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Hi, this is Margaret Meloni, and welcome to the Death Dhamma podcast. In a series I used to read, occasionally one character would say to the other, may you live in interesting times. It was understood that this was a curse where interesting times meant chaos and difficulty. Well, we do live in interesting times. I mean, don't we always? So this season, together, we will explore equanimity and chaos, recognizing that many aspects of life are beyond our control. Let's find a sense of balance and peace amid external chaos. Hello, my friends. And today I am working with Mahajima Nakaya 152 Indriya Bhavana Sutta, or the development of the faculties. And so when you think of faculties, then you might think, well, what does this have to do with equanimity? Which is our topic for the season. And yet, really, when we look at some of the, some of this passage, we do see some lessons in equanimity, some definitions of equanimity, and that's why I brought this to our discussion this week. Okay, now the sutta starts off with a student, Uttara, who is actually a student of a Brahman and not really a student of the Buddha. We'll say at this point, not a student of the Buddha yet, but being curious, this, Uttara goes to see the Buddha, and the Buddha asks him about the teachings of the Brahmin that he's been learning from, who is somebody who is named Parasarya. And so he asks, what is Parisarya teaching? And he asks him specifically, how does he teach about the development of the faculties? And Uttara answers, we don't see forms with the eye. We don't hear sounds with the ear. This is how the Brahman Parasarya teaches us. And the Buddha responds, well, if that's true, then a blind man and a deaf man will have developed faculties according to what the Brahmin says, for a blind man does not see forms with the eye, and a deaf man does not hear sounds with the ear. And this is something that, you know, you've heard from in other suttas and probably doing in some of your own studying that the Buddha was very adept, laser focusing right in on someone else's teachings and finding logical ways to show where there's gaps or holes in the teachings, but, you know, still in a respectful way, just by making observations and asking questions. But so then when Uttara heard this, you know, he was sad, dismayed, disappointed, whatever you want to say, right? Because he'd been teaching with this or studying with this teacher, and now The Buddha has just right away, you know, shown him that maybe the teachings aren't really making sense. Now, you know, there's. There's a reason for this. So, right, it's not over. The story's not over. As you are well aware, the story's not over. And the Buddha sees that Utara is, you know, despondent over this. And so now the Buddha turns to Ananda, right, his attendant and cousin and disciple, and he says, hey, you know Ananda. Well, he doesn't say, hey, that's me. Clearly, Ananda, the Brahmin Parasarya teaches his disciples the development of the faculties in one way, but in the Noble one's discipline, the supreme development of the faculties is otherwise. And right on cue, Ananda responds, now is the time. Now is the time for you to teach the supreme development of the faculties. Having heard it from you, the Bhikkhus, those are, you know, the followers of the monk will remember it. And then the Buddha says, well, then, listen and attend closely to what I shall say. And of course, Uttara is still there listening and learning, as are the monks who are with the Buddha at that time. And I'm going to just read you the full first passage, and then the rest are in a similar use, a similar format, so we won't read all of them, but let's just do this first. Now, Ananda, how is there the supreme development of the faculties in the noble one's discipline? Here, Ananda, when a Bhikkhu sees a form with the eye, there arises in him what is agreeable, there arises what is disagreeable, there arises what is both agreeable and disagreeable. He understands thus there has arisen in me what is agreeable there has arisen what is disagreeable, there has arisen what is both agreeable and disagreeable, but that is conditioned gross dependently arisen. This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is equanimity. Here we go. The agreeable that arose, the disagreeable that arose, and the both agreeable and disagreeable that arose cease in him, and equanimity is established. Just as a man with good sight, having opened his eyes, might shut them, or having shut his eyes, might open them, so too, concerning anything at all, the agreeable that arose, the disagreeable that arose, and the both agreeable and disagreeable that arose cease just as quickly, just as rapidly, just as easily, and equanimity is established. This is called the noble ones and discipline the supreme development, excuse me. The supreme development of the faculties regarding forms cognizable by the eye okay, now that general phrasing and logic and teaching is repeated over again for cognizable by the ear, cognizable by the nose, cognizable by the tongue, cognizable by the body. And so basically, what he's going through is for each of you know, the faculties, saying, you know, if you heard it, you might think it's pleasant, unpleasant, or both, right? If you smell it, if you taste it, if you experience it with the body. So basically, he's teaching that when something arises for us from one of our faculties and we understand that it could be disagreeable, agreeable, agreeable and disagreeable, that is us establishing equanimity. In the section where he talks about cognizable by the mind, he says, just as if a man were to let two or three drops of water fall onto an iron plate heated for a whole day, the falling of the drops might be slow, but they would quickly vaporize and vanish. So too, concerning anything at all, the agreeable that arose, the disagreeable that arose, and the both agreeable and disagreeable that arose cease just as quickly, just as rapidly, just as easily, and equanimity is established. And then he, you know, after that, he goes on to say, this is how there is the supreme development of the faculties in. In the Noble One's disciplines. And as part of a recap, the Buddha says now how Ananda is one, a noble with developed faculties. And then, of course, he explains, without waiting for Ananda to ask him, here, Ananda, when a Bhikkhu, again a monk, a follower of the Buddha, sees a form with the eye, hears a sound with the ear, smells an odor with the nose, tastes a flavor with the tongue, touches a tangible with the body, cognizes a mind object with the mind, there arises in him what is agreeable, there arises what is disagreeable, there arises what is both agreeable and disagreeable. If he should wish, may I abide perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive, he abides perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive. If he should wish, may I abide perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive. He abides perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive. If he should wish, may I abide perceiving the unrepulsive in the repulsive and the unrepulsive. He abides perceiving the unrepulsive in that, if he should wish, may I abide perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the repulsive, he abides perceiving the repulsive in that, if he should wish, may I, avoiding both the repulsive and unrepulsive, abide in equanimity, mindful and fully aware. Then he abides in equanimity towards that, mindful and fully aware. That is how one is a noble one with developed faculties. Okay, let's pause and remember that when the Buddha teaches, first of all, it's often highly repetitive, which is good because it was oral tradition and it still helps us remember things, I think, today. But that's, you know, partly to help people remember things. He takes each side of an argument or a theory and goes through each side or each piece of it, in this case, through each of the senses. He's going through perceiving something to be agreeable, right? Then he's saying, perceiving something to be disagreeable, right? And then he's also taking the what if you're perceiving something to be agreeable and disagreeable? And so those are the three conditions that he is calling out as something that might happen to you. If you see something, smell something, taste something, touch something, think of something, right? And then what he's saying is if you feel yourself being, I'm going to say, swayed. This isn't how it's phrased in the sutta, of course, that what you want to do is wish to abide in a certain way, right? So in this summary passage that I read, what he's really looking for us to do is to bring in that equanimity is to abide perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive. In other words, there's a scent, let's say, and I'm thinking this scent is pleasant. Can I also perceive how this scent could be unpleasant or in the words of the sutta, or repulsive, just as if there's a scent? And I think, ooh, this is nasty. Because I'm sure monks were walking around saying that, right, Sorry. So, ooh, this is nasty. Can I also bring myself to abide how that scent that I think is repulsive, can I find a way that it could be unrepulsive? And then can I also, you know, if I don't think it's really repulsive or unrepulsive, again, can I still apply, you know, finding the repulsive in the unrepulsive and the unrepulsive in the repulsive. And in my head now, I'm almost picturing like an equation. Right. Repulsive plus unrepulsive equals equanimity. That's just me. I'm not saying that that is really the teaching, but now let's apply this as we're going through, and we're going through every day, lots of changes. And again, this is, you know, a highly volatile time in the world, definitely in the United States, but other places as well, too. And we all have our concerns, our opinions, our beliefs. And can I look at something that's happening? And when I see something and think, oh, I love that, can I also think of why it might be repulsive? Uh, so I'm thinking of, for example, there have been recently a lot of protests and demonstrations. Right? And I can think of an example of. So in Los Angeles, a popular thing that happens is when people protest, unfortunately, I'm going to say they spill over onto the freeway. And it's unfortunate because then what happens is, of course, it shuts down the freeway for a long time, which is, you know, inconveniencing people who may or may not support the protesters, but are still trying to get to and from work or to home and school and things like that. And, you know, so if you're that person and you're trying to use the freeway that's been shut down, you might look at these protesters and at first you might have been in favor of what they're doing, but. But now you might find the fact that they've shut down the freeway to be repulsive. Is there a way to think of it as unrepulsive? You know, possibly. So we have these opportunities, or in participating in a protest, you might observe some people who are there with you, and so you believe that you are sharing the same values and fighting for the same cause. And. And then you might turn around and see them throwing bottles at police officers, and you might find that to be repulsive. And so they're there with you, and together you're sharing values and you're seeing unrepulsive, but then you're also seeing repulsive. You might see someone holding up a sign that you wish had been phrased differently. Right? And so we have a lot of opportunity. This is just, you know, an example of things I've seen recently. We have a lot of opportun to see, hear, taste, touch, smell, consider, you know, think of things and have them pop up for us as, you know, repulsive, unrepulsive. Both and our practice and, you know, in the sutta. In the sutta, it's Kind of stated that he who does this, right, like, it is easily, just as rapidly, just as easily, and equanimity is established. I'm practicing. I can't promise you that that is rapid and easy for me. I can't make any comment as to where you are. I can just say that whether it's rapid or easy or not, and it is not rapid and easy again for me, but in these repetitive passages are these reminders. All right, so when something comes up and you find it very pleasing, right? Then you also want to be able to abide perceiving the repulsive in the unrepulsive. When something comes up and you find it repulsive, you want to be able to abide finding the unrepulsive. It feels simplistic to say instantly try to see the other side of something. But maybe for those of us like myself, who are still grappling with this, maybe that's the beginning step, right? I invite all of us. I'll be doing it also, as things transpire during these times and you view something and right away you have a perception, repulsive, unrepulsive to follow that with. May I also abide, or may I also find a way to see this differently? May I frame this differently? And that's some good practice, huh? Thank you for being here. Take care of yourselves, take care of your loved ones, and protect the unprotected. You've been listening to the Death Dhamma podcast with your host, Margaret Maloney. Thank you so much for being here. Come find me on margaretmeloni.com M A R G A R E T M E l o n I.com and until we meet again, may you be well, may you be happy, may you be at ease, and may you be free from suffering. Bye for now.