Aṅguttara Nikāya 5.179. The Householder Then Anathapindika the householder, surrounded by about 500 lay followers, went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. So the Blessed One said to Ven. Sariputta: “Sariputta, when you know of a householder clothed in white, that he is restrained in terms of the five training rules and that he obtains at will, without difficulty, without hardship, four pleasant mental abidings in the here & now, then if he wants he may state about himself: ‘Hell is ended; animal wombs are ended; the state of the hungry shades is ended; states of deprivation, destitution, the bad bourns are ended! I am a stream-winner, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening!’ “Now, in terms of which five training rules is he restrained? “There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abstains from taking life, abstains from taking what is not given, abstains from illicit sex, abstains from lying, abstains from distilled & fermented drinks that cause heedlessness. “These are the five training rules in terms of which he is restrained. “And which four pleasant mental abidings in the here & now does he obtain at will, without difficulty, without hardship? “There is the case where the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with verified confidence in the Awakened One: ‘Indeed, the Blessed One is worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in knowledge & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine & human beings, awakened, blessed.’ This is the first pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean. “Furthermore, he is endowed with verified confidence in the Dhamma: ‘The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting verification, pertinent, to be realized by the wise for themselves.’ This is the second pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean. “Furthermore, he is endowed with verified confidence in the Sangha: ‘The Sangha of the Blessed One’s disciples who have practiced well… who have practiced straight-forwardly… who have practiced methodically… who have practiced masterfully-in other words, the four pairs, the eight individuals -they are the Sangha of the Blessed One’s disciples: worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respect, the incomparable field of merit for the world.’ This is the third pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean. “Furthermore, he is endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones: untorn, unbroken, unspotted, unsplattered, liberating, praised by the wise, untarnished, leading to concentration. This is the fourth pleasant mental abiding in the here & now that he has attained, for the purification of the mind that is impure, for the cleansing of the mind that is unclean. “These are the four pleasant mental abidings in the here & now that he obtains at will, without difficulty, without hardship. “Sariputta, when you know of a householder clothed in white, that he is restrained in terms of the five training rules and that he obtains at will, without difficulty, without hardship, four pleasant mental abidings in the here & now, then if he wants he may state about himself: ‘Hell is ended; animal wombs are ended; the state of the hungry shades is ended; states of deprivation, destitution, the bad bourns are ended! I am a stream-winner, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening!’ Seeing the danger in hells, the wise would shun evils, would shun them, taking on the noble Dhamma. You shouldn’t kill living beings existing, striving; shouldn’t grasp what isn’t given. Content with your own wife, don’t delight in the wives of others. You shouldn’t drink drinks, distilled, fermented, that confuse the mind. Recollect the self-awakened one. Think often of the Dhamma. Develop a mind useful, devoid of ill will, for the sake of the heavenly world. When hoping for merit, provide gifts first to those peaceful ones, ideal, to whom what is offered, given, becomes abundant [in fruit]. I will tell you of those peaceful ones, Sariputta. Listen to me. In a herd of cattle, whether black, white, ruddy, brown, dappled, uniform, or pigeon gray: if a bull is born- tame, enduring, consummate in strength, & swift- people yoke him to burdens, regardless of his color. In the same way, wherever one is born among human beings- noble warriors, brahmans, merchants, workers, outcastes, or scavengers- if one is tame, with good practices, righteous, consummate in virtue, a speaker of truth, with conscience at heart, one who’s abandoned birth & death, completed the holy life put down the burden, done the task fermentation-free, gone beyond all dhammas, through lack of clinging unbound: offerings to this spotless field bear an abundance of fruit. But fools, unknowing, dull, uninformed, give gifts outside and don’t come near the good. While those who do come near the good -regarded as enlightened, wise- whose trust in the One Well-gone has taken root, is established & firm: they go to the world of the devas or are reborn here in good family. Step by step they reach Nibbana : they who are wise.” ____________________________________ If you wish to support the monks of the Hillside Hermitage Sangha and this channel you are very welcome to do so via: www.hillsidehermitage.org/support-us ____________________________________ AUDIO FILES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF OUR KZfaq DHAMMA TALKS t.me/HillsideHermitage ____________________________________ MORE TEACHINGS: www.hillsidehermitage.org/teachings

Namo Buddhaya 🙏

Thank you for continuing to put out valuable material. Producing this must take valuable time and effort - so anything you put out is very much appreciated. I don’t take this for granted.

I found this round table style talk very useful. It reminded me of Socratic style dialogue. I’d welcome more videos of this style. Thank you Bhante 🙏🏼

I was waiting for this. thank you all for the motivation and inspiration

Thank you so much for the videos, but also for the well-organized audio archives - these are extremely useful resources.

Thank you very much for presenting these teachings in such a clear manner.

Thank you to you Ajahn and to your Sangha as well. This dialog was very useful for me. My current conditions for practice are quite hostile for several reasons I won't go into here. The dialog helped me to confirm what I already know but have been avoiding, which specifically is that I've been using the internet in a particular way with a combination of social justice awareness, humor, and simply rolling around in my own ill will. There has been some amount of worldy usefulness to this I believe, but the Dhamma can never be of the world. The responsibility for my practice always lies with me regardless of external conditions, so as discussed it's time to reflect properly on my intentions rather than choosing craving and ill will, thereby choosing to disturb my Samadhi and practicing Adhamma rather than Dhamma. Thank you. 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️

Thank you, Venerables. This discussion was very helpful because I see that I need to put quite a bit more effort into clarifying the danger. This needs to be front and center in my case, and you’ve taught this probably at least 100 times in the past few years, but with increased contemplation and self-questioning, I think I understand. So I while I don’t quite see the full extent of the danger, I understand the absolute necessity of uncovering it. For this to happen, experiencing the pain of restraint is not optional. I’m still liable. Thank you to all of you.

Having rectified the standard (mis)translation of the Pāli word 'ekaggatā' (a necessary property of all forms of samādhi), everything in the Suttas falls into place with what is discussed here, without any need for the common "patchwork-and-cherrypicking-to-justify-my-existing-views". The word "agga" in the Suttas is used most commonly in the sense of "the summit; the peak; the foremost" such as how the Buddha is the "agga/summit" of the entire world of gods and humans . Another possible meaning is "room; place; house" such as "bhattagga", the place where meals are taken. So developing ekaggatā of mind (samādhi) would be establishing it onto 1) one "summit" or 2) one "place" or "room". 1) In order to call something a "peak" or a "summit" one has to be conscious of the lower surface lying around it-it's an implicit comparison of _two different_ levels, recognizing one as more prominent to the others. Similarly, in Right composure one has established a certain Right theme (not just by pondering on it, but also by _living_ in line with it), put it "at the summit" compared to all other lower, unwholesome themes (lust, aversion and delusion) that could otherwise take over that prominence. In other words, one surmounts Māra's domain (the lower ground) by ascending and steadying the mind onto that "peak", _while_ that lower ground remains very much down there: visible, but now abandoned. That is very different from 'concentration': trying to prevent Māra's domain from _existing_ at all, by totally replacing all phenomena and possibilities with a single object (the opposite of "boundless and immeasurable samādhi"). The end result is that one remains engaged with his domain, just in a different manner by denial (and is now hypnotized and unable to recognize him when he pops up, to boot). 2) The alternative meaning of "agga" as "place; hall; room" also falls in line perfectly. What defines a "place" is the fact that it remains unchanged despite the events that _take place_ within it, and the people who enter and leave it. Similarly, a wholesome context properly established as the background of one's mind, through persistent reflection and discernment, allows for a multitude of more particular events (i.e. thoughts, phenomena, intentions, even feelings of a more particular kind) to occur _within_ it, without any possibility of those events overstepping that place, the wholesome context, that they are now within. Hence, it is no coincidence that the jhānas are called pleasant _dwellings_ here-&-now, and not pleasant "points" or "objects", nor even "experiences" or "events". For as long as those mental events remain contained within that place/dwelling, there is no chance of them causing trouble and reaching out to the domain that they shouldn't: again, lust, aversion and delusion.

Thank you, Bhante, and all the other venerables, for this wonderful discussion. In a past video, I asked about what role does the active pondering play in the Dhamma training, because I heard a lot of your talks put emphasis on enduring sense objects when the present themselves. With this discussion, everything feels way clearer to me (although, I may be understanding it wrong, yet): right reflection/evaluation/recollection allows us to change the background perspective from where to look at sense objects (and mind processes), in order to gradually change our worldview, incorporating the notions of gratification, danger and escape of sensuality and dukkha; and that pondering and reflection (accompanied by right manasikara, virtue and restraint) gradually set in the mind the conditions for Right Samadhi. If I'm misunderstanding something, I'd really appreciate if anyone could give some feedback and correction. Thank you, again, Bhante. May you be happy.

This is by far the clearest explanation of the practice you teach. Thank you for the explanation. I can't necessarily agree that the whole path is just basically just thinking. I mean there were arahants that were not that smart in the suttas. I don't really think this practice is going to be solid for someone that is not on the higher end of the intelligence spectrum. But I find this helpful. Thanks.

Thank you for helping me to feel better abt life.🙏🏽

Thank you Bhante, for making these discussions available So then, for a person who is entirely immersed in householder life, engaged in business, engaged in all kinds of activities and pursuits - for such a person, you could say the actual right samadhi is in the direction of that nearly unbearable sensation of *overwhelm* that comes when we start to feel the weight of all that activity. Whereas most of us practice *concentration* in order to get a calming break from that overwhelm, while remaining fully within the wider intention to continue to engage in all of the same activities that keep causing us to feel overwhelmed. Not that samadhi is equivalent to overwhelm, of course - It is only so when one's mind is full of all kinds of various householder intentions, householder delights, and householder griefs. Which makes sense of why virtue, sense restraint, basically withdrawal from householder life is necessary before right samadhi can be established

Will the Irish lady be coming to Ireland to teach in the future when she has finished her training 🤞?

Thank you, Bhantes. This was an excellent Dhamma talk. Is discerning the dissonance of anapanasati the same as discerning the dissonance of appropriating one "side" of the enduring simultaneity? The uncomfortableness that is the result of seeing what you're taking up as possible only because there is something else enduring there (that is not yours) determining it?

Is it possible that a meditation technique to help quiet the mind could potentially make contemplation more fruitful?

For the edited Transcript: t.me/HillsideHermitage/261

Will one be absolutely certain when they experience first jahna ? Could this applied persistent thought free from greed aversion delusion be confused with a novelty experience?

samma samadhi is basically the right form of jhana - not the jhanas practiced before buddha ( samatha jhanas ) - in the right samadhi contact is present allowing to practice the 4 foundations of mindfulness .

samadhi means JHANA< Jhana from the word JHAYATI, meaning 'to burn', ie burn away objectivity (due to agnosis and identity with same). Go study the Nikayas, youre speculating

samma' doesnt mean "right" and none of you videos are based in the pre-sectarian Nikayas.