Going Beyond the World. Transcribed and modified for text. Talk. Guided Meditation. Q&A, Dana.
Hosted by SanghaLive. 21 November 2025
We’ve been here from Monday to Friday of 17-21 November 2025 for an hour each morning (EU time). This is the last session of the five days. We explored the theme of Going beyond the World. The world consists of sentient, insentient life, time, space, energy and elements. Our body, feelings, thoughts, experiences, perceptions and consciousness and insights give form to the world around us.
SanghaLive flyer used for the five days in November 2025
Link below to SanghaLive page for daily recordings on theme.
The world seems familiar, and unfortunately, we ignore much of what happens, making problems for ourselves, others and rest of the world. This stops us from living in a wise and skilful way. We benefit from the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. These benefits support awakening, Dharma, Sangha networks worldwide and the welfare of life on Earth.
The teachings/practises, East and West, North and South, make a significant contribution to exploring the human experience, our relationship to everything and understanding being human. Our insights take the suffering out of our mind and the mind of others.
This week we have looked into attraction/aversion, roles, identity, ethics, love and the influence of the mind in the world. I referred daily to a key feature called the transcendent element. Transcendence expresses the ultimate truth, a way of knowing, a liberation that does not reject the world. Dharma includes the world of enviro-mental existence in the Infinite.
When you go beyond the world, you don’t reject it, nor detach yourself from life. Authentic transcendence remains respectful to this world. We follow ethics, including nonviolence, non-harm, no matter what the policies of a government or army. We love life so we reflect on how to establish a sustainable world respecting people, animals, our habitats and environment.
We develop practices to support abiding with a clear mind to overcome suffering. Transcendence sets love free and allows us to share our energy, awareness and insights with the world. We break free from the limited view of ‘I, ‘me’ and ‘my’ to end self-serving interests. Going beyond the world without rejecting it, we abide open and aware, allowing us to contribute to the wellbeing of the world. This meeting brings together the spiritual and everyday life.
Dedicated practitioners in the Sangha need to give much emphasis to transcendence, to going beyond the world. Transcendence requires much more meditation and reflection so we see and know the fulfilllment of Dharma.
There’s a lot to reflect on here. We must never forget how powerful and capable we are, and how much we have to offer. Yes, we seem to be small beings, with lives that pass quickly. Time seems to go more quickly as we get older. But time goes steadily, one moment to the next. How we feel affects how we experience time. As human beings, we can go beyond the limits of time. This is amazing, especially when you reflect on depth of awareness and clarity free from obstructions.
Time and Timeless
What does that mean?. We can divide time into three categories. Time is a process, a movement. What did happen? What is happening now and what might or will happen in the future. All three features of time influence each other. The past influences the present, and the present influences how we look to the future. Both influences affect how we look at the past. When it comes to the future, we often experience hope and disappointment. It is important to remember that these two feelings are actually connected and dependent on each other.
From a Dharma perspective, we take care about living in hope. If we experience fear of reality, we might project hope or live in disappointment from the collapse of hope. This generates a sense of hopelessness.
The Buddha spoke wisely about our relationship to the future. We do not have a single word for this in English. “I wish this to happen but it may not.” This shows a realistic view. How we look at the future affects what we do today, and our perception of the past. What did arise and does arise affects our view of what will or might arise.
This interaction means that the teachings do not emphasise exclusively being in the present moment. I’ve been saying this for years. We do not want to be stuck in the present. If we get stuck in it, it stops us from achieving the timeless, of going beyond the world and living with vision, as the Buddha emphasised.
The present moment is not eternal, as you can clearly see. Is there a timeless in what we see, hear, smell, taste or touch. No. Is there something in the memory not of time? No. Is there any planning that doesn’t change over time? No. The three fields of time are about the changes we see in what was, is, and will or might be. Timeless transcends the fields of time.
Imagine you are in a forest, sitting in a park, or in your city or town. You are calm, perhaps watching the world go by; you realise something much bigger than the event itself, the time and place you are in. The event reveals itself as an aspect of an infinite, timeless expansion, whether sitting, walking, meditating, listening to music or making love. Consciousness experiences the small, immediate events, focussed on past, present or future. We can discover our capacity to open to the vast expanse, to the timeless. Timeless seeing can break through any condition of mind.
In going beyond the world, self-importance diminishes significantly. Life is not about me, me, me, a way of thinking generating problems. We give attention to what matters and see a higher purpose in transcendent discoveries.
The Issue of Desire
We look into the psychology of desire. In the Dharma language, ‘desire’ is used in a distinct way. Desire reveals itself in greed, hatred/anger and fear.
Dharma regards desire as a problematic construction in the mind. For example, being greedy. You can’t be greedy without desire and probably craving. You can’t have anger or fear without wanting something – either a pull toward, a negativity or fear in a desire to attack or get away from. Desire causes problems leading to craving, addiction and clinging. The desire to hold on to things leads to a distorted sense of identity and possessiveness.
I got what I wanted, and I achieved it. I am still holding on to that; I resist looking into this desire so I cling onto what I got.
Let’s take a look at how strong our desires and cravings can become. Going beyond the world of desire means dissolving or letting go of desire, craving and clinging, because these experiences bring suffering. If these things are not a big part of our lives, then we will respond differently with a lot of energy. This requires a quiet dedication and commitment.
Love, empathy, commitment to insight will set us free from problematic desire, craving and clinging. They make us realise that we can offer love and be receptive to beauty in the world. Liberating ourselves confirms transcendence from problematic existence. We are not trying to be perfect. Transcendence reveals the best in humanity and being realistic about the worst.
Transcendence makes unresolved issues requiring attention stand out like a big bandage around our thumb. It’s impossible to miss. “I’m not sure what to do. I don’t think I have the inner resources. Who can I talk to about this? Who else has been through the same thing and has figured it out? There are people around. Let me find them, talk to them, meet them, listen to them, and hear their teachings. I need to focus on the unresolved. “
I sometimes use the word ‘prophets,’ who spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. Don’t look at an issue for just two or three days and say it didn’t work. 40 days and 40 nights is a random number, but it shows commitment. If you forget a day, you start again. The dedication can reveal the bigger picture leading to meditatio and reflection on Going Beyond the World.
Putting out the Fire
The Buddha used an analogy of the mind on fire. We stop putting wood on the fire but we still feel the heat, but gradually we stop burning up inside and the pressure that goes with it. The fire will go out. We experience coolness. Pali word for ‘without fire’ is ‘Nirvana‘. Nirvana means the absence of the forces that overwhelm us, such as greed, anger, fear, also waves of confusion, apathy and distress. Nirvana means a timeless transcendence, beyond the mundane.
The benefits of transcendence support life on Earth through wisdom and love. We have the resources to support the Dharma, the teachings, and the Sangha, including secular, religious and spiritual aspects of our communities. We offer an integrated teaching. From this place of refuge, we reach out to others to support reduction and total destruction of stress/suffering.
We have the tools and skilful means.
First, we know the practices and methods.
Second, we know what the most important things are when it comes to the big questions in life, including the conditions for developing the path.
Third, we know the healing power of the great outdoors. We know the refuge of the monasteries, Dharma centres, literature, pilgrimages, forests, open spaces, profound literature 2500 years old and other resources. Practitioners experience a long history of connection from one generation to the next. These are blessings. Transcendence is the ultimate refuge.
Please use these resources to stay alert.
Let’s all have a silent minute or two together.
A Guided Meditation/Reflection on Going Beyond the World
I will say a sentence or two with 30 seconds or so of silence between sentences.
Sit with a tall posture. Apply anywhere – meditation cushion, bus, coach, train, coffee shop, park bench, kitchen table, desk and more.
Walk talk indoors and outdoors, experience full length of the spine.
Stand tall. Waiting for the bus, coach or train. Standing in a queue. Be mindful, alert, conscious of the immediate world.
There is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching that makes up the world. Experience without any reactivity to it.
Right now, we sit tall experiencing stillness.
We sit and experience subtle movement of the body – breath, vibrations, sensations.
The stillness and movement confirm an intimacy with the living body.
Experience the subtle vibrations of the body.
Experience the stillness and the receptivity to movement, sights, and sounds.
Experience the light under the eyelids and listening to the sound of the voice.
Be mindful of the stillness of the surrounding objects.
Minor changes take place in each object. The movement is subtle.
Is there anything that never changes? Live the question.
We witness formations: formation of the body, the voice speaking, states of mind, thought and formations of all the objects in the room.
Is there an unformed? Yes.
Silence, stillness, space depend upon surrounding circumstances. Noise intrudes the silence. Activity intrudes into the stillness. Hindrances use up the space and energy in the mind.
Is there an unformed not dependent on condition? Yes. Live the question.
Reduction of excessive thinking, wanting and obstructive ego formations block transcendence, timeless, unconditioned.
Nirvana releases the highest joy out of our being and love without boundaries. Live the exploration.
Thank you.
Question and Answer
Q1 This transcendence is something we see in our everyday lives, but it doesn’t last long and then it’s gone.
CT: Transcendence doesn’t have any characteristics of coming and going. Coming and going take place in the world. Meditate on this. Reflect on this. The ocean does not disappear when you only look at the rise and fall of the waves.
Q2. How do we learn to live?
CT: Be interested in the big questions of life. Be open to exploration. Be actively curious about the Beyond.
Q3. What about passion? This is often connected with the element of fire. Don’t we need passion?
CT. Yes, we need passion. Our passion supports inquiry into the life experience, the arts, creativity, taking risks, love of the outdoors, healthy diet, dance, friendship, service and enlightening our life. Passion, including the romantic, reveals one of the ways love shows itself. Such passion has an ethic to it as distinct from passion of anger, shouting and the desire to get what one wants regardless of impact. Healthy passion can show our vulnerability in exploring the unknown. Some people here and elsewhere do not display passion but show a naturally beautiful way of being of calm and gentleness. There are people who live with a quietness of being, say little, modesty in lifestyle, with humility and kindness. Such people stay steady, neither rejecting others, nor pursuing attention. These are precious beings.
Q4 What advice do you have about getting to sleep?
The desire to sleep includes the reaction to wanting to get to sleep. This desire makes it harder to sleep because it creates more pressure in the mind. Examine the little problems in your daily life. Can you adopt a relaxed view around any of them? Listen to the soft voice within so you are less agitated. When do you put yourself under pressure? It’s important to prepare for a calm evening one evening after the next. Do you like to watch the news, horror films or Nordic dramas? Do you like to eat spicy or processed food? What time do you go to bed? What do you do in the last hour or two of the day? These minor changes will help you to drift off to sleep. In bed, you could listen to a guided meditation. Just listen to the guided meditation so the channel opens into sleep. Lie back and be quietly receptive to the meditation. For a small minority, brain cell activity interferes with finding sleep. Find your peace with this.
Q5. Are there any conditions that lead to the arising of the unconditioned?
CT. No. If there are conditions that lead to the unconditioned arising, then I would share with you these conditions for you apply the to reach the unconditioned. Unconditioned reveals in fading of grasping on to conditioned. Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Palestine, who sentenced him to death, “My Kingdon is not of this world.” (John 18:36). We should take his statement seriously. The world reveals as everything conditioned – pleasure and pain, change, suffering, processes and more. Be receptive to the unconditioned.
I looked at the words the Buddha used when talking about the transcendent, and I found 108 concepts for the ultimate, including ‘God’, ‘Brahman,’ Liberation and the Immeasurable.
One concept is ‘Unborn’. Transcendence does not depend on anything. Birth depends on prior conditions. Every thing remains subject to a start, a beginning, a birth, stays for a while and ends from a moth to mountains. The timeless abides closer to you than your thoughts.
Summary
We can see that the world is made up of multiple conditions making up the formations of the world. This leads to changes in all of us, and in the condition of I, me and my This world is small. Those of us who have travelled the Earth, as Servants of the Dharma, have experienced the far corners of the Earth. There is more to life than we imagine.
Sometimes we refer to reality as the relative truth, conventional truth - a world of causes and conditions affecting our daily life. Ultimate truth embraces the diversity of what presents itself in an unfolding process. Let us be deeply interested in the Ultimate Truth.
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Love
Christopher