Meditating with Anger

0:00 Okay, welcome to just another moment in time. And to do one of the easiest things that you can do in this world is to meditate. And I was just thinking earlier on, like the meditation, Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:30 The meditation journey that we take is a personal one because we are dealing with ourselves and we're dealing with whatever we have in our minds. I think each and every one of us, we have our own strengths and weaknesses. Some of us may be more intelligent than others. Some of us may be more angrier than others. Some of us may be more kinder. And when we look into our own minds, we see there's different parts of us that make us who we are. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

1:21 And I think a part of the meditation practice is to be able to Look into one's own mind and to see what's there. And what we see is are the things that can be useful to us or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21

1:44 And one of the things, like we can look into our own minds and we can say to ourselves, what type of mind do we have? Are we a type of person who likes to complain? Report an error in the passage at 1:44 Highlight the passage at 1:44

1:55 And you can kind of like, you know, if you're a complainer, you can complain about anything. You can complain about the weather, you can complain about the monk giving the talk or he's terrible or whatever it is. And I think the part of the meditation practice is to be able to see what your mind is like and to be able to train the mind to stop doing those things. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:25 So one of the things Report an error in the passage at 2:25 Highlight the passage at 2:25

2:59 When we ask ourselves, can we get rid of this anger? Does this anger go away? The usual answer is no. But the good thing, if you know that it's something that you want to kind of get rid of or kind of train your mind out of, that intention, that very intention is a good start. Report an error in the passage at 2:59 Highlight the passage at 2:59

3:23 So what do we do when the anger arises in our mind? We allow the anger to be there. But we tell ourselves the reason why I'm meditating or the reason why I want to train my mind is to be able to eventually not have this anger like in my mind or in my heart. So at this particular moment you have the anger in mind and then you have you as the person who's meditating. Report an error in the passage at 3:23 Highlight the passage at 3:23

3:59 And the question is, How do we meditate? And the way that we like to teach meditation here is the practice of being able to just sit with what is going on or to be patient with what is going on or to be calm with the experience you have. So you could be sitting down Report an error in the passage at 3:59 Highlight the passage at 3:59

5:02 So when the anger is there, it's actually how we look at it, or how we experience the anger. And because we have that intention not to have that anger there, eventually the mind will figure out a way to let it go. Report an error in the passage at 5:02 Highlight the passage at 5:02

5:22 And that's one of the... to let it go. So in a sense, when we're meditating, it's more of a passive awareness to whatever is going on in our minds. So we can sit there and be calm to whatever is going on. Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:49 So what happens when we're... and and and Report an error in the passage at 5:49 Highlight the passage at 5:49

6:00 Ajahn Santutthi das remembers You want to experience the nice things. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

6:37 You want everything to be nice. You want peacefulness. You want all your anger to vanish. You want to have this friendliness, this kindness. You want to have a mind which is energetic. you know, the nice things. Report an error in the passage at 6:37 Highlight the passage at 6:37

6:59 You want to be on top of the world. And sometimes when we come to these classes, that's what we want to get out of it. And the nice thing about it is that these things are possible. Report an error in the passage at 6:59 Highlight the passage at 6:59

7:22 You can have very pleasant experiences in the meditation practice. You can have clarity of mind. You can have a mind full of kindness. You can feel a sense of deep peace. And these are the things that do come to us as meditators. But as meditators, we have to come into the meditation with the understanding that the mind is going to go through its ups and downs, its ebbs and flows. Report an error in the passage at 7:22 Highlight the passage at 7:22

8:02 And as meditators, one of the key kind of attitudes to have is to have this patience within the moment. To have the patience. The patience is very important. And what the patience means is just having this ability to be able to sit down and to see what is going on. Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

8:33 And just to see your mind for what it is. I think a lot of us, just having busy days, when we're meditating, one of the things that will arise in the mind is this sense of tiredness. Report an error in the passage at 8:33 Highlight the passage at 8:33

8:49 And when it's like, with the tiredness, when you're feeling a bit tired, you've been working all day, usually what accompanies with that is a sense of negativity. a sense of, like, negativity. Report an error in the passage at 8:49 Highlight the passage at 8:49

9:07 Because I was meditating today and I was watching my mind and I had quite a bit of sleepiness. And then when I was looking at that sleepiness, I was asking myself, what kind of mind state does that sleepiness accompany? And one of the things that I thought was, oh yes, it's a little bit negative. Report an error in the passage at 9:07 Highlight the passage at 9:07

9:37 So when we have like a sleepy mind, I think there's always a little bit of negativity there. But sometimes as meditators, we don't admit it. Sometimes we don't want to admit that we're bad meditators. Report an error in the passage at 9:37 Highlight the passage at 9:37

9:56 So when you meditate, when you're getting sleepy, and you're looking at what is going on, also look at how you're... also feel and usually there's a little bit of negativity there and that negativity is just a close connection of the mind being tired Report an error in the passage at 9:56 Highlight the passage at 9:56

10:24 So that's what we experience in the meditation. So what do we do? How do we get rid of it? One of these things when we talk about meditation is how do we get rid of stuff? How do we get rid of our restlessness? How do we get rid of our sleepiness? And with this style of meditation, it's not about getting rid of stuff. Report an error in the passage at 10:24 Highlight the passage at 10:24

10:46 It's about being with things and watching them change. And that's another thing that we can kind of bring into this meditation is this idea of things are changing. Report an error in the passage at 10:46 Highlight the passage at 10:46

11:01 You change from good mood to bad mood, sleepiness. What kind of meditation have you had? Have they been good meditations? So what happens on this journey of the meditation is that we get to experience all sorts of things. We get to experience the highs, the lows, the happinesses, the sadness, everything. But the one thing I think that makes This meditation practice is kind of special or worthwhile is that it shows you the good side of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 11:01 Highlight the passage at 11:01

12:22 It shows you the good side of the mind that you can only see through this meditation practice. Sometimes you can see the negativity. negativity in the meditation practice and you can't see that anywhere else. Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:46 Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this recording may be reproduced It's one of those things that kind of encourages us to keep going, is that we are actually getting some good results. We're getting the results that naturally bring us back. You know, the peace, the stillness, just a sense of wellness. Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

13:43 And we get that. We get that when we're meditating. And I think, I mean, that's like one of the reasons why I enjoy the meditation practice. And I think for myself, if there wasn't any enjoyment in the meditation, then I don't think there's a point of doing it. I mean, there's no point in doing something which is going to cause you a lot of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 13:43 Highlight the passage at 13:43

14:13 You know, there's no point in doing something if you feel that you're not getting anywhere. And that's, so yeah, for me, what brings me back to the meditation cushion is that you can actually get to a place in your mind where the mind is light, the mind is happy, and the mind is peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:41 And it's really hard. I think it's hard to put those experiences into words because words aren't enough to describe these things. Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

14:59 And that's the type of encouragement that I would like to give you is that this meditation path is a path which needs patience. In these patients for things for you to be able to see things change within your mind and and like I've been meditating for a long time for over 20 years and I could actually I could see a huge difference that it has made in my life I remember when I first started to meditate the mind wasn't it wasn't It wasn't comfortable sitting there. It would not want to sit there. It would find it very difficult. Report an error in the passage at 14:59 Highlight the passage at 14:59

15:56 It wasn't pleasant at all. It's kind of hard to explain. But then over the years, because you just sit patiently and you watch the mind, And you kind of know what you want out of the meditation practice. You want to reduce certain emotions, certain thoughts, and you want to make certain thoughts grow, like the kindness, the peace, the compassion, and the emotions of like care and love. Report an error in the passage at 15:56 Highlight the passage at 15:56

16:38 So you come in to the practice with that mind, with that kind of understanding in your mind. And you just patiently work your way towards what you want. And I think one of the key ingredients for the success of meditation to kind of work is to come in with a mind which has a calm attitude. attitude towards whatever is happening. Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

17:18 So you have this accepting attitude. You're accepting your anger. You're accepting your sleepiness. You're accepting whatever. You can actually sit down and let go and be. And a nice way of looking at it is a person driving a car and in life When we drive our car, we have our hands on the steering wheel and we like to control where we go. Report an error in the passage at 17:18 Highlight the passage at 17:18

17:54 But when you look at the meditation practice, the meditation practice is like being on a journey in the car, which kind of takes you to a place of experiences of peace or just a sense of well-being, just giving you this opportunity. you know Report an error in the passage at 17:54 Highlight the passage at 17:54

18:15 To see the landscape of your mind and what your mind has to offer. And in order for us to kind of witness that, a way of doing it, if you can visualize, is to imagine that you're on this journey. You're driving this car and you've taken your hands off the steering wheel. You take your hands off the steering wheel and you're just being. Report an error in the passage at 18:15 Highlight the passage at 18:15

18:44 You're being with the good. You're being with the bad and you're just working out ways to become a better person. And slowly, slowly you chip things away. And yeah, I was just looking at my mind and I was thinking sometimes there's a little bit of negativity there. And then I'm asking myself, how do I... Report an error in the passage at 18:44 Highlight the passage at 18:44

19:48 But we continue doing that. So what do you do? You know that you can't stop this thought instantly because that's what a complaining mind does. It just keeps on rabbiting on and it doesn't shut up. But you have that intention. So what do you do? You have that intention. You know that you're not getting into something which is good for you. Report an error in the passage at 19:48 Highlight the passage at 19:48

20:16 So you tell yourself. You tell yourself, okay, I'm complaining, but I shouldn't complain. And that is a good start to the journey of becoming a peaceful person. And also, what really helps is just doing the meditation. The meditation itself is kind of like... Report an error in the passage at 20:16 Highlight the passage at 20:16

20:48 Just an amazing thing to do. Like over time you can see how good it is for us. And I don't think you can underestimate the benefits of just sitting down with your eyes closed and just experiencing whatever in your mind in a peaceful manner. I think that sounds very simple, very simple, but it has... It gives us a lot of benefits and it does have a positive impact on our lives. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:33 So I would like to stop there and then we can do a guided meditation. Report an error in the passage at 21:33 Highlight the passage at 21:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

22:59 Closing our eyes. I Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:10 don't know what you're experiencing now but Report an error in the passage at 23:10 Highlight the passage at 23:10

23:18 I hope Report an error in the passage at 23:18 Highlight the passage at 23:18

23:22 You are having a good experience and Report an error in the passage at 23:22 Highlight the passage at 23:22

23:37 we're just sitting here just being in the moment. Report an error in the passage at 23:37 Highlight the passage at 23:37

23:53 We're not fussing over anything. We're not trying to fix anything. We're just being here. We're Report an error in the passage at 23:53 Highlight the passage at 23:53

24:11 being here and we're allowing the mind to reveal the treasures that it has within. Just Report an error in the passage at 24:11 Highlight the passage at 24:11

24:40 remember whatever you're experiencing now. Whether it's pleasant or unpleasant, but particularly the unpleasant ones. Because I think for a lot of meditators, especially the ones that are starting out, I feel that they go through quite a bit of negativity because they're trying to understand how all this works. Report an error in the passage at 24:40 Highlight the passage at 24:40

25:18 But Report an error in the passage at 25:18 Highlight the passage at 25:18

25:24 I think the beautiful thing about this meditation practice is that if we wait long enough these negativities they disappear and Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:44 what is left is like this more of a cleaner acceptance or an acceptance of the moment and Report an error in the passage at 25:44 Highlight the passage at 25:44

26:04 our minds feel like it's not challenged or it's not burdened it feels right Report an error in the passage at 26:04 Highlight the passage at 26:04

26:17 So as meditators, we're just watching what our minds reveal to us. Report an error in the passage at 26:17 Highlight the passage at 26:17

26:29 And it's a journey like no other journey because the things that you experience in your meditation are things that you won't be able to experience anywhere else. So Report an error in the passage at 26:29 Highlight the passage at 26:29

27:03 you get to a place where the mind is trouble-free. Report an error in the passage at 27:03 Highlight the passage at 27:03

27:15 This is what a trouble-free mind feels like, a mind which is empty. Even for a moment, if it's empty, it's free of trouble. Report an error in the passage at 27:15 Highlight the passage at 27:15

27:46 And just by the very act of meditation, we're learning how to be peaceful beings. This Report an error in the passage at 27:46 Highlight the passage at 27:46

28:11 is one of the most peaceful things you'll ever do. I Report an error in the passage at 28:11 Highlight the passage at 28:11

28:20 think it's quite peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

· · · silence, 2 minutes

30:23 Meditation is so simple. I don't know why I try to describe it with many words. Maybe it starts to sound confusing. But it's such a simple thing to do. Report an error in the passage at 30:23 Highlight the passage at 30:23

30:48 You're just being here. You're just living your life without having your hands on the steering wheel. Report an error in the passage at 30:48 Highlight the passage at 30:48

31:00 your mind to take you to Nice places. Report an error in the passage at 31:00 Highlight the passage at 31:00

31:13 You will probably start to see When there's tiredness in the mind or when you're thinking about something, you Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

31:29 can see that there's a negativity there. That's Report an error in the passage at 31:29 Highlight the passage at 31:29

31:39 why you hear people say, I can't meditate. And Report an error in the passage at 31:39 Highlight the passage at 31:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

33:02 then after a while, you know you'll start to see when the sleepiness fades away, when the thoughts, they disappear. When the mind starts to have more clarity, when the mind is not thinking so much, we can feel, we can know that our minds are positive. And Report an error in the passage at 33:02 Highlight the passage at 33:02

33:54 this is a great lesson to one's own mind, to know what is negative, to know what is positive. And the positive will always encourage us to continue to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 33:54 Highlight the passage at 33:54

34:20 Little do you know that positivity carries over into your life. I mean, a lot of you know me, sort of. I'm kind of a jolly person. I'm a jolly person. Report an error in the passage at 34:20 Highlight the passage at 34:20

34:51 People would probably consider me a happy person. Report an error in the passage at 34:51 Highlight the passage at 34:51

34:57 And that is a result of working with the mind for a long time. Remember, Report an error in the passage at 34:57 Highlight the passage at 34:57

· · · silence, 5 minutes

40:39 we're not here to control the mind, to get rid of things. We're here to let go, to accept, to see what happens. Report an error in the passage at 40:39 Highlight the passage at 40:39

41:01 Eventually, you start to see things in your mind that make the meditation practice worthwhile. Report an error in the passage at 41:01 Highlight the passage at 41:01

41:20 you can start to see the positivity that arises from having a mind which is waking up which is coming out of the fog of the sleepiness or stepping away from a restless mind or put away put aside the complaints the worries those Report an error in the passage at 41:20 Highlight the passage at 41:20

42:01 things Report an error in the passage at 42:01 Highlight the passage at 42:01

42:04 Leave a taste of negativity in the mind and we start to learn that having a mind which is being in the moment, quietly experiencing things, empty of thoughts, waking up, we can see that that mind Report an error in the passage at 42:04 Highlight the passage at 42:04

42:47 Ajahn Santutthi is a positive mind. That mind is a light mind. And that mind makes the meditation practice worthwhile to continue and pursue if Report an error in the passage at 42:47 Highlight the passage at 42:47

· · · silence, 6 minutes

49:31 you're feeling peaceful. But Report an error in the passage at 49:31 Highlight the passage at 49:31

49:39 if you're not, it doesn't matter because you can always try again. And Report an error in the passage at 49:39 Highlight the passage at 49:39

49:52 a part of the success Report an error in the passage at 49:52 Highlight the passage at 49:52

49:57 to achieve a peaceful mind is to try and Report an error in the passage at 49:57 Highlight the passage at 49:57

50:10 remember what you give to the meditation is what you get back and whatever Report an error in the passage at 50:10 Highlight the passage at 50:10

50:27 happens in between whether it's your own little issues or the negativity if you give kindness if you give calm Those negativities. Report an error in the passage at 50:27 Highlight the passage at 50:27

50:52 Those trouble mind states. Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:12 You get that back in return. Report an error in the passage at 51:12 Highlight the passage at 51:12

51:39 The things that you don't want in your mind to disappear and because you have given that kindness, you have given that calm, that will come back to you. Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

52:00 Just like when you see a friend or a family member or somebody you care for, when you give that person good energy, you get that energy. energy back in return. Ajahn Report an error in the passage at 52:00 Highlight the passage at 52:00

52:26 or when you know somebody Report an error in the passage at 52:26 Highlight the passage at 52:26

· · · silence, 1 minute

53:04 So as of now, I will hit the gong three times and we can come out of the meditation. This is Report an error in the passage at 53:04 Highlight the passage at 53:04

· · · silence, 1 minute

54:00 the time to ask any questions, particularly with what has been happening in your meditation. Sometimes people have problems and they want to ask, so this is your chance. So I'm just guessing if you have no questions then your meditation went perfectly well. Report an error in the passage at 54:00 Highlight the passage at 54:00

54:34 Any questions? Report an error in the passage at 54:34 Highlight the passage at 54:34

54:38 Or maybe I should ask you? Huh? Yes? Report an error in the passage at 54:38 Highlight the passage at 54:38

54:49 Okay, yeah. Okay, yeah. So things that you can do outside of the meditation that can help with your meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 54:49 Highlight the passage at 54:49

55:01 So one of the nice ideas that we have in this kind of practice as a whole, the things that we can do in our lives, I think, which is quite apt, To the meditation practice is this concept of being mindful. And that word mindfulness has been thrown around for centuries and everybody understands what that means. Report an error in the passage at 55:01 Highlight the passage at 55:01

55:39 It's this intention of the mind to do things and be in the present moment. Yeah. And we can understand that if you can do that, if you can be mindful and be in the present moment, when you look into your mind, you can see that there's no past and there's no future. And there's no restless thinking. Because the mind really can only do one thing at a time. Report an error in the passage at 55:39 Highlight the passage at 55:39

56:21 And when we think about this, when we come here and we understand within our own minds what we want to achieve. And the thing that we want to achieve is to have a more mind which is present. And that's what we can do kind of like in our daily life. Report an error in the passage at 56:21 Highlight the passage at 56:21

56:41 Yeah. And then, you know, I remember when I was a younger monk, I would actively kind of try to do that practice of being mindful. But then after a while, you kind of like, you have to remind yourself to do it. And then when you remind yourself, you can actually come back and do it. Report an error in the passage at 56:41 Highlight the passage at 56:41

57:03 But then, yeah, after a while, you know, I've been doing this for a long, long time. It's something that you don't really think about. And maybe it's not something which is like super important, but it's something that you can actually add. like into your into your daily life and i think one of the other things that we can do when it comes to kind of adding that peace into your mind is to try to be peaceful Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:35 Do you know how to be peaceful? Just try to be peaceful. And I think for myself, there's moments that we can be peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 57:35 Highlight the passage at 57:35

57:46 So that kind of practice is... Report an error in the passage at 57:46 Highlight the passage at 57:46

57:51 Just bring this idea of peacefulness into your mind and you can actually feel the peacefulness. And that probably comes from the meditation practice. So you learn that peacefulness from meditation practice and then you can bring it outside. And then you can bring these things up in your daily life. And one of the ways that I do it is I remind myself. And we do have those opportunities where we're not too busy in life. Report an error in the passage at 57:51 Highlight the passage at 57:51

58:21 whether it's like even walking from your front door to your car. you're not really that busy and then you can just bring your mind to those peaceful feelings and you can walk to your car peacefully and that to me for a human being is like a pleasant In a sense, when you're talking about the meditation practice, it's... Report an error in the passage at 58:21 Highlight the passage at 58:21

59:22 And yeah, that's one of the things that I really encourage people to do is, you know, sometimes I see people walk around and they're just like, they're just thinking, you know, thinking about the problems of the world or thinking about some sort of trouble. And then when you look at their face, their face is like all scrunched up. Report an error in the passage at 59:22 Highlight the passage at 59:22

59:47 And they look happy. I'm like, they look happy. And it's like, okay. You know, yeah, that is where you put your mind. But then with this kind of like, you know, these things that you learn in your meditation, like just being able to understand what peace feels like, you can actually replicate it in your daily life. Report an error in the passage at 59:47 Highlight the passage at 59:47

1:00:10 And it's actually a nice place to go to if you know what it feels like and know how to get there. Yeah, it's a nice place to be, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:21 Okay, any other questions, comments? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:21 Highlight the passage at 1:00:21

1:00:30 Okay, we can finish. Thank you Ajahn. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:30 Highlight the passage at 1:00:30