Guided Meditation

0:02 So I was told that I'm supposed to make an announcement that this is an ongoing meditation class and the introduction to meditation will be in the room to my right. Is it that room? If it's not that room, it must be that room. I think it's that room, yeah? Okay. Okay, so I Report an error in the passage at 0:02 Highlight the passage at 0:02

0:33 assume most of you have been meditating for a while. Is it true? Report an error in the passage at 0:33 Highlight the passage at 0:33

0:40 Is it true? I assume it's true here in the advanced class. So sometimes you hear, you know, people say, you meditate, you just do nothing. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

0:58 And there will be difference between you have someone like Ajahn Brahm, he does nothing, and he just drops into deep meditation. Report an error in the passage at 0:58 Highlight the passage at 0:58

1:09 And then maybe some other person will be doing nothing. And he or she either falls asleep or daydreaming or what do they do? Thinking about food, thinking about their business. Yes? So what's the difference? Report an error in the passage at 1:09 Highlight the passage at 1:09

1:34 Well, the difference is you have to know what doing nothing means. Yeah? So Ajahn Brahm, of course, he knows what doing nothing means. Doing nothing means the five hindrances are not active. There's no craving, at least temporary during the meditation. So the five hindrances is basically the only thing that is blocking you from entering into deep meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34

2:12 So if you know what they are and you can start working towards letting go of them. And they are the force, they are what move the mind away from what you're trying to pay attention to. Report an error in the passage at 2:12 Highlight the passage at 2:12

2:31 So that's why it's like doing, it's moving the mind, moving it away, rather than, without the five hindrances, then the mind is still. Report an error in the passage at 2:31 Highlight the passage at 2:31

2:45 And so, I think some of you are probably quite familiar with the five hindrances. You know, it's taught by the Buddha. I can briefly mention it. And so the first one is basically sensual, well, how to translate it? Sensual desire, sensual pleasure. Basically, it's the force that, you know, attracts you, pulls you away into the sense world. Report an error in the passage at 2:45 Highlight the passage at 2:45

3:17 And the attraction, the force that pulls you away into the sense world, Take you away from the moment that you suddenly start going into anything in the sense world, into the body, into thinking. It's not just sensual desire, but it's just like interest, interest in anything in the sense world. And that's a huge hindrance. When there's a sound outside, you're wondering what it is. Am I safe here? Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:52 Was it a bushfire? That concern, that's part of the first hindrance, something that pulls you away. The second one is ill will. Ill will is kind of the opposite force, which you have aversion of this moment, so something that pushes you away. You're here. Push you away from this moment. You have aversion to it. You're not happy to be here. Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:20 Something, you know, you just want to separate yourself from this moment. Whether it is you're not comfortable and the breath is not comfortable, whatever you're watching. Report an error in the passage at 4:20 Highlight the passage at 4:20

4:33 So you're not happy to be here. So the third one is like sleepiness and drowsiness. So your mind is just a bit dopey. You're not awake. it watching Report an error in the passage at 4:33 Highlight the passage at 4:33

4:48 Very often that's when the mind is lacking energy. So sometimes it's natural, sometimes you've been working hard, and the mind gets sleepy. But it should be, if you're really meditating, and you're meditating letting go, the energy should be coming back, and coming back into the knowing, and it should gradually wake up naturally. Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:17 That's the most kind of natural process if it happens that way. And the fourth one is restlessness and remorse. So you're just restless. You just want to control things, do anything. You just want to move around. Report an error in the passage at 5:17 Highlight the passage at 5:17

5:41 That restless energy, you don't know what you want to do or what's bothering you, you just want to move. The doer. What Ajahn Brahm calls the doer is very active. It just wouldn't let you be still, wouldn't let you be settled. And the last one is probably the subtlest one, is doubt. Report an error in the passage at 5:41 Highlight the passage at 5:41

6:01 And, yeah, just not sure what you're doing. Doubt keeps going into the thinking mind. And so, you know, thinking what you're doing, like, how am I supposed to practice? How am I supposed to meditate? It's okay to have doubt. It's okay to have doubt, but leave that aside during meditation. It's okay to inquire. Report an error in the passage at 6:01 Highlight the passage at 6:01

6:27 It's okay to think about the dharma or your problems. I'm not trying to say not to think, but during meditation, just let that go. You leave all your thinking and pondering after meditation. So always after your meditation, you reflect. Yeah? Rather than doing that... Sense Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

· · · silence, 48 minutes

54:39 pleasure? Did I have some aversion towards being here? Was I sleepy? Report an error in the passage at 54:39 Highlight the passage at 54:39

54:51 Restless? Or I just have some doubt? Report an error in the passage at 54:51 Highlight the passage at 54:51

54:59 Take a note of the qualities of that experience. And notice that that's what it is. Report an error in the passage at 54:59 Highlight the passage at 54:59

55:10 That's what moves the mind away from the object. And Report an error in the passage at 55:10 Highlight the passage at 55:10

55:21 you can tell yourself, next time when Report an error in the passage at 55:21 Highlight the passage at 55:21

55:27 that arises again, I Report an error in the passage at 55:27 Highlight the passage at 55:27

55:33 won't... Follow the energy, follow Report an error in the passage at 55:33 Highlight the passage at 55:33

55:40 the impulse again. Report an error in the passage at 55:40 Highlight the passage at 55:40

56:08 Also say to yourself that I share the merits of just meditating and practicing to Report an error in the passage at 56:08 Highlight the passage at 56:08

56:19 people I know and to people I love, to Report an error in the passage at 56:19 Highlight the passage at 56:19

56:25 people whom I have difficulties with, and to all beings ultimately. Report an error in the passage at 56:25 Highlight the passage at 56:25

56:39 May all beings find all the peace inside themselves anytime Report an error in the passage at 56:39 Highlight the passage at 56:39

56:48 they want to go inside and just stop. And Report an error in the passage at 56:48 Highlight the passage at 56:48

56:54 there will be a refuge. Report an error in the passage at 56:54 Highlight the passage at 56:54

56:58 I have Report an error in the passage at 56:58 Highlight the passage at 56:58

· · · silence, 1 minute

58:02 the Q &A. Is there any questions from people here? Otherwise, we have a lot of questions. Report an error in the passage at 58:02 Highlight the passage at 58:02

58:18 Someone Report an error in the passage at 58:18 Highlight the passage at 58:18

58:23 give him a mic, or you can just say. I don't know how it works. Report an error in the passage at 58:23 Highlight the passage at 58:23

58:50 What exactly do you want elaboration? Which part? Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:01 We're talking about sharing of merits. It was the end of meditation. I have a neighbor. elderly neighbor which i know that i help him you know help yeah so yesterday you know the in the afternoon i call mike how are you oh not so good you know he's got keep peeing being problem all the thing you know yeah and then then the um they said i'm going to temple this thing okay oh then after that when i came here here before the start of the meditation He called me this thing. I said, how are you? Oh, same thing. So during the meditation yesterday, I sent that method to him. Report an error in the passage at 59:01 Highlight the passage at 59:01

59:47 And this morning when I called him again, I said, how are you? Oh, well, I slept like a log last night. I haven't slept so well for six months. I wasn't sure if there was any connection. You're saying sending method, you know? Yeah, yeah. Well, you're very powerful, Eddie. Oh! Report an error in the passage at 59:47 Highlight the passage at 59:47

1:00:10 I just visualize a person, may he be well and happy, all these things. Unsurpassed, unsurpassed. Sharing merit is very simple, it's just send good wishes. And sometimes when people have the same resonance, have the same frequency, especially people that we know, then somehow they can connect. I mean, I know it's a bit vague, but basically we somehow are connected to each other. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:10 Highlight the passage at 1:00:10

1:00:47 So it's just good wishes, positive energy. Send to the person, isn't it? The person. Yeah, don't make it so complicated. You just know that you have that power. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47 Highlight the passage at 1:00:47

1:00:58 And it works sometimes. It's good. It doesn't always work. So that's good. Thank you. Is there anyone else? Specific about the meditation itself? Is there any particular questions? Otherwise I'll answer these questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:58 Highlight the passage at 1:00:58

1:01:21 Question from Germany. I'm old and have cancer. What can I hope for and expect when I die? If I can't unite with my loved ones again, life does not make sense to me, else death would be easy. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:21 Highlight the passage at 1:01:21

1:01:46 In Report an error in the passage at 1:01:46 Highlight the passage at 1:01:46

1:02:00 Buddhism, we don't just believe there's one life. And death is just a transition from one life to another. So how easy it is, I'm not quite sure. The best way to ensure that death is Report an error in the passage at 1:02:00 Highlight the passage at 1:02:00

1:02:34 A relatively smooth process is how we live, is what we do with our life. And it doesn't matter too much the exact conditions. So whether we are old and very sick, our mental action makes a huge difference. Because when we pass away, this body won't be with us. A lot of feelings with our bodies also won't be with us. And people we can't take with us. Things we can't take with us. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:34 Highlight the passage at 1:02:34

1:03:14 This lovely microphone I can't take with me. This is not mine. A lot of things are not ours. They're not ours. But our mental actions, well not just our mental actions, but our actions. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:14 Highlight the passage at 1:03:14

1:03:32 If you are too sick to go anywhere or do anything, then sometimes the best practice is we still have our mental actions. How do we relate to old age? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:32 Highlight the passage at 1:03:32

1:03:46 How do we relate to sickness? And if we imbue that action, that mental action with wholesome energy, with positive energy, That would be the energy we carry when we pass on. And it is how we live that conditions how we die. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:46 Highlight the passage at 1:03:46

1:04:17 So if you are doing meditation, that's great. Because what causes us to feel badly and do bad things, a lot of times is great hate delusion. are those hindrances that we've been talking about. Those are the things that make us do really silly things, that hurt ourselves and other people. And the more that we just simply see them and see the damage they do, and stop doing them, and stop doing them with ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:17 Highlight the passage at 1:04:17

1:04:56 So, rejection, aversion to our conditions, To our age, to our sickness, to our body. That's the second hindrance. That's ill will. So how do we relate in a different way? And maybe old age can be a benefit sometimes. How many people want to go back to be a teenager? Teenager, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:56 Highlight the passage at 1:04:56

1:05:28 Wait, is that, Eddie, he, oh no, just kidding. Some people may be, you may want the body when you're a teenager, if you're healthy, but then we also grow so much in our life through our experiences that only time gave that experience. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:28 Highlight the passage at 1:05:28

1:05:50 Because we learn from our mistakes, and then we learn from the people around us. And to reunite with your loved ones, If you have the same goal in life, if you have the same purpose, then somehow you, what I was saying just before, sometimes people connect just because they have the same, they have the same resonance. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:50 Highlight the passage at 1:05:50

1:06:15 Yeah? So if they keep the precept and you don't, then that, you know, pulls you apart. You know, one wants to go to the pub and the other one wants to go to the temple. It pulls you apart. So if you have the same ethical values especially, then you unite with good people. Whether it's loved ones from this life, maybe loved ones from past lives. So it will happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:15 Highlight the passage at 1:06:15

1:06:48 But what are you doing now? What are you doing with your life now that will support you in that process? process. Yeah? Report an error in the passage at 1:06:48 Highlight the passage at 1:06:48

1:07:03 When external situation in life that one does not like disturbs the meditation, what can one do? External situation in life that one does not like disturbs the meditation. Well, you're not supposed to bring them to the meditation. You're supposed to just enjoy yourself. What should you do? Don't bring them to meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:03 Highlight the passage at 1:07:03

1:07:36 And keep them, keep them, you know, it's just like, like similarly that, like parking your car. You come here, you don't have to worry about your car. So just park it out there. Your meditation, make it a very sacred space. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:36 Highlight the passage at 1:07:36

1:07:54 Make it a space that, you know, it's just me and my breath. I love my breath and the energy coming in. It's so nice. And you think about, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:54 Highlight the passage at 1:07:54

1:08:06 Things that you don't like, that would be things that arouse the hindrance of ill will. You don't want it. So when those thoughts come in, you tend to say, you come in, go away. Go away. During meditation, if that happens, if ill will, you feed it with more ill will, it just gets worse. Because you feed it with the food of the same kind. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:06 Highlight the passage at 1:08:06

1:08:36 Then it grows. So then, you know, you just allow it. You give it the opposite. You give it mettā. You allow it to come. Okay, well, you know, I worry about my job. But I don't have to feed it. I don't have to push it away. I don't have to go along with it. Oh, now I'm thinking about my job. You just let it. And you don't feed it with anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:36 Highlight the passage at 1:08:36

1:09:03 There's no hindrances there. You don't feed it with any defilements. You have no food. Everything needs food to sustain. A thought needs food to sustain. So if you don't feed it with the kind of food that it is happy with, you have no food and it will die. So start with, don't bring it in in the first place. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:03 Highlight the passage at 1:09:03

1:09:33 And if it comes, I don't feed it. It will go by themselves. The thoughts have no power by themselves. They are like the wind. They are like the clouds. So that's all the questions online. Is there anything else for today? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:33 Highlight the passage at 1:09:33

1:09:57 Okay. So we finished. Very enlightened meditators today. So we finish for today. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:57 Highlight the passage at 1:09:57