2022-12-16 Insight Pentad (5 of 5) Knowing Liberation

7:23AM Dec 17, 2022

Speakers:

Gil Fronsdal

Keywords:

liberation

insight

buddha

states

fade

afflictive

freedom

knowing

gladness

absence

qualities

experience

flow

pen

contempt

samadhi

vague idea

hate

practice

greed

So so we come to the last if the last talk on that insight, pen Ted. And these are the five qualities, including insight, that, that flow together that arise together, not as something that's constructed or made to happen, but something that conditions each other or one leads to the other awakens to the other, triggers the other. And many people would think that you would ends with liberation. The fourth are these insights, pen tats, five qualities. And isn't Shouldn't that be enough liberation. But the liberation itself is a condition for the arising of a fifth quality. And that's the knowledge that one is later liberated knowledge that the mind is liberated. And there are people who have some degree of, you know, realization, liberation, something that really sets them free. And they kind of know that they've had something significant. But they don't really know it, they don't understand what's happened in this knowing of it, is to understand something profound about it. And, and, as so many times for the Buddha, it's it's a no something specific, it's not some generalized, vague idea of what liberation is what freedom is. Because some people will have some profound feeling of peace or calm or some letting go, that happens that feels so relieving and releasing, but they don't understand what they've let go of, they don't understand what they've opened up into. And, you know, what's really this experience like, and without knowing that, it's hard to find the path there, again, it's hard to know what this path is really about, then some people will have some kind of wonderful experience of peace. And, and think, Well, that's the point, and kind of tried to get back there. But they don't understand the conditions that led to it. And they don't understand what it is at that particular that that was experienced or came along with that piece. So they know kind of what they're working towards what it's about what the kind of the, the North Star is that they're kind of working for. And so I want to read to you what I started talking about yesterday, the Buddha gives a list of 17 specific psychological states that can be known. We can know that they're there, these are painful states. And we can know when we're free of them when they're absent. And seeing that specificity of it. This is this was afflictive. This was painful. And now wow. It's no longer there, it's been released. This is part of the insights. And it's also part of liberation, that shows the kind of circular nature of it, the spiral perhaps. And so as we experienced some real clear sense of the falling away the ceasing of say, hate, and really experience ourselves take time to know that this is the absence of hate, not just know that it's peaceful, but really know this the absence of hate, then we start getting the information about what hate is about, and the alternative, that we become increasingly disenchanted with hate. We increasingly sort the underlying tendency to hate which is starts to fade away. And then there's a again, a qualitatively different way of releasing hate. And and then we know we released it, and then that's kind of an insight that the whole thing can develop further and further. So I want to read this list of 17 specific states that the Buddha talks about that one can know their present, and we can know when they're absent. And for the Buddha This is very significant. It's in a discourse called a simile of the cloth in the middle length discourses. The the list is covetous covetousness, unethical greed ill will anger resentment, contempt, insolence, envy, avarice, deceit, fraud, obstinacy, rivalry, conceit, arrogance, vanity, and carelessness and or negligence. So that some of these translations English might not be exactly what there is in Pāli. So we know, we can maybe find other words that are a little bit a little bit more meaningful for us. But the idea is that if a person when we practice, we can know that these are called afflictive, because they hurt to have these present when could know that they're there, and feel the pain. And, and it's possible that they can be let go of either we let go of them, or somehow they fade away, they disappear. They're not there. And if we know that they're there first really no, wow. And sometimes, you know, this is bad news to know that I have contempt. But in the dharma, you want to know that so called bad news. In an open nonreactive way, it's really important to feel to know the states of mind that are afflicted that are causing pain, and not to pretty them up or deny them or ignore them, oh, this is I'm living with, you know, contempt with the resentment with greed. And then, because we know something about knowing that's there, the clarity of that, then allows the mindfulness, the awareness practice, to make room for it to fade away for us to be disinterested, and for to fade away. That won't happen if we ignore it, and haven't really admitted to ourselves or these are there. So here we find the example the Buddha being, you know, in modern terms, psychological about the discussions of the path, he's very specific about psychological states that are being addressed. So this is what we can know. And then we can know when they're let go of when they're absent. And that knowing of their absent in this text, there's a way of knowing it, which is inspiring. It's inspiring to know, it's possible to be free of these things, even if it's temporarily, to have the experience of the mind, wow, I've been with this for our lifetime with this for decades, for a long time. And I had no idea how there can be a qualitative experience or a good quality experience of it not being there. So this launch helps to know that we're liberated and really recognize, or the absence the freedom of something that can give birth to an inspiration and to confidence. The Buddha calls it verified confidence. It's a we have or verified faith. It's verified, because we know for ourselves, this is possible. And even if some of these states come back, the confidence is there. The trust is there. This is valuable, this is a direction to go. This is important. And then the Buddha in this text goes on to say that this confidence that inspiration, this is possible. This is the catalyst for the gladness pen had the five qualities I talked about last week, that also have this natural flow to them, that when there's inspiration, there's gladness, when there's gladness, there can be present for it and allow for the practice and practice with it in the context of it that morphs or changes into joy. That changes into tranquility, physical tranquility and peace. And that can open up into a kind of a deep, subtle feeling of happiness or contentment. That is a foundation for becoming unified for Samadhi. And that unification of Samadhi that has that focus that clarity, then begins the insight that that insight, disenchantment, fading away liberation, and then today, knowledge of liberation knowing it.

So as I said before, they kind of go to spiral and they support each other move on and on, and how liberation is some kind, even if it's very temporary, of particular mental states. So there's some that we can identify and know for ourselves. Otherwise, you know, some people have such a vague idea of what enlightenment is, or freedom is that, you know, it just always kind of a mythic event is kind of like maybe not so relevant for me. And it's good for the, you know, the, you know, for the great meditators who go live in caves, but what about my life in everyday life here, where I'm dealing with, you know, getting the kids to school, and work and all kinds of things. But by naming the psychological states, the Buddha was kind of maybe making it really irrelevant. This is what's important here. And then he goes on in this text is phenomenal text that talks about his natural flow of arising, he talks about from the inspiration comes the gladness pen Ted, and from that, the Samadhi ethic, the unification gives rise to loving kindness to mettā. And so the whole mettā and then the brahmavihāra is, are all part of this natural flow this, it's almost like these, this is an almost like inherent qualities within the or capacities or potentials within that can be set free that can be reopened to, to be allowed to flow through us. So they're not something that's constructed or made to happen or engineered, but something that we allow for. And that's the underlying theme of these two pen tests, the gladness pen test and the insight pen 10 is that there are natural forces within us, that can be unleashed and opened up, where we We Roll Along to, and we open up to these wonderful states of deepening practice. And so it's insight, insight to what is insight to what is no longer there, inside the absence of afflictive states that have bothered us for a long time. And the absence of those afflictive states might give us a possibility, to become more aware of how we know how we're aware something. So that how we're aware, is not afflictive how we're aware it doesn't partake or share with some of the greed or the Ill Will or version, that contempt and resentment that might be with us, but which influences how we know. And so to begin finding a knowing, which is freeing and knowing which has qualities or freedom and ease and peace, and then using that to a way of knowing, to practice mindfulness to be aware. And so that the very act of knowing is part of the path of freedom is where we find the freedom and allows us to go seek more and more clearly. What's what's. So, the CIO insight, Insight pentad, then may your mindfulness practice, lead to insight, and may the Insight open this world up of the dharma, moving through you. So thank you very much. And I look forward to seeing you or being with you again, on Monday.