Meditation can be Used as A Tool to Add Peace in One's Life

0:00 So yeah, so meditation can be seen in many different ways and like for yourself. Some people do use it as a tool, tool to kind of like just add some more peace into one's life. Yeah. So if you think about it, you know, do you know what peace is? Have you experienced peace before? Especially in this like this modern age. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:59 And meditation is just another thing that you can just add into your life. For some of us, we like to go to the beach or we like to take dancing classes or we like to play sport and we can see the benefits from it. We play sport because we enjoy it and you get benefits of being fit and all those kinds of things. And then also the things that you like to do in life. Report an error in the passage at 0:59 Highlight the passage at 0:59

1:28 um they kind of bring a certain happiness to you so in a sense like with the meditation Meditation also brings something positive to one's life. That's why if you come across other meditators, they've been doing it for a very long time. The reason why they're doing it for a long time is because they're getting some sort of benefit from it. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:59 and and And so one of the obvious things is you can see a huge difference in your daily life, you know, the time you wake up in the morning, you go to work and all those kinds of things. You see the activity that happens in the mind, you know, what you see, what you hear, just your daily life. And you compare that to an activity like meditation. So meditation, right, in a sense, is giving yourself some time to shut everything out or shut everything off. Report an error in the passage at 1:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59

2:48 Isn't that nice? Report an error in the passage at 2:48 Highlight the passage at 2:48

2:53 Because sometimes, like, a lot of our problems Some of our problems come from not knowing how to shut this mind off. Report an error in the passage at 2:53 Highlight the passage at 2:53

3:13 Meditation is a beautiful platform for the mind to experience nothing. If you think about it, in life, At what chance can you experience nothing? Like peace of mind, quietness of mind. When do those situations arise? Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

3:42 There's only a couple of situations. When you go to sleep at night, your mind winds down, the brain shuts off, you go to sleep. That's the time of the day when nothing much really happens. And the other time is when you're blind drunk. Report an error in the passage at 3:42 Highlight the passage at 3:42

4:02 I was just joking. Report an error in the passage at 4:02 Highlight the passage at 4:02

4:08 So we can kind of understand what we're getting into when we're meditating. It's just to be okay with the nothingness that happens in meditation. We're not expecting... it out. Report an error in the passage at 4:08 Highlight the passage at 4:08

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4:38 The meditation just gives us a place to kind of rest our minds or it just gives us a place where we can just go to because sometimes I think sometimes Report an error in the passage at 4:38 Highlight the passage at 4:38

5:02 like we try to use our thinking mind to to kind of solve the problems of the world or Report an error in the passage at 5:02 Highlight the passage at 5:02

5:42 Now a days, what do we think about? Oh, what do we think about? Oh, the spring hasn't come yet. It's still too cold. Oh, what else do people think about? Trump? Yeah, Donald Trump, what is he doing in the US? You know, things like that. It's like, our lives, there's no kind of stopping or ending. And this mind of ours just keeps on... Report an error in the passage at 5:42 Highlight the passage at 5:42

6:12 Continually thinking about stuff. And after a while we can kind of understand that this thinking is endless. It doesn't really lead to any real problem solving. Report an error in the passage at 6:12 Highlight the passage at 6:12

6:26 Have you really solved any problems in your life through thinking? Not really. It just goes on and on and on. Round and round and round. And sometimes as humans I think it's kind of good to admit Report an error in the passage at 6:26 Highlight the passage at 6:26

7:10 It sometimes cannot kind of solve all my problems. So what the meditation does, it gives you a place in your mind where you can go to where you do not need to bring your problems. You do not need to try to figure out the world around you. It's a place where there's like this quietness, this present moment-ness where you can go there and rest. Report an error in the passage at 7:10 Highlight the passage at 7:10

7:41 I like the just the idea of being able to just rest in this moment like you're resting and you don't need to think about things because as you experience when you're meditating the meditation it gives you this opportunity to just close your eyes sit still and just be you just being here without any stimuli and You're just being here without needing to solve any problems. You're just being here without asking your mind to do anything. Report an error in the passage at 7:41 Highlight the passage at 7:41

8:28 There's something nice about that. Just being able to just let go. This idea of letting go. Letting go for the duration of the meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 8:28 Highlight the passage at 8:28

8:44 And it's like, you know, it's like, you know, what does letting go mean? Letting go, what it means, I think, like, there's different meanings to letting go. Different teachers tell you different things. But I think one of the meanings of letting go is just to be able to just put aside your thinking, who you think you are, your worries, your ideas, your happinesses, everything. Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

9:16 That part of the mind, just put it aside and just give the meditation the next half an hour. Just give yourself this chance just to be in this moment. And that's all it is. Report an error in the passage at 9:16 Highlight the passage at 9:16

9:36 Being able to just being in this moment and understand that it's okay to be quiet. Yeah, it's okay. Not having that feeling that you have to think things through. It's okay to just let go for the next half an hour. And what one understands is it's actually incredibly kind of stable or safe or calm just to be able to not to think too much. Report an error in the passage at 9:36 Highlight the passage at 9:36

10:20 Just being able to just get away. from whatever you want to get away from. I just be in the moment. And, yeah, so... So that's a little tip that you can use when we do some meditation. We'll do a half an hour sit and just instruct yourself that this is a half an hour where I'm just going to try to be in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 10:20 Highlight the passage at 10:20

10:55 And the present moment is usually, there's a silence there, so the mind won't be thinking too much. So sometimes we kind of ask ourselves, what kind of things can I do to have my mind being in the present moment? And one of the things is just kind of feel where you are. Like you're in this body and you're in this room and this room, you know. Report an error in the passage at 10:55 Highlight the passage at 10:55

11:25 In a sense, it's quite silent. And you're kind of trying to tap into that. And that's what meditation is. Meditation, it isn't you do one thing and then you do another thing and then you do another thing. Meditation is just doing one thing. Report an error in the passage at 11:25 Highlight the passage at 11:25

11:44 And that's just being able to figure out how to be in the present moment. Because that's one of the most challenging things for meditators. Report an error in the passage at 11:44 Highlight the passage at 11:44

11:58 Yeah, because of the nature of our minds. And what you will find out is, as soon as you close your eyes, and I start giving some instructions, the mind may settle down somewhat, but then it will start to wake up and start to think about things. And that's just normal. So, as people who want to meditate, how do we deal with the mind? Report an error in the passage at 11:58 Highlight the passage at 11:58

12:27 Ajahn Santutthi talks about the nature of our minds. www .Ajahn Santutthi.com I think it's sort of like, I don't know, maybe this is a bit far-fetched, but like say, like a parent that has acceptance for a child, and the child can be a little bit, you know, naughty and stuff like that, you know, two, three year old, just running, but because the parents have acceptance for the child, the parents can be kind of like calm and relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

13:25 So in the same way, you know, sometimes our minds are a little bit like a child, it's just all over the place. And we try to look at it as an accepting parent. And that kind of attitude that we have towards our mind leads to calm. Report an error in the passage at 13:25 Highlight the passage at 13:25

13:42 So meditation, another element that we can kind of bring into it is no matter what happens within our own minds, we can learn to try to stay calm with it. Report an error in the passage at 13:42 Highlight the passage at 13:42

13:58 And this is quite an important... Report an error in the passage at 13:58 Highlight the passage at 13:58

14:05 This is an important factor or important mind state to have in your meditation because calmness runs through the practice and if you can be calm during the times where the mind is unstable, you're setting yourself up to be calm when the mind is clear. When Report an error in the passage at 14:05 Highlight the passage at 14:05

14:38 a meditator starts to experience that, they can start to understand that meditation is beneficial for one's mind and one's life. Report an error in the passage at 14:38 Highlight the passage at 14:38

15:08 He's like, he's like, this is one thing that you can take away from this session is like, don't underestimate the benefits of peace, of stillness. Something as simple as being quiet has a lot of benefits for one's mind. It's something like something, you know, sometimes we come here and we want to look for some sort of healing. Report an error in the passage at 15:08 Highlight the passage at 15:08

15:38 There's something healing about being able to be still, being able to be peaceful. And one of the analogies that is coming up in my mind now is when I went to do a first aid class and they were just teaching us how to deal with electric shocks and cuts and what have you. And then they would talk about, because we're in Australia, about snakes. And people were getting, when you find yourself in a situation of a snake bite, you know, what do you do? Report an error in the passage at 15:38 Highlight the passage at 15:38

16:20 And then they would bring in the, what the indigenous people would do when they would find themselves in a situation like that where they get bitten by something poisonous or by a snake. And what would they do? They would just go, And sit under a tree and just rest. And just allow the toxins or whatever to just work out of the body. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:48 And there's something about that kind of resting. That resting, that's the point I'm trying to make, is that the resting kind of heals the body. And it's the same with the mind. Like this stillness or the present moment, even though we don't really understand what is happening, it's healing to the mind. Report an error in the passage at 16:48 Highlight the passage at 16:48

17:10 And then after a while, after many sessions of meditation, after many sessions of experiencing the present moment, the peace that comes from it, we can kind of start to see the benefits that it can bring us. And I think one of the benefits is that, oh, finally, the first time in my life, I can go to a place where it's peaceful. I've never had that before. Report an error in the passage at 17:10 Highlight the passage at 17:10

17:37 And it's like, how many of us can say, you know, we can go, to a peaceful place after a stressful day. Not many. So this is the skill that we're kind of teaching you here in Rolling Stone. Report an error in the passage at 17:37 Highlight the passage at 17:37

17:55 So, what I'll do now is we can... I'll guide you through a meditation for half an hour. We'll just start off with the basics. But a lot of the times is we kind of leave you to your own devices. So you watch your own mind. You see what you go through. And just try to be just aware of what's happening and try to interpret what's happening in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 17:55 Highlight the passage at 17:55

18:40 You can interpret Like, you know, your thinking, whether your thinking is coming from anger or craving or... And then when you're watching your mind try to interpret, what is this quietness? You know, is it peacefulness? Is it the... And then you go on and say you're trying to look for the present moment. What's the present moment? How do you interpret it? Report an error in the passage at 18:40 Highlight the passage at 18:40

19:04 So, in a sense, we're kind of discovering a new world. that we haven't really seen in this life. So, usually what we do is we just get into a comfortable position. It doesn't really matter. There's no rules in how you sit or what posture you have. All I ask is that people close their eyes because it's almost like we're just shutting out. Report an error in the passage at 19:04 Highlight the passage at 19:04

19:38 We're shutting out the world or just turning off turning off our lives for 30 minutes and just, and just We're not even really going to a place of peace because peace is right here. It's not far from us. It's in this present moment. So we're just being aware. You Report an error in the passage at 19:38 Highlight the passage at 19:38

20:26 actually don't need to do much when you meditate. Really, all you need to do is meditate and the benefits will show themselves the more time you can sit with your eyes closed just Report an error in the passage at 20:26 Highlight the passage at 20:26

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22:01 being calm there Report an error in the passage at 22:01 Highlight the passage at 22:01

22:13 is nothing to make us angry there is nothing to make us think when Report an error in the passage at 22:13 Highlight the passage at 22:13

22:28 we sit down with our eyes closed we are free from all those things Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:40 So all we need to do is just sit. Report an error in the passage at 22:40 Highlight the passage at 22:40

22:47 Sit and watch the mind. Then Report an error in the passage at 22:47 Highlight the passage at 22:47

22:57 after a while, you can just be peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 22:57 Highlight the passage at 22:57

23:08 That's what happens when you meditate a lot, is the mind is in a peaceful state. If Report an error in the passage at 23:08 Highlight the passage at 23:08

23:50 we really don't have any issues in our lives, any major problems to fix life is for us is generally okay the Report an error in the passage at 23:50 Highlight the passage at 23:50

24:18 mind can Report an error in the passage at 24:18 Highlight the passage at 24:18

24:24 be peaceful without without trying too much Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:42 usually the meditation doesn't go well when we have issues in our lives That we're too focused on. Those things cloud the mind. Those things take away the peace. But generally if your lives are good, you're not a troublemaker, then Report an error in the passage at 24:42 Highlight the passage at 24:42

25:23 the mind is somewhat in a calm, in a relaxed, peaceful state. Report an error in the passage at 25:23 Highlight the passage at 25:23

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26:45 So we're just encouraging more peace, Report an error in the passage at 26:45 Highlight the passage at 26:45

26:59 encouraging the mind to be in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 26:59 Highlight the passage at 26:59

27:16 Anyone can be in the present moment. The Report an error in the passage at 27:16 Highlight the passage at 27:16

27:38 present moment is a place where you're worry-free. Report an error in the passage at 27:38 Highlight the passage at 27:38

27:47 That's why it's peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 27:47 Highlight the passage at 27:47

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31:13 Sometimes we can ask ourselves, what is the meaning of peace? And sometimes I think, The meaning of peace is having a mind which doesn't have anything too serious to think about because sometimes when we have something serious to think about our minds become obsessed by it and one cannot stop thinking about certain things. Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

32:05 And we may be going through that right now in our meditation practice. And that's what makes meditation difficult. But if we are experiencing a mind which does not take our thoughts seriously, meaning the thoughts are just Floating through our minds and not becoming attached to our minds. These thoughts are like the wind. They blow in and they blow out, not leaving a trace in the mind. Report an error in the passage at 32:05 Highlight the passage at 32:05

33:08 So if we're meditating and our mind is experiencing Experiencing Report an error in the passage at 33:08 Highlight the passage at 33:08

33:22 thoughts but we're not serious about them then we can understand that our minds are in the calm state Report an error in the passage at 33:22 Highlight the passage at 33:22

33:34 That's a pretty good place to be. Report an error in the passage at 33:34 Highlight the passage at 33:34

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34:14 As we're meditating. Report an error in the passage at 34:14 Highlight the passage at 34:14

34:23 One of the benefits of learning how to meditate is that We start to worry less. That's kind of a nice thing, isn't it? Just to have a mind which is free. Doesn't have to think too much. I can still live a productive, happy life. Report an error in the passage at 34:23 Highlight the passage at 34:23

35:20 If you think about it, one of the most important things in life is our inner peace, is our sanity, is having a healthy mind. Report an error in the passage at 35:20 Highlight the passage at 35:20

35:41 and you know Anything else is really a bonus. If we have lots of money or have a nice house to live in or any of those things, it's just a nice bonus. You know, we could have the best things in the world, but if we are unhappy, if our minds are agitated easily, our quality of life isn't that great. Report an error in the passage at 35:41 Highlight the passage at 35:41

36:18 So, you know... meditation kind of develops Report an error in the passage at 36:18 Highlight the passage at 36:18

36:31 the inside as people we learn how to develop the outside so this is like a different a different kind of not way of living but a different focus to improve our lives from a different perspective and that's from the inside and Report an error in the passage at 36:31 Highlight the passage at 36:31

37:07 usually Report an error in the passage at 37:07 Highlight the passage at 37:07

37:12 What you learn from the meditation is you learn how to be peaceful and generally when you're peaceful inside, the way you look at the world, the way you live your life, you live it in a peaceful manner. Report an error in the passage at 37:12 Highlight the passage at 37:12

37:37 It all starts from the inside. It all starts from you. Report an error in the passage at 37:37 Highlight the passage at 37:37

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50:41 Meditation is coming up, so what I'll do is I'll ring the gong. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

50:58 You can open your eyes Report an error in the passage at 50:58 Highlight the passage at 50:58

51:05 reorientate yourself. Report an error in the passage at 51:05 Highlight the passage at 51:05

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52:06 How was it? Was it alright? Good? First time? First time was good? Report an error in the passage at 52:06 Highlight the passage at 52:06

52:19 It's kind of nice to just, for me anyway, it's just having that ability to just turn off for like a few minutes a day. Yeah, it's actually quite nice. But as monastics we do a lot more. So part of our lives is we dedicate it to the practice of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 52:19 Highlight the passage at 52:19

52:47 So we spend, I don't know, maybe a third of our lives meditating. So that's a few hours a day. We've been doing that for many years. It's a part of this tradition. In Buddhism you come across different types. You have the Zen, Zen, Mahāyāna, this is like Australiana Report an error in the passage at 52:47 Highlight the passage at 52:47

53:17 but we come from just like a simple a little simple simple way of practice. We live simple lives, keep a lot of rules. We dedicate our lives to just developing peaceful states of mind so hopefully When you were meditating, you could experience some of that. You're kind of taking that kind of peace into your life. Report an error in the passage at 53:17 Highlight the passage at 53:17

53:56 It's like, how often do you walk around and feel peaceful? This is what you kind of learn with the meditation. You can just walk in the park and just be peaceful. I think this is one of the things that you learn. Yeah, Bob? Any comments or questions? Yeah, it doesn't matter. Okay, any comments? Usually you can ask questions. Report an error in the passage at 53:56 Highlight the passage at 53:56

54:26 If you've got any questions about the meditation or what monks do. So just give you like a little... So the BSWA, so the Buddhist Society of WA, it was founded by a few Western Australians who were Buddhists. And one of the founders, they're still alive. So we're kind of always grateful for her because she was the one that bought. Report an error in the passage at 54:26 Highlight the passage at 54:26

54:56 this type of Buddhism into Australia or into person and without it then you know we wouldn't be here or I wouldn't have the opportunity to become a monk so I'm always like grateful for that so so yeah so the BSW has been been around for a long time a 50 years yeah yeah 50 years so we have Bob just He's fair dinkum Aussie, he lives in Gerrardale amongst amongst the... Report an error in the passage at 54:56 Highlight the passage at 54:56

55:26 parrots and he's married to a Finnish lady and he has five kids so yeah so so it's kind of like it's it's almost like it's kind of like an open kind of way of teaching and we kind of teach to uh just like in ways where people can understand and it kind of adds adds adds um a value to one's life so we have like people from all walks of life just Coming to join this kind of peaceful path in the modern age is quite amazing. We have a fellow from India and he's come to data for the last three weeks. Report an error in the passage at 55:26 Highlight the passage at 55:26

56:13 And we have myself, you know, just an immigrant coming to Australia many years ago. So in a sense I think if it's like truthful and it does... help people kind of let go of their worries or make their lives better then then people just come to it without without us having to try too hard yeah because you know they say like the proof is in the pudding kind of thing So yeah, it's been around for a long time and it's grown. There's a female monastic community in Gijigana. I think there's like 15, 20 nuns. Report an error in the passage at 56:13 Highlight the passage at 56:13

56:54 And the big monastery is in Serpentine. And that's been around for ages. And there's like 30 monks there from all walks of life. Australians, Americans, Germans. Yeah, everywhere. So it's actually quite a... And it's, like I said, just a simple way of living. Just focus on meditation. Becoming peaceful. And kind of... When you become peaceful, you can start to share with other people and help them out. Report an error in the passage at 56:54 Highlight the passage at 56:54

57:22 So yeah. Report an error in the passage at 57:22 Highlight the passage at 57:22

57:26 Yes? Report an error in the passage at 57:26 Highlight the passage at 57:26

57:49 Overactive minds. That sort of brings a bit of peace within, as if to say, you're not the only one that's bringing about your own suffering, it's happening to other people as well, and it is, it's mostly brought upon by ourselves, we don't have to think that way, and it's through meditation. Report an error in the passage at 57:49 Highlight the passage at 57:49

58:15 I guess we can decrease that to some degree. Report an error in the passage at 58:15 Highlight the passage at 58:15

58:25 There's something amazing about not worrying. It's kind of counterintuitive. It's really counterintuitive. Sometimes the point that I'm trying to make is we get taught in life to solve our problems. Report an error in the passage at 58:25 Highlight the passage at 58:25

58:40 You have a lot of problems, go see a psychologist and they solve it for you. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Report an error in the passage at 58:40 Highlight the passage at 58:40

58:23 Yeah, this is like this Report an error in the passage at 58:23 Highlight the passage at 58:23

58:45 What do they teach you in psychology? I don't know. Positive reinforcement, go back into your past, solve all the problems that you go through. And there's something beautiful about what we teach you. It's completely different and unique to what you get out in the world. And it's really counterintuitive and kind of, I don't know, rebellious. Report an error in the passage at 58:45 Highlight the passage at 58:45

59:10 When you're meditating, just to let go of, of whatever problems you have and to be in the present moment and having that present moment that stillness it kind of like fixes everything it's like a problem solver without problem solving if you know what i mean yeah it's it doesn't make sense it's problem solving without problem solving if you think about it we're just being in the moment and all our problems disappear Report an error in the passage at 59:10 Highlight the passage at 59:10

59:47 Well, let's say they cost you zero dollars. Report an error in the passage at 59:47 Highlight the passage at 59:47

59:56 and then that causes another problem That's right, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 59:56 Highlight the passage at 59:56

1:00:03 We came here to set up and it was quarter past six and Joan was saying I wonder since it's such a long spell if anyone's going to turn up whether they did or not it was not going to affect the practice but it was good to see a few people turn up and now you know where he is and if you've got ten seconds of peace it's worth it. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:03 Highlight the passage at 1:00:03

1:00:31 You have it each Thursday here, thank you. You live up that way? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:31 Highlight the passage at 1:00:31

1:00:49 So you travel all the way down here? I'm a top man. You live up that way? Wow, that's a 20-30 minute? No, it's in traffic, it's 45. Oh wow, that's amazing. And do you go to the Nolamara Center? No, no, no, this is the first time. Ah, okay, yeah. Yeah, so Nolamara is, they've been there for a long time, so the Friday night talks, it's kind of nice to join. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:49 Highlight the passage at 1:00:49

1:01:10 You go there, you do half an hour meditation, and then you listen to the talk live. And then on the weekends you have programs as well, so there's a beginner's class. class for meditation that goes on for four weeks yeah and then Saturday afternoons with with the teacher so www.bswa.org Report an error in the passage at 1:01:10 Highlight the passage at 1:01:10

1:01:35 It's quite an amazing kind of a journey if you get into it, the meditation practice. It does change a lot of people's lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:35 Highlight the passage at 1:01:35

1:01:47 Okay, alright. Thank you, Ajahn. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:47 Highlight the passage at 1:01:47