A Calm Mind and Its Benefits

0:00 So we're just coming together again to meditate and to develop this kind of mood and state of mind. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:22 It's almost like a mood that we're trying to develop. It's almost like a relaxation. yeah and that's what we'll that's what Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:31 Like getting yourself to a point of relaxation or getting yourself to the point of feeling at peace. So the one reflection that we can do as people is we can ask ourselves how do we feel at this How do we feel in general? Because each and every one of us, you know, we have different experiences, yes? And some of us, you know, we may be sad. Some of us may be sad or some of us we may be a little bit anxious, yeah? Report an error in the passage at 0:31 Highlight the passage at 0:31

1:27 Some of us we may feel a little bit uncomfortable. We can kind of see in ourselves that there is something a little bit off. I think I was having a conversation with somebody the other day and they were kind of talking about their nervous system. Report an error in the passage at 1:27 Highlight the passage at 1:27

1:51 You can kind of see your nervous system getting kind of edgy. You've got that angst. Report an error in the passage at 1:51 Highlight the passage at 1:51

2:29 The nervousness or that nervous system that we have as human beings and that's a good point actually because when we think about how things kind of operate, how nature kind of operates in life and usually things go well when things are calm. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:57 That's just like the law of nature. Report an error in the passage at 2:57 Highlight the passage at 2:57

3:04 Do you agree? Yeah. So, you know, it's like, for example, you know, like, you know, when there's violence in the world, that is not a calm state. And it creates a lot of problems. And when you have calmness, like, at home or in a country or wherever it may be, It actually creates more kind of harmony and just good feeling. Yeah, we can all agree with that. That's actually quite straightforward. Report an error in the passage at 3:04 Highlight the passage at 3:04

3:42 And you could kind of say Australia. Australia is a pretty calm place. You know, we're pretty easy. We don't need to worry about that much. You know, we don't need to worry about starving or we don't need to worry about... Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

4:27 calm the idea of calm is actually very good for us yeah so so the question is the question How do we become calm? Report an error in the passage at 4:27 Highlight the passage at 4:27

4:45 So, how do we become calm? Report an error in the passage at 4:45 Highlight the passage at 4:45

4:52 So the way that we kind of like to teach meditation here is to educate people that for us to be able to become calm, It's almost like a natural process. It's a natural process. We like to have the phrase in our kind of circle of meditation is we allow things to happen. We allow things to happen. And all you need to do as a meditator is put yourself in a position to meditate. Report an error in the passage at 4:52 Highlight the passage at 4:52

5:31 That's like how simple it is. It's sort of like, it's sort of like, okay, it's like, you know, say that a common example is if you're a non-smoker and you hang around smokers, maybe within how long, a week, two weeks, you become a smoker. Yeah. And then it kind of in the same way, if you put yourself into calming situations, then the mind, or your kind of inclination is to become calm. And if you think about it, and if you look at what we're doing here, like Meditation is a very calming activity. Report an error in the passage at 5:31 Highlight the passage at 5:31

6:27 She's just sitting down with her eyes closed and she looks very calm. Activity, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

6:33 Oh, that was bad. She looks very calm. She looks very calm. Report an error in the passage at 6:33 Highlight the passage at 6:33

6:43 She looks very calm. And if you imagine if she does that for like 10 hours, she should be very calm, right? Report an error in the passage at 6:43 Highlight the passage at 6:43

6:55 So if you can understand that, what we're doing is we're putting ourselves in situations situations where we can become Report an error in the passage at 6:55 Highlight the passage at 6:55

7:32 make jokes though. Report an error in the passage at 7:32 Highlight the passage at 7:32

7:37 And also like even like one of the nicer things that is like like calmness is not only found through the meditation practice but you can also have like calmness found like in nature yeah and you know a lot of us are lucky enough to live within nature I'm pretty sure people here live in Rollystone yeah Rollystone yeah you're surrounded by the Sometimes I'm like, we're just driving in, we're just driving in, and I'm still quite amazed that even though Perth is quite a dry, hot summer, but things are still green. Report an error in the passage at 7:37 Highlight the passage at 7:37

8:17 It's quite weird, you know. Because sometimes I describe, I live and live in Perth all my life, and sometimes I describe it as a part-time desert. because it does get quite hot it does get quite hot but it amazingly things are still still quite great and we can kind of look at at nature and um and just just enjoy it just Report an error in the passage at 8:17 Highlight the passage at 8:17

9:05 We can have these understandings that throughout our day there are certain things that we can do or certain situations that we find ourselves in where that calm can be there. And I just remember, and we feel that as human beings, like going for walks. We like to go for walks to get a little bit of exercise in the nice cool evenings. Report an error in the passage at 9:05 Highlight the passage at 9:05

9:35 You know when you walk in the streets you can sort of you're not really distracted by things you kind of feel like that sense of calm that sense of peace and that's and that is something which you know we're trying to emphasize here to kind of let you know that it could be an important thing for your lives just being able to just give yourselves Give yourselves moments of peace. Report an error in the passage at 9:35 Highlight the passage at 9:35

10:09 It's nice. Who doesn't want to be a little bit peaceful from time to time? You know, you can just relax, you relax. Report an error in the passage at 10:09 Highlight the passage at 10:09

10:25 You're always like resting in a sofa, kicking back and just relaxed and there's just a mind Report an error in the passage at 10:25 Highlight the passage at 10:25

11:10 I think that's like, it's just a nice place to go to from time to time. And how do we do that through the meditation practice? Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:23 Basically, it's sort of like when we meditate, we just close our eyes, we sit still. You don't need to sit in the perfect posture. You don't have to have your back really straight. You sit in the manner where you feel comfortable. Yeah, so you don't have any disturbing sensations in the body like sore knee or sore back or whatever. Report an error in the passage at 11:23 Highlight the passage at 11:23

11:53 So you're just trying to find a really comfortable position to sit in. And then once you do that, you close your eyes. You close your eyes and you just be. You just be. You just be like being in this moment. moment and just giving yourself that permission. Report an error in the passage at 11:53 Highlight the passage at 11:53

12:21 not to worry about stuff. Yeah, it's like, it's, it's, it's Report an error in the passage at 12:21 Highlight the passage at 12:21

12:46 Because we're digging holes. We're digging holes for the extension. And we're doing it ourselves with a jackhammer. We've got a jackhammer, a couple of shovels. We're going to dig these footings in clay. In clay and there's granite in the ground as well. And then we were lucky. The last six days the weather was good. So we were able to go out and do our thing. But then I was looking at the weather forecast. Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

12:51 for the extension. Report an error in the passage at 12:51 Highlight the passage at 12:51

13:14 There are no more cool days coming up. And the coolest day was like 35 degrees out in the open in the afternoon sun. And I'm like, oh, that's the only opportunity that we can work in. So then it was like, okay, yeah, when the day comes, we'll just do it. And as of now, we're not going to worry about it. Report an error in the passage at 13:14 Highlight the passage at 13:14

13:44 So, yeah, you know, sometimes you have to do things, but at the same time, you know, you're busy, you have to do things, you've got to pack lunch for your kids or pay the bills or whatever. You know, these things are a part of life, but at the same time, you don't need to worry about it too much. When the thing that you have to do arrives, you just do it. Report an error in the passage at 13:44 Highlight the passage at 13:44

14:07 And then you just carry on with life without too many worries. worries So that's what we're doing. When we're meditating, we're giving ourselves that kind of permission not to worry about things. Report an error in the passage at 14:07 Highlight the passage at 14:07

14:22 And what we're doing is, when we're doing that, we're actually taking away the one thing that causes us a lot of our problems, and that is our own thinking mind. mind. Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:44 Our own thinking mind. We all agree with that. It's like, when I suffer, it's because of me. It's not because of anybody else. Report an error in the passage at 14:44 Highlight the passage at 14:44

14:56 So that's what we kind of understand understand is our own thinking mind that creates the problems. Report an error in the passage at 14:56 Highlight the passage at 14:56

15:11 What you start to discover is when the mind stops thinking, that's a place where you feel sane, you feel normal, you feel healthy. We all like this word, mental health. We feel healthy when there's nothing in the mind. And that's kind of just like a different... It's like a different way of dealing with the problems that we may have in life. And if we know how to get to that place where there is no thinking in the mind, then we know we can go to a place where we can feel safe or feel that we're free from our problems. Report an error in the passage at 15:11 Highlight the passage at 15:11

16:08 That's the thing, yeah. When your mind is quiet, You actually feel that you're free from your problems. There's nothing to worry about for this point in time. Report an error in the passage at 16:08 Highlight the passage at 16:08

16:23 That's the nice thing. And just to drive in that point, just to drive in that point before we start to meditate, is my teacher, Ajahn Brahm, he's like, has anybody heard of Ajahn Brahm? Report an error in the passage at 16:23 Highlight the passage at 16:23

16:40 Hands up, hands up, hands up. Oh, so you don't know him. So, you know, you can imagine, you know, like famous, like, he's not like famous like the Dalai Lama, but he's famous enough. He's famous enough. So, he's known in Singapore, you know, Malaysia, Burmese. The Burmese love him. Australians love him. The Polish love him. The Australians love him. You know, he's well loved. Report an error in the passage at 16:40 Highlight the passage at 16:40

17:06 He's well loved and very popular. And you can just imagine, like, a spiritual leader. Report an error in the passage at 17:06 Highlight the passage at 17:06

17:42 And that's all we're trying to do when we meditate, is go to the places in our mind where there is silence. And I think each and every one of us knows what that is. Report an error in the passage at 17:42 Highlight the passage at 17:42

17:56 We all know what that is, yeah? And that's what we do when we meditate. We go back there, to that place of silence, and we kind of learn to appreciate it, and we try to have this understanding that it's good for us. We just have to use our intellect to know that a silent mind is a peaceful mind. A mind which thinks too much isn't a peaceful mind. And that's how we start to view how we want to use our minds. Report an error in the passage at 17:56 Highlight the passage at 17:56

18:32 And I think through time you kind of get used to it and you can start to appreciate it. and go back to the places in the mind where you feel comfortable so i will stop there and we can start to meditate If you have any questions you can ask me after the meditation and what I'll do is I will guide you for about 15 minutes and then you sit quietly for the next 15 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 18:32 Highlight the passage at 18:32

19:14 So we just get ourselves into a comfortable position, close Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

19:26 our eyes and Report an error in the passage at 19:26 Highlight the passage at 19:26

19:38 there's nothing really new for us to discover when we meditate. All we want to experience in our meditation is already there. It's just because we live our lives in a way where We forget we forget we forget as human beings to know how to be calm and Report an error in the passage at 19:38 Highlight the passage at 19:38

20:15 to know and to know how kind of relaxing freeing a mind a mind that has knows how to go to a place of of silence there's Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:38 nothing more freeing than Well, there are more freeing things than silence, but there's one freeing thing that you can have in life is silence. And Report an error in the passage at 20:38 Highlight the passage at 20:38

21:01 when you're silent, you can see you're not worried about anything. Report an error in the passage at 21:01 Highlight the passage at 21:01

21:11 And it's not a complete, total silence. It's almost like the ability to recognize the silence. And Report an error in the passage at 21:11 Highlight the passage at 21:11

21:30 we all have it there. Report an error in the passage at 21:30 Highlight the passage at 21:30

· · · silence, 2 minutes

23:05 We don't. We're not doing anything when we meditate. I mean, you may have some thinking to kind of think about. That's kind of normal. But Report an error in the passage at 23:05 Highlight the passage at 23:05

23:24 after a while, one learns how to just not think too much when one is meditating. So Report an error in the passage at 23:24 Highlight the passage at 23:24

· · · silence, 1 minute

24:11 as we're sitting here, we're Report an error in the passage at 24:11 Highlight the passage at 24:11

24:17 just being present and Report an error in the passage at 24:17 Highlight the passage at 24:17

24:34 we're relaxing and Report an error in the passage at 24:34 Highlight the passage at 24:34

24:39 we're being calm. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

25:13 So when we're meditating, we're just learning how to calm down. We're putting ourselves into positions where we can allow our minds to calm down. Report an error in the passage at 25:13 Highlight the passage at 25:13

25:31 And if you're a beginner, you haven't meditated for long, sometimes it just feels that the mind cannot calm down. Report an error in the passage at 25:31 Highlight the passage at 25:31

25:51 But with all things results comes when we're patient and we learn how to wait for the mind to calm down. This is why this style of meditation, it's a meditation where we allow the mind to find peace naturally and the way We allow our minds to find peace, is to allow the mind to calm down. So Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:47 the more you practice meditation, the longer, not the longer, but the more you do it, the more you make it as a part of your everyday life, in time you'll start to see the mind calming down. Report an error in the passage at 26:47 Highlight the passage at 26:47

27:19 and it goes to It just goes to a very nice place. A beautiful place. And, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 27:19 Highlight the passage at 27:19

· · · silence, 1 minute

28:38 So, you know, some of us, our minds may be on fire. Report an error in the passage at 28:38 Highlight the passage at 28:38

28:49 Just overthinking. But that's okay. That's normal. Report an error in the passage at 28:49 Highlight the passage at 28:49

29:00 Because you haven't developed enough calm. Report an error in the passage at 29:00 Highlight the passage at 29:00

29:09 And, you know, sort of like, you know, when a mother When a mother wants to soothe her child, she wants to calm her child down, she just soothes the child, you know. The baby's crying and she's just doing her best to calm the baby down. Report an error in the passage at 29:09 Highlight the passage at 29:09

29:38 And then eventually the baby becomes calm. And sometimes with our own minds. We're doing the same thing. Trying to soothe the mind. Trying to calm it down. Because Report an error in the passage at 29:38 Highlight the passage at 29:38

30:12 sometimes our minds could be raging or just unsettled. Report an error in the passage at 30:12 Highlight the passage at 30:12

30:37 Just think about it. Calming is a powerful thing. It can stop a crying baby from crying. Report an error in the passage at 30:37 Highlight the passage at 30:37

30:51 It's a helpful kind of skill to have. Report an error in the passage at 30:51 Highlight the passage at 30:51

31:03 These are one of the skills that we learn while we're meditating. All Report an error in the passage at 31:03 Highlight the passage at 31:03

· · · silence, 2 minutes

33:32 we're doing is just hanging out with the silence. We're doing nothing more. We're doing nothing less. And Report an error in the passage at 33:32 Highlight the passage at 33:32

33:48 we're just enjoying the good feelings that come up with the silence. Good Report an error in the passage at 33:48 Highlight the passage at 33:48

34:21 feelings are happiness. And isn't that one of the reasons why you come here? To be a little bit more happier. Report an error in the passage at 34:21 Highlight the passage at 34:21

· · · silence, 3 minutes

37:56 Been Report an error in the passage at 37:56 Highlight the passage at 37:56

· · · silence, 11 minutes

49:04 about half an hour. So we can continue on for another half an hour. No, we'll still end it now. What I'll do is I'll ring the gong three times. The gong. And we all can come out of the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 49:04 Highlight the passage at 49:04

· · · silence, 1 minute

50:23 There's actually a very nice sounding gong. Report an error in the passage at 50:23 Highlight the passage at 50:23

50:32 Handcrafted, I think. Report an error in the passage at 50:32 Highlight the passage at 50:32

50:41 Okay. Did anybody get any nightmares? Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

50:52 this. My mind was spinning. Okay, so now it's time to open up for questions. Anybody got any questions? Report an error in the passage at 50:52 Highlight the passage at 50:52

51:16 Oh, yes. Anybody got any questions? No? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 51:16 Highlight the passage at 51:16

51:28 Yeah. Oh, Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:41 okay. Okay, so... So we don't fundraise because Ajahn Brahm, Bodhinyana Monastery kind of pays for it. Which is good. It's good because I don't have to work too hard. Report an error in the passage at 51:41 Highlight the passage at 51:41

52:05 Because if you can imagine that if I had to do the fundraising then I'll be... I'll work it, yeah. yes, we work it. Yeah, we're doing the work. I sort of asked Ajahn Ram, you know, Ajahn, can you pay for the whole thing? And he's like, no, you know what to do. You can do most of the work. So that's what he kind of said. So yeah, so that's what we're doing there. Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:35 So basically what we're doing, it's actually some news for you people as well, is we are building like a... like a like a hole like a meditation hole so you know how Report an error in the passage at 52:35 Highlight the passage at 52:35

52:50 So we can have these classes there. So maybe, maybe we'll have the classes there. Cool. Yeah, yeah. So it'll be like, it's like proper whore, you know, you know. Like Bodhinyana. Yeah, it's like a small meditation dharma hall. Small is good, not small. So we'll be doing that and hopefully if it works out we can start doing the classes there. Twice a week. Report an error in the passage at 52:50 Highlight the passage at 52:50

53:25 I don't know about that. Report an error in the passage at 53:25 Highlight the passage at 53:25

53:30 So that's the plan. Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

53:35 Okay so the timeline we have started the work on the footings and then we're going to ask the builders are going to come in and do their part. And then we're going to come in and finish it off, like, you know, plasterboard, insulation, windows, doors, and all that kind of stuff. And so the monks or the men staying there, whoever wants to volunteer their time, have you got a trade? Report an error in the passage at 53:35 Highlight the passage at 53:35

54:02 Huh? If they were, like, working bees at certain points of the field, would that assist? Yeah, people would come in and help out. Yeah. That's the kind of thing that we kind of... Our life is based on volunteers helping us out. We have two young men staying with us and they're helping us with the building work. Report an error in the passage at 54:02 Highlight the passage at 54:02

54:25 We can't do certain things as monks. We can't jive, so we have somebody to jive us. We have a lot of rules. One of the things is we can't eat food unless it's given to us. And it hasn't been done on a daily basis. So that's why we also need the young men with us to give us the food every day. And one of the other things is we cannot cook. Report an error in the passage at 54:25 Highlight the passage at 54:25

54:52 We cannot cook our own meals. So we rely on the kindness of our supporters to bring us food. So our lovely supporters, they bring us food every day. Report an error in the passage at 54:52 Highlight the passage at 54:52

55:09 Thomas and Ariel, they've bought us food. Bob, he drives me to the hardware stores to buy tools. I recommend if you want to buy a tool, buy a Makita. Report an error in the passage at 55:09 Highlight the passage at 55:09

55:28 But that's one of the nice things. Report an error in the passage at 55:28 Highlight the passage at 55:28

56:04 So we come here and we kind of share to you what we've learned from putting our butts on a cushion for many years. And the benefits and the results that we get from it, we're kind of trying to translate that into words so it can help you guys out. Report an error in the passage at 56:04 Highlight the passage at 56:04

56:29 And we just teach meditation here. And the meditation is, like I said, just developing peaceful states of mind. And it's quite amazing how helpful it is in terms of just using it as a tool for life. Yeah, because you've gone through life and what tools do we have out there to deal with our problems? A bottle of Jack Daniels? Report an error in the passage at 56:29 Highlight the passage at 56:29

57:02 I like to joke around, but it's true. A bottle of Jack Daniels, what is it, you pop some pills or whatever just to feel good or just to get rid of your problems, but does it really get rid of your problems? The answer is not really. So, you know, what we kind of offer through what we've learned in our own lives, the usefulness of just Meditation Developing a Peaceful Mind and you can find like you can find that it just helps you in so many many ways in life yeah and and like one of the things is is like is like a bright mind a bright mind is a happy mind we can we can kind of you know when we feel happy our minds are bright right and one of the things that meditation does kind kind of develop in the mind is like a brightness brightness of of the the mind. Report an error in the passage at 57:02 Highlight the passage at 57:02

57:58 mind as well, like a clarity, a wakefulness and that in itself kind of makes life easier. I've never seen a kind of happy person have a hard time in life. Report an error in the passage at 57:58 Highlight the passage at 57:58

58:17 this is the truth and kind of meditation is like it helps you find other ways to be happy so that's what We lived a different kind of weird and interesting life of meditation and what we learned through our experience from our teachers, we just come here and share with you. Report an error in the passage at 58:17 Highlight the passage at 58:17

58:40 However you want to use it, however you want to practice, it's really up to you. We're not here to make you meditators or anything like that. We're just sharing our experience. And hopefully it's helpful. Yeah. Okay. Any more questions? Comments? Report an error in the passage at 58:40 Highlight the passage at 58:40

59:10 Yeah. I Report an error in the passage at 59:10 Highlight the passage at 59:10

59:19 have no idea. Report an error in the passage at 59:19 Highlight the passage at 59:19

59:24 Yeah, he started... I don't know all the details of the story, but he kind of gave up his life and he lived as a meditator in the bush. And for him to kind of... So he didn't have the means to buy food. He didn't have any money. He didn't have the means to buy food. He didn't have a house to live in, so he didn't have a kitchen to cook spaghetti bolognese. He didn't have all those things. Report an error in the passage at 59:24 Highlight the passage at 59:24

1:00:00 So I think in that time, the people understood that these are religious people and they want to help them out. And one of the ways to do that is to give them food so they can survive for the day. And that kind of tradition or... culture is a culture that kind of cultures still being still being carried through to today and we still kind of the monks live like that even though we have the means we have kitchens we have you know supermarkets and stuff but we just still trying to keep this um uh simple culture that was was um was back in the day you know many many years ago and so it's kind of a nice thing like a like a we take it like a vow of poverty And it's sort of like whatever people give us, we just take. Kind of thing, yeah. So you cook whatever you want to cook. So people come to the monastery. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00:00

1:00:57 You know, monks, we try not to be picky. We try not to be picky. And whatever people give us, we eat. Yeah. So if it's like raw pasta, we still eat it. Nah, I'm just kidding. But you know what I mean. So that's a lovely thing is... We have these people that come in every day just bringing a plate of food to give to the monks because they know the food is going to help nourish our bodies, give us energy so we can meditate. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:57 Highlight the passage at 1:00:57

1:01:29 We meditate so we can meditate and share what we learn through our practice with other people. In that way, it enhances people's lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:29 Highlight the passage at 1:01:29

1:01:45 What we do is we are looking for inner happiness ourselves. That's the kind of life that we get into. It's not just inner happiness, inner clarity of mind, less stress, all that kind of thing. That's our main purpose, I think. ourselves as this is what Report an error in the passage at 1:01:45 Highlight the passage at 1:01:45

1:02:08 yeah so yeah this is not too out there what we do it's kind of normal kind of normal yeah all right any more questions See you next week. See you next week. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:08 Highlight the passage at 1:02:08