Lightness, Happiness and Not Measuring

0:00 I thought if I do that, bikinis will get the blame. Which is true. But he did want me to write it, Ajahn Donut. See, Minori's nodding, she knows. And that nickname, that means, it's a nickname over in Indonesia. Donut is because I'm round, I'm sweet, and I'm holy. Like a donut. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:33 So that's Ajahn's nickname, but not today, not officially. So anyway, a warm welcome to everybody who's tuning in and to everyone who's here with us on Zoom as well. And as usual, we're going to start with a dharma talk for about 45, 50 minutes or so, a little break and then some guided meditation this morning. Report an error in the passage at 0:33 Highlight the passage at 0:33

0:54 So yeah, when we have the break, I think the live stream turns off for a few minutes so you can have a break too. And then the meditation will start around 20 to 9, something like that. Okay, so if most people are here, we shall begin. So I'll hand over to Ajahn Brahm. Ajahn Donut, thank you. Oh, Ajahn Donut. He said it. Oh, look, I don't kind of agree with monks who get offended very easily. Report an error in the passage at 0:54 Highlight the passage at 0:54

1:29 Sometimes I challenge people, see if you can offend me. Just out of friendship, out of kindness. Because the way I, when I grew up, you can almost say anything to a good friend. And a good friend will always take it in good fun. And even when I was in Thailand in the monasteries, again, we could have some fun together and just call each other city names. Report an error in the passage at 1:29 Highlight the passage at 1:29

1:55 And I'm sure there's many city names I've called Ajahn Brahm. answer that. He is. That sort of lightness of heart is really important to be able to get a nice peaceful mind. You're not holding things heavily in your heart. Anything you do hold in your heart is so light, just like a feather, and it blows in the wind and blows all the way and becomes compost for something else in our world. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:27 We don't keep anything. We share everything in our life. We don't take ourselves so seriously and so importantly. We can't let everything go and fall away. I still remember one of those nicknames. I'm going off. I'm not really going off track. You're not on track yet. You see what I mean? I still remember just giving this talk over in a Catholic school. Report an error in the passage at 2:27 Highlight the passage at 2:27

2:57 One year. And it was through a group of about 14 or 15-year-old girls. It was a girls' school. And I gave the talk for them on Buddhism and meditation. And the next day, I just happened to be in Perth, and some of the girls saw me. They came up to me and said, oh, you gave the talk at our school yesterday. Report an error in the passage at 2:57 Highlight the passage at 2:57

3:21 And I said, yes. I'm very happy you remember me. I said, oh, no, we'll never forget you. It's kind of so sweet, they never forget me. I said, well, how come? They said, how can you ever forget a monk whose name is Ajahn Brahm? I said, there's an M on the end. Ajahn Brahm. They're just girls trying to wind me up. And sometimes I thank them for trying to wind me up, just to give me a nice little test to see how peaceful I am. Report an error in the passage at 3:21 Highlight the passage at 3:21

3:52 And anyhow. Now, that's one of the reasons why we kind of meditate, why we understand dharma. So we never get sort of offended. We never get upset. We never allow speech, which is only just sound, to ever affect us at all. In fact, we can use speech in a beautiful way. I know that there's, okay, some nice stories now. Report an error in the passage at 3:52 Highlight the passage at 3:52

4:20 about how we can use speech in a good way and we can be wise with the use of speech. And this is one of the reasons why that so many stories, one of the stories which comes to mind now, I don't know why, but here it comes. This was many, many, many centuries ago in the royal court in Thailand a long time ago. Report an error in the passage at 4:20 Highlight the passage at 4:20

4:48 And there was one minister in this court who was always a know-it-all, would always interrupt. And what he said, you know, was actually quite smart. But it really upset all the other people in the court, upset them so much that they tried to plot against him. This guy was really favoured by His Majesty the King. So how can they... Report an error in the passage at 4:48 Highlight the passage at 4:48

5:17 Diminish him and embarrass him in front of the king. So one day, they all met together, they planned it out, and when the court met and the king was there, they started praising this minister, saying what an amazing fellow he was, how wise, how smart, how intelligent, and how lucky His Majesty the king was to have a guy like this in the court. Report an error in the passage at 5:17 Highlight the passage at 5:17

5:42 And this guy said, yeah, you know, actually it's true. Now, you are lucky to have me in the court. That's kind of how arrogant he was. But nevertheless, they kept on praising him. And then he said, oh, yes, yes, yes. And then eventually they said in front of his majesty, in front of this minister, you're so smart, so wise. Report an error in the passage at 5:42 Highlight the passage at 5:42

6:07 You probably can read our minds. He said, oh, yes, I can read your minds. That's easy. and they Ajahn Brahm used his arrogance to lure him into this trap because then they asked, what are we all thinking? They all planned before that even if he gets it right, they will say, no, he's wrong. Because how can you prove what a person is actually thinking? So without any hesitation, they're all going to say the guy is wrong. Report an error in the passage at 6:07 Highlight the passage at 6:07

6:39 The minister said, each one of you in this hall in front of His Majesty the King, They're all thinking kind and loyal thoughts to his majesty. Report an error in the passage at 6:39 Highlight the passage at 6:39

6:54 And that was all for a moment. They said, actually, yes, you're right. They actually lost. It was a choice of being embarrassed or having their head chopped off or something. So anyhow, that's the kind of stories about speech. If you're wise, thinking outside the box. And then it's amazing just how wisdom can save your life. Anyway, let's go back to what am I supposed to be talking about? Lightness and happiness in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 6:54 Highlight the passage at 6:54

7:25 You know, a lot of the time when I say this, and I've been giving so many talks over so many years, most of my life I've been a speaker. And so because I've given so many talks, it's impossible to give a new talk. But what I sometimes find that when I start speaking, relax, a lot of times some words come out, some thoughts come out, some ideas come out, which come out I've never said before. Report an error in the passage at 7:25 Highlight the passage at 7:25

8:00 Which come out and it's the dharma actually becoming alive, actually growing, not being dead, not telling what other people have said, but kind of mixing it all together and coming out with a new type of idea. And especially that's true with meditation. That's really what I'm supposed to be talking about, different ways of meditation and different tricks, not tricks so much as skillful means for meditating. Report an error in the passage at 8:00 Highlight the passage at 8:00

8:30 And as I think I've already mentioned in my previous talk yesterday, and I think Ajahn mentioned, getting that joy, that happiness, the lightness at the beginning of a meditation often works. I know that life can be a lot of suffering, but if we just focus on just the negative part of our life, the sickness, the disappointments, and the fact that life is not going as well as we wanted it to, and there's all sorts of difficulties, a lot of times, how can we put that aside so we can have some peace and stillness and get into the beautiful peaks of meditation? Report an error in the passage at 8:30 Highlight the passage at 8:30

9:10 I did mention that yesterday that Agatha, It does not mean that one pointedness. It means like a peak of the mind, a summit of the mind. And that's from the word Agra, which is the capital of Mughal India. And that's a Sanskrit form. The Pāli form is Agra, a peak, a summit of the mind. And there's so many summits of the mind to experience in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 9:10 Highlight the passage at 9:10

9:38 But we can't sort of take all our worldly belongings. Now from the bottom of the valley or from the marsh up into the peak of consciousnesses in the meditation, that's too heavy. We have to leave that down the bottom so we can carry up with a light burden as we go into our deep meditations. Sometimes those similes of carrying a burden. Do you ever feel you carry a burden in your life? Report an error in the passage at 9:38 Highlight the passage at 9:38

10:10 Lots of worries and concerns. And, of course, running a monastery on a poor old Ayah Chanda, having to run this place. Even though I've seen the people who are helping her here, amazing. I really praise you all. But it still is a burden on the leader. Like it's a burden for me. Looking after not just Bodhinyana Monastery, but quite a few other monasteries as well. Report an error in the passage at 10:10 Highlight the passage at 10:10

10:39 I make sure I don't make them a burden. Do the best I can and then leave it alone. And it's one of the reasons why I'm not sure if I told you this story, but for so many years I was working very hard in Bodhinyana Monastery in Jhana Grove. That's a retreat center opposite our monastery. A lot of work, a lot of people to talk to, a lot of people to fix. Report an error in the passage at 10:39 Highlight the passage at 10:39

11:07 Sorry, a lot of problems to fix. I don't fix people. That's what the mafia does, fix them. As I say, you just, you work hard. But then sometimes, you know, trusted visitors, guests would come up to me and say, oh, what a beautiful place your monastery is. Just like Anukampa up here. It's a beautiful place. Report an error in the passage at 11:07 Highlight the passage at 11:07

11:36 But can you really appreciate it? If you're the owner, if you're the abbot, if you're the head, honcho, whatever you wish to call them, that means it's difficult to enjoy because this is your workplace. Report an error in the passage at 11:36 Highlight the passage at 11:36

11:56 So I do remember many times when visitors or friends would come up to Bodhinyana Monastery and they said, oh, what a beautiful monastery it is. I spent Report an error in the passage at 11:56 Highlight the passage at 11:56

12:20 all my life building up this. Beautiful residence. Everyone else could appreciate it, but not me. So that's when I decided to take a morning off. That's when I started having every Monday morning when I was not the head monk, not the abbot. That was amazing. I thought it was just a nice experiment. But every time I took a morning off, then when I walked through that monastery, I enjoyed it. It looked more beautiful, more peaceful than when I was the boss. That's one of the reasons why you start to appreciate the dharma of when you own something, when you're responsible for it, it causes suffering. Report an error in the passage at 12:20 Highlight the passage at 12:20

13:33 But when you're just a visitor, you can enjoy it to the max. You can be at peace with it. And sometimes what happens, I see people taking photographs of Bodhinyana Monastery or Jhana Grove, where I live in Australia. And sometimes you see even videos taken. And I caught myself a couple of times when they were showing a video. Report an error in the passage at 13:33 Highlight the passage at 13:33

14:01 I said, what's that? That's where you live, Ajahn Brahm. When you see it in a video, it feels and looks so different. And when you're actually there, simply because it's my role had distorted the perceptions. And when I decided to change my role just for one morning a week, then I could see the beauty and the peace in that place. Report an error in the passage at 14:01 Highlight the passage at 14:01

14:31 It gave wonderful insight. And that's also why when people say their meditation is difficult or they're having troubles, I often tell that story and remark, one of the biggest problems stopping you developing your meditation or the meditation deeper is because you think you own the meditation. It's like you say, my meditation. My meditation is restless. My meditation is not getting anywhere. Report an error in the passage at 14:31 Highlight the passage at 14:31

15:07 My meditation is just too unpleasant. Because you call it my meditation. It's wonderful when you just take off that word my, my, and it's just meditation. You don't own it. If you own something, you always want to control it. When you control it, you measure it. And when you measure it, there is always, never as high, peaceful, blissful as it should be. Report an error in the passage at 15:07 Highlight the passage at 15:07

15:43 That should. is always a sign you've been measuring something. And I kind of like the idea of not measuring things. I like that idea because years ago somebody asked me this question. I knew I was a physicist. And so they asked me about this gentleman called Lord Kelvin who was one of the people who started the Royal Society in London. It was just called the Royal Society, even though it was just scientists who were invited into the society. Report an error in the passage at 15:43 Highlight the passage at 15:43

16:25 And they wanted to actually give a good foundation to science in UK. And one of the things which they did, they figured out that this was more Kelvin's philosophical insight. If you want to control nature, you have to learn how to measure nature accurately first. Measure nature accurately and then there's a possibility of controlling it. Report an error in the passage at 16:25 Highlight the passage at 16:25

16:59 And they asked me what I thought about that and I was happy to hear that question because I said, well, what if you don't measure things and you are unable to control them? they are unable to control nature. You leave nature alone when you don't measure it. Is today hot or cold? Are you healthy? Report an error in the passage at 16:59 Highlight the passage at 16:59

17:35 Are you rich? Stop measuring things. If you don't measure them, it's amazing, there's nothing you can really do. Report an error in the passage at 17:35 Highlight the passage at 17:35

17:49 All those... you having a peaceful time? Are you healthy? Report an error in the passage at 17:49 Highlight the passage at 17:49

17:51 Ways of creating efforts, striving, wanting, are just blocks. You don't measure it, you just let it be. I always thought there was a beautiful little trick for meditation. Report an error in the passage at 17:51 Highlight the passage at 17:51

18:11 So often when I start meditating, I'm mindful without measuring, without saying, oh, I'm energized today, or I feel tired today. Report an error in the passage at 18:11 Highlight the passage at 18:11

18:23 I just... I have a feeling in the body, but I don't measure it. I don't compare it to the past. I don't compare it to where I hope to be. There's no measuring, no comparing at all. You're just being here, in this moment, experiencing this feeling. And it's not measured or compared. Report an error in the passage at 18:23 Highlight the passage at 18:23

18:46 It's amazing how you cannot do anything. The will, the wanting, the choice, the striving. Oh, vanish. You just are. And people say, well, if you just are, you're not striving, you're not wanting, you're not wishing for anything, then you're going to get nowhere. Precisely. Welcome to nowhere. I like turning things around like that. Why do you want to get somewhere? If you get there, will you like it? Report an error in the passage at 18:46 Highlight the passage at 18:46

19:20 Is that really where you want to be? Years ago, I gave a simile about Nirvāṇa. It's like Nirvāṇa is like this bus which comes up and you want to get on it and you've been brainwashed by monks and nuns and other great teachers and they say there's a great place to be. Do you really know what Nirvāṇa is? You get on this bus not quite really knowing fully what the destination is going to be. It's a bit dangerous. Report an error in the passage at 19:20 Highlight the passage at 19:20

19:54 So a lot of times We do this because we measure and we believe other people know what the measurement is. It's lovely when you just don't do anything. Report an error in the passage at 19:54 Highlight the passage at 19:54

20:07 And that becomes by far the most wonderful way of looking at meditation. You don't measure anything. You know how you feel, but you don't compare it to the past or compare it to some fantasy in the future of where you think you should be. Instead, you're just here. That is so much more easy, so much more peaceful. You're not trying to get somewhere and you're not quite sure where that is anyway. Report an error in the passage at 20:07 Highlight the passage at 20:07

20:44 Your goal in meditation is just being here. Not really a goal, is it? You're already here. You've already arrived. Imagine what that feels like. And a good story to illustrate this, you may have heard, Many of those early years as a monk in Perth, I started volunteering to give talks in prisons, in jails, and they were highly successful. Report an error in the passage at 20:44 Highlight the passage at 20:44

21:18 And many of those prisoners who listened to those teachings, when they were released, they never went back to jail again. And there's a lot of good feeling about what we did in those prisons in those early years. One of the stories about those prisons was when I was busy doing something else, like coming to UK to give talks or teaching somewhere else. Report an error in the passage at 21:18 Highlight the passage at 21:18

21:48 One of the monks who was teaching in a maximum security prison in Australia, he was already kind of loved by the prisoners who he visited. He was a very good monk, very wise. And the prisoners one afternoon asked him, what's it like being a monk in the West? Report an error in the passage at 21:48 Highlight the passage at 21:48

22:13 What do you do? Remember, these weren't Buddhists. These were prisoners in a jail who got up to some sort of mischief and now were in prison for years. They just were interested. What do you do in a prison? Same thing. Report an error in the passage at 22:13 Highlight the passage at 22:13

22:35 In a monastery. What do you do in a monastery? And for a start, what time do you get up? And then he began describing a monastery in Australia. Well, we get up at 4 a.m. And even at that, the prisoners were shocked. What? Four o 'clock in the morning? Even in prison, if you're a murderer, you don't have to get up until five or six. Report an error in the passage at 22:35 Highlight the passage at 22:35

23:07 But then the monk was more accurate. He said, getting up at 4 a.m. in Bodhinyana Monastery is optional. You can always get up earlier if you want to, but not later. That's the option. And OK, so you're monks, I suppose. So then what do you do next? Can you watch the late night movie on the TV? Oh, we don't have TVs in monasteries. Report an error in the passage at 23:07 Highlight the passage at 23:07

23:38 Oh my goodness, they said, or something like that. What do you do? Meditate. I suppose so. What about your breakfast? And in those days, the breakfast we had, I think I'm going to make you very happy. Report an error in the passage at 23:38 Highlight the passage at 23:38

24:01 All we had in those days was three Weedabix. happy Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:10 In a big cup and a cup of tea afterwards. And we had some milk with it. We had to mix. Is that all? The prisoner said. Yeah, that's all. Wow. In prisons in Australia, maximum security. You can have whatever you want. You can have bacon and eggs. You can have pancakes. You can have, oh, you name it. You can get it. I want to keep the prisoners happy. Report an error in the passage at 24:10 Highlight the passage at 24:10

24:39 And so. Wow, it's terrible in your monastery. That's all they give you. Yep, that's it. And then what do you do? You know, can you just sit around and just relax? No, we have to do work, physical work in Buddhist monasteries. That's what you have to do here as well. I've seen a gardening and all sorts of hard work. And I said, okay, fair enough. But then what about your lunch? Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

25:08 What do you have for lunch? And this is a nice part of being a Buddhist monk or a Buddhist nun. The lunch, we have all sorts of food. People bring it for us and we don't know really what we're eating, but it all gets eaten in the same bowl. I mean, everything, your dessert and everything else. Yes. And so I tell true stories. I don't make these up. I remember just... Report an error in the passage at 25:08 Highlight the passage at 25:08

25:39 Getting a strawberry ice cream on top of spaghetti bolognese. I tried to put the ice cream on a different part of my bowl, but it just fell on the spaghetti. Have any of you ever had spaghetti bolognese topped over with strawberry ice cream? You know what it tastes like? Report an error in the passage at 25:39 Highlight the passage at 25:39

26:06 Disgusting. Not recommended. But nevertheless, that's just what you ate. And so there's actually almost no choice. Now, please don't get any ideas for the menu tomorrow. You had beef stew with custard yesterday. Oh, the custard on top. No, the custard actually was on the side. Yeah. But I've had custard all over everything in years gone past. It all gets mixed up inside anyway. Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:38 So what's the big deal? Report an error in the passage at 26:38 Highlight the passage at 26:38

26:42 Well, afterwards, we have. Anyway, they said, that's all you get. I said, yeah. What about your evening meal? Evening meal? No evening meal. That's it for the day. That's all they feed you. Yep. So what do you do in the afternoon? Can you play some soccer or some tennis or something? No, we don't play sports. Even though when I tell this story, I always like to tell people that I thought about. Report an error in the passage at 26:42 Highlight the passage at 26:42

27:14 Starting a soccer team for Buddhist monks. Because I thought that way we could actually make better contact with other people in the Buddhist community. You know, because we were just, no one knew anything about Buddhism. They were kind of isolated. We wanted to, are there any Buddhist soccer teams in UK? Report an error in the passage at 27:14 Highlight the passage at 27:14

27:37 Amazing, that would just actually be able to get into contact with the local communities. But then I thought, no, that won't work. Because if you're a Buddhist and you play in a sports team, say a soccer team, you would always have to play by the Buddhist principles. The Buddhist principles meant that if somebody else, the other team, wanted the ball, of course, you gave it to them. They didn't need to tackle you. Report an error in the passage at 27:37 Highlight the passage at 27:37

28:05 You want it? Here it is. It's called letting go, renunciation. If the other team wanted to score a goal, Of course, you'd score one for them. You'd help them. That's compassion. That's kindness. Report an error in the passage at 28:05 Highlight the passage at 28:05

28:22 A lot of times you'd see that a Buddhist soccer team wouldn't win any games. They'd have a lot of fun there. And anyhow, so after the laughter in the prison, they said, okay, I understand why you guys can't play any sport. And it also explains why so many Buddhist countries are no good at soccer. soccer or cricket or anything. Report an error in the passage at 28:22 Highlight the passage at 28:22

28:49 Because they're too compassionate. Last thing you want to do is upset somebody by beating them. So anyhow, let's go further on. In the evening, we don't have any food. What do you do in the evening then? There's more meditation. Oh, that's terrible, they said. And then we went on like that for a while. Report an error in the passage at 28:49 Highlight the passage at 28:49

29:10 And this is absolutely accurately what one of the prisoners then said to the monk. Because they liked him. They were compassionate for him. And they said, that's terrible in your monastery. That's so harsh. Why don't you come in here and stay with us instead? Report an error in the passage at 29:10 Highlight the passage at 29:10

29:33 The monk was, okay. It's very kind. They gave me a little tissue. I was about to sneeze, but it was only make-believe. My nose is fine. So this is an important part of the story. Then they asked, Why don't you come and stay in prison with us instead? It's much more comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 29:33 Highlight the passage at 29:33

30:01 And they were true. I was right. So why is it that certainly in monasteries over in Australia, and I think pretty much the same here, people are struggling and striving to try and get into a monastery. There is honestly a waiting list. A long waiting list of people trying to get into the monastery in Australia and I know there's a long waiting list of people trying to get out of jail. Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

30:35 Why? What is the difference between prison and monasteries? And it soon becomes quite clear a monastery people want to be there because they want to be there. Report an error in the passage at 30:35 Highlight the passage at 30:35

30:57 That's why it's It's really not a. Really, it's like a sense of freedom. In a jail, you don't want to be there, even though it's very comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 30:57 Highlight the passage at 30:57

31:12 To me, it became quite obvious the definitions and real meaning of a prison and freedom. A prison is any place you don't want to be. Freedom is just you want to be there, even if it's not comfortable. You're happy to be there. It's no longer prison anymore. It's freedom. And so I often use that simile to then start teaching. Report an error in the passage at 31:12 Highlight the passage at 31:12

31:49 If you are in a relationship which you aren't comfortable with, which you don't like, you'd rather be just alone. If you're in a job which you hate, going to work every morning causes you so much stress. Report an error in the passage at 31:49 Highlight the passage at 31:49

32:09 If you are in a body which is really sick and hurting, you're in a prison. You don't want to be there. Or even if you're sitting down meditating and you're not enjoying it, your meditation becomes a prison for you. Report an error in the passage at 32:09 Highlight the passage at 32:09

32:30 And how do you escape from the prisons of life? You don't need to jump over the walls or dig a hole under the wall to be free. You change your attitude instead of wanting to be somewhere else, to want to be here. With that, your relationship, your partner, want to be here. Obviously there are some places which are very toxic and it's good to try and escape. But a lot of times, a lot of times, if we can just see the beauty, not just the ugly. Report an error in the passage at 32:30 Highlight the passage at 32:30

33:16 See the good bricks in the wall rather than the bad bricks. Then we can be happy to be here. It's not perfect, but it's good enough. In your job, even your body, sometimes wanting to get rid of that pain just makes it worse. But wanting to be here, in this moment, with this experience, then you find you have freedom. That freedom is something which is, in many cases, Report an error in the passage at 33:16 Highlight the passage at 33:16

33:52 you realize why people go to a monastery and why a prison is much more ascetic than being in a monastery. Report an error in the passage at 33:52 Highlight the passage at 33:52

34:04 Sorry if I got that wrong with that, didn't I? Why being in a monastery is much more ascetic than being in a priest. One of the ways, one of the Reflections I would ask you to do in your meditation sessions is to ask yourself, am I happy to be here? Or do you want to be somewhere else? Report an error in the passage at 34:04 Highlight the passage at 34:04

34:32 Imagine that you are happy to be here. It may not be perfect, you may still have a wandering mind, but you're happy to have a wandering mind. If you're happy to have a wandering mind, you are peaceful, content, easily satisfied. Report an error in the passage at 34:32 Highlight the passage at 34:32

34:49 And if you're easily satisfied and content, Why does the mind wander? Report an error in the passage at 34:49 Highlight the passage at 34:49

34:58 It's because it's trying to escape. Why is it trying to escape from something? Because you're not really appreciating where you already are. Report an error in the passage at 34:58 Highlight the passage at 34:58

35:10 That's one of the reasons why people have wandering minds. Why they want something because they're not satisfied right here. This is one of the reasons why when you meditate, the problems are usually right in the very beginning when you're sitting down. Why does the mind wander? Report an error in the passage at 35:10 Highlight the passage at 35:10

35:26 When you're starting your meditation, when you have some ideas of what this meditation is going to get you, what it's going to do for you, that's always problematical. Report an error in the passage at 35:26 Highlight the passage at 35:26

35:39 Remember, the meditation is going to bring you closer to where you already are right now, right here. And then when it does, from there, you'll be surprised when you're happy to be here. Report an error in the passage at 35:39 Highlight the passage at 35:39

35:53 You don't want to be anywhere else or in the whole world. When all those wantings vanish, or at least subside, when all those wantings subside, with them comes the subsiding of ill will. With them comes the disappearance of the tiredness, the sloth and torpor, which is what the wanting, that's what ties you out, always wanting things, struggling to get somewhere else. Report an error in the passage at 35:53 Highlight the passage at 35:53

36:26 Imagine you can just sit down right here. This is good enough. And then you stop wandering. You stop being tired. And then you can start to see much more clearly what's happening. Your mindfulness increases and the delight increases. A story to illustrate this. The Bodhinyana Monastery in south of Perth, where I live, is a monastery on top of a hill. Report an error in the passage at 36:26 Highlight the passage at 36:26

37:01 It's not a big hill, but it still qualifies as a hill. And the reason why we got the land for a monastery on top of a hill, why Venerable Chanda has Boar's Hill as a location for Anukampa Grove, the reason is, is because it's tradition. Report an error in the passage at 37:01 Highlight the passage at 37:01

37:24 Holy people always live on top of hills. You never hear of a holy person living in a swamp. With the exception of Yoda, apparently. Yoda lived in a swamp, but that was just... Couldn't be holy. Sorry? Couldn't be holy. Yeah, exactly. That was just Hollywood movies, not reality. But real holy people always live on top of hills. Is that correct? Report an error in the passage at 37:24 Highlight the passage at 37:24

37:52 If you say so again. If I say so. So anyway, that's our tradition. So one day... Honestly, this is really difficult for me to do, to get exercise. Honestly, because one day I had extra time and at the bottom of the hill I said, I've got time, I'm going to walk up today. And usually they say, no way. And they might get attacked. I don't know about attacked by what, by a kangaroo? There's no dangerous beings on that road. Report an error in the passage at 37:52 Highlight the passage at 37:52

38:27 But anyway, so I got... Are you okay to get out of the car and start walking up the hill? And it wasn't for exercise, because what happened was for like insight. It's the first time in seven years. And the mask. What? Nothing. It was the first time in seven years since I went up to that monastery that I actually walked up the hill. Report an error in the passage at 38:27 Highlight the passage at 38:27

38:56 I had the opportunity to. And as I walked up the hill, I'd been living up there for seven years. And I thought I knew that surroundings. But when I started walking up that hill, it looked totally different than anything I remembered. Report an error in the passage at 38:56 Highlight the passage at 38:56

39:15 I could see much more. What I saw was more delightful, more beautiful. That was also quite stunning. And I thought, what's going on? And then I stopped because I was kind of shocked. When I stopped and just stood and stared at that hillside, I then saw more things than I'd ever seen before on that hillside. Report an error in the passage at 39:15 Highlight the passage at 39:15

39:44 More blades of grass, more little flowers in those blades of grass. I could appreciate the trees and the texture of the surface of the trees and the bark. And the whole thing, you started to see so much more. What you saw was so much more colourful. And then because I was trained as a scientist, And he realized why. A simple explanation, but a profound nevertheless. That when you are looking through the window of a car, traveling at 30, 40 kilometers, actually 60 kilometers an hour, more like it. Report an error in the passage at 39:44 Highlight the passage at 39:44

40:21 It's only supposed to be about 30 or 40 kilometers an hour. When you're looking through the window of a car, all the scenes which you see flash by. by and the Report an error in the passage at 40:21 Highlight the passage at 40:21

40:35 The image which forms on your retina doesn't have time to properly form before it's dislodged by another image and then another image and then another image and then another image. So you see a series of images never fully formed. When you walk slowly, the images have got more time to form on the back of your eye and you've got more time to see it. Report an error in the passage at 40:35 Highlight the passage at 40:35

41:02 And when you stood perfectly still, The first time the images properly formed, you could see all the detail, clear. And you could also see the colours properly formed. The greens were richer, the browns were more deep, even the yellows, and the different shades of yellow. It was gorgeous. And you could see much more. It's a great simile of what mindfulness is. Report an error in the passage at 41:02 Highlight the passage at 41:02

41:34 Sometimes we're going too fast to see things clearly. And also we're going so fast, the colours never properly form. They're like washed out, like watercolours. Instead of rich, powerful, deep colours. And so that became the most beautiful hillside I'd ever seen. It's always there. But because I was going really, really slow, you can see it much deeper. More insight and more joy. Report an error in the passage at 41:34 Highlight the passage at 41:34

42:05 More beauty. And of course, that was a wonderful simile for meditation. After things like that, I realized that don't go fast in meditation. There should be a speed limit in meditation. Go slow. Go so slow, eventually you're just almost like crawling. Report an error in the passage at 42:05 Highlight the passage at 42:05

42:27 You're just creeping until you just stop. I love that word stop. For those of you who know some of the history of Buddhism, Report an error in the passage at 42:27 Highlight the passage at 42:27

42:40 Once there was this gentleman, I don't even call him a gentleman, called Angulimala, who was actually trying to kill the Buddha, running after him with a sharp sword, and said to the Buddha, stop, stop. Report an error in the passage at 42:40 Highlight the passage at 42:40

42:56 Then the Buddha turned around and said, I have stopped. It's about time you stopped. Stop killing and doing bad things. And that just really struck. At the heart of this Angulimala, this serial killer, to the point that he started to understand what the word stop meant. Report an error in the passage at 42:56 Highlight the passage at 42:56

43:20 And eventually the Angulimala became fully enlightened. And I like that teaching, stop, stop. Report an error in the passage at 43:20 Highlight the passage at 43:20

43:33 Sometimes in meditation, if your mind is just getting nowhere, or you think it's getting nowhere, but really it's just being restless and thinking this and thinking that. Just tell your mind, stop, as Report an error in the passage at 43:33 Highlight the passage at 43:33

43:52 if it does. It gets very still and stops. You see much more. Your awareness really starts to get strong. And you're surprised what you see is more beautiful than you ever expected. That's the weird part of it, the beauty and the joy which you experience. Report an error in the passage at 43:52 Highlight the passage at 43:52

44:17 As a young Buddhist, I always thought that life is suffering, dukkha, and that when you stop and contemplate dukkha, it gets worse. But it doesn't. It gets more beautiful. You stop, and you realize your senses were very, very dull. Report an error in the passage at 44:17 Highlight the passage at 44:17

44:37 And that's what happens also in the meditation practice. Eventually, when you're just washing your breath, the breath becomes the most beautiful thing you've ever seen in the whole world. Report an error in the passage at 44:37 Highlight the passage at 44:37

44:48 And everything gets really bright and beautiful. And I think later on, I think, Chandy, are you going to talk about Ānāpānasati later on? Chandy. Okay. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, yeah. So anyway, you'll see there that the fifth and sixth stages of Ānāpānasati, that's actually where you start experiencing pīti and sukha, the joy, the bliss, and that's strong. Report an error in the passage at 44:48 Highlight the passage at 44:48

45:17 The trick to understand this, the Buddha said that that is a citta saṅkhāra. It's actually, it's made of the mind, how the mind starts to view the breathing. Returning from a physical experience of the breath to a mental experience of the breath. Just what the mind does when it starts to get strong and see these things. Report an error in the passage at 45:17 Highlight the passage at 45:17

45:44 And I'm just going to finish off shortly. But you always notice that when this starts to happen, you start watching the breath and it starts to feel beautiful, incredibly beautiful. That's when a lot of time people are just sitting there and they don't come out for lunch. They just carry on sitting there. Report an error in the passage at 45:44 Highlight the passage at 45:44

46:07 They don't want to do anything simply because the joy is so satisfying. I'd rather have the bliss of these meditations than... Eating food. So that's sometimes what happens. If it does, let it happen. You can always eat it another day. But the point is you're enjoying the bliss of peace. You really are happy to be here. You don't want to be anywhere else. Report an error in the passage at 46:07 Highlight the passage at 46:07

46:40 That makes the meditation deeper and more profound. And the insight will come almost automatically. When I want something, that's a struggle. That's not peace. That's not bliss. When you give up wanting, have all the bliss you need. Thank you for listening. Report an error in the passage at 46:40 Highlight the passage at 46:40

47:05 So a nice long break. We'll be back at about, let's say, 25 to. So 15 minutes break. Okay. Thank you for the meditation. See you in about 15 minutes. Please stay in the room. Report an error in the passage at 47:05 Highlight the passage at 47:05