50:00)

  • Dhammarato identifies fear as a primary motivator behind many of our actions and desires.

  • Explains that fear manifests in various ways, such as anxiety, anger, and rage.

  • Encourages listeners to recognize and address their fears, rather than covering them up with bravery or aggression.

  • Uses the example of starting a business to illustrate how fear drives us to seek security and control.

Wise Ignorance and Acceptance (55:00)

  • Introduces the concept of wise ignorance, where we accept that we don’t know everything and find peace in that acceptance.

  • Explains that wise ignorance allows us to let go of the need to control or understand everything.

  • Gives examples of how people can practice wise ignorance in daily life, such as not worrying about the future or the outcome of events.

  • Encourages listeners to cultivate a sense of safety and security by letting go of fear.

Practical Applications of the Teachings (60:00)

  • Dhammarato discusses how listeners can apply these teachings in their daily lives.

  • Encourages them to recognize when they are acting out of fear or dissatisfaction and to change their mindset.

  • Suggests that they practice right effort by letting go of unwholesome thoughts and cultivating wholesome ones.

  • Uses the example of starting a business to illustrate how we can approach life with a sense of playfulness rather than fear.

The Importance of Gratitude and Satisfaction (65:00)

  • Dhammarato emphasizes the importance of gratitude and satisfaction in overcoming Dukkha.

  • Explains that when we are satisfied with what we have, we no longer feel the need to seek more.

  • Encourages listeners to practice gratitude by appreciating the present moment and letting go of desires.

  • Uses the metaphor of a car cooling down after a long drive to illustrate how we can let go of heat (dissatisfaction) and find peace.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts (70:00)

  • Dhammarato concludes by summarizing the key points of the talk.

  • Encourages listeners to practice wise ignorance and to let go of fear and dissatisfaction.

  • Reminds them that the Buddha’s teachings are about finding satisfaction in the present moment, rather than seeking something else.

  • Ends with a reminder to practice gratitude and to let go of the need to control or understand everything.

Key Metaphors and Stories

  1. Freeway Analogy:
  • Timestamp6:05 - 6:35.

  • Metaphor: Standing on a freeway during rush hour is dangerous and unsatisfying. Similarly, if we recognize that we are in a situation that causes Dukkha, the wise thing to do is to get out of the way—just as we wouldn’t stand on a freeway during rush hour.

  • Clarification: The metaphor emphasizes the importance of practical wisdom—recognizing when a situation is harmful and taking steps to avoid or remove ourselves from it, rather than staying and enduring the dissatisfaction.

  1. Monk Moving Monasteries:
  • Timestamp27:40 - 28:30.

  • Story: A monk moves from one monastery to another, seeking satisfaction but never finding it because he hasn’t changed his mind.

  • Clarification: The story highlights that satisfaction comes from changing your mind, not your external circumstances.

  1. Car Cooling Down:
  • Timestamp62:00 - 62:45.

  • Metaphor: A car cools down after a long drive when it’s turned off. Similarly, the mind can settle when we stop feeding our fears and desires.

  • Clarification: The metaphor illustrates the importance of letting go of mental agitation and allowing the mind to naturally settle.

How to Practice

  • Recognize Dissatisfaction (Dukkha):
    • Pay attention to moments when you feel dissatisfied, whether it’s with your age, health, or circumstances.
    • Understand that Dukkha is not just suffering but a broader sense of dissatisfaction.
  • Identify the Causes of Dukkha:
    • Reflect on the root causes of your dissatisfaction, such as fear, greed, or ignorance.
    • Recognize that fear often drives our desires and actions.
  • Practice Wise Ignorance:
    • Accept that you don’t know everything and that it’s okay not to have all the answers.
    • Let go of the need to control the future and focus on being satisfied with the present moment.
  • Overcome Fear:
    • When you feel anxious or angry, ask yourself what you’re afraid of.
    • Practice calming the mind by reminding yourself that you’re safe and secure in the present moment.
  • Cultivate Satisfaction:
    • Instead of constantly striving for more, learn to be satisfied with what you have.
    • Practice gratitude for the present moment and the simple joys of life.
  • Change Unwholesome Thoughts:
    • Use right effort to change unwholesome thoughts and attitudes.
    • Replace fear and dissatisfaction with thoughts of safety, security, and contentment.
  • Apply the Eightfold Path:
    • Follow the Eightfold Path as a practical guide to overcoming Dukkha.
    • Focus on right understanding, right intention, and right effort to change your mind and behavior.
  • Use Metaphors and Stories:
    • Reflect on the freeway analogy. If you’re in a dangerous or dissatisfying situation, the wise thing to do is to get out of the way.
    • Remember the story of the monk who kept moving from one monastery to another. Satisfaction comes from changing your mind, not your circumstances.

Participate in one of our Live Sanghas (Free of Charge)

►The Sangha US, Friday 7 PM PDT Join Skype Call.

►The Sangha UK, Sunday 10AM BST Join Skype Call.

►The Sangha UK, Wednesday 7PM BST Join Skype Call.

There is nothing like direct transmission of the teachings in a one-to-one or one-to-group (Sangha) format from a skilled teacher. We encourage you to participate in our weekly Sanghas.

comments powered by Disqus