So having determined to take up the eight precepts just before,
We can see that the five precepts,
They give a certain power or energy to the practice that can lead to the level of a stream-entrer or a once-returner.
But the eight precepts,
They have an even higher result or benefit than that,
That their energy can lead one to anagami,
To a non-returner.
So in taking up these eight precepts,
We keep the brahmacharya,
So being celibate or keep up the holy life,
And there's immense benefit to that.
We also don't eat anything in the evening,
We don't get involved with beautifying the body,
We don't engage in any form of entertainment,
And we don't find happiness or pleasure in rest through sleeping in high or luxurious places.
So by taking these up,
What that shows is that we have great sincerity in our practice,
And sincerity to gain peace.
So we normally keep these precepts,
The five precepts,
But now we're taking up an even higher level of precept than that.
And what that gives us in return is opportunity and time to cultivate mindfulness,
To give rise to samadhi so that it becomes even firmer than what it was before.
We have the time to chant,
The time to sit in meditation,
To do walking meditation,
To be training our minds even more than we had before.
And so we can cut off any concern that we may have had about eating in the evening,
Because that wastes a lot of time,
That evening meal.
And then the food that we put into our body in the evening,
Then the body has to work at digesting that as well.
So these eight precepts,
Not eating in the evening,
That's conducive to the body,
That the body feels light when we sit in meditation.
In the evening we can have some allowables to allow the body to stay functioning well.
And so in that state then it's appropriate,
It's a suitable state for cultivating both mindfulness and samadhi.
Also with our bodies,
That we don't adorn them or beautify them.
We don't get distracted or lost in forms of entertainment.
Because by doing that we lose a lot of time,
And really we waste our time in a way that doesn't give rise to benefit for us.
So therefore we should just let go of concerns with regards to our body,
Finding pleasure in rest.
So we try to cut that off,
And what for?
It's for the sake of training our minds.
So we've taken out these eight precepts and they give us great benefits,
More than the five precepts.
And they increase our energy and the faith that we have.
Even though we could be eating delicious foods in the evening,
But we abandon that,
We let that go after midday.
And it's quite difficult to do this,
That in order to do that one needs faith.
There needs to be this belief in the perfectly self-awakened Buddha.
And so the Buddha himself previously had practiced in this way as well,
With these eight precepts.
Or the Savaka,
The awakened disciples of the Buddha,
They also previously had practiced with these eight precepts.
And Anadapindika,
That on the lunar observance days,
The uposita days,
That everyone in his household would keep the eight precepts.
This was really quite amazing.
So we keep this up and we use our whole practice in homage to the perfectly self-awakened Buddha,
The Dhamma,
And the Sangha.
Because we see that if we don't keep these eight precepts,
Then we waste a lot of time with looking after our body.
But now what we should do is we should try to see the truth of the body,
Try to contemplate it well.
And so we don't get involved in beautifying the body,
But rather we just let it go in line with its nature.
And now we practice to bring the mind to peace.
So we use this time that we have here to train our minds and to train them well,
That we're not getting involved in seeking pleasures in the world,
In entertainments.
Because when we do that,
When we have that deluded delight in these things,
Then that is really just a pointless use of our time,
That it doesn't give any benefit.
And so Sariputta and Mahamoggalana,
That before they had ordained,
They went to a festival.
And as they were watching that festival,
They both saw that there was really no point to it.
There was no essence of it.
They saw that the people performing in that festival and the people watching,
All of them needed to die.
And they were just wasting the time that they had alive in a way that gave rise to no benefit,
That had no essence.
So they thought that there was no point to this,
So it would be better to seek out the Dhamma.
So for us,
We have taken up these eight precepts,
And we've seen that there's really no point or no essence to finding delight in the world,
And delighting in the sensory experiences that we come across.
So rather what we do instead is we come to train our minds.
And then as we keep those up,
Then what we're doing is cultivating our Barami,
For the sake of being able to see more and more into the Dhamma.
And really by keeping these precepts and having,
Participating in this retreat,
That we're practicing like monks.
Because what we want is freedom.
We've seen the drawbacks in the cycle of saṃsāra.
So we should understand that by keeping up these eight precepts,
By taking these on,
Then we are practicing as kind of exalted people.
What they say,
The word for monk in Thai,
Pra,
It means exalted.
So it's like we're practicing as a monk.
So you keep these precepts for many days,
From this day until the day that you go back on the 25th.
And then after here,
You're traveling to Sri Lanka and then practicing further there.
And so you have this real sincerity.
And many of you have come together,
So from Switzerland and Peru,
And also from India,
The places of the Buddha,
And from Sri Lanka as well.
And so many,
Many people come from many places or come together with Ajahn Visuddhananda as the leader of the group,
Who has taken you here in order to practice in a more intense way,
In order for you to develop your mindfulness and samādhi,
To listen to the Dhamma,
To contemplate into the Dhamma.
You can ask questions and gain answers about the Dhamma,
Training your minds in order to see emptiness.
And so you gain more knowledge about the teachings and those grow.
You gain more faith and more effort as well.
That as you carry on practicing,
Then your samādhi,
Your mindfulness,
Your wisdom becomes stronger and stronger.
And this all relies upon sila as its important foundation,
The foundation for samādhi and for wisdom.
And so all those grow to the point where you know and see into the Dhamma,
And that's the end point of this practice.
