No Control

0:00 Welcome to another Thursday night meditation session. We're back here to do the same thing again. But how nice is it to be able to give yourself the chance to meditate? Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:22 It's actually quite a nice thing to do even though it's not anything exciting. It's actually quite simple. Being able to switch off from life for about 30 minutes. And I think that's one of the lovely things about the meditation practice is that when we meditate, we don't really need to put any effort into the meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

1:00 And the way I think the meditation works is like the longer you sit, the longer you sit, the more calm you will become. And that's one of the nicer things when you kind of look at attending like a half-day retreat or even a weekend retreat. Or even I have a friend, Ajahn Kemavaro, who lives... He lives in Wat Buddha Dharma. And he has a scheduled practice throughout the year. Report an error in the passage at 1:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00

1:38 And it even gets even more hardcore during the rains retreat. So if you can imagine, he would ask the people living there to wake up early in the morning, go to the meditation hall, To meditate. Say about 7 to 9. Or maybe earlier. This is Ajahn Kemavaro. So maybe 3am. Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

2:13 3am and then you come back after lunch. Maybe 1 o 'clock to 3 o 'clock. And then you have a short break. Come back at 5. 5 to 7. And then you meditate some more. And then you have a short break. Then you come back again until 7 to 9. And basically what you're doing is you're meditating the whole day. Yes. And there's something nice about that. And I think what that gives us is this understanding to kind of like the idea of letting go. Report an error in the passage at 2:13 Highlight the passage at 2:13

2:54 Just letting go. Even of our meditation practice. In a sense. Because sometimes when we sit and when we close our eyes, we're kind of striving for things. You know, we're striving for the mind to be still. Or we're striving to watch the breath. Or sometimes we're even craving, you know, we're craving for stillness. Report an error in the passage at 2:54 Highlight the passage at 2:54

3:20 Yeah. You know, we want some sort of result. And that's how we've always been. As human beings, when we want something, we go and get it. If you need some screws from Bunnings to do a repair and you want to manifest it, you want it in your hands right now, you just jump in the car and you go get it. Or if you want to drink some water because you're thirsty, you just... Report an error in the passage at 3:20 Highlight the passage at 3:20

3:56 Take your hand, pick up the water bottle and you drink it. Whatever you think of, whatever you want, you can get it. You can get it at any time. And sometimes we take this attitude into our meditation practice. And we're taking those habits of wanting the mind to be peaceful, wanting to watch the breath, or wanting whatever that's in our mind. Report an error in the passage at 3:56 Highlight the passage at 3:56

4:26 To disappear. You know, some of us, we may have, our minds are maybe active and it's very hard to calm down. Some of us, you know, maybe our minds are tired because we were working all day. You know, we can't really do much about that. Or some of us, you know, we may have had a difficult day or a difficult week and those things are playing on our mind. Report an error in the passage at 4:26 Highlight the passage at 4:26

4:52 And the question is, The question is, what do we do? How do we approach our minds when we're meditating? And what I've been taught, what I've learnt over the years is a good thing to do is to just leave things alone. Report an error in the passage at 4:52 Highlight the passage at 4:52

5:17 To leave things alone for the duration of the meditation. Have you ever done that? Have you ever left things alone? Because when you leave things alone, you can start to see the nature of the mind and how it works. You can start to see that it's impermanent. Distracting thoughts may come in, but eventually they will disappear. Report an error in the passage at 5:17 Highlight the passage at 5:17

5:51 Or even with the sleepiness, we might have a sleepy mind. you know Report an error in the passage at 5:51 Highlight the passage at 5:51

5:56 And sometimes we're, you know, we're complaining or we're kind of, you know, when I'm sleepy, I'm kind of like, oh, you know, why am I sleepy? You know, the meditation doesn't feel good or I'm not getting anywhere. And then when you're sitting and when you're experiencing that, you kind of feel that it's not worthwhile. Report an error in the passage at 5:56 Highlight the passage at 5:56

6:20 But if you're patient enough, if you can just sit there and be, you will see, you will start to see the sleepiness, it disappears, it will naturally disappear, that will disappear, whatever else that you may see as a problem, that disappears as well, a mind that's thinking too much, some anguish that you may be going through, all those things that arise in the mind. mind, eventually they will disappear. Report an error in the passage at 6:20 Highlight the passage at 6:20

6:54 www.Ajahn Santutthi.com That gives us an understanding that this meditation is working. Report an error in the passage at 6:54 Highlight the passage at 6:54

7:29 Just that contentment, that contentment, that feeling of things are okay. Report an error in the passage at 7:29 Highlight the passage at 7:29

7:40 So what that kind of gives us, it gives us that insight, that meditation, just the meditation practice in itself can help us. okay even even even Report an error in the passage at 7:40 Highlight the passage at 7:40

7:58 With relieving stress, the stresses in our life. Yeah. Just like, if you look at the different ways that we can overcome something in daily life, whether you go, you know, see a doctor for medication, or there are different therapies out there, or you go see a psychologist, or you may go do something that you like to do, like, Talk to a friend or do something like a hobby or something like that. Sometimes we do these kinds of things to kind of get away from whatever's troubling on our minds. Report an error in the passage at 7:58 Highlight the passage at 7:58

8:42 We kind of fall into these so-called ways of just dealing with how we used to deal with stuff in the past. And they are valid. You know, they kind of work. You know what I mean? It's like sometimes it's like, you know, why do people watch TV? You know, you get into this habit. Like my grandmother, she's gotten into this habit where she just watches TV because she has nothing else to do. Report an error in the passage at 8:42 Highlight the passage at 8:42

9:22 Like she's like 91. She's at home. She will have her kids come over in the morning to help her out. But in the afternoon, because the kids are working, she's just by herself. And because she just doesn't really know how to maybe look within or trying to find some sort of peace or contentment within herself, she would just look at the TV screen and use the TV as a distraction to kind of get on with life. Report an error in the passage at 9:22 Highlight the passage at 9:22

9:56 And in the same way, we kind of do those things by ourselves. Because sometimes the meditation doesn't work. So we go back to those ways that we've found that would help us just get through our day or get through our problems. But what I'm trying to say here is when we have meditated for a long time, a long time, maybe a few months or A couple years, one can start to see how the meditation does, how that helps with whatever difficulty we want to overcome in our lives. Report an error in the passage at 9:56 Highlight the passage at 9:56

10:42 And I think, like, to me, it's like, you know, why do we practice meditation? One of the reasons is to overcome the difficulties in our lives. And that's one of the reasons why people do it. And it should be able to do that, I think, for you. So what you kind of learn over time is, even though when you meditate, you face whatever you have to face, whatever problems you have to face, right in front of you. Report an error in the passage at 10:42 Highlight the passage at 10:42

11:15 They're there most like in your face. They're right there. You see it for what it is. There's no way to numb it. We're good at numbing things. We'll watch TV or go for a drive or do something to distract us. But there's something about meditating and being able to face whatever you need to face and just be with it. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:41 Be with it and then you'll start to see that it disappears. It's not long-lasting. and because you're seeing it disappearing Report an error in the passage at 11:41 Highlight the passage at 11:41

12:21 it becomes problematic year after year after year. But what, yeah, so year after year, and they don't get the chance to really understand, you know, what is Report an error in the passage at 12:21 Highlight the passage at 12:21

12:52 You know, when you do have these problems, they're not lasting forever. They will disappear. And all we've got to do is just to be in the moment, to observe, not control things, not push things away. If they're there, they're there. And eventually they will disappear. And what arises, like within the mind, within the heart, is like a sense of peace. Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:17 And that's how we meditate. meditate. Report an error in the passage at 13:17 Highlight the passage at 13:17

13:51 in something, we can kind of see the direct usefulness of the practice. And I will stop there, and we will do half an hour of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 13:51 Highlight the passage at 13:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

14:36 Meditation Report an error in the passage at 14:36 Highlight the passage at 14:36

15:07 is a very peaceful thing to do. Just Report an error in the passage at 15:07 Highlight the passage at 15:07

15:34 sitting here and having a good time. Report an error in the passage at 15:34 Highlight the passage at 15:34

15:51 Enjoying the peaceful vibes. Report an error in the passage at 15:51 Highlight the passage at 15:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

16:27 yes i think you know if you can create the peaceful vibes in your mind then the mind kind of stays in the present moment we Report an error in the passage at 16:27 Highlight the passage at 16:27

17:13 meditate because it feels nice you know we don't meditate to punish ourselves it would be a silly thing to do we Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:31 meditate because we like to sometimes Report an error in the passage at 17:31 Highlight the passage at 17:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

18:34 it's just nice to let go of our Just let go of other things and just focus on our meditation. Report an error in the passage at 18:34 Highlight the passage at 18:34

18:53 Meditation is all about being here. Report an error in the passage at 18:53 Highlight the passage at 18:53

19:02 We're not chasing the breath. We're not even chasing the present moment. We're just being here. Just Report an error in the passage at 19:02 Highlight the passage at 19:02

19:28 enjoying the peace. There's Report an error in the passage at 19:28 Highlight the passage at 19:28

19:43 no need to scan the body. We can just be here. We Report an error in the passage at 19:43 Highlight the passage at 19:43

19:58 can be at peace with the footy going on next door. Report an error in the passage at 19:58 Highlight the passage at 19:58

20:06 We can be at peace with our sleepiness or Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:14 we can be at peace with our restless mind. It doesn't matter what's going on. You can be at peace with anything and that is, if you look at it, the attitude of peace is what gives you peace. Report an error in the passage at 20:14 Highlight the passage at 20:14

20:46 The attitude of peace is what You're putting into your meditation and what you put into your meditation is what you get out of it. So Report an error in the passage at 20:46 Highlight the passage at 20:46

21:03 it doesn't really matter what's going on. Report an error in the passage at 21:03 Highlight the passage at 21:03

21:10 What matters most is an attitude of peace and Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

21:31 just having this peace. It makes the meditation enjoyable. So Report an error in the passage at 21:31 Highlight the passage at 21:31

· · · silence, 5 minutes

26:41 we're learning to take away the control. We're learning to give up. Report an error in the passage at 26:41 Highlight the passage at 26:41

26:54 The learning to step aside. You Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:04 don't really figure out how to meditate. You kind of let the meditation happen. Report an error in the passage at 27:04 Highlight the passage at 27:04

27:26 Seem counterintuitive because Report an error in the passage at 27:26 Highlight the passage at 27:26

27:34 we're not doing anything. We're not striving. We're not willing ourselves. We're not making it happen. So how can it become peaceful? Report an error in the passage at 27:34 Highlight the passage at 27:34

27:55 How can we achieve? Report an error in the passage at 27:55 Highlight the passage at 27:55

27:59 That's the thing. Meditation, well this type of meditation, it doesn't work that way. The Report an error in the passage at 27:59 Highlight the passage at 27:59

28:15 way it works is the more we can give up, give Report an error in the passage at 28:15 Highlight the passage at 28:15

28:27 up this sense of wanting peace or wanting to fix our meditation. You Report an error in the passage at 28:27 Highlight the passage at 28:27

28:38 know, we give up the control, the controlling, kind Report an error in the passage at 28:38 Highlight the passage at 28:38

28:46 of give up. The problem solving. Give Report an error in the passage at 28:46 Highlight the passage at 28:46

28:56 up as much as we can. And Report an error in the passage at 28:56 Highlight the passage at 28:56

29:03 allow the mind to be the mind. And in a sense, that would be a Report an error in the passage at 29:03 Highlight the passage at 29:03

29:18 swift and easy way to peace. After Report an error in the passage at 29:18 Highlight the passage at 29:18

· · · silence, 3 minutes

32:29 a while, when you meditate, start to understand. Report an error in the passage at 32:29 Highlight the passage at 32:29

32:39 things in your mind you learn how to let them go it's hard to explain but you Report an error in the passage at 32:39 Highlight the passage at 32:39

32:53 can kind of see that things aren't too too sticky they don't stick to your mind or there's no need to take them seriously they're Report an error in the passage at 32:53 Highlight the passage at 32:53

33:09 not they're not super important they're just a mind it's just a mind being the mind something that we've carried with us Report an error in the passage at 33:09 Highlight the passage at 33:09

33:28 Ajahn Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:35 values the thought Report an error in the passage at 33:35 Highlight the passage at 33:35

34:07 So you've been having those thoughts 20 years ago and you're going to continue having them 20 years later. And you can, you know, when you kind of start to see things like this, you kind of question, why do I value my thinking so much when it really hasn't given me anything substantial over the past 20 years? Report an error in the passage at 34:07 Highlight the passage at 34:07

34:43 And I'm struggling with it now. And imagine in 20 years time, how useful can it be? In a sense, yeah, it's useful. But for the most part, I find the thinking mind a bit troubling because peace is so much better than Report an error in the passage at 34:43 Highlight the passage at 34:43

35:18 anything else outside of peace. It seems a bit stressful, so there's no point holding on to the stresses in life because life will go on anyways. Report an error in the passage at 35:18 Highlight the passage at 35:18

35:44 It's much more important to hold on to the peace, to the stillness, to the clarity that one experiences here and now in their meditation. Report an error in the passage at 35:44 Highlight the passage at 35:44

36:23 As meditators, Sometimes we fall into the lazy way of thinking that I will be peaceful later on. I'll have clarity of mind later on. But instead, we can think in a way where we can have clarity of mind right now. Report an error in the passage at 36:23 Highlight the passage at 36:23

36:57 We can have peaceful states of mind right now. I do feel and I do think that Report an error in the passage at 36:57 Highlight the passage at 36:57

37:09 Meditators think that peace is in the future somewhere. Clarity of mind is in the future somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 37:09 Highlight the passage at 37:09

37:22 But yes, in a sense it is if you don't have it now. I think it could be a bit more positive to think that it's not that hard to have the peace, the clarity in this moment. Report an error in the passage at 37:22 Highlight the passage at 37:22

37:54 Don't wait, because you don't need to. You can experience it now. Report an error in the passage at 37:54 Highlight the passage at 37:54

· · · silence, 10 minutes

48:18 What do you mean? Good and bad. Report an error in the passage at 48:18 Highlight the passage at 48:18

48:26 What was Report an error in the passage at 48:26 Highlight the passage at 48:26

48:31 the bad part? I think Report an error in the passage at 48:31 Highlight the passage at 48:31

48:44 I was just reflecting earlier on. So the way that we meditate, this non-controlling way where we kind of let the mind go. Report an error in the passage at 48:44 Highlight the passage at 48:44

48:56 So it can just really... Um, the time. Report an error in the passage at 48:56 Highlight the passage at 48:56

48:58 I really what that I think really what that does is it just opens because you're not controlling anything you're not boxing your mind into a certain thing to do so what that kind of does is that it opens up it opens up your mind for for anything and everything to reveal itself and then after a while if you can sit patiently and observe your mind you kind of go through whatever's happening and And in a sense, you can start to pick and choose where you want to hang out. And there would be times where peaceful states of mind and the silence of mind would kind of show itself. Report an error in the passage at 48:58 Highlight the passage at 48:58

49:37 And that would kind of teach you that those things do exist in your mind. And after a while, the mind kind of knows where it wants to hang out. You know what I mean? The mind doesn't want to hang out in sleepiness or in anger or in like... The mind doesn't want to hang out in anxiety or stress or thinking about work. It doesn't want to do. Naturally, it doesn't want to do that. But sometimes it has to do that because it has to think things through. Report an error in the passage at 49:37 Highlight the passage at 49:37

50:04 But I think after a while, the mind will kind of start choosing those peaceful states because the mind knows that it's kind of like a nicer place to be. And that's how the meditation kind of opens up. And you kind of discover it for yourself. Yeah. So any questions? Report an error in the passage at 50:04 Highlight the passage at 50:04

50:30 Yes. Report an error in the passage at 50:30 Highlight the passage at 50:30

50:36 There's one in May. On the 24th. Yeah. Yeah. I think they're quite good actually. Report an error in the passage at 50:36 Highlight the passage at 50:36

50:50 No, we're doing our 1.30 now. 1.30 until 5.30. We're building a... At the moment we're building a... Like a multi-function hall. Yeah, how's that going? It started. The deck is already up. And on top of the deck, the hall is going to be built on top of the deck. Report an error in the passage at 50:50 Highlight the passage at 50:50

51:12 Have you seen that area? Have you seen the deck? No, I haven't seen it. So the deck's up. It's inside, right? The meditation we put is a tiny hall. You see all the holes? Before you were there, you saw the holes in the ground? Yeah. So the deck is on top of, the holes are for the posts, and the deck is sitting on top of the posts. So it's actually quite a, it's a very large area. Report an error in the passage at 51:12 Highlight the passage at 51:12

51:39 But some of it is also veranda space. Yeah, a little bit of the front. But it's a large area, it's probably a little bit bigger than this room. Yeah, so we can have the half-day retreats there. Who designed that? Oh, I kind of designed it. Yeah, Ajahn Brahm. waxes lyrical about your working okay yeah I just I just flake it man I just like it Report an error in the passage at 51:39 Highlight the passage at 51:39

52:22 As a meditator, obviously you try to incorporate mindfulness in that. Yes. Other aspects of your life. Yes. So when you build something, there's all these things going on. Yes. Do you have time to take a step back and go, oh, we've done this, or we do this, and now we're going to do the next thing, but you take a step back to take it all in, or you're still very busy in the midst of I tend to think about the next step. Report an error in the passage at 52:22 Highlight the passage at 52:22

52:55 Ah, the mind cannot switch off, right, and thinking what is being said. Yeah, it has to, because I also have to manage people. So it's like Daniel, what is Daniel going to do next? Or Jaya, or Bodhi. So that's also a part of my planning when I'm working, to give him a job, what to do next. And then also to plan the next step, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 52:55 Highlight the passage at 52:55

53:23 But I do that when I'm in my room, or I do that while I'm working, but I don't spend too much time doing it. I think most of the time I'm just mindful of the work that I'm doing. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:38 That's why I'm thinking, I told Jaya, I'm not really thinking about this talk on Friday, and it's tomorrow, and it's kind of like a big deal sometimes. If you go and teach in Dhammaloka, I don't even think about it. I don't know why. Maybe because we just learnt how to live in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 53:38 Highlight the passage at 53:38

54:02 So I don't worry about these things too much. So it's like in building mode, you have to be a few steps ahead. Like the project manager, supervisor. The rest of the time, just try and stay mindful. You've got to think a few steps ahead. Report an error in the passage at 54:02 Highlight the passage at 54:02

54:47 and mindfulness. Yeah, mindfulness is... I think a nice little practice actually that we can do is to bring our mind back into the present moment. We kind of always talk about that in the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 54:47 Highlight the passage at 54:47

55:06 But Ajahn Brahm doesn't really talk about that too much. Mindfulness in daily practice. He doesn't really do that anymore. Report an error in the passage at 55:06 Highlight the passage at 55:06

55:17 He takes more of the being kind approach. Just being kind to yourself, being kind to other people. Report an error in the passage at 55:17 Highlight the passage at 55:17

55:29 There was a monk in Thailand. Report an error in the passage at 55:29 Highlight the passage at 55:29

55:41 He's well respected for his meditation abilities. His name is Ajahn Liam. I don't know if you've heard him, but he's an old monk now. I think he's in his 70s. thailand and he's like Report an error in the passage at 55:41 Highlight the passage at 55:41

55:55 But he had this reputation. He had this reputation for being a very peaceful worker. And when he would do his work, he would do his work mindfully. So what mindfulness kind of means in daily practice is when he was making, he would make the brooms, the Asian brooms. Report an error in the passage at 55:55 Highlight the passage at 55:55

56:20 Asian brooms. And he would tie, he would get some twine. And he'll tie the end onto a stick. Usually it's a bamboo stick and they'll tie it on. And they fan it out really nicely. And they do all that kind of stuff. And it was said that when he would do these kinds of chores, he would have his mind just present. And he would naturally be there. Report an error in the passage at 56:20 Highlight the passage at 56:20

56:43 He's not thinking about tomorrow or he's not really proliferating and thinking about the past. And because he did this daily practice, that helped him immensely in his meditation. So as a tip that we kind of try to give to people is you can also do that in your daily life. Whenever you have the chance or whenever you remember. Sometimes the practice is just trying to remember what to do. Report an error in the passage at 56:43 Highlight the passage at 56:43

57:22 Yeah, just trying to remember, like, how often do we reflect on, like, how often do we tell ourselves to be mindful during the day, even though we've heard it so many times? Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

57:34 And even for us, you know, like, for monks, we kind of know that we need to do that, but we don't kind of do that often enough, I think. So, I think after a while, when you kind of bring your mind back into the present moment, And also being meditators as well, you can also bring that sense of calmness too, to the moment, or that peace to the moment. Report an error in the passage at 57:34 Highlight the passage at 57:34

58:02 So it's almost like a skillful means, like to calm yourself down during the day. Yeah, you know what I mean? Because some people talk about breathing technique, right? Like big breath, little breath, big breath. And that's fine, people do that, but this is a different way. of calming the mind down. Report an error in the passage at 58:02 Highlight the passage at 58:02

58:30 All right. Report an error in the passage at 58:30 Highlight the passage at 58:30

58:38 Peaceful. Enjoy your meditation. Enjoy your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 58:38 Highlight the passage at 58:38