Sept 19, 2006 Tuesday, Class on Consciousness and its Objects (Class one)

Barbara: Tonight we're focused on mundane consciousness and the objects of mundane consciousness. We're going to start with the Pali word citta. Citta simply means consciousness. For most of you the beginning material is familiar. We have 5 physical sense organs: ears, eyes, nose, tongue, and body. And we have a non-physical sense organ, the mind. These 6 sense organs touch objects. So we have objects of the senses, visual objects, auditory objects, and so forth, and mental objects.

When the sense organ touches the sense object, sense consciousness arises: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, or knowing or thinking consciousness, mind consciousness.

Consciousness arises with contact. It's meaningless to ask whether it arises immediately with contact or a fraction of second later. Simply, when there is contact then consciousness arises, as seeing, hearing, thinking, remembering, planning, and different kinds of thinking.

As you know, the arising may be pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. When it's pleasant, we know it's pleasant. When it's unpleasant, we know it's unpleasant. When it's neutral, we know it's neutral. When it's pleasant, it may pull us off into grasping or desire. It may pull us first off into liking, and if we don't note that liking and the subtle attachment that comes, then grasping may arise. This is the desire mind, the wanting mind. The pleasant sensation, seeing something beautiful or smelling the apple pie cooking, is not the grasping. It's just pleasant sensation. These are 2 separate objects. So in smelling, just smelling. In grasping, just grasping. In pleasant sensation, just pleasant sensation.

If it's unpleasant, a skunk instead of the apple pie, it may lead into dislike and into stronger aversion, moving to get away. Again, these are different objects. The smelling, whether apple pie or skunk, is just smelling. If aversion or grasping arises, these are new objects. So the sense consciousness smelling may involve smelling the pleasant scent with pleasure or smelling the stink with displeasure. The grasping or aversion probably won't be a pleasant sensation though it could be. So here we have a new experience, grasping with displeasure.

To speak of the texture of the consciousness or citta, we have another Pali word, cetasika. Let me pause here and ask, did you get the emailed material/handout? (yes) I hope you read it. I've got folders for you here with that printed out for you... (passing around)

We'll add to this as the classes go on. This is the first class and some additional material...

Those in the middle of the room, is grasping arising as you see the different color folders coming out of the box and wondering, am I going to get a pretty color?...

(long pause)

So we have citta and cetasika. The cetasika is like an adverb that modifies citta. It's about the texture of the citta, such as seeing with aversion or seeing with joy. Hearing with trepidation. Hearing with tension. So these are the modifiers of it.

I find when I remember this I'm not as likely to get lost in these objects, and especially in the modifiers of the object, when they're very joyful or difficult. When I say, "Oh, that's the cetasika," I see it, right there, flashing its sign: cetasika! Cetasika! So I have found it useful to think in those terms. It's okay to put this in plain English. The Pali word is just a word, not an experience. I think we have to understand it experientially first, before we try to label it. I don't use these words often with beginners. I just ask them to get the direct experience of the sense organ touching an object and to know if it's pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Then I ask them to feel the texture of that experience. But for you all at this stage of your practice, I think it's useful to have the vocabulary because it points out that someone felt it important enough that they've gone to the trouble to name these experiences this specifically.

In the beginning when we meditate, objects seem to arise very quickly and pass away. We get the predominant objects. Obviously we don't get every object. But even the predominant ones can be here and gone in a moment. Have you ever driven past the smell of a skunk, but then it's gone 30 seconds later. If your windows are open, and there's fresh air coming in, it's gone. Mind registers the object and then it goes.

Ajahn Chah speaks very beautifully about it being like falling out of a tree. And all the branches go past. And they go by so fast that there's no opportunity to register what they are, just suddenly, branch, branch, branch, thud. So we're not trying to register every object but at the thud, you stop. So that's a place where you register. It stops.

As the mind settles down, and we're going to talk more about vitakka and vicara later, but as the mind settles down into that holding the object and penetrating into it, everything seems to shift a bit into a more slow motion so that we see the objects coming toward us, the beginning of the arising, the middle, and strong presence. In that presence, we see pleasant and unpleasant and then we move into attraction and wanting or into dislike and pushing away.

If we do not take these as objects, we swing back and forth. Here's the object and liking it, ooooh! Pulled to it. Then mindfulness, coming back to center for a moment, and back to the object, and then another object, and ooooh! We're swinging back and forth. But as practice settles down so that we note the beginning of pleasant and unpleasant, and if aversion or grasping do arise we note them as objects, we stay right on course, just seeing this apple pie smell and pleasant as a new object, and then wanting more as a new object. But we're right on track. Mindfulness doesn't waver. It stays with the objects as they arise.

We stop going out toward the pleasant objects and pulling back from the unpleasant objects. We stay in a very centered place. We call this centered place "access concentration." (unrolling chart?) Here is a model of the path... We'll post this up on the office wall. It starts with the precepts, sila... (adjusting display)

The bottom is sila. This is untamed mind, the mind that's dispersed, jumping in every direction. And this (pointing to chart) is concentrated mind, coming up to this level of access concentration. This is what we need for the higher insights and knowledges to develop. We're taking sila for granted at this point. You all know that sila and samadhi are two of the tripod that develop with insight. Sila, moral awareness, let's call it. Samadhi, concentration. And wisdom, pañña. And the development of the insights.

So sila and concentration are the base. What I'm talking about then is building on that base to the point that we've developed access concentration. This is the foundation for everything else. It's the basic stage out of which higher insights develop.

Thank you, we'll open it again later for people, and tape it on the wall.

So we're going to sit, in just a few minutes, and in the sitting I want you to be aware of 3 different things, depending on the level of your practice. First, let me ask, how many of you have experienced and know the experience of access concentration? Okay. So for those who are not sure what it is, we're trying to clarify it, and that's what I want to do in this sitting.

Watch the arising and passing away of objects. In a 25 minute sitting, access concentration may not arise. It's not a very long sitting. But watch the shift that comes when something is pleasant, and there's going out to it, or unpleasant and there's pulling away from it. Watch yourself on that winding path: "No, no! Yes, yes!" And watch the body energy as that happens. It creates a ripple in the body energy.

Take each of these as an object, independent–let me rephrase that, they're all dependent upon each other–but, take each as resultant from the prior object, but separate from it, and just stay centered, watching each object arising and passing away, and if there's grasping, it's just an object. And if there's aversion, it's just an object. Experience that sharp centeredness where each object just arises and passes away.

In New York City I used to love to ride in the very front of the express subway train. You go through the stations; you can see the tracks going by, and if it's an express train you go through local stations: lights, station, station, station, dark again. The track is just unfolding in front of you. But mind doesn't jump ahead to which station is next; mind is just present there watching each bit of track and each curve in the track appear. Sometimes it's pleasant, maybe sometimes unpleasant, just objects coming, one object at a time. It's a wonderful experience–you can ride for a long time, from one end of the city to another, sitting or standing in the front car, looking out at the track flowing by. Sometimes it stops at a station, just standing, standing, there in the station, and then it starts again. But if you ride the express train you can go through a lot of stations where it doesn't stop but the lights come up.

It's great! It's a wonderful model for access concentration. But also, there can not be access concentration. Mind can jump into, "Oh, here's Times Square station, I wonder what's going on? Maybe there's a good show on Broadway. Maybe I should get off." Mind running in different directions. Or one can just be there at the front of the train, watching it all come.

So this is what I want you to do in this sitting. Watch the contact with an object, hold the object deeply and penetrate into it. As it fades, let it go. If another object becomes predominant, go to it and know the new one. Know feelings as objects, and also any grasping or aversion, Know how they feel in the body. Are there any specific questions about the instruction?

Q: Yes--What do you want us to do?

Barbara: I want you to watch objects arise, know if they are pleasant or unpleasant. If they are pleasant and start to pull you off into a desire kind of energy, see that desire as a new object. Watch that feeling of being pulled off-center and know, this is just an object. I want you to watch the texture of mind, the mind that begins to cling or to feel negative. Cetasika. Watch the mind that begins to cling or pull away. Feel the body energy as that happens. –"Ah, there's one, cetasika." It's just an object. Don't get caught in the story of, "I need that," or "that's bad." As soon as you note it as an object, it helps to bring you back to center.

Hopefully, there will be a clear flow of objects. You'll feel you're right on the track and not swinging back and forth. But if you're swinging back and forth, that's also an object, just note "swinging". Don't try too hard because you can't do it if you try too hard. Right Effort. That string tuned just right, you all know that metaphor, don't you? Anybody who doesn't know it? Okay. Be the musical instrument string tuned just right, not too high, not too low.

We'll sit for about 25 minutes.

(sitting)

We'll break into 4 groups of 5 or 6. I want you to talk in the groups of your experience of access concentration, which will differ from person to person. Like, I am looking at C here, I think you know access concentration through your bodywork. You understand what that sense of centeredness is, and when somebody's energy is shaking it doesn't pull you out of center. So that's a very good way of experiencing it. It helps you know it.

What I want each of you to do is to share in your group so it helps to deepen your understanding of what it is and to give you an idea of how different people experience it, so that those of you who are teachers can better see whether your students are experiencing it or not. This will give you different models of how people experience it, to understand the breadth of what we're calling access concentration.

When you come back I'd like the groups each to have a spokesperson who will share for the big group the core of what you talked about. So that everybody can get some slice from each of the groups, the sense of what each group talked about...Let's take about 30 minutes and come back here to share and talk some more.

(Group time and groups returned)

Who's going to speak?

Q: We had a variety of experiences. Two of us very much sit with body energy awareness. We all seemed to agree there is a point where we drop into a deeper space. There is a timeless quality once we feel we're in access concentration. In the flow there's a very present feeling, feeling very present. We spoke about a shift, dropping down, a shift. One of us really has the subway experience with an incredible speed of objects, really bringing home a direct gut experience of impermanence. We spoke about having the sensations even off the cushion, and that others in our area or others around us can pick up on this sweet energy. That's about it.

Q: J summed up our group nicely. Some were aware of access concentration, some weren't aware of access concentration, and some weren't sure of what they were experiencing. A couple people spoke about the pain in their backs. Some spoke appreciatively of the subway metaphor, that swinging back and forth was very much their experience. We talked a little bit about nada, about it being similar to crickets chirping or ringing in the ears, and how it isn't dependent on external conditions. The folks who weren't sure or decided they didn't experience access concentration spoke of a peaceful experience that they could have on retreats. And that wasn't available afterward, created grasping. At the end we all wondered why we meditated.

Q: Our group reported a range of experiences ranging from access concentration to humming to sleep. (Laughter) ... came up in our group that we definitely lack a consensus of what access concentration is. Specifically the question is around whether or not access concentration is related primarily to being able to stay focused on the arising and passing of objects in a concentrated manner, noting how the primary object changes from thoughts to emotions to afflictive states, and returning to the breath. Is it that and nothing more, or does it also entail a staging down in a different type of consciousness?

Barbara: We'll speak to that.

Q: We also had a valuable sharing of our meditation tonight. We also had considerable question as to where access concentration arose and passed away. Another question was, as we understood the instruction, to see the object arise, to know it as pleasant/unpleasant, and know if liking or grasping came up. Most of us had the experience, when that deeper state, that stable tranquil state, arose, most of us were not using "noting." Noticing, perhaps. Also, most of us experienced not taking things personally. Detachment from objects that arose. So grasping or aversion wasn't part of the experience.

Barbara: Thank you, S. Even when we don't take it personally, grasping and aversion can arise. But we see it as impersonal, arising out of conditions, impermanent, non-self. So there's no energetic movement with the grasping or aversion, it's very brief. It comes up because conditions are present for it, but there's nothing to keep it going because there's not taking it personally, no stories about it, just that brief moment of contraction. And then it just opens out again.

I cannot give you access concentration, I can only talk to you about it, and I hope through hearing each other in your groups you get a better sense of what it is. Access concentration is simply a state of focused presence, a phase of consciousness, out of which the various insights begin to arise. There's nothing more to access concentration in itself. It's the tool or level of consciousness out of which the rest begins to arise. It has characteristics, a number of which you named. The noting seems to fall away. There's no taking of anything as personal. The sense of a self begins to dissolve. Concentration is very clear. There's an energetic sense of openness and flow. I can only tell you the conditions that I experience here and with which I'm familiar, but that doesn't mean it's limited to those experiences.

On the chart here we have two paths from access concentration, the jhanas, and the insight knowledges. At that point of access concentration, if we focus further in, we move into a jhana path, which we're going to discuss in another week, not tonight. The only thing I want to say about the jhanas now is this is still mundane consciousness. It's still taking a mundane object, it cannot take nibbana as its object. It takes increasingly fine levels of mundane object as the jhanas progress, but it's still within the mundane realm. At that point of access concentration, one can focus into the jhanas or into a broader space, into the insight knowledges. I don't want to go into detail about this tonight.

The first insight knowledge is the knowledge of arising and dissolution (pointing to the chart again). As we're very present with access concentration, we see objects arising and dissolving, arising and dissolving, arising and dissolving. Clarity comes that it's just arising out of conditions, impermanent and not self.

There's a point where as we see arising and dissolution, we begin to focus on objects arising, and the focus on arising of objects becomes predominant. There can be a deep sense of joy in that. We're still watching mundane objects. Then we begin to see how everything is dissolving. And there's a sense of loss, can be a very acute sense of grief. "I can't hold on to anything." It can go on for a long time. I don't mean just in the sitting but beyond the sitting there can be in one's life a sense of nothing matters, everything is just dissolving.

The third acknowledge of fear and terror. Fear, I can't hold on to anything. This is where we come to that place where I annihilate myself. Everything is dissolving. We're still with conditioned objects.

Knowledge of danger. This is not about the danger of dissolving and annihilating yourself, which will not happen. This is about the danger of shifting back and starting to take things personally again, starting to attach to the conditioned world again. Seeing how easily we can do that.

Knowledge of disgust. We go through a phase where the whole conditioned realm seems meaningless; people can struggle a lot with this. It's a phase where there's the feeling nothing matters, and things that I used to be passionate about, nothing matters. Relationships seem flat. Our lifework seems flat. It's not equanimity, there's a sense of disenchantment with everything.

Then we shift into what does matter: knowledge of desire and liberation. We don't know what that liberation is or means yet, but there's that next shift, it's that place where we're seeing the fingers and what we're seeking is not there. But we haven't looked through yet.

Knowledge of reflection is just the reflection on the dhamma, taking this all back into the bigger picture and seeing it's all arising out of conditions, it's all passing away. I'm looking for something and it's not here. There's a certain level of right understanding, Right View and Right Understanding become stable.

I'm going through these very quickly. I will put on the wiki more information about it. Matt Flickstein has a beautiful chapter about this passage in his book, Swallowing the River Ganges,

Knowledge of equanimity. At that point we start to see, it's all arising and dissolving, and instead of grasping or aversion with this fact, there's a relaxation into it. So together with the desire for liberation – when I say desire, aiming for liberation, it's not a grasping kind of desire. But it can touch on grasping a little bit. Wanting liberation, aiming toward liberation. But we don't know where that is yet. – we come up to equanimity, equanimity with arising and dissolution.

I'm not going to go through them too precisely, but we start to take that equanimity, and awareness that what we're seeking is not here, and dissatisfaction with the whole conditioned realm, to the next phase. We come to what we call "change of lineage knowledge" which is a fancy way of saying we suddenly see the possibility of looking through. (holding up hand, fingers open, looking through) Ah, there's something beyond. We haven't looked through yet, there's just the beginning possibility.

Knowledge of the path. At that point with path knowledge, suddenly we start to see the whole of the path and how it goes together. And that beyond this there's that readiness to look through, which takes us into the first shift into the supramundane as object. The citta are not on a linear scale like that (holding hands stretched horizontally) but they're stacked up. We've been working with the mundane citta. It's like trying to look at the blue sky through thick layers of clouds. You can't see the blue sky because the clouds are there. But as the clouds shift a little and you get bits and pieces of the blue sky, there's suddenly the realization, beyond the clouds are blue sky. That's it!

We move through the clouds. In just the same way we go through these mundane citta and supramundane citta, called lokuttara citta. These are the citta that are capable of perceiving the Unconditioned. So this is the path.

So we come with access concentration to that fork in the road where we can go either way, into jhana or into these insights. At that point we must direct mind into the insight path. We direct the mind through the skillful use of vitakka and vicara, holding and penetrating.

I want to read you–I assume that you read the different things I had to say about vitaka and vicara in the book that I sent out. But I want to read you something that I find very clear from Ajahn Sucitto. It's on page 29 of his book, Kalyana.

He's talking first about moving into a correct posture and just being present with the breath. This chapter is about presence with the breath.

"Such a base of physical well-being allows the mind's attention to fix on and explore the experience of breathing. This fixing is called vitakka. It defines the mind's object. Once the mind has a distinct object, vicara comes in."

A caution from me here. I have never heard these Pali words pronounced. I think I'm pronouncing them correctly but please don't trust my pronunciation. I will check with John or Thanasanti and see if I'm pronouncing then correctly. I should have done that before the first class. I realize as I'm talking that I can't remember for sure if it's a hard c or a soft c.

"Vicara means sensitizing to an exploring that mind object. So one process directs the attention toward the breath and the other picks it up with the question, 'What does it feel like?' These two work together. The object and the way of handling it don't have to be very refined at this stage. You can establish vitaka and vicara with a thought like, 'Where is the breath?' and then, 'What does it feel like?' without a tremendous intense effort. Questions rather than commands are more helpful in terms of sustaining the training.

"With these 2 aspects of attention, the mind goes to the sensations of breathing for a moment or two and then listens to them. If the effort to fix and hold is not balanced with pickup, listening and receiving the breath, you become numb and dull or get forceful. A forceful activity of the mind brings up aggressive energies of frustration, trying to hold, grasp, or know something, can make the mind quite grumpy after awhile. So holding has to be balanced out with receptivity even though this may not immediately result in a feeling of sharp one-pointedness. That comes around slowly. It's like growing anything, first one needs to establish the right conditions before growth can happen. So if the mind drifts, no problem, where is the breath now? First come back–where is the breath now? Give firm direction rather than negativity. Make meditation something that is manageable without a supreme effort of the will. Attune to the rhythm of the breath, noticing its different tones, rather than try to hold a small point at first. If we do that then the practice will cultivate itself. The mind will calm down and be able to acquire greater dexterity in terms of focus."

And he talks more about the type of vicara in the chapter, but that's enough for reading. So we come to this point of access concentration. Objects are coming up clearly. The breath may not be the primary object at this point, it may be nada or some other primary object. Other objects become predominant and pull our attention away from the primary object. With each one, we hold it, where is it? Where and what is this object? And then a kind of investigation of it.

When we come to the point where we see everything arising, that arising becomes predominant. The sense it's not one object, it's rather a sense of arising itself as the predominant object. One thing arising after another, and it's almost irrelevant what they are. Arising in itself becomes predominant.

At this point, rather than focus in, which takes us into jhana, we work with vitakka and vicara, knowing arising, holding arising and really feeling it out so that we begin to get a clear sense it's all arising out of conditions. And then we start to see dissolution. We do the same thing when we work with vitakka and vicara. With each of these insights as they come along, we work with vitakka and vicara. When there's a feeling of the unsatisfactoriness of experience and we feel that as a, if sadness is predominant, vitakka and vicara. We just keep working with it.

This is what eventually takes us into that place of the insight knowledge called knowledge of the path. Knowledge of the path is fully dependent upon vitakka and vicara, and it develops naturally when we carry vitakka and vicara through this whole string of knowledges.

It's a very fluid process. It doesn't take any force at all. It does take effort, effort to stay with the object, but as access concentration deepens, it just becomes more and more fluid. It can go very quickly–one can go through all these knowledges in just one sitting. That happens to some people. For others it may take months. It's okay either way.

For those of you who are teachers, as your students report any of these experiences, the important thing is to help them to deepen in access concentration and to use this tool of vitakka and vicara, holding each object and working with what is it, getting to know it, investigation. So with what is it, there's focus, and with the investigation there's an openness which is what allows insight to develop, because insight is dependent on "this" in relation to "that". We start to see, it arises, it dissolves, it arises, it dissolves. We start to see the way the whole path holds it together.

Next class we're going to talk about working with rigpa, with pure awareness, about the distinction between this insight path and dzogchen, and the use of pure awareness within the insight path. As you practice, please consider the distinction between access concentration and rigpa if you experience rigpa; how do they relate to each other.

What I'd like you to do in the next 2 weeks is to focus on practicing as I've described earlier tonight. You each have different practices; you're each in different stages of practice. Each of you have some clues now about what access concentration is. Those who have experienced it once or many times, see what helps you to deepen in it. Those who don't feel you've experienced it, now that you have some clues, see what helps to lead you in that direction. Use some of the tools that we've offered tonight.

When we come back together next class, probably we'll sit first, I'm not sure. But we definitely will come back together in small groups. Maybe we'll come together in small groups right away at the beginning of the class before we sit, to talk about what you've experienced, to see if you can deepen your conversation about access concentration. And then we'll talk about Pure Awareness or rigpa, and do some sitting do some sitting based on awareness, as we did tonight based on access concentration, then talk again.

Let me ask you a question–do you prefer to stay in roughly the same groups or do you prefer to switch around? (Vote) More would like to stay in the same groups, but we'll play with it...

So work with practice with access concentration. And for those of you for whom it feels relevant, if you have experienced rigpa and are pretty sure what that experience is, reflect a bit on what is the relation between rigpa and access concentration. But we're not going to, this is something we're going to be teaching in the next class so if you don't understand it, don't worry about it.

How many of you have not done any dzogchen practice? How many of you do not know what I mean by rigpa? For those 3, we'll meet together before next class.

Are there questions?

Q: 2 questions... one is in observing objects such as arising, passing away, dissolution, where the objects are not only ephemeral but they're not physical objects. My experience is that it happens so fast that even the object of arising or passing away can only be lightly touched. And that insight, part of the insight practice is that reflection after the sitting. I guess I'm wondering how that ties in the path of insight and what you were saying about, at a certain point you direct the practice in certain ways, continuing with the vitakka and vicara, but then at another further point, my experience and my sense is that the practice is not directed.

Barbara: Once it gets flowing, it's no longer directed. It's like taking a boat into a current where there are a number of little side streams. Once you get into the stream, the current carries you, but first there has to be direction.

The process of arising and dissolution does come very fast. If you're taking one object after another, you can't stay with it. There comes a shift where you're simply focused on the experience of arising and it doesn't matter what the object is. This object arises and then that object arises, it's simply seeing one object after another arising. What is the experience of objects arising? So arising itself is the object to which we apply the vitakka and vicara. And then what is the experience of dissolution?

Something that can be very helpful, and for the teachers in the group, a place you may want to direct your students, is to see the very beginning of an arising thought, for example, or arising sensation, and really stay with one, like the beginning of an itch. The very moment when you first feel it, and then feeling it intensify, and present with it. It's strong, but then there's a loud noise that catches your attention. You don't catch the beginning of the noise but you catch the first moving to it, the moving itself, and the beginning and middle of attention to that. So there's a strong focus on arising.

Then similarly there can be a strong focus at the appropriate time on dissolving. It's a very powerful practice to stay with objects as they dissolve until they're gone. When you stay with an object until it's gone, – you've all done this with me, when we ring the bell and you stay with the sound until it's gone – then there's a space before the next sound arises or before a new object arises.

So we stay with something until it's completely dissolved and then rest in that space. I don't want to talk too much about this tonight, but in that space is the shift from consciousness to awareness. It's the shift from mundane to supramundane consciousness. It's the break in the clouds. You're there with conditioned mind, everyday mundane mind, present with mundane objects. The mundane object, if you stay with it, passes away and, (clap) there's that break in the clouds. And then a new cloud floats in and you're with that. As it finally fades away, (clap) there's that break in the clouds again. At first, conditioned consciousness is taking that space as an object, but then the sense of self falls away and there's just resting in the space.

It's hard to talk about this. There's not a precise, "you do this and then you do that and then you do that and then you do that," but there are many different elements. We just put them together as skillfully as we can. But my experience is that if you don't try to stay with the object itself, which does arise and dissolve, but with the experience of arising and the experience of dissolution, that will take you a lot deeper.

The other part of what A asked about or mentioned is the importance of reflection. The reflection doesn't happen during the formal sitting but make sure you take some time at the end of the sitting for reflection. What happened? What was this about? What did I learn in this sitting?

I strongly suggest that you all begin to keep a spiritual journal, if you were not already doing so. After each sitting, write even just a few sentences. What was the strong experience of this sitting? What did I learn? Please include that as homework for the class.

Other questions?

Q: Are there different levels of access concentration?

Barbara: Yes and no. There are not different levels of access concentration. It's like swimming in the river, you wade in and the river is shallow but it's one river. You go deeper and you're up to your neck. You go further out and there's a fast current and the water's over your head. But it's still just one river. That's the only way I can explain it.

Okay, let's stop here...Please read the books that I've handed out. You've got 2 weeks...It would be helpful to read it again and again... I'll see you all in 2 weeks.

(taping ends)