Guided Meditation

0:00 So, first of all, welcome everybody to Nonamara's happy hour. Well, it is happy to be able to meditate and to rest and relax, let everything go, so we can enjoy some peace and quiet. So the meditation is really simple. All we do is sit down and do nothing. What could be more simple than that? Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:31 Some people already do nothing. Report an error in the passage at 0:31 Highlight the passage at 0:31

0:40 No. I've got to be kind. So anyway, welcome everybody. And sometimes that's what people ask. How do you let go? How do you actually relax? A lot of times when people are meditating, they're trying to do something. They've got goals to achieve. They hear that in meditation you can cure cancers. Oh look, I remember the first time which I taught meditation over in Bunbury in the prison. Report an error in the passage at 0:40 Highlight the passage at 0:40

1:10 They all used to ask me, actually not all, but the head guy in the prison gangs down there, interrupted me when I was talking about meditation, and he put his hand up, and he said, is it all right if I can ask a question? If you see anyone that big with so many scars on them, you always say yes. And his question was, is it really true that through meditation you can learn how to fly through the air? Report an error in the passage at 1:10 Highlight the passage at 1:10

1:40 And he said, in particular, How to fly over walls? Report an error in the passage at 1:40 Highlight the passage at 1:40

1:48 Prisoners. And I said, well, yeah, it's possible, but it takes a lot of training. And the first time I went there, about 100 people turned up to listen to meditation. When I said it was very, very difficult and few people can actually do that, then the next time I went, only three people turned up. It really let me know why many prisoners like to learn meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:48 Highlight the passage at 1:48

2:12 So they can fly over walls. But I haven't seen anyone do that yet. And anyway, if I did teach someone to fly over a wall, would I get prosecuted for assisting people to escape? Report an error in the passage at 2:12 Highlight the passage at 2:12

2:26 Would I? Report an error in the passage at 2:26 Highlight the passage at 2:26

2:30 Anyway. So let's get a bit more serious now. Learning how to let go enough so that we meditate not to get somewhere, but to be here. To be more deeply where we already are. That is one of the beautiful ways of looking at meditation. We're not trying to achieve things but let go of that tendency of human beings always to want to get something more, to get rid of some things, to try and go someplace where the problems of our life don't exist. Report an error in the passage at 2:30 Highlight the passage at 2:30

3:06 And instead of trying to get somewhere else, we learn how to stay where we are. When we learn to stay where we are, We find that the present moment in the present place, here and now, is usually much more beautiful and attractive and comfortable than we ever imagined. It's a strange thing to say, but that's the way that I've been practicing for so many years now. I've been a monk for 50 years, over 50 years now. Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:35 And you know that when you try to get somewhere else, that's where you get into strife and trouble. If you stay where you are, and start appreciating this moment that's called letting go and it's also you might say letting be and to make it even clearer it's opening the door of your heart to this moment to this place unconditionally and your attitude does change this place you may think that's weird that the places are just fixed it's not that way The places in which we find ourselves are also defined by the way we regard them. And if we can change the way we regard them and look at them with more peace and more acceptance, with more kindness, to open the door of our heart to them much more, then we find they do become very peaceful, wonderful places. Report an error in the passage at 3:35 Highlight the passage at 3:35

4:32 And these days, because I do a lot of traveling, because I get to do way too much, That always I could very easily be a complainer, what we say in Buddhism, a fault finder. And instead of having a fault finder, we change that around to be someone who sees gratitude in this moment, gratitude in this whole body, gratitude in this temple, gratitude in whatever you have to do in life, which comes to you. Report an error in the passage at 4:32 Highlight the passage at 4:32

5:03 And that gratitude, you can see a point, a meaning. To where you are and what you're doing. You don't want to improve anything. Don't want to get rid of anything. All that wanting and all that ill will disappears. Report an error in the passage at 5:03 Highlight the passage at 5:03

5:22 And when it starts to disappear, that's where you find some peace. Some peace and freedom. That's one of those similes of meditation which we got when we started teaching in prisons. When one of the prisoners asked one of the monks, what's it like in your monastery? And when he described our routine, it was far more ascetic in a Buddhist monastery than in their prison here in Western Australia. Report an error in the passage at 5:22 Highlight the passage at 5:22

5:57 Staying in a monastery is much tougher than staying in a prison. But there's always a waiting list of people trying to get in to a monastery. There's a waiting list of people trying to get out of a prison. Why? And the only reason why is that a prison is where people do not want to be. A monastery is where they do want to be. That's the only difference between incarceration and freedom. Report an error in the passage at 5:57 Highlight the passage at 5:57

6:31 Do you want to be here or not? If you want to be somewhere else, you created a prison. So anyone... If you're in a relationship which is difficult for you, the relationship is like a prison. If you're in a body which is aching and sick, your body becomes like a prison. And you can try and cure it if you... Report an error in the passage at 6:31 Highlight the passage at 6:31

7:16 instead of wanting to be somewhere else see if you can want to be here it's amazing just it's not giving in it's letting go and being kind and that means the anything which is oppressing you hurting you stopping you from achieving the peace and happiness and fulfillment, that disappears. The hindrances disappear. Report an error in the passage at 7:16 Highlight the passage at 7:16

7:47 And you find that right in this moment, there's all the beauty and happiness and fulfillment you could ever want. When you stop trying to get somewhere else, that's called letting be. That's kindness. And that's peace. That's one of the reasons why in meditation. Yes, we have these landmarks on the journey. Report an error in the passage at 7:47 Highlight the passage at 7:47

8:12 Sometimes people try and make them stages of meditation. It's the stages of peace. How peaceful can you be? How much can you want to be here? I don't know if you've ever experienced a lot of pain. And if you do experience a lot of pain, what do you usually do? Take a medication or go and see a doctor or something. Report an error in the passage at 8:12 Highlight the passage at 8:12

8:37 Instead, how about being with that experience and learning from it? You start to learn from it. It's amazing what... Difficulty teaches you. And as you stay here longer and longer and longer and longer, actually you find the pain vanishes. It disappears. You can let it go once you know how. Letting go doesn't mean saying get out of here. Report an error in the passage at 8:37 Highlight the passage at 8:37

9:13 You say, I don't know why you're here, but I'm going to learn so much from you. This is just one story. I had really such a bad toothache that it was in a remote part of Thailand. There was no telephone, no electricity. There was a medicine cabinet in the monastery, and I went there in the middle of the night to try and find any medications I could take. Report an error in the passage at 9:13 Highlight the passage at 9:13

9:41 It had a nice little cross on the medicine cabinet, but when I opened it, there was nothing in it. It was a nice cabinet, but didn't have any medicines in it at all. So, nothing I could take. So, I decided to try meditation, try chanting. At that time, I didn't really know how to meditate. Nothing worked, until I decided just to let go. Simple as that. Report an error in the passage at 9:41 Highlight the passage at 9:41

10:14 Then, it really kind of shocked me how powerful those words were, and all the pain. In a moment, that was really quite surprising how fast it happened. When you really let things be, the mind looks at things in a totally different way. And what was once painful becomes a source of inspiration and bliss. I couldn't believe how quickly it changed. Report an error in the passage at 10:14 Highlight the passage at 10:14

10:45 This is actually how the meditation works. You don't go anywhere. You don't try and get rid of things. Stay where you are. Report an error in the passage at 10:45 Highlight the passage at 10:45

10:56 And after a little while, everything becomes peaceful and disappears. And you feel this great sense of freedom. Freedom that wherever you are in this world, whatever happens, you can be so still that nothing affects you. Report an error in the passage at 10:56 Highlight the passage at 10:56

11:16 So the way to do that, we do start the meditation by being aware of our body, first of all. This is a vehicle which we are driving in. And just like if you came here in a car, in that car you do lock it up, park it properly, so to make sure it's safe, so you can let it go and don't think about it when you're in this room doing meditation. Report an error in the passage at 11:16 Highlight the passage at 11:16

11:46 And many of you have done that, the car is safe. And when you know it's safe, that means that you can come in here and not worry about it. Now you sit down. on a chair or on the cushion to park your body you sit it down try and make it as comfortable as possible so then you can leave it knowing at the end of the meditation you can get up and you're safe and free it's going to be there for you afterwards that's why it's important in meditation to relax the body so deeply and that's why i mentioned that term Relax to the max. I mean really relax. So that's what we're going to start with in this meditation. Report an error in the passage at 11:46 Highlight the passage at 11:46

12:41 A little body awareness method. So your body relaxes so deeply. And when I do this, I always experience a sense of joy in my body. A pleasurable feeling which shows me that I'm on the right track. track that my body is relaxed enough to like your car to park it and it'll be safe for me when i come back because then i go into the mind that's where the deepest parts of the meditation are not in the body but you let the body go Let's get started with the body meditation. So are you comfortable? Report an error in the passage at 12:41 Highlight the passage at 12:41

13:31 Everybody usually says yes. But are you really comfortable? That's why I love doing this guided meditation to start with the feet. Actually, I usually start more precisely with the toes. How are your toes right now? Can you feel them? Report an error in the passage at 13:31 Highlight the passage at 13:31

13:59 A lot of times we don't pay much attention to our feet because I've never seen a person get diseases like... A toe virus or a cancer of the ankle. Report an error in the passage at 13:59 Highlight the passage at 13:59

14:20 Don't give the feet much attention, which is good, because we have no fear there. We can just watch our, say, toes. And after a while you get much, much more aware of your toes than you've ever been before. Report an error in the passage at 14:20 Highlight the passage at 14:20

14:41 That's what I'm doing now. I'm not surprised because I've done this many times. I can really feel the toes now, and there's nothing painful, or there's no pressure on any one of my toes, and they feel really comfortable. You see how comfortable they can feel. Once they are deeply comfortable, then I move on to the next part of my feet, the balls of my feet. Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

15:21 When I'm aware of those, again I relax them. Relax them very deeply. And Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:37 when they relax very deeply, I never knew that I could be so sensitive in that part of my body. Every time you do this kindfulness meditation, just checking out how your, say, balls of the feet and toes are, you develop that neural connection to that part of your body. And over the days, the weeks, the years, You get so much more sensitive. And that awareness of your sensations gives you the opportunity to learn how to relax them. Report an error in the passage at 15:37 Highlight the passage at 15:37

16:22 And you can relax your feet deeper than you ever thought possible. And just by the way, many years ago, discussing with a psychotherapist in Sydney, they were using this method. They said they were making a fortune. Giving a little app online to sleeplikeababy.com she called it. Always works. How to relax so much it's easy to get to sleep at night. Report an error in the passage at 16:22 Highlight the passage at 16:22

16:57 We can understand why. Your whole body relaxes. It feels pleasant. And it's also this is putting your attention in this present moment. Just now. Are you aware? Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:16 If Report an error in the passage at 17:16 Highlight the passage at 17:16

17:21 you have an injury or pain please Deal with it, relax it, even if it means moving slightly, and you can feel the result. Your feet relax probably more than you've relaxed in such a long time. Report an error in the passage at 17:21 Highlight the passage at 17:21

18:13 And then from the heels, you go up to your ankles. Report an error in the passage at 18:13 Highlight the passage at 18:13

18:21 As I move up my body, part by part, I also notice, I recognize the feelings in the ankles, the feelings in the knees are different. Report an error in the passage at 18:21 Highlight the passage at 18:21

18:34 So sometimes I just call it ankle feeling. And I know that they are healthy and in good shape. And I learn how to relax them even more. Report an error in the passage at 18:34 Highlight the passage at 18:34

18:50 The feeling is noticeably more at ease than when I started. And I move that feeling upwards. Up through my calves and my legs. Up those shin bones and skin. Report an error in the passage at 18:50 Highlight the passage at 18:50

19:13 I feel as much as I can there, just with mind and with kindness. I always feel it's the kindness which makes the difference. Report an error in the passage at 19:13 Highlight the passage at 19:13

19:25 When you are kind to another person, you can see them relax. When I'm kind to parts of this thing I call my body, that part relaxes too. Report an error in the passage at 19:25 Highlight the passage at 19:25

19:41 Just awareness and kindness is the trick to relax. You know, how do you know what kindness is? And this is one way. If you look at someone, you really are kind, you should be able to notice them relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 19:41 Highlight the passage at 19:41

20:12 If it is kindness, it's easy to relax things. Report an error in the passage at 20:12 Highlight the passage at 20:12

20:23 You know something by what it does. Report an error in the passage at 20:23 Highlight the passage at 20:23

20:31 And so I go to my knees, knee feelings. Report an error in the passage at 20:31 Highlight the passage at 20:31

20:37 Once you start feeling the sensations in your knees, I try to imagine them just sinking into the softest of cotton cushions. Report an error in the passage at 20:37 Highlight the passage at 20:37

20:52 So I'm not holding them. I'm not trying to prove anything. I'm just letting them be. That's kindness. Report an error in the passage at 20:52 Highlight the passage at 20:52

21:10 And I can feel them. Honestly, every moment I keep looking, I can see them. Easing off more. It's like I imagine all the channels through my knees, not just blood vessels or veins or arteries, but the lymph vessels, whatever else, passes through. Passes through without any impediments. So natural ways of healing can do their job. I just let it be with kindness and relaxing. Report an error in the passage at 21:10 Highlight the passage at 21:10

21:50 It feels so enjoyable. Report an error in the passage at 21:50 Highlight the passage at 21:50

21:55 And they go to my thighs. And those thighs have lots of muscles. And they feel fine. If I allow them to relax sitting like this, I don't hold a posture to impress anybody. The idea of a posture is so the body can be comfortable and at ease. Because when it's comfortable and at ease, it will vanish. Report an error in the passage at 21:55 Highlight the passage at 21:55

22:28 It's like my feet feelings have now vanished. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:34 So I make sure the muscles of my thighs are all at ease, at peace. And in that peace, they've been well looked after so they can disappear like your thoughts about your vehicle outside. Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

22:56 It's safe. Once it's safe, you can let it go. And then from the thighs, you move up to the butt. And as I said last night, just... There's a big body sitting on this cushion and all that weight is passed through the muscles of the butt onto the cushion. Report an error in the passage at 22:56 Highlight the passage at 22:56

23:24 I can feel that pressure. When I sing with the butt feeling, it's not going to change. Because it stays pretty constant, it will disappear, which it always does. My job is to make sure... that any feeling in the butt is evenly spread and then i know it will disappear and Report an error in the passage at 23:24 Highlight the passage at 23:24

23:54 from there i go up to my waist in my waist i make sure that it's not too relaxed not too far forward i just usually move my waist a bit forward and that feels so much better this is how my body wants to meditate so i ask my body how are you is that the good position for you and now my body has told you that now it is the back kind of held straight that's how my body likes it and it's easy to keep that position for long periods of time for me anyway and Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:45 then i start going up my body inside for me that's going up the digestive tract and make sure as i Move my awareness, sweep it up the digestive tract. If I come across any tension or pain, either in the colon or intestines or any organs at the back, I pause there, don't have any fear, and see what I need to do to relax it. Report an error in the passage at 24:45 Highlight the passage at 24:45

25:22 A lot of times you don't have to move. You just have to notice the thing with mindfulness. It does give you feedback. So you're looking, experiencing these feelings, and you see what's needed so that any ache or pain or discomfort gets less and less and less. Report an error in the passage at 25:22 Highlight the passage at 25:22

25:53 You relax your own body. That's what you learn to do with this meditation. Report an error in the passage at 25:53 Highlight the passage at 25:53

26:06 If it gets more tense, you're going in the wrong direction. If it gets easy, Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:16 Carry on. And Report an error in the passage at 26:16 Highlight the passage at 26:16

26:23 from the intestines, colon, intestines, move up to your stomach. I can feel my stomach now. I've done this a long time. I know those sensations which exist in the stomach area. All benign. Report an error in the passage at 26:23 Highlight the passage at 26:23

26:45 My stomach is very comfortable this afternoon. I'm just relaxing it some more. Report an error in the passage at 26:45 Highlight the passage at 26:45

27:01 As I relax my tummy. Once it's really at ease, I move a little bit further up to my lungs and relax those too. I'm not precise. Anything in that kind of area will do. I often also add this. If you have any diseases like a cancer, you know, in your chest, stomach, breast, lungs, sometimes you can feel it. Report an error in the passage at 27:01 Highlight the passage at 27:01

27:39 You can notice. So what it feels like. And please never try to get rid of it. Just to know it. And relax it. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

27:56 Then hopefully that feeling associated with disease just fades away. That's what I've found. So you feel free. Happy to be here. Report an error in the passage at 27:56 Highlight the passage at 27:56

28:16 You may also go to my heart region. Just check it out. Be kind. Be gentle. And just let go. Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:32 And I can feel that my body welcomes that peace. It feels good with it. Report an error in the passage at 28:32 Highlight the passage at 28:32

28:43 Every other time someone's asking my body to get rid of this, or do that, or exercise this. Right now I'm just loving it in this moment as it is. Report an error in the passage at 28:43 Highlight the passage at 28:43

28:59 I'm not asking it to do anything. Just letting it be. And Report an error in the passage at 28:59 Highlight the passage at 28:59

29:10 once you get to know what letting be feels like, It's a beautiful sensation and very positive for the future. I often say that now is where you make the future. Report an error in the passage at 29:10 Highlight the passage at 29:10

29:27 This is where I make my health by relaxing everything. Report an error in the passage at 29:27 Highlight the passage at 29:27

29:37 And then eventually I get to my shoulders. And quite often, I was busy this afternoon, very often my shoulders are tense. Report an error in the passage at 29:37 Highlight the passage at 29:37

29:50 As they are right now, I can feel them more tense than they usually are. So what I do to relax my shoulders is I scrunch them up even more. It's like if you've got a ball at a certain place on the hillside, you push it up a bit further so it gets more close to the top and then you let it go. Report an error in the passage at 29:50 Highlight the passage at 29:50

30:19 Scrunch and then let go. I don't tell the muscles what to do. I release that pressure. I usually get more relaxed than when I started. Now my shoulders feel really good. Go down the arms, past the elbows. Report an error in the passage at 30:19 Highlight the passage at 30:19

30:45 They don't usually cause me any trouble. But I just check them out nevertheless. I'm an old monk now. Make sure there's not even any sign of things like arthritis. There aren't. Everything is so at ease. Report an error in the passage at 30:45 Highlight the passage at 30:45

31:06 And then to the arms and the elbows. Report an error in the passage at 31:06 Highlight the passage at 31:06

31:13 I get the wrist feeling. It's very pleasant right now. Just being aware of how my wrists feel. And then pass that to the hands and the fingers. Report an error in the passage at 31:13 Highlight the passage at 31:13

31:30 What I do, especially with the fingers, I ask them, fingers, are you comfortable? Today my fingers answer no. So I will adjust them. Report an error in the passage at 31:30 Highlight the passage at 31:30

31:49 I feel so much better. I usually... Find the most comfortable position for my fingers in meditation. It's the right hand over the left hand with the thumbs slightly touching. Report an error in the passage at 31:49 Highlight the passage at 31:49

32:03 My body's used to that. And it always does find it the most comfortable. Report an error in the passage at 32:03 Highlight the passage at 32:03

32:12 So having spread kindfulness down both arms to the tips of the fingers, you can now go back up to the neck. And at that neck, I can feel the weight of the head above the neck. That could cause aches and pains. So I make sure I bend my head back, bend it forward to the left and the right to find the optimum position. Report an error in the passage at 32:12 Highlight the passage at 32:12

32:46 I care for my neck. I want to get the head in the best position for it. Report an error in the passage at 32:46 Highlight the passage at 32:46

32:58 Once that head is in the best position, then I notice the sensations around the eyes. And the mouth and the nose. Report an error in the passage at 32:58 Highlight the passage at 32:58

33:12 Because they can tell me how relaxed my emotions are. Report an error in the passage at 33:12 Highlight the passage at 33:12

33:20 And I relax those emotions. Report an error in the passage at 33:20 Highlight the passage at 33:20

33:28 Those emotions are really relaxed. The whole head feels loose, at ease. And many of those, I call them negative emotions, like striving or ill will or fear, all vanish. Report an error in the passage at 33:28 Highlight the passage at 33:28

33:52 Being aware of the sensations on your face is a beautiful segue into the world of the mind. And Report an error in the passage at 33:52 Highlight the passage at 33:52

· · · silence, 1 minute

34:42 then I go more fully into the mind. I ask myself, how peaceful are you right now? Report an error in the passage at 34:42 Highlight the passage at 34:42

34:54 Sometimes I even advise students just to give the liver a piece you have. Look at the grading. Is it really 10? really good piece for 987654321 How peaceful are you? And how do you increase that peace to make it deeper? I Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:28 say that because it puts your attention on the cause of peace in your mind. A lot of that is being in this present moment. Report an error in the passage at 35:28 Highlight the passage at 35:28

35:40 During meditation, please let go of the past. Report an error in the passage at 35:40 Highlight the passage at 35:40

35:49 In this present moment, please remember... The future is being made right now. So if you care for the future, stay in this present moment and Report an error in the passage at 35:49 Highlight the passage at 35:49

36:21 see if you can notice your mind go deeper into quietness. In this moment, see if you can go so deep into this moment you stop speaking to yourself. Report an error in the passage at 36:21 Highlight the passage at 36:21

36:38 All the descriptions are not required. So you get into the silence of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 36:38 Highlight the passage at 36:38

36:52 You can observe and know without giving things a name. You don't need to remember. Memory becomes natural. In Report an error in the passage at 36:52 Highlight the passage at 36:52

37:18 this part of the meditation, you don't need to plan. Just allow the mind to cool down more and more and more, to become more and more still. Report an error in the passage at 37:18 Highlight the passage at 37:18

37:35 But please appreciate the beauty of that stillness. Report an error in the passage at 37:35 Highlight the passage at 37:35

37:44 In that beauty, a joy arises. There's a joy of the stillness of the mind, which stops you going to sleep, which keeps your mind aware, awake. So the hindrance of sloth and torpor never consume you. I will be quiet now. Report an error in the passage at 37:44 Highlight the passage at 37:44

38:10 When I start speaking again, I'll be close to the end of the meditation. It's Report an error in the passage at 38:10 Highlight the passage at 38:10

· · · silence, 17 minutes

55:02 getting close. To the end of the meditation, please keep your eyes closed. How do you feel? How peaceful are you? Report an error in the passage at 55:02 Highlight the passage at 55:02

55:22 What's it like staying in the present moment with no plans for the future? Report an error in the passage at 55:22 Highlight the passage at 55:22

55:33 Letting go of all memories of the past and being kind in this moment. How Report an error in the passage at 55:33 Highlight the passage at 55:33

55:45 does your mind feel? How Report an error in the passage at 55:45 Highlight the passage at 55:45

55:51 is the body? How relaxed is it? Report an error in the passage at 55:51 Highlight the passage at 55:51

56:04 What have you learned in this meditation? The Report an error in the passage at 56:04 Highlight the passage at 56:04

56:10 end of the meditation, that's where the mind is clear and it can learn insight, understanding about how to meditate, about how to be at peace, what happiness really is. So Report an error in the passage at 56:10 Highlight the passage at 56:10

56:37 I now invite you to please open your eyes and complete the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 56:37 Highlight the passage at 56:37

56:49 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 56:49 Highlight the passage at 56:49

56:56 Excellent. Wow, that's Report an error in the passage at 56:56 Highlight the passage at 56:56

57:05 kind of surprising. It's almost like magic happens here on a Saturday afternoon on Friday. When I close my eyes to start the meditation, there's not so many people here. By the end of the meditation, the numbers have increased enormously. Report an error in the passage at 57:05 Highlight the passage at 57:05

57:24 Anyway, the first question we have here is from Germany. Dear Ajahn, during meditation how can I apply kindness to my body? It is difficult to translate it actually. Can you explain kindness in meditation please? Thank you kindly. Report an error in the passage at 57:24 Highlight the passage at 57:24

57:48 And sometimes what's the kindest thing I can do for somebody? And sometimes you have to learn just to look at the results of that attitude. When you see things really relaxing, more things being peaceful, just your whole body feeling so much more at ease, I find that that is the result of kindness. Report an error in the passage at 57:48 Highlight the passage at 57:48

58:18 If I'm kind, say to the monk sitting next to me, I always try and find him the best coffee which I can find for him. You like coffee? Report an error in the passage at 58:18 Highlight the passage at 58:18

58:35 To be so kind to him that... You don't need to teach him anymore. Don't ever feel what kindness is. And once you know what it does to yourself when you're kind to yourself, then you can give that kindness to others. Report an error in the passage at 58:35 Highlight the passage at 58:35

58:55 And that's how you can give kindness to the noise of the motorbike. I hope that person's having a wonderful time. When I have that joy. So whatever other people might get disappointed with, the sound of the motorbike vanishes. And when it vanishes, any disturbances vanish. You can see what kindness does. It creates peace. It's one of the most powerful attitudes of the human mind. Report an error in the passage at 58:55 Highlight the passage at 58:55

59:32 So experiment with your meditation. Just see how you can relax things. See how your body can feel more at ease. And how the mind can be still. And you'll find that that is kindness. In particular, it's letting things be. Report an error in the passage at 59:32 Highlight the passage at 59:32

59:51 Being kind to yourself and kind to others. In other words, respecting things. Dear Ajahn, could you please give some guidance on using recollections of accidental deep meditation? I recall seeing beautiful nibbitas as a child, but nothing close since. Report an error in the passage at 59:51 Highlight the passage at 59:51

1:00:17 That is something which I have introduced a few times, which maybe I should introduce more often, using meditation recollections. So sometimes even doing things like you close your eyes, what is the most peaceful, beautiful, safe experience you've had so far in your life? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:17 Highlight the passage at 1:00:17

1:00:44 I remember just... When I was just doing a teaching certificate over in the University of Durham, I chose that place because it was remote. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:44 Highlight the passage at 1:00:44

1:00:57 And I remember just some afternoons, I was going to a walk close by, you know, into the mall, and there was a beautiful lake there. I would often sit by it alone. And I can recall that. The solitude, peace, comfort. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:57 Highlight the passage at 1:00:57

1:01:19 And it just made me feel peaceful. So I start those recollections at the beginning of meditation. And some of the great meditations I've experienced, I imagine how I felt at that time. Not what I was experiencing, but how I felt. And when you experience how you felt, you are so satisfied you didn't want anything in the whole world. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:19 Highlight the passage at 1:01:19

1:01:46 And I realized that that was the most important part of that preparation of remembering the most beautiful experiences so far. You felt you didn't want to go anywhere. You didn't want to get up. You had nothing to do, nothing to solve. It was like you were really on holiday, free, nothing to do in the whole world. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:46 Highlight the passage at 1:01:46

1:02:10 And those imaginations, as soon as I start reflecting on that, I just want to turn off the microphone and carry on meditating. It works for me. And if you can do that with a beautiful meditation, a deeper meditation, you may have seen, are the beautiful lights which can appear in the mind at a certain stage of meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:10 Highlight the passage at 1:02:10

1:02:33 Very recently, there was a gentleman we were talking about, one of our favourite time acts, who actually came to Perth. Ajahn Tate The fact that he came to visit Perth was kind of so surprising for me. I remember going to see him once, and I had all these questions for him. When I got into the room, there was this little old man sitting on a chair watching the Mekong River flow past. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:33 Highlight the passage at 1:02:33

1:03:09 That's where his monastery was, on the banks of the Mekong River. A beautiful location. And when I saw him, You know, he turned around. I'd booked for a couple of days to ask questions. And when he turned around, all the questions in my mind just vanished. He was such a beautiful, kind monk. And I thought to myself, quacky, I remember that feeling. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:09 Highlight the passage at 1:03:09

1:03:36 That feeling that you didn't want anything in the whole world. Just to sit there. And I even remember a thought did come up. The villagers would have to get the strongest water buffalo and lots of ropes and chains to drag me out of that place. I'm just going to stay here for the rest of my life. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:36 Highlight the passage at 1:03:36

1:03:56 And that was a beautiful feeling. I recollect that, the feeling of that monk, and just recollect the time when I just dreamt of his graveyard, of all things, and seeing the little stick in the dream where his body was buried. It was cremated, this was just a dream, but still that little stick just turned into a beautiful light. And it took me into a very deep meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:56 Highlight the passage at 1:03:56

1:04:26 I was supposed to be sleeping, but it woke me totally up, I didn't mind. And I remember those experiences. And when I remember that experience, it gives me this really like a starting edge on the journey of meditation. It puts me many steps ahead at the very beginning. And then it's very easy to go some of the rest of the way quickly. So if you had a beautiful limber, just beautiful lights as a child, just close your eyes, remember them, and have confidence. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:26 Highlight the passage at 1:04:26

1:05:01 The more you remember them, the more you visualize them, the more strong they will become. And hopefully if they also are accompanied by the joy of that experience, that will take you very, very deep. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:01 Highlight the passage at 1:05:01

1:05:19 Okay, here we go. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:19 Highlight the passage at 1:05:19

1:05:23 In Austria. Dear Ajahn, how to apply stillness in daily life during the day? Thank you. Okay. You can't employ stillness if you're, say, a surgeon doing an operation. Otherwise, your hand will just stick there. But what you do to apply stillness is during the day. It's always really busy for everybody. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:23 Highlight the passage at 1:05:23

1:05:51 And if you can, have a place in your office or in your house, wherever you're working, a place of stillness. In other words, a place you can go into and you feel still. You can be left alone for half an hour. An example of that is our local building surveyor in Serpentine Gerrardale Council. Many years ago, when he retired, he came to see me and he said, this is my last day at work. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:51 Highlight the passage at 1:05:51

1:06:22 I've come here to thank you for your car park. In a way he said it, you know, car park? And he said that whenever he felt any stress at work, being a building surveyor and having to approve and sometimes question some of the designs in other people's houses and stuff, you get so stressed out. And you get in his car and drive to the car park of Bodhinyana Monastery and just sit there quietly. That was his quiet place. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:22 Highlight the passage at 1:06:22

1:07:00 And there he could let go of all the tension and stress in him to become still. If it was at his workbench, people would disturb him. If he didn't turn off his mobile phone, the calls would disturb him. In the car park of our monastery, which was usually quiet in the afternoon, you could have a lot of peace and stillness. That's how he used stillness in his day, to find a place of stillness, convenient, and to go in there and sit quietly, to recharge his mind amidst the busyness of life. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:00 Highlight the passage at 1:07:00

1:07:45 So if you have a place in your house, or in your office or somewhere cupboards are usually very good because they're big enough for you to sit in and people don't expect to see you in the cupboard but Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:08:05 there you can go sit in there make it empty and peaceful and just don't put anything else in there have the lock on the inside so you can lock yourself in and get out when you need to but no one can get at you and in that cupboard that's your place of stillness And any time you're stressed out, you go in there, relax to the max. You soon become so peaceful. It's one of the best places in the house and the best places in your office. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:05 Highlight the passage at 1:08:05

1:08:38 That's how I'd encourage you to do that. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:38 Highlight the passage at 1:08:38

1:08:48 Oh my goodness. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:48 Highlight the passage at 1:08:48

1:08:52 Optional non-meditation question. I'm trying to prevent a gas station from being built next to an elementary school. How do I do this without being stressed out? And should I do this? Thank you. That's a difficult question. It's an elementary school, a primary school. There must be some council regulations. See if you can do that without being stressed out. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:52 Highlight the passage at 1:08:52

1:09:19 You're trying to do that to save kids being gassed or, you know, too much traffic, too much noise and being stressed out. And so sometimes we destroy. Our own peace and the peace of others too. Trying to find peace. So just see if you can do it without stress. To do that, you're doing it as a service. You don't have to win. If you have to win at all costs, then that is certain to get stress. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:19 Highlight the passage at 1:09:19

1:09:52 If you do your very best, then that's, of course, all you can do. And then see what happens. See what the karma is of the people in that area. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:52 Highlight the passage at 1:09:52

1:10:05 I don't know if that's much of an answer, but anyway, that's all I've got for you. So, those people left here, have you any questions today? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:05 Highlight the passage at 1:10:05

1:10:20 Okay, please. Please, quick questions, because at 4.30, I have another appointment. There's some poor person who's getting very close to death, and I'm going to go there at 4.30 to see whatever I can do for them. So it's not like usual when afterwards no one asks questions here. They all line up afterwards. So I'm afraid I can't do that today. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:20 Highlight the passage at 1:10:20

1:10:49 So anyway, we've got a question here. Oh, hi Ajahn. So when I meditate and when my body starts to feel relaxed, sometimes I feel some wave of sensation running throughout the body. But even that is not very repeatable. But that's what I usually incline to. Is that sounds like a good idea? What's a good idea is to see if you can let go of the body even more deeply so you can't feel the body at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:49 Highlight the passage at 1:10:49

1:11:23 That's the best thing to do. So if things are still, they don't change, that's when they disappear. So see if you can keep your eyes closed and even hearing over here. If you listen, there's not much loud, strange noise. It's always quite even. And that means it's very easy for the sense of sound to vanish. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:23 Highlight the passage at 1:11:23

1:11:51 And you've got your eyes closed, so that sense of seeing sight vanishes. Smell and taste usually go. But the body feelings, they're the hardest to turn off. Which is one of the reasons why please don't encourage. Bodily feelings, if you want to go deep. In deep meditation, the body vanishes. Those five senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, taste and physical touch just stop, fade away. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:51 Highlight the passage at 1:11:51

1:12:25 What's left is the sixth sense, the mind. And that's usually incredibly beautiful. So I don't encourage to the bodily feelings, any bodily feelings, let them vanish. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:25 Highlight the passage at 1:12:25

1:12:42 Another question? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:42 Highlight the passage at 1:12:42

1:12:47 Going, going. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:47 Highlight the passage at 1:12:47

1:12:55 Sold. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:55 Highlight the passage at 1:12:55

1:13:00 Okay. I remember somebody showed me this Finnish advert, which was really funny. They were at an auction house and they were auctioning off some really expensive piece for 1 million, 2 million, 5 million euros. And then at the end... it was i think the auctioneer said 10 million going going and he when he moved the hammer he was so excited and he hit the piece and broke it and Report an error in the passage at 1:13:00 Highlight the passage at 1:13:00

1:13:38 the advert was for um what's it like like panadol so he said when you have a big headache in life take this and the poor auctioneer took two or three of those So he didn't have a headache anymore. He just busted a three or four, five, ten million euro antique. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:38 Highlight the passage at 1:13:38

1:14:06 That'll give anyone a headache, I reckon. Okay, let's pay respects to the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:06 Highlight the passage at 1:14:06