Ayya Santacitta: Iddhipada V: Investigation ~ What Is Happening at the Edge of NOW?

And today we are continuing to work with the classic list of the four itty-batter or the four basis of power. And so far I have introduced the first three of this list, the first one vision, Chanda in Pali, the second one effort, Viria and the third one integration Chitta. And today I'm talking about the fourth and last quality in this list, which is Vimangsa or investigation. So after the first three qualities have made you know something take shape, take form according to our vision, input energy and then keeping circumstances in order. After those three qualities of energetic application, you know, have been happening, then comes the next phase. And the question at that phase is, does it actually work? Or have changes over time led to stagnation or fragmentation? So this is a matter of precision and fine tuning with a small super sharp scalpel. Not a heavy handed sword, you know, of effort and courage, but a tiny little thing for getting really very refined. And it's a noticing of something new that is emerging through the cracks of the process. And we might begin to notice like a certain repetitiveness, a turning into stuckness, you know, like a broken record. For some reasons, you know, there is no more deepening in this particular circumstances possible. And now we have to ask, you know, this different question. Does it bring real benefit any longer or not? And then, you know, like a different energy pattern needs to set in. It's more like rebalancing, adjusting, problem solving. And that is the archetype of the magus. Or sometimes also we are called the sorcerer or the sorceress, the witch. You know, it's a particular application of energy which is able to go really under the surface, deep and manipulate and shift things. It's a leading of the throne, you know, leading the castle and going back into the laboratory to further learn new skills in order to serve the community and bring further healing. Like attuning more fully, more completely to what makes your heart live up in recognition of deep value. And in this way, a renewed vision, you know, becomes available. And with that, you know, we come back to the top of the list, come back to vision. And then in order to materialize and manifest that renewed vision, which is the archetype of the lover, we need of course again, you know, effort, warrior archetype and integration king and green archetype. So whenever, you know, it comes to the stagnation of something which has been working, then we need to investigate. And, you know, wake up to the limitations of the situation because there's no situation whatsoever in samsara which doesn't show limitations at one point. That's just the nature of this realm, you know, where we are. That's the wheel of birth and death, that samsara. And there is, you know, a way to become aware of this endless process and act inside of it in a wholesome way. And that the Buddhist teaching is one program, you know, we could say, to find a foothold in samsara so that we can respond to it in a skillful way. And through responding skillfully, you know, our circumstances respond, the dharma responds to those who respond to the dharma. And then slowly our life takes on more strength in regards to, you know, liberation from the wheel of life and death, of birth and death rather. It's a leading towards a complete letting go of any form of ego-clinging, of any form of ignorance, of any form of suffering. And that's then, you know, caught in the Buddhist teaching awakening on Ibanah. And the noble, eightfold path is the foundation and the four it departed, this list, you know, of these four different applications of energy. And the particular patterns of the unfolding of the emergent aliveness, energy impermanence, however we want to call it, we can choose to attune to as our lives. And we always, you know, do that in a particular time in history. And in a Buddha began with laying out this teaching in Inaachindia and now we live in a time, you know, of AI and nuclear threat and all of this stuff, you know, and climate collapse. So, you know, the principles are still the same. But how it shows up is differently and how we need to meet it needs to be in attunement with what's really happening. And, you know, that's wisdom is to know what's happening. And then if we know what's happening, then we know how to respond. So if we get, you know, too much caught up in the content, then we lose kind of capacity for responding from a deep wisdom, you know, of emptiness Prasna, Prasna Paramita. And if we are not, you know, precise enough, then it's also like it can be a kind of, you know, spacing out or a kind of spirited bypassing. I'm sure you've heard that term. A spacing out. So we really need to focus on what wants to be known now. What's happening right now. And, you know, in this earthworm practice, what we are doing is we're really connecting with the aliveness because that's what's happening now. That's what's happening now. The aliveness before it takes any shape or form. And relating to that aliveness as, you know, the source of all forms of life, which we are sharing this planet, not just as an abstract aliveness, you know, like we want an abstract emptiness, you know, out there somewhere in space. But it's a full emptiness, which is alive. And there's all of these life forms, and they all are different forms of intelligence. We can learn from it through that, you know, step out of this human centric view that is all about us. So, you know, let's shift to a meditation posture now, about 45, a little bit less than 45 minutes, and becoming aware of the body, the weight of the body on the cushion on the chair, and what you're bringing today, you know, excitement, tiredness, whatever it is. That's what's happening. We're enhancing, you know, the hardness where the body meets the seat. That's a direct expression of earth element, structure, hardness. And we can sense it all through the body, the skeleton, the teeth, the nails. It's the same kind of a hardness as the hardness in the rocks and the concrete of the cities, the bones of the earth, you know, and in a way, we can visualize the cities are like the heaps of bones, you know, of some thing which has been, you know, eaten up by us actually, and then scattered in this way, we call city. And seeing, you know, what a huge impact we had on the planet with these technologies which we have developed, and then, you know, sensing into the depths of the earth underneath us, and breathing up that vastness and stillness, stability, letting go of any stress, restlessness, and, you know, opening ourselves to the aliveness which comes through our bodies from this vast body of the planet, which is also, you know, impacted by many other celestial bodies in our area of the universe. You know, sensing into this aliveness, or we can call it also impermanence, this process nature of, you know, vibrancy, arising and ceasing, like this infinite potential of energy, you know, which wants to be met and channeled, you know, by these different life forms, channeled into a form, and how much, you know, havoc has been created in that process, and how much beauty over deep time, and it's getting more and more complex, and it's getting more and more unsustainable. Just, you know, taking that in, that there needs to be a deepening, a deepening into the soil of what we are participating in. We cannot longer really skip for the response from this old paradigm, it's too much on the surface, it's too human-centric, too immature. It's just allowing that, you know, to be failed, and change is a core principle of one of the three characteristics of life, of what's happening constantly. You know, and according to the Thai forest tradition, it's about remaining centered in the knowing of that change, of that energetic vibrancy at all times. And Daniel, we can recognize how we sometimes, you know, really contract and try to manipulate that. That can also be known, so remaining centered in the knowing, which is limitless. There's nothing which cannot fit in there. Nothing is too big or too bad or too good or too scary. All can be known. There's mirror like awareness, or this infinite awareness like the sky, which allows the clouds to just pass through. And sometimes, you know, there are responses needed and sometimes not. And knowing the difference is wisdom and compassion. So if you notice like a certain repetitive nasa line in ways how we respond to really taking interest in that, what's, what is that? So whatever the mind wanders off into, in thinking about something, you gently bringing it back and coming back to being the knowing, the knowing of that aliveness, vibrancy, animacy, you know, of which we and all other life forms are expressions. And together, you know, it's this amazing orchestra, Pachamama, Planet Earth, which is always going to have the last word here. It can't be controlled by anybody, not even by the most powerful AI, artificial intelligence. Because that always only works with past data in a very enormous speed and quantity, but still it's not capable of sensing into this edge of now. But our bodies can do that. Our bodies are hearts, and relaxing into being the knowing, and remembering and returning to that awareness. Whenever we get thrown off in some way because of fear or desire, and then from that place of knowing, we can participate in a skillful way, which benefits ourselves and others. You know, at this time in history where we have lost connection with how to do that properly, but we can come back to it, we can remember it if we want to. It's a question of intention and attention, because if there's real attention to what's happening, a wholesome intention will emerge from that observation. Then from that intention agency will come forth. But if it's not really grounded in attention and intention, it's not going to be powerful enough. And today I have brought a poem which I'm going to read, and I might have read it in the past, but it's a really powerful poem. It's called The Dakini Speaks. The Dakini is a feminine representation of energy in the Vatriana. It's called Sky Gower, and the poem is by Jennifer Valwood. I'll put a link into the chat for those who want to later have that. And it goes like this. The Dakini Speaks. My friends, let's grow up. Let's stop pretending we don't know the deal here. Or if we truly haven't noticed, let's wake up and notice. Look, everything that can be lost will be lost. It's simple. How could we have missed it for so long? Let's grieve our losses fully like ripe human beings. But please, let's not be so shocked by them. Let's not act so betrayed. As though life had broken her secret promise to us. Impermanence is life's only promise to us. And she keeps it with ruthless impeccability. Though child she seems cruel, but she's only wild. And her compassion exquisitely precise. Brilliantly penetrating luminous with truth. She strips away the unreal to show us the real. That is the true right. Let's give ourselves to it. Let's stop making deals for a safe passage. There isn't one anyway, and the cost is too high. We are not children anymore. The true human adult gives everything for what cannot be lost. Let's dance the wild dance of no hope. The true human adult gives everything for what cannot be lost. And that is awareness. So the returning to that awareness again and again and again. And remaining centered. That's the core teaching of the Thai Forest tradition of Sok Chon Mahamudra of Zen. This vast infinite awareness. This mirror like knowing, which we can also call refuge in Buddha. And as you are resting in this way, notice how effortlessly each sound, thought, feeling, image is known in the open space of that awareness. It's a mirror like knowing. It doesn't require thinking. It's just relaxing into that knowing like, you know, this sky allows all the different shapes of clouds to just be what they are and then they change. For example, another name of my Sok Chon teacher's name is called Chechen Ramp Chum Rinpoche. And Ramp Chum means infinite. So, you know, that infinite vastness. That is what is encouraged to return to that. And my name is Sant Chitta, which kind of also points to that. The peaceful knowing, a serene heart-mind, which doesn't claim any of the things which are known, but remembers to return to that knowing. And then, you know, our lives becoming an expression of that aliveness. They are becoming more and more skillful, more and more wholesome. So, looking directly at the mind, which is, you know, invisible, wide open, and it's not a seeing, but it knows all things. And it is already free. It's like the capacity of a mirror to reflect. It's not painted by anything which is reflected in it. It just is. And returning to that, you know, remembering that that's like the core meditation instruction and the resting as that. And noticing, you know, all the rises in that space, the thoughts, the sounds, the sensations, whatever it is, pleasant and unpleasant and neutral. I'll share the poem one more time. The Kini speaks, my friends, let's grow up. Let's stop pretending we don't know the deal here. Or if you truly haven't noticed, let's wake up and notice. Look, everything that can be lost will be lost. It's simple. How could we have missed it for so long? Let's grieve our losses fully like ripe human beings. But please, let's not be so shocked by them. Let's not act so betrayed as though life had broken her secret promise to us. In permanence, his life's only promised us. And she keeps it with ruthless impeccability. She's not a child, she seems cruel, but she is truly only wild. And her compassion exquisitely precise. Brilliantly penetrating, luminous with truth. She strips away the unreal to show us the real. This is the true right. Let's give ourselves to it. Let's stop making deals for a safe passage. We are on anyway and the cost is too high. We are no children anymore. The true human adult gives everything for what cannot be lost. Let's dance the wild dance of no hope. You know, noticing whenever we are resting, you know, as awareness, when we are remembering to return that there is this inherent peacefulness which doesn't depend on conditions. That's why it's a refuge. So today, you know, we have come to the fourth and the last of those four itty-batter, the basis of power. And then at the next session when we meet, I'm going to illustrate, you know, like how that can unfold inside of a life. I can, you know, now looking back onto how my path has unfolded, I can truly see those different applications of or emergencies of energy, you know, at different times what comes through is different. And if we meet that, you know, that creativity can express itself through us in different ways. You know, depending on who we are and our skills and talent is it. And to connect with that stream, you know, that's really what the practice is all about, you know, to become one more devoted to that stream of expression. And the ego, you know, gets smaller and smaller, and it becomes a more direct expression of what is, you know, as a small cells in the vast body of Fatima.