Vipassana

This is Adam Mizner's Dhamma Talk on Vipassana. Adam has dedicated many years to the in-depth study of Daoism, western Hermetics, and the Buddha Dhamma and is initiated into and teaches methods from these traditions. He is a senior lay disciple of Ajahn Jumnien in the Thai Forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism. This deep spiritual background has a large influence on his approach to internal development teaching.

Please note: This track was recorded live and may contain background noises.

Transcript

There is a consciousness which is pure,

Empty and clear,

Free from dukkha,

Free from suffering,

Free from the five khandhas.

The five khandhas are the five aggregates,

Often referred to as baggage,

A bundle,

A bundle of things we carry around,

A burden.

What do we carry around?

We carry around form,

The four elements,

The body.

The suffering of the body is known to all of us.

If you sit still for a while,

The suffering of the body becomes apparent very quickly.

Rupa,

Way to know.

Sensation arising dependent on form.

Sensation is either pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral.

There is always sensation arising dependent on the body.

We carry this around like it belongs to me or it is a self,

Either a self or belonging to a self.

So when something goes wrong with it,

We suffer.

Of course something goes wrong with it.

It's the nature of the body,

It's impermanent.

Aging,

Sickness and death are the destiny of the body.

When the knowing quality is caught up in the body,

The knowing quality suffers.

When the mind is absorbed in the body,

The mind suffers.

So we can use the skill of samatha,

Of tranquility meditation,

Of mental absorption to free the mind from the sufferings of the body.

Samatha frees the mind from the body.

So when we sit absorbed in the body,

We experience the vedana,

The sensations of the body acutely.

Knee pain,

Relaxation,

Tension,

Pleasant feelings in the body,

Unpleasant feelings in the body,

Neutral feelings in the body.

When the mind becomes absorbed in the breath,

In metta or in any other meditation object,

The mind becomes tranquil and we enter samatha.

The mind becomes at peace because it is free from the body.

That moment of being free from the body is recognized as a blissful state,

As a pleasant state.

When one becomes extremely absorbed in music or in any emotional state where the mind enters a kind of tranquility,

A kind of absorption away from the body,

We find a kind of peace separate from the body.

This works to a certain extent.

But there is something more stressful and more painful and more impermanent,

More bound up with impermanence and suffering than the body,

The mind.

The mind doesn't stay still,

It changes,

It goes up and down,

Stress arises,

Stress falls away.

Perceptions arise,

Perceptions fall away,

Perceptions we don't like arise,

Mental formations come up all on their own,

We have thoughts we don't want to have,

Negative thoughts come up,

Positive thoughts,

Sadness,

Happiness,

Anger,

Love,

Hatred and everything else arise,

Exist and fall away,

All following their own nature,

Impermanent and unreliable.

The mind is truly unreliable and truly stressful.

Even when we have pain in the body,

That's not really an issue.

It's the mind grabbing onto the pain in the body and making a story about it,

Making an issue about it that is painful.

So when we enter shamatha,

Tranquility,

We are free from the sufferings of the body and us.

The mind is still so the mind is not really suffering for that period.

The problem with shamatha is it's dependent on cause and condition.

You cannot enter shamatha at a rock concert,

You cannot enter shamatha when the physical pain is overwhelming,

When you're too tired,

When you're too agitated,

When the mind is restless.

There are all these hindrances to entering tranquility.

Because of that you can try to mould your life to make it extremely tranquil.

I'm never around anybody that agitates me,

I spend most of my day in the hammock and I only drink coconut juice.

So the mind enters a false form of tranquility which is pleasant but unreliable.

You always encounter people that are unpleasant,

You always encounter noise,

You always encounter foods that you don't like.

Life gets in the way.

So the causes and conditions for that tranquility are impermanent.

Because they're impermanent so is that tranquility and it falls away.

So that kind of happiness is innately unreliable.

It's of the world.

Of the world dependent on cause and condition,

Impermanent.

Because it's impermanent it is suffering,

Because it is suffering it's not self.

So it's simply not good enough,

Although it is a skillful means.

Tranquility is a skill worth cultivating.

We cultivated every class but it's not the ultimate skill.

So we recognise that there's something beyond the mind,

The yana,

The essence of consciousness,

The knowing quality.

It's empty,

Formless,

Pure and clear.

Emptiness and clarity,

Empty,

Pure and clear.

The knowing quality free and separate from the mind.

If it was the mind itself then you wouldn't be able to know the mind.

Just like the eye cannot see itself.

The mind cannot see itself only the eye of knowing can see the mind.

So when you absorb into this quality and see the separation between the knowing quality and the mind you gain peace and freedom,

Detachment,

Liberation,

Unbinding,

Nibbana,

Unbinding,

Freedom from the mind,

Freedom from the great cause of suffering,

The mind.

Then the mind and body can go about and do their own business freely but the knowing quality is free.

There's no need to get caught up in sufferings of body and mind.

So when the mind acts as it does,

It gets busy,

It goes peaceful,

It's stressed,

It's unstressed,

Things come and go.

The knowing quality watches them as if an old man is watching children play in the yard,

Totally disinterested.

Now that's just kids playing,

Not important.

Now they're laughing,

Now they're crying,

It lacks importance,

I've seen it all before.

Separate from,

Detached from,

Free from the sufferings of mind and body.

We call this vipassana.

Vipassana yana is the knowing quality of vipassana.

Vipassana is a special sight or to see something clearly.

It is not insight or a sudden revelation in the mind.

This is a poor translation.

It's to see clearly,

To see clearly the way things are,

To see clearly reality.

The reality is that body and mind are separate.

The reality is that separate and that mind and knowing are separate.

So this is a way to practice with the khandhas.

First we have form,

Rupa.

Then we have sensation,

Veda na.

The sensation which arises dependent on form,

The experience of body.

It can be separated either through tranquility or through vipassana.

Then you have the problems of mind,

Perceptions arising,

Mental formations arising,

Sannyas and sankara.

They arise dependent on their own causes and conditions.

We don't decide we are going to perceive,

Perception just happens.

We try to stop our thoughts during tranquility meditation but still thoughts just keep coming.

They follow their own nature.

So nature is mind.

So the knowing quality can see that,

See the emptiness of it,

See the space of it.

See now,

Rupa,

Veda na,

Sannyas,

Sankara,

Form,

Sensations,

Perceptions and mental formations are just phenomena following their own cause and effect cycle.

Just phenomena happening.

Not me,

Not belonging to me.

Anata,

Empty of self.

Seeing this and penetrating through to not self is vipassana.

The path laid down by the Buddha,

Vipassana.

Samatha is a skillful means taught by the Buddha.

The path realised by the Buddha is vipassana.

Seeing things the way they are.

Seeing these khandhas as not self.

Form,

Feeling,

Perceptions,

Mental formations and consciousness.

So then we say,

But isn't the yana consciousness?

The essence of consciousness is the eye of knowing the yana.

The consciousness of the khandhas is the sense consciousness.

How consciousness arises is dependent on the sense gates.

We are cognizant of seeing.

When there is a visual object,

Matter,

The eye gate,

The actual eye and consciousness,

When those three come together we have the experience of seeing eye consciousness.

The same goes for all the senses and also the consciousness of mental stuff happening.

Of thought,

Of perceptions.

Consciousness arises dependent on thought and the five senses.

This consciousness is impermanent.

This consciousness arises dependent on causes and conditions.

This consciousness is not self,

It is anatta.

Empty of self.

The knowing quality deeper than that is separate.

Separating the knowing quality from the five khandhas is vipassana.

Vipassana is described as akaliko.

The dharma is akaliko.

Akaliko is timeless.

The Buddha put forward four postures for practicing the dharma.

Sitting,

Standing,

Lying and walking.

There are no other postures.

That means all the time.

At no time in life are you not doing one of those four postures or a variation of one of those four postures.

Timeless means can be practiced all the time.

It's quite simple.

So vipassana is not dependent on sitting with your legs crossed.

Not dependent on prostrating before the altar.

Not dependent on tranquility.

Not dependent on a peaceful surrounding.

Free from conditions.

It can be practiced now.

You don't need to sit down and spend a special time.

At work you can practice vipassana.

Whilst arguing with your spouse you can practice vipassana.

Whilst going to the toilet,

Whilst falling asleep,

Whilst resting.

Whatever you do you can see clearly the knowing quality is separate from the body and separate from the mind.

So your body and mind can follow their function.

The body needs to eat,

Sleep,

Rest,

Work.

The mind needs to think,

Plan,

Work.

It needs to react.

It needs to function in accordance with its job.

The reaction to the people around you.

If you didn't function and just remained in stillness you may as well be in a coma.

If that was the goal let's just all get in a coma.

If samadhi is the goal why don't we just all get in comas?

Then we'd be free from suffering.

Because it doesn't work.

Then what?

It's impermanent.

Vipassana is free from condition,

Free from time.

It can be practiced all the time.

Seeing with clarity,

Clearly seeing the way things are.

Body is not self.

Feelings are not self.

Mind is not self.

Seeing everything as its not self quality,

Just as phenomena.

Seeing its emptiness.

It's just something happening.

Just something happening.

Penetrating through with this seeing.

Looking deeply until you see the reality of not self of anatta.

Seeing anatta is the doorway to nirvana.

Not self cannot suffer.

Not self cannot suffer.

If there is no me or mind what is suffering?

Where is the suffering to land?

Suffering only arises dependent on me and mine.

Dukkha and tragedy are part of existence.

They happen all around us,

In all countries,

In all space.

But we don't suffer because of the tragedy that's not happening to me and mine.

But the tragedy is the same.

The dukkha is the same.

Only the clinging and attaching to it,

The identification with me and mine causes suffering.

So this khandhas,

This baggage,

The bundles of suffering which we carry around are the cause of suffering and they are heavy.

So we want to become enlightened,

To become light,

To drop the load,

To let go of that which is heavy.

That which is heavy,

The body and mind,

They are heavy.

The phone,

The phone here which weighs only a few grams,

It's not that heavy.

But if I'm attached to it and drop it and smash it and then I carry around the idea of my broken phone,

Now that weighs a ton.

Heavy hearted because of this thing that weighs only a few grams,

I carry it around on my heart,

It weighs a ton.

That's the sickness of the mind carrying things around.

You carry the problems of others like they're our own.

The problems of another country,

Dwelling on politics,

On the suffering,

The wars in the world.

I can't believe the gun laws in America.

Carry that around.

I'm heavy hearted here.

How is the world so dark?

I can't believe it.

Carry that suffering around like a crazy person.

It's not enough to carry around your own khandas,

Let's carry around the khandas of another million people.

That's mental illness.

But it's common.

Mental illness is common.

In fact,

Everyone that's not an Arahant is mentally ill because they're not normal.

They have illness.

We don't see reality,

Disturbed from reality.

Not self is the reality but we fall into this delusion of self.

It's not that we're training to destroy the self,

We're training to make the self into a not self.

There already is no self.

There's nothing to lose.

The only thing we lose is ignorance.

The only thing we lose is the delusion.

When we lose the delusion,

Suffering falls away with it.

Suffering is completely dependent on me and mine,

On the delusion of me and mine.

When you lose that delusion,

All pain falls away with it.

Seeing that delusion is vipassana.

Seeing this reality clearly,

Not intellectually,

Not philosophically,

But through direct experience in a strong and profound way is called the opening of the Dharma eye.

When the Dharma eye is open,

We see clearly cause and effect.

We see clearly the Dharma.

What is the Dharma?

The Dharma is these five khandas are not self.

The Dharma is there is suffering.

The Dharma is this suffering is caused by clinging.

What do we cling to?

We cling to these five khandas.

The Dharma is there is a possible end to this suffering.

The Dharma is the end to this suffering is created by the path,

The eightfold noble path,

Caused by the eightfold noble path.

The path where we are free from the khandas,

Free from not self.

All the way from right view to right concentration,

The view which is anatta and the concentration which is anatta.

Every factor of the eightfold noble path free from self,

Anatta,

Not self,

Emptiness,

Nibbana.

Knowing the knowing quality knows and then it doesn't know and then it knows.

So we need to cultivate the knowing quality so it becomes constant,

Becomes a continuum.

The seeing,

Clear seeing.

What sees?

Mindfulness sees,

Sati sees.

When mindfulness falls away we have no mindfulness,

No sati.

Then mindfulness arises again we have sati.

When mindfulness is constant we call it maha sati,

Great sati.

Mindfulness which is always present and mindfulness has become a continuum.

So mindfulness simply remembers,

It knows.

What does it remember?

It remembers to look.

It remembers to look.

What does it look at?

It looks at the way things are.

So we know and then we see.

What do we see?

We see the way things are.

How are things?

They are empty of self,

They are anatta.

Sati anatta,

Sati vipassana,

Mindfulness clear seeing.

Mindfulness clear seeing,

Let go.

Know see,

Let go.

Vipassana,

The practice of vipassana,

The practice of the noble ones leading to freedom.

Know see,

Let go.

All the time,

Timeless.

All the time maha sati,

Great mindfulness free from time.

Timeless,

Always on time.

When something arises you see it right there,

You see its nature right there and you let go right there.

Like writing words in water as it arises it immediately falls away.

That's when your mindfulness is on time,

Your mindfulness is quick enough,

We have maha sati.

Ordinary sati is like writing something in sand.

It's there and then gradually you let it go.

It's already created suffering and karma,

It had a presence.

No mindfulness is like chiseling something in stone.

You've made real karma,

You're going to wear those effects for a long time.

So we have no mindfulness,

The activity of somebody that doesn't cultivate.

We have mindfulness,

The activity of somebody that's on the path and we have maha sati or great mindfulness,

The activity of somebody who's truly getting there,

Truly achieving on the path.

Writing in stone,

Writing in sand and writing in water.

When you write in water it dissolves the moment it happens.

So the mind and body can function freely in this world without any attachment.

It doesn't mean you don't write anymore.

You're not in a coma.

It doesn't mean you can't support your practice and help others.

Then you can truly help others.

Before that trying to help others is a bit like somebody drowning trying to save somebody drowning.

First you need to stop drowning,

Get yourself on dry land then you can pull somebody else up.

Dry land is not self,

Empty.

Empty of what?

Empty of the cause of suffering,

Me and mine.

Bound up with me and mine are the kalasas,

The defilements of mind.

Greed,

Anger and delusion.

Bound up with me and mine.

There's nothing to be greedy about if there's no me and mine.

How can you get offended and angry if there's no me and mine?

When you know there's no me and mine there's no delusion.

So all the 84,

000 Dharma gates can be narrowed down to recognizing not self,

The essence of the Buddhist teaching.

From complexity to singleness,

From complexity to simpleness.

The simple path,

The one which we walk,

The one which we sit,

The one which we lie,

The one practice.

Timeless akalaka of vipassanayana.

Seeing now,

Knowing,

Knowing whatever arises in body or mind,

Seeing it for what it is.

It is body,

That's what it is.

It is mind,

That's what it is.

Seeing the separation between the knowing quality in body and mind gives you peace.

Instantly it gives you freedom.

Freedom from body.

So when pain arises try not to change.

Adjust.

Adjusting the body is going with letting the knowing quality and the mind get caught up in body.

Bound,

Not unbound.

We call this bound.

We call this attached.

We call this clinging.

We want to be free from clinging,

Unbound from suffering,

Detached.

What is detached?

The knowing quality is detached.

What is the knowing quality detached from?

The knowing quality is detached from body and mind.

This is not detached as in cold hearted.

This is detached as in separate,

Unbound,

Nirvana,

Unbinding,

To be unbound.

So the knowing quality is no longer stuck to body and mind.

When it's no longer stuck to body and mind,

The karmic cycles of body and mind will no longer pull the knowing quality along with it.

When we die the karma goes on and on and it pulls the consciousness,

The knowing quality along with it because we're attached to,

We're bound up with,

We identify with that.

Identifying with that we get dragged into rebirth and this is the cause of rebirth,

The cause of suffering.

When the mind is free,

So when the knowing quality is free from mind and free from body,

The karmas of mind and body still go on at death because energy is transformation,

It keeps happening,

But your knowing quality is not caught up.

When the knowing quality is not bound to,

Not glued to,

Not attached to mind and body,

The karmas of mind and body will no longer drag it into rebirth and we call this freedom,

Delinquishment,

Arahant,

Enlightenment,

The goal,

The other shore.

So the path is simple,

But simple is not yet easy.

Even doing it is not that hard,

But maintaining it is difficult.

It's not something we can achieve in a day or a week or a month or a year.

You have to practice akaliko,

Practice timeless,

Aka all the time,

In the four postures,

Aka all the time.

It doesn't mean,

Okay,

Monday I'm going to do standing meditation,

Tuesday sitting meditation,

Wednesday lying meditation,

Thursday walking meditation.

Means when walking,

No,

See,

No,

Let go.

When sitting,

See,

No,

Let go.

When lying down,

See,

No,

Let go.

In all postures,

At all times,

Whatever the mind and body are doing,

Recognize,

See,

See the way things are.

Know they're not self quality.

Know that which is happening is not self.

See it directly.

Do not paint on the mental construct the idea of not self.

That's just another mental fabrication,

Just another sankara.

See that the knowing quality is separate to that which is happening.

Look at it nakedly.

Look at it honestly.

See it.

Seeing is vipassana.

Wisdom,

That is wisdom.

That is the wisdom which causes release.

Release from what?

Release from suffering.

Release from me and mine.

And thus,

Release from birth.

We call that nibbana.

Arahant enlightenment.

To be achieved first in small moments.

See,

No,

Release.

Then ignorance comes back in.

You don't see.

You just get caught.

You don't know.

You just spiral.

And therefore you don't release.

You just identify.

Then you catch yourself.

Ah,

You see.

You know,

Oh,

I'm caught up.

Hold on,

That's not self.

Then what am I doing?

That's madness.

Just drop it.

Just let go.

At that moment there is ease,

There is peace.

So it takes minutes.

And you keep practicing and it takes minutes until you can do it quicker.

Now it takes five seconds until you can do it quicker.

Two seconds.

One second.

Until seeing,

Knowing,

And releasing all happen in the moment of seeing,

Which all happens in the moment of arising.

So arising and existing and falling away become void.

There is only emptiness.

They call this no arising,

No existing,

And no falling away.

Both arising,

Existing,

And falling away all exist within emptiness.

Empty of self,

Free from the kaleshas,

Free from the cause of suffering.

Anatta nibbana.

Letting go and not picking up extra baggage.

At the very least try not to pick up extra baggage.

We carry around the negative qualities of others and others do things that we don't like.

We pick it up and carry it around.

I can't believe what he said to me.

I just can't believe it.

He only said it once,

But we carry it around and we say it to ourselves a thousand times that day.

I can't believe he said it.

You keep saying it to yourself.

Those few words they weigh a ton.

Heavy hearted.

I can't believe what he did.

Carry it around.

Carry around the burden of,

I really have to fix that leak.

So you're carrying around the whole roof now.

That's pretty heavy.

Carrying things around,

Making the self which is already enormous and heavy and painful,

Making it even greater.

Making the self so big that now it carries everyone we know.

It carries the whole nation.

Carries a whole household and a business and a car.

Carry everything around very heavy,

Very stressful,

Impossible to bear,

Unbearable.

Dukkha,

That which is hard to bear.

In the very beginning,

At the very least,

Try not to carry extra baggage around.

See the extra baggage.

Know that it's extra.

That house is not me.

That's pretty easy.

Let go.

If you don't let go,

Then seeing and knowing have no purpose.

See no,

Let go.

It's like holding a hot coal.

Holding it,

Holding it and burning and suffering.

The moment you let go,

The suffering ends.

So you have to see,

Oh,

I'm holding a coal.

This coal is not part of me.

Let go.

See,

Know,

Let go.

The moment you let go,

Suffering falls away.

Reviews

Excellent. Bookmarking @10:55 to repeat. Thank you so much 🙏🏼

🙏🏻🙏🏻

Bows. Many thanks

Absolutely one of my favorite teachings.

Excellent

Succinct guiding.
Much appreciation

Excellent. This has provided me with some new insights and a better understanding of vipassana 🙏🌻

you are amazing, impressive and clear. I like how clear you are.

Perfect 💜🙏

I really liked tge analogy writing in water, sand or rock

This talk helped me understand what release means.

“The minute you let go suffering falls away.” Great talk!😀

Absolutely fantastic 🙌🏼 Thank you

Lovely explanation of the Buddhist path. One of the clearest description of the 5 kandas I’ve found. Very dense and rich. Will listen to it many times!

its a pretty cool discourse, but isnt a guided meditation...