Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A Thai monk’s repeated response to a struggling meditator — “begin again” — opens this 45-minute session by Ven Jampa Gendun and anchors its central theme: the freedom, at any moment, to recommit to the path of genuine happiness. He moves from the Dalai Lama’s observation that all beings simply want contentment, through the idea that going for refuge is a consistent daily choice rather than a one-time event, then leads a loving-kindness meditation working across six types of people — from close friend to outright enemy. The second half turns to dependent arising applied to the self: using a prime minister analogy, he shows how the solid-seeming “I” is constructed through causes, parts, and conceptual labeling, and explains why loosening that grip reduces the ignorance that fuels attachment, aversion, and suffering.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 09 HMA 1997 10 22.mp3
UUID: 5447ab56-39a3-471c-ad87-ba6c565c555b
Teacher: Ven Jampa Gendun
Collection: The Heart and Mind of Awakening 1996-1997 (Ven Jampa Gendun)
Date: 1997-10-22
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.3 minutes
Words: ~6,269
This is something from the Dalai Lama where he says, I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want to suffer. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don’t know whether the universe with its countless galaxies, stars, and planets has a deeper meaning or not.
But at the very least, it is clear that we human who live on the earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring us the greatest degree of happiness. When we I guess when we set aside all our intellectualizing, all our philosophizing, all our various theologies about the nature of the universe and what the purpose of life is all about. We all just wanna be happy, kind of a basic honest truth about ourselves. So we’re all involved in one way or another, a search for that contentment, for what is to make us what is going to make us happy and what is gonna help us to solve our problems, get rid of this underlying feeling of struggle, dissatisfaction, of disappointment, of frustration, what we call dukkha.
It’s, you know, life life hurts us. We clash with our world. Life sort sort of grinds upon ourselves like a wheel upon its axle. So you know, we we we are all casting about in one way or another searching for some some tool, something, some method, some way to get to where we want to go, to get to this place of of peace where we can set aside the burden, where the pain’s gone away and we can breathe a deep sigh of relief and rest. So you know the we’re all on a journey.
You know there’s a there’s an old cliche and even the journey of a thousand miles has to begin with the first footstep. You know, many of us in looking at where we want to get to in terms of the quality of our life and who we might want to be aren’t willing to make the intermediate steps which will bring us there. And therefore, we don’t make the effort at all. And we’re we have to I think to be a little bit humble in our in our approach to finding the happiness that we’re all looking for and be be willing to make lots of little steps. But at least we’re we want we know what direction we want to go in, what direction we find where our happiness may in fact lie.
So we can at least feel some kind of self assurance that we’re that what we’re doing, the the what all the energy and the time and the resources that we expend in in getting struggling for the happiness that we’re looking for is going to bring some kind of a fruit. It’s going to bear some kind of result. It’s just we’re not going to go around in the same senseless circles experiencing very much the same senseless outcomes which haven’t brought us what we’ve been looking for up to now. And I probably mentioned this but, you know, a number of years ago just before I came to Buddha House which has been initially over ten years ago. I spent some time on a in Thailand in in a wat off the coast of Thailand in the on an island called Koh Samui.
And and there wasn’t much to do in a wad. I don’t know if you’ve ever spent much time at a Buddhist monastery. I used to watch the coconut trees grow, know, I don’t know. Isn’t isn’t all that exciting? And Oh, yeah.
And off in the distance there would be the, you know, the the horizon of the ocean. Sometimes a ship would go by. That was that was a big day. And sometimes I’d I’d really I’d question just what it was I was doing there month after month, you know, trying to you know, confronting my own mind to a large degree and a lot of issues which I had fairly successfully avoided most of my life. And in there alone and with very few physical comforts without all the distractions and pleasures which usually I found some kind of refuge in.
So I used to there were three monks. It wasn’t a very big one, obviously. There were three Thai monks and myself and we would gather together in the afternoon to we’d have a drink of hot chocolate. And one of the monks spoke some English. Not ever quite sure how much.
You know, and I I kind of you know, sometimes I’d be down and kind of lonely and forlorn and I’d kinda share my feelings, these difficult feelings with with this other monk. He would listen very attentively with patience. And invariably he would say, begin again. And that that was all. That was he would just repeat that.
That was all. Just begin again. So perhaps the point is that that we that we are always free to begin again anew, to to begin all over again if we need to. No matter who we are or who we have been in the past, what we’ve done, even up to only a few moments ago, no matter what our life story has has been up to now, we can start again from just there. We can start all over again if it’s necessary from just who we are now and where we’ve arrived in this this journey of our life.
You know, from moment to moment, we can choose to put, you know, this one foot in front of the other and re choosing and continually taking these humble, almost minuscule steps in the direction that we would have our lives go of who we want to be, of what kind of world we’d like to live in. You know, we can we can begin to make a habit of who we want to be. We can go beyond our present selves and and if we have the imagination and the will to do it. So this is I guess, one of the great fundamental beliefs of Buddhism. It tries to help us to point at this very fact of our great human fortune and what it means to be human beings, something that most of us take very much for granted, that we have the freedom to choose.
You know, that we’re there is always this this ever present possibility to begin again, new, afresh, you know, with the opportunity to transcend our past. Our our history is the life story that has dominated us up to present. You know, we the idea of reauthoring our lives, cease to be a victim and taking control in some way or another. You know, what has been need no longer be true for ourselves. But you know generally we just drift, don’t we, into those modes of being and those ways of thinking and acting which come have come to define us.
Know, life pushes and we we just go along. We you in some way or another. And then imperceptibly we have become the person that we are now without having probably made any conscious choice along the way. And whatever whoever we are, whatever our circumstances may be, whatever our seeming lot in life, What whatever our real or or imagined constraints in some form or other however limited, however nearly, you know, like circumscribed. The chance is always there within us, around us, in some way to stop yielding and to begin to choose in that very moment.
And only if only for that moment. And it will take tomorrow will take care of itself. It’s this moment I want to concern myself with and make that small step in the direction of who I want to be, to make that kind of a choice within the present context of what is happening for me. You know, I’m not I don’t have to overly concern myself about tomorrow or next month or next year as a means of avoiding taking responsibility for their present self. You know, if we’re committed, if we are aware of alternatives, and I think Buddhism is trying to present us with some alternatives, other possibilities, and if we deliberate we look for the chance to make those choices, a a choosing of a difference that is going to make a difference in some way or another, in some fashion or another, that possibility is always present before us.
In some restricted, some almost perhaps insignificant ways. If we look for it, we can find it. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideals and splendid plans, that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents meetings and material assistance which no person could have dreamed would have come their way. Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. And begin it now. I don’t think we’re quite alone in this journey that we’re on.
But perhaps we have to you know, there there’s a there’s an expression in Judaism. God helps those who help themselves. It’s a it’s kind of a nifty catch twenty two, isn’t it? But there there may be some, you know, some deep message in such a thought that if once we begin to choose, then then perhaps providence begins to move in our favor. That the world becomes supportive in what it is that we’re seeking to find.
You know, the the commitment making some kind of commitment, You know, this is what refuge is all about, isn’t it? Journeying a path is all about, isn’t it? Commitment is a a consistent choice of the discipline that a particular context prescribes. A a consistent choice. It’s a matter of choosing.
But choosing over time in all the the you know, in the in the context of all the vicissitudes, all the all the changing fortunes that life is continually bringing us, to make a consistent choice in in terms of some kind of discipline, some direction that you really want to go. You know, going for refuge to to the Buddha, to the Dharma, and the spiritual community is a consistent choice of the discipline that the context of Buddhism prescribes. And it’s to an you know, what it is that we want is happiness. It is Buddhism is saying this is a particular way of choosing which can ensure that the outcome of those choices will make a difference in the quality of your life for the better. Ultimately, the difference of awakening.
And that’s what it’s that’s what it holds out for ourselves in terms of our possibility and what the Buddha has said to have found for himself and and countless others have found for themselves. You know, commitment is a way of of deeply caring for ourselves, of of honoring our dreams. It’s a way of caring for others and honoring their dreams as well. You know, a way of of not giving up on ourselves and not giving up on others. This kind of commitment that we’re making, that we’re continually choosing to make.
You know, who we are We have learned who we are. You know, who we are now is a learned process. Our approach to the way that we live our lives is a learned experience. And whatever has been learned can be relearned and other learning can take its place. We can relearn ourselves.
We can reinvent ourselves and how to live our lives. This is open to us. This is an opportunity if we are committed and aware of alternatives. So this is what we do, you know, every Wednesday when we come together, every time that we sit down to meditate. It’s something it becomes like a way of life, this going for refuge.
This consistent rechoosing of where you want to go, who you want to be. This consistent going for refuge to something that you are the ultimate transformation of, something inside of yourself. So, you know, the beginning of any real learning is first to believe that we can learn. And the primary lesson that we are to learn is how to choose and what to choose. You know, what it is that we are to we can learn and the primary lesson that we are to learn is what to choose and how to go about choosing that in fact.
You know, to learn about alternatives and how to actualize those alternatives. And we have to begin to act as if we were free. You know, the first our first conscious choice is to act as if we were free and regaining the freedom that we’ve lost against denial in being a victim most of our lives in one way or another whether probably not consciously but but in the way that we’ve lived our life, the story that we’ve told ourselves, the story of our victim in some way or another. And the freedom is the aware of awareness of alternatives and the ability to choose. So we we we are learning through our study of other possibilities of alternatives and beginning to believe in ourselves and the and our capacity for choice.
There are alternatives and we do have the ability to choose. We we can choose to be a Buddha if we so choose. It’s you know, the the beginning of as Goethe says in this quotation concerning commitment is the beginning of genius and power and and magic is boldly believing that we can. If you believe you can or if you believe you can’t, you’re right. But not just believing, actually willing to be so.
That we we are free to do what we will. So, you know, we want to be happy and the the possibility of that happiness is open to ourselves if we so choose it and if we are willing to consistently take those steps in the direction of where our real happiness lies. And in terms of the of the Buddhist presentation and the Buddhist world view if you like, that choice is the consistent choice of Buddha. The Buddha with with inside of ourselves. This this that basically we are decent, caring, intelligent human beings and that we can we can cause those qualities to grow and dominate our life.
We can become happy, healthy, tremendously sane human beings. But we have to learn how to do that and to implement those means which is the dharma. So we choose the dharma. We choose, you know, we make the effort. We take those steps of love and compassion, wisdom, compassion, love, compassion, wisdom, compassion.
We actually make some kind of journey. You know, we actually have to do something. There’s no substitute for some kind of effort in taking a step along the path. Sincerity or wishful thinking is is not sufficient. We actually have to expend the effort.
And there are those who help us in this journey that we’re all on. Those are fellow travelers, the spiritual community or our Sangha, you know, availing ourselves for their assistance, support in all the various possible ways and returning that support with whatever resources you may have to offer. And then this is a worthwhile life. There’ll be some it’s a type of way of life that can make a difference in terms of the quality of our life, in terms of the coherence and livability, in terms of the happiness of our life. And then but not forgetting that others are are very much in the same situation as ourselves, that they too are seeking happiness, that they, like ourselves, don’t want to suffer.
And if I can only become something more in who I am for their sake, then, you know, what are the best of all possible ways of life that I have found what I’m looking for and I can help others to do the same. And that’s the goal of Buddhism. That’s what we’re, seeking to find. To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the supreme community, I go for refuge until awakening. Through the creative potential of my listening to the Dharma.
May I achieve the state of a Buddha for the sake of all sentient beings. To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Community, I go for refuge until awakening. Through the creative potential of my listening to the Dharma, may I achieve the state of a Buddha for the sake of all living beings. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Community, I go for refuge until awakening through the creative potential of my listening to the Dharma. May I achieve the state of a Buddha for the sake of our living beings.
Reverently, I pay homage with my body, speech and mind, and present clouds of every type of offering that is actual and imagined. I disclose all destructive acts accumulated since time without beginning and rejoice in the skillful actions of holy and ordinary beings. Please remain until cyclic existence has ended and turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. I dedicate the skillful actions of myself and others to the great awakening. We’re going to meditate together and cultivating love and compassion with regard to the spectrum of possible ways of relating with others.
Someone who you’re very close to that you love a great deal. Someone that’s slightly outside of that primary circle of significant people in your life. Is that what we say? And then someone who’s you don’t have any particular relationship with but they appear very attractive. Something about them physically, their vibration, whatever.
And then someone that you also is a stranger but something about them is repulsive, you don’t like it, kind of turns you off for some reason or another. Someone you have some, you know, have a relationship with and maybe things aren’t going all that well but it’s not very important to yourself. And then finally, someone you’re having some real difficulties with, somebody you don’t like. You have feelings of hostility and dislike for them. So working with that, you know, actually, you know, this is, you know, feeling that there are these all these various possible types of people in your life in terms of the way that we could relate with them and seeing if you can draw all of them into this this way of relating in terms of, you know, can you can you feel a a genuine sense of of friendliness for them all?
Like, can you can you can you include them all in that ability to generate these feelings of, you know, wouldn’t it be nice if you were happy? Can you can you gently can you genuinely direct this feeling toward all of them indiscriminately without any bias. Because going beyond the the how how they are in this this self referencing care tendency, you know, what they might what they can do for you. But but beginning to step out of your self centered approach to your relationships and begin to experience how the world might be looked out of their eyes. Know, can you develop a sense of sympathy and empathy and identify with their plights, you know, regardless of how you may feel about them in terms of what’s in it for you.
And simply wish them well, wish them happiness, or wish them not to suffer. All of these different types of people that we usually discriminate in terms of who we’re going to hold close and who we’re going to keep at a distance. Then the practice of the nine round breathing meditation, mindfulness of breathing. And then we’ve been we meditate on dependent arising. We’ve about dependent arising last week.
And we said that there were three levels of dependent arising and three levels of interpretation from the coarse level to a more subtle level and the subtlest level. That the you know, that all the phenomena are dependent arising. And this the way that they are dependent arising can be interpreted in terms of these three levels. That they are dependent arisings because they arise in dependence upon causes and conditions. They are dependent arisings because they arise in reliance upon their parts.
They dependent arisings because they depend for their existence upon language and conceptuality. So these are more and more subtle ways of viewing the the nature, the conventional nature of phenomena. We’re going to just I think it’s useful to apply this to the I, the self. So we’re going to go through these three levels with regard to the I, with the self. You know, without previous to any I think previous to any analysis investigation of the sense of I or self.
There’s a there’s a very there’s a the I feels very gross, very solid, very heavy. We have is it is out of it is out of this solid sense of self that this strong sense of I that that we we draw a a absolute demarcation between self and other. And out of this, there’s my side and the other side, out of this attachment and aversion. So I think by by continually investigating, even the conventional nature in terms of dependent arising, the I doesn’t quite we don’t have quite that solid concrete sense of eye. It becomes slightly more transparent, translucent, a little more ephemeral.
It it’s not as quite as gross. And therefore, since the sense of I is less strong, this this the general tendency toward attachment and hatred, is less. Maybe I’ll I’ll read something from, in this context. So, you know, I think this is just helpful. Just keep going through and analyzing in terms of the dependent arising nature of the I or the self.
There’s you know, we’re talking about the conventionally existent I. We we almost never think of the I in these terms, in terms of its conventional existence. There is indeed a conventionally valid I, a self that is the doer of actions, that is the accumulator of karma, and that is the person undergoing suffering and so forth as the fruit of those actions. However, when we examine the mode of apprehension of the I, when the I gets to the level of being a troublemaker, we find that we are conceiving a self-instituting I that is an exaggeration beyond what actually exists. When this eye appears to the mind, it does not appear to be designated in dependence upon the aggregates of mind and body.
Rather it seems almost as if it were own separate entity. So, you know, this we we have that sense of a a very solid concrete eye as if, you know, we’re not quite sure because we’ve never really taken the time or we’ve never learned the method of analyzing the nature of the eye. We never probably even brought it into question. It was something it was a taken for granted truth as it were. And now we’re deconstructing that truth to show it has no foundation in reality.
So we One And this is quite helpful. Now we’ve gone over the four point analysis and perhaps we can review that again tonight. But here we’re just simply going to gain a sense of how the an appreciation. You know, like it begins at the of the way in which the I exist as a dependent arising. You know, we’re talking about the conventional nature of the I.
The I exist. But we we almost have never gained an appreciation of the way it exists, in fact. The I as being a dependent arising. The I as being having arisen in dependence upon causes and conditions coming together. The I as existing in reliance upon parts, the the body, the mind, for example.
The I as arising in dependence upon language and conceptuality. So if we continually accustom the mind to how the I is a dependent arising, you know, how it’s arising in dependence upon causes and conditions, how it’s arising in dependence upon its parts, how it’s arising in dependence upon language and conceptuality, then the antithesis of that, that it’s independently existing is is less liable to occur. And the I moreover, it begins to break down a sense of solidity of of concreteness that we have about the eye. You know, the eye becomes more of of a process rather than a solid thing. We can see the processes which bring it into existence.
The processes of cause and the conditions coming together, aggregating, the processes of of the the mind conceiving. And so it is less occasion for the solid grasping, for the grasping of a solid sense of I and therefore, you know, the all that arises in dependence upon that, all the attachment and hatred and jealousy and all the eighty-four thousand afflictive emotions. So anyway, we’re we’re we’re going I’ll lead you through that meditation. So if you take a comfortable firm posture. First, can you touch with?
So we’ve been quite some time now looking at the a very short text called the three principal aspects of the path by Je Tsongkhapa. Sort of takes the essential points of the graduated path to awakening which is the way it takes the essence of the Buddhist teachings and sets them out as a way of practice. So the three principal aspects of the path renunciation, the awakened heart, and the awakened mind. And within that we’ve been we’re going to finish the awakened mind.
If you do not have the wisdom realizing the way things are even though you have developed the thought definitely to leave existence and altruistic intention, that is to say the will to awaken and the awakened heart. If you even though you’ve developed those, the root of cyclic existence cannot be cut. Therefore, work at the means of realizing dependent arising. So, you know, as we’ve tried to point out that dependent arising is the other side of the coin of emptiness. Dependent arising is conventional truth.
Emptiness is ultimate truth. But, you know, the the the dependence in dependent arising means that all phenomena exist contingent and relative to other phenomena upon which they depend. So I think, you know, it’s very necessary to always come back to why is it that we’re trying to understand dependent arising? Why is it we’re trying to understand emptiness? Otherwise, it becomes rather an abstract philosophy of some sort.
It’s because we instinctively have a belief which is opposed, which is the antithesis of the understanding of emptiness and dependent arising. This misbelief is ignorance. This misconception has the nature of the way things exist. If we didn’t have that then we wouldn’t have to bother studying emptiness or dependent arising. It wouldn’t make much difference.
But it’s because we have that belief that it’s necessary to begin to begin this study and develop the wisdom which is able to oppose that ignorance. And why? Because ignorance is the root of cyclic existence. Ignorance is the root of all afflictive emotions, and afflictive emotions are the source of all karma, and karma is the cause of all suffering. Therefore, if we’re ever to find that happiness which we’re all looking for, we have to realize emptiness.
We have to understand dependent arising. We have to remove ignorance from our mind. That’s the kind of the evolution of that. It’s not simply because we’re a matter of idle speculation or some, you know, interested in some theory of Buddhism. It has a very deep pragmatic value.
It’s quite necessary as Tsongkhapa is saying, no matter how loving we may be or compassionate we may be or how much we desire to be free of our suffering, unless we develop this wisdom, we never will be because the cause of suffering, it will remain. The cause of suffering is ignorance within our own minds. So we have to develop as Tsongkhapa as Tsongkhapa says, the means of realizing dependent arising. So, you know, we’re to, you know, there which I think it’s you have to keep coming back and again to why we’re why are we trying to understand this way? You know, when I talk about dependent arising, for example, that just, you know, to take it as an illustration, as an example of what we mean by dependent arising so that one becomes accustomed to what is meant by dependent arising, but also to understand what difference that that accustoming process, that understanding is going to make.
You know, what is it opposing? You know, someone is running for the office of president of a country. You know, they have they have a body which arose, from the sperm and ovum of their parents. It rose in dependence upon food and water, all these various causes and conditions which investigated. Their mind arose from a previous moment of mind in their mental continuum and is conditioned by many factors.
So there’s a body and mind. But just having a body and mind and running for the office of president doesn’t make one a president. That the the doesn’t make one what we would call a proper basis for for being given the name president just simply because you run for the office of president or prime minister, the prime minister. Doesn’t make you a prime minister. Doesn’t make you a proper basis for being given the title prime minister.
The the addition the additional necessary condition are that the candidate win the election and they be sworn into office. So they have to be in order to become a proper basis for being given the title prime minister, they are they have to fulfill certain criteria. So there’s a basis. There’s the all of these causes and conditions have brought about a mind and a body. And then but there’s and and then there’s the this person runs for office, wins the election, and is sworn into office.
When all of these criteria are met, then they are a proper basis for being termed, he’s the prime minister now or she’s the prime minister now. They can be designated properly as such. If if if they did not depend upon this designating process, then they would necessarily would have been the prime minister at the from the moment of their birth. From the they would it would then have been some kind of intrinsic property. It would somehow have been their very nature that they were a prime minister from from birth, from their own if it if it existed completely from their own side.
But on the contrary, they have to become a proper basis for the title prime minister by fulfilling all all sorts of popular and legal conventions, for example. You know, going through an election process, being declared the winner, being sworn into office, having all of the body and mind as a basis. Basis. They brought they thereby achieved the status of a prime minister. So the the prime minister arose in dependence upon cause and condition, all those factors which brought about that basis, the body and mind.
They arose in dependence upon their parts and they arose which are the basis of designation. And then they are designated that they are designated using terms and conceptuality. They are labeled, given a name, prime minister, and they’re thought of as the prime minister once they’ve once they’ve fulfilled certain criteria, both established by popular convention and legal conventions. Then they are given the title prime minister. Every phenomenon in the universe exists in the same way.
That is all phenomena come into existence or arise in dependence upon their basis of designation and language and conceptuality which designate them. Now the point, you know, the the point is what that of all, you know, going through these simple minded examples, which you might readily agree with, is but this Intellectually, we we might agree and say this, I can understand that that’s the case. But emotionally, we we relate with the world on a completely opposite basis as if the objects, the phenomena which appear to us did not depend upon this process, that somehow that their the nature of what they are was intrinsic to themselves. It wasn’t dependent upon my thinking of them in that way. That my enemy is in fact my enemy from their own side.
It’s part of their intrinsic nature. That they differ that that beautiful, that desirable object is desirable by its very nature. There’s something about it. Something which coming from its own side. It doesn’t have anything to do with my conceiving of it as being desirable or beautiful or lovely and thereby developing attachment for it.
That that enemy has a repulsive nature from their own side, intrinsic You know, intellectually, perhaps this doesn’t make any sense. You know, we we say, well, you know, that’s that’s not the case. But emotionally, under the influence of ignorance, this is the way we relate with the world and we react to to what we conceive of as repulsive, what we conceive of as desirable. And our our minds get captivated by these appearances and the various afflictive emotions arise. Now it is not to say there is not beauty in the world.
It’s not to say there are not repulsive things in the world. But that beauty and repulsive, they are established in dependence, in terms of criteria, interpreted, you know, are culturally defined. You know, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. That it and and we are we have certain criteria in our society and our culture which determines what is beautiful beautiful and what is not beautiful, what is repulsive and what is not repulsive. It it’s not the object does not define itself.
It is it is only when we we see to the appearance that it does define itself, that is by its very nature desirable or repulsive. When we when we fall for that appearance, when we get sucked into that appearance, then these emotional reactions begin to take place. The process of the arising of anger and aversion of attachment and desire arise. Only in dependence upon being sucked into that appearance of that there’s that these qualities are self defining, intrinsic to the object in themselves, not not being arising in dependence upon culture and values and beliefs and styles and my own thinking about it in that way. All of these conditions and and imputations and designations and labeling processes and simply the process of thinking it in those terms, that something is about that object in its very nature makes it what it is.
That’s what we hold on to, that’s we grasp, and that which is doing that grasping is ignorance to those appearance as as if they exist in that way. That’s the way they appear and ignorance says, yes, I agree. That’s the way in fact they they do exist and grasps at their truth and and all these various afflictive emotions arise in dependence upon them. Beauty does exist. Repulsive objects do exist, but they don’t exist the way they appear.
The beauty arises in dependence upon being thought of as that, upon criteria which our culture establishes. Beauty changes over time. The criteria that we we use to judge, oh, this is beautiful, this is not beautiful, this is repulsive, changes over time, doesn’t it? Styles change, they come and go. What was popular ten years ago is, you know, many people in terms of clothing wouldn’t they wouldn’t be caught dead wearing today.
But at one point it appeared very beautiful in their eyes and they developed desire for it because there was something about it which was very appealing, which which they thought if if only they could make that a permanent part of themselves then they could experience that that bliss which was inherent in that object. Somehow it was going to bring them that happiness. So, I mean, you know, what it’s there’s some, you know, if we it has pragmatic utility, utility, what we’re talking about. The understanding that understanding how our mind is processing information and the the default is some kind of distortion in this process which is causing us problems and bringing and trying to correct that that fault which we call ignorance. One can partake of the beauty of the world and not be captivated by it, not become attached, addicted to that beauty.
So phenomena are nothing more or less than what we designate or label them to be. But but, you know, as was as I think we pointed out briefly last week, we just can’t call anything anything. Again, there’s certain criteria. Right? It’s not a matter of