So welcome everybody. Let's see if I got this mic right. This is the 9th lecture in my course
on the Arahant and the For Truth in Early Buddhist Discourse. There has been a lot of
discussion on the blog, some was very interesting, but much of it was on a topic that we already
covered last year on karma. I'm not really going to go through the discussion we had
last year again and I hope you will also forgive if on the blog I don't really get fully engaged
in that because I feel that last year I already said most of what I had to say on this topic and
it's kind of, I mean those of you who really want to know what I have to say, you just have to look
up last year's lectures. I'm not going to go through it all once again, but there was one very
nice comment by Olga Gedryimayd which I think just puts the whole karma topic right on spot for what
we need to know. She just says, from the practical point of view for me, karma is not about blaming
others, but about taking responsibility for my own actions. I think that's wonderful. That's
basically all we really need to think about and it fits in perfectly with the main topic of our
present, this year's course and the present lecture, last lecture, the For Noble Truth. The whole point
is precisely to take responsibility ourselves, in this case for Dukkha and to see that the question
is not about blaming others, but about taking responsibility for our own contribution to our
experience of Dukkha. That was really nice, so thank you to Olga. Then there was still a comment
related to the Dhananjani sutra. You remember that this course where Sari Putta goes to visit
that Brahmin and teaches him the Brahma viharas. This is from Wayne Cho. She says, why the Buddha
had lamented on Dhananjani's fate. If Vellma Sari Putta had not only just taught Dhananjani the
path to the company of Brahma, but also suggested to him to contemplate how the Brahma viharas arise,
we might have had another around in the world. If we can have the strength of mind to understand
that any of the eleven or twelve exalted states, these are the four jhanas, the four Brahma viharas
and the three or according to the Chinese Agamas four non-material jhanas, are conditioned and
volitiony produced, etc., then we could attain the destruction of the Danes. It is the realization of
the cause of whatever has happened before these exalted states, conditionally arisen subject to
change that will push the mind to understanding. I thought that was again a very important
contribution that really clarifies the whole point that we are meant to look at, that whatever type
of mental experience there may be, however exalted, deep and concentrated, it's something that is
produced by conditions, by volition. And this again relates us back to the Four Noble Truth,
as we saw I think that this diagnostic scheme of the Four Noble Truth always involves the statement
of something followed by its causes and conditions. So it's always this look at the conditions that
is so significantly Buddhist about it and that as Wayne Shaw beautifully points out is also so
liberating, if we can see that. And there were two comments in relation in particular to the
elephant footprint, the discourse we took up last time. Oh no, that was actually not about the
elephant footprint, that was about the discourse to Annada Pinneka. This is Rodolfo Rivas Molina and
he mentions that the space element and the conscious element are sometimes listed alongside
the four material elements. And he noticed immediately that this is a little different
because consciousness is an element that does not really belong to matter. And that is a very good
and precise observation which some of our Buddhist monk friends in past time seem to have missed out on.
Yeah, so we have the four elements, earth, water, fire and wind, which are qualities of matter.
And sometimes this gets extended to describe the whole of experience by adding space and
consciousness. And in such context, consciousness stands for the whole of mental experience. It is
not just the fifth aggregate, but the whole of mental experience. And it's interesting that in the
Satipatthana Sutta, the discourse on mindfulness, in the Madhyama Agama version, we get the whole six
under contemplation of the body. So there evidently an error has happened because in the Pali and in
another Chinese Agama version in the Ekotarika Agma, we get only the four material elements. But
here, somebody has evidently not had the good understanding that the role for health. And for
some reason, during the course of all transmission, the four elements, which are matter, which fit under
body contemplation have been expanded. And then we get all six elements, which doesn't fit under body
contemplation. And I believe some Sarvastivada Abhidharma text, maybe the Dharma scholar, I'm not
entirely sure of hand now, has actually copied that. So there also we get all six elements under
contemplation of the body. But Rodolf is correct. The six elements can only fit in a context where
the question is to speak of the whole of our experience, not just of the material side. And
we are actually going to get the six elements precisely in Madhyama Agama 31, which we are going
to study today. Yeah, and then there was a comment by Juliana. And she made that comment right at the
beginning of the blog. And it really hit me because it seemed a very clear understanding of the
teaching given in that discourse. So I just wanted to share that with you. She says after study put
the reports in the magazine, that on seeing dependent arising, one sees the Dharma, then the
focus moves directly on to the dependent arising of the five aggregates. Instead, say of a more
abstract or normative exposition of causality, I think she means the standard presentation by way
of 12 links, such a profound and direct instruction for meditation, experiencing and knowing the
aggregates, that is to say oneself as dependent arisen, dependent arisen and passing away, seeing
the Dharma. Yeah, that was very beautifully captured what I think is again from the perspective
of insight and meditation, a very crucial aspect of this powerful discourse that we looked at last
time. It links very well with what Wayne Shaw said about seeing conditionality. Yeah, that was
already all I gathered from the blog I had. It's not much else. I mean, I think maybe the discourse
was rather abstract with all this inter whining and going down and coming up again of Venerable
Satipur that was a little difficult to follow. Is there any question in relation to these two,
three points that I raised from the blog? Then now is the time to ask. Otherwise, I'll get into the next discourse.
Right. So we are now getting into Madhyama Agama 31. And this will be the last on the topic of the Four
Noble Truths. And in the later part of today's lecture, we will get into another chapter of the
Madhyama Agama with another topic. The setting is of the discourse is a teaching given by the Buddha
to the monks. And it's a very short teaching. In the Madhyama Agama version, the Buddha just says
that Tatagatas is a term for fully awakened one and usually used predominantly for the Buddha.
Tatagatas of past, present and future times teach the Four Noble Truths.
In the Pali version, this is the Sacha Vibhanga Sutta in the Maji Manikaya 141.
And the beginning is instead that he says that at the Deer Park in Benares,
he set in motion the Wheel of Dharma by teaching the Four Noble Truths.
This is what tradition considers to be the first discourse delivered by the Buddha to his first
five disciples, who had been with him when he practiced asceticism and then left him. And so
when he goes after having reached awakening, when he goes back to teach them, he gives them
this exposition on the Four Noble Truths. And one of them, they all realize a stream entry,
Kondanya. And because he understood Anya, he's called Anya the Kondanya, the one Kondanya who
understood. And this understanding then is symbolically expressed with the idea of the Wheel
of Dharma has been set in motion. While the introductory part differs a little, in both
versions, the Buddha, after this short statement, in the one version he says, Tatagatas, past,
present, future, teach the Four Noble Truth in the Pali version that in the Deer Park he taught
these, he says that Saniputta is able to give a full exposition of the Four Noble Truths.
And he also says that Saniputta is apparently, particularly the one who leads others to stream
entry. And Mahamogalana then leads them on to full awakening. Then here comes my personal
interpretation of this statement of which you are certainly completely free to disagree. But the way
I understand it is when Mahamogalana stands in particular for this analytical aspect,
and when Mahamogalana for the mastery of concentration. So the fact that here he is
particularly related to the Four Noble Truth and stands for this analytical understanding,
I understand that that Saniputta here symbolizes the need to have some insight into the Four
Noble Truth and as the way to reach stream entry and which becomes complete in some way with the
under, with the realization of stream entry. And then for further progress along the path to full
awakening, the development of deeper concentration is particularly important. But this is just my,
my hold on this. So now the rest of the discourse is taught by Sariputta and he is now giving an
exposition of the Four Noble Truth. And we will start and I will read the discourse to you.
Just before I start, I note that the definition of Dukkha we are getting here in the Pali version
is slightly different. But there are similar variations even between different Pali discourses,
whether they mention disease or not, whether they mention association with what it's like or not,
unable to get what one wants there. There seems to be some variations in the precise formulation of
this definition, but it doesn't make any major difference. So what then we're friends is the
Noble Truth of Dukkha. Birth is Dukkha, old age is Dukkha, disease is Dukkha, death is Dukkha,
association with what is disliked is Dukkha, separation from what is loved is Dukkha,
being unable to get what one wishes is Dukkha. In short, the five aggregates affected by clinging
are Dukkha. Yeah, then he goes on to give a more detailed explanation of each of the terms mentioned
before. This is in a somewhat commentarial style and as you will later see, we have a third version
which I'm going to present to you, which is very short. So it is possible that this later,
the parts that we are reading now are a later edition of a commentarial style,
just as a possibility to keep in mind. When we're friends, when it is said birth is Dukkha,
on what basis is this said? When we're friends, birth is when living beings in their various
forms experience birth, when they are born, when they are brought into existence, when they are
formed, when the five aggregates come into being and when the vital faculties develop, this is called
birth. And then after this short, after this was already somewhat long, but after this first part
of the definition, there comes a very long passage that describes all the type of afflictions that
one experienced through birth. And this is not in the Pali version and we get the same passage
after each of the following discussions, each of the terms that are taken up. That is definitely
a later commentarial edition, I think. When we're friends, when it is said old ages Dukkha,
on what basis is this said? When we're friends, old ages, when living beings in their various
forms become senile, with hoary hair, lost teeth, deteriorating health, hunched body, unsteady step,
overweight body, shortness of breath, reliance on a walking cane, shrinking flesh, sagging skin,
wrinkles like pogmarks, failing sense faculties and unsightly complexion. This is called old age.
It's quite a vivid picture we are getting here of old age. I wouldn't have been able to come out
with so many descriptions if somebody had asked me about old age. Wrinkles like pogmarks. Wow!
Now we get disease. When we're friends, when it is said disease is Dukkha, on what basis is this said?
When we're friends, disease refers to headache, sore eyes, earache, sore nose, pain in the face,
sore lips, toothache, pain in the tongue, pain in the palate, sore throat, panting, coughing,
vomiting, hoarseness, epilepsy, swelling, hyper-solivation, bloody phlegm, fever,
emaciation, hemorrhoids and diary. When these and the various other symptoms of disease arise,
they do so independence on contact. They do not arise independently of the mind,
though they manifest in the body, such as disease.
Again, a very vivid explanation and the statement that these symptoms arise independence on contact
and not independently of the mind is also without any counterpart in the Pali.
So we get a definition of death now. When we're friends, when it is said death is Dukkha,
on what basis is this said? When we're friends, death is when sentient beings in their various
forms come to the end of life and succumb to impermanence. When they die, disappear, break up
and are extinguished. When their lifespan is ended, destroyed, when their vital force shuts down,
this is called death. When we're friends, when it is said association with what is disliked is
Dukkha, on what basis is this said? When we're friends with regard to association with what is
disliked, living beings truly have six internal sense basis. And when by way of the eye, ear,
nose, tongue, body or mind, they sense an unliked object and find themselves together with it,
in company with it, associated with it, conjoint with it, then they experience Dukkha. It is the
same with the external sense object and also with the resulting contact, feeling, perception,
volition and craving. This is already a very detailed kind of breakdown according to the
six senses and then contact, feeling, perception, volition and craving that we are being presented
here. There's a remark by Rene, I just checked. Contact of the body with something is mentioned
in Majimani Kaya 3.250.
Yeah, thank you for pointing this out, but what I was, where did I have it?
Yeah, this, I was,
disease, it is, yeah, disease is not there at all and it comes under Dukkha
and it just, it gives us the idea that Kaya sampasa jangdukha, that there is Dukkha
in arising through contact through the body. What I meant is that the idea that disease
arises in dependence on contact and not independently of the mind manifesting in the body,
that this whole kind of explanation is not found in the Pāri. But thank you for pointing out
that in the definition of Dukkha, there is the Kaya, the body is there and under Domanasa,
then we get the Dukkha that arises in dependence on the mind.
Rosa, why craving and not consciousness? Why craving and not consciousness?
I'm not sure, Rosa, what you are referring to now.
Ah, there, okay, yeah, this is, I think we also get that in the definition of the
Four Noble Truth in the Mahāsati Pātāṇa Sutta. If I don't remember wrongly, I might be wrong.
I was also puzzled by that.
Cravings are sometimes being treated in a way, even there is a passage,
now I can't quote offhand where that is, where there is the question of having a sense of
I-me-mind in relation to craving. And as we are going to see with this,
no, it's not me, the Five Agagatlas, Rosa, that I think is being presented here.
That would actually make more sense in a way. Yeah, you're actually right. I have come across
this, I'd call it intrusion of craving in context where I would not expect it,
at several occasions, and it has kept on puzzling me. It seems there is some reason why this then
builds onto craving, but it does not directly make sense to me. It's good that you point it out.
Because, as you rightly say, to match the six senses with the Five Agagatlas would make sense,
and then contact could stand for the body, and then we would have consciousness, that would make
a lot of sense. But the Chinese term is definitely craving there. Yeah, thanks for noting that.
So living beings, let me just check on the Satipatthana, so if I quickly find that.
Yeah, there's also,
yeah, it goes from the senses, and then it goes contact, feeling, perception, volition,
craving. Digha Nikaya, volume, it's volume two, page 311. It's the same pattern. Then it even
continues with Vittaka and Vichada, initial and sustained mental application.
And Vinyana, as already mentioned before, you get the sense object, the sense, the sense object,
the sense consciousness, and then the contact, the feeling, the perception, or cognition,
sanya, the volition, and then the craving. In Pali, this is the Pali version I'm quoting for,
yeah, it's Digha Nikaya, volume two, page 311. Mahasatipatthana, so the exposition of the
Four Noble Truths, and this is the Dukka Nirodha Aryasachanda
Noble Truth of the cessation of Dukka that I just happened to catch. Let me just check.
Yeah, it's the same also for the rising, so it's the rising of Dukka and the cessation of Dukka in
the way it is given in full in the Mahasatipatthana Sutta, Digha Nikaya, 22, and there also we get
the tanha, and this is something that has always puzzled me. Anyhow, and here we get our six elements
now. When we're friends, living beings truly consist of the six elements, and when by way of
the earth element, water element, fire element, air element, space element, or consciousness element,
they encounter an unliked object and find themselves together with it, in company with it,
associated with it, conjoint with it, then they experience Dukka. This is called association with
what is disliked. So this in a way gives us a reply to the point raised by Frodolfo that here
the question is to give an analysis of the entire of our experience, cutting down the material part
into the four element plus space, and representing the whole mental part just by consciousness.
When we're friends, when it is said, separation from what is loved is Dukka, on what basis is this
said? When we're friends with regard to separation from what is loved, living beings truly have six
internal sense basis. When by way of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind, they sense a loved
object and find themselves separated from it, not connected with it, divided from it, not associated
with it, not conjoint with it, then they experience Dukka. And here we get again the same with the
external senses, contact feeding, perception, volition, and creating. And then we get the same
for the six elements. Yeah, I skipped that power and I continue with the one at the bottom.
When we're friends, when it is said being unable to get what one wishes is Dukka, on what basis is
this said? When we're friends, living beings who are subject to birth, who are not free from birth,
wish not to be subject to birth, but this truly cannot be achieved by mere wishing.
Living beings who are subject to old age, death, sorrow and lamentation, who are not free from
sorrow and lamentation, wish not to be subject to sorrow and lamentation, but this cannot be achieved
by mere wishing. When we're friends, living beings who are actually experiencing pain, which is
unpleasant and disagreeable, think, I'm experiencing pain, which is unpleasant and disagreeable,
I wish this would change and become agreeable, but this too cannot be achieved by mere wishing.
When we're friends, living beings who are actually experiencing pleasure, which is
agreeable, think, I am experiencing pleasure, which is agreeable, I wish this could last forever,
remain and not be subject to change, but this too cannot be achieved by mere wishing.
The same then for intentions and perceptions that are agreeable or disagreeable.
When we're friends, when it is said, in short, the five aggregates affected by clinging adhukkha,
on what basis is this said? They are the material form aggregate affected by clinging,
the feeling aggregate affected by clinging, the perception aggregate affected by clinging,
the formations aggregate affected by clinging and the consciousness aggregate affected by clinging.
When befriends, when it is said, in short, the five aggregates affected by clingy adhukkha,
it is said on this basis.
When befriends, the noble truth of dukkha was so in the past, the noble truth of dukkha
will be so in the future and is so in the present.
It is generally true, not false.
It does not depart from the way things are.
It is not distorted.
It is generally true, exact and valid.
It is truth that accords with the way things are.
It is what the noble ones are endowed with, what the noble ones know, what the noble ones
see, what the noble ones comprehend, what the noble ones attain, what the noble ones
fully awaken to all.
For these reasons it is called the noble truth of dukkha.
This whole parahil is not found in the Pali version, that they were so in the past, future
and in the present.
And this detailed explanation, why the four noble truths are called noble, leads us to
a question that I think Renee had already raised last time.
And I am now showing you the parallel, the third parallel that we have beside this Magyama
Agama version and the Sacha Vibhanga Sutta in the Magyimannika.
We also have an Ekotarika Agama discourse.
Now the Ekotarika Agama is problematic.
In a way sometimes we get discourses that seem to be very early, but as a whole the
collection has clearly suffered from later interpolations.
And this is in fact a topic I am at present also researching on.
And there are a number of clear Mahayana interpolations in this collection.
So it is something to be taken with a certain kind of dose of suspicion, maybe not really
the right word, but nothing better comes to my mind.
We have to always a little bit look if the presentation that the Ekotarika Agama gives
us makes sense.
But in the present case I have the impression, again this is my personal impression, that
what we could be having here is a very early presentation.
So the entire discourse is that much you see?
You can almost get it on one page.
And what we just went through in the Magyama Agama is just the first part, just the first
part of the Magyama Agama version.
If you look at the Pali version, I mean in the PTS edition, it's one, two, three, four,
it's five pages, it's much longer.
Anyhow we just have a short look.
What is the truth of Dukkha?
That is to say, birth is Dukkha, old age is Dukkha, disease is Dukkha, death is Dukkha,
dejection, sorrow and vexation are Dukkha, association with what is disliked is Dukkha,
being dissociated from what is liked is Dukkha, not obtaining what is searched for is Dukkha,
in short, the five aggregates of clinging are Dukkha, this is called the truth of Dukkha.
What is the truth of the arising of Dukkha?
That is to say, it is the fetter of craving, very short.
What is the truth of cessation?
That is to say, the truth of cessation is the final and remainderless cessation of the
fetter of craving and lust.
This is called the truth of cessation.
What is the truth of the path?
That is to say, it is the noble eightfold path, right view, right intention, right speech,
right effort, right livelihood, right action, right mindfulness, right concentration.
This is called the truth of the path.
Very succinct.
Before I go into this, let me see, there is a comment by Rene, Rene, in the beginning
of the discourse, MI 30, I saw not all truths were called noble, thus they differ in different
traditions.
Could you imagine a different translation such as of the noble one?
Rene, that is precisely the point I am just about to get into.
That is very good that you remind us of that, but that is precisely what I am up to.
You see, we were just showing that here there is a number of explanations in the Madhyama
Agama version, why they are called noble.
The noble ones are endowed with this, they know it, they see it, and now in this very
short discourse here, you see, what is the truth of Dukkha, not the noble truth.
What is the truth of the rising, not the noble truth.
That is precisely what I am so intrigued about.
And I am just going to go to see if we find other, as you said, if there are different
traditions on this, but let me just check what Rodolfo has.
Rodolfo, consciousness element means that consciousness exists as external, as an aggregate
is conditioned and arisen by the other aggregates.
How is it that exists as an external element or object which you can make contact?
Rodolfo, I don't think the point was to say that consciousness exists as external.
Consciousness has different meanings according to context, and one is as the fifth of the
five aggregates, but another usage of the term consciousness in the early Buddhist discourse
is to represent the entirety of the mind.
In such usages, one in Pali would be, for example, an expression that says, sa vinyana
ke kahye, the body with consciousness, and that refers to the entirety of your experience.
Here consciousness covers all the four mental aggregates, but there is no question about
this being external in any way, and each of these types of consciousness is conditioned.
There is no question of it being unconditioned, and it is not an external element.
There are different ways of analyzing experience, and the most common one we get is by way of
the five aggregates.
This particularly pins down those five aggregates of our personality that are specifically prone
to be latched on as I, me and mine.
But there are sometimes alternative perspectives, and for some these might work better.
So there is this alternative perspective by way of the six elements, which keeps the mind
very simple.
It kind of squeezes it all together under this one label of consciousness, but does
a very detailed analysis on the material level.
And for some, this may work better because the material element is what they cling to,
and that needs to be more analyzed, or it's just more prone to their type of approach.
I think I wait for further comments on this before I go into the Nobles or René.
If you give us a little time, we come back to the nobility.
I was not aware of the different context, Rolfo said.
You cannot.
I mean, this is just when you read the suttas, you see that these things are sometimes used
in slightly different ways, but it's very good that you're bringing this up so we could
clarify that.
And as I said, I'm not sure if you were already there when I said that you were sharper than
some of our ancient Buddhist monastic friends, because I said in the Mayama Agama parallel
to the Satipatthana Sutta, the whole six elements are put under the body, which doesn't work
because consciousness is not material, and you'll notice that right away.
Lecang, what we call a being or an inibial or I, is only a convenient name or a label
given to the combination of these five groups.
They are all impermanent, are constantly changing.
Whatever impermanent is dukkha, they are not the same for two consecutive moments.
Here A is not equal to A. They are in a flux of momentary arising and disappearing.
Is it the meaning of the five aggregates?
Lecang, I almost completely agree with you.
Only the one statement I have, a slight footnote that I would like to make, they are in a flux
of momentary arising and disappearing.
I may have touched on that earlier.
The conception of change in early Buddhism is not momentary.
Things change every moment, but they do not disappear every moment.
The idea that everything disappears every moment is a later development found in all
Buddhist traditions, as far as I know, and very strongly influencing, especially Abhidharma
commentarial traditions, and therefore also a very strong influence on modern Vipassana
movements.
But the conception of change we get in the early discourses is, I think I gave that example,
is like a river.
There is a continuous change, but the river does not disappear and appear, disappear and
appear.
Whereas the conception of impermanence from the momentary perspective is like a lighter
jung, jung, jung, jung, jung, jung, jung, is there, gone, there, gone.
You kind of get my idea.
And that is different.
So the conception of the five aggregates that you are pinpointing now is precisely that
a being, individual or I, is just a name or label to the combination of the five aggregates
and they are impermanent, they constantly change.
And because they constantly change, they cannot give us lasting satisfaction, they are dukkha.
And they keep on changing all the time.
So they are in a flux of change, but they do not disappear every moment.
That is the only slight change that I would make to your very nice presentation of the
significance of the five aggregates.
Yeah, so now we get into nobility.
As I said, the Kotharika Agama version on its own is not sufficient evidence for us,
but I researched it and I found quite a number of other passages where nobility is also missing.
And there is also a problem when we look at the Pali text and here what I have given
you here in Pali is the Dhammacakapavattanasutta, the discourse that according to tradition
is the first exposition of the Four Noble Truth.
And here is now the translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
This Noble Truth of the origin of suffering is to be abandoned.
The translation is 100% correct, but there is something puzzling there and I was very
proud last year in the course I taught at the University of Sylvester who is actually
also here today.
He merely pinpointed this problem and I thought, wow, he spotted it.
That doesn't work, no?
What should be abandoned is the origin of suffering but not the Noble Truth, right?
And this problem has been pointed out by Weller.
For who I come back to your question later, I first want to get through with what I am
having now.
I am just giving you here the bibliographical information and then later on this has been
taken up in quite a detail by K. R. Norman.
And here we have, I have given here all the references.
Woodward, this is also a translator of the Samyotani Kaya, the earlier translation by
the PTS.
Weller pointed this out, I have given the reference already.
He also points out that there is a grammatical problem there.
I know I shouldn't be getting into polygrammar so I will be very short on this and we are
not going to go very much further into this but the correct form would not be Dukasamudayang
Arya Satcham but Dukasamudayo Arya Satcham and Dukanerodu Arya Satcham and forgive me
for going a little bit further with this but I just have to briefly present these things.
Norman then he develops an explanation that the ending Ang came because Hyattus is means
when two vowels meet each other, that doesn't work.
No, I think we forget about this.
That's getting too much into polygrammar, I mean this is here in the text for those
of you who are interested.
You can look it up later but what he basically comes up as a result of his exploration is
that what the original statement was just that pain or Dukkha should be known, its origin
should be given up, its cessation should be realized and the path to its cessation be
practiced.
So what we have here is that the entire expression noble truth has apparently been added in
the Pali and all these observations by Woodward, Weller and Norman were based entirely on
the Pali on looking at the Pali discourses and I have written a paper on that, again
any of you who likes to get into that then you send me an email to the Madhyama Agama
address and I'll send you that paper.
I have found that in a number of other texts not only our echotodic Agama version the noble
qualification is missing and so what I, the way I interpret that is that I'm not saying
that noble is in itself totally late but I assume that it was at the outset not used
every single time when there was a reference to the truth and one passage where it must
have been used and I'm giving you here the Pali is this passage here, it says the Tatagata,
the Dascon one is noble and therefore the truth are called noble.
So in this passage the whole statement would not function if noble would not be there.
So the way how I put this together is that in the beginning noble was used in this particular
context we do not have a Chinese Agama parallel to this particular discourse but that doesn't
mean that the other traditions did not know about this type of discourse because the Agamas
are not complete, we don't have a complete Agama set from one school.
So I assume that at the beginning there was the qualification noble was used in a specific
context to make a specific statement and later on the qualification noble doing oral transmission
came to be used for any kind of occurrence where there is a reference to the noble, to
the truth.
Yeah, right there is a number of questions now and I anyway wanted to give a little bit
of space for discussion at this point because for some this is a little bit unexpected for
that taking the nobility away from the truth but actually we are not taking the nobility
away we are just showing how a qualification that I believe was to some degree original
in a specific context came to be applied to all occurrences and if my hypothesis should
be right then they are called noble because they are discovered and taught by the Buddha,
the Tataragata. That would be the explanation why they are noble. Right so before I come
back to this now first there was a question by Pohui, what is the difference between changing
and disappearing? Yeah Pohui that was what I was just trying to show with the example
of a river something can change continuously but it does not have to completely disappear
like I am changing all the time you see as you look at me you see my mouth moving but
I don't have to completely disappear and then appear again and then completely disappear
and then appear again yeah so the examples I use is like a lamp that is flickering on
off on off on off that is a type of change that involves disappearance the thing completely
goes and then comes up again but the type of this is not the only type of change that
we have and the way how the early discourses conceptualize impermanence presented to us the
theory of momentariness is not yet there and according to van Rossbad yeah I was not remembering
his name a colleague of mine who has written the whole book on the theory of momentariness
even at the stage of the canonical Abhidharma momentariness is not yet there so according
to his research the theory of momentariness is post canonical Abhidharma so who go what is the
meaning of noble what does it cover in the context of the suttas yeah area in the discourses usually
the closest connection we always have is to the stages of awakening the Ariya Savaka the noble
disciple is the one who is at the very least on the path to stream entry but usually one who has
attained one of the four stages of awakening that is the most common and strongest nuance of nobility
that we get in the suttas and this obviously introduces us to a conception of nobility that
is based on mental purification in contrast to the sense of nobility that is based on belonging
to a particular caste or being born from a particular family Rosa growl in the first sermon
Ariya could not be there as the noble ones were not yet there well the Buddha was already a noble
one at that point and if my hypothesis should be correct then the signification that nobility in
relation to the four noble truths had at the outset was closely related to the Buddha nevertheless
I agree that in the first sermon the qualification I was probably not there that is the point that I
think Norman is correct in that that is the point that Sylvester had already spotted all on his own
without needing to read up I had to read up before I found out I didn't notice it myself
John Emma once the name of the person that wrote on the momentariness that takes a little
while but I'll get it to you I don't find the full title off and rose John Emma but I can just
say it's his name Alexander from rose part and I have a PDF somewhere but now if I start looking
for the PDF it's gonna take a little long and everybody has to wait it's something on
momentariness is in the title anyway I can I can I can I can check that up later the Buddha never
called the gnome is never called the noble one in the suttas as far as I remember but Rosa can
you can you just look here the quote I gave in Pali excuse me it says the target is a noble one
therefore the noble truth are so cold
yeah I don't want to reside I mean it doesn't matter no we can just there there is this
passage here and and I believe I mean this is the only only passage where we cannot take out
Arya because then there's no more meaning to the statement and this is why I believe that in this
case we Arya must be original or the whole sutta must be late otherwise it wouldn't work
hmm yeah this is an eye you he can't stop so here we go John Emmer there you go Alexander from
Rose part the Buddhist doctrine of momentariness a survey of the origin and early phase of this
doctrine up to Vashu Bandhu Stuttkaat van Steiner for naught this analogy is terrible it really bugs
me if I don't have the references at hand okay sorry to everybody one else but that was the
chance also for you to ask any questions and now we continue let me just drink a little bit of water
so now we get into the arising of tukka what Venable friends is the noble truth of the arising
of tukka due to the arising of craving living beings truly have craving associated with the
six internal sense basis with the eye ear nose tongue body and mind when there's craving affection
defilement and attachment associated with these that is called arising excuse me Venable friends
a learned noble disciple knows thus I understand this teaching thus I see it thus I comprehend it
thus I contemplated thus I realize it this is what is called the noble truth of the rising of
tukka due to the rising of craving how does the he that is the noble disciple know it does if there
is craving for one's wife children male and female servants messengers retainers fields houses shops
income and wealth if when working on behalf of them there's craving affection defilement and
attachment then this is called arising this is how he knows this noble truth of the rising of
tukka due to the rising of craving yeah in the Pali version we get just a very short statement
and it's interesting that this short statement in the Pali version mentions three types of craving
the craving for sensuality for becoming or existence and for annihilation or non existence
and these are rarely often we do not find these three mentioned in the Chinese arguments it's
something that that really puzzled me when I came across that first time and we can see how from
this still relatively short exposition and the Maji Menaka now we get a very very detailed thing
we get this whole description which hopefully you don't understand this to mean that only males
can have craving because it's all from a man's perspective but I think it is also meant to apply
to women who then have to exchange this and say if there's craving for one's husband or partner or
whatever and then we get the application to the external sense objects and again to contact
feeding perception pollution and so Rosa growl rightly pointed out the puzzling reference to
craving if there's craving for craving and we get the six elements special for Ronaldo so any type
of craving is the rising of tooka in some oh yeah also I have I have actually the translation of the
Pali version so craving which brings renewal of being accompanied by delight and lust delights
in this and that that is craving for sense measures for being and for non being yeah mark
this passage clearly outlines the link between craving and tooka as it acts to the aggregates
therefore the aggregates themselves without the craving are not inherently tooka correct I would
agree with that mark are not experienced as tooka the the other hand only has the five aggregates
they are still unsatisfactory they are still not able to give lasting satisfaction even for an
other hand but they are no longer experienced as they no longer lead to the type of tooka that
comes out of craving but this is a debated issue so this is just my my personal take I have written
on that also somewhere if I only know where I think in that from craving to liberation somewhere
from grasping to emptiness I have these two books with collections of my encyclopedia articles that
you can download as PDFs from my list of publication and in regard to craving or clinging but I think
clinging it must be clinging grasping clinging upadana I discuss also the relationship to in the
case of an other hand so you might find a little bit more there Renee says that the Mahasatipatthana
sutta offers a longer explanation yeah in fact I think we having here manifestation of the same
phenomena in discourses of different traditions that is the beginning of Abhidharma type of
commentary becoming part of a discourse and in the present case in the case of the Satyavibhanga
sutta we get this in the Magyama Agama version but not in the Pali version and not in the
Theravada version and in the case of the Satipatthana sutta it goes other way around and we find this
type of explanation has become part of the discourse and the whole exposition on the
Four Noble Truths the detailed exposition that distinguishes the Digha Nikaya 22 the Mahasatipatthana
sutta from the Magyama Nikaya Satipatthana sutta according to several scholars is case of addition
of commentary passage that has become part of the discourse during the course of all transmission
and that is also the perspective that I would take on them. It's a very fascinating course in that way
and if we get in time we will get at another passage that also shows that within the corpus
of the early discourses as we have early and later sometimes we can catch the beginning of
certain tendencies and these passages point to the beginning of what later on became an independent
type of text the Abhidharma. Vain Chhul the aggregates have an underlying tendency to cause
dukkha no and not to an Arahant I would say Vain Chhul. The Arahant would see the five aggregates as
something that cannot give lasting satisfaction to him or her but they would not cause the type
of dukkha the type of suffering in inverted commas that we are discussing in relation to the Four
Noble Truth to an Arahant. It is the punch upadana khanda the clinging grasping to the five aggregates
that is included in the First Noble Truth or First Truth Noble in brackets not the five aggregates
themselves but as I said this is being this is a debated issue and so this is Rene. I agree with
Vain Chhul in P.T.S. D.K. 30829 the second truth has been explained in more detail. There are many
aspects of the khandas are described as deattractive pleasant and leading to craving so the second truth
suggests that the khandas are not always inherently suffering or unsatisfactory. However I agree that
at certain times they inevitably are dukkha not lasting satisfaction. Here in the point of saying
that something is unsatisfactory is not to say that it cannot be attractive and pleasant for
some time the point is more that because this pleasure or attraction does not last because
things change sooner or later the pleasure is going to disappear and that is the unsatisfactoriness about it.
Yeah I think I continue so the truth of cessation is in both versions described in a similar way as the
arising. So now we get the path. What Venerable Friends is the Noble Truth of the Path leading to the cessation of dukkha. It is this right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. What Venerable Friends is right view. When the Noble disciple is mindful of dukkha is dukkha of its
arising as its arising of its cessation as its cessation mindful of the path as the path or when
he contemplates his former actions or when he trains to be mindful of all formations or when
he sees the danger in all formations or when he sees the tranquility and calm of nirvana or when
he free from attachment mindfully contemplates the mind is liberated whatever there in this
investigation comprehensive investigation successive investigation investigation of phenomena
examination comprehensive examination observation knowledge and realization that is called right view
you have a quite a different
definition well not quite a different definition but there is a different element in the
Madhyama Agama version which I again think points us to the issue of the beginning of
Abhidhammic influences and I have also written a paper on that yeah this is written a paper on
everything it seems that you can download from the list of publications it's on the Maha Chaturisa
Majimaneke 117 where we get this very clear as a shift we find from the early discourses
to the slightly more Abhidhammic perspectives where instead of describing like what right
my right view is about which is in the first part here and in the Pali version we also or at
sometime even only get a description of how it happens in terms of the different mental factors
that are there at that time and that is this later part we get here investigation comprehensive
investigation successive investigation this is this is Abhidhammic style of listing near equivalence
in a way to to map the state of mind that is having right view or arriving right view and usually
not exclusively this is then the type of right view experienced at the moment of the super
mundane not here not yet in this description but that is the direction that these descriptions
move into yeah so if we look at the Pali version we get the same definition of the noble eight foot
path but then we just get this this this fourfold knowledge knowledge of the four noble truth that
is right view and then the manyama armor continues throughout with this issue of when the noble is
mindful of dukkha stukkha of arising as arising etc etc the whole para that i read to you before
and then gives always this this this this listing of um near equivalence like mental thought
comprehensive thought appropriate thought i mean when we have been translating this we have been
kind of struggling to find different terms to show that there's always a different term which
is actually saying the same thing so here right intention is mental thought comprehensive thought
appropriate thought thinking of what should be thought of aspiring to what should be aspired to
this is called right intention and in the Pali version we get the same by by way of actual object
what is the object of right intention not what is the state of mind of right intention the looking
looking inside to see what are the factors there but what is mindful what is right and what is it
about renunciation non-evil and non-cruelty and then again right speech we get the whole and then
uh this uh in addition to the four kinds of good verbal contact
whatever constitutes abstaining and abandoning of every other kind of evil verbal conduct not
practicing it not doing it not condoning it not associating with it and instead in the Pali
version we just get the four false verbal conduct false speech malicious speech hard speech and idle
chatter to abstain from them and then with right action again the same abstaining abandoning etc etc
and in the Pali version we we we get the the three actions that one abstains from killing
stealing or abstaining taking what is not given and sexual sexual sexual misconduct misconduct
and sensual pleasures and here now we come to right livelihood whatever then is not seeking
to make a livelihood by inappropriate means nor out of excessive desire and dissatisfaction nor
by the various forms of wrong livelihood such as performing tricks or incantations but instead
seeking ropes in a way that are in accordance with the dharma not contrary to the dharma seeking
food beds and seeds in ways that are in accordance with the dharma not contrary to the dharma this
is called right livelihood and this is uh not yet does not yet have this uh epidemic flavor and this
is actually quite helpful i find because in the Pali version we are not really being told what
right livelihood is it's just you you don't have wrong livelihood uh-huh i mean other passages
then help us to draw out what is the meaning of right and wrong livelihood but here in the
manyama agama version and this is particularly being spoken of from the perspective of a monastic
who goes maybe begging and who may use various things in order to uh endear himself or herself
with the lay supporters and then get better support
then right effort and again here we get a series of mental states vigor effort unified diligent
striving power in progressing focused application without remission without decline rightly master
the mind whereas in the Pali version we get the four right efforts here uh bikur monk awakens
zeal for the non-arising of unreasoned evil unwholesome states and makes an effort arouses
energy exerts his mind and strives and then for the abandoning of reason unwholesome states
for the arising of unarisen wholesome states and for the continuance non-disappearance
strengthening increase and fulfillment by development of the reason wholesome states
here also we get a little bit like effort arouses energy exerts his mind and strives
this feature of giving more than one term to say what in a normal discussion we would say with
what is already found in the early discourses this is part of the oral transmission where
if we say the same thing like if i say it was good but if it was good very nice enchanting
beautiful enrapturing then there are so many different terms it's more sure that the idea
that i'm trying to get across doesn't get lost but we find that with the abhidharma and again
this is these are just stages that we can see here with the later abhidharma usually when we
look at the canonical abhidharma we a particular word is defined by giving a register a long list
of all terms that in some way are related or similar or near synonyms
right mindfulness now it gets interesting so whatever then is the mind's concordance with
mindfulness it's turning away from non-mindfulness it's being comprehensively mindful recollecting
and again recollecting the mind's being straight non-forgetfulness of what the mind is responding
to this is called right mindfulness in the Pali version instead we get the four satipatanas
contemplating body feeling mental states and dharmas
and this same different in perspective then comes with right concentration
whatever then is the mind's stability is being established in the absorptions established
accordingly being unwavering and not scattered being focused stilled and widely concentrated
this is called right concentration and the Pali version instead gives a description of the
four absorptions yeah and Madhyama Agama then concludes with a verse which we don't have in
Pali the Buddha has clearly comprehended all things he has seen the countless wholesome and
meritorious qualities the truths of dukkha it's arising its cessation and the path skillfully
revealing and explaining them so if we leave aside now all this a little bit more academic
observations that we made about beginning of abhidharma about noble and so on and just try to
come to something very practical some gist around there as we are also coming to a conclusion of
our exploration of the four noble truths there's dukkha craving is the one condition that can be
changed the cessation of craving is freedom and the practice the path towards that freedom
combines bodily restraint with mental cultivation this is just my summary and you are totally free
that could be a homework if you like homework for you to summarize what is the essence
of the four truths the four noble truths from a practical perspective
yeah if you are not too tired and there are not too many questions that my presentation sofa has
aroused i will take a quick jump into the next discourse because the thing is also that we only
have two more are we allowed to print the pdfs the pdfs that i put up of the lectures you can
you can certainly print out and you can also download those there's no problem about that
the only thing that you are asked not to download are the videos of these lectures if possible
and everything that i'm showing to you will be up on the on the on the website on the all out side
yeah we have come to a conclusion of the four noble truths now and we only have two more
lectures to go and there's a whole second chapter that i would like to at least brush through
and it's actually not so bad that we don't have so much time for it because the topic of this
chapter is what is marvelous and wonderful and what ancient indians found marvelous and wonderful
is not necessarily what we would find marvelous and wonderful and so in the remaining 15 minutes
that i still have i would like to go to do a quick run through the first of these discourse
on wonderful and marvelous qualities because that leaves us some space next time to get into
after a quick look at 33 to get into magima magima magima 34 because there we get a picture
of an ara hunt that as far as i can see differs to some degree from the description of an ara and
in other early discourses and that discourse again i would like to take up in more detail
because this relates to the second of the two main topics in our in this year's lecture series
the ara hunt and the four truths so i yeah never mind what the difference in introductions are
but the two discourses are spoken by ananda the chief disciple of the buddha who acted as his
attendant as his personal attendant and he describes what he thinks is particularly
marvelous and wonderful about his teacher about the buddha and this theme of marvelous and wonderful
qualities continues we will get ara hunts that are marvelous and wonderful you get the dharma
and we also get a number of lay people who are marvelous and wonderful in this chapter
so a real discovery for me was this first quality in the magima version blessed one
i have heard that at the time of kasapa buddha the blessed one made his initial vow to follow
the path of becoming a buddha and practice the holy life and then he repeats that at the time of
kasapa buddha the blessed one made his initial vow to follow the path of becoming a buddha and
practice the holy dive this i remember as an extraordinary quality of the blessed one
and then the discourse continues it repeats this marvel of the initial vow and continues
and then he was reborn in two-seater heaven and this i remember as a wonderful quality
and then he made his initial vow and was reborn in the two-seater heaven and in two-seater heaven
he excelled the other devas by the length of his life his complexion and his glory
and the two-seater gods were delighted about it so the qualities that we get in magyama agama
discourse are like this you get quality number one this initial vow then one and two together
one two three together and from then on you get you get single qualities and i've discussed this
in detail in my book on the genesis of the bodhisattva ideal and this this particular
indication is a is a key key passage in my argument there and this as the other pdfs you can
freely download it either from my list of publications or i think i also posted it on
olad basically what this shows us is the beginning of this idea that the buddha in a
past life took a vow with the idea of becoming a buddha if we and i can't make the full argument
here now in the few minutes that are left so if you are interested in this conception of the
bodhisattva i i happily invite you to to read through my book and see if that makes any sense
to you but in the early discourses the term bodhisattva is used except for this marvel discourse
is used mainly to speak of the buddha doing the last of his his present lifetime his last lifetime
his quest for awakening and this idea that is so common in all buddhist traditions that one
prepares oneself over past eons through cultivating wholesome qualities with this
aspiration of becoming a buddha in the future is clearly a later development and this later
development i just need to mention is also found in the teravara tradition the teravara tradition
has a bodhisattva path it has uh this is recognized in the commentaries and throughout
history of teravada buddhism there have been repeatedly even high politicians and monastics
who aspire and practice this path of the bodhisattva and even nowadays in the teravara tradition many
eminent monks are following the bodhisattva path so this is not something we can put
into neatly pack it up into one tradition the only distinction is that in the mahayana traditions
the following of the bodhisattva path is basically the only option that is seen as really valid
but this whole development has begun after the historical period that is reflected in the early
discourses and so far scholars have not been able to push back further into the past from what we
call the early mahayana suttas and with this particular passage and a few others that i have
put together in this book i have tried to link early buddhism with early mahayana in particular
and to show how this idea of being a bodhisattva over a prolonged period more than one rebirth
aspiring to become a buddha how this gradually evolved and this whole discourse on marvels
and wonders is particularly telling to show us the kind of need that was there after the buddha
had passed away the need of the people to create some kind of relationship to this person who was
just gone and the kind of devotion that came with that and then this this this this idea and here
we have really i think the beginning stage that and it is logical kasapa buddha is the
last buddha just the one before the present buddha that the idea was that at that time he had
our buddha shakyamuni gautama buddha made took this decision i'm going to become a buddha in
future myself but soon enough this decision was put further back into the past to another buddha
called deepankara yeah i think i stop here on this topic i just invite you if if you are
interested to to to look this up in my book where i give the discussion in much more detail and then
we get various other marvelous qualities and the thing that is interesting is that
while both the Pali version and the Madhyama Agam version present the same type of attitude
towards the buddha the actual marvels excuse me that they describe are different there's
considerable differences so it seems that the similar topic has been developed in different ways
so this is still this is the Pali version i'm not going to read it because we are
little short of time it's all on this two-seater heaven the last life before he became a human
so here we have when the blessed one mindful descended into his mother's womb at that moment
all of heaven and earth trembled a great light illuminated the world including even remote and
dark places unobstructed completely shining on places that are not illuminated by the moon or
the sun even though these possess great supernormal power great and mighty virtue great merit and
great and mighty power because of this wonderful light each and every sentient being came to know
this a remarkable being will be born a remarkable being will be born and then another marvel is that
while he was in his mother's womb the blessed one remained mindfully lying on his right side
and he dwelt in his mother's womb peacefully and at ease and he was covered in such a way that it
was not defiled by blood or semen or other impurities yeah so here we have a similar
marvel number five i'm not going to read it in detail to you but again we get this
light manifesting and everybody can see each other and they realize
there's something something extraordinary is happening and the whole earthquakes
and then some different marvels like there are these four young deities who guard him
and the mother becomes very virtuous as soon as the bodhisattva is in her womb
and she has no essential thoughts but she is totally happy all the time and she has no affliction
and she's able to see him within her womb just like one can see a string that is
is going through a barrel gem
in the same way she can see the bodhisattva in her womb
so here we are again with the madhyama agama list of marvels so when the mind blessed one
mindfully came out from his mother's womb at that moment all of heaven and earth trembled
and began to get the great light and people realized that remarkable being has been born
and then he came out of the womb peacefully and at ease and when he came out from his mother's
wombs he was covered in such a way that he was not defiled by blood or semen or other impurities
and when he was just born then four gods holding extremely fine pieces of cloth stood before his
mother and delighted her by exclaiming this prince is most wonderful and most remarkable
he possesses great supernormal power great and mighty virtue great merit and great and mighty
power and when he was just born right away the blessed one immediately took seven steps and
without fear trepidation or apprehension looked in all directions and then when he was born there
appeared before his mother a large pond brim full of water with which she was able to cleanse herself
and when he was just born two streams of water one coolant one warm pour down from the sky to
bathe the blessed one's body and the gods in the sky are making music and throwing lotuses and
other flowers yeah then in the Pali version test that we are told that the mother died seven days
after the birth of the bodhisattva and i'm showing in my study that this is a later edition because
it comes out of sequence and that she gave birth to him exactly after 10 months and that she gave
birth to him standing and that he was first received by gods and not by human beings and that
he did not touch the earth but he was received by gods and the gods said to the mother rejoice
and he was totally clean
and here too as in the other version even though he was totally clean we get these two
streams of water which one cool warm for bathing him and his mother and here too also he takes
seven steps and with the white parasol held over him he looks at each quarter and atas the words
of the leader of the herd i am the highest in the world i'm the best in the world i'm the foremost
in the world this is my last birth now there is no renewal of being for me this is another passage
that i exploit in quite some detail in my book because here the qualities of an arahant who is
fully awakened are attributed to the bodhisattva at the time when he was just being born when he
still had to eradicate all of his defilements which shows again a shift in the bodhisattva conception
and we get again the great light and the thousand-fold world system shook and trembled
so after all this talking and we got a picture for you that's a very early
picture it's what we call an anikonic depiction of buddha being born that is the buddha is
cannot be seen and i'm not sure if you can see the error that i'm using here let me see there must be
some error there it is okay no there can you see that little like like like like like uh like a
bulging bulging out on the side of the mother this is this is where she has just come out where the
bodhisattva has just come out and there on that cloth this error is a little difficult to manage
there there are little footprints so he has he has just come out there from the from the side
of his mother she is holding on to a tree and giving birth to him standing and the footprints
on the cloth show that he's being received and the stool below is just a sign of respect that
signifies to us that the buddha is there somewhere in the area above he is not being depicted because
it's an anikonic depiction the buddha is not being shown directly but only symbolically and
then there's these four devas who receive him and this is just some lady attendant of queen maya
and here we get another depiction and this time
oops let me get this arrow away this time we have an ikonic depiction here is the bodhisattva
and he's he's raising his hand it's a little difficult to see so i expect he's he's making a
pronouncement and here's queen maya obviously holding on to the tree and there are the
two gods and you can just see this don't know which one is the coal and which one is the warm
water but they are mixing the water to to to bathe him john emmer asked if it was forbidden to
depict the buddha directly i don't think it was like there was an explicit rule against it but in
the early period of indian art it was felt inappropriate to depict the buddha and this
is only a later development so the earliest period we have the so-called anikonic depictions
and now just in time we come to the last marvel
and the blessed one says ananda remember furthermore this extra or inequality of the
tartar term ananda the target is a way of feelings as they arise remain and pass away
being aware of them continuously without a moment of being unaware of them ananda the
tartar is aware of thoughts of perceptions as they arise remain and pass away being aware of
them continuously without a moment of being unaware of them therefore ananda remember
furthermore this extra or inequality of the tartar so that's the buddha stepping in himself
after ananda has come out with this whole ology he says look there's something really
wonderful about me looking this is this and we get a similar thing in the pari version
he also he says for the tartar feelings are known as they arise as they are present as they disappear
excuse me perceptions are known as they arise as they are present as they disappear thoughts are
known as they arise as they are present as they disappear remember this to ananda as a wonderful
marvelous quality of the tartar so the main points that we can derive from this discourse
as on the one hand even though it may not be what we find inspiring perhaps
the discourse as it is reflects the importance of providing some inspiration particularly at a time
when the buddha had just passed away and the community of monastics and lay people was
struggling for survival in ancient india and the point that i like about this discourse as you may
have may suspect knowing this anala your and his preferences is obviously this last part and this
i think may be the origin of this discourse that ananda in some way has been praising
some external qualities of the buddha and the buddha became aware of that and stepped in look
the really what is really wonderful or marvelous is a meditative qualities is awareness of
impermanence to know whatever feeling perception and thought there is to be aware when it gets
started as long as it's there and when it disappears that is really marvelous thank
you very much for your attention that's it for today and i i look forward to
see you again in a week's time for some more marvels and wonderful qualities