Guided Meditation

0:00 Welcome again to our meditation class. And the meditation class is where we learn how to experience our own body and our own mind instead of reading it out of books or believing in things. At a recent talk over in UWA, somebody asked me the question, Ajahn Brahm, have you got faith? Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:28 And I said, no. Because I always distrust faith. Faith can be something you can begin with, but then you kind of test it out, see if it works. And one of the nice things about the meditation, what you experience when you get still, is the lessening or even the abandonment of something they used to call the five hindrances. Report an error in the passage at 0:28 Highlight the passage at 0:28

0:58 Wanting, not wanting, tiredness, Sloth and torp and restlessness and remorse. And the fifth thing is doubt. And the fifth one was something I was always surprised at. What does that mean? Doubt. And what it means is when your mind gets still, not just those four, what they call hindrances, disappear, but what you experience, you know that what it is, is accurate. Report an error in the passage at 0:58 Highlight the passage at 0:58

1:35 Real. You don't imagine. You don't distort anything. And that is quite wonderful. Even those people who have some of these experiences, the deep meditations, of things disappearing or remembering past lives, all those sorts of stuff, you know, sometimes you think, oh, this is interesting, this is wonderful, but how can you trust it? Report an error in the passage at 1:35 Highlight the passage at 1:35

2:00 It's amazing that when these things do actually happen, You know it's real in a way which you don't usually recognize in ordinary conscious experience. And you check it out afterwards and you find it is real. Report an error in the passage at 2:00 Highlight the passage at 2:00

2:18 And that is quite stunning, first of all. You know how many times you've had experiences in life. You were there, you saw it. But did you really see it accurately? Or is there distortions of perception? And in these cases, when you've had some deep meditations, your perception is not distorted at all. It's accurate. Report an error in the passage at 2:18 Highlight the passage at 2:18

2:44 You can test it out a few times if you want to. But after a while, you know that feeling of stillness and accuracy. So what you perceive is real. Report an error in the passage at 2:44 Highlight the passage at 2:44

2:55 And that is so much more powerful way of not just seeing truth, but knowing it is truth. A good example of that, and it's an example not from Buddhism, that is the example of that lady from Hong Kong who was a Catholic and who having an operation in the hospital over in Hong Kong, she left her body and she went into a big light and she's having an operation for cancer. Report an error in the passage at 2:55 Highlight the passage at 2:55

3:31 And when she went into that light, because she was a Catholic, She interpreted it as union with God. Okay, now I'm not being religious here. That's just the language which she used for this experience. And when she came out, she had the understanding, the insight, that her cancers were all over and beaten. Report an error in the passage at 3:31 Highlight the passage at 3:31

3:54 And the reason was because she saw the cause of them. She said the cause was always trying. To please other people too much, no matter how much she did, she always wanted to please them some more. And that stress, she identified, she identified as the cause of her cancer. And when she came out, that's what she told the doctors. And the doctors thought she was just kind of hallucinating. But she said, no, that was true. Report an error in the passage at 3:54 Highlight the passage at 3:54

4:24 And it was real. This is what happens in these deep meditations. Hers was because of out of the body, going into that, what she saw, union with God, that was, I could identify that as just an experience of Ajahn Brahm, going towards the light, merging into that light, and just having hours of bliss, and the insight which comes out afterwards. Report an error in the passage at 4:24 Highlight the passage at 4:24

4:52 And then for her, the main problem she was trying to solve all this time was, of course, the one threatening her life. Which was the cancer. And when I read that, I was really interested in it because of this reason. You could identify what's happening there. She was not imagining, it was real. And because of that, you can kind of see how when a person does have strong mindfulness, and that's actually what happens in the meditation, your mindfulness gets stronger and stronger and stronger. Report an error in the passage at 4:52 Highlight the passage at 4:52

5:30 And when it gets really strong, it becomes clear. And you know that what you're experiencing is true. Maybe a bit weird, but you know it's real. Report an error in the passage at 5:30 Highlight the passage at 5:30

5:42 And that is something which I was always quite impressed by. I never knew its really implications. How can you know that what you experience in some of these deep meditations is true, is real? Report an error in the passage at 5:42 Highlight the passage at 5:42

5:59 Is it just an illusion? Is just someone faking it? Are you just imagining these states of mind or are they real? And you find the deeper you go in meditation, your perception comes with it, not just the feeling but a knowledge that this what you're seeing, what you're hearing, what you're feeling is actually real. Report an error in the passage at 5:59 Highlight the passage at 5:59

6:25 And that is the wonderful thing about the way we... Access our wisdom, our understanding, our insights. We do need that feeling of the hindrances vanishing, especially that fifth hindrance. So there's no doubt in your mind. What you're experiencing is not what you want to experience, not what you don't want to experience. It's clear. Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:51 It's not just restless for a moment and then disappears. It can be there for long periods of time. And you know this is happening. Report an error in the passage at 6:51 Highlight the passage at 6:51

7:00 I remember there was one of the gentlemen who used to come here. I think he went back over, actually over to, he got married and went over to Philippines. But when he was here, he did a hypnotic regression. And that was enough to get an experience of his past life. He always wondered why he could fly an aircraft, the old type of aircraft, without any training at all. Report an error in the passage at 7:00 Highlight the passage at 7:00

7:31 And that was always a weird experience. Why? When he had his memory of a past life, he remembered he was in the British Air Force in the Second World War. And he wasn't flying a plane to get attacked in the war. He was just doing a transport mission from Wales over to Gibraltar. Report an error in the passage at 7:31 Highlight the passage at 7:31

8:02 And he had this memory of how he died. But in that memory, the person who did that regression gave me a recording of it. And I went into my room and tracked that down on the internet and found there was only one such incident which happened over in Gibraltar during the Second World War. And it's because of a 40 tail plane, 40 tail in the end of the plane. And this guy's memory of it all was perfect. Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

8:40 And it kind of surprised me, how can you remember something which happened in the previous life, so many years ago, and it's all absolutely real, and you can check it. And that was kind of wonderful, how some of these experiences you have in meditation, which answer many questions. You may doubt this, but when it happens to you, you find it does come with it, a perception that this actually is real, you're not imagining it, you're not making it up. Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

9:13 This was you. And many times you can prove it. And that's the interesting part. In these deep meditations, when mindfulness becomes strong, it carries with it the sense that this is real. It's true. You can access truths for yourself which are amazing. So because of this, okay, I'll be personal. One of the times when I was meditating over in Bodhinyana Monastery, so not that long ago, then I was, I love to experiment. Report an error in the passage at 9:13 Highlight the passage at 9:13

9:54 So I asked myself, what is my earliest memory? It was that experience. And the first memory which came up was I would say a baby in a pram in London. That's where I was born. And my mother was pushing me in the pram. When it came up, it's like being back there. Not like a memory of what you had for lunch today. Report an error in the passage at 9:54 Highlight the passage at 9:54

10:23 It's a memory like being back there, being able to explore that experience. And one of the things which I noticed which was strange, was my mother. I recognized her and even the contents of my baby's pram by its smell. Report an error in the passage at 10:23 Highlight the passage at 10:23

10:43 And that confused me for a while, but when I told this story to many people, one of the people I told it to was somebody who knows the development of the baby in the womb and afterwards. And they said, that is one of the first of your five senses. Which grows strong, your sense of smell. And it's true, in the first weeks of a baby's life, you recognize people like your mother and your father, not by how she looks, but how she smells. Report an error in the passage at 10:43 Highlight the passage at 10:43

11:20 And that's kind of weird, that what I thought was maybe just an illusion was actually truthful. Those stages of your mind when you get into deep meditation, have different aspects to them, which if you notice, what you see, what you hear is truthful. You can rely on it. You're not so deceived. Report an error in the passage at 11:20 Highlight the passage at 11:20

11:43 And that's kind of an interesting thing. When I was just, many of you know, the last week I was hanging out with an old friend who was a close friend of Stephen Hawking. And we were talking about how can we verify. You know, truths like the nature of the mind, what is consciousness. The only real way we can verify it, he said, was through experiments. Report an error in the passage at 11:43 Highlight the passage at 11:43

12:13 I said, no. In deep meditation, you can verify these things, but it's hard to prove that verification process to others. But nevertheless, that was in my mind recently, so that's why I keep talking about it. And right now, We're doing some meditation, even though you may not be intending the meditation to verify who you were in your previous life, or what you're up to in this life, and when you were very young. Report an error in the passage at 12:13 Highlight the passage at 12:13

12:45 But nevertheless, it's nice to realize that these are truths which you can experience for yourself. The nature of your body, how it works, how it heals, why it gets sick. These are important things to know. Report an error in the passage at 12:45 Highlight the passage at 12:45

13:02 And then there's little things. Like, you know that many of you are traditional Buddhists as well as meditators. Why that sometimes we do chanting for you. You're asking, can you please, I'm feeling a bit sick, can you please do some blessings for us? Why do I do that? I don't do it just to please you. I know it works. You know how it works. Report an error in the passage at 13:02 Highlight the passage at 13:02

13:29 That's one of the reasons why we do it. I'm not fraudulent. I don't get anything out of this. I'm not allowed to have money. Any donations goes in the Buddhist Society of West Australia. I inspire people Report an error in the passage at 13:29 Highlight the passage at 13:29

14:05 and they offer money to this place. That's how they build these centers and pay the bills. But nevertheless, I'm happy to do that because it's maybe able to extend this teaching a long, long, long, long way. So anyway, when you do the meditation, the idea is to understand your mind. We call that the mental consciousness. And once to be able to understand it, even the Buddha used that simile, If you want to find the nature of, say, silver or titanium, you have to purify that sample of, say, titanium. Report an error in the passage at 14:05 Highlight the passage at 14:05

14:54 So it's just titanium and nothing else. And then you can do your experiments on it, how it works. And then when you do your experiments on it, you know that you can trust the results, that pure titanium. Report an error in the passage at 14:54 Highlight the passage at 14:54

15:11 And then you can understand it. And that's the same with the nature of your mind. You know what a mind is? It's a fascinating thing to learn about and discover. And it's different powers and ways of working. But the only way to really understand the nature of this thing we call the mind is to isolate it, first of all. Report an error in the passage at 15:11 Highlight the passage at 15:11

15:39 So any other things which can Mix up with the mind and contaminate it, not in the sense of making it dirty, but in the sense of making it mixed up with other senses. The other senses disappear. So you can't feel the body. The sense of touch vanishes. Report an error in the passage at 15:39 Highlight the passage at 15:39

16:02 The sense of sight vanishes. When I was doing some Zen meditation as a lay person years ago, I didn't really know what I was doing. It's nice when you don't know what you're doing because you get surprised. You don't get scared. And I was asked to keep my eyes open. So your eyes open staring at a whitewashed wall but keeping your mind still. Not thinking. Report an error in the passage at 16:02 Highlight the passage at 16:02

16:35 Not naming. And then what happened after about 10 minutes still with my eyes fully open The wall disappeared. It kind of vanished like a magician had tapped it and then it just disappeared from reality. And that of course was weird. I was not scared. I was interested. How does this thing happen? If something remains still long enough, it vanishes. Report an error in the passage at 16:35 Highlight the passage at 16:35

17:07 And that's what happens with your body. It's supposed to happen with your body in meditation. You don't move. You get yourself reasonably comfortable, but it's never perfectly comfortable yet. And you sit still long enough, and then the body vanishes. You can't feel it. You're still perfectly awake. You haven't fallen asleep. That's the other time your body vanishes, when you're asleep. Report an error in the passage at 17:07 Highlight the passage at 17:07

17:36 But this time you're perfectly aware, but you can't feel things. And later on, You can't hear things. That's one of the reasons why we try and keep these rooms quiet so you're not disturbed by noise. Even sometimes you can be meditating, get quite still and you can't hear any sounds. Even the sound of cars outside. Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

18:06 It's easy to cut out the sense of physical touch. Sight, sound, and the other two are very easy to cut off, smell and taste. So those five senses vanish. So what are you aware of? That which is left is called the mind. And it's peaceful. Because it's peaceful, there's nothing much happening there. You find that it brings up a lot of joy. Do you know what happiness is? This is what you learn in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

18:47 Real joy, real happiness. Because the happiness which most people know is of the world, of the five senses. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches. And here that all vanishes. And it becomes a more delightful, more delectable happiness. The joy of peace. A mental joy. And after a while, when people ask you, are you just imagining that? Report an error in the passage at 18:47 Highlight the passage at 18:47

19:17 Are you just another of Ajahn Brahm's brainwashed disciples? Are you just believing in some sort of cult? And you know that you've experienced this yourself and there's no doubt about it. It's real. Imagine that you can teach people how to bliss out no matter what they're doing or what they're experiencing. Report an error in the passage at 19:17 Highlight the passage at 19:17

19:44 And of course the weirdest part It's when you can do that when you're really sick. The worst I had was a typhus fever for about three or four weeks in Thailand. Report an error in the passage at 19:44 Highlight the passage at 19:44

19:57 And then I could still get deep meditation when the body totally vanished. And that's wonderful. And when the body totally vanishes when you're having fevers and you're the weakest I've probably ever felt in my life, ah, that really is bliss and freedom. Report an error in the passage at 19:57 Highlight the passage at 19:57

20:18 Body's not a problem anymore. When you see these things, you understand what the nature of the body is, what the nature of the mind is. And no matter what the body is up to, you can always be free of it. I don't mean kidding yourself. There's much better than that. So anyway, I shouldn't speak too much. Report an error in the passage at 20:18 Highlight the passage at 20:18

20:41 Hopefully people can ask questions afterwards. Let's actually start the meditation and just see what happens. Okay, so if you do have a sore leg or... Those of you who come for the introduction to meditation, that is in the room to my right with Peter. Report an error in the passage at 20:41 Highlight the passage at 20:41

21:03 And actually you can see that we've got two people over there holding teddy bears. And when I... I forget where it was. I think it was over in New South Wales. Somebody was running an organization. And there's teaching people how to relax and get over some trauma they've had in their lives. And I told them on one of the retreats, use the teddy bear method. Report an error in the passage at 21:03 Highlight the passage at 21:03

21:36 You see the two teddy bears over here? One big one, one small one. And people put it on their lap when they start meditating. Why do you do that? It brings a sense of safety and comfort and joy. That helps the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 21:36 Highlight the passage at 21:36

21:56 If you don't believe me, try it. It does work. That's why anyone who goes to our retreat center over in what's called Jhāna Grove will see so many teddy bears which people adopt, put on their lap and get so much better meditations. Does it work for you? No doubt there. And you, Aurora? Because sometimes... Report an error in the passage at 21:56 Highlight the passage at 21:56

22:28 It gives you a sense of comfort, safety, joy, and that enhances the strength of the mind. So that's why the teddy bear meditation is a help for each one of you. We don't have any spare teddy bears here, do we? There we go. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:51 Our dharma school's got them, okay, yeah. Excellent. So anyhow, so let's get started. So if you can sit comfortably. Report an error in the passage at 22:51 Highlight the passage at 22:51

23:03 And the idea is to sit comfortably enough. Your body doesn't cause you any disturbance at all and even vanishes. Report an error in the passage at 23:03 Highlight the passage at 23:03

23:16 So first of all, close your eyes. There's nothing much to see. It would be really wonderful if you could close your ears too. Report an error in the passage at 23:16 Highlight the passage at 23:16

23:33 We're not interested in sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touches. Touches are hard to shut down. That's why I do a scan of my body. Report an error in the passage at 23:33 Highlight the passage at 23:33

23:49 Starting with my toes. Report an error in the passage at 23:49 Highlight the passage at 23:49

23:54 When I do a scan of my body, it's not just knowing the toes, it's being kind to them. Just like your doctor would come and ask you, how are you feeling? You know you've broken your leg, it's now healing. How does your leg feel? Now I'm asking you, parts of your body you don't think are injured, such as your toes. Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:23 How do they feel right now? We develop what we call the body awareness, starting with toe awareness. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:38 And you'll find out that every part of your body feels different to another part of the body. My toe feelings, sensations, are not the same, are totally different, strangely to say, than my fingers. Fingers feel one way, toes are totally different. Report an error in the passage at 24:38 Highlight the passage at 24:38

25:00 So when I can experience the sensations in my toes, I ask them, can I improve those feelings? That's a kindness. And as usual, when I ask that question, there's an answer. And it is, I've got my big toe of my right foot sort of squashed, you know, under my calf. I'm now going to adjust that by moving my legs so Report an error in the passage at 25:00 Highlight the passage at 25:00

25:41 I can get it better. It's okay to move at the beginning of the meditation to make sure that the way you're sitting is as best you can possibly do. Report an error in the passage at 25:41 Highlight the passage at 25:41

25:56 And it does feel better. I had to pause for a bit to stop speaking and feel my toe. And then from my toes I go to my feet. Report an error in the passage at 25:56 Highlight the passage at 25:56

26:10 How are your feet feeling? I adjust my... Left foot slightly, it was squashed against the leg, and Report an error in the passage at 26:10 Highlight the passage at 26:10

26:25 move up to my ankle. I've had no injuries down there, but I feel my ankle. And even though there's no pain there, nevertheless, I suggested to it, I can relax you a little bit more. And I kind of use my imagination. I imagine my feet are soaking in a warm bowl of water. Report an error in the passage at 26:25 Highlight the passage at 26:25

26:56 I remember I used to do that when I was a kid. You come home from school, it's been snowing, and my feet were so cold. Get out some hot water, put it in a bowl and soak my feet, and they'd relax. Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:15 And for my ankles, only when I'm finished and they are comfortable, go up my calves and my legs, they Report an error in the passage at 27:15 Highlight the passage at 27:15

27:30 all feel okay, but I check them first of all. And from the calves of my legs to my knees. Many people, when they come to meditation, have problems with their knees. Report an error in the passage at 27:30 Highlight the passage at 27:30

27:44 Please, that's what we have chairs for. Please sit in a comfortable chair if you have a knee problem. Or in one of these stools we have. Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

28:00 Or use cushions. Report an error in the passage at 28:00 Highlight the passage at 28:00

28:05 Until you look at your knees, and it's kind of, they say, thank you. The knees almost telling you, you care for them. I don't just mean just in general. You see what you can do to relax them so deeply. It's like your knees are sinking in to this soft cotton cushion. And Report an error in the passage at 28:05 Highlight the passage at 28:05

28:35 my knees right now, I can't see any stress on them. And sometimes I use imagination, sometimes I just do movement. Sometimes I just suggest and the knee relaxes. Number one, it feels good. I don't force this. I don't relax them more than it's possible. I have to be gentle. Make peace, be kind, be gentle. Report an error in the passage at 28:35 Highlight the passage at 28:35

29:10 I go to my thighs and I kind of look at them. I ask them, how are you? Thigh muscles. And when they give an answer, I Report an error in the passage at 29:10 Highlight the passage at 29:10

29:30 act on it. Report an error in the passage at 29:30 Highlight the passage at 29:30

29:35 I'm supposed to be asking my thighs how they are. My nose answered and it needed a scratch. I'm glad we meditate with our eyes closed. You'll see me picking my nose. And I will do that because my body is more important than any reputation. Report an error in the passage at 29:35 Highlight the passage at 29:35

29:57 And I go up to my buttocks, top of the thighs. Report an error in the passage at 29:57 Highlight the passage at 29:57

30:05 And my attention is just on those two buttocks. To relax the feelings there as best I can. But here, as you remember, I say every week, when I am aware of my buttocks, there's always a feeling there. It's the pressure, the weight of my body being transferred into the floor, through the buttocks. And I do move just to balance that feeling, make sure it's even on both sides. Report an error in the passage at 30:05 Highlight the passage at 30:05

30:43 And I know that eventually, after a minute or two, that feeling will disappear. It's not a problem. And I realize my brain is so efficient. If there's a feeling there, even a strong feeling, but it can be changed, and I'm not worrying about it, it disappears. Report an error in the passage at 30:43 Highlight the passage at 30:43

31:07 And that's what the purpose of this practice is at the beginning. And I look at my whole legs. Including my buttocks down to my toes. And they're pretty comfortable. I've relaxed part by part. Report an error in the passage at 31:07 Highlight the passage at 31:07

31:27 And I go up to my waist. Make sure that's in a good position. I actually do move my waist. There's one position which is the best. And that's what I go for. And make sure my back is straight and curved. They injured my back many years ago. I'm thankful for that. That taught me about how the back works. Report an error in the passage at 31:27 Highlight the passage at 31:27

31:52 And what not to do. My back feels good. Go to the bottom of my body again, to the bottom of the torso and start to scan my attention up my digestive system through the colon first of all, just roughly. Don't need to be accurate. My purpose is if I can see anything which is kind of an ache or a pain which may turn into be In a real tummy ache or bowel ache, what I do is just pause there, wish it well, wish it kindness. Report an error in the passage at 31:52 Highlight the passage at 31:52

32:40 As I was talking today, you know, with someone after lunch, that when doctors listen to nurses, nurses, they can just hold somebody's hand or look at them with kindness and that heals. Report an error in the passage at 32:40 Highlight the passage at 32:40

33:03 Lessons the pain. If you can give such kindness to your own body, right now, you know, the digestive tract, it's amazing how you can heal any aches and pains. Report an error in the passage at 33:03 Highlight the passage at 33:03

33:22 And go up from the digestive tract to the intestines, eventually to the stomach. I Report an error in the passage at 33:22 Highlight the passage at 33:22

33:34 can see my stomach. It's amazing. It is a bit irritated. I think it was because Someone gave me some dark chocolate today, a dark chocolate bunny for Easter. And out of the desire for religious harmony, I decided to eat the ears of the rabbit. Maybe I eat too much. I can feel just the slight irritation remaining. I Report an error in the passage at 33:34 Highlight the passage at 33:34

34:05 go further up to the stomach itself. Report an error in the passage at 34:05 Highlight the passage at 34:05

34:13 And if anywhere, I know how to relax things, take away the stress. If there's any aches or pains, relax it. It's not trying to get rid of things, that stresses things out. It's not replying with negativity, but with this wonderful care. Dear stomach, sorry if I ate too much chocolate. I relax my tummy and go further upwards to my lungs. Report an error in the passage at 34:13 Highlight the passage at 34:13

34:55 I do suffer from hay fever, allergies. My father was asthmatic, so I've got that genetic, I was going to say fault, but I won't say fault, like anomaly. My Report an error in the passage at 34:55 Highlight the passage at 34:55

35:21 lungs relax too, and I breathe so easily. And all the while I'm scanning up my body, if I notice anything, you know, in the outside of my body, in the front, by the breasts, or in the back, all these organs in the back. Report an error in the passage at 35:21 Highlight the passage at 35:21

35:44 If I notice they feel a bit strange, I'll just focus on them and just bathe them in as much kindness as I can create. Report an error in the passage at 35:44 Highlight the passage at 35:44

35:57 I often, just when people tell me they're suffering from some disease, I focus on that source of disease inside their body and send lots and lots of mettā. It works. I sometimes think, why don't people do that to their own body? I'm doing that now. Report an error in the passage at 35:57 Highlight the passage at 35:57

36:26 Go further up, get to my heart region. And I focus on the heart and give it huge amounts of kindness, relaxing it. I know if you get afraid, your heart gets stressed and beats very fast. When it gets comfortable, it beats less. Report an error in the passage at 36:26 Highlight the passage at 36:26

36:54 So I grant my own heart the opportunity to be at ease. It doesn't have to work hard. I'm only meditating. I'm not running a marathon. Report an error in the passage at 36:54 Highlight the passage at 36:54

37:10 And then you go to the very top of your torso, to the shoulders. They always seem to be a bit tense when I start meditating. Report an error in the passage at 37:10 Highlight the passage at 37:10

37:24 So I deliberately relax them. One way, it's only one way to relax the feelings in your shoulders. is to go in the opposite direction first of all tense them up scrunch them up as much as you can and then let go and they usually get more relaxed than when I started it's like rolling a ball up a hill letting it go and it falls to a lower level than it was before so Report an error in the passage at 37:24 Highlight the passage at 37:24

37:57 now my shoulders feel really at ease I go down the rest of my arms past My elbows, if you have any elbow problem. First of all, can you feel your elbows? How are they? I do ask the question, elbows, how do you feel? Report an error in the passage at 37:57 Highlight the passage at 37:57

38:21 And when I get that feeling, I relax even more. It's amazing just how, when you know something, you have a tiny bit of power over it. And you can make it more relaxed. And into my forearms and in my... Report an error in the passage at 38:21 Highlight the passage at 38:21

38:47 And last of all, my fingers. The reason I giggled there. I don't know how many times I do this. But when I ask my fingers, how are they? They always say, at last, you've asked. Because my fingers are not comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 38:47 Highlight the passage at 38:47

39:09 Now I put them in a more comfy position. It's like the fingers say, thank you. I don't assume anything in my body. I just relax every part of it. If some part I forget, I get back to it later. Report an error in the passage at 39:09 Highlight the passage at 39:09

39:30 I may go back to my shoulders again and my neck, making sure my head is well balanced on top of the neck. Sometimes, I've been saying this recently, if I feel tired, I move my head slightly backwards. It tends to bring more alertness. Not too far back. And I go to the head itself, mostly the face, the muscles around the eyes, the nose and the mouth. Report an error in the passage at 39:30 Highlight the passage at 39:30

40:07 I can feel if they're tight, if they're too loose. Report an error in the passage at 40:07 Highlight the passage at 40:07

40:16 You all know that you can read a person's state of mind often by how their face looks. If they're afraid, angry, tired, you can see that. on the positions of the muscles. I now learn how to relax as much as I can all those muscles on the face. Report an error in the passage at 40:16 Highlight the passage at 40:16

40:43 And with that, any tiredness, any fear, any sort of negativity, just the superficial negativity, but still it works, can be let go of. And my face really relaxes. Report an error in the passage at 40:43 Highlight the passage at 40:43

41:09 And then the one last thing I do with my body. I join everything together. Head, neck, body, arms, fingers, butt, legs, toes. I've Report an error in the passage at 41:09 Highlight the passage at 41:09

41:29 relaxed every part of it, bit by bit. And my goodness, it feels good. It feels joyful. Report an error in the passage at 41:29 Highlight the passage at 41:29

41:42 Because it feels joyful, it relaxes even more. I Report an error in the passage at 41:42 Highlight the passage at 41:42

41:56 enjoy that feeling for about two or three minutes. Sometimes indulging it for longer. Report an error in the passage at 41:56 Highlight the passage at 41:56

42:05 I'm not afraid of that joy. It's what causes relaxation, deep relaxation. Report an error in the passage at 42:05 Highlight the passage at 42:05

42:17 And then I go to my mind. Relax the body, now I relax the mind. Report an error in the passage at 42:17 Highlight the passage at 42:17

42:26 One of those exercises I do is on the suitcases. I just do an imagination that I'm holding two heavy suitcases in my mind, not in my body. The suitcase in the left hand represents my past. Report an error in the passage at 42:26 Highlight the passage at 42:26

42:46 All the good and bad things which I've done in my life. The one in the right hand is the future. All those fears, anxieties, decisions I have to make in the future. I feel their weight. They're heavy. They tire me. Report an error in the passage at 42:46 Highlight the passage at 42:46

43:09 So I imagine first feeling the weight, the burden. Then I lean to the left in my mind so I can lower. The suitcase in my left hand to the floor, when it meets the ground, all the weight vanishes. Report an error in the passage at 43:09 Highlight the passage at 43:09

43:32 The ground, the earth is now bearing that weight. So I can let my hands move away from the handle and relax by my side. And I similarly let go of the suitcase in the right hand, lowering it to the ground. Report an error in the passage at 43:32 Highlight the passage at 43:32

43:54 Letting the floor hold the burden and I move my hand and my arm upwards. I've let go of the past and the future. It's safe. I can still see them there. No one is going to take them away. But I'm not holding them. Report an error in the passage at 43:54 Highlight the passage at 43:54

44:17 I'm free. Report an error in the passage at 44:17 Highlight the passage at 44:17

44:21 And that becomes the first relaxation in my mind. Letting go of the past and the future so I can be in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 44:21 Highlight the passage at 44:21

44:39 There's nice being here. And Report an error in the passage at 44:39 Highlight the passage at 44:39

44:46 the next thing which I do, I notice I can still think about the past and the future and give names to things. And that's a burden. And now I resolve to stop giving things names, to stop thinking. Report an error in the passage at 44:46 Highlight the passage at 44:46

45:08 I can feel. I know my emotional world. But I don't give things names. It's usually the names come and then they start the problems. Report an error in the passage at 45:08 Highlight the passage at 45:08

45:25 I become silent in Report an error in the passage at 45:25 Highlight the passage at 45:25

45:31 that silent present moment awareness. There's a great sense of peace and freedom. I notice that. Peace, freedom. That's the meaning of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:52 So now I just stay here. Don't need to go anywhere. I'm in the present moment. Silent. I'm just going to now let this grow. Grow and mature. I will now be peaceful and silent. Getting Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

· · · silence, 14 minutes

59:46 close to the end of the meditation now. Before Report an error in the passage at 59:46 Highlight the passage at 59:46

59:55 you leave the meditation, please inquire how your body feels and Report an error in the passage at 59:55 Highlight the passage at 59:55

1:00:07 how your mind feels. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:07 Highlight the passage at 1:00:07

1:00:13 Don't analyze with words. Experience with feelings. I Report an error in the passage at 1:00:13 Highlight the passage at 1:00:13

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:00:56 will ring the gong three times to Report an error in the passage at 1:00:56 Highlight the passage at 1:00:56

1:01:02 show an ending. You can Report an error in the passage at 1:01:02 Highlight the passage at 1:01:02

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:01:58 usually start the Q &A with the questions from overseas and then give us a chance for us to come out slowly. Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:19 you. I Report an error in the passage at 1:02:19 Highlight the passage at 1:02:19

1:02:23 have two questions here from Report an error in the passage at 1:02:23 Highlight the passage at 1:02:23

1:02:30 the UK. As a theoretical physicist, do you know if there is a relationship between meditation and the quantum realm? Can meditation affect the quantum field? Thank you. And basically, I don't make any connection between those two things. The meditation is what I experience, and the quantum field is the sort of things you think about. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:30 Highlight the passage at 1:02:30

1:03:03 And I just, all the thinking kind of stops in meditation. So I've never explored that possibility. And basically I don't see the need to. So basically that question is just not part of my agenda. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03:03

1:03:23 This one, next one, is from Germany. Dear Ajahn Brahm, I'm severely ill, no healing, which makes me sad. How can I give love and kindness to my body and my loved one like that? To find peace and make life easy for us, a lot of the times the illness, the pain, can take your energy away. But it doesn't have to. Sometimes, I remember trying that many times when I was a young monk, of being really ill, in pain, and not being able to sleep or not being able to do anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:23 Highlight the passage at 1:03:23

1:04:11 think and then I decide to let it be, to let go of trying to change things. And that loving kindness, the best way I can describe it, is that story of opening the door of my heart to whatever I'm experiencing. This is part of life, having sickness. And it's also part of life, learning that this sickness affects the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:11 Highlight the passage at 1:04:11

1:04:46 It doesn't affect the mind. The mind can be free. And there's a few times once I allow that possibility, then it happens. You can be free, even though you're really, really sick, in pain, or just no energy. You let it be. You don't have happiness or sadness. You go beyond both of those. And afterwards, when you see that pain, that illness, that weakness, you can let it go. Then afterwards, that does inspire you. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:46 Highlight the passage at 1:04:46

1:05:34 You know, in your life, there's more to life than sickness. Even at the end of your life, when you know that sickness is not going to be healed, you can let it go. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:34 Highlight the passage at 1:05:34

1:05:51 Really let it go. And be really peaceful. Imagine that. Have you ever seen people who have been in great pain when they're sick, and at sometimes the end of their life, you look at them, they're at peace. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:51 Highlight the passage at 1:05:51

1:06:09 It's like they've done an amazing thing. Understood pain. Understood freedom. Seen the difference between the two. And gone for that difference. To really be at peace. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:09 Highlight the passage at 1:06:09

1:06:26 So if you are severely ill, no healing, don't be sad. Instead of being sad, just understand why, what's going on. And just because the body is sick, doesn't mean the mind has to be sick. When you do that, sometimes you, weird to say this, you feel that sickness, thank you. You taught me so much. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:07:03 Okay. Any questions from the floor here? From you guys? How many of you have never been sick? Of course we've all been sick. And sometimes it's hard to bear. Sometimes I've come across people who've really been sick for years. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:03 Highlight the passage at 1:07:03

1:07:29 And people who've got through that sickness and blissed out haven't died yet. Okay, I've got a question. Thank you Ajahn Brahm. What I would like to know is many years ago now I was coming to Jacob's meditation classes and when I was doing them at one time I didn't even realise what type or how deep I was in a meditation but when it came to finish I couldn't move, I couldn't feel anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:29 Highlight the passage at 1:07:29

1:08:11 But I could hear very clearly and people were saying, Anne's not moving, she's not getting up, what's going on, what's happening? And Jacob said, just leave her, she's fine. Good. So I just wanted to know, and I've often thought about that and I have done some of that off and on since then, but I just wanted to know, what is that all about? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:11 Highlight the passage at 1:08:11

1:08:38 If you could explain that for me, please. Okay, what the explanation is, is that of your senses, that which controls movement doesn't need to move. You are happy, content. And sometimes you can hear instructions, but the mind is so quiet and so peaceful, it doesn't need to move. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:38 Highlight the passage at 1:08:38

1:09:08 Sometimes I tell, People, if you do experience those states, what to do is you feel I better come out of meditation. But don't just try too hard to come out. I like doing like a countdown. Like the 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. Very slowly and kindly. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And you can give your mind a chance. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:08 Highlight the passage at 1:09:08

1:09:43 To actually to slowly come out, to prepare itself to come out. And that's actually how people like hypnotists, they hypnotize you and say, after the count of ten you will come out of the deep hypnosis. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:43 Highlight the passage at 1:09:43

1:10:01 You can't talk to a mind and get it to act out of command. You've got to help it come out, not too harshly. And that actually works really well. Number two. I like telling this story. This is not a past life memory, but it's so similar that I remember years ago as a monk having this dream. And the dream was I was a young boy in the place where I grew up, the council flats in Acton in UK. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:01 Highlight the passage at 1:10:01

1:10:43 And I was attacked. I was only a small boy by a gang older than me. Not just attacked, but they had knives and they kept stabbing me. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:43 Highlight the passage at 1:10:43

1:10:56 This is a dream, but it was so vivid. And as they were stabbing me, it hurt so much that I just went deep inside myself as a place of safety where I wouldn't feel the pain. And then my mother had seen that somehow. I came running out as a mother would, not out of fear, you know, she was so outnumbered and these kids had knives to try and save me. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:56 Highlight the passage at 1:10:56

1:11:28 And the kids ran away and I just collapsed. And then I remember just being in like a catatonic state for years. This never happened, but it's obviously something which had happened in a previous life. And catatonia means, you know, you don't respond to any sort of stimulus from outside. You're still alive, but, you know, you are non-communicative with the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:28 Highlight the passage at 1:11:28

1:12:04 And then I do remember what brought me out of that, just in some sort of home, you know, being looked after, not in my own home, and a nurse just singing so gently. With so much loving kindness, it felt safe to come back into the world. And that safety, that kindness, I realized just from that dream how powerful that is. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:04 Highlight the passage at 1:12:04

1:12:37 That's one of the reasons why I say if anybody does get into a deeper meditation, you leave them there. But if you need to make sure they get out because they have to go and catch a flight somewhere or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:37 Highlight the passage at 1:12:37

1:12:52 Do it with so much kindness. Please, don't shout. They can hear. Please come out. It's time for a flight. And they do. Sometimes people assume that shouting is the best way for people to hear. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:52 Highlight the passage at 1:12:52

1:13:16 But the kindness is much more attractive and goes deeper into your consciousness and can bring you out from danger. It's a weird experience. I never explored it since to find out why, what actually is that, but it was so real to me, even though it could not have happened the way I described it to you. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:16 Highlight the passage at 1:13:16

1:13:42 Does that make sense to you? That was very powerful for me. There are people who do get into deep meditations. The last person that I saw was in one of these retreats I gave for the This time, a little bit later, last year for the Hong Kong and Indonesians. And this lady, she was in the evening. She started meditating on the floor of the stupa. She just carried on all night. And then other people saw her. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:42 Highlight the passage at 1:13:42

1:14:22 It was cold. So they put a blanket around her. She never responded. And they let her carry on meditating. I described these things to them all. They knew exactly what was happening and what to do. But then they came in the morning. They said they shouted at her, Come on, it's time to go for breakfast. We're leaving today. We've got a big ceremony first. And she didn't respond. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:22 Highlight the passage at 1:14:22

1:14:50 So I told them, Don't call any ambulance. Just go back there. And instead of shouting at her, Tell her very softly and very kindly, Ajahn Brahm asked you to come to the main hall. Just once. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:50 Highlight the passage at 1:14:50

1:15:09 And about half an hour later, she appeared in the main hall and said, you asked me to come here? I said, yes. You know, we've got to get ready to actually to go today. And so, do you want a breakfast? She said, no. Can I carry on meditating? Yes, in the main hall. And she did. She never got any cold, never got any disease, which was quite amazing. She should have done, if she'd have sat in such a cold place for so long. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:09 Highlight the passage at 1:15:09

1:15:44 But when you do deep meditation, you do become invulnerable. I say that, maybe you don't believe me, if it happens to you, you'll actually see it occurring. You're perfectly safe. But if you want to come out for yourself, Just do it with a lot of kindness, please. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you for sharing that. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:44 Highlight the passage at 1:15:44

1:16:17 Anyone else who's got a question here? Ajahn Brahm. Fairly often during meditation, I'll have this experience where my eyes sort of involuntarily start to open a little bit. And when that happens, I realize that it feels like my eyes are sort of cross-eyed, like almost like they're... Oh, yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:17 Highlight the passage at 1:16:17

1:16:40 Like a cross-eyed angle. And I sort of end up becoming aware of it and almost sort of close my eyes again. Sometimes people go cross-eyed if they follow that instruction of watching the breath at the tip of their nose. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:40 Highlight the passage at 1:16:40

1:17:02 Imagine you're watching your breath at the tip of your nose like I'm doing now. You go cross-eyed. So that's one of the reasons I ask people, please don't do that. Relax, rest, make the mind really peaceful, and then if you want to watch the breath, you can watch it, and it doesn't go cross-eyed. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:02 Highlight the passage at 1:17:02

1:17:26 I don't know if that's a reason, but that's one of the reasons why that happens. You don't need to watch the breath at the tip of the nose. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:26 Highlight the passage at 1:17:26

1:17:36 That's one of the problems people have. This is not nose meditation, it's breath meditation. So I can just close my eyes. I don't know if the breath's going in or out. I don't have to watch it at one particular place. I remember just messing around with that when I was a young monk. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:36 Highlight the passage at 1:17:36

1:17:57 After a while, weird as it might sound, I could watch my breath going in and out on my big toe. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:57 Highlight the passage at 1:17:57

1:18:07 It was just I was messing around with my perceptions. You don't have to watch it at the tip of the nose. All it was, you were knowing. Your breath was going in and out, not knowing the experience rather than watching the physical feeling at the tip of the nose. That could be the problem. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:07 Highlight the passage at 1:18:07

1:18:28 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:28 Highlight the passage at 1:18:28

1:18:32 Anyone else got another really good question? Okay. We can now maybe just... Oh, one more. I was wondering, sometimes I've found if I'm having asthma or something like that, Breathing can become a little bit more difficult, so breathing meditation can sometimes kind of feel like I'm accelerating that kind of discomfort. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:32 Highlight the passage at 1:18:32

1:19:04 Do you think it's best in that situation to continue, commit on that path, or maybe choose a different type of meditation? Choose a different type. It's very easy for me to say that, because I suffer from hay fever. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:04 Highlight the passage at 1:19:04

1:19:23 And I remember when I first learned breath meditation, there were some times of the year I could not watch my breath at the tip of the nose. There was no breath going out there, my nose was blocked. And then later on, I heard, you know, from a Burmese method, you could watch the breath at your tummy going up and down. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:23 Highlight the passage at 1:19:23

1:19:45 So I really thought, wow, I think I can meditate now any time of the year. But then... When you started keeping eight precepts or become a monk, in the evening, you know, when I was meditating, it was so close to the stomach. I was a young man. I felt hungry. And that was disappointing me. So eventually, you figured out, and I'm glad I had these two problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:45 Highlight the passage at 1:19:45

1:20:16 I figured it out for myself. You don't have to watch the breath at the tip of the nose. You just have to know the breath. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:16 Highlight the passage at 1:20:16

1:20:25 And this is how I taught people how to watch the breath. Sometimes you teach kids. Is your breath going in or breath going out? They know. How do you know? Just know. You don't have to watch at one particular spot in your body. As long as you know the breath is going in and going out and you're peaceful, that's good enough. So I was very happy not to... Report an error in the passage at 1:20:25 Highlight the passage at 1:20:25

1:20:59 To learn how to meditate from early on without watching the tip of the nose. And after a while, in watching the breathing meditation, I remember once I asked myself, you know, just, where are you observing this? I just asked that question. I'd been watching the breath for a long time. Where are you watching it? And the answer came up, tip of the nose. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:59 Highlight the passage at 1:20:59

1:21:27 But I wasn't watching the tip of the nose. That was the answer which came up. I kind of laughed. So don't watch it anyway. Know it. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:27 Highlight the passage at 1:21:27

1:21:41 That's more than good enough. Does that make sense to you? I think so. I was originally taught meditation by a Zen monk. So they focus on the hara in the stomach. And I found it was kind of irrelevant where I focused. That kind of discomfort would always be there. So I guess my question is more maybe, I was thinking, would you meditate on, I'm not sure, some sensation in the body that isn't the breath, or do you think it is valuable to sit with that discomfort? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:41 Highlight the passage at 1:21:41

1:22:19 I would actually want to sit with that discomfort. I just meditate on peace. That's an unlovely thing to meditate on. You understand what peace is? You create some peace in the mind, and once you have that peace, That idea of peace becomes a meditation object and it gets deeper and deeper and deeper. There is one meditation path which I described and it's quite a beautiful one of the thousand petaled lotus. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:19 Highlight the passage at 1:22:19

1:22:57 In that thousand petaled lotus, the lotus opens up its leaves when it meets the warmth. of the sun and the light of the sun. In this simile, the warmth of meditation describes the importance of the kindness you have and the light, the awareness. That kindness and awareness is what opens up the lotus, what opens up the mind. You're kind and aware of your body. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:57 Highlight the passage at 1:22:57

1:23:36 Not just aware, but kind to it. That's why I have no doubt if there's any discomfort, you find a way beyond that. Not just endurance. And then all the petals of the lotus start opening up and you get deeper and deeper and deeper. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:36 Highlight the passage at 1:23:36

1:23:54 Eventually in meditation you go way beyond the breath. The breath is only a beginning path. When you go really beyond it, then you're really having a great time. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:54 Highlight the passage at 1:23:54

1:24:05 And the point is that you're finding out the lotus, you. What are you made of? What are the innermost leaves of you? Beyond the body, beyond sound, beyond thought, just deep inside, in that depth of awareness. That's where you come across things like the jhānas. And then you're really flying high, getting really, really peaceful. You can't feel any discomfort at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:05 Highlight the passage at 1:24:05

1:24:38 So that's what I would suggest for you. But don't keep enjoying. People think I'll enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, and it'll go away. It's more people go away from meditation when they do endurance. And you find a beautiful way through. And you get more and more into this meditation. You're way beyond the breath. Does that make any sense? Report an error in the passage at 1:24:38 Highlight the passage at 1:24:38

1:25:10 Yes, thank you. Great. Thank you for the question. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:10 Highlight the passage at 1:25:10

1:25:20 Any more questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:25:20 Highlight the passage at 1:25:20

1:25:27 Okay. And now it's 4.25. So I'm now going to bow to Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha and then we can go off to do whatever we need to do. That's Report an error in the passage at 1:25:27 Highlight the passage at 1:25:27

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:26:26 a nice session. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:26 Highlight the passage at 1:26:26