Flow State Meditation

0:00 Alright, so it's a small group tonight and it's always, it's just always, I think it's always nice to get together and spend some quality time meditating and as we all know, as we all know, the journey of meditation is, how would you say, it's like a personal journey. It's a journey of ups and downs, of difficulties. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:37 It's actually a journey that kind of reveals to yourself how comfortable you can be with your own mind. And I think that's like one of the... The unusual things about humans is that we find it hard to be in our own company. We need distractions or we need to be around people or we need to watch TV or stuff like that. Report an error in the passage at 0:37 Highlight the passage at 0:37

1:11 And those kinds of things make us feel that we're okay. Those kinds of things make us feel that we're sane. But when we turn to our own minds and when we look within it, I think we find that challenging. Report an error in the passage at 1:11 Highlight the passage at 1:11

1:34 Why is it so challenging for us to be with ourselves without anything? Report an error in the passage at 1:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34

1:45 And I was doing a little bit of meditation today and I was looking at my mind and And just seeing how it was dealing with the present moment. And one of the thoughts that popped into my mind was, I don't really want to be here. Report an error in the passage at 1:45 Highlight the passage at 1:45

2:12 I really don't want to be here. Sometimes when we close our eyes and we meditate, we might have that thought that pops up into our minds. thinking, I don't want to be here or I don't want to do this. And as people who have meditated many, many times, I'm pretty sure you go through that. Yeah, I'm pretty sure sometimes you sit and after five minutes, you want to get up and do something else. Report an error in the passage at 2:12 Highlight the passage at 2:12

2:47 Why is it? Why is it? Why can't I? Why can't I find the pleasure in my own mind that I can find outside? Why do I find pleasure in even eating a peanut butter and jam sandwich? Report an error in the passage at 2:47 Highlight the passage at 2:47

3:13 Why do I find pleasure in looking at a rose or smelling its fragrance? Why do I find pleasure by having nice conversations with my friends or with the people around me? But when I sit down with my eyes closed, I can't find any pleasure at all. Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

3:46 It's challenging, isn't it? Why can we do all those things? But we can't do it while we meditate. Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:00 But that kind of gives you insight. It gives you insight. It gives you an understanding. It gives you an understanding of what the mind is capable of. So the mind is capable of finding pleasures. yeah. Report an error in the passage at 4:00 Highlight the passage at 4:00

4:23 pleasures or satisfaction or even a sense of enjoyment in the outside world. If the mind can do that, surely, surely it can find it in the inside world. And that is the journey the meditator undertakes when they walk on this path towards understanding one's own mind. And meditating, looking at one's own mind time and time again, hour after hour, and trying to question where can I find that sense of happiness in my own mind that I can find in the outside world. Report an error in the passage at 4:23 Highlight the passage at 4:23

5:22 And that was, I think, that was my little contemplation that I was having today when I was meditating. Because, you know, as a monk, you kind of meditate a lot. That's like your job. Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:43 And then it's sort of like, you know, you do it like a job. We all have had jobs in our lives. And sometimes when you're not really engaged in your work and you're just going through the paces and you're just doing the work just like any other day, you're not really interested in it. Sometimes that also happens when you're meditating. So you can be meditating, meditating for a long time and not being engaged. Report an error in the passage at 5:43 Highlight the passage at 5:43

6:22 What is happening and because of that you don't really learn anything. It's just like the same with work. You work, you go to work, it's good, it's bad, but if you're not engaged at work you don't really learn anything. So as a meditator it's like, okay, what we do when we kind of find ourselves in that situation where our minds are Report an error in the passage at 6:22 Highlight the passage at 6:22

7:20 So what we do is we kind of search. We're like searchers when we have our eyes closed. You're actually searching. You're actually searching for a place to put your mind when you're meditating. Report an error in the passage at 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:38 So you're searching and you're finding places where you can put your mind. And just to put simply, One of the areas that we can put our minds is in the present moment. We all know what the present moment is. Report an error in the passage at 7:38 Highlight the passage at 7:38

8:05 Our mind can be engaged with this present moment. The present moment of being with whatever is happening here and now. And the one thing that the mind is not really used to When it's meditating with his eyes closed is being in the present moment when there's nothing much happening. Nothing happening really at all. Report an error in the passage at 8:05 Highlight the passage at 8:05

8:33 And because of that one kind of loses interest, one kind of gets bored and one thinks that the meditation is not working. But I think one of the tricks to the meditation practice If we can practice this present moment awareness, our minds will eventually find that peace, eventually find that enjoyment in the moment. Report an error in the passage at 8:33 Highlight the passage at 8:33

9:12 As humans, there's a thing that is called It's almost like a... Report an error in the passage at 9:12 Highlight the passage at 9:12

9:24 Like getting into the flow state, you know, like you do something that you really enjoy doing. Whether it's a bit of hard work or playing music or being out in the garden or doing activities that you like to do. And when you find yourself in that flow state, there's a sense of enjoyment there. You know, the mind is not complaining, the mind is not... Report an error in the passage at 9:24 Highlight the passage at 9:24

9:54 The mind's not sad. Usually when you do things when you're in the flow state, the mind isn't sad. The mind is actually quite content. It's quite happy. But then when you look at, oh, what's happening in this flow state? Where is my mind actually? Where is my mind? Is it thinking about future problems? Report an error in the passage at 9:54 Highlight the passage at 9:54

10:23 Is it complaining about... how the the politicians are acting or we're feeling so sorry for ourselves I think we've become a society where we just start to feel sorry for ourselves. It's one of these acceptable things that people do and it just creates a lot of turmoil in people's lives and it's unnecessary. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:49 it's unnecessary, and then. And then it's like these kinds of negativity that kind of like arises within the mind. But then when you see yourself, like when you're in the flow state, you know, where's your mind? Report an error in the passage at 10:49 Highlight the passage at 10:49

11:05 When you're, you know, what do people like to do? What do you like to do? What do you like to do? Gardening, yeah. So you like to do gardening. What do you like to do? Walking, yeah. So you're walking, gardening, digging holes. You know, we've been digging a whole bunch of holes. Report an error in the passage at 11:05 Highlight the passage at 11:05

11:30 flies. Time flies. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

· · · silence, 1 minute

12:03 The ability to be in the present moment, we can also find that when we're meditating. And I think that's the trickiest thing. One of the trickiest things with this meditation is because it's just so boring. Report an error in the passage at 12:03 Highlight the passage at 12:03

12:27 Boring. It's so boring. There's nothing happening. It's hard for our minds to find a sense of peace or happiness there. boring Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

12:38 But the sense of peace and happiness is there. And we do that by just slowly working with our minds, trying to understand it and try to look for that present moment and look for that peace. And eventually what happens is the mind changes. Report an error in the passage at 12:38 Highlight the passage at 12:38

13:08 It's sort of like the way we look at things, you know, like when you were younger, some of us, you know, we didn't like to eat cucumbers or something like that. But when we get older, the cucumber is still a cucumber. We like to eat it. Yeah. And so it's just the way the mind sees things, you know. And, you know, when I was a... Report an error in the passage at 13:08 Highlight the passage at 13:08

13:39 When I was a younger monk, I didn't really like the summers because the summers were too hot and I didn't like the heat. But now, getting older, I really do like the summers because summer is the time where your plants grow. Where the garden flourishes. And in the same way, when you look at your mind, you're looking at this blankness, this nothingness, this kind of boredom. And you can't really accept what is happening. Report an error in the passage at 13:39 Highlight the passage at 13:39

14:14 You're having this dislike towards it. After a while, just being there and just learning from that environment of just being in the moment with your eyes closed, one can start to appreciate what that gives you. Report an error in the passage at 14:14 Highlight the passage at 14:14

14:33 And what that gives you is like this, like a sense of peace, this time to yourself to be away from your responsibilities and just sitting down with your eyes closed and watching your mind grow, watching it become more bright, more vibrant and seeing how that Report an error in the passage at 14:33 Highlight the passage at 14:33

15:02 Transfers into your everyday life. You become a more sensitive person. You can understand people better. Understand their needs. You can be happier. You can joke. You can have fun, you know. We need to have a bit of fun in life. People are just too serious, you know. So, it's good to laugh. I mean, if you think about it, How many times did you laugh today? How many times did you smile today? Report an error in the passage at 15:02 Highlight the passage at 15:02

15:44 Or how many times were you worried about stuff? You know what I mean? And that's what I've kind of seen over the years is meditation is just not to find peace within the moment but it has this just like radiating effect that kind of affects your life like throughout the day and this is like the you know the type of journey that that we kind of walk on and see grow right in front of us and it's it's just like the you know the the Pantene Pro is that Pantene Pro Vein Shampoo Shampoo. Report an error in the passage at 15:44 Highlight the passage at 15:44

16:38 Pantene shampoo with the beautiful hair. And what's the slogan? It won't happen overnight, but it will happen. Report an error in the passage at 16:38 Highlight the passage at 16:38

16:50 So just think about meditation like that. It might happen in this meditation right now, but eventually it will happen. And it's just being able to just look at it from different angles. that. Report an error in the passage at 16:50 Highlight the passage at 16:50

17:08 And then maybe tonight when we're sitting, we're just looking at it from an angle of just being interested, interested in what's in your mind and just finding that place in your mind where there's some sort of enjoyment. The same enjoyment that you get with good food or something. We all like to eat. I'm sure everybody here likes good food. And when we eat something tasty, it's like, ooh, yeah, that was good. Report an error in the passage at 17:08 Highlight the passage at 17:08

17:38 So the mind has that ability. And it's okay to have that. And it's okay to use that part of the mind in the meditation. That's what you really want. I don't want you to be meditators who are bored out of your brains and just struggling. That's not the point. When I meditate, I don't meditate because I want to struggle with my meditation. No. I've done that long enough. Report an error in the passage at 17:38 Highlight the passage at 17:38

18:06 You know what I mean? It's like, So we can have that kind of goal even when we start to meditate. We're not meditating to struggle through it. We're meditating to find the enjoyment in the meditation. And it is true. The human mind can find enjoyment in anything. So maybe it's our turn to try to find the enjoyment in the meditation practice instead of... Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

19:09 I'll talk you through it and we'll sit for half an hour and you get to experience whatever happens in your mind. Whether it's good or bad, it doesn't really matter. Report an error in the passage at 19:09 Highlight the passage at 19:09

19:26 Because, you know, there's always next Thursday. There's always next Thursday. Or the Thursday after. Let's Report an error in the passage at 19:26 Highlight the passage at 19:26

· · · silence, 1 minute

20:13 get ourselves into a comfortable We close Report an error in the passage at 20:13 Highlight the passage at 20:13

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20:53 our eyes. So Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

21:02 when we're meditating, one of the things we are doing is we are shutting off the world of the body. The body isn't a part of the meditation practice. The quicker that we can forget about our bodies, the better it is. So that way we can look at our minds. And Report an error in the passage at 21:02 Highlight the passage at 21:02

21:49 this is one of the best life skills that you can give yourself is to be able to be with your own mind and to be comfortable to be with your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 21:49 Highlight the passage at 21:49

22:10 It's kind of sad that Report an error in the passage at 22:10 Highlight the passage at 22:10

22:14 Maybe society or people in general have lost this ability to be comfortable with their own minds. People run away from meditation. They run away from their own minds. Why? Why? Is your mind really that terrible to be around? Just remember it's your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 22:14 Highlight the passage at 22:14

22:49 If you find it difficult to be with your own mind, then that could be a serious problem. Report an error in the passage at 22:49 Highlight the passage at 22:49

23:07 So one of the things that we learn as meditators is to be with our own minds, to be comfortable with our own minds, to be able to sit for 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes, and be okay. Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:32 With our own minds. Report an error in the passage at 23:32 Highlight the passage at 23:32

23:37 And it's a little like a great skill. Or a great skill to develop. Or just putting time into changing your own mind. Or changing the way you look at your mind. Report an error in the passage at 23:37 Highlight the passage at 23:37

24:07 It takes time. It takes effort. But it's a great skill. A great service. A great kindness that you're doing for yourself. So that's what we're doing. Report an error in the passage at 24:07 Highlight the passage at 24:07

24:26 In our lives we have been searching for the enjoyments the happinesses in the outside world. Now it's time to find the enjoyment and happinesses in the inside world. Report an error in the passage at 24:26 Highlight the passage at 24:26

· · · silence, 2 minutes

27:08 Just like when we do things that we enjoy When we try to get into that flow state, one of the things that happen is that our minds are engaged when you're walking. You're just engaged with walking. When you're gardening, you're engaged with the gardening or the yoga that you're doing. Report an error in the passage at 27:08 Highlight the passage at 27:08

27:51 It's the element of being engaged which is the important thing. And so one thing when we're meditating is we need to be able to find that area in our own minds where we can stay engaged. You have this present moment, you Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:20 have just an experience, a blackness, a darkness. You have this, and where can you put your mind? So it engages. When Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

28:55 we're in a flow state, the reason why it's a happy place is because we're not distracted by thoughts of the past or the future, or thoughts of what the government's doing. Report an error in the passage at 28:55 Highlight the passage at 28:55

29:18 That's why being in a flow state is enjoyable, because there's no distracting thoughts. And in the same way, when we're learning how to meditate, we can understand one of the reasons why our minds are not enjoying the meditation is because there's just too many distracting thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 29:18 Highlight the passage at 29:18

29:44 Our minds haven't learned how to find a way to engage with the meditation. So that's all we're doing is when we find a way, Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

30:04 to engage whatever Report an error in the passage at 30:04 Highlight the passage at 30:04

30:09 we need to do however wherever we need to look we find that place and we try to stay there and Report an error in the passage at 30:09 Highlight the passage at 30:09

30:28 we're doing it it's like when you're in the flow when you're doing your flow state thing there's no real effort involved it just happens naturally and in the same way when you're engaging with the meditation Report an error in the passage at 30:28 Highlight the passage at 30:28

30:50 There's an effortlessness that comes with it. That's why it's easy. It's easy because it's effortless. So Report an error in the passage at 30:50 Highlight the passage at 30:50

31:04 this is what we're trying to do. Remember, Report an error in the passage at 31:04 Highlight the passage at 31:04

· · · silence, 6 minutes

37:05 we're just looking for that place where we're engaged. That place where we're just engaged with the present moment. That's all we need to do. The Report an error in the passage at 37:05 Highlight the passage at 37:05

· · · silence, 15 minutes

52:34 end of the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 52:34 Highlight the passage at 52:34

52:54 Reflect upon how Report an error in the passage at 52:54 Highlight the passage at 52:54

53:01 or how much your mind has rested or Report an error in the passage at 53:01 Highlight the passage at 53:01

53:15 just Report an error in the passage at 53:15 Highlight the passage at 53:15

53:20 reflecting on how you went in the last half an hour whether it was a good or a bad meditation it doesn't really matter because you learn from Report an error in the passage at 53:20 Highlight the passage at 53:20

53:44 Whatever experiences you go through, and you can always have another go later on. So Report an error in the passage at 53:44 Highlight the passage at 53:44

54:00 having that understanding that it's a practice of slowly making improvements, having that intention Report an error in the passage at 54:00 Highlight the passage at 54:00

54:16 of becoming a better meditator. Because Report an error in the passage at 54:16 Highlight the passage at 54:16

54:25 of that, it's easier for us to put time into the practice. Report an error in the passage at 54:25 Highlight the passage at 54:25

54:39 and after a while we can start to experience the quietude of the mind the peacefulness of the mind the Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

54:59 spaciousness that comes a peaceful mind a place where there's no worries a place where there isn't any clutter a place where the mind is free for a few moments Report an error in the passage at 54:59 Highlight the passage at 54:59

55:31 Free from all the worry, free from all the troubles. Isn't that a nice place to be? So Report an error in the passage at 55:31 Highlight the passage at 55:31

55:46 this is what we're doing. We're learning to be comfortable in our own minds. We're learning how to be content. We're learning how to be peaceful with our own minds. Report an error in the passage at 55:46 Highlight the passage at 55:46

56:14 In life we can be peaceful with so many things. It's nice to start learning how to be peaceful to our own minds. So I'm going to ring the gong three times and then we can come out of the meditation. This Report an error in the passage at 56:14 Highlight the passage at 56:14

56:45 gong is actually a very nice gong. It sounds very nice. It sounds very nice actually. Very, very nice. Come Report an error in the passage at 56:45 Highlight the passage at 56:45

· · · silence, 1 minute

57:44 out of the meditation. You can wake up from your sleep. Did anybody fall asleep? Report an error in the passage at 57:44 Highlight the passage at 57:44

57:54 So usually we open up for questions. But people here are very shy. Oh, you got one question. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 57:54 Highlight the passage at 57:54

58:06 What's in your body? What's in your brain? And what's in your mind? Is it the same or different? Report an error in the passage at 58:06 Highlight the passage at 58:06

58:17 You could say it's useful. I think all of it is useful. Yeah, all of it is useful. Like if you're, say... But everybody likes to do it different. Some minds are more inclined to the body sweeping or some minds are more inclined towards watching the breath. And some minds are more inclined to just watching the mind. But what I've found in my own experience is the easiest way to meditate is to watch the mind. Report an error in the passage at 58:17 Highlight the passage at 58:17

58:55 It takes the least effort. The least effort. So you can watch the mind be in the present moment, trying to engage with the silence, the peace. To me, that's the most effortless type of meditation. Whereas when you watch the breath, trying to watch the breath, that takes a bit more effort. Or when you try to do the body scanning, that also takes effort. Report an error in the passage at 58:55 Highlight the passage at 58:55

59:24 But then what you notice is Because when you meditate for long periods of time, sometimes the effort becomes like a hindrance. You put too much effort, you get a headache. Oh, you understand, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I cannot do the breath meditation because I got headache. It's very hard to focus for me. Yes, yes, yes. So you understand that. Report an error in the passage at 59:24 Highlight the passage at 59:24

59:56 That the mind can put in effort, right? But it cannot put in too much effort for too long. If you do that, you end up getting a headache. Report an error in the passage at 59:56 Highlight the passage at 59:56

1:00:07 Or even that's the same with the body. So you watch the body, like you watch the sensation in your legs or in your back or your chest or whatever, and that takes effort as well. But the good thing about that is that it helps bring your mind back into the present moment. so doing these things i think you can use it as a like a skillful means a skillful tool something that you can do every every once in a while say you meditate for like half an hour maybe you just try to do the best meditation for two three minutes you know what i mean and I'll do what's in mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:07 Highlight the passage at 1:00:07

1:00:48 The mind is just what we have here now. Like what I was trying to tell you is like trying to engage with your meditation so your mind is present. That is like watching the mind. And that takes a very little effort. But it has a good result. How to wash your mind? I can hear the noise, the sound. Listen to the sound, listen to the breath, listen to the body scanning. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:48 Highlight the passage at 1:00:48

1:01:20 But how to wash your mind? So when you close your eyes There's always like this awareness. There's always an awareness, right? So you just engage. Sometimes you're just engaging with that awareness. And when you know that you're engaging with that awareness because you know your mind is present. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:20 Highlight the passage at 1:01:20

1:01:41 It's sort of like when you're at work or something, when you drive the car. When we drive the car, our mind is always present on the road. It takes very little effort because we do it all the time. But it's always present. We lose the... The awareness of the present, we crash the car, right? We easily crash the car. So we can all say we're pretty mindful when we drive because it's a dangerous task. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:41 Highlight the passage at 1:01:41

1:02:05 And in the same way, you have that kind of awareness when you're meditating. And you're just engaging in that awareness. It's hard to describe. It's hard to explain, but we always have this awareness when we sit down. And we're just being aware. We're like being aware of that awareness. Because that allows us, it keeps our mind present. Because as meditators, we can see that our mind just wanders off. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:05 Highlight the passage at 1:02:05

1:02:34 It wanders off. We go, like, we sit there for half an hour and we don't even know where we are. So where did that half an hour go? Our mind wasn't present. So that's what we're trying to do. We're just trying to be more present when we're meditating. And then you can see your mind is engaged more. It engages a lot more and you feel that, oh yeah, I'm meditating properly. Because sometimes we meditate for so long and we think, are we meditating properly, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:34 Highlight the passage at 1:02:34

1:03:08 That's the dilemma of a meditator, trust me. So we have to like kind of... It's not looking for the object, like sounds or body or... No, no, no, no, no. Try to be aware of the awareness. Like just to be... know than the knowing you're knowing something you're just being here and you're just being engaged and you don't need to take it any further than that you don't need to be engaged in the sound or the sensation in your legs just be engaged yeah keep it simple yeah yeah Report an error in the passage at 1:03:08 Highlight the passage at 1:03:08

1:03:46 Okay, any more questions, comments? Thanks for coming. Thanks for coming. No problem, no problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:46 Highlight the passage at 1:03:46