Liberating wisdom is the fruit of building up three levels of wisdom: wisdom born of listening (sutamaya-paññā), wisdom born of reflection (cintāmaya-paññā), and wisdom born of meditation (bhāvanāmaya-paññā). Each of these levels depends on one essential condition — the mind's deliberate "setting of intent" (kamnod).

Listening-wisdom: the mind must first set the intent to accept

Listening-wisdom is the wisdom that comes from hearing the teaching. We first have to set our mind's intent to accept what we hear — if we don't accept it, we cannot truly listen, learn, or understand. The first step is to tell our own mind not to hold onto pride or conceit, and not to let it carry any defilement, because a mind free of pride actually wants to listen. So we must set the intent for the mind to be open and accepting.

Reflecting-wisdom: the mind must set the intent to pay attention, so it can examine the teaching clearly

Reflecting-wisdom depends on paying attention — we must set the mind's intent to know the Dhamma. Once the mind is set to know it, we become able to focus and contemplate the teaching until it becomes clear. If we don't set that intent to know the Dhamma, the chance to focus and contemplate it clearly becomes much harder.

Meditative wisdom: setting the intent to know within meditation connects us to the inner knower

Meditative wisdom depends on setting the intent to know within meditation itself. Once that intent is set, meditation carries us into the inner dimension, connecting us with an inner knower who is subtler and wiser than our ordinary mind. That inner knower can guide and instruct us — advising, leading, directing, and teaching — in a way that feels just like our own thinking. It feels that way because when the inner knower's thoughts and feelings appear at our heart, they register exactly the same as our own — our mind isn't like a voice box that can tell different voices apart; we simply receive whatever appears at the heart, and whatever we perceive, that is what we know.

Every wholesome quality depends on setting the intent

Each type of wisdom requires us to set our intent deliberately. In fact, every wholesome quality (kusala-dhamma) depends on this same act of setting intent — we must deliberately direct the mind to take in and know each thing, one at a time. As for everything else, it follows what the teacher has already advised. He felt there should be a written record kept, so that people could go back and review and reflect on it, because relying on memory alone, some details get forgotten, and one would have to piece it all back together again — hence the idea to make this record so people can come back to review it together.

Closing dedication chant

The talk closes with a chant of refuge in the Triple Gem — the Buddha as our refuge, the Dhamma as our refuge, the Sangha as our refuge — followed by a dedication: may the boundless power of Nibbāna, together with the merit and blessings of the elder masters and teachers, kindly protect and watch over everyone, freeing them from suffering, sorrow, the world, and danger; may all gain the Eye of Dhamma, penetrate fully into the knowledge of Dhammakāya, and carry wondrous, abundant treasures with them through every life until they reach the ultimate end of the Dhamma.