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Wise Reflection for Unwise Times: Opening talk

Okay, good, nice to meet you all. This is my first time teaching right here in Silicon Valley. It's cool to be here. You hear about this place, and actually, you're here. So that's kind of nice, isn't it? Famous around the world.

But of course, what is really important is not so much where you are, or the people. People are pretty much the same everywhere you travel around the world. What matters is the dhamma^[1] that is available. And it's kind of nice to see that wherever you travel around the world, there is an interest in these profound and beautiful teachings of the Buddha.

Today, we're going to focus on how to deal with the problems in the world from a Buddhist perspective. This is the idea of the title for today's talk: how to look at the problems of the world and how to do that in a skillful way, so as to deal with it in a way that leads to growth rather than to decline, leading to more solutions rather than more problems in our life. This is what this is really about. Does that sound all right? Everyone happy with that? It's too late to turn around now. But anyway, we'll see what happens. [Laughter]

It is fascinating right now in the world; there seem to be so many issues and so many things everywhere coming together at the same time. We have big things like climate change happening here. We have all the political turmoil around the world. We have the saber-rattling between the large nations—China and the US—trying to see who's the toughest guy. We have all the problems with migration and refugees around the world. There are so many things happening at one time. Of course, we just came out of a pandemic, and we still feel the after-effects of it right here.

Obviously, one of the consequences of having so many problems in one go is that people also feel a bit of despair. People get a bit depressed, feel a bit sad, wondering what's happening with our society and where we are heading. I think it is natural that we should have some of those feelings when the world seems to be going in such a strange way.

So what can we do with this from a Buddhist perspective? That's the purpose of this talk today. What is interesting, to my mind, is that if we think about these things in the right way, instead of being problems, we can turn them around into opportunities—into something which actually enhances the spiritual path, makes us better human beings, and maybe even enables us to solve some of the issues that we are faced with.

We have quite a bit of time together. I'm not going to lay down any kind of rules for today. Just enjoy yourself. I think what is important is to have a good time, to relax, and to understand that meditation works when you're relaxed. If you have too many rules, then relaxation becomes hard. But I would maybe recommend not talking too much, if you can, because usually, meditation works better if the mind is not too busy.

Let's get started. We can do some meditation after a while; we have a nice mix of meditation and talks.

One of the things about the situation in the world and how to deal with it—and I think this is actually quite profound and important to understand—is a very Buddhist attitude to the way the world works: the idea that good things happen to good people. Good people can expect good outcomes. To me, the bottom line of how to deal with the problems of the world is basically to remember that if you want a good future, at least for yourself, you can do something good for yourself. The planet is a different thing; we don't know what's going to happen with the planet, as some of those issues are outside of our control. With 8 billion people on this planet, each one of us is just one person with a minor ability to influence events. But at the very least, we can do something good for ourselves.

If we do things in the right way, we're also going to have an impact on the people around us. Certainly the immediate people around us, like our family and our work colleagues. This is one of the things that I've always found in my life; it has a ripple effect. If you live well, if you live with kindness, if you're generous, if you have a good heart, it doesn't just affect you—it affects everyone around you. It ripples out in society. Sometimes we're not really aware of that properly. But I have noticed in my life that when someone is really kind to me, I want to be kind as well. You can remember that it has an impact on your mind. You think, Wow, they were kind to me, they said this, what a wonderful thing, and it leaves an imprint on your mind. You take that with you. Then you are kind to the next person, and hopefully, they are kind to someone else.

Small acts of kindness, some kind speech, a kind act, or a little bit of generosity... Someone very kindly offered me water. This is one act of generosity right here. So thank you, whoever is responsible for this. It has a ripple effect straight away. So I'm going to take this opportunity to enjoy this act of generosity. Nice water! [Laughter] It ripples out in the world, so it's not just about us; it's about the larger society as well.

In the end, this idea that good things happen to good people is a very fundamental Buddhist idea. And of course, it has to do with kamma^[2] (or karma). The idea of karma very often in Buddhism is that you do something in one life, and it has an effect in a later life. This is a very common idea. But I think more important than that is the way the Buddha talks about karma in the suttas^[3]. The Buddha says there are three types of karma: karma which ripens in this very life, karma that ripens in your next life, and karma beyond that. I think the most important one for people, because it actually affects us right here and now, is the karma that ripens in this very life. That is something we can experience and definitely enjoy.

The idea of a future life involves a degree of faith and confidence, but this life is something we can relate to straight away. The idea of karma in this very life is something you will be able to see for yourself: if you do an act of kindness, you tend to feel good about yourself. Have you noticed that if you really come from your heart and say something kind to someone, you just feel good about yourself? It's unavoidable. To me, this is the root idea of what karma is about.

Feeling good about yourself and having a sense of self-worth are very important in life. If you have no self-worth, then life becomes very difficult. Building these things up also relates to the karma and results in a future life. What you do here, if you build up a good feeling about yourself in this life, carries over into the future. We tend to be habitual. The way we think and the way we are as human beings tends to perpetuate itself over time. If you look at your character as a person, it has a certain stability to it. If I ask you who you are today compared to who you were 10 or 20 years ago, you will see both change and continuity. That change and continuity are also what we see across lifetimes.

If you want to be able to withstand the problems of the world, if you build up that inner sense of glow and happiness, then the external world will have less effect on you. You'll be more resilient. And that is incredibly useful. It means that through all the shocks of life—and I can guarantee that every one of us will have more shocks than we want to have, as this is just the nature of existence—you are able to deal with those problems. Building up goodness and kindness is the foundation for being able to deal with the world, but it's also the foundation for the spiritual practice itself. This is really the starting point of everything.

I'm sure all of you here are good people. Any bad people here? [Laughter] I told you, everyone here is a good person. In an insight meditation center, people usually come here because they have some spiritual inclination. It's very rare that you find gangsters coming to places like this. And if there are gangsters here, then welcome! Now you're on the right path. So you're already on the right track, and we're heading in the right direction. Sometimes we just have to add a little bit more emphasis on the idea of kindness in your life. When you remember the importance of the spiritual life to deal with all the worldly things, you get the motivation to practice this path really well. The point is: how can we use the problems of the world to motivate us to live an even better life?

I'm going to tell you a couple of stories. I'm going to start with a simple way of dealing with the problems of the world—how we can use wise reflection to overcome these unwise times—and then we're going to take it deeper as the day goes on. When you reach your limit and think, This is too much, then you can leave. But we start easy so you can stay as long as possible. We take it deeper and deeper as we go along.

This first little story came from a book that I read when I was at university almost 40 years ago. The girlfriend I had at the time gave me this book. It was written by a Norwegian fellow—because I was living in Norway at the time—about human beings and happiness. He wrote this book very shortly after the Second World War. The Second World War was very devastating in Europe. Parts of Europe were completely ruined; some cities in Germany were flattened to the ground, and all that was left was rubble. Norway was on the outskirts of Europe, so it was not as badly affected, but it was still difficult. There was food rationing, no clothes available, people were sent off to concentration camps, and people were dying.

The point he wanted to get across in this book is that happiness is sometimes so paradoxical. During this most difficult time in most people's lives, when things were falling apart, family members were dying, and bombings were going on, he suddenly realized: Actually, I'm more happy now than I was before the war. He thought, How can this be? How is it possible when everything around me is destroyed? It was almost like a faux pas to say you were happy when the world was falling apart, so you almost had to whisper it.

Then he realized that during a war, your attitude to your fellow human beings changes. Prior to the war, there was competition, arguments within the family, and political arguments. But suddenly, because you have an external enemy that is so destructive, you come together. You have more compassion for each other. You start working together instead of against each other. You have more sympathy for your neighbor—the neighbor you used to not like, you suddenly work together with because you have a common cause. He said that feeling of working together, having compassion, and understanding the people around you was actually far more important than the destruction of the external world around you.

That is a very profound and uplifting idea of how to look at the world. It means that the world around us is not so important for our happiness. What really matters for happiness are the spiritual qualities that we have. If you have compassion, kindness, generosity, and a peaceful quality within, that is what is important for being happy. He could say that in the midst of all the destruction, this is what matters.

This is something that we can bring into our present world. In the long run, what is going to make you happy is not the world outside. The world outside has some impact—of course, it matters that the world doesn't crumble. But if you want to find something deeper, it's our inner life rather than our outer life that really matters.

This is actually one of the fundamental ideas of the Buddha himself. One of the most famous suttas is the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta^[4]. It's the sutta about the Buddha's last journey, traveling through India from Magadha to Kusinara^[5], where he eventually passes away. If you haven't been to the holy places in India, it can be very inspiring to walk in the footsteps of the Buddha.

The Buddha travels to the north, and he knows that he is about to die. He says to Venerable Ananda^[6], his attendant, that three months from now, he will be passing away. Because he knew he was coming to the end of his life, he had to prepare people. Imagine being part of the monastic sangha at that time. You're always looking to the Buddha for all the solutions. I feel a bit sorry for the Buddha sometimes because every time there's a problem, they'd go to him: I lost my shoes, what should I do? Lay Buddhists would go to him for inspiration. Now, this supreme spiritual genius is about to pass away. That's an incredible shock to the system.

Imagine Gil Fronsdal^[7] passing away, right? That would be bad. This is the Buddha passing away! Venerable Ananda goes to the Buddha and essentially says, Master, I hope you will give us some instructions before you pass away, because we are feeling a bit lost without you. The Buddha says to Ananda, Haven't I told you that all things in the world that are compounded and conditioned must pass away and disintegrate?

Then he tells Ananda to take the Dhamma and the Vinaya as his teacher. He specifically says that the place of refuge is the four satipaṭṭhāna^[8], the four mindfulness meditations. It means going inwards and sustaining yourself by the spiritual qualities you have built up over time: your kindness, the well-being you feel when you close your eyes and watch your breath, and the peace, joy, and happiness you find within. The refuge is your spiritual life. Why? Because the external world is so unreliable.

We have no idea what's going to happen with the world outside. Because the uncertainty is so great, we need to find our refuge somewhere else. If you look for refuge in the external world—which is what the vast majority of people do—you have a problem. It's inward that we need to go to find solutions.

This reminds me of the war in Ukraine. I was in Poland recently, which shares a border with Ukraine, and reading about the invasion. Journalists were interviewing people, asking how they felt about the war. You would expect people to despair—their homes were destroyed, and family members were killed. But what was fascinating to me was that among those who were despairing, a few said, I feel more happy now. Life has become more meaningful to me after the war started. It was exactly the same reason the fellow in Norway gave: they had more compassion, were more understanding, and worked together in ways they never did before. It sparked a spiritual awakening inside them, which was much more important than the external world collapsing.

This is the most important lesson from the problems in the world. We need to turn away from taking refuge in the external world and find that refuge inside. If external calamities can shift our perspective on what really matters, then maybe it's a blessing in disguise. If we become better within ourselves, it will have a ripple effect around us. People will feel there's light and possibilities in the world. This is the spiritual solution to the problems of the world.

Some people might say, That's not really a solution; we want to change the world. We want the world to be fixed and we want the spiritual path. But maybe there is no worldly solution. Maybe the idea that there is a solution to every problem in society is an illusion. And if that's the case, we need to look at things in a new way. The Buddha allows us to find a more personal solution rather than a societal one.

I'm going to stop there because I don't think it's good to talk too much. We're going to do some meditation together. I will give a little bit of guidance just to get us going.

In meditation practice, always start out just by making sure that you are comfortable. The idea of meditation is the idea of the Middle Way, and the Middle Way is the place where the body kind of disappears. And for the body to disappear, you have to be comfortable. So make sure you are really nice and at ease.

When you close your eyes, you can feel your body really well. It's not just about not having any pain in the body; it's also about being at ease. You don't want to be tense or uptight. You want the body to relax. Take time just to really relax. We're trying to get as deep a relaxation as you possibly can.

Always take plenty of time as you start out with relaxing and finding the ease of the body. The body and the mind are very closely connected. If the body is relaxed, the mind tends to be the same. Take lots of time. Don't be in a hurry to go to any meditation object. Just enjoy sitting peacefully here. Enjoy the peace and allow the body to relax.

See if you can tune in to that beautiful sense of peace that is available right here. It's actually a remarkably peaceful place. Enjoy the peace of the good company around you and allow it to permeate your body and mind. To make the meditation work, the attitude is so important. You want to have a degree of gentleness, kindness, and positive feeling in your practice.

One way of doing that is just very briefly to reflect on the good fortune to be in such good company with people who practice the spiritual life, people who want to do what is right in the world. What a wonderful thing it is to be in good company like this, and how sometimes difficult it can be to find. Rejoice in the good company here, rejoice in being part of something wonderful and marvelous.

The idea here is just to be a passive observer of whatever happens, not to be involved in the world; to watch the world kind of pass by. By the world, I mean anything that goes through your mind, anything you might hear or feel. You just watch things coming and then going again. This is the idea of mindfulness: this awareness that just knows things without judging them as good or bad, allowing things to flow. Going with the flow is what this really is about.

Try to notice the light of the meditation, the idea of leaving all the burdens of life behind. Right now, there is nothing that you have to do in the whole world apart from sitting down and just enjoying the peace, enjoying the freedom from all these things in the world. See if we can get your mind into that beautiful space.

Just take a few moments before we come to the end to review your meditation here. If you do feel that you are a bit more peaceful, relaxed, mindful, or whatever it is, ask yourself why that is the case.

Wise Reflection for Unwise Times: Q&A

Okay, so, was that good? Was that all right? Those who are newcomers, was it okay? Good. Anyone thought it was bad? It happens, right? Some people don't enjoy meditation at all and find it really hard. It varies a lot. Does anyone have any questions or comments about the meditation?

Question: The idea of being a passive observer was more for the beginning, right? Later on, do you kind of have to do something when undesirable things come up in the mind?

Ajahn Brahmali: The idea of being passive actually goes through the whole meditation experience. You take that passivity and make it more profound. But you're right, sometimes you have problems—you think about the future or past, or get upset. You're dealing with your ordinary mind. What you have to do is not so much about doing a lot, but gently nudging the mind in the right direction. If you try to counteract problems with too much willpower, you often disturb the whole experience.

If you start thinking about your job or your lunch, you just remind yourself that all that stuff can wait. What you are doing now is more important. Give yourself a gentle hint, and your mind comes back to the present. You want to gradually increase the passivity. A lot of mental activity is actually a burden. When the activity of the mind fades away, you experience being a human being rather than a human doing.

Question: Should you analyze and judge your meditation during the sit, or should it be at the end to bring more energy next time? How does that work?

Ajahn Brahmali: Usually, the end is a better place to analyze the meditation. If you analyze too much during the meditation, you tend to destroy it. At the end, review what happened, what worked, and what didn't work. The reason you feel peaceful is that your mind is inclined in the right way. If you look into that, you become very skilled at meditation because you understand how to set up your mind.

We tend to come into meditation with a number of skillful means. You enter the meditation knowing that if a certain problem arises, there is a remedy. You apply that remedy gently. For example, if you have ill will, you know how to deal with that quickly before it becomes too strong. These skillful means—like mettā^[9] and compassion—are often developed outside of meditation.

Question: When meditating, what is the best way to let go completely of the face? For instance, the eyes tending to pull shut, or tension in the mouth from previous dental pain. How can one calm these down to completely let go of the face?

Ajahn Brahmali: If you try too hard to let go, the letting go process itself becomes a process of holding on. Very often, the best thing to do is just to let it be. Acknowledge the tension, but stay with the present. Go back to the breath or do a bit of mettā, and it tends to resolve itself as you go along. Sometimes you just can't go any deeper with the relaxation, so you have to allow the meditation to deal with the problem over time. Relax to the max, and allow these things to unwind themselves.

Question (Online): What are some examples of nudging my mind in a more calm direction?

Ajahn Brahmali: Thinking is usually about three things: the future, the past, or just fantasizing. To nudge the mind, remind yourself what is important in life. Remember that your future is created by what you do now in your meditation practice and how you react now to the people around you, not by thinking endlessly about worldly problems. Once you understand that, thinking about the world becomes uninteresting.

If you are upset about something from the past, you gently forgive the person. People don't really know what they're doing; they do things because they are stressed or having a bad day, not usually to annoy you. When you remember it's not personal, you can let it go. You build up these ideas, and when you meditate, you just gently remind yourself of them like pulling a perception off a shelf.

Question: What do I do with my hands during meditation? I find myself getting very fidgety and trying different placements. There's a lot of restlessness there.

Ajahn Brahmali: Restlessness comes from the mind and expresses itself through your hands. Don't try too hard to hold your hands still using willpower, because that can be counterproductive. Instead of worrying about your hands, allow them to do their own thing and come back to the mind. The root cause of the problem is restlessness or craving. This settles down by enjoying the peace and not pushing things. Over time, as your mind becomes peaceful, your body will follow.

One big mistake in meditation is sitting down and watching the breath straight away. Often, you are not ready for that. Give rise to mindfulness first. Give yourself time to allow the mind to be aware and enjoy the feeling of sitting peacefully. As you learn to be natural, mindfulness starts to come, and the problems with your hands will just fade away by themselves.

Wise Reflection for Unwise Times: Second Q&A

All right, so had a good lunch? The international cuisine is really nice. Usually, after lunch is a bad time to do meditation, so let's start off with a bit of Dhamma discussion.

Question (Online): What is the relationship between acceptance and Right Effort?

Ajahn Brahmali: In a way, acceptance is Right Effort. Right Effort is kind of strange because it doesn't necessarily mean you are applying yourself or "doing" anything. Letting go is Right Effort. Letting be is Right Effort. The ability to just be mindful is Right Effort. Ultimately, Right Effort is about developing good qualities in the mind. Anything you do that develops a good quality—whether it's gently nudging the mind or just allowing things to be—is Right Effort.

If you are going to forgive other people, you need a particular mindset. People don't really know what they're doing in this world. They are walking in delusion, stubbing their toes all over the place. Once you understand the delusion that people are under, how can you not forgive them? They say stupid things because they had a bad day, not to be nasty. Deep down, the majority of people want to be kind and do the right thing, but often they can't because their habits are so strong.

The spiritual practice is about overcoming habits, which is very difficult. This relates to the idea of anattā^[10], or not-self. We are not really in control of ourselves; we are under the thumb of habits from the past. So when someone is nasty, it's their not-self nature and bad habits coming out. Understanding this makes it easier to be forgiving.

Question: I've struggled with the concept of self and not-self, and the line between context and content. Is there something during practice that can help stabilize that experience when you're still caught up and trying to get there?

Ajahn Brahmali: The way the Buddha explains meditation in the suttas is that you don't need to make an effort. He says 'Anā cetanāya karaniya', which means no intention needs to be done. The process of meditation is 'Dhammata'—according to nature. You can't force nature to happen.

It's like a mother teaching a child to grow a sunflower. The child waters it, but gets impatient because it grows so slowly. If the child pulls on the plant to make it grow faster, it destroys the plant. It's the same with meditation; if it happens according to nature, you can't force it using willpower.

The whole process of meditation all the way to liberation is automatic. This means you have to go backward to the very beginning point and strengthen that. What is the beginning point? The Buddha says sīla (morality or kindness) is the root of everything. If you are truly kind, if you have compassion and mettā, that is where the process starts. If you feel good about yourself and have wholesome self-esteem from living a good life, the mind will naturally be present. Joy and a clear conscience are the foundation that makes meditation possible.

Morality in Buddhism isn't just about not killing or stealing; it's positive morality. It's a high bar, and it has to be integrated into your entire life. Even your dreams become spiritual. When morality is deeply lodged in your mind, the ego fades away, and morality becomes a natural expression of your character, much like a stream-enterer^[11].

Question: If there is not-self, what is it that gets reborn?

Ajahn Brahmali: In the suttas, it's explained like a stream of consciousness. It is no different from what it is now in this life. In this life, you see change and continuity. The mind you have now is both similar to and different from the mind you had ten years ago. It will be the same thing from one life to the next. That is why you can recognize yourself in past lives. It's a stream of consciousness carrying on. We have a hard time with these ideas in the modern world because of our materialist outlook, but seeing the world differently opens up entirely new possibilities.

Question: If there's an interest in ordaining but an inability to do so, what are the most skillful conditions that can be put in place to let go of suffering and unshackle the first three fetters? And how does one know when that has occurred?

Ajahn Brahmali: I would recommend not being too goal-oriented. The spiritual path is different from our Western culture; it's almost like you let go of the goal, and by letting go, it evolves by itself. Focus on the simple things: How can I be more kind? How can I be gentler and more supportive?

Don't focus on attaining stream entry or dropping the three fetters, because that can lead to frustration and living in the future. Motivation should just be to be kind and get the immediate reward of that kindness.

Sometimes people misunderstand the fetter of "clinging to rites and rituals" (sīlabbata-parāmāsa) and think they shouldn't hold on to their moral precepts. Please hold on to your precepts! A little bit of holding on is necessary. A sense of self is a holding on, so if you're going to identify with anything, identify with being moral and kind. You grab onto a higher rung of the attachment ladder and get more refined attachments to gradually overcome the path.

As for knowing if you've attained stream entry, it's very easy to delude yourself. There are a lot of "internet arahants"^[12] out there. If you think you might be a stream-enterer, you should consult a teacher you have confidence in to point you in the right direction.

Question: You mentioned this morning that the Buddha didn't teach ānāpānasati^[13] (mindfulness of breathing) by telling people to immediately focus on where they feel the breath. Could you elaborate?

Ajahn Brahmali: In the Ānāpānasati Sutta, the Buddha starts by laying the foundation. He says to sit down, straighten the body, and establish mindfulness. This is all before you start watching the breath. Ideally, we should have mindfulness first. If you go straight to the meditation object and mindfulness isn't established, the only way you can watch the breath is through willpower, which the Buddha says is not the way to go.

A lot of the practice is about sitting back, waiting, and guiding the mind away from desires and ill will, finding that neutral balance. Wait for the breath to come to you. If you go to the breath, that involves willpower. But if you wait for it to arise, you are doing the meditation almost automatically. Certain systems teach you to just sit down and watch the breath, without explaining that breath meditation happens within a specific context and foundation.

Question: How does one come to terms with severe emotional trauma, like combat PTSD?

Ajahn Brahmali: That is a very good question. The answer is: gradually. While spiritual practice is good, it is also highly recommended to get professional counseling. Psychologists have tools that we don't necessarily have in Buddhism, as the Buddha's teachings weren't specifically designed for severe modern trauma.

If the trauma involves other people, you gradually learn to see them in a different way. Over time, you realize they didn't know what they were doing and were acting against their own self-interest, creating bad karma for themselves. Eventually, you can start to have compassion even for perpetrators, because they are foolish and will suffer for their actions. Go slowly, stage by stage.

(Venerable Citananda adds: "Working with the First Noble Truth fits nicely with therapies like somatic experiencing, where you turn towards that feeling in the body in a supportive environment. It has a deep effect when you're able to let that unravel through the body, because the body holds on to those things.")

Question: I've been targeted a lot—growing up mixed-race, LGBTQ, experiencing homelessness, and living in a vehicle. People are sometimes confrontational with me. I find it really difficult to hold on to my compassion when someone is in my face telling me I can't exist where I am. How do you find happiness when you are the targeted party?

Ajahn Brahmali: I agree with you; it is very challenging. But it is also what the Buddha is asking us to do. One of the most famous similes of the Buddha is the simile of the saw: even if bandits were to hack you to bits with a saw, if you gave rise to a mind of ill will, you would not be practicing his teaching. The Buddha sets the bar incredibly high. This doesn't mean we should despair if we can't clear that bar, but it means this practice can have extraordinary results if we keep going.

Even though you cannot see the solution right now, if you proceed stage by stage, avenues will open up that you never knew existed. One day, you will be able to let go and see those people and yourself in a different way. Keep going, don't lose heart, and know that these results are possible. I have lived with people for 30 years who I have never seen get angry. When you see that, you know the path is real.

Wise Reflection for Unwise Times: Talk 2

Okay, good. Let us carry on. I'm going to continue on the theme for this morning about finding a way to deal with the problems in the world through wise reflection. We're going to look briefly at a sutta called the Attadaṇḍa Sutta^[14]. The word daṇḍa in Pali literally means "stick" or "punishment," so the title means something like "taking up arms" or "taking up violence." It is found in the Sutta Nipata^[15], part of the Khuddaka Nikāya^[16].

This particular sutta is an autobiographical one where the Buddha-to-be talks about his own experience—what made him become a monk and how he looked at the world. He teaches this to inspire us. Here is a translation by Bhante Sujato:

"A peril stems from those who take up arms. Just look at people in conflict. I shall extol how I came to be stirred with a sense of urgency here. I saw this population flounder like a fish in a little puddle. Seeing them fight each other, fear came upon me. The world around was hollow, all directions were in turmoil. Wanting a home for myself, I saw nowhere unsettled. But even in the settlement, they fight. Seeing that, I grew uneasy. Then I saw the dart right there, so hard to see, stuck in the heart. When stuck by that dart, you run about in all directions. But when the same dart has been plucked out, you neither run about nor sink down."

The Buddha starts by observing the turmoil in the world. Recognizing the world in conflict stirred him with a sense of urgency, which led to his awakening. This means that if we deal with the turmoil in our world in the right way, it can have the same beneficial outcome.

He says, "I saw this population flounder like a fish in a little puddle." The "puddle" is the sensory world. It seems large when you travel from Australia to America across time zones, but it's really a small pond. You go to different countries and find the exact same human problems. There is no escape just by traveling around. The sensory realm is inherently fraught with conflict because it is a shared space, and we are very bad at sharing. If the economy doesn't grow fast enough, we fight over resources. We fight over relationships and inheritance. There is no final utopia in the sensory realm.

Another sutta compares the sensory realm to a bird that finds a piece of meat. The bird is happy, but other birds see the meat and attack. If the bird doesn't let go of the meat, it will be killed. This is what the shared world is like.

The solution is to turn to the inner world, a world we do not have to share. If you develop inner happiness, compassion, and mettā, it will never lead to conflict. Furthermore, when you go back into the ordinary sensory realm, you bring those spiritual qualities with you, creating harmony outside as well. The solution to social problems is found individually on the spiritual path.

The Buddha says, "The world around was hollow, all directions were in turmoil. Wanting a home for myself, I saw nowhere unsettled." There is nothing stable in the world to hold on to. The moment you take a stand and say "this is my home," the earthquake or the bushfire comes. The carpet is always being pulled out from under our feet due to impermanence.

He then says, "I saw the dart right there, so hard to see, stuck in the heart." Identifying the problem (dukkha) leads to looking for the cause, which is the dart of craving (taṇhā^[17]). Craving drives us endlessly on as slaves to desire. We often think craving is our friend because it gets things done, but it is actually our master making us restless. When you pluck out the dart of craving, you are liberated.

There was a famous German monk named Venerable Ñāṇavimala who lived in Sri Lanka starting in the 1930s. He spent ten years meditating and memorizing the suttas at the Island Hermitage, and then spent the next forty years as a wandering monk, sleeping under trees with no possessions. To live an incredibly simple life like that, you must have profound inner happiness to sustain yourself.

Years later, Ajahn Brahm^[18] met Venerable Ñāṇavimala and received what he called the best Dhamma talk of his entire life. Venerable Ñāṇavimala shared the story of why he became a monk. After World War I in Germany, he was walking past a beer garden where young people were drinking in the basement. A fire broke out on the upper floors. While some people evacuated, others stayed, saying, "Don't worry, the fire is far away, and now we can drink free beer!" They stayed, getting intoxicated and ignoring the danger, until the building collapsed on them.

Venerable Ñāṇavimala realized that this is what our life is like. The world is on fire, but we don't understand the danger. We carry on enjoying sense pleasures, ignoring the profound problems around us. That realization drove him to practice the spiritual path. We, too, must use the problems in the world to find our true refuge in meditation and morality.

Wise Reflection for Unwise Times: Final talk and Q&A

Let's look at another sutta called the Sakka Pañha Sutta^[19], "The Questions of Sakka." Sakka is the Lord of the Gods, and in Buddhism, the gods come to the Buddha for answers.

Sakka asks: "Dear Sir, what fetters bind the gods, humans, demons, dragons, and fairies, so that though they wish to be free from enmity, violence, hostility, and hate, they still have enmity, violence, hostility, and hate?"

This is a very important question: why is it that we want to live in peace, but there is always conflict? The Buddha replies that the fetters of jealousy and stinginess bind all creatures. We hold on to things and become attached. But what is the root issue?

The Buddha explains that the cause of jealousy and stinginess is like and dislike, which comes from desire. The source of desire is thought, and the source of thoughts are the concepts of identity that emerge from the proliferation of perceptions.

In other words, all conflict and violence stem from the problem of identity—the sense of ego, of "I am." Most people are proud of their identity, but the Buddha says it is the root of the problem. As long as we have that sense of identity, there is no worldly solution to conflict. The only true solution is to practice the Noble Eightfold Path to overcome this identity and fully awaken.

So, how do we practice the spiritual life? It boils down to two things: kindness and mindfulness of breathing. The most important factor is Right View, because it informs everything else. It tells you the urgency of the practice and reminds you that your house is on fire.

Come back to the suttas. Allow yourself to be "brainwashed" by the Buddha. We are all brainwashed by the world anyway, so choose the good brainwashing! Make your morality and kindness as firm as possible. When your kindness is consistent, your breath meditation will become easy and happen by itself, and the whole path will unfold naturally.

Question: Is saṃsāra^[20] impermanent?

Ajahn Brahmali: Whether saṃsāra is impermanent or not depends on what you make of it. Saṃsāra isn't the physical universe; it is your inner world, the continuous cycle of birth and death. That cycle is impermanent if we make an end of it. If we don't end it, it will keep on going.

Comment: I appreciate the clarity and the starkness of the choices you presented. I cannot be reminded too often about being distracted by what I like and dislike in saṃsāra.

Ajahn Brahmali: Being reminded of the Dhamma is so important. One of the greatest benefits of being a teacher is that you are reminded all the time. I've listened to Ajahn Brahm every week for almost 30 years and heard his stories a hundred times, but I still enjoy it. When you are in the presence of someone with profound peace and kindness, you get drawn into their slipstream. Always come back to these teachings as a watering hole to keep you inspired and on the path.

Question (Online): When your spiritual path and the kindness you want to carry come into conflict with your professional life or career, do you have any words of wisdom on how to navigate that?

Ajahn Brahmali: Make the most of the situation you are in. We can always do more to live well within our professional and family lives. However, if your professional life ultimately stops you from living well, you have to decide what your priorities are. The spiritual path is so important that you should never dilute it for worldly reasons. Sometimes we have to make really tough choices, perhaps even changing jobs.

When you die and look back on your life, a successful career will be completely irrelevant. What will matter is how you treated other people. Remembering that you were kind will allow you to die with a smile on your face. The Buddha always recommended death contemplation because from the perspective of death, it becomes clear what truly matters.

Question (Online): If I develop terminal cancer in my 20s, can I conclude that it is the ripening of bad karma from this life or past lives?

Ajahn Brahmali: You cannot really conclude that. The Buddha said there are many causes for why we get sick; bad karma is just one. The environment and the nature of having a human body also cause illnesses. It doesn't really matter what the cause is. The problem is that cancer happens to people, and illness is inherent to human existence.

We must be very careful not to blame things on karma in a way that makes us hard-hearted. Saying "it is their own fault because of bad karma" is a misunderstanding of the Buddha's teachings. Everyone who is sick is worthy of compassion. Don't worry too much about the reason for the illness; instead, learn the lesson that the spiritual path is what is truly important.

Question: Could you clarify the relationship between avijjā^[21] (ignorance) and taṇhā (craving) in dependent origination? The first factor is ignorance, but the Second Noble Truth says craving is the cause of suffering.

Ajahn Brahmali: Dependent origination is an expansion of the Second Noble Truth. The Second Noble Truth contains three elements: craving, rebirth (ponobhavika craving), and suffering. Any expression of dependent origination must have those three elements.

The Buddha traces the chain backwards: craving is caused by feeling, feeling by the six sense bases, and so on, all the way back to avijjā (ignorance or delusion). Craving cannot be stopped directly using willpower. To end craving, you must eliminate its root cause, which is ignorance. The way to overcome ignorance is to practice the Noble Eightfold Path to see reality clearly. Craving is focused on because it is what drives the cycle of existence, projecting us into the future, but the ultimate solution lies in uprooting ignorance.

Question: For a novice seeker, what would be a good printed version of the suttas to start with that is not intimidating?

Ajahn Brahmali: I highly recommend In the Buddha's Words, an anthology of the suttas translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi^[22]. He is a supreme translator with beautiful English. He introduces the suttas, explains what is going on, and organizes them into very accessible chapters. It's a fantastic place to start.

Question: There are three kinds of craving: for sensual desires, for existence, and for non-existence. What does craving for non-existence mean? I ask because I work with traumatized clients who experience suicidal ideation.

Ajahn Brahmali: Craving for non-existence (vibhava-taṇhā) is the desire to end one's existence, such as through suicide. However, because it is driven by craving, it doesn't lead to non-existence; it leads to more existence and rebirth. You are still projecting yourself into a desired future state. To truly stop the cycle, you must end craving through the Noble Eightfold Path.

It's also very important not to stigmatize suicide in Buddhism. Suicide isn't inherently "bad karma"—everything depends on intention. If someone is terminally ill and ends their life out of compassion and clarity, it may not be bad karma. We must take the stigma out of it, provide good support, and treat everyone with deep compassion.