Friday Night Guided Meditation

0:00 So today we have two monks and one bhikkhuni, isn't that great? Yeah, so today it's like fourfold assembly. Yeah, fourfold assembly, nuns, monks, laywomen, laymen. Yeah, I guess you're all laywomen and laymen, right? So I guess that counts, okay. So let's get on to the meditation practice, which is one of the main reasons we are here. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:23 So let's get started. Report an error in the passage at 0:23 Highlight the passage at 0:23

0:44 All right, so... As always, try to have a kind of a system that you establish for yourself every time you sit down, follow a particular sequence of doing things. Because basically, it's always good to make sure that everything is approximately right. So going through the thing, sometimes fast, sometimes slowly. Report an error in the passage at 0:44 Highlight the passage at 0:44

1:09 But it's good to have a way of proceeding with your meditation. And the starting point is always just to sit down and close your eyes and by closing your eyes you shut out so much of the world which means you can really feel your body so easily when you shut your eyes. So start out by feeling what it feels like and remember that meditation is a culture or a development of the mind and because of that you want to get the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:09 Highlight the passage at 1:09

1:41 Out of the way. And the way to do that is to have comfort in the body. Not so much comfort that you indulge, but you won't be able to do that anyway. But certainly the comfort. You don't feel any pains or problems or tensions or tightness or any issues with the body. So always start with that. Just making sure you are at ease. The right posture is the comfortable posture. Report an error in the passage at 1:41 Highlight the passage at 1:41

2:09 That's kind of the basic guidance here. Right posture is the comfortable posture. So as long as you are at ease, the body can fade away, then we can kind of allow the mind to sort of come into focus instead. So start off there. Report an error in the passage at 2:09 Highlight the passage at 2:09

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:00 And then the next part of this is to kind of gradually let go of the stress that you may have accumulated over a long day. or a long week or whatever, now is the chance to let go of all of that. And one of the simplest ways is just simply to wait, to be aware, to have a positive attitude to what is happening now, to enjoy the good company of the people around you, the uplift of being in a spiritual center. Report an error in the passage at 3:00 Highlight the passage at 3:00

3:33 And as you have that kind of Attitude, the inclination of the mind, and you're patient with yourself, then gradually the tensions of the day, the tensions of the week, they kind of fade away, and you can relax in a much deeper kind of way. Relaxing is so important. You want the body to fade, you want the mind to be at ease. And Report an error in the passage at 3:33 Highlight the passage at 3:33

· · · silence, 3 minutes

6:34 as you gradually let go of the Tensions and the problems of the near past. And remember to allow these things to happen by themselves. You're not the driver of the meditation. You're not doing the meditation. It's not up to you. It's like you're allowing the Dhamma, allowing these teachings of the Buddha to unfold within you, allowing peace to arise by itself. Report an error in the passage at 6:34 Highlight the passage at 6:34

7:06 This is what meditation is about, allowing things to happen. The more involved you are, the more you tend to perpetuate the problems and the issues and the thinking and all the things that we're trying to let go of. Instead, just allow it to flow. And as you flow, as you are passive, that is also where you give rise to insights and understanding of how the meditation works. Report an error in the passage at 7:06 Highlight the passage at 7:06

7:32 The more you do, The more you get in the way of all of these things. So allow it just to proceed. And it's so beautiful when you do that. It's so delightful. Because all the striving is gone. And you can enjoy just the passivity. Just being. Just being present. Not doing. Not all of these things that tires you out all the time. But instead accumulating and building up the energy within. Report an error in the passage at 7:32 Highlight the passage at 7:32

8:01 A Report an error in the passage at 8:01 Highlight the passage at 8:01

· · · silence, 5 minutes

13:10 remarkable What a wonderful thing it is that we have this extraordinary spiritual center right here in the city of Perth, backed up by these ancient teachings of the Buddha. This wonderful community coming together and sharing this space together. It's like a sacred space for so many people who can develop and cultivate your kindness and virtue. Report an error in the passage at 13:10 Highlight the passage at 13:10

13:36 What an amazing thing it is to have this in this world. So rejoice in that. Rejoice that you have something very precious and valuable right at the heart of this community. And as you do so it's almost as if your mind gets lifted up by the positive things in this world. And as you do the meditation, you don't have to do much more than that. That is enough. If you can find a bit of peace, if you can find a bit of joy, that's already wonderful. Report an error in the passage at 13:36 Highlight the passage at 13:36

14:09 If you want to take it further to watch the breath, you can, but it is not required. So just take it as it seems natural to you. Report an error in the passage at 14:09 Highlight the passage at 14:09

· · · silence, 14 minutes

28:25 Now, just spend a few moments just to review your meditation here today. And if you do feel a bit more peaceful and at ease, if you feel a bit joyful, whatever positive qualities are there, ask yourself why they are there. How did they arise? How does this process actually work? Report an error in the passage at 28:25 Highlight the passage at 28:25

· · · silence, 1 minute

29:27 Okay everyone, that's the meditation for today and in a minute or two we'll start the dharma talk for this evening. Report an error in the passage at 29:27 Highlight the passage at 29:27