As you know quite well by now, the Buddha Shakyamuni in his first discourse to a group of five yogis said that he had realized the middle path And in that scripture he, or in that talk, actually it wasn't a scripture at the time, just him talking to probably nude and filthy yogis. Probably. I mean, I guess they didn't have any clothes on. He probably, he did have probably some little outfit on himself and was fairly, relatively and

[01:02]

from their point of view, overfed. He himself did not think of himself as overfed. He thought of himself as just eating the right amount, not mortifying himself, indulging himself in overeating. He did not have an eating disorder at that point. Prior to that time, he did have an eating disorder. So he's talking to these unwashed, but highly skillful and courageous yogis, and he says to them, there's two extremes which you should avoid practicing. If you want to come... What are the two? One is devotion to addiction to sense pleasure, which they weren't into.

[02:08]

And the other, and that's unprofitable, doesn't work, it's not going to set you free. It's unworthy of a person who is setting forth on the path of liberation. And the other extreme is devotion to self-mortification, which you have been practicing, and I practiced with you, and that's also not profitable. It's not worthy of one who is aspiring to actual living. When you avoid both these extremes, I have realized the middle path. So that's how that teaching starts to him in this group of five. As Matt asked me one time, he says, how come you don't have the whole... When we recited this scripture, he says, why don't you have the whole... And the scripture as we have it is how the scripture appears...

[03:25]

in the Samyutta Nikaya. But the full version, as it appears in the Vinaya, the Mahavagga, has the additional information about what happened after the Buddha said, this is the last birth, now there is no more re-becoming. And then... then it says about venerable Kundana having this vision arise in him, this immaculate vision of the truth arose in him, and he realized that whatsoever is subject to causation is also subject to cessation. He realized that. And and then after he realized that he asked the Buddha if he could if he could be what is it called if he could receive I wish to go forth under the blessed one and receive full admission

[04:55]

full admission to going forth under you. Going forth in the path. I've already gone forth in the path with you because I've now heard this teaching and I've had this vision arise in me. I want to receive full admission to going forth with you. And the Buddha said, so these again, these five guys are there with him, he said, Come, monk. The Dhamma is well-proclaimed. Live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering. Okay? So, Kundana has this vision arising in him, and... He says, I would like to, I seek full admission to going forth under you.

[05:58]

And the Blessed One says, come Bhiksu, come Bhiksu. The Dhamma is well proclaimed. Live the holy life and complete the end of suffering. Okay? the ordination ceremony and this was the full admission of Venerable Kundana I don't know at that point if he took a bath and put some clothes on or not but another story actually I might as well tell it because you're probably dying to hear about the wardrobe situation right it turns out the Buddha recommended that his disciples wear some clothes if they weren't already wearing them. And if they were extremely filthy, he recommended they wash them.

[07:03]

However, he didn't have a regular uniform for them, so they were wearing different outfits. But one thing that all the disciples shared, although their outfits were different, was was the middle way, which they were practicing. And because they were practicing this middle way, people were inspired to join the teaching of the middle way. Because the people who were, the disciples who were practicing this were so, you know, there. in this world. So, after some time, after the king had... Yeah, after the king, after the Buddha had not only disciples like these five, but also had some kings and queens as disciples, one of the kings was riding around one time and saw somebody who looked really present and went over to the person and bowed to them and found out that this person was...

[08:19]

Buddha and felt embarrassed. So then he went to the Buddha and he said, Sir, would you please have your people wear a regular uniform because I don't want to be bowing to every person that's present as your disciple. So the Buddha said, Okay, that's a good idea. So then he was walking along with Ananda saying, What kind of a uniform should we have for our group? And I don't know what Nanda said, but anyway, then Buddha then, I think the Buddha just happened to be looking out and saw the rice around where they were walking. And he said, actually, you know, the pattern of the rice, the way the rice paddies are built, it makes a nice pattern. We could like, you know, wear, cast off material and cut it into rectangles and squares and patch it together like rice. the pattern of a rice paddy.

[09:22]

And so he said, Nanda, would you please design a robe sort of on that model? And then Nanda did. And then after that, that was the kind of outfit that they wore, a robe made of thrown away material so they wouldn't get into an addiction to sense pleasure by getting the nicest outfits possible. But at the same time, they they had clean clothes made of medium to low quality materials and they made it in this pattern so they wore these clothes now going back to the story of venerable kundana and his friends so there's five of them one of them has had some this vision arise in him and it is said that the vision that arose in him was a stream entry. In other words, he, this vision, this, what's it called, immaculate vision that arose in him was the first break, the first of the middle way.

[10:43]

he actually saw the way the self is. How is the self? The self is that everything that is subject to causation is subject to cessation. he saw that that's the way things are. And he didn't mention, but he didn't see a self there. His vision was immaculate. It wasn't confused with the imputation of a self to that process. He just saw the arising of phenomena which is subject to arising. And he said, which are dependent on conditions, are also subject to ceasing.

[11:48]

He saw that, and that's all he saw. He didn't see a self there. So then, after that, he continued to teach the rest of the other four. And I thought this was interesting, that I think the way it worked was that he taught the other four And while he was teaching the other four, Venerable Kundana went to town for grub. He already had got the message of the teaching, so far anyway. So he went and got food for them and brought it back for them. So they, the five of them, the four plus the Buddha, lived off what Venerable Kundana Now, a kundana that understood something about the Dharma, who had realized something of the middle way, what he could come up with, he brought back and they lived on what he got.

[12:55]

And then, Venerable Vapa and Baddhya also attained this spotless, immaculate vision of Dharma, of the truth, of the way things are. They also... realized the middle way, at least at the stream entry level. So then, there's two left, so Buddha kept working on those two, and then three of them went to town to beg, and then all six lived on what the three could come up with. And then, finally, a venerable Mahanama and a sajji. also realized the spotless, immaculate vision of Dharma. And all these yogis, these enlightened yogis now, ask for full admission, ask to receive full admission, and receive full admission by Buddha saying, Come, monk.

[14:04]

Come. The Dharma is well proclaimed. Live the holy life. for the ending, the complete ending of suffering. Okay? And then, two weeks later, the Buddha gave them an... I guess maybe either two weeks after this or two weeks after the original talk, which would make sense. I think that's what happened is that... I'm not sure, but the way it seems to make sense is that he gave... And then he had one hit on the first talk. And then he worked for two more weeks with the remaining four. And after two weeks, all five were stream enterers, had attained the first level of insight into the middle way. And then he taught them a new teaching. And the new teaching is now remembered as the discourse on either the not-self characteristics, characteristic or the mark of not-self, or the selfless marks, or the selfless characteristics, or the selflessness of characteristics.

[15:30]

I'm not sure exactly how it should be read. But anyway, it's anatta, which is selfless or no self. Lakana, her characteristic sutta, the scripture on the selfless marks or the marks of selflessness. So he taught this to them. Big shoes. Material form is not the self. You know, that means colors are not the self. Sounds are not the self. Smells are not the self. Tastes are not the self. Tangible things, textures and temperatures are not the self. eye is not the self, the ear is not the self, the nose is not the self, the tongue is not the self, the skin is not the self, and so on.

[16:47]

These are not the self. If material form was the self, this material form would lead to affliction. it could be had a material form, quote, let my material form be thus. Let my material form be not thus. I don't know if this is, you know, historically, this is the second scripture he gave, but maybe it's the second time he taught. So he's, you know, this is just, you know, give him a break. This is the first time he tried. But it's pretty good. If the material form was the self, then you could, like, if you had a pain in your shoulder like I do, you could say...

[17:48]

Let this material form be not like this. Let it be nice and... Let this shoulder operate smoothly. It's myself, you know. Do what I say because it's myself. Let it not be painful anymore. Let the pain in the butt go away and let's have a pleasant feeling in the butt. Let's have a new butt. Let's have new knees. Let's have... Let's have them not be thus. If they were the self, then material forms like your physical sensations in your body and the sounds in the creek, all these things that are happening to you, if they were the self, you could have them be like that. And then they wouldn't be affliction because things that you're not the self doesn't want. But as he taught them in the previous scripture, all this stuff Forms are, you know, these forms which you grasp, they are affliction, they are pain.

[19:00]

And it is because material form is not the self that it therefore leads to affliction. and that it cannot be had of material form. Let my material form be thus. Let my material form be not thus. He taught him like that. Then he did it for feelings. Feeling is not the Self. If feeling were the Self, then this feeling would not lead to affliction. And it could be had of feeling. Let my feeling be thus. Let my feeling be not thus. And then he did for perception. Perception, if perception were the self, then perception would not lead to affliction and it could be had of perception. Let my perception be thus. Let my perception not be thus. And then he did it for formations. Formations are not the self.

[20:14]

If formations were the self, then these formations would not lead to affliction. And it could be had of formations. Let my formations be thus. Let my formations not be thus. Consciousness is not the Self. If consciousness were the Self, this consciousness would not lead to affliction. And it could be had of consciousness. Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus. And it is because consciousness is not the self that it therefore leads to affliction and that it cannot be had of consciousness. Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus. Then he says to the monks, How do you conceive this, Bhikshus? Is material form permanent or impermanent? Impermanent, Lord, they said.

[21:17]

But is what is impermanent pleasant or unpleasant? Unpleasant, Lord, they said. But is it fitting to regard what is impermanent, unpleasant, and subject to change as this is mine, this is what I am, this is myself? No, Lord, they said. So then he asked them the same thing. How do you conceive this? Is feeling permanent? No. Is what's impermanent pleasant or unpleasant? It's unpleasant. So is it fitting to regard our feelings, which are impermanent, unpleasant, and subject to change, as mine? This is what I am. This is myself. No, Lord. And so on.

[22:24]

How do you conceive this? Is perception permanent? And so on. How do you perceive this? Are formations permanent? Is what is... No, they're... They're impermanent. Is what is impermanent pleasant or unpleasant? Unpleasant. And how do you perceive this? Are formations permanent? No. Is what's permanent, is what's impermanent or unpleasant? Unpleasant. How do you conceive this? Is consciousness permanent or impermanent? Impermanent, Lord. Is what is impermanent pleasant or unpleasant? Unpleasant, Lord. Is it fitting? to regard what is impermanent, unpleasant, and subject to change.

[23:26]

This is mine. This is what I am. This is the self. No, Lord. Any material form whatsoever, whether past, present, or future, inside, internally, or externally, coarse or thin, inferior or superior, far or near, all should be regarded as it actually is by right understanding thus. This is not mine. This is not what I am. This is not myself. and so forth. Any feeling whatsoever, past, future, or present, whether internal or external, coarse or fine, inferior or superior, far or near, should all be regarded as it actually is by right understanding thus.

[24:36]

This is not mine. This is not myself. Any perception, this is not mine, this is not what I am, this is not myself. Any formation, this is not what I am, this is not mine, this is not myself. Any consciousness, past, present or future, actually past, future or present. in oneself or external, coarse or fine, inferior or superior, far or near, should be regarded as it actually is by right understanding. Thus, this consciousness is not what I am. This is not what I am. This is not myself. If you... You can work with this whole scripture. It's not very long.

[25:39]

We can work with just parts of it. Like this last part. Sound. Okay? This is not mine. This is not what I am. This is not myself. A feeling. This is not mine. This is not what I am. And so on. Or you can do the whole thing. Is this permanent? No. Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Unpleasant. Is it proper to regard it then as mine, this is what I am? No. And so on. You can take different parts of this and go over them. Or do the whole thing. I don't know how many times he went over this with them, you know. He might have gone over it once, he might have gone over it twice, he might have gone over it a hundred times, he might have gone over it a thousand times.

[26:49]

Some got it faster than others, probably. Kundana maybe got it before the other ones, a little smarter, or whatever, a little dumber, who knows. Anyway, again and again. Those who got it faster don't mind hearing it again. Those who got it slower need to go over it again and again. So he went over this. Seeing thus be shoes, a wise disciple becomes dispassionate towards material form, becomes dispassionate towards feelings, becomes dispassionate towards perceptions, becomes dispassionate towards formations, becomes dispassionate towards consciousness. Becoming dispassionate, her lust fades away. With the fading of her lust, she is liberated. Her heart is liberated. When liberated, there comes the knowledge it is liberated.

[27:55]

She understands the holy life has been lived out. What was to be done is done. There is no more of this to come. That is what the Blessed One said. The Bhikshus of the group were glad and they were delighted in his words. Now, while this course was being delivered, the hearts of the Bhikshus of this group of five were liberated from taints through not clinging And there were then six Arahats, six accomplished ones in the world. Six Arahats, six accomplished ones in the world. Arahats and one Buddha.

[29:02]

This, you know, of what's happened here is you have these two discourses. The first discourse is particularly about the middle way. And in a sense, it's about settling down in what's happening. Kind of like concentration. And the second scripture, based on the first scripture, they've all settled down now. But they more than settled down, actually. They settled down and had some insight into selflessness. And in the second scripture, he gives more teachings on insight. to more thoroughly clarify their understanding of the self, to more clearly understand the different characteristics of no-self.

[31:01]

as I mentioned before, the middle way is the actuality of our life experience. The way our life experience actually is, when we, which includes, the way our life actually is, is it includes that our life is, involves conventionalities. which obscure another way our life is, namely a way that our life is not conventionalities. Our life is both conventionality, which obscures selflessness, and selflessness. Because of conventionalities, because of dependently co-arisen phenomena that depend on mental imputation, over emptiness, in a sense, or some covering over emptiness, not exactly over emptiness, but looking at conventionalities and seeing conventionalities, we don't see the middle way.

[32:39]

The ultimate middle way things are. But they're that way all the time whether we see them or not. Everything is already that way. So the middle way is this middle way that things are or this ultimate way. And Another meaning of middle way is the teaching about how to realize the way things actually are right now. So the first teaching is about a way of settling into our experience. We settle into our experience.

[33:42]

We, many of us have a chance to realize that our experience is something which arises and ceases. Experience that doesn't arise and cease is just an idea of experience that doesn't arise and cease. There really is, we have no evidence for experience that doesn't arise and cease. There's no evidence for that type of experience. There is no experience like that. So, the first part of the teaching of the Middle Way is a conventionality, is words. It is using words to encourage people to settle into experience of a rising and ceasing phenomena. The first way he's teaching is he's teaching us to give up distracting ourselves from our experience, from our empirical experience, and actually

[35:01]

Observe, and the type we can observe once again is the kind that arises and ceases. This impermanent type of experience is the kind that's empirical. At the beginning, he's encouraging us to stop distracting ourselves from our experience. to stop running away from our experience, to stop wallowing and banging our head against our experience, which is again from our experience, to stop distracting ourselves from our experience, to stop distracting ourselves from our experience, to stop abstracting ourselves from our experience. By So, one way of talking about self-mortification is to suffer just for suffering's sake.

[36:13]

So now we have discomfort here during Sesshin, and to be involved in this suffering just for the sake of suffering, that's a distraction. But to be involved in facing this suffering in order to realize the middle way, this is not self-mortification. If the suffering is to realize the middle way, it's not appropriate. And to be involved in sense pleasure, what little is available during sasin, if we're in an addictive way, we're using it to distract ourselves from our experience, whatever it is. So he's saying, give up distracting and abstracting ourselves from our empirical experience.

[37:17]

This empirical experience will be then which we can use, which we'll have available to us to say, this empirical experience is not My self is not a self, is not mine, is not what I am. If we wish to apply the teaching of that second sutra. In other words, if we're distracting ourselves from our experience, then that's our job. I mean, that's what we're doing. If we're distracting ourselves from our experience, we don't have time to then, you know, meditate on the Middle Way or... We're too busy distracting ourselves.

[38:23]

So that's one problem of distracting ourselves from our experience, is that it takes time to do that. You have to make an effort to do that. The other problem of it is that if I'm distracting myself from my experience and then I would do some of these meditations, they wouldn't be appropriate because I would have no experience to relate the meditation to, because the meditations are related to experience. So to say, this material form is not myself, really make much sense if I'm not actually paying attention to a material form and saying, this is or is not myself. But if we are actually experiencing it in a middle way, in an undistracted way, then the or the significance or the relevant of that Dharma teaching of this

[39:25]

If this form were myself, then it would not lead me to affliction. This form, if it were myself, I could say, be thus and be not thus. If you have this pain and have this pleasure and have this smell and have this taste, and you're actually not distracting yourself from it, and then you say, is this myself? If this were myself, then it would not be affliction. Then... the teaching has impact. Well, it still may be some use to say the teaching just to become familiar with the vocabulary, but finally it has to be brought into contact with experience. So, in order to bring it in contact with experience, we need to be settled into the experience. That's the first thing he's trying to get us to do, is stop running away from forms, feelings, perceptions, formations and consciousness, by indulgence in sense pleasure and self-mortification.

[40:47]

In the second sutra, he adds further ways of distracting ourselves from what's happening by searching for, you know, things that exist or things that don't exist. By searching for permanent things or annihilated things. So it occurs to me that I got feedback after the last session that some people really appreciate for me to be in the zendo, sitting with you.

[41:57]

Even some people who appreciate doksan think it's primary, maybe, that I be in the zendo sitting with you because then my body and my behavior is implying, in some sense, the fundamental importance of sitting at your seat. of your body being your body and your experience being your experience. Discussing the Dharma with the teacher may be important, but somehow it has to be really clear. And sometimes it takes several days, maybe the whole session, to make clear the fundamental importance of settling into our experience. So if I'm sitting, that point is kind of being made.

[43:08]

Once dog sound starts, then people say, yeah, it's kind of important to be here, but it's also important to go do other things. Well, yeah, that's true. But there's no other things. There's no other thing besides being here. Going to discuss the Dharma in another room is not another thing. And if it looks like that, it shouldn't probably leave the room. So maybe it just keeps looking like that so it never can leave the room. Now, of course, To carry that too far would mean it would be no breaks, right? It would be too much. But given the schedule which we agree upon beforehand, which has breaks built into it, then the breaks are sort of part of staying present.

[44:18]

When it's break time, you take a break. So there you are. on the break. So it's all set. So there's no distraction from our experience. And then the Buddha says, well, now that you're not distracted from your experience, guess what? There's a truth. There's some suffering. Unless you're enlightened, Now that you're settled in your experience, your experience is painful. If you're not liberated through understanding the self, then material form is affliction. So she told me recently, and I hope this is not confidential information. This isn't like psychiatric.

[45:23]

She's a psychiatrist, a psychologist. So this isn't like her clients. This is her fellow members of the club, the women members. The women have their own locker room where they get dressed and undressed. But you know what else they do in that locker room? They talk. And you know what else they do? which they don't do on the boys' side, they put on makeup. And they put it on, she said, for a long time they put it on. She said, some of the women in the club, I mean, they... I said, well, how long do they do it? She said, for half an hour or an hour. They're in the club after their workout, you know. They do their swimming and stuff and their running and then they go in and they put makeup on. I mean, big time, put makeup on. They are... It just looks like, can't be sure. Don't judge other people's practice, okay?

[46:25]

But it looks like they are passionate towards the material form. Their own material form. They are passionate about it because they think, this is mine, this is what I am. I guess. They're passionate about it. But if we train ourselves like this early Buddhist teaching. This is not mine. This is not what I am. This is not myself. And we're talking about this is something we're actually like feeling. Smelling. This smell is not mine. This sound is not mine. This is not what I am. This eye, this vision, this is not what I am. This mind consciousness, this ear consciousness, this is not what I am. This perception, this attitude, all this stuff, whatever it is that I'm experiencing right now and I'm not distracting myself from, not what I am, not myself. We train ourselves that way, we become dispassionate about material form.

[47:29]

We become dispassionate about our feelings. We become dispassionate about formations. We become dispassionate about consciousness. Becoming dispassionate, lust fades away. With the fading of lust, her heart is liberated. When the heart is liberated, there comes the knowledge. It is liberated. She understands birth is exhausted. The holy life has been lived out. We become dispassionate towards the five skandhas, but don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, this does not make us into zombies. We become dispassionate about the five skandhas. We become liberated from suffering. And if we are bodhisattvas... our compassion becomes unhindered by our bondage to the delusion that this is what I am, this is myself.

[48:44]

So it's not that there's no passion left, it's just that now the passion is the passion of compassion, the passion of love for the welfare of all beings, the passion for dharma. and teaching Dharma, completely unleashed, unhindered, and coming into its full flower. Great, great joy, incredible, inconceivable joy is now manifested. Even for those who did not have the... necessarily like these five, they even experienced great joy of liberation. But they don't have the additional joys, this is not mentioned here, the joy of their compassion being unhindered. So we have our little problems, our little woes, our little sufferings, our little happinesses, we have our little difficulties.

[49:54]

And even our pleasant feelings, because of some association with this is what I am, this is myself, even for a pleasant feeling, because of that association, there's bondage and suffering and anxiety. So again, the first middle way teaching, just let's not distract ourselves. by indulging in these extremes. Then the first truth starts to appear. And this truth appears because although we settle into our experience, we still have some, to some extent, some attachment to the idea of an inherently existing self.

[50:58]

And we still think, oh, this is mine or this is not mine. So there's still passion about our pain and pleasure. There's still passion about our consciousness. And so there's lust. And so the heart's not free. Perhaps this ancient teaching is appropriate even today.

[51:57]

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