Guided Meditation

0:00 Another three minutes. So welcome everybody. And this is my last meditation talk for a while. You know why? Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:22 It is because next week we're teaching a retreat for Indonesians and Hong Kongese. Over in Jhāna Grove. And so I imagine that Venerable Hasapaniya will be here teaching. Report an error in the passage at 0:22 Highlight the passage at 0:22

0:46 Is that correct? Okay, so I expect to see many more of you tomorrow. Please remember this is, you know how much it costs for you to come here? Report an error in the passage at 0:46 Highlight the passage at 0:46

1:00 Nothing. It's all for free. So let everybody know. In town, there's a free enlightenment course next week. Is that true? Yeah. Free enlightenment. If you don't make it to full enlightenment next week, you can always ask for your money back. Actually, you can always ask for your money back from me as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:00 Highlight the passage at 1:00

1:29 You won't get it back, but you can always ask. That's our promise. Report an error in the passage at 1:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29

1:38 And anyhow, I wish you all happiness and well-being. And what I will do, I'll just start the meditation in another couple of minutes. And then I'll just let you carry on. And I will lock all the doors. And I'll come back in about three or four months' time. I'll open the doors. Is anyone up for that? It's a very good way to get enlightened. Do you want to get enlightened next week? Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

2:11 It'll solve a lot of your problems, would it? Those of you who are overweight, you don't eat for three months, it's a good way of losing weight. Those of you who are getting old and you haven't got enough money to pay the bills, that'd be also good, you can just disappear. Those of you, people are looking for you, your staff, to get their wages, you're not available. Report an error in the passage at 2:11 Highlight the passage at 2:11

2:42 Is that a good idea? Okay, you say it's a good idea, so you have to do it. Are you a man of your word? No? Okay. Anyway, let's get serious now, it's three o 'clock. A nice time to do some meditation, and meditation means learning how to let go. And as somebody taught to me this morning, they were having difficulty meditating, Report an error in the passage at 2:42 Highlight the passage at 2:42

3:13 because they've had one way where they put a little bit of effort in in the beginning and sometimes I always react to that say no need to Ajahn Brahm said, For them it wasn't working that well. Sometimes you may have been meditating in one tradition for a long time and you've got into the habit of putting some effort by, say, watching the breathing in the tip of your nose or watching your breath somewhere else or whatever else a person does to start the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 3:13 Highlight the passage at 3:13

4:03 They've got so used to that. So this morning I said, well, if it's not working by doing it Ajahn Brahm way or Ajahn Chah way, See if you can just do as you've been doing before. It makes you kind of peaceful. Then after about 10 or 15 minutes, then turn the mind towards the letting go, where it doesn't matter what you're watching, you've got your eyes closed, and you just observe. Report an error in the passage at 4:03 Highlight the passage at 4:03

4:34 With your eyes closed, not observing with your eyes, but observing with your mind what's happening, what it's feeling like. And then you find the mind becomes peaceful and still and likes staying with the stillness. It is the joy of the meditation which is what keeps you from wandering all over the place. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

4:56 That's one of the reasons why when I give this guided meditation, which I usually do at the beginning of each meditation, in that guided meditation of usually body awareness, you find Everything does really relax. And the reason I find that very helpful is because it feels so pleasant. Report an error in the passage at 4:56 Highlight the passage at 4:56

5:22 Meditation is not forcing your body to do something you want to do. It's letting the body do what it wants to do. When I say letting it do, it's just a natural. You start to relax very, very deeply. And it feels enormously pleasant. I'm not sure about you, but if you do, say, a professional massage or something, somebody massages you, does it feel pleasant? Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:55 No. Report an error in the passage at 5:55 Highlight the passage at 5:55

6:00 I thought it did. Does it feel pleasant? I've never had a professional... Okay, if it does, then you can pay them. But if it doesn't feel pleasant, would you pay them for that? Still pay for torturing you. Doesn't make sense to me. But if it's really pleasant, then you like doing it. And because it's very pleasant, it also relaxes you. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

6:27 You feel you want to get more into it. It draws you deeper in. And as it draws you deeper in, what usually happens, even when I teach you the guided meditation on feeling the pleasure of the body, When I guide you, after a while, it feels so pleasant for me. All the muscles in the body relax. And it feels very at ease. Report an error in the passage at 6:27 Highlight the passage at 6:27

6:56 So at ease, I don't want to go anywhere else. Because I don't go anywhere else, you feel really still. It's that learning how not to move, how to be happy where you are, which means you're not restless. Report an error in the passage at 6:56 Highlight the passage at 6:56

7:16 What does the word restlessness means? You're not happy where you are. You want to go over here or over there or somewhere else. When you are relaxed, rested in this moment, you find you don't want to move. Not only that, but even any thoughts of the past or the future vanish. Because, you know, you're happy where you are. And then the mind stops moving backwards and forwards. Report an error in the passage at 7:16 Highlight the passage at 7:16

7:48 It's really easy to meditate when you can find that happiness in this moment. But not just happiness in the moment, the happiness in silence too. Not needing to think, to plan, to remember. Just this moment is more than good enough. Look, after all, you're at this Buddhist society now. This is a really good place. Report an error in the passage at 7:48 Highlight the passage at 7:48

8:19 We spend a lot of time making sure it's comfortable for you, it's pleasant for you, it's cheap. Report an error in the passage at 8:19 Highlight the passage at 8:19

8:30 So what place in the world would you rather be than here? Report an error in the passage at 8:30 Highlight the passage at 8:30

8:39 Is it better than a massage because you massage yourself with this mind of yours? It's a beautiful place to be and once you're happy to be here, of course you want to stay here. You don't want to Why does a person want to go anywhere? It's only because they want to get something out of it. Right here, right now, beautiful place, we learn how to be here, in this moment. Report an error in the passage at 8:39 Highlight the passage at 8:39

9:09 We learn how to be content. And after a while, the contentment is so great that the mind doesn't go anywhere. It's in this moment, right now, the most beautiful place in the whole world, right now. You're not trying to work to get somewhere else. This place is more than good enough. And after a while, the mind remains still. Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:36 It's a wonderful thing when the mind remains still because it builds up energy. Imagine just going here, going there, thinking about this, solving that problem and this problem. You can spend your whole life doing that. Where do you get? There's more problems. That's a monk. Look, in a week, this is, as I said, my last teaching of meditation here. Someone else is coming next week. Report an error in the passage at 9:36 Highlight the passage at 9:36

10:06 I'm teaching a retreat. And we're getting our range retreat afterwards. Honestly, when I look at that, soon I'll be just sitting in my cave. Nothing to do all day. Just sit there, be peaceful. And I say to disappear, like the whole world vanishes. And I mean that. Sometimes you just, you can't feel your body. Report an error in the passage at 10:06 Highlight the passage at 10:06

10:38 But your mind is fully awake. You have six senses in all. The seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and the mind. Those five senses are so comfortable, they kind of turn off. And all you're aware of. It's just the mind. Even I remember doing walking meditation when I was a young monk and the experience I had there was that I had a big hall in this monastery in Bangkok. Report an error in the passage at 10:38 Highlight the passage at 10:38

11:13 Others were doing something else so I used it to do some walking meditation for an hour and just naturally I started walking really slowly because there were so many things which were happening in just one step. I'm moving my feet upwards, a little bit back, and then forward, and then down, and then feeling the carpet under my bare feet. Report an error in the passage at 11:13 Highlight the passage at 11:13

11:38 Then doing the next step. Soon there was so much going on that you could not walk fast. You were naturally walking slowly. And there was so much like happening in just one step. But it was peaceful, and it was pleasant. Report an error in the passage at 11:38 Highlight the passage at 11:38

11:57 Then I could hardly hear anything. But then I did remember when I was doing this walking meditation. It was like weird. I heard this noise like a long distance away. And this noise was saying my name. First of all, I thought it was something psychic, something weird. I heard someone calling, Brahma Wangso. Report an error in the passage at 11:57 Highlight the passage at 11:57

12:27 Brahma, Wang, So, that's my full name. And then I stopped, was mindful, listen, what is this? And then I discovered it was another monk right next to me shouting in full voice in my ear hole. He needed to get my attention because I was supposed to be going to another appointment somewhere and I'd forgotten. Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

12:57 And he was shouting at me, but to me it sounded like a million miles away. What had happened is just because I was enjoying these moments of walking meditation that my mind was so peaceful that everything else, even sound, in Bangkok was like a long distance away. I love those kind of events. It showed me how just by meditating I'd lost a lot of my interest in the world a long way away from me. And it was really pleasant. Report an error in the passage at 12:57 Highlight the passage at 12:57

13:36 Not just even walking meditation, let alone sitting meditation. You could sit there and everything kind of disappeared. And what I was left with was just the content of this moment. It was simple, peaceful, and really pleasant. Which is one of the reasons why That pleasure of meditation, these days, I don't mind saying, it's one of the most important attributes of meditation which keeps you still. Report an error in the passage at 13:36 Highlight the passage at 13:36

14:11 You're happy being here, literally, and you don't want to go anywhere. Even in walking meditation, especially in sitting meditation, you're sitting here and you can feel the body's relaxed so much, and relaxation does feel great. And not just relaxed, you can feel the mind becoming so, so, so peaceful. And that is pleasant. And eventually your mind gets so pleasurably peaceful that it just stays inside itself. Report an error in the passage at 14:11 Highlight the passage at 14:11

14:46 It doesn't want to go anywhere. And because it doesn't want to go anywhere, it sits there and has a wonderful time. That's what I've got a long time doing the next three months. Report an error in the passage at 14:46 Highlight the passage at 14:46

15:01 This is a monk's holiday. So where does a monk go when he goes on holiday? You know that I've got lots of supporters. If I said, I'd love to go to Thailand or I'd love to go to Vietnam, I'd love to... I don't want to go anywhere. Just stay inside, wherever inside happens to be. You go deep inside, I'll be sitting in my cave most of the time. I have a beautiful cave. Report an error in the passage at 15:01 Highlight the passage at 15:01

15:31 and I can't hear anything outside and people outside can't hear anything inside why when I showed it to some kids visiting from Christ Church grammar school said what do you think about my cave and they said it's a great place for a rave Report an error in the passage at 15:31 Highlight the passage at 15:31

15:54 might be that's not what we built it for not for a rave brave. a great... Why do... Things like monks like peace, real peace, deep peace. And it's so peaceful, and I respect peace so much these days, that when I see a little bit of peace coming, you sort of, you just merge into it. Let it be, don't do anything, and just disappear. I love that sort of idea of what meditation is, the great disappearing act. Report an error in the passage at 15:54 Highlight the passage at 15:54

16:33 So anyway, that's where... I'm going on my holidays in a couple of weeks time into deep meditation. It's gorgeous. So anyway, now's the time to give you a taste of what I mean and hopefully you'll enjoy some of the meditation you experience. If you do, never be afraid or scared. I'm known as an expert on this. You're perfectly safe. Report an error in the passage at 16:33 Highlight the passage at 16:33

17:05 Enjoy to the max. All the people I've known for so many years, that's what I would love to give to you, the taste of freedom. Report an error in the passage at 17:05 Highlight the passage at 17:05

17:19 So anyway, if you would get yourself comfortable in your meditation position, you can actually move to begin with to get yourself at ease. Report an error in the passage at 17:19 Highlight the passage at 17:19

17:32 And let's just sit here and do absolutely nothing. Report an error in the passage at 17:32 Highlight the passage at 17:32

18:01 So we'll just give some guidance to begin with, the usual guidance. I start, close my eyes and let go of any disturbance which I have in my life. I can think about that later if I need to. Report an error in the passage at 18:01 Highlight the passage at 18:01

18:28 Now is the time for being as silent and still as I can possibly be. And even if it's only moments of stillness, moments of silence. Report an error in the passage at 18:28 Highlight the passage at 18:28

18:43 I would investigate that, not with thought, but just feel it as fully as I possibly can. See its benefits and enjoy them all. Report an error in the passage at 18:43 Highlight the passage at 18:43

19:13 So I start with a general relaxation of my body and then I go to relax parts of my body piece by piece. And Report an error in the passage at 19:13 Highlight the passage at 19:13

19:31 I got into the habit of starting by relaxing my toes. The furthest part of my body away from my head. Please remember I went to university so I got tricked into thinking wisdom comes from making more effort with my brain. Report an error in the passage at 19:31 Highlight the passage at 19:31

20:00 I find now that I want to quieten my brain and it doesn't think, it doesn't plan, it doesn't get into her guilt. I just totally let go. Report an error in the passage at 20:00 Highlight the passage at 20:00

20:18 Imagine I could give you some pill so you can still be mindful but you let go of all of your worries in the whole world. You have nothing to think about. It's called the gift of freedom. Report an error in the passage at 20:18 Highlight the passage at 20:18

20:42 So I just go back to my toes and feel them. I don't feel them with my fingers. I feel them with that sense of Physical touch. I can know if they're hot or they're cold. I can know how they feel just right now. And Report an error in the passage at 20:42 Highlight the passage at 20:42

21:17 I stay with them. I don't just feel for a second. I feel for a minute or two. All the different feelings which they have. Report an error in the passage at 21:17 Highlight the passage at 21:17

21:30 And after a while, when they are comfortable, so there's no pressure on them, they're just sitting here at ease. Report an error in the passage at 21:30 Highlight the passage at 21:30

21:50 And they feel good. They feel pleasant. It's like I imagine them sinking deeper into the cushion, becoming more relaxed, more at ease. If there's any pressure, my left big toe is slightly squashed. I'm going to move my legs a tiny bit. Report an error in the passage at 21:50 Highlight the passage at 21:50

22:20 I don't know why I didn't do that to begin with. It feels so much nicer. And Report an error in the passage at 22:20 Highlight the passage at 22:20

22:28 then from the toes, once they are happy, Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:35 I move up to the balls of my feet. I Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

22:42 can feel how they are right now. They have a special type of feeling which is different than any other part of the body which I focus on. They're Report an error in the passage at 22:42 Highlight the passage at 22:42

22:59 relaxed. From there, I go to the arches of my feet, relax them. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:12 I really do relax them. That's kind of my goal, and I stay on that goal until they are. Fully at ease. They're more relaxed now than they have been over the last hour. I Report an error in the passage at 23:12 Highlight the passage at 23:12

23:33 go to the heels of my feet and let them become loose. No tightness, no tension, no stress. And Report an error in the passage at 23:33 Highlight the passage at 23:33

23:51 I take the lack of stress as far as I can. Report an error in the passage at 23:51 Highlight the passage at 23:51

24:01 Sometimes I do ask my fellow monks to give me a foot massage. And honestly... I get more stillness by meditating. I go Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:17 up to my ankles and feel them. Report an error in the passage at 24:17 Highlight the passage at 24:17

24:24 There's a slight ache in my left ankle. It's so small, it's easy to feel it, relax it, loosen all the muscles which are too stretched or whatever it is. And even those muscles in my ankles start to loosen up. Report an error in the passage at 24:24 Highlight the passage at 24:24

24:53 You find you get free and Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

24:59 from there start moving up my legs, the calves, doing a scan. But the scan isn't forced. It just goes up the body and relaxes everything which it meets on the way. Report an error in the passage at 24:59 Highlight the passage at 24:59

25:21 Until the whole of the muscles in my legs and even the skin on my lower legs becomes at ease. Report an error in the passage at 25:21 Highlight the passage at 25:21

25:34 And it feels really nice until Report an error in the passage at 25:34 Highlight the passage at 25:34

25:41 it gets to the knees. When it gets to the knees, I relax all the muscles I can feel in that part of my body. And the knees are different than the ankles. They feel different for me. So I know straight away this is knee feeling. I relax everything there. Everything is at peace. And peace means nothing is unpleasant. Report an error in the passage at 25:41 Highlight the passage at 25:41

26:20 So much so I can stay there as long as I like. Just be with my knee feeling. No pain. And again, just to let go. I imagine my knees sinking deeper into the cushion which I'm sitting on. Report an error in the passage at 26:20 Highlight the passage at 26:20

26:44 So there's nothing holding my knees tight. Everything is loose and kind of free. Because it's loose and free. You don't feel any... Pain or tightness, anywhere there, it's all totally loose. I go around my knee to my thighs, and as I scan up my thighs, again, relaxing everything which I come across. Report an error in the passage at 26:44 Highlight the passage at 26:44

27:24 How do you relax? One way which I teach it and do it myself sometimes, I make my thighs more... More stress, more tight. Force them to be tight until they're unpleasantly tight and then let go. Report an error in the passage at 27:24 Highlight the passage at 27:24

27:51 Take all the tightness away. Let go. And then my thighs relax more than when I started. They're really relaxed and I can feel them. It's really pleasant again. Report an error in the passage at 27:51 Highlight the passage at 27:51

28:17 No tension on them at all. I know that what I'm feeling now in my buttocks as a result of the weight of my body pressing through the skin of my buttocks onto the cushion. Report an error in the passage at 28:17 Highlight the passage at 28:17

28:46 There's a feeling which you know is there. I can't wish it to disappear, but I know because it doesn't change. It kind of stays there all the same. After a while, I won't be able to feel it anymore. It will disappear. Report an error in the passage at 28:46 Highlight the passage at 28:46

29:09 And my butt will be really comfortable, will kind of disappear. That's one of the jobs, the purposes, to allow the feelings in this body to disappear. And I can sit for hours. Report an error in the passage at 29:09 Highlight the passage at 29:09

29:33 And then from the bottom, go to my waist. I've learnt. Over many years, to actually put a little bend on my waist, it Report an error in the passage at 29:33 Highlight the passage at 29:33

29:56 makes my back feel so much stronger and comfortable. I think somebody called it lordosis or something. It's a name for everything. Report an error in the passage at 29:56 Highlight the passage at 29:56

30:09 And once I get into that position, I recognize that's really comfortable. And I can maintain that position for a really long time. Report an error in the passage at 30:09 Highlight the passage at 30:09

30:19 But I also... I just have a quick check of my body from the waist down to my toes. As I scan through them, checking everything as I go, the whole lower body is totally at ease. I don't think I could relax it more. Report an error in the passage at 30:19 Highlight the passage at 30:19

30:45 So I go from the waist up. Now I just go up my digestive tract as best I know it, feeling. Report an error in the passage at 30:45 Highlight the passage at 30:45

31:01 Any sensations in that digestive tract, unless Report an error in the passage at 31:01 Highlight the passage at 31:01

31:09 I just scan upwards, any tightness, tension, I relax. Go further up. Report an error in the passage at 31:09 Highlight the passage at 31:09

31:23 If there is some spot or place which feels tight, even Report an error in the passage at 31:23 Highlight the passage at 31:23

31:33 if it's done wrong, it's not really tight, I will still pause there. And I give this wonderful loving kindness. As I do to you. If you come up to me and say you've got an injury somewhere, or there is an ache somewhere, I'll look at that spot and give it as much kindness as I can generate. Report an error in the passage at 31:33 Highlight the passage at 31:33

32:01 The kindness relaxes everything and allows healing to happen. And that's what I do to my own body. As I go up my body, up to the intestines. Report an error in the passage at 32:01 Highlight the passage at 32:01

32:22 And then from the intestines to my stomach, relaxing everything all the way. And Report an error in the passage at 32:22 Highlight the passage at 32:22

32:36 when I get to my stomach, I'm usually very content because I don't eat in the afternoon. All the food business is finished at midday. So by this time, most things are digested. It feels really comfy. Report an error in the passage at 32:36 Highlight the passage at 32:36

33:04 Then from my stomach I go to my lungs. And many of you know I suffer from hay fever. Report an error in the passage at 33:04 Highlight the passage at 33:04

33:17 So I'm careful of my lungs. I learn how to relax them. Right now I don't need to intake much oxygen. So the little I take in is more than enough to keep me healthy and Report an error in the passage at 33:17 Highlight the passage at 33:17

33:42 at ease. Report an error in the passage at 33:42 Highlight the passage at 33:42

33:47 My lungs, I go to my heart and Report an error in the passage at 33:47 Highlight the passage at 33:47

33:54 everything gets recognized. When you get recognized by somebody, they said I was thinking about you, I care about you. What does that do to you? That allows you to feel so much better. And Report an error in the passage at 33:54 Highlight the passage at 33:54

34:17 from my heart region, I go to my neck. This afternoon, that's very, very, very relaxed. More so than last night. And Report an error in the passage at 34:17 Highlight the passage at 34:17

34:34 I allow all the muscles of my shoulders to be relaxed. And Report an error in the passage at 34:34 Highlight the passage at 34:34

34:50 just suggesting that to the muscles, it's like I allow you to relax shoulder muscles. Report an error in the passage at 34:50 Highlight the passage at 34:50

35:01 That's what they do. I don't order them. I don't order any of you. I'm Report an error in the passage at 35:01 Highlight the passage at 35:01

35:14 mindful of them, kind to them. And they respond by getting very pleasant. And I scan the shoulders and the upper arms down to the elbows because I don't play any violent sport. I don't have many injuries to the arms or elbows. And Report an error in the passage at 35:14 Highlight the passage at 35:14

35:49 if I did, I remember when I was building, sometimes you fall off things. And injure your elbows. That was a long time ago. Now my elbows are really relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 35:49 Highlight the passage at 35:49

36:06 And I can recognize that feeling. It's pleasant. Down the forearms, to the wrists, and the wrists, to the fingers. It is easy to feel your fingers. There's so many muscles and nerve endings there in fingers. So I just check in with them. Report an error in the passage at 36:06 Highlight the passage at 36:06

36:37 How are you, fingers? Report an error in the passage at 36:37 Highlight the passage at 36:37

36:45 They're all fine today, as though I leave them. It's like every part of the body, when it's been kind of checked and cared for, relaxes a bit more, just like all the monks in the monastery where I live. If I check in on them, ask them how they are, they respond with kindness. Report an error in the passage at 36:45 Highlight the passage at 36:45

37:20 They do relax. Report an error in the passage at 37:20 Highlight the passage at 37:20

37:27 And then go back to the neck. I check the position of my head upon my neck, making sure I'm not too far to the left or the right. This is your body. You can feel how it is. And Report an error in the passage at 37:27 Highlight the passage at 37:27

37:48 I kind of like having my head bent slightly backwards. It helps me feel more balanced, more at ease. Report an error in the passage at 37:48 Highlight the passage at 37:48

38:07 And then lastly I go to the muscles in my face. They're the ones which tell me if I'm really relaxed. If you're worried, stressed out, you feel you have things to think about, you can feel that with some tightness around your eyes or your mouth. Report an error in the passage at 38:07 Highlight the passage at 38:07

38:33 I make sure my eyes are closed but never shut tightly. Allow my mouth to be closed, but never too tightly. Report an error in the passage at 38:33 Highlight the passage at 38:33

38:49 And now I join everything together, my whole body just sitting here. And it always feels, you can't just say pleasant, but beautiful. More than pleasant. This Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

39:13 is what I want to share with you. The beautiful feeling of a body relaxed through mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 39:13 Highlight the passage at 39:13

39:29 And I stay there for a while. But doing this for so long, I always experiment a bit this way, a bit that way. When I experiment with just joining everything together and feeling it, it feels so beautiful. Report an error in the passage at 39:29 Highlight the passage at 39:29

39:45 It's like watching a sunset. Like watching a beautiful scene of nature. When Report an error in the passage at 39:45 Highlight the passage at 39:45

39:57 I can feel that pleasure, it gets more relaxed. And Report an error in the passage at 39:57 Highlight the passage at 39:57

40:08 then I feel... I've completed the relaxation of the body part. Now I need to relax the mind. It's already mostly relaxed, but I relax it further because this moment is pleasant. Report an error in the passage at 40:08 Highlight the passage at 40:08

40:28 I don't need to run away anywhere. I can actually be here and stay here. You can only do this if it's pleasant being here. Otherwise you go seeking some other... As I'm Report an error in the passage at 40:28 Highlight the passage at 40:28

40:59 staying here, I hear here doesn't just mean this position in space. It also means this time. I'm here in this moment, and it's an enjoyable experience. I can be aware that my mind doesn't want to move. Report an error in the passage at 40:59 Highlight the passage at 40:59

41:28 It's great just being here. And Report an error in the passage at 41:28 Highlight the passage at 41:28

41:35 if there's any thoughts, it's the describing to me, to myself. How pleasant this is. But even that is kind of disturbing. So I stop all these descriptive words and become silent. I Report an error in the passage at 41:35 Highlight the passage at 41:35

41:59 will only talk again at the end of the meditation. And Report an error in the passage at 41:59 Highlight the passage at 41:59

· · · silence, 20 minutes

1:01:53 close to the Report an error in the passage at 1:01:53 Highlight the passage at 1:01:53

1:01:58 end of the meditation, you Report an error in the passage at 1:01:58 Highlight the passage at 1:01:58

1:02:09 feel what's Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:16 it like inside. When Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:33 it's ready, you may open your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:33 Highlight the passage at 1:02:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:03:58 Usually on a Saturday afternoon, We look at the questions from the internet first of all. Is Report an error in the passage at 1:03:58 Highlight the passage at 1:03:58

1:04:12 that working good? Here Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

1:04:18 we go. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:18 Highlight the passage at 1:04:18

1:04:27 Dear Ajahn, Is meditation about having a no-thought anchor and returning to it when you notice thinking? Or is it about letting thoughts be and waiting for stillness to arise automatically? It's about both. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:27 Highlight the passage at 1:04:27

1:04:52 It's nice when the stillness arises automatically. It becomes very pleasant. It means you have nothing to do when you're meditating. You can really be at peace. And later on, when you do things like meditation retreats, you can go into the no thoughts, but really aware, much more easy. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:52 Highlight the passage at 1:04:52

1:05:24 I don't know why it is, actually I do know why it is, that we just celebrate thinking in our cultures. We do that at schools, universities. The more you think, just the more you're praised. But instead of thinking, to feel, to know with that sense of just awareness. It's far better. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:24 Highlight the passage at 1:05:24

1:06:04 When there is stillness in meditation, it feels good. But after that, reality sometimes seems even harder. Reality? Just giving a name to something, calling it reality, is we create reality. We create reality from all parts of our awareness systems. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:04 Highlight the passage at 1:06:04

1:06:40 I think it's much lovelier to remember that feeling with no thought. You don't restrict it. You don't put it in a box. It's way more free. And it is as real as anything else. In fact, it's a better reality. So when there's stillness in meditation, that reality, don't Report an error in the passage at 1:06:40 Highlight the passage at 1:06:40

1:07:15 give it names. Just enjoy. The last question here. Dear Ajahn, sometimes when the meditation seems to go deeper, my mind gets too excited and ruins the peace. Okay, that's common. But then learn how to keep it still so you don't send the peace and beauty away because of excitement. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:15 Highlight the passage at 1:07:15

1:07:54 Sometimes to maintain the peace, even when it's so joyful, so deep, so happy, there's a struggle. But just stay with it. Don't get excited. One way to deal with that is if that happens often, you can almost taste the peace getting deeper and deeper and you get spoiled by excitement. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:54 Highlight the passage at 1:07:54

1:08:27 I make a resolution at the beginning of the meditation. I will not get excited. I will not get excited. I will not get excited. I say it in simple words, usually repeating it a total of three times. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:27 Highlight the passage at 1:08:27

1:08:49 Then I forget about it. Just those words which you repeat to yourself at the beginning of the meditation. meditation it's like great Brainwashing your mind with something safe, something beautiful. Words like, I will not get excited. You don't need to be scared of. And it works. Where I'd normally get excited, the mind would choose not to. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:49 Highlight the passage at 1:08:49

1:09:23 That choice was made in the early part of my meditation. And then it stayed there, ready to work. It's how I programmed my mind to have like an antivirus so that when excitement was starting to threaten my enjoyment of meditation, it was quieted, it was still, and I enjoyed myself even more. So that's what I would suggest. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:23 Highlight the passage at 1:09:23

1:10:05 Okay, now, any questions from the floor? From you guys. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:05 Highlight the passage at 1:10:05

1:10:17 How can I be of service? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:17 Highlight the passage at 1:10:17

1:10:22 Any questions, comments? Shall Report an error in the passage at 1:10:22 Highlight the passage at 1:10:22

1:10:31 we meditate another hour? Some of you said yes. You're tempting me. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:31 Highlight the passage at 1:10:31

1:10:46 But anyway, it's now seven minutes past four. And even though I will not be giving any talks for a few weeks, please remember some of the teachings which I have given you. They're all online. You can always log into them and any problem you have you can get some advice. And then you can go deeper and deeper in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:46 Highlight the passage at 1:10:46

1:11:19 One of the things which I said to the cancer support group on Wednesday, sorry on Tuesday, that all these teachings, I've been doing them for years, and they work. They can cure all sorts of things. I just see them actually happening. It's just really amazing. So, that's my gift for you. Have a wonderful few months of meditating. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:19 Highlight the passage at 1:11:19

1:11:53 And you can always come over to Bodhinyana to ask for any questions or any advice. But why not just really get into it? After a while you see these beautiful lights in the mind, they call them nimittas. And after a while those turn into jhānas. And after experiencing the jhānas, you'll be over the moon with happiness and ways of dealing with sicknesses and ways of giving meaning to things in the life which don't require any changes, but just going deeper into where you already are. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:53 Highlight the passage at 1:11:53

1:12:33 That's what I like about this path. You don't need to get something. You're not missing anything. Just stay where you are and go deeper into it. And it's gorgeous. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:33 Highlight the passage at 1:12:33

1:12:48 No questions. Then we'll just bow three times and then see you all line up for your questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:48 Highlight the passage at 1:12:48