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So what is dukkha? Dukkha is dukkha.
This is the three levels of dukkha. You can explain the three levels of dukkha. First level is suffering dukkha. Feeling dukkha is also suffering, also dukkha. Second is dukkha, dukkha, vipinnamma dukkha, and sankhara dukkha.
This second level, that level, is more difficult to say: suffering. Like you cannot hold, you cannot satisfy, you cannot say, "Good." Sankhara dukkha is changing all the time. It's what? It's changing all the time.
You cannot attach. For example, you're watching your taste.
You think taste is good. Really, taste is very obvious. You think taste is good, right?
Taste is good, right? Taste. Taste. Taste. Good, nice, very nice, right?
You think this is a deluded think, deluded thinking way, deluded thinking this way. Nice. So. Attachment comes. We want more. We want more because of good, because of nice. It's really, if you watch the taste, it's really nice. It's really good or not. You're not believing this idea of good.
You're watching with wisdom. How does good, this changing taste is changed? Gone.
Finished. How do we hold this taste? If you're changing all the time, how do we say, "You can say good"? You cannot hold. Finished. How is good? But the memory creates this again, experience memory brings back, and the mind is still, "That's nice, good, good, good."
But reality is gone. Finished. How do we do it?
You cannot say, "This only experience taste is gone. Taste is gone. Taste is gone." How do we hold? You cannot say, "Good."
So you need to watch, don't believe your idea, and just open and simple and watch. Then understanding can arise.
If you understanding the taste, dukkha, how do you eat?
Can you? You cannot eat anymore. Suffering. Ah, so suffering. Ah.
Can you taste the feeling that it's nice? How can you taste? Can you taste the feeling that it tastes good but there's no wanting? Is it possible? That you know that the taste is good? If you think it's good, already the mind wants wanting is already there. Because of the deluded think is good. Wisdom cannot say this is good.
Pleasant? Feeling pleasant? Sometimes. Sometimes pleasant, not pleasant. You cannot say pleasant.
When you have a wisdom, then you can see neutral. Taste is just a taste. But we just, we still, we taste, we still. If you have a good or liking there, you cannot understand. But we still taste like sweet, salty, anything, but there's no judging of. Right, right. Sweet, sour, in natural taste.
The ice cream was very sweet today at lunch. That's why sometimes you can watch your liking and taste. Get back and forth. Don't think about ice cream. Just eat. Just eat. Because of people like the taste, then the mind starts to judge ice cream is good.
So later the mind attaches the name also. Every time you think about ice cream, the craving comes. And memory arising about what before you eating, the taste come back. And the mind want to eat taste again.
So if you watch the taste and lobha, when you taste, mind good, feeling nice, the want eat again, right? You only enough one spoon?
Never.
You cannot stop. You want to eat again. That time you watch your lobha, lobha calm down. If your mind calm down, then eat again. Taste to be aware of the taste. The mind, if you're watching mind, if there's no defilement, then you can understand the taste, just the taste. Or taste is cannot say good.
Because the taste is gone.
So depend on your watching mind quality. If you're watching mind awareness, there is a lobha, wisdom cannot arise. If no defilement anymore, that time you can understand as it is. Like the colorful glasses. No color then you can see weird. But if you wear the colorful glasses, then if you wear the red color, everything becomes red.
Because of this color already there.
Sayadaw U Tejaniya began his Buddhist training as a young teenager in Burma under the late Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw (1913–2002). After a career in business and life as a householder, he has become a permanent monk since 1996.…