Just Being There

0:00 Might as well roll with it. So as usual, everybody, please stand up. Give yourself a bit of a shake. Give you a wriggle so you can settle in and adjust your cushion, adjust your clothes and do all the things you need to do. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:15 Because it's always good to set the foundation right from the beginning. It's always sort of because this is a problem. If you go into meditation, you're just stiff and achy and everything else. You might just kind of think, think, think, think, think, and you're not going to have a good time. So let's make it as beautiful as we can. Report an error in the passage at 0:15 Highlight the passage at 0:15

0:35 Okay, and when you're ready, you can settle in and close your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 0:35 Highlight the passage at 0:35

0:53 And the first thing we do in this case is feel the body settling into the chair or your cushion. Report an error in the passage at 0:53 Highlight the passage at 0:53

1:07 Try to connect with that part of you that just wants to have a little bit of a break, that just wants to settle in for a bit, that has the delight in going, ah, a bit of peace and quiet. Report an error in the passage at 1:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07

1:43 It's always important when we're doing longer sits to give a good four to five minutes. Just settling in. Because as we relax, our body changes shape. Parts of us open up a bit, parts change. Report an error in the passage at 1:43 Highlight the passage at 1:43

2:01 So be ready to change with that. Just Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:41 keep on checking what you need. And Report an error in the passage at 2:41 Highlight the passage at 2:41

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:20 in a way, this is leadership in action. Report an error in the passage at 3:20 Highlight the passage at 3:20

3:28 We're turning up for the meditation. Turning up for the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 3:28 Highlight the passage at 3:28

3:37 We're being here to make it as beautiful and as wonderful as it can be. Keep Report an error in the passage at 3:37 Highlight the passage at 3:37

· · · silence, 1 minute

4:47 on checking. Has anything changed? Is your body sending you a message? Report an error in the passage at 4:47 Highlight the passage at 4:47

4:57 Maybe your cushion's a little crooked. Maybe your legs need adjusting. Take the time. Report an error in the passage at 4:57 Highlight the passage at 4:57

· · · silence, 1 minute

5:56 Because if we don't make the time, there'll never be the time to delight in the sublime simplicity of just being here. Report an error in the passage at 5:56 Highlight the passage at 5:56

· · · silence, 1 minute

6:58 Now direct your presence to your breathing and use your breathing to relax deeper, to settle deeper. In Report an error in the passage at 6:58 Highlight the passage at 6:58

· · · silence, 35 minutes

42:18 the last few minutes, Report an error in the passage at 42:18 Highlight the passage at 42:18

42:24 Let's spend a short time in developing kindness and compassion for the world. There Report an error in the passage at 42:24 Highlight the passage at 42:24

42:41 is so much conflict, so much suffering in the world at the moment. So Report an error in the passage at 42:41 Highlight the passage at 42:41

42:58 may we all develop the wish for all beings to be free, all beings to be happy, and all beings to be healthy. Let Report an error in the passage at 42:58 Highlight the passage at 42:58

· · · silence, 1 minute

43:51 the wish flow out naturally to wherever it needs to go. There Report an error in the passage at 43:51 Highlight the passage at 43:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

44:51 is plenty of time in the universe. But our lives are so short. Report an error in the passage at 44:51 Highlight the passage at 44:51

44:59 Let's not waste our lives. Report an error in the passage at 44:59 Highlight the passage at 44:59

45:06 If we do just one kind thing for each other, just one thing a day. The world would be a better place if we helped each other. Report an error in the passage at 45:06 Highlight the passage at 45:06

· · · silence, 1 minute

46:11 Hey Ajahn. Report an error in the passage at 46:11 Highlight the passage at 46:11

46:32 So welcome back. You did 45 minutes. Hopefully it was enjoyable for you as it was here. And if anybody has any questions, please jump in. Report an error in the passage at 46:32 Highlight the passage at 46:32

46:59 How do you transcend self-view? Report an error in the passage at 46:59 Highlight the passage at 46:59

47:09 Deeper down, we have very, very strong vested interests. And one of those core vested interests is how to survive, how to function in the world. We call it the executive function. So the issue is we look at the world and we see all the chaos. We see all the pain and all the conflict. And the mind, the heart, everything else, all our senses going, how on earth are we going to manage this? And what happens is one of the most effective ways that we've done this is to create this idea of a self. Report an error in the passage at 47:09 Highlight the passage at 47:09

47:45 And it's very useful as a device to do this. This is me, this is you, this is your brother, this is your sister, you know, look after each other, da-da-da-da-da. This red berry's safe to eat, this one's poisonous, don't touch it. This dog's a village pet, you can play with it all you like. That one's a wolf, stay away. Report an error in the passage at 47:45 Highlight the passage at 47:45

48:01 So we've built all these systems to navigate the world. The problem is that system has become so important to us that we've taken it too seriously, too literally. So we believe in this idea of I, me, mine, you, yours, ours, us, them, theirs, he, she, it, etc. We believe all these things as... Absolute realities rather than just being a tool for us to navigate life. So it's very, very useful to be more in the present as well as being mindful. Report an error in the passage at 48:01 Highlight the passage at 48:01

48:42 Because one of the big challenges we have in life is the world's a tough place. It's full of sharks and con artists and manipulative narcissists and all kinds of problems. And we're afraid how on earth are we going to function in the world without this self? But the reality is, actually very easily. Because once you start to develop mindfulness, once you start to develop more right view, more presence, you can spot these characters a mile away. Report an error in the passage at 48:42 Highlight the passage at 48:42

49:13 You don't need to be so concerned about protecting ourselves all the time, because it's a very easy system. And life becomes so much easier. So by transcending the self, A lot of the time it's almost impossible for us because of so much insecurity. We rely on this self-function so much that we haven't stopped to sort of say, well, actually, when we sit down and meditate, it disappears. Report an error in the passage at 49:13 Highlight the passage at 49:13

49:43 When we fall asleep, it disappears. And in fact, if it doesn't disappear, we can't fall asleep. Many people have challenged sleeping in so much trouble because they just can't stop this self, this me, going on and on with all its worries. And so looking at it as just an idea is one of the most effective ways of transcending it. But also, there's kind of a two-way system in it, recognising that it's useful for us to navigate the world, and of course everybody does it, but at the same time, when we take it so seriously, it can turn us into monsters. Report an error in the passage at 49:43 Highlight the passage at 49:43

50:21 And we can see plenty of evidence of that happening in the world. And so we can recognize the danger of taking it too seriously. And that helps us transcend it even easier because it's kind of like, well, it's very useful, but there's a price to pay. And when we have mindfulness, we realize that price isn't worth it. And there's so much more happiness to be gained by not having to worry about the ego and all its little me, me, me, mine, mine, mine, and all its little vendettas and injustices and all its kind of gripes. Report an error in the passage at 50:21 Highlight the passage at 50:21

50:55 We can be far more open, far more free, far more enjoying of life, because this is the thing, life is so short. Why are we going to waste it for all the petty politics and all the games and the need to be someone? Report an error in the passage at 50:55 Highlight the passage at 50:55

51:13 All we end up doing is disempowering ourselves even more. And that's one of the big ones that's very hard to come to. It's one of the big wake-ups, is that seeing that in order to navigate the world through the self, is very useful but ultimately if we take it seriously it actually does us more harm than good it's very disempowering and so to develop our own inner wisdom our own inner skills is very empowering and that makes it so much easier So I hope that helps. Report an error in the passage at 51:13 Highlight the passage at 51:13

52:04 Please unmute yourself. I don't know how to pronounce your name. Yeah, sorry. Hello. So yeah, I'm I wanted to ask something I've been very confused about recently, and that is, what is the relationship we should have with our thoughts, so to speak? When should we actually like think, are there things that are more useful to think about than others? And when should we know to, you know, sort of just stay still and quiet it down? Report an error in the passage at 52:04 Highlight the passage at 52:04

52:38 That's kind of my question, because... Report an error in the passage at 52:38 Highlight the passage at 52:38

53:10 Start to become very, very relevant, but they can become excessive. And a lot of the time, we think because of fear. We think because of fear of emptiness, fear of the silence, fear of boredom. We're trying to fill a hole. Sometimes that might be a hole in our relationship with ourselves, our relationship with each other, and a relationship with life. Report an error in the passage at 53:10 Highlight the passage at 53:10

53:32 And the more we value life, the thoughts do ebb away. But a lot of thoughts... 99.9 % of them are just utterly, you know, waste of time. And that's the beauty of meditation. When you watch them and it's just the same thoughts over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, it's kind of like you see they're not that important. Report an error in the passage at 53:32 Highlight the passage at 53:32

53:58 You know, it's like grains of sand on the beach. None of them are that valuable. So the beauty is you can use thought in a positive way. Report an error in the passage at 53:58 Highlight the passage at 53:58

54:10 Using it for going, okay, well, this is a situation we're in. What's the best thing we can do with it? So being creative, being inventive, adaptive, coming up with new ideas is a great skill to have. But at the same time, it's also that moment going, well, there's no point thinking about this because, you know, I can't snap my fingers and make the world a better place because if we could do that, we would all be doing it. Report an error in the passage at 54:10 Highlight the passage at 54:10

54:39 So a lot of the time there's... bringing in a little bit of that reality check to sort of say yeah sometimes these thoughts are important but what can we do about it and Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

54:51 that's the thing is that we can bring back that energy into the present moment because the thoughts are consuming a whole lot of energy it's taking us away from the present moment in many ways it's taking us away from a solution so we can kind of tell with thoughts sometimes they have a a theme we can identify you've got a deadline you've got a project you've got to finish by the end of the week so you're going to be thinking about that because it's important to you but there's thoughts which are just random that just go here and then here and then here and then here they don't really mean anything and you can recognize them going yeah they're not important so a lot of the time they can be a signal to look inside ourselves Report an error in the passage at 54:51 Highlight the passage at 54:51

55:38 Because sometimes these thoughts are trying to get away from ourselves. There might be an inner pain, an inner heartache, an inner ache or some discomfort with the body. And by adjusting that, and that's very, very useful in meditation. Sometimes you could be sitting there having a lovely time and then all of a sudden, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think, think. Report an error in the passage at 55:38 Highlight the passage at 55:38

55:57 And it might just be that your cushion's gone crooked or your shoulders are a little stiff and you give yourself a wiggle and disappears. Report an error in the passage at 55:57 Highlight the passage at 55:57

56:09 Very, very interesting to explore that one. So the relationship with thought, I wouldn't take the vast majority of them too seriously at all. And that's sort of very freeing. So I hope that helps. Report an error in the passage at 56:09 Highlight the passage at 56:09

56:45 Okay, any more questions? Hello, Ajahn. My question is a bit personal, if I may. What nourishes your joy? What would you say makes you, because you use... Look to be very cheerful and very happy, although you're very much aware of all the conflict and horrors in the world and in human nature. What would you say makes you happy and gives you still this faith and joy? Thank you. A lot of it is having seen it, is sort of seeing that there is suffering in the world. Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

57:25 The problem basically is for the vast majority of us in our practice, we try to block this stuff out. We try to make it go away. We try and fill our lives with marshmallow fluff. You know, just pink fluffy clouds, pink fluffy clouds, pink fluffy clouds. And we end up disempowering ourselves that way. So there's a joy in building inner strength. Report an error in the passage at 57:25 Highlight the passage at 57:25

57:47 There's a joy in seeing the beauty of nature. The joy in seeing that it is possible. For us to sit down and have happiness and wish others happiness, for the vast majority of us, we've concreted over those beautiful qualities. And sometimes we have to get the jackhammer out and dig our way through all that concrete. And a lot of the joy is doing that work too. Report an error in the passage at 57:47 Highlight the passage at 57:47

58:15 It's sort of saying that it is possible to rediscover these beautiful qualities. And so a lot of the joy is, again, having a sense of humor is really important and that it's okay to not have answers, that it's okay to not know what's going on or how to deal with this. Having that inner trust comes from developing a really good relationship with yourself, which in today's world, we really don't spend any time on whatsoever. Report an error in the passage at 58:15 Highlight the passage at 58:15

58:49 We're constantly trying to get away from ourselves. And paradoxically, we have a multi-billion dollar sort of wellness industry going on, which is a bit puzzling. On one hand, Buddhism has never been more relevant in the world and it's never been more available in the world. And yet we're so disconnected from ourselves, it's not really going to do us any good. So a lot of the joy is being able to come back to, you know, where we are in our room, in our space. Report an error in the passage at 58:49 Highlight the passage at 58:49

59:22 And sort of seeing that, you know, it's okay to have delight. It's okay to make this a beautiful moment. You know, there is plenty of time in the universe, but if we don't make time for happiness, there'll never be time. Report an error in the passage at 59:22 Highlight the passage at 59:22

59:43 You know, that's the thing. It's a big one, that. So we could be talking about this all night and having grand old time, but I hope that helps. Report an error in the passage at 59:43 Highlight the passage at 59:43

1:00:05 Okay, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:05 Highlight the passage at 1:00:05

1:00:11 Question about meditation. If I'm meditating and I have my eyes closed, then I can get very relaxed. But at the same time, there's also the possibility that it more feels like spacing out instead of really getting brightness. I mean, brightness spacing out is kind of an opposite. So what helps for me is to open my eyes in fact and to keep my eyes open for a little while to get a little bit more out of this spacing out regime so to speak so i think my question is do we is it essential to keep the eyes closed during meditation it's a very basic question but it's just coming up again and again the questions oh no problem uh there's quite a number of meditation traditions which have the eyes open Anyway, so it's perfectly fine to do that. A lot of the Chan Chinese forms teach with the eyes open, and that's perfectly valid. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:11 Highlight the passage at 1:00:11

1:01:22 It's very, very useful because what happens when you close your eyes, if you space out or you fall asleep, a lot of the time it's because the mind is trying to reject the present moment. It's trying to escape. It's trying to essentially hit the eject button. and by spacing out it's trying to disappear it doesn't want to be in the present mode and so by opening the eyes it does help to prevent the spacing but that can be a temporary solution it Why are we trying to... Report an error in the passage at 1:01:22 Highlight the passage at 1:01:22

1:02:04 Maybe you're just tired. Maybe you've had a long day. Maybe you are someone who is very intellectually engaged all the time and your mind just wants a break. And in that case, it's recognizing what the mind is trying to tell us. It's sending us a signal when it tries to space out or try to disappear that it's trying to solve an inner problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:04 Highlight the passage at 1:02:04

1:02:28 This is one of the very interesting things about meditation in particular that's very very relevant for people at home is that when you close your eyes the mind is looking for an opportunity to solve whatever it's got going on in the background. It's going oh thank goodness let's deal with it. So that's a lot of the time it's being open and present to that and sort of going on that journey and saying okay you know it's been a long busy day. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:28 Highlight the passage at 1:02:28

1:02:58 Let's deal with this and have that time. So at the beginning, it would be a bit sort of bumpy and rocky and everything else. Or maybe it would just be that vaporous emptiness kind of disappearing or just, I just need to go to sleep for a bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:58 Highlight the passage at 1:02:58

1:03:14 Find out what the signals are. Find out what the mind is telling you and come back to that and saying, it's okay. So you can do that with your eyes open, sitting meditation with your eyes open or with your eyes closed. Either way is... Perfectly fine. It's all about finding what's right for you. One of the big, big things at the center of Buddhist practice, at least in early Buddhism, is recognizing that there's not one concrete way of doing meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:14 Highlight the passage at 1:03:14

1:03:47 As in, there's no ritualistic or mechanized form. It's going to be different every time. And trying to do the same thing over and over and over is problematic. There's a famous saying, you know, Being open to having it different, being open to seeing what comes up, being open to when you sit meditation, see what comes out of the woodwork and be there for it. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:47 Highlight the passage at 1:03:47

1:04:23 One of the big, big joys of meditation and meditation practice is creating space in your mind, For the object and the experience. And when your mind is spacing out already, it's clearly able to do that quite quickly, but it's dissipating at the same time. So the big shift is, by creating space between us and the object, we create room in our heart for the object, for the experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:23 Highlight the passage at 1:04:23

1:04:54 So by creating that openness in yourself, all of a sudden you can fill that with something beautiful. and a lot of the time when we're trying to dissipate disappear fall asleep it's because there might not be anything beautiful to to be there Report an error in the passage at 1:04:54 Highlight the passage at 1:04:54

1:05:13 Yeah, so I hope that helps. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:13 Highlight the passage at 1:05:13

1:05:23 Yes, I was just wondering, when having a conversation with someone who's not a Buddhist, how does the Buddha... How does the Buddha describe the difference between the brain and the mind? Or is there some kind of easy explanation when talking to a non-Buddhist practitioner that's, you know, totally like frontal lobe and this lobe and, you know, going into the brain functions. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:23 Highlight the passage at 1:05:23

1:06:03 And I'd rather talk about the mind, but she'd rather talk about the brain. I just don't know how to make the bridge. A short answer is when you stub your toe, it hurts down here. It doesn't hurt in here. So part of the mind is that if it's all in the brain, if it's all in the head, then all sensations and everything is up here. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:03 Highlight the passage at 1:06:03

1:06:32 The problem is if you limit everything to just in here, we're still talking in a physical sense at the beginning because people who are talking about mind as brain Relating in a physical sense. So you can bridge that by expanding the physical conversation. That the body is much larger than just the brain. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:32 Highlight the passage at 1:06:32

1:06:53 That you feel things across the body, throughout the body. And looking at this... Right. But that's the thing, is that if you stub your toe, it hurts there. It doesn't hurt here. So being open to that in a way, you can see a much, much larger point there. but then we have to say well look at the interactions between these things and look at the interactions with each other we can start talking about emotions in that way and feelings and ideas in that way and sort of say well if it's all in the brain as an enclosed little box of bone in here how does this information get So when we talk about mind, it's a much much larger kind of idea and we can include experience all our ideas and perceptions and analysis and everything else in a much much wider world and society and a family and an environment and all you know all the stuff that goes on in the newspapers and so on and we can have that much much bigger conversation that actually if we just look at it as just in the brain It limits us and it limits our ability to be more open, to have more joy and more happiness and more skills. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:53 Highlight the passage at 1:06:53

1:08:19 Because a lot of time when you're doing something with your hands, being an art and craft or cooking or typing away or anything like that, you know, it's happening here. It's happening in the hands. And that's also a fascinating practice if you do anattā practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:19 Highlight the passage at 1:08:19

1:08:40 Or sort of meditation, satipaṭṭhāna is what it's called, is that if I was to pick something up, so if I was to pick up this remote, I'm using all the fingers here, all parts. If I'm controlling the thumb, then who's controlling the fingers? And there's four of those. Which part of the brain is doing that? We can look at other little points as well that it's well established that when there's... Report an error in the passage at 1:08:40 Highlight the passage at 1:08:40

1:09:10 blink before that data goes to the brain. so the sense part of it is much larger throughout the body so there's a lot more information there but um it's a big conversation that can be opened in a whole whole lot of ways but a lot of people they they like the idea of everything's result of the brain because it gives them a sense of security it says okay now i know what all this stuff is i know how to navigate from here but That too is just an idea. Right, yeah. And it's kind of giving them a sense of, I know what's going on. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:10 Highlight the passage at 1:09:10

1:09:46 Ha, I feel better now. But that can be a bit of an illusion. Thank you. Thank you, Ajahn. Yeah, no problem. It's helpful. It's like the brain could be the motor and the mind could be the vehicle. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:46 Highlight the passage at 1:09:46

1:10:08 Another way I was looking at it is with your phone. Somebody phones you up on, you know, on the phone, but are they in the phone or is the other person outside the phone? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:08 Highlight the passage at 1:10:08

1:10:24 It's fun, isn't it? Yeah. It's great fun. Thank you so much. No problem. Just to add on to it, I remember Ajahn Brahm talk about the boy who study like PhD in mathematics and then he born with our brain. And that is like something really fascinating as well. I think he said that there's a paper about it. I didn't read it. But yeah, it's a very interesting subject about the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:24 Highlight the passage at 1:10:24

1:10:57 And I just want to ask, I think, Keloyan, you want to say something? Add to your question? Yeah, I wanted to ask another question, but I was kind of waiting to see if somebody else wanted to ask, you know, in case I was taking up too much time. So if anyone else wants to ask something, go on. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:57 Highlight the passage at 1:10:57

1:11:20 Okay, I'll take that as a no. So yeah, the other question that's kind of been bugging me is sort of I've seen... Both sort of investigation and faith being kind of praised in Buddhism as good quality, so to speak. But I don't really, I sometimes, I don't know, I don't know how to balance them. Like if you believe something too much, you stop looking at your own experience sort of and how is it working out for you. But if you're looking too much at your own experience, you kind of stop trusting, for example, you know, trusting the silence that when there is silence, solutions will come. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:20 Highlight the passage at 1:11:20

1:11:59 And so on. So I kind of can't really find the balance between them. No problem. At the beginning, there's more faith than investigation because that's just how it is. We don't really know how all this stuff works. So we're taking pretty much everything the Buddha says on trust. We're taking, you know, he talks about the Four Noble Truths. We kind of have to have faith in that, that this is right. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:59 Highlight the passage at 1:11:59

1:12:24 But the more we experience it, which is the bridge between the two, Then it starts to make sense and it no longer becomes faith. If you say to someone, if you put your hand into fire, you're going to get burnt. You don't need faith to believe that. You know that if you've done it. So there's a bit of a point there. Sometimes you have to investigate by putting your hand a little bit close to the fire and going, okay, yes, that's hot. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:24 Highlight the passage at 1:12:24

1:12:51 I can see what they're talking about. Unfortunately, some people, they need to put their finger in and that's the only way they're going to really get the message. But at the beginning, faith is kind of important because when we don't really know, these are all just ideas. It's all hypothetical to us. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:51 Highlight the passage at 1:12:51

1:13:08 And this is the problem sort of of the intellectual approach. So if you just study all texts and everything else, you know, it might make sense up here, but it's not making sense in here yet. You haven't really experienced this stuff for yourself. And that's a lot of the time, it's just... Daily life will show you this stuff because it's talking about life and life is revealing itself to us all the time. It's not hiding anything from us. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:08 Highlight the passage at 1:13:08

1:13:37 But we have so many walls and blockages and vested interests to not go there that we block all of it out. So a lot of the time it's calming things down inside ourselves, trusting ourselves, building that good relationship with ourselves. And what happens is the heart relaxes a bit, going, oh, okay, we can manage this. We can be okay with this. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:37 Highlight the passage at 1:13:37

1:14:05 And it becomes more open. Before then, it's all crammed up going, oh my gosh, we can't deal with this. We're not going there. And it will block this stuff out. So the larger our mind gets in that sense, in terms of skills and being open and being able to see some of these difficult things, the cold, hard facts of life, Report an error in the passage at 1:14:05 Highlight the passage at 1:14:05

1:14:26 There is so much beauty in the world, but there's also so much pain and suffering. How do we navigate that? And being open to asking these questions, all of a sudden we can bridge these things together. So with faith, it's useful at the beginning and important in the beginning, because otherwise you're just going to run into this idea, that idea, lost in doubt, lost in different ideas. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:26 Highlight the passage at 1:14:26

1:14:51 Confusions, all kinds of worries and anxieties. You know, is this what the Buddha talked about? Maybe he meant this. Was he right? How do we know? But when you start to experience it, then you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:51 Highlight the passage at 1:14:51

1:15:04 And you don't need faith anymore. So investigation is useful in the sense of finding out for yourself. But once you know that, you know, if you put your hand in fire, you're going to get burnt, you don't need anybody to tell you that. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:04 Highlight the passage at 1:15:04

1:15:21 And in the same way, Once you realise how so much of our unhappiness comes from all the stuff in the second noble truth, we want it to be like this, we don't want it to be like that, we're constantly resisting and fighting or trying to control, trying to get, and we've turned life into a control fight. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:21 Highlight the passage at 1:15:21

1:15:41 And we've made it so bitter and tight and horrible inside ourselves. That forms a new wall, that forms a new blockage. Because... All of a sudden we have new pain and everything else and it's complicating our life. So that's another problem that comes in. We can't navigate these two together between faith and investigation because we've made our life so complicated. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:41 Highlight the passage at 1:15:41

1:16:08 So calming all this down, developing happiness inside ourselves, developing wisdom and everything else and seeing things as they are really resolves that problem all on its own. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:08 Highlight the passage at 1:16:08

1:16:23 So does that kind of help? Was there something more to your question? It kind of helped, but I was more so wondering that how do we know, for example, that we're not reinterpreting, for example, the Buddhist teaching, that we're not kind of putting up our own thing on it, because that's often what I'm worried about. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:23 Highlight the passage at 1:16:23

1:16:49 I feel like, oh yeah, I know what this is talking about. I've kind of had experience with it and so on. But then I'm like, is that what he's talking about, though? Like, how can I be sure it's that, you know? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:49 Highlight the passage at 1:16:49

1:17:04 Yes. At the beginning, this is almost guaranteed to happen. Yep. We're all going to be interpreting the Buddha's teaching according to what we think it is. Because we're still invested in this idea of I, me, mine. We're still invested in this idea of self and other. And for that reason, the ego is always going to be interpreting and spinning things. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:04 Highlight the passage at 1:17:04

1:17:32 And the ego can hijack anything. And it does hijack everything. Oh, you're going on a retreat? Marvellous. The ego can build a great big story out of that. Oh, I've been to this monastery and I've been to this teacher and I've been on holidays here and da-da-da-da-da. So the ego... takes control of stuff because it wants that material to build on and so it's going to be interpreting the Buddha's teachings all the time according to what it wants it to be and that's completely natural that's going to happen it happens to us all what the practice comes down to is evaluating that seeing when the ego sneaks in and tries to hijack it Report an error in the passage at 1:17:32 Highlight the passage at 1:17:32

1:18:19 Calming it down and sort of seeing for yourself again and again and again, this is really what the Buddha taught. Because it's really, really hard for us to admit the First Noble Truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:19 Highlight the passage at 1:18:19

1:18:34 Deep, deep down we're privately hoping the Buddha was wrong. That there is some happy ever after and it's all going to be fine. The First Noble Truth is a really hard one to come down to. And we're privately hoping that it isn't that the reason we make ourselves so miserable is because we want to. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:34 Highlight the passage at 1:18:34

1:18:52 Because we invest in all these thoughts and ideas that make us suffer and so miserable, we don't want it to be true. But it's sitting down and sort of seeing that, ah, darn, this is what's happening. The Buddha was right. And sort of seeing that helps shift away from this idea of our own interpretation. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:52 Highlight the passage at 1:18:52

1:19:21 interpretation into things as they really are. So it's a big one that one. It's a good question because we're almost guaranteed to do this. The moment we start reading the text and studying Buddhism, we're automatically going to be interpreting it to what we want it to be. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:21 Highlight the passage at 1:19:21

1:19:41 and it's a shift away from that. So I hope that helps. Are Report an error in the passage at 1:19:41 Highlight the passage at 1:19:41

1:19:52 there any more questions or comments? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:52 Highlight the passage at 1:19:52

1:20:00 If no, I think we can end it for tonight. Thank you very much. Venerable for your wonderful teaching and guided meditation, the peaceful 45 minutes. So before we end, can you give us a blessing before that? Absolutely. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:00 Highlight the passage at 1:20:00

1:20:20 Nati mei saranang anyang budo dhamo sangho mei saranang warang ete nasa chawaje naso ti mei khotu sabba da Nati mei saranang anyang Say it again. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:20 Highlight the passage at 1:20:20

1:21:03 Duh. So, thank you for having me, and thank you to Venerable Nobuto, who rescued us, because if he didn't turn up, we wouldn't be here. Thank you, Venerable. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:03 Highlight the passage at 1:21:03

1:21:18 Thank you. Bye everyone. Thank you. Bye, everyone. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:18 Highlight the passage at 1:21:18