The Good Mood

0:02 So just a short talk about meditation. We know what to do. We've done it before. Do you all feel that you know how to meditate? Report an error in the passage at 0:02 Highlight the passage at 0:02

0:22 Yes, right? I think so. Yeah, right? Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:29 No? No? Yes? Okay. Thomas? Well, it's not the same as doing it. Yeah, that's right, that's right, that's right. Okay, okay, so, yeah, I mean, Report an error in the passage at 0:29 Highlight the passage at 0:29

0:55 it's, I think just a lot of the, just having the ability to clear your mind is one of the abilities that you learn through the meditation practice, and it's also something that you can just keep telling yourself. When you're meditating, one of the reasons why you're meditating is to clear your mind. And also, Report an error in the passage at 0:55 Highlight the passage at 0:55

1:32 I think with the meditation practice, when you kind of get the hang of it, when you're able to put your mind in the present moment, for many moments, Ajahn Santutthi is a master of non-verbal hypnosis. Sometimes it isn't, but I think from the meditation practice, one can use that to improve one's mood. Report an error in the passage at 1:32 Highlight the passage at 1:32

2:39 Ajahn Brahm would also say that with the meditation practice your happiness increases. And when you think about it, When you think about moods, that's actually quite interesting. Because if you ask yourself, for the most part, what type of mood am I in? Report an error in the passage at 2:39 Highlight the passage at 2:39

3:04 Are you usually in a good mood? Who's usually always in a good mood here? Report an error in the passage at 3:04 Highlight the passage at 3:04

3:11 That's good. If you're in a good mood, then I think that's a good sign. It kind of means that your mind is rested, your mind is clear, is not really holding on to things. It doesn't worry too much. So you're able to live your life in a certain way where your mind is in a good mood. And also, when you're meditating, where you can see that your meditation is going well, that also puts your mind in a good mood. Report an error in the passage at 3:11 Highlight the passage at 3:11

3:46 And when you look at the mind when you're meditating, what are the contributing factors? To a good mood, which is, I'm going to say the same thing. It's like just being present moment awareness. Present moment awareness, letting go, letting go. Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:08 And also having a bit of trust in the process of meditation. And that's one of the beautiful things that I always... What I always come back to and that I always kind of live by and that I appreciate is that the growth, the progress that we make as meditators is something which is natural. It's something that is not forced. You can't push. Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

4:51 For a better mood or you can't force your mind to be in the present moment. But there is something about attending the classes on a Thursday night and also trying to have a regular meditation practice is that eventually your mind will start to settle down. Report an error in the passage at 4:51 Highlight the passage at 4:51

5:21 It will settle down as a natural course. And when I think about that, you think of this idea like the mind will naturally become calm. Or the mind will naturally become peaceful. Or the mind will naturally know how to meditate correctly. And I think that's one of the most, one of the most, one of those teachings that, That gave me a sense of relief in the meditation because my mentality was that in order for me to gain something from this practice was that I was meant to put in a lot of effort. Report an error in the passage at 5:21 Highlight the passage at 5:21

6:13 I was meant to crush the mind. I was meant to put in hours of sitting. and and And force myself to become peaceful. And we all know, I think we all know, we all tried this approach where we are just trying to wheel ourselves to peace, push ourselves to peace, strive and trying to get something from our meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 6:13 Highlight the passage at 6:13

6:46 And all we end up doing... www .ajahnantutthi.com Ajahn Santutthi Satsang And the example that comes to mind is the one that Ajahn Brahm likes to teach about the worker getting his wages. You know that one? The workers getting their wages. And basically, I think nowadays, do you get paid every month or every week or every fortnight? Report an error in the passage at 6:46 Highlight the passage at 6:46

8:17 Still every week? Every fortnight? Every fortnight these days? Yes, every fortnight. You know, whenever you get your paycheck, you look at it, ooh, you feel happy. Right? You feel happy, you got a paycheck. But then it's like, do you get a paycheck every day? No. And that's the same with the meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 8:17 Highlight the passage at 8:17

8:44 Do you get good meditations every time you sit? No. It's something like, Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

9:20 one day you get that paycheck of just being a more peaceful person or just having a mind which is a bit lighter or your moods changing a little bit and there's also another nice example Report an error in the passage at 9:20 Highlight the passage at 9:20

9:42 as I recall, I mean when I first started to do the practice www.Ajahn Santutthi.com As a chef. And I was doing a split shift. So I would work on James Street. I was working James Street in Northbridge. And I would walk to work. I would walk to work. And it would take me about 20 minutes. I'll get there and I'll work. And I'll work from I think 10 o 'clock to 3 o 'clock. Report an error in the passage at 9:42 Highlight the passage at 9:42

10:12 And we're doing a lunch shift and I was on the grill and I was making pastas and stuff. And you should taste my food. It's pretty good. I'm just joking. Report an error in the passage at 10:12 Highlight the passage at 10:12

10:30 Yeah, I like to cook. So at 3 o 'clock, I would have my break for two hours. But at that time, I was just getting into my meditation practice. I gave out the code. Report an error in the passage at 10:30 Highlight the passage at 10:30

10:47 And I was trying to do like a consistent practice and I was kind of dedicated. I was dedicated enough to meditate alone. So from work I would walk home and then when I got home I would sit meditation. So I had like this couch in my bedroom and I would sit, close my eyes and I would try to meditate. I was trying to meditate and as I recall my experience of the meditation was that it was like a very sleepy meditation. Report an error in the passage at 10:47 Highlight the passage at 10:47

11:30 Very sleepy, mind not peaceful, it was all over the place. But I was determined and I had faith in the meditation. I had faith that maybe this will bring me some peace into my life and so I just continued. So every time I went to work and had a break, I would go home and meditate. And at the end of the meditations, I would reflect and I would think to myself, hmm, even though my meditations are not I'm sleepy, I'm thinking about work, how many more boxes of carrots I need to chop up, things like that. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

12:26 But then thinking about that, I kind of looked at what else was going on after the meditation and I always felt that after the meditation, I felt rested. I felt rested. I felt a bit more energy. I felt a little bit better about myself. Even though my meditation wasn't textbook, as how people would describe, and you would think that you must have the textbook type of meditation to be meditating correctly, even though you don't have it, You can always find something useful from the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 12:26 Highlight the passage at 12:26

13:20 And that little information that I got from my practice after the sit, you know, just feeling a little bit better, mood is a bit up, the mind is rested, that gave me enough encouragement to continue. Yeah. So that's to continue. And then that was like at the beginning is always like a practice of patience. Report an error in the passage at 13:20 Highlight the passage at 13:20

13:54 You just go through these times until the meditation improves and gets better. And then you also kind of another lesson that I learned when I was younger was the lesson of like sometimes when we start to meditate we're trying to do the breath meditation. And it's actually quite difficult. And it's quite difficult. You know, we get told to watch the breath. One, two, three, four, five breath in a row. Report an error in the passage at 13:54 Highlight the passage at 13:54

14:22 And then we try to do that. We do it, but then we see our mind just wanders off. And then we're trying to bring our minds back to the breath. And then, oh, that doesn't work. It's just too hard. And then some, I think one of the reasons why that happens is because when we get taught how to meditate, the information that we get taught is kind of limited. Report an error in the passage at 14:22 Highlight the passage at 14:22

14:43 You know, and at the beginning for me it was just like, okay, watch the breath, that's how you meditate. But at the start I never really got, I never really got like good at doing that. But luckily, you know, you listen to dharma talks and stuff like that, and then you heard, oh yeah, there's other methods, like present moment awareness and being mindful, and always found that just I'm trying to do the present moment awareness meditation is a good starting point so for all of us who are still trying to learn the present moment awareness is is like if you think about anything to do with your body like the sensations in the body when you see it or what you hear the the heat that you feel in this room Report an error in the passage at 14:43 Highlight the passage at 14:43

16:07 What comes with that is a sense of ease. Ease and just easiness when you meditate. So also use that as a gauge when you meditate. Just do whatever you can to bring that sense of ease into your practice. If watching the breath becomes too difficult, it's bringing a sense of hardness, then maybe just switch it up a bit and do more present moment awareness. Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:34 Something which is like easy. easy, easier for you, which kind of equals the natural path into peace, whereas making it difficult for yourself, you go in the opposite direction. Report an error in the passage at 16:34 Highlight the passage at 16:34

16:52 So, yes, that's all I'm going to say tonight, and we can continue meditating. I Report an error in the passage at 16:52 Highlight the passage at 16:52

17:02 know when Report an error in the passage at 17:02 Highlight the passage at 17:02

17:11 to stop giving a talk when I get about this low. because when I start to ice it, I start sliding. Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

17:24 it Report an error in the passage at 17:24 Highlight the passage at 17:24

17:46 doesn't really matter where your mind is and Report an error in the passage at 17:46 Highlight the passage at 17:46

17:54 we we've meditated um long enough to know that we can't really control our minds whatever Report an error in the passage at 17:54 Highlight the passage at 17:54

18:18 we're thinking whatever emotions we're going through it kind of it is what it is but Report an error in the passage at 18:18 Highlight the passage at 18:18

18:35 there's always www.johnsantutthi Report an error in the passage at 18:35 Highlight the passage at 18:35

· · · silence, 2 minutes

20:43 .com You're in a good place. Report an error in the passage at 20:43 Highlight the passage at 20:43

· · · silence, 1 minute

20:43 You're just searching for that place of comfort in your own mind. Your mind doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't need to be peaceful. It can be anything. You can be going through anything really. But you're just trying to be gracious, be accepting. Report an error in the passage at 20:43 Highlight the passage at 20:43

21:20 We are Report an error in the passage at 21:20 Highlight the passage at 21:20

21:27 doing our best to be in the present moment by not forcing the mind but by being natural about it by having a sense of comfort doing it and we're taking the understanding of of um Report an error in the passage at 21:27 Highlight the passage at 21:27

22:01 Letting go, letting go, lessening the chatter in our minds by hanging out, spending more time in this moment. You don't have to be perfect about doing it, but you do your best. You try to remind yourself to spend as much time. In the present moment and Report an error in the passage at 22:01 Highlight the passage at 22:01

· · · silence, 2 minutes

24:36 just by the the very act of meditating you Report an error in the passage at 24:36 Highlight the passage at 24:36

24:50 are making progress sometimes you may think you're not making any progress but that's the funny thing about the meditation is that you have you Report an error in the passage at 24:50 Highlight the passage at 24:50

25:15 have surprises Report an error in the passage at 25:15 Highlight the passage at 25:15

25:19 as you Report an error in the passage at 25:19 Highlight the passage at 25:19

25:50 Things like peace. present moment Report an error in the passage at 25:50 Highlight the passage at 25:50

26:02 That you're meditating well. Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:11 do arise Report an error in the passage at 26:11 Highlight the passage at 26:11

26:17 When we put time. into our meditation practice Report an error in the passage at 26:17 Highlight the passage at 26:17

· · · silence, 23 minutes

49:27 come out of our meditation. Report an error in the passage at 49:27 Highlight the passage at 49:27

· · · silence, 1 minute

50:14 Anybody got any questions? Go once, going twice. Okay, Report an error in the passage at 50:14 Highlight the passage at 50:14

50:28 going once, going twice. Going home. Report an error in the passage at 50:28 Highlight the passage at 50:28

50:38 Okay, enough of them. We will see you next time. Thank you very much for coming. Report an error in the passage at 50:38 Highlight the passage at 50:38