1 00:00:00,383 --> 00:00:01,675 The Four Jhanas and Eight Attainments 2 00:00:01,903 --> 00:00:05,075 The ladder the Buddha threw away under the Bodhi tree 3 00:00:05,543 --> 00:00:08,236 This is not an episode made for a general audience 4 00:00:08,622 --> 00:00:11,156 If you only just started following this channel 5 00:00:11,343 --> 00:00:15,476 I suggest you first finish the episodes on sitting meditation Yogacara and reciting the Buddha's name 6 00:00:15,503 --> 00:00:17,396 and then come back to today's episode 7 00:00:17,623 --> 00:00:18,936 because what we are getting into today 8 00:00:19,343 --> 00:00:20,635 has a fairly high bar 9 00:00:21,635 --> 00:00:23,167 The place I want to take you 10 00:00:23,194 --> 00:00:25,688 is the deepest point human consciousness can reach 11 00:00:26,034 --> 00:00:26,708 Not as a metaphor 12 00:00:26,995 --> 00:00:29,007 literally the deepest point 13 00:00:29,554 --> 00:00:30,647 There is a system 14 00:00:30,714 --> 00:00:33,808 that the Buddha himself walked all the way through twenty five hundred years ago 15 00:00:33,915 --> 00:00:36,488 a system he later threw away himself 16 00:00:36,995 --> 00:00:38,687 This system has nine levels in all 17 00:00:38,915 --> 00:00:41,128 The first eight are called the four jhanas and eight attainments 18 00:00:41,315 --> 00:00:43,168 The ninth is called the cessation attainment 19 00:00:43,595 --> 00:00:45,587 Every level corresponds to a concrete 20 00:00:45,794 --> 00:00:49,007 reproducible state of consciousness with clear criteria 21 00:00:49,195 --> 00:00:50,227 It is not mysticism 22 00:00:50,555 --> 00:00:52,407 and it is not poetic metaphor 23 00:00:52,515 --> 00:00:55,727 It is ancient practitioners using their own bodies as laboratories 24 00:00:55,754 --> 00:00:58,907 building up data handed down across thousands of years 25 00:00:59,154 --> 00:01:01,128 a layered map of human consciousness 26 00:01:01,787 --> 00:01:04,161 Before the Buddha awakened under the Bodhi tree 27 00:01:04,228 --> 00:01:06,281 he first walked through all eight of those levels 28 00:01:06,508 --> 00:01:07,800 When he reached the eighth level 29 00:01:07,827 --> 00:01:09,440 his two teachers told him 30 00:01:09,547 --> 00:01:10,580 you have already reached the top 31 00:01:10,868 --> 00:01:12,000 this is the ultimate 32 00:01:12,467 --> 00:01:14,960 And then the Buddha did something very strange 33 00:01:15,308 --> 00:01:16,460 He came down from the eighth level 34 00:01:16,747 --> 00:01:17,641 shook his head 35 00:01:17,668 --> 00:01:18,660 said this is not the ultimate 36 00:01:19,107 --> 00:01:20,121 and walked away 37 00:01:20,347 --> 00:01:21,100 Where did he go 38 00:01:21,588 --> 00:01:23,181 He went and sat down under the Bodhi tree 39 00:01:23,508 --> 00:01:24,681 and started over 40 00:01:25,068 --> 00:01:26,347 What I want to talk about today 41 00:01:26,347 --> 00:01:28,321 is the secret behind that story 42 00:01:28,588 --> 00:01:31,781 Why did the Buddha throw away the ladder that could climb to the eighth level 43 00:01:32,308 --> 00:01:34,300 What kind of place is the eighth level really 44 00:01:34,788 --> 00:01:36,380 And the thing he finally awakened to 45 00:01:36,827 --> 00:01:37,541 where is it 46 00:01:38,361 --> 00:01:38,674 Hello 47 00:01:39,242 --> 00:01:39,754 everyone 48 00:01:40,042 --> 00:01:41,054 I am Leo Wang 49 00:01:41,522 --> 00:01:42,614 One note first 50 00:01:42,882 --> 00:01:44,174 Today's episode 51 00:01:44,201 --> 00:01:46,855 involves a lot of description of deep meditative absorption 52 00:01:47,122 --> 00:01:50,575 Those descriptions come from twenty five hundred years of practitioner reports 53 00:01:50,801 --> 00:01:52,655 not from my own direct realization 54 00:01:53,042 --> 00:01:54,454 The parts I can confirm 55 00:01:54,641 --> 00:01:59,015 like shallow meditative joy and the shifts in body and mind under intense focus 56 00:01:59,201 --> 00:02:02,254 I use my own limited experience to help explain 57 00:02:02,482 --> 00:02:03,655 The deeper parts 58 00:02:03,682 --> 00:02:06,174 like the real fourth jhana and the four formless attainments 59 00:02:06,322 --> 00:02:08,174 I can only act as a relayer 60 00:02:08,201 --> 00:02:11,454 reorganizing what the ancients said into modern language 61 00:02:11,802 --> 00:02:15,527 That is the premise you need to hold while watching this episode 62 00:02:15,794 --> 00:02:15,988 Alright 63 00:02:16,395 --> 00:02:18,488 Let us start with the most basic question 64 00:02:18,674 --> 00:02:19,187 Meditative absorption 65 00:02:19,555 --> 00:02:20,428 what is it really 66 00:02:20,835 --> 00:02:22,967 Many people think meditative absorption is just sitting 67 00:02:23,234 --> 00:02:25,027 Sitting is the posture of meditative absorption 68 00:02:25,315 --> 00:02:26,647 not meditative absorption itself 69 00:02:27,034 --> 00:02:29,168 Meditative absorption is a state of consciousness 70 00:02:29,275 --> 00:02:31,407 and it has only one core feature 71 00:02:31,514 --> 00:02:33,127 called one pointedness of mind 72 00:02:33,555 --> 00:02:34,747 What is one pointedness of mind 73 00:02:35,234 --> 00:02:39,647 It means your consciousness stops processing dozens of signals at once the way it normally does 74 00:02:39,715 --> 00:02:41,247 It gathers into a single point 75 00:02:41,354 --> 00:02:43,027 and rests steadily on one object 76 00:02:43,315 --> 00:02:44,608 not drifting not scattering 77 00:02:45,644 --> 00:02:48,077 What is your normal state of consciousness like 78 00:02:48,603 --> 00:02:50,896 Right now you are sitting there watching this video 79 00:02:51,244 --> 00:02:54,577 and your brain is actually running dozens of threads at the same time 80 00:02:54,843 --> 00:02:56,077 Any new messages on my phone 81 00:02:56,403 --> 00:02:57,577 What am I eating tonight 82 00:02:57,603 --> 00:03:00,377 Was that look on my coworker's face a little odd 83 00:03:00,603 --> 00:03:02,817 Is this guy in the video trustworthy 84 00:03:03,044 --> 00:03:05,443 All these threads keep running in the background 85 00:03:05,443 --> 00:03:06,697 burning up your compute 86 00:03:06,883 --> 00:03:08,736 You think you are focused on me 87 00:03:08,764 --> 00:03:11,776 but you are watching me with ten percent of your compute 88 00:03:11,804 --> 00:03:14,616 The other ninety percent is handling other things 89 00:03:15,084 --> 00:03:16,377 The first step of meditative absorption 90 00:03:16,403 --> 00:03:18,537 is shutting that ninety percent off 91 00:03:18,804 --> 00:03:20,097 That sounds simple 92 00:03:20,163 --> 00:03:23,377 but it is the hardest thing in all of human consciousness training 93 00:03:24,123 --> 00:03:27,977 because your brain did not evolve to shut down most of its threads 94 00:03:28,084 --> 00:03:31,097 It evolved to monitor the environment for danger 95 00:03:31,364 --> 00:03:32,962 So the moment you go still 96 00:03:32,964 --> 00:03:35,137 it instinctively throws your attention back out 97 00:03:35,364 --> 00:03:37,043 That is why the moment you sit down to meditate 98 00:03:37,044 --> 00:03:38,657 you seem to have more thoughts than before 99 00:03:38,764 --> 00:03:40,242 It is not that the thoughts multiplied 100 00:03:40,244 --> 00:03:44,184 It is that you saw clearly for the first time the thoughts that were always there 101 00:03:44,372 --> 00:03:44,564 Alright 102 00:03:45,052 --> 00:03:47,184 suppose after a stretch of training 103 00:03:47,212 --> 00:03:50,051 you can finally shut down ninety percent of the threads 104 00:03:50,052 --> 00:03:51,825 and consciousness gathers into a single point 105 00:03:52,332 --> 00:03:52,765 At that moment 106 00:03:53,291 --> 00:03:54,545 the first level of meditative absorption 107 00:03:54,611 --> 00:03:55,084 the first jhana 108 00:03:55,451 --> 00:03:56,464 appears 109 00:03:57,131 --> 00:03:58,804 What marks the first jhana 110 00:03:59,252 --> 00:03:59,964 The sutras say 111 00:04:00,291 --> 00:04:01,925 it is joy and bliss born of seclusion 112 00:04:02,252 --> 00:04:03,744 with applied and sustained thought 113 00:04:04,171 --> 00:04:04,885 Those eight characters 114 00:04:05,131 --> 00:04:06,385 let us take them apart one by one 115 00:04:07,077 --> 00:04:07,878 Born of seclusion 116 00:04:07,932 --> 00:04:12,464 means you have just stepped out of the scattered state of the five desires 117 00:04:12,772 --> 00:04:13,645 What are the five desires 118 00:04:14,212 --> 00:04:17,024 wealth sex fame food and sleep 119 00:04:17,252 --> 00:04:18,810 or to put it more precisely 120 00:04:18,811 --> 00:04:23,584 it is the five senses of eye ear nose tongue and body grasping at the outer world 121 00:04:24,132 --> 00:04:26,904 Every second of your normal life they are dragging you along 122 00:04:27,212 --> 00:04:29,058 Now they have let go 123 00:04:29,406 --> 00:04:29,879 Joy and bliss 124 00:04:30,165 --> 00:04:32,139 is the core experience of the first jhana 125 00:04:32,485 --> 00:04:34,978 not happiness or pleasure as you normally understand it 126 00:04:35,086 --> 00:04:39,298 It is a very particular delight that surges up from deep inside the body 127 00:04:39,646 --> 00:04:41,819 Ancient commentators used an analogy 128 00:04:41,966 --> 00:04:44,245 like someone suffocating in the summer heat 129 00:04:44,245 --> 00:04:46,298 diving headfirst into a cool pool 130 00:04:46,685 --> 00:04:47,718 Have you ever taken a cold shower 131 00:04:48,286 --> 00:04:53,418 that instant when the chill runs from your scalp to your soles and every pore opens at once 132 00:04:53,925 --> 00:04:56,658 The joy of the first jhana feels a bit like that 133 00:04:56,766 --> 00:04:58,379 But it is not cold water from outside 134 00:04:58,445 --> 00:05:01,618 It is a warm current welling up from inside your own body 135 00:05:02,326 --> 00:05:03,319 Applied and sustained thought 136 00:05:03,685 --> 00:05:05,939 means that even though you have entered the first jhana 137 00:05:06,005 --> 00:05:09,579 two subtle activities are still running in your consciousness 138 00:05:10,485 --> 00:05:10,678 Applied thought 139 00:05:11,206 --> 00:05:12,658 is coarse thinking 140 00:05:12,805 --> 00:05:14,399 like a searchlight scanning 141 00:05:14,886 --> 00:05:16,019 asking what is this 142 00:05:16,605 --> 00:05:16,798 Sustained thought 143 00:05:17,165 --> 00:05:18,658 is fine observation 144 00:05:18,726 --> 00:05:20,519 like a microscope pressed up close 145 00:05:21,005 --> 00:05:22,618 seeing that it is like this 146 00:05:22,966 --> 00:05:23,899 They are still there 147 00:05:24,326 --> 00:05:26,899 but they are no longer scattered thoughts 148 00:05:27,045 --> 00:05:31,819 they are highly focused cognitive activity serving the object of absorption 149 00:05:32,383 --> 00:05:34,597 Let me translate that into the language of predictive coding 150 00:05:34,904 --> 00:05:36,077 The state of the first jhana 151 00:05:36,104 --> 00:05:39,676 is your brain's default mode network dropping its activity sharply 152 00:05:39,904 --> 00:05:43,517 The precision weighting on high level priors gets turned down a notch 153 00:05:43,664 --> 00:05:45,316 but it has not fully shut off 154 00:05:45,743 --> 00:05:46,977 Those compulsive predictions about how I should be 155 00:05:47,344 --> 00:05:50,436 and how the world should be get very weak 156 00:05:50,743 --> 00:05:53,876 so the low level bodily sensations can rise clearly to the surface 157 00:05:54,143 --> 00:05:57,916 That is why you feel that joy surging through the whole body 158 00:05:58,303 --> 00:05:59,823 It was not newly created 159 00:05:59,823 --> 00:06:03,236 It is the low level signal the narrative machine usually keeps pinned down 160 00:06:03,344 --> 00:06:05,077 and now it has been set free 161 00:06:05,664 --> 00:06:09,277 The first jhana is already a state most people never reach in their whole life 162 00:06:10,104 --> 00:06:12,196 but on the map of the four jhanas and eight attainments 163 00:06:12,224 --> 00:06:13,556 it is only level one 164 00:06:14,575 --> 00:06:15,688 Going up from the first jhana 165 00:06:16,095 --> 00:06:16,989 is the second jhana 166 00:06:17,335 --> 00:06:19,568 The second jhana is marked by joy and bliss born of concentration 167 00:06:19,936 --> 00:06:21,109 without applied or sustained thought 168 00:06:21,455 --> 00:06:22,489 Do you see the difference 169 00:06:23,176 --> 00:06:23,928 The joy and bliss are still there 170 00:06:24,255 --> 00:06:26,308 but applied and sustained thought are gone 171 00:06:26,655 --> 00:06:29,029 The searchlight and the microscope are both switched off 172 00:06:29,335 --> 00:06:32,828 Your consciousness enters a stillness deeper than the first jhana 173 00:06:33,215 --> 00:06:34,989 no coarse or fine thinking activity 174 00:06:35,135 --> 00:06:38,789 but the surge of joy and bliss is stronger and steadier than in the first jhana 175 00:06:39,296 --> 00:06:40,849 The ancients described the joy of the second jhana 176 00:06:41,176 --> 00:06:42,909 as a spring at the mountaintop 177 00:06:43,015 --> 00:06:44,229 welling up from within 178 00:06:44,536 --> 00:06:46,229 It is not poured in from outside 179 00:06:46,255 --> 00:06:49,428 It bubbles up on its own from the base of your own consciousness 180 00:06:49,856 --> 00:06:51,549 In the framework we are used to 181 00:06:51,695 --> 00:06:55,229 the second jhana shuts off even the last layer of conceptual thinking 182 00:06:55,976 --> 00:06:59,428 Prediction error signals are almost no longer generated at the high level 183 00:06:59,575 --> 00:07:02,909 Your consciousness has fully entered a pure experiential mode 184 00:07:03,176 --> 00:07:04,328 There is no I having the experience 185 00:07:04,655 --> 00:07:06,068 only the experience itself 186 00:07:06,894 --> 00:07:07,367 Further up 187 00:07:07,733 --> 00:07:08,666 is the third jhana 188 00:07:09,134 --> 00:07:11,826 The third jhana is marked by bliss beyond joy 189 00:07:12,254 --> 00:07:14,307 There is a very important turn here 190 00:07:14,694 --> 00:07:15,047 Pay attention 191 00:07:15,454 --> 00:07:17,427 That intense joy of the second jhana 192 00:07:17,533 --> 00:07:19,947 is deliberately put down in the third jhana 193 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:20,646 Why 194 00:07:21,173 --> 00:07:22,653 Because at this depth of practice 195 00:07:22,653 --> 00:07:25,466 you find that joy itself is also a disturbance 196 00:07:25,853 --> 00:07:28,547 You are being battered by that huge wave of delight 197 00:07:28,653 --> 00:07:29,906 It is too strong 198 00:07:29,934 --> 00:07:31,706 and it becomes a new point of attachment 199 00:07:31,973 --> 00:07:33,826 If you really want to go deeper 200 00:07:33,853 --> 00:07:36,547 you have to loosen even that intense joy 201 00:07:37,173 --> 00:07:38,447 And what is left once you loosen it 202 00:07:38,934 --> 00:07:43,387 what is left is a bliss that is subtler steadier and deeper in the bones 203 00:07:43,853 --> 00:07:45,286 The ancients described the bliss of the third jhana 204 00:07:45,694 --> 00:07:47,346 as pervading body and mind 205 00:07:47,533 --> 00:07:49,307 as the highest bliss in this world 206 00:07:50,173 --> 00:07:51,466 The sutras even say 207 00:07:51,574 --> 00:07:56,867 the bliss of the third jhana is the most complete pleasure available in the whole desire realm and form realm 208 00:07:57,053 --> 00:07:57,646 Further up 209 00:07:58,053 --> 00:08:00,056 there is no bliss to speak of 210 00:08:00,323 --> 00:08:02,517 Do you notice how elegant this design is 211 00:08:03,003 --> 00:08:05,936 This system is training you to let go step by step 212 00:08:06,284 --> 00:08:07,457 With every level up 213 00:08:07,484 --> 00:08:10,176 you have to release something you thought was a gain 214 00:08:10,683 --> 00:08:12,696 The first jhana releases the scattering of the senses 215 00:08:12,804 --> 00:08:14,857 the second jhana releases coarse and fine thinking 216 00:08:14,963 --> 00:08:17,017 the third jhana releases that intense joy 217 00:08:17,203 --> 00:08:19,256 That is the real secret of meditative absorption 218 00:08:19,523 --> 00:08:21,243 It is not about getting more 219 00:08:21,244 --> 00:08:22,897 it is about throwing things away the whole way up 220 00:08:23,044 --> 00:08:23,717 Throwing until the very end 221 00:08:24,044 --> 00:08:25,537 and seeing what is still left 222 00:08:26,279 --> 00:08:26,871 Further up 223 00:08:27,279 --> 00:08:28,252 is the fourth jhana 224 00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:31,371 The fourth jhana is marked by purity of equanimity and mindfulness 225 00:08:31,719 --> 00:08:32,692 By the fourth jhana 226 00:08:32,839 --> 00:08:36,171 even that bliss pervading body and mind is put down 227 00:08:36,479 --> 00:08:39,331 Your consciousness enters an absolute calm 228 00:08:39,719 --> 00:08:41,311 The ancients described the fourth jhana 229 00:08:41,719 --> 00:08:43,531 as a bright mirror with no dust 230 00:08:43,758 --> 00:08:45,652 as still water with no waves 231 00:08:46,038 --> 00:08:46,551 No joy 232 00:08:46,878 --> 00:08:47,652 no bliss 233 00:08:47,719 --> 00:08:48,951 no coarse or fine thinking 234 00:08:49,238 --> 00:08:50,652 no disturbance of any kind 235 00:08:50,878 --> 00:08:52,791 only an awareness clear to the point of transparency 236 00:08:53,118 --> 00:08:56,132 and stable to an unbelievable degree 237 00:08:56,971 --> 00:08:59,544 The fourth jhana has one more crucial feature 238 00:09:00,050 --> 00:09:01,223 the breathing stops 239 00:09:01,611 --> 00:09:03,184 I am not doing mysticism here 240 00:09:03,211 --> 00:09:05,184 This is stated explicitly in the sutras 241 00:09:05,450 --> 00:09:06,323 entering the fourth jhana 242 00:09:06,810 --> 00:09:08,024 the in and out breath ceases 243 00:09:08,570 --> 00:09:09,404 breathing stops 244 00:09:09,771 --> 00:09:11,343 the pulse slows to an extreme 245 00:09:11,530 --> 00:09:14,264 The body enters something like hibernation 246 00:09:14,330 --> 00:09:16,503 but consciousness itself is boundlessly clear 247 00:09:16,891 --> 00:09:19,743 There are some modern studies on deep meditators 248 00:09:19,771 --> 00:09:23,623 especially empirical reports on long term retreat practitioners 249 00:09:23,851 --> 00:09:27,764 and they do observe that in deep absorption their metabolic rate heart rate 250 00:09:28,050 --> 00:09:31,503 and breathing rate can drop to levels ordinary people can hardly imagine 251 00:09:31,851 --> 00:09:34,904 I cannot verify the rigor of every one of those reports 252 00:09:34,930 --> 00:09:39,304 but similar phenomena are recorded across several independent traditions 253 00:09:40,011 --> 00:09:42,503 There is a well known scene in the sutras 254 00:09:42,690 --> 00:09:45,383 when Shakyamuni in a past life was the ascetic with the conch shaped topknot 255 00:09:45,650 --> 00:09:46,823 he entered the fourth jhana 256 00:09:46,891 --> 00:09:47,764 his breathing stopped 257 00:09:48,131 --> 00:09:49,103 he did not move at all 258 00:09:49,290 --> 00:09:50,863 a bird took him for a piece of wood 259 00:09:50,971 --> 00:09:52,703 and laid its eggs in his topknot 260 00:09:53,050 --> 00:09:54,743 That is not pure myth 261 00:09:54,771 --> 00:09:58,503 That is ancient people trying to describe a state they observed 262 00:09:58,810 --> 00:09:59,243 The fourth jhana 263 00:09:59,611 --> 00:10:02,064 is the highest point of all absorption in the form realm 264 00:10:02,290 --> 00:10:03,329 The form realm 265 00:10:03,330 --> 00:10:06,304 means states of consciousness still tied to the material body 266 00:10:06,490 --> 00:10:07,290 At this point 267 00:10:07,290 --> 00:10:09,890 even though your body has entered absolute stillness 268 00:10:09,891 --> 00:10:10,904 it is still there 269 00:10:11,091 --> 00:10:13,623 Your consciousness still takes this body as its base 270 00:10:13,891 --> 00:10:14,284 And then 271 00:10:14,611 --> 00:10:16,982 it is time to go somewhere deeper 272 00:10:17,250 --> 00:10:18,728 The next four levels 273 00:10:18,729 --> 00:10:20,943 are together called the four formless attainments 274 00:10:20,969 --> 00:10:22,463 or the four emptiness attainments 275 00:10:22,770 --> 00:10:24,343 This is the part of today's episode 276 00:10:24,410 --> 00:10:27,183 that I genuinely feel needs careful handling 277 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:28,242 Why careful 278 00:10:28,809 --> 00:10:31,902 Because from the moment you go from the fourth jhana into the formless attainments 279 00:10:32,049 --> 00:10:35,102 consciousness starts to truly come loose from its material carrier 280 00:10:35,409 --> 00:10:36,170 That sentence 281 00:10:36,170 --> 00:10:38,583 does not work inside a materialist framework 282 00:10:38,770 --> 00:10:43,063 but across the whole Buddhist tradition of practice and many Eastern spiritual traditions 283 00:10:43,130 --> 00:10:45,343 this is a threshold described over and over 284 00:10:45,650 --> 00:10:47,102 Today I am putting it out there 285 00:10:47,170 --> 00:10:50,142 and you may choose to believe it doubt it or hold it open 286 00:10:50,170 --> 00:10:51,463 That is entirely your freedom 287 00:10:52,250 --> 00:10:53,569 But I have to tell you 288 00:10:53,569 --> 00:10:57,575 how these ancient practitioners described this stretch of the journey 289 00:10:58,043 --> 00:10:59,236 The first of the four formless attainments 290 00:10:59,803 --> 00:11:01,535 is called the sphere of infinite space 291 00:11:01,963 --> 00:11:03,395 When you come out of the fourth jhana 292 00:11:03,843 --> 00:11:05,935 and actively contemplate space as boundless 293 00:11:06,203 --> 00:11:08,775 and put down your attachment to the body as well 294 00:11:09,043 --> 00:11:12,016 consciousness enters a state with no material boundary 295 00:11:12,189 --> 00:11:12,988 At this point 296 00:11:13,043 --> 00:11:16,736 what you experience is no longer your body sitting in a space 297 00:11:16,882 --> 00:11:19,655 but you being that boundless emptiness 298 00:11:20,043 --> 00:11:22,736 Your sense of consciousness is like a drop returning to the ocean 299 00:11:22,843 --> 00:11:23,842 no more inside or outside 300 00:11:23,843 --> 00:11:24,976 no more boundary 301 00:11:25,362 --> 00:11:25,876 The second level 302 00:11:26,242 --> 00:11:27,815 is called the sphere of infinite consciousness 303 00:11:28,203 --> 00:11:31,336 The sphere of infinite space rests on space as its object 304 00:11:31,722 --> 00:11:32,976 Going deeper still 305 00:11:33,002 --> 00:11:36,775 you find that the concept of space is itself a limit 306 00:11:37,402 --> 00:11:40,016 So you put down the grasping at space too 307 00:11:40,203 --> 00:11:43,295 and observe the consciousness that knows all of this 308 00:11:43,769 --> 00:11:44,569 At this point 309 00:11:44,642 --> 00:11:47,695 your consciousness enters a state of boundless knowing 310 00:11:48,283 --> 00:11:50,295 Everything there is is consciousness 311 00:11:50,482 --> 00:11:52,736 and consciousness itself is boundless 312 00:11:53,242 --> 00:11:53,915 At this level 313 00:11:54,122 --> 00:11:55,256 let me add one thing 314 00:11:55,683 --> 00:11:58,996 If you really listened to Indra's net in our Avatamsaka Sutra episode 315 00:11:59,522 --> 00:12:01,856 and all phenomena are consciousness only in our Yogacara episode 316 00:12:02,043 --> 00:12:06,535 you will find that what ancient practitioners experienced in the sphere of infinite consciousness 317 00:12:06,843 --> 00:12:08,695 and what those theories are talking about 318 00:12:08,923 --> 00:12:10,096 are the same thing 319 00:12:10,563 --> 00:12:11,455 The difference is 320 00:12:11,482 --> 00:12:14,336 philosophy uses reasoning to make you understand the conclusion 321 00:12:14,563 --> 00:12:18,895 absorption lets you experience the conclusion directly in your own consciousness 322 00:12:19,738 --> 00:12:20,291 The third level 323 00:12:20,738 --> 00:12:22,350 is called the sphere of nothingness 324 00:12:22,618 --> 00:12:24,470 You put down boundless consciousness too 325 00:12:24,578 --> 00:12:26,671 and observe a deeper layer 326 00:12:26,897 --> 00:12:29,070 where even consciousness itself is allowed to not be 327 00:12:29,137 --> 00:12:31,671 entering a state of almost nothing at all 328 00:12:32,098 --> 00:12:32,730 The fourth level 329 00:12:33,057 --> 00:12:34,950 also the highest of the four formless attainments 330 00:12:35,017 --> 00:12:37,190 is called the sphere of neither perception nor non perception 331 00:12:37,458 --> 00:12:38,710 That name is a tongue twister 332 00:12:38,817 --> 00:12:41,151 but it describes something very precise 333 00:12:41,338 --> 00:12:43,551 Your consciousness cannot be said to have perception 334 00:12:43,578 --> 00:12:44,911 and cannot be said to have no perception 335 00:12:45,098 --> 00:12:46,850 It enters something extremely subtle 336 00:12:47,177 --> 00:12:48,850 with almost no detectable activity 337 00:12:49,098 --> 00:12:51,470 yet you cannot say consciousness is entirely absent 338 00:12:51,578 --> 00:12:53,710 like a string that barely vibrates 339 00:12:53,897 --> 00:12:56,171 but you still cannot say it has come to a full stop 340 00:12:56,319 --> 00:13:00,492 This is the summit the Buddha climbed back then with his two teachers 341 00:13:00,998 --> 00:13:03,892 Alara Kalama taught him the sphere of nothingness 342 00:13:04,319 --> 00:13:07,931 Uddaka Ramaputta taught him the sphere of neither perception nor non perception 343 00:13:08,158 --> 00:13:09,311 Both teachers told him 344 00:13:09,638 --> 00:13:10,971 you have reached the end 345 00:13:11,319 --> 00:13:13,852 this is the limit consciousness can reach 346 00:13:14,238 --> 00:13:17,772 And then the Buddha did the thing that changed the spiritual history of humanity 347 00:13:18,319 --> 00:13:19,372 He came down 348 00:13:20,243 --> 00:13:21,156 Why did he come down 349 00:13:21,682 --> 00:13:23,656 We have to pause here 350 00:13:23,682 --> 00:13:26,136 because this is the core question of the whole episode 351 00:13:26,642 --> 00:13:28,416 From the descriptions of the formless attainments 352 00:13:28,483 --> 00:13:32,036 this is already the deepest and most extreme 353 00:13:32,282 --> 00:13:34,136 most matter transcending state human consciousness can reach 354 00:13:34,243 --> 00:13:37,495 By the mainstream view of practice in ancient India 355 00:13:37,522 --> 00:13:38,615 this was liberation 356 00:13:38,883 --> 00:13:41,242 Your consciousness leaves the material body 357 00:13:41,243 --> 00:13:43,335 and returns to the source of cosmic consciousness 358 00:13:43,642 --> 00:13:44,776 the union of Atman and Brahman 359 00:13:45,123 --> 00:13:46,136 mission accomplished 360 00:13:46,442 --> 00:13:49,855 But when the Buddha came out of neither perception nor non perception 361 00:13:49,883 --> 00:13:50,936 there was no cheering 362 00:13:50,963 --> 00:13:52,016 no celebration 363 00:13:52,083 --> 00:13:54,335 Instead he fell into deeper confusion 364 00:13:54,442 --> 00:13:56,575 because he had found a fatal problem 365 00:13:57,035 --> 00:13:58,834 These deep states of absorption 366 00:13:58,836 --> 00:14:02,289 are extremely subtle extremely still extremely beautiful 367 00:14:02,395 --> 00:14:04,129 but they are all conditioned phenomena 368 00:14:04,315 --> 00:14:04,909 In other words 369 00:14:05,236 --> 00:14:06,688 they are all things you enter 370 00:14:06,876 --> 00:14:07,789 You enter the first jhana 371 00:14:08,035 --> 00:14:09,194 you enter the second jhana 372 00:14:09,196 --> 00:14:11,208 you enter neither perception nor non perception 373 00:14:11,635 --> 00:14:12,549 And if you enter 374 00:14:12,756 --> 00:14:14,529 that means you will also come out 375 00:14:14,836 --> 00:14:16,808 Absorption has a duration 376 00:14:16,876 --> 00:14:18,688 and coming out of it is inevitable 377 00:14:18,876 --> 00:14:20,108 And once you come out 378 00:14:20,395 --> 00:14:22,249 your greed hatred and delusion are all still there 379 00:14:22,435 --> 00:14:23,688 That self clinging of yours 380 00:14:23,756 --> 00:14:25,834 the root that manufactures all suffering 381 00:14:25,836 --> 00:14:27,488 has not been touched at all 382 00:14:27,675 --> 00:14:29,728 You only powered it down for a while 383 00:14:29,876 --> 00:14:33,049 like suspending a noisy program in the background 384 00:14:33,756 --> 00:14:35,554 The moment you return to ordinary consciousness 385 00:14:35,555 --> 00:14:36,834 it boots back up 386 00:14:36,836 --> 00:14:38,488 and goes back to exactly what it was 387 00:14:38,756 --> 00:14:42,688 This is the truth the Buddha saw inside neither perception nor non perception 388 00:14:43,035 --> 00:14:46,088 Deep absorption can pause the workings of the self 389 00:14:46,196 --> 00:14:48,289 but pausing is not removing 390 00:14:48,823 --> 00:14:52,236 That insight was revolutionary in the whole history of practice 391 00:14:52,582 --> 00:14:53,956 because before the Buddha 392 00:14:53,982 --> 00:14:56,155 nearly every Indian tradition of practice 393 00:14:56,222 --> 00:14:59,795 equated deeper absorption with being closer to liberation 394 00:15:00,102 --> 00:15:01,935 Their map was a straight line 395 00:15:02,502 --> 00:15:03,555 the deeper the practice 396 00:15:03,702 --> 00:15:04,816 the higher the level of absorption 397 00:15:05,102 --> 00:15:06,395 the closer to liberation 398 00:15:06,783 --> 00:15:08,255 Climb to neither perception nor non perception 399 00:15:08,582 --> 00:15:09,836 and you have reached the summit 400 00:15:10,183 --> 00:15:12,175 The Buddha was the first person standing on that summit 401 00:15:12,582 --> 00:15:13,236 who said 402 00:15:13,342 --> 00:15:14,255 this is not the summit 403 00:15:14,582 --> 00:15:15,915 this is a fake mountain 404 00:15:16,382 --> 00:15:19,116 Real liberation is not about how high you can climb 405 00:15:19,183 --> 00:15:22,275 it is about seeing clearly the one who has been climbing 406 00:15:22,622 --> 00:15:24,035 He threw the ladder away 407 00:15:24,382 --> 00:15:26,116 then walked to the Bodhi tree 408 00:15:26,143 --> 00:15:28,956 and began practicing in a completely different way 409 00:15:29,183 --> 00:15:31,116 That way is called stillness and insight 410 00:15:32,143 --> 00:15:34,116 Stillness is what you use to enter absorption 411 00:15:34,143 --> 00:15:38,356 Insight is what you use to observe the workings of consciousness while in absorption 412 00:15:38,543 --> 00:15:39,741 Not climbing higher 413 00:15:39,742 --> 00:15:42,716 but seeing the climber clearly in the middle of the climb 414 00:15:42,982 --> 00:15:45,375 This is the real path by which the Buddha later realized arahantship 415 00:15:45,742 --> 00:15:49,035 and supreme perfect enlightenment 416 00:15:49,679 --> 00:15:50,832 I know that by this point 417 00:15:51,079 --> 00:15:52,411 you may have a question 418 00:15:52,958 --> 00:15:55,431 Does that make the four jhanas and eight attainments useless 419 00:15:55,998 --> 00:15:57,112 The Buddha threw them away 420 00:15:57,519 --> 00:15:58,791 so why are we still studying them 421 00:15:59,559 --> 00:16:00,891 That is not it at all 422 00:16:01,319 --> 00:16:03,891 What the Buddha threw away was not absorption itself 423 00:16:04,118 --> 00:16:06,811 but treating absorption as the destination 424 00:16:07,279 --> 00:16:08,492 Absorption itself 425 00:16:08,559 --> 00:16:12,852 is still one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in all Buddhist practice 426 00:16:13,319 --> 00:16:14,852 It is the platform for insight 427 00:16:15,118 --> 00:16:18,252 the operating table where you do the deeper work 428 00:16:18,758 --> 00:16:20,291 Without a foundation of absorption 429 00:16:20,358 --> 00:16:23,131 you simply cannot see the details of how consciousness works 430 00:16:23,478 --> 00:16:25,332 It is like wanting to observe bacteria 431 00:16:25,439 --> 00:16:27,372 you cannot do it without a microscope 432 00:16:27,718 --> 00:16:29,891 Absorption is that microscope 433 00:16:30,519 --> 00:16:32,931 You have to build a stable microscope first 434 00:16:32,998 --> 00:16:34,212 before you can use it to look at anything 435 00:16:34,598 --> 00:16:36,931 But the microscope itself is not biology 436 00:16:37,118 --> 00:16:40,011 This is the fundamental split between the Buddha and the practitioners before him 437 00:16:40,428 --> 00:16:43,641 Let me translate this story with our predictive coding framework 438 00:16:43,907 --> 00:16:45,340 What is deep absorption actually doing 439 00:16:45,828 --> 00:16:50,040 It takes the precision weighting on the high level priors in your brain 440 00:16:50,108 --> 00:16:51,641 and turns it down notch by notch 441 00:16:51,988 --> 00:16:53,180 The first jhana turns it down one notch 442 00:16:53,507 --> 00:16:55,080 the second jhana two notches 443 00:16:55,228 --> 00:16:57,121 the fourth jhana turns it very low 444 00:16:57,228 --> 00:16:59,800 and once you enter the formless attainments it is nearly at zero 445 00:17:00,147 --> 00:17:03,881 Your default mode network activity drops at every single level 446 00:17:04,108 --> 00:17:06,080 By the sphere of neither perception nor non perception 447 00:17:06,147 --> 00:17:07,826 default mode network activity 448 00:17:07,828 --> 00:17:11,081 may have dropped to a degree you have never experienced in your life 449 00:17:11,507 --> 00:17:12,667 In that state 450 00:17:12,668 --> 00:17:15,680 your self narrative machine is almost entirely offline 451 00:17:16,027 --> 00:17:20,000 You experience absolute calm oneness and boundlessness 452 00:17:20,787 --> 00:17:22,621 Those experiences are themselves real 453 00:17:22,827 --> 00:17:23,881 not hallucinations 454 00:17:24,228 --> 00:17:25,601 But here is exactly where the problem is 455 00:17:25,988 --> 00:17:28,187 even though this narrative machine is powered down 456 00:17:28,188 --> 00:17:29,920 its code has not been deleted 457 00:17:30,267 --> 00:17:31,361 It is still sitting right there 458 00:17:31,628 --> 00:17:32,301 The moment you come out of absorption 459 00:17:32,668 --> 00:17:33,680 the power goes back in 460 00:17:33,708 --> 00:17:35,221 and it boots right up again 461 00:17:35,568 --> 00:17:37,822 This is precisely the truth the Buddha saw 462 00:17:38,129 --> 00:17:39,941 Powering down is not the solution 463 00:17:40,008 --> 00:17:42,102 The solution is rewriting the code 464 00:17:42,248 --> 00:17:43,282 And rewriting the code 465 00:17:43,528 --> 00:17:45,582 does not come from shutting the machine down even deeper 466 00:17:45,929 --> 00:17:46,941 Quite the opposite 467 00:17:47,048 --> 00:17:51,181 you need the machine running in a low power but wide awake state 468 00:17:51,328 --> 00:17:52,968 and then while it is in that state 469 00:17:52,969 --> 00:17:55,807 read line by line what the code is doing 470 00:17:55,808 --> 00:17:58,221 and modify it while it runs 471 00:17:58,689 --> 00:18:00,142 That is stillness and insight 472 00:18:00,528 --> 00:18:04,822 Stillness slows the machine until you can see every step clearly 473 00:18:05,088 --> 00:18:07,421 Insight is what you do once you see every step 474 00:18:07,528 --> 00:18:09,648 spotting which lines of code are the bugs 475 00:18:09,649 --> 00:18:12,782 the underlying logic that generates your self clinging 476 00:18:12,849 --> 00:18:14,461 and then rewriting them 477 00:18:15,129 --> 00:18:18,488 Those feelings of oneness and boundlessness you meet in absorption 478 00:18:18,488 --> 00:18:19,527 they are real 479 00:18:19,528 --> 00:18:22,527 but they are the illusory calm of a powered down state 480 00:18:22,528 --> 00:18:25,102 not the fundamental freedom that comes after rewriting the code 481 00:18:25,288 --> 00:18:27,461 Those two things live on two different dimensions 482 00:18:28,210 --> 00:18:28,992 At this point 483 00:18:28,992 --> 00:18:31,804 I want to bring up a connection that keeps stunning me 484 00:18:32,272 --> 00:18:34,205 Our channel did an episode a while back 485 00:18:34,232 --> 00:18:37,485 called do astronauts get enlightened from one look at Earth from space 486 00:18:37,792 --> 00:18:40,364 In that episode we talked about the overview effect 487 00:18:40,631 --> 00:18:44,044 When astronauts see the whole Earth suspended in the void 488 00:18:44,232 --> 00:18:47,284 their default mode network deactivates 489 00:18:47,431 --> 00:18:48,504 the sense of self dissolves 490 00:18:48,792 --> 00:18:50,725 and they get an experience of oneness with everything 491 00:18:51,151 --> 00:18:55,284 That experience and the self dissolution induced by deep meditation and psychedelics 492 00:18:55,431 --> 00:18:57,645 share common ground in their neural mechanisms 493 00:18:58,032 --> 00:19:01,564 Now put that finding side by side with the four jhanas and eight attainments 494 00:19:02,351 --> 00:19:05,165 A practitioner who reaches neither perception nor non perception 495 00:19:05,232 --> 00:19:07,604 and an astronaut looking back at Earth from the Moon 496 00:19:07,712 --> 00:19:11,284 may in some sense be visiting the same class of neural state 497 00:19:11,512 --> 00:19:13,965 a deep deactivation of the default mode network 498 00:19:14,111 --> 00:19:16,245 a temporary release of self narrative 499 00:19:16,512 --> 00:19:19,190 The only difference is one gets there through decades of inner training 500 00:19:19,191 --> 00:19:22,165 and the other through a single extreme visual shock from outside 501 00:19:22,621 --> 00:19:25,913 So why is it that the astronauts came back only as deeper people 502 00:19:26,060 --> 00:19:28,660 while the Buddha came down from that state 503 00:19:28,661 --> 00:19:32,173 and founded a teaching that reshaped twenty five hundred years of human spiritual history 504 00:19:32,941 --> 00:19:34,354 My answer is this 505 00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:36,713 The astronauts saw that state 506 00:19:36,901 --> 00:19:39,794 but they did not see clearly how once they returned to ordinary states 507 00:19:39,820 --> 00:19:43,193 the machine that manufactures the sense of separation boots back up 508 00:19:43,740 --> 00:19:45,673 The Buddha saw that state 509 00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:49,193 and then saw the entire way back down clearly as well 510 00:19:49,461 --> 00:19:51,314 He saw the machine power down 511 00:19:51,381 --> 00:19:53,314 He saw the machine reboot 512 00:19:53,381 --> 00:19:57,273 He saw how every stage of that reboot happens 513 00:19:57,981 --> 00:19:59,213 And so he knew 514 00:19:59,500 --> 00:20:00,634 that real liberation 515 00:20:00,661 --> 00:20:02,913 is not staying forever in that powered down state 516 00:20:02,941 --> 00:20:06,473 it is seeing every line of its code clearly while the machine is running 517 00:20:06,500 --> 00:20:09,594 and then rewriting the lines that make it generate separation 518 00:20:09,740 --> 00:20:11,819 That is why in the Buddha's teaching 519 00:20:11,820 --> 00:20:13,713 absorption is only infrastructure 520 00:20:13,820 --> 00:20:16,273 and wisdom is the real cause of buddhahood 521 00:20:16,679 --> 00:20:17,392 Alright 522 00:20:17,392 --> 00:20:18,026 at this point 523 00:20:18,192 --> 00:20:19,671 I have to cover the final level 524 00:20:19,672 --> 00:20:20,605 the cessation attainment 525 00:20:20,753 --> 00:20:23,045 This is the highest of all nine successive attainments 526 00:20:23,113 --> 00:20:24,666 and it is one the Buddha originated himself 527 00:20:24,993 --> 00:20:27,686 a state no other Indian tradition of practice had 528 00:20:27,993 --> 00:20:30,711 The cessation attainment has a more precise Chinese name 529 00:20:30,712 --> 00:20:32,405 the absorption that extinguishes feeling and perception 530 00:20:32,632 --> 00:20:34,671 It is not a continuation of the four jhanas and eight attainments 531 00:20:34,672 --> 00:20:36,805 it crosses a threshold of kind 532 00:20:37,033 --> 00:20:38,486 Its definition goes like this 533 00:20:38,593 --> 00:20:41,911 even feeling and perception the two most basic mental activities 534 00:20:41,912 --> 00:20:43,401 are brought to a temporary halt 535 00:20:43,748 --> 00:20:44,341 What is feeling 536 00:20:44,829 --> 00:20:46,921 It is every sensation in your consciousness 537 00:20:46,948 --> 00:20:49,881 all painful feeling pleasant feeling and neutral feeling 538 00:20:50,069 --> 00:20:50,702 What is perception 539 00:20:51,109 --> 00:20:53,467 It is every cognitive activity in your consciousness 540 00:20:53,468 --> 00:20:55,881 all recognizing discriminating and naming 541 00:20:56,109 --> 00:20:58,467 Once these two are switched off at the same time 542 00:20:58,468 --> 00:21:01,002 consciousness enters an extremely unusual state 543 00:21:01,149 --> 00:21:02,121 The sutras say 544 00:21:02,149 --> 00:21:06,562 that only noble ones at the anagami stage or above can enter the cessation attainment 545 00:21:06,708 --> 00:21:08,148 An ordinary practitioner 546 00:21:08,149 --> 00:21:10,507 even one who can climb to neither perception nor non perception 547 00:21:10,508 --> 00:21:12,081 cannot get into the cessation attainment 548 00:21:12,149 --> 00:21:15,308 because the cessation attainment is not entered through absorption technique 549 00:21:15,309 --> 00:21:19,187 It is entered only after certain root afflictions have already been cut off 550 00:21:19,188 --> 00:21:20,381 It is a product of wisdom 551 00:21:20,589 --> 00:21:22,042 not a product of technique 552 00:21:22,924 --> 00:21:24,916 What is it like to enter the cessation attainment 553 00:21:25,523 --> 00:21:26,443 Strictly speaking 554 00:21:26,443 --> 00:21:29,976 this is a state with no experiencer and nothing experienced 555 00:21:30,164 --> 00:21:33,017 Even the act of experiencing does not hold 556 00:21:33,164 --> 00:21:35,297 You cannot say I entered the cessation attainment 557 00:21:35,324 --> 00:21:37,456 because inside it there is no I 558 00:21:37,604 --> 00:21:40,203 You cannot even say I experienced the cessation attainment 559 00:21:40,203 --> 00:21:41,737 because there is no experiencer 560 00:21:41,924 --> 00:21:42,797 So does it exist 561 00:21:43,324 --> 00:21:45,376 Some kind of event definitely took place 562 00:21:45,483 --> 00:21:47,857 otherwise people would not come back out of it 563 00:21:48,043 --> 00:21:51,497 But it is not any state of consciousness we understand in everyday terms 564 00:21:51,803 --> 00:21:54,017 Here I have to be completely honest 565 00:21:54,243 --> 00:21:55,196 What is the cessation attainment 566 00:21:55,523 --> 00:21:56,497 I do not know 567 00:21:57,523 --> 00:21:59,322 Not one living person 568 00:21:59,324 --> 00:22:02,176 can put the content of that experience into words for you 569 00:22:02,324 --> 00:22:05,817 because its very nature goes beyond the structure of experience 570 00:22:06,203 --> 00:22:07,603 What the ancients said about it 571 00:22:07,604 --> 00:22:10,017 comes down in the end to one sentence of negation 572 00:22:10,483 --> 00:22:12,497 there is no state to speak of there 573 00:22:13,129 --> 00:22:14,402 There is one bold speculation 574 00:22:14,808 --> 00:22:16,527 and I stress that this is speculation 575 00:22:16,528 --> 00:22:17,461 not a conclusion 576 00:22:17,729 --> 00:22:21,342 The cessation attainment may be a temporary shutdown of the system of consciousness 577 00:22:21,689 --> 00:22:22,441 Not suspension 578 00:22:22,848 --> 00:22:24,382 not low power operation 579 00:22:24,449 --> 00:22:26,221 a shutdown in the true sense 580 00:22:26,488 --> 00:22:29,181 Your self narrative machine goes fully offline 581 00:22:29,369 --> 00:22:32,542 even the code maintaining basic awareness is paused 582 00:22:32,889 --> 00:22:33,282 And then 583 00:22:33,649 --> 00:22:34,981 after a stretch of time 584 00:22:35,088 --> 00:22:36,542 no longer than seven days at most 585 00:22:36,649 --> 00:22:38,501 the system is restarted 586 00:22:38,609 --> 00:22:40,941 and consciousness is generated in the body again 587 00:22:41,449 --> 00:22:43,661 If this speculation points the right way 588 00:22:43,729 --> 00:22:46,062 it points to an extremely subversive conclusion 589 00:22:46,409 --> 00:22:48,461 Consciousness is not a continuous stream 590 00:22:48,969 --> 00:22:50,622 It can be interrupted 591 00:22:51,288 --> 00:22:52,607 And during that interruption 592 00:22:52,609 --> 00:22:55,481 is there anything at all holding the continuity of you as an individual 593 00:22:56,088 --> 00:22:57,122 The Buddhist answer is 594 00:22:57,488 --> 00:22:58,741 nothing is held at all 595 00:22:59,048 --> 00:23:01,701 Nothing continues on inside the cessation attainment 596 00:23:01,889 --> 00:23:04,622 What you come out as is a new event of consciousness 597 00:23:04,729 --> 00:23:07,421 and between it and the event of consciousness before you entered 598 00:23:07,449 --> 00:23:09,862 there is no substantial self bridging the two 599 00:23:10,088 --> 00:23:12,287 It is only the continuity of karmic seeds 600 00:23:12,288 --> 00:23:16,062 that makes the new event of consciousness look like a continuation of the same you 601 00:23:16,363 --> 00:23:17,602 If that is true 602 00:23:17,603 --> 00:23:19,895 then every night in deep dreamless sleep 603 00:23:20,123 --> 00:23:24,216 what actually happens is in some sense the same shape as the cessation attainment 604 00:23:24,363 --> 00:23:25,276 Consciousness is interrupted 605 00:23:25,523 --> 00:23:27,335 and restarts the next morning 606 00:23:27,402 --> 00:23:29,256 You assume you are the same you as yesterday 607 00:23:29,323 --> 00:23:32,296 but in between there was a stretch of darkness with no you in it at all 608 00:23:32,402 --> 00:23:34,456 You have simply never thought about it 609 00:23:34,482 --> 00:23:35,736 because the moment you wake up 610 00:23:35,803 --> 00:23:38,816 consciousness automatically fills in a narrative of continuity for you 611 00:23:39,083 --> 00:23:42,082 The cessation attainment takes this thing that happens every night 612 00:23:42,083 --> 00:23:45,016 and compresses it from hours down to seconds 613 00:23:45,123 --> 00:23:48,335 and it lets the practitioner cross that interruption with awareness 614 00:23:48,442 --> 00:23:50,575 That is what is truly astonishing about it 615 00:23:51,442 --> 00:23:54,162 It is not about leaving you parked in that unconscious state 616 00:23:54,162 --> 00:23:55,095 that is just sleep 617 00:23:55,323 --> 00:24:00,582 It is about passing fully and knowingly through the interruption and reboot of consciousness 618 00:24:00,695 --> 00:24:01,409 Alright 619 00:24:01,409 --> 00:24:02,863 by this point in the episode 620 00:24:02,889 --> 00:24:06,663 we have walked the nine levels from the first jhana all the way to the cessation attainment 621 00:24:07,089 --> 00:24:08,282 But before wrapping up 622 00:24:08,649 --> 00:24:09,863 I want to say one more thing 623 00:24:10,210 --> 00:24:11,302 If you ask me 624 00:24:11,329 --> 00:24:14,423 what the most important insight in today's episode is 625 00:24:14,649 --> 00:24:16,502 it is not the structure of the nine successive attainments 626 00:24:16,569 --> 00:24:18,903 not the deactivation of the default mode network 627 00:24:19,129 --> 00:24:20,863 not the mystery of the cessation attainment 628 00:24:21,290 --> 00:24:22,203 The most important insight 629 00:24:22,530 --> 00:24:24,582 is the moment the Buddha came down the mountain 630 00:24:24,849 --> 00:24:27,903 Nearly every Indian tradition of practice is telling you 631 00:24:28,050 --> 00:24:29,423 the higher you climb the better 632 00:24:29,450 --> 00:24:31,183 and once you reach the top you are liberated 633 00:24:31,490 --> 00:24:33,342 The Buddha was the first to stand up and say 634 00:24:33,490 --> 00:24:35,143 there is no liberation at the summit 635 00:24:35,409 --> 00:24:38,943 Real liberation is in seeing clearly the one who has been climbing 636 00:24:39,514 --> 00:24:40,873 In our own era 637 00:24:40,875 --> 00:24:43,687 countless ways of climbing the mountain are being sold to you 638 00:24:43,834 --> 00:24:47,527 Meditation apps tell you meditate five hundred days and you will be calm 639 00:24:47,675 --> 00:24:51,848 Spiritual teachers tell you join my seven day retreat and you will awaken 640 00:24:51,915 --> 00:24:55,328 Every kind of spiritual product is promising you a higher state 641 00:24:55,754 --> 00:24:59,368 The Buddha saw through this whole thing twenty five hundred years ago 642 00:24:59,675 --> 00:25:00,068 He said 643 00:25:00,475 --> 00:25:02,313 any height you can climb to 644 00:25:02,314 --> 00:25:03,487 is not the end point 645 00:25:03,754 --> 00:25:07,967 because climbing itself already presupposes a you that has not arrived 646 00:25:07,994 --> 00:25:10,487 and a distance with the end point waiting over there 647 00:25:10,754 --> 00:25:12,348 As long as that structure of distance is still in place 648 00:25:12,675 --> 00:25:13,888 you will be climbing forever 649 00:25:14,274 --> 00:25:15,348 The real work is 650 00:25:15,794 --> 00:25:16,648 to stop 651 00:25:16,715 --> 00:25:18,507 and look at the one who always wants to climb 652 00:25:18,834 --> 00:25:19,227 and ask who that is 653 00:25:20,180 --> 00:25:20,981 This question 654 00:25:21,115 --> 00:25:23,408 does not require you to enter the four jhanas and eight attainments to ask it 655 00:25:23,475 --> 00:25:24,848 You can ask it right now 656 00:25:25,115 --> 00:25:27,808 Every second you spend listening to me in this episode 657 00:25:27,834 --> 00:25:31,633 that urge of yours to figure it out to know the answer to make progress 658 00:25:31,635 --> 00:25:33,727 is that mountain climber running 659 00:25:33,994 --> 00:25:34,588 Seeing it 660 00:25:34,715 --> 00:25:35,767 is the first step 661 00:25:36,299 --> 00:25:37,739 And if you really do see it 662 00:25:37,740 --> 00:25:39,032 you will notice one thing 663 00:25:39,460 --> 00:25:40,593 It is not mysterious at all 664 00:25:40,740 --> 00:25:42,659 It is nothing more than that thing in your brain 665 00:25:42,660 --> 00:25:46,153 the default mode network endlessly generating the story called me 666 00:25:46,700 --> 00:25:47,532 It is not the enemy 667 00:25:47,859 --> 00:25:49,313 not something that has to be destroyed 668 00:25:49,940 --> 00:25:51,393 It is just a machine 669 00:25:51,665 --> 00:25:52,460 And you 670 00:25:52,460 --> 00:25:55,792 are the awareness that can watch the machine run 671 00:25:56,299 --> 00:25:57,538 This capacity to watch 672 00:25:57,539 --> 00:26:00,393 is what the nine successive attainments are all trying to cultivate 673 00:26:01,140 --> 00:26:02,952 Not so that you can climb higher 674 00:26:03,259 --> 00:26:07,833 but so that this watching becomes stable enough clear enough and deep enough 675 00:26:08,019 --> 00:26:10,138 that in any state whatsoever 676 00:26:10,140 --> 00:26:11,659 whether inside deep absorption 677 00:26:11,660 --> 00:26:12,813 or in ordinary daily life 678 00:26:13,019 --> 00:26:14,633 you can keep this watching going 679 00:26:15,065 --> 00:26:17,919 Today's episode has already gone this deep 680 00:26:18,026 --> 00:26:20,318 so let me leave you with an even bigger question 681 00:26:20,585 --> 00:26:24,558 If the Buddha reached the summit of neither perception nor non perception 682 00:26:24,585 --> 00:26:25,998 and found that it was not the end point 683 00:26:26,145 --> 00:26:28,399 then those things you and I chase today 684 00:26:28,546 --> 00:26:33,038 more money higher status deeper states a better life 685 00:26:33,145 --> 00:26:35,619 are we sure those are real end points 686 00:26:36,045 --> 00:26:36,825 Or to put it another way 687 00:26:36,825 --> 00:26:40,139 could we also be climbing a mountain we take for the end 688 00:26:40,426 --> 00:26:42,219 whose summit is actually fake 689 00:26:42,786 --> 00:26:43,258 This question 690 00:26:43,665 --> 00:26:44,705 if you are willing 691 00:26:44,706 --> 00:26:47,159 tell me your thoughts in the comments 692 00:26:47,266 --> 00:26:49,104 And whatever you want to hear in the next episode 693 00:26:49,105 --> 00:26:50,439 feel free to tell me that too 694 00:26:50,466 --> 00:26:51,179 I am Leo Wang 695 00:26:51,385 --> 00:26:52,179 see you next time