Friday Night Guided Meditation

0:01 Unfortunately, I don't have as much good karma as Ksenia does. I have to keep on going year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year. I don't have any retirement plan. Do you think we should have like this spiritual director appointed by a vote next year? Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:30 Would that be a good idea? Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:38 Just vote who's going to be the head monk. We can have maybe a head nun next year. Is that a good idea? Wow. No one's saying anything. That's why I get landed with the position all the time. My problem, I speak too much. But anyhow, that's me. So this is now the opportunity for doing a little meditation first of all. And then once the meditation is commonly talked, Report an error in the passage at 0:38 Highlight the passage at 0:38

1:09 Thousands of them. I don't think there's any subject which I've never given a talk about. Is there? Report an error in the passage at 1:09 Highlight the passage at 1:09

1:23 All the talks are given at least in a couple of weeks. And I've been here over 40 years. So how many talks is that? Huge number. And sometimes it's talks over in Bodhinyana Monastery, an invitation to give a talk somewhere else. I've given a lot of talks. Mega talker. Report an error in the passage at 1:23 Highlight the passage at 1:23

1:47 But you have to, you all know this, I think I did tell you the story about the talkative tortoise, didn't I? How many of you haven't heard the story of the talkative tortoise? Report an error in the passage at 1:47 Highlight the passage at 1:47

2:01 Well, quite a few. When I heard this, I really related to it. Once upon a time, as I'm going to tell a little story, I'll start the meditation a bit later. Report an error in the passage at 2:01 Highlight the passage at 2:01

2:16 Once upon a time, there was a tortoise who lived up in the mountains. And the tortoise, you know, was always chatting about something to everybody. And once the tortoise started talking, he wouldn't shut up. He kept on talking, talking, talking, talking. And no one else had a chance to say anything. He talked so much that eventually all the friends he had would run away. Report an error in the passage at 2:16 Highlight the passage at 2:16

2:41 Any other tortoises, rabbits, birds, they'd always fly away and hide. They didn't want to get into a conversation where this tortoise fellow was going to talk so much. And even when the tortoise went in the lake, even the fish would hide. Because once you started talking with this talkative tortoise, it would go on all night. But actually the tortoise was very, very, very lonely. Report an error in the passage at 2:41 Highlight the passage at 2:41

3:05 And the only friends who were kind enough to listen to him were these two swans. And they would listen to him until the stars went out of twinkle, until it was so late at night. But they would always listen out of kindness because no one else would listen to the talkative tortoise. So you have to listen to this because if you don't listen to it, you'll find out you may end up like talkative tortoise ended up. Report an error in the passage at 3:05 Highlight the passage at 3:05

3:36 It's not a happy ending. So talkative tortoise, the only friends were two swans and these swans would visit and they would let talkative tortoise talk to them all night. But then when it started getting cold, The swans had to leave and go back to where it was warm, down close to the city. So they told the tortoise, we're going to leave soon. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

4:02 And that made the tortoise very sad. We can't fly. Tortoises can only walk very slowly. So by the time we get to your home, we'll have to come back again. And the two tortoises said, we can help you. The tortoises were very, very smart. Report an error in the passage at 4:02 Highlight the passage at 4:02

4:23 But you have to make one promise. Then we'll help you and take you down where we live, in a nice lake next to this inner city, where it's nice and warm. And what you have to promise is to keep your mouth shut. Can you keep your mouth shut? Report an error in the passage at 4:23 Highlight the passage at 4:23

4:46 Did anybody ever tell you to keep your mouth shut and you didn't do it? I said, this is serious. They said, you've got to keep your mouth shut. Report an error in the passage at 4:46 Highlight the passage at 4:46

4:54 They said, yeah, of course I can keep my mouth shut. I always keep my mouth shut. I'm a very good tortoise. We tortoises hardly ever speak about anything. We're really good. And we're very quiet. Report an error in the passage at 4:54 Highlight the passage at 4:54

5:03 Another half an hour later, they said, no, this is serious. You've got to keep your mouth shut. And they got a big stick. One swan bit into one end of the stick. The other swan bit into the other end of the stick. So they're holding both ends of the stick. And they told the tortoise to bite on into the middle. Report an error in the passage at 5:03 Highlight the passage at 5:03

5:24 With a tortoise biting into the middle and the two swans on either end, the two swans flapped their wings harder and harder and harder and harder and harder until the swans took off carrying the stick. And in the middle of the stick, was it in the middle of the stick? And that was the first time in history a tortoise ever flew. Report an error in the passage at 5:24 Highlight the passage at 5:24

5:52 And when they... I've got to stop myself. When the tortoise was flying high up into the air, he was quiet because he was taking notes, trying to remember all the amazing sights he was seeing to tell all his friends when he got back home after his tour up in the air. And then they flew down over where the city was and they flew down. It just happened to be about 3.30 in the afternoon when they flew over one of the schools in the city. Report an error in the passage at 5:52 Highlight the passage at 5:52

6:30 Just when these kids came out of school in the afternoon, and one of the children looked up and what do you think the kid saw? Report an error in the passage at 6:30 Highlight the passage at 6:30

6:41 Saw a flying tortoise. And what would you do? You'd turn around and point it out to your friends, hey look at that stupid flying tortoise. Report an error in the passage at 6:41 Highlight the passage at 6:41

6:53 And what did the tortoise do? Who are you calling stupid? stupid. It could. Report an error in the passage at 6:53 Highlight the passage at 6:53

7:01 He couldn't keep his mouth shut. And because of that, the tortoise... What happened to the tortoise? The tortoise went splat on the ground. When you fall from such a high level, you become hamburger patty. And that was the end of the talkative tortoise. So if your dad or mom or whoever says to you to be quiet, Always tell your kids a story of what happens when you don't learn how to be quiet, when you really need to. Otherwise you'll end up as a Polish hamburger patty. Report an error in the passage at 7:01 Highlight the passage at 7:01

7:46 Very tasty, but your dad will be very upset. Okay, so I should stop talking too much, as usual. Otherwise I'll end up as hamburger patty. Okay, so let's do some meditation. So if you can close your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:11 With your eyes closed. Report an error in the passage at 8:11 Highlight the passage at 8:11

8:17 So please don't talk while the monk is, otherwise you'll end up as a Greek hamburger patty. Report an error in the passage at 8:17 Highlight the passage at 8:17

8:31 And Report an error in the passage at 8:31 Highlight the passage at 8:31

8:40 then when I start meditating, I just learn how to relax to the max. And I usually start by being aware of my body, starting with my feet. Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

9:02 I've been doing this for years and I always find this the best way. I relax my feet, but I relax them part by part, toe by toe. Report an error in the passage at 9:02 Highlight the passage at 9:02

9:18 I've learned over the years to be able to experience the feelings of my toes. Report an error in the passage at 9:18 Highlight the passage at 9:18

9:26 Very rarely do I have that opportunity to spend time with a part of my body which is so far away from my head. Report an error in the passage at 9:26 Highlight the passage at 9:26

9:38 Feel my toes? Relax them. Report an error in the passage at 9:38 Highlight the passage at 9:38

9:46 Feel the balls of my feet? There's no pressure on them, but I relax them anyway. Report an error in the passage at 9:46 Highlight the passage at 9:46

9:57 To the heels of my feet. Can you know how they feel? Can you sense them? In the uppers of my feet? They're kind of tingly, itchy. Whatever name you give to those feelings is only a slight indication of how you can experience them. Report an error in the passage at 9:57 Highlight the passage at 9:57

10:26 But as I'm experiencing any sensations in that part of the body, I make sure I relax as many of those feelings as possible. Report an error in the passage at 10:26 Highlight the passage at 10:26

10:36 Sometimes, like I'm going to do now, that I'm going to just move the big toe on my right foot, because it's being squashed a little. Report an error in the passage at 10:36 Highlight the passage at 10:36

10:52 Just that much, it's showing my intent to relax my body. It feels much better, honestly. I Report an error in the passage at 10:52 Highlight the passage at 10:52

11:09 go to my ankles and my feet, relax Report an error in the passage at 11:09 Highlight the passage at 11:09

11:15 them. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:21 Sometimes I just use some... Imagination. I imagine the ankles of my feet just being bathed in warm hot water. Warm hot water, but warm comfortable water. So they can just have no pressure on them at all. Report an error in the passage at 11:21 Highlight the passage at 11:21

11:45 Imagine my calves of my legs. Report an error in the passage at 11:45 Highlight the passage at 11:45

11:59 Imagine the calves of my legs relaxing everything. Up Report an error in the passage at 11:59 Highlight the passage at 11:59

12:13 to the knees. Report an error in the passage at 12:13 Highlight the passage at 12:13

12:17 Can you feel any sensations in your knees? Report an error in the passage at 12:17 Highlight the passage at 12:17

12:23 When you ask your knees, how are you? You can usually feel something. What I feel is very comfortable. I can let those knees relax even more. Like they're sinking into the softness of cushions. And go up to my thighs. Big muscles. Report an error in the passage at 12:23 Highlight the passage at 12:23

12:54 Relax everything. Even just suggesting relax. They usually follow. I've been practicing like this for so many years. I know how to relax even a part of my body like my left thigh. Report an error in the passage at 12:54 Highlight the passage at 12:54

13:16 I go up to my buttocks and I allow them. I can feel the sensation of the weight of my body being transferred onto the meditation cushion through my buttocks. Report an error in the passage at 13:16 Highlight the passage at 13:16

13:35 That's a sensation which as long as it's even and not too extreme anywhere, It disappears. Because I notice, I learn that insight from this experience. The body only notices changes in sensations. And if nothing really changes, those sensations appear the same, that feeling disappears. Report an error in the passage at 13:35 Highlight the passage at 13:35

14:09 And I go to my waist, making sure the belt holding my lower robe up is loose enough. There's no tension there. Imagine just going up my spine, keeping the right curvature and relaxing everything as I go up. Report an error in the passage at 14:09 Highlight the passage at 14:09

14:39 Just the will to relax. And you find relaxation happens. You get to know what it's like to have a relaxed back. And Report an error in the passage at 14:39 Highlight the passage at 14:39

14:55 over the years you can overcome all sorts of aches and pains. And I go up from my torso again. And I go up, just up the torso from the inside this time, Report an error in the passage at 14:55 Highlight the passage at 14:55

15:13 scanning the internals of my body and relaxing everything. Going Report an error in the passage at 15:13 Highlight the passage at 15:13

15:26 up centimeter by centimeter. And Report an error in the passage at 15:26 Highlight the passage at 15:26

15:39 I enjoy this. Relaxation is joyful. As Report an error in the passage at 15:39 Highlight the passage at 15:39

15:50 I go up my intestines, you can relax things. So if there's any... Irritation from eating the wrong thing, any indigestion, or sometimes I can notice any of those organs around the back somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 15:50 Highlight the passage at 15:50

16:16 If I can sense that they're a bit inflamed or tense, you can just will them to relax and they do. This is my body. I've learned how to look after it and relax anything. Report an error in the passage at 16:16 Highlight the passage at 16:16

16:36 I teach this to cancer sufferers as well. If you come across some part of the body and it feels strange, it feels just inflamed, one of the nicest things you can do for your own body is to give it kindness, to Report an error in the passage at 16:36 Highlight the passage at 16:36

16:57 relax it to the max. This Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:03 is where things like cancers disappear. They don't have a trance to grow. You Report an error in the passage at 17:03 Highlight the passage at 17:03

17:15 go up to my stomach, it feels nicely at ease today. Report an error in the passage at 17:15 Highlight the passage at 17:15

17:25 Go out to my lungs. There's no stress on my lungs today. I don't need to breathe very much. I'm just sitting still, relaxing to the max. From my lungs, I go to that part of the body housing my heart, and I relax all those muscles surrounding the heart. It Report an error in the passage at 17:25 Highlight the passage at 17:25

17:59 feels good, honestly. It Report an error in the passage at 17:59 Highlight the passage at 17:59

18:07 feels really good. I have to say that because... If you're doing a guided meditation or teaching it, you know, you can't say it feels terrible. I'm just really honest. It feels wonderful. Report an error in the passage at 18:07 Highlight the passage at 18:07

18:28 And then I go up to my neck and shoulders. Report an error in the passage at 18:28 Highlight the passage at 18:28

18:37 Today my shoulders are relaxed. If you want to know how to relax your shoulders, try scrunching them up first. Make them more tense. And once they're really tense, then let go. Report an error in the passage at 18:37 Highlight the passage at 18:37

18:57 When it's tense first, you can understand very easily what letting go means. Take away all the pressure, all the tension. So the shoulders sag and are loose and they feel so comfortable. And I scan my attention down my upper arms to my elbows. Report an error in the passage at 18:57 Highlight the passage at 18:57

19:22 They're just there. No pain, no aches. Relaxed to the max. Down the arms to the wrists. And then to the fingers. How have you got your fingers situated now? How are they? I ask them. It's like talking to a friend, how do you feel today? I ask my hands and fingers, how are you right now? Report an error in the passage at 19:22 Highlight the passage at 19:22

19:54 It's my kindfulness, the awareness of them, with also being kind to them, so I can adjust them so they feel comfortable, which I'm doing right now. Report an error in the passage at 19:54 Highlight the passage at 19:54

20:21 And from... The hands I move back to my neck. And I always notice that as long as the head is well positioned on top of the neck, the neck is usually very comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 20:21 Highlight the passage at 20:21

20:38 And I also try and lean that head slightly backwards. And that keeps me more alert. And your head doesn't droop. And I go to the front of my face. I'm aware of it. Report an error in the passage at 20:38 Highlight the passage at 20:38

20:58 How it feels around the eyes and around the mouth. Report an error in the passage at 20:58 Highlight the passage at 20:58

21:07 I learned how to relax those feelings, especially Report an error in the passage at 21:07 Highlight the passage at 21:07

21:15 around the eyes when that's nice and loose and comfortable. It means there's no anxiety or fear or tension or controlling. Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:26 Everything is loose and at ease, comfortable, joyful. Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

21:34 And that's the thing which I kind of discovered, I didn't actually see in any book. I experience my body now having relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 21:34 Highlight the passage at 21:34

21:48 The body, part by part, it Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

21:54 does feel really nice, pleasurable, and Report an error in the passage at 21:54 Highlight the passage at 21:54

22:04 I enjoy that relaxation. To Report an error in the passage at 22:04 Highlight the passage at 22:04

22:10 take the relaxation even deeper, I start to notice the mind first of all. I learn to stay in the present moment. I'm reminded that I'm supposed to give a talk soon, but that's in the future. Report an error in the passage at 22:10 Highlight the passage at 22:10

22:36 I'm not going to waste the pleasure of this moment by worrying about something which has not happened yet. I notice that now when I relax in this present moment, that is where I build up the future. Report an error in the passage at 22:36 Highlight the passage at 22:36

22:56 And if I'm at peace now, the future will be peaceful. And as for the past, I always look at the past and make sure I'm not a prisoner of the past. Report an error in the passage at 22:56 Highlight the passage at 22:56

23:13 Whatever has happened is gone. Report an error in the passage at 23:13 Highlight the passage at 23:13

23:17 That allows me to be in this present moment, peaceful and relaxed. The next thing I do is not thinking. If you're one of these people who talk a lot to yourself, one thing you can do is slow down your thoughts first and know reality by how it feels. Report an error in the passage at 23:17 Highlight the passage at 23:17

23:56 The emotional response you have to what's happening rather than intellectual response. To Report an error in the passage at 23:56 Highlight the passage at 23:56

24:10 me the peace, the happiness is what I'm aware of. That's beautiful for me. So here I stop talking. I'll ring the gong later. It's Report an error in the passage at 24:10 Highlight the passage at 24:10

· · · silence, 9 minutes

33:11 getting close now to Report an error in the passage at 33:11 Highlight the passage at 33:11

33:17 the end of the meditation. But not yet. How do you feel? Report an error in the passage at 33:17 Highlight the passage at 33:17

33:27 Please get to know, not as a theory, but as an experience. Report an error in the passage at 33:27 Highlight the passage at 33:27

33:35 What does 25 minutes, 26 minutes of meditation mean for you? How Report an error in the passage at 33:35 Highlight the passage at 33:35

33:46 beautiful is it? Report an error in the passage at 33:46 Highlight the passage at 33:46

34:07 Meditation has so many beautiful benefits. So see if you can notice some of them. How relaxed you are, how at ease, how joyful it is. I Report an error in the passage at 34:07 Highlight the passage at 34:07

34:36 will now ring the gong. Report an error in the passage at 34:36 Highlight the passage at 34:36

34:40 When the sound of the gong vanishes, then please complete the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 34:40 Highlight the passage at 34:40

· · · silence, 1 minute

35:23 Thank you all for participating and if you had even half the joy which I was feeling just then, well done. Report an error in the passage at 35:23 Highlight the passage at 35:23