Essential Points for Working with the Mind (18 March 2014)

0:20 Persian New Year, when I was a little kid, we had goldfish for Persian New Year. And then I spent half the day with my friend and took the goldfish because we were supposed to release them. And we spent a long time hiking to the bay, the goldfish. And then ten minutes later, I realized goldfish don't live in salt water. Report an error in the passage at 0:20 Highlight the passage at 0:20

0:43 I was just going to say, don't go in salt water just yet. I was ten years old, but I spent a lot of time of time to you get get these these goldfish. motivations it was kind of existential Report an error in the passage at 0:43 Highlight the passage at 0:43

0:53 Good Report an error in the passage at 0:53 Highlight the passage at 0:53

1:05 evening. Anybody not here last time? and I gave a talk. Two people. So, two weeks ago when I was here, you guys were not here? Report an error in the passage at 1:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05

1:24 Oh, okay, great. Report an error in the passage at 1:24 Highlight the passage at 1:24

1:30 So, before I start, any kind of thoughts on the past couple weeks for people, just in terms of anything? Report an error in the passage at 1:30 Highlight the passage at 1:30

1:49 We talked about meditation practice and I... Anything, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:49 Highlight the passage at 1:49

1:55 The last thing I said was to try to be aware of your process and how you felt in relationship to your practice particularly. I'm curious with any questions or comments. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:37 Uh-huh. Report an error in the passage at 2:37 Highlight the passage at 2:37

2:44 Uh-huh. Report an error in the passage at 2:44 Highlight the passage at 2:44

2:52 Well, Report an error in the passage at 2:52 Highlight the passage at 2:52

2:56 I'll be here until, I think we have three more classes, so I hope you practice before the end of the series. Okay, good. Report an error in the passage at 2:56 Highlight the passage at 2:56

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3:39 Mm-hm, mm-hm. Report an error in the passage at 3:39 Highlight the passage at 3:39

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4:21 Yeah, integration is sort of such a huge topic for myself included. Everybody, it seems, that seems never to be an irrelevant topic. Report an error in the passage at 4:21 Highlight the passage at 4:21

4:38 I usually talk about integration more towards like in class three and four, but this class. I was going to just sort of review, again, it's sort of to, class one and two is more about the foundations of practicing formal practice. And we want to be able to, we want to be able to be, have the, there's a, I think a desire for the practice to be effortless and integrated and to be able to be mindful and aware. Report an error in the passage at 4:38 Highlight the passage at 4:38

5:20 and to just sort of move through life the practice itself is fundamentally working with Report an error in the passage at 5:20 Highlight the passage at 5:20

5:32 that is actually quite natural like a natural part of our our mind to be unaltered and to be in the present moment it almost feels like there's a there's a desire for that there's a value around that the discipline of practicing and actually that capacity is Report an error in the passage at 5:32 Highlight the passage at 5:32

5:54 When I don't practice, it feels like in some ways the most natural thing in the world to not practice. You're just living. But then also there's a really deep felt sense of not taking advantage of something, not taking advantage of an opportunity to work with the mind in a way that I want to work with, to refine my mind in a way that I want to work Report an error in the passage at 5:54 Highlight the passage at 5:54

6:35 with. Report an error in the passage at 6:35 Highlight the passage at 6:35

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7:19 can you be more specific, how did, what did you? Report an error in the passage at 7:19 Highlight the passage at 7:19

7:32 But having more of a, you know, just taking it step Report an error in the passage at 7:32 Highlight the passage at 7:32

7:48 Over time, I didn't continue applying everything, so then I realized it was Report an error in the passage at 7:48 Highlight the passage at 7:48

7:58 And so getting it, you know, getting started again, right, Eman Fallah, I believe, is a progress. And it's stuff that, you know, I feel like it's all very much in the practices that we're given. It's just to slow it down and to kind of unpack it because a lot of times I know... myself in sort of formal practice it can just it can be kind of you go through the moves or you can do it very quickly sort of this practice of slowing down even even our practice Report an error in the passage at 7:58 Highlight the passage at 7:58

8:41 Any other comments or questions? Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

9:00 share that of the things that resonated with me two weeks ago that kind of not only came with me during my meditation but in my, during my day as was the part of your lecture about taking a deep, you know, just stopping for a moment and just recognizing where you are. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 9:00 Highlight the passage at 9:00

9:41 I feel like that's been staying with me a long time and it's amazing when I'm rushing through my day and getting all my things done and all of a sudden that idea will pop into my mind and stop and look around and just be present where I am. And it's brought a whole new level of awareness. Every day I'm shocked to look around. Even when I'm in my office or on my street where I live, things I look at all the time that I don't really know. Report an error in the passage at 9:41 Highlight the passage at 9:41

10:11 Thank you. Thank you. That's great. That's really wonderful. Report an error in the passage at 10:11 Highlight the passage at 10:11

10:25 That is a very, you know, you speak about, I talk about it as kind of a figure ground shift. Like you see a picture and it looks like an old woman and you look at it and it turns into like a, you look at it and it's a figure ground. Report an error in the passage at 10:25 Highlight the passage at 10:25

10:55 it very much is a form of how we're relating to space. And so just to be able to, like, to kind of widen the view. literally to soften the gaze. Report an error in the passage at 10:55 Highlight the passage at 10:55

11:10 a very actual, has a direct impact on our nervous system because they... Because predator and prey, it's like when your eyes are narrow, your nervous system is wound up. And you just literally relax your gaze, soft, and take in the view. When you take in the view, your gaze is soft. And that has also an effect on the body. But even more profound is just relating to space. Report an error in the passage at 11:10 Highlight the passage at 11:10

11:38 And that's what we talked about in the third part of the practice. When you finally open your eyes. whether it's because you want to meditate with your eyes open or simply because you're getting ready to get up, really relate to the element of space, how that is so intimately connected to awareness and to the nature of mind. Report an error in the passage at 11:38 Highlight the passage at 11:38

12:15 other comments or questions? Report an error in the passage at 12:15 Highlight the passage at 12:15

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12:57 fighting, the church needs to be Report an error in the passage at 12:57 Highlight the passage at 12:57

13:10 Yeah. Thank Report an error in the passage at 13:10 Highlight the passage at 13:10

13:33 you. My teacher calls that the natural freedom of sadness, that the things are naturally free in the sense that Report an error in the passage at 13:33 Highlight the passage at 13:33

13:48 talking about it is that a there's a quality of natural freedom in that it is it's impermanent there's a quality of it arises and it dissipates whatever the feeling is Report an error in the passage at 13:48 Highlight the passage at 13:48

14:03 it's spontaneously present and it is not a concrete thing where just like anything it's there's a quality of you can a quality of Amen. Report an error in the passage at 14:03 Highlight the passage at 14:03

14:20 it to, allowing it to sort of of rising and the falling, and there's a dynamic to that, and there's a natural freedom to the way things abide, so whether it's happiness or sadness, whatever feeling it is, has that, it has that element of you can actually connect to the natural freedom of it, it's not, the concretization concretization Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 14:20 Highlight the passage at 14:20

14:47 and saying this Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama Report an error in the passage at 14:47 Highlight the passage at 14:47

14:52 so by loosening it, the sadness doesn't necessarily go away, but it feels different, right? Different yeah, absolutely, different presence. Report an error in the passage at 14:52 Highlight the passage at 14:52

15:04 He was talking about it because he came out of a three year retreat and then he kind of came out of retreat and sort of of emerged in, he, he, He's the Lama of a center, and so the center was all just in turn. So he went into a three-year retreat, comes out, and the whole thing's like haywire. And that caused him to become depressed. And then he was a master of awareness. So he's in awareness, and he's depressed. Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:39 He's like, well, this is interesting. Just because you have some facility with meditation. It doesn't mean that necessarily you're happy all the time. Report an error in the passage at 15:39 Highlight the passage at 15:39

16:00 You guys are saying some very rich things tonight. Report an error in the passage at 16:00 Highlight the passage at 16:00

16:15 just to recap, two weeks ago we talked about the three parts of the meditation practice. The first part is just connecting to your body and connecting to the breath, diaphragmatic breathing, working with just inhabiting your body, reconnecting to your body. then the actual meditation on the breath settle to settle the the mind. mind, then the... Report an error in the passage at 16:15 Highlight the passage at 16:15

16:57 meditation where you stop meditating, naturally resting, the work is done, and you're just resting, you're just sitting. Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:09 Oftentimes in that stage of just letting yourself be is where you can have quite a nice opening so that there's a lot of wisdom in just the relaxation of effort and to stay present. So staying present and then relaxing effort. So that's the third stage of the meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 17:09 Highlight the passage at 17:09

17:40 Then today I'd like to just sort of bookend that meditation practice with the three noble principles. I don't think I talked about it last time. The three noble principles are, you could say, three pillars of formal practice. That's kind of a foundation to formal practice. And the first principle of formal practice is what they call the motivation. Report an error in the passage at 17:40 Highlight the passage at 17:40

18:10 So connecting to your motivation of why am I practicing seems obvious sometimes but when we get into the routine of doing something every day it gets very just sort of habitual and rote and so just connecting to that motivation is very important. Report an error in the passage at 18:10 Highlight the passage at 18:10

18:30 Then the second part of the second pillar is the actual meditation, working with that quality of leaving the mind as unaltered. altered as you can. The third pillar is dedication and aspiration. Report an error in the passage at 18:30 Highlight the passage at 18:30

18:52 These are regarded as actually, regardless of how much formal training you might have, they regard the quality of practicing of meditation, these three qualities, these three principles are actually foundational and one master said, For enlightenment, more than this is not necessary, less than this is not enough. So it gives you a sense of how comprehensive this initial Kenpo was one of the masters who, that quotation is from him. Report an error in the passage at 18:52 Highlight the passage at 18:52

19:32 So more than this is not necessary, less than this is not enough. Motivation, meditation, dedication. dedication Report an error in the passage at 19:32 Highlight the passage at 19:32

19:43 So I'm kind of adding that part to the formal practice piece, if you haven't been doing it. Report an error in the passage at 19:43 Highlight the passage at 19:43

19:56 And so the first part is so vast, just the first part of the idea of your motivation, of taking refuge and generating a motivation for the practice, so vast. What I thought to do is just to bring in, again, It seems to be like what I try to do is try to offer something by way of making the practice personal for you. Report an error in the passage at 19:56 Highlight the passage at 19:56

20:32 You can sort of connect to the practice in a way that's unique for you. And so I think being able to connect to that with the idea of the motivation, you're going to be experiencing, let's say on any given day, Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

20:56 You're going to be in different states. You're going to be in different places, your body and mind, every time you sit down to meditate. to sort of connect to your own self and your body on where am I at, what's going on for me. Report an error in the passage at 20:56 Highlight the passage at 20:56

21:11 to give yourself that Report an error in the passage at 21:11 Highlight the passage at 21:11

21:15 that space of connecting to why you're sitting. Report an error in the passage at 21:15 Highlight the passage at 21:15

21:21 one thing to Report an error in the passage at 21:21 Highlight the passage at 21:21

21:26 concept I'm sitting to attain enlightenment for myself and all beings. to kind of also give yourself include yourself in that compassionate and ask yourself where And to give yourself just that space to be how you are in that moment without trying to not be that. I brought a book to share Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

22:26 This will probably be the only book that I'll share. We were talking about it last time. It's by Eugene Gendlin. It's called Focusing. And the focusing here doesn't refer to necessarily mindfulness. It's actually a method of engaging the body, working with the body, having a dialogue with the body. Report an error in the passage at 22:26 Highlight the passage at 22:26

22:54 And he says... Oh, Report an error in the passage at 22:54 Highlight the passage at 22:54

23:13 here it is. So one thing that I thought to share, every bad feeling is potential energy toward a more right way of being if you give it space to move towards its rightness. The very existence of bad feelings within you is evidence that your body knows what is wrong and what is right. It must know what it would be like to feel perfect, or it could not evoke a sense of wrong. Report an error in the passage at 23:13 Highlight the passage at 23:13

23:45 Your body with its sense of rightness knows what would feel right. The feelings of bad or wrong inside you are in effect your body's measurement of the distance between perfect and the way it actually feels. It knows the direction. It knows this just as surely as you know which way to move a crooked picture. If the crookedness is pronounced enough for you to notice it at all, there is absolutely no chance that you will move the picture in the wrong direction and make it still more crooked. Report an error in the passage at 23:45 Highlight the passage at 23:45

24:18 sense of what is wrong carries with it inseparably a sense of the direction toward what is right. Report an error in the passage at 24:18 Highlight the passage at 24:18

24:26 that, me, is an argument for Buddha nature, Report an error in the passage at 24:26 Highlight the passage at 24:26

24:33 have an internal compass that we can trust. And I'd like to kind of begin. introduction to meditation is also a way to trust the body more to trust our feelings more to have a way to be able to... Eman Fallah, Shantideva, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche Report an error in the passage at 24:33 Highlight the passage at 24:33

25:21 invocation of compassion for yourself and others. Report an error in the passage at 25:21 Highlight the passage at 25:21

25:29 this is a way to be able to distinguish concepts from the felt sense. concepts are very easy to front and center when we do something over and over. And when we get into a habit pattern, very easily becomes conceptual. So a way to bring it back from the conceptual into the and the felt sense is, I think, important. Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

26:00 So why don't we go ahead and start the practice with the sense of really Report an error in the passage at 26:00 Highlight the passage at 26:00

26:13 including the body in the motivation. Notice just being able to sit in a posture that's comfortable, your spine is upright, your hands are resting comfortably. And Report an error in the passage at 26:13 Highlight the passage at 26:13

26:34 just take a few moments to... Maybe take a few deep breaths and get a sense of your body. Report an error in the passage at 26:34 Highlight the passage at 26:34

26:56 Allow the breath to be gently inhaled and slowly exhaled and Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

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27:57 try to include awareness of your whole body as you breathe, as you breathe in deeply and slowly breathe out. Allow the sensation of the body and the felt sense of the whole body to enter your awareness. It Report an error in the passage at 27:57 Highlight the passage at 27:57

28:22 may be helpful too. Thank Report an error in the passage at 28:22 Highlight the passage at 28:22

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28:26 hands or your feet to just further to the grounding of the body. Report an error in the passage at 28:26 Highlight the passage at 28:26

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29:48 inquire into that. Report an error in the passage at 29:48 Highlight the passage at 29:48

29:54 up for me? Report an error in the passage at 29:54 Highlight the passage at 29:54

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30:30 And so tonight Report an error in the passage at 30:30 Highlight the passage at 30:30

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31:14 we can use the four immeasurables, but when you're practicing you can use whatever prayer or whatever motivational prayer that you like. Tonight we'll just focus on the four immeasurables and just connecting to your own Report an error in the passage at 31:14 Highlight the passage at 31:14

31:35 connecting to your own... Report an error in the passage at 31:35 Highlight the passage at 31:35

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32:07 over someone else's misfortune, there seems to be up for you there. generating the first immeasurable love. Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:24 May I have happiness and may this womb be healed and just allow yourself to receive that wish for happiness, a true and valid wish for happiness. Report an error in the passage at 32:24 Highlight the passage at 32:24

33:01 May others have happiness. Others who might be struggling with the same issues that you are or even worse. Report an error in the passage at 33:01 Highlight the passage at 33:01

33:12 May all beings have happiness. And Report an error in the passage at 33:12 Highlight the passage at 33:12

33:41 then the immeasurable of compassion. Compassion as being free from suffering. That's a quality of compassion to wish yourself to not have suffering, to not struggle or suffer because of an issue. is an act of compassion for yourself. Report an error in the passage at 33:41 Highlight the passage at 33:41

34:06 allowing that to be there, wishing may you be free from whatever struggles you're having. May Report an error in the passage at 34:06 Highlight the passage at 34:06

34:23 others be free of whatever they're struggling with, the toil and the strife. So Report an error in the passage at 34:23 Highlight the passage at 34:23

34:58 we seal the first pillar, the motivation with the simple wish, may I have happiness and be free from suffering and may others have happiness and be free from suffering. So just think of that motivation. Report an error in the passage at 34:58 Highlight the passage at 34:58

35:16 And through the practice, may that be facilitated and Report an error in the passage at 35:16 Highlight the passage at 35:16

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36:03 be free from suffering. May I have happiness in this practice. May others be free. Report an error in the passage at 36:03 Highlight the passage at 36:03

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36:47 And then bringing our attention to the second pillar of the practice, which is meditation. And just then simply bring the mind to the quality of the breath and bring our attention to the breath. This Report an error in the passage at 36:47 Highlight the passage at 36:47

37:07 is the actual training of the practice. Report an error in the passage at 37:07 Highlight the passage at 37:07

37:34 So with a bit of vigilance, we bring the mind back as it wanders. Report an error in the passage at 37:34 Highlight the passage at 37:34

37:43 going to sing the sensation of the breath as you breathe in and breathe out. Report an error in the passage at 37:43 Highlight the passage at 37:43

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41:52 through the mouth, and relax your gaze the quality of space. Report an error in the passage at 41:52 Highlight the passage at 41:52

42:10 the line to see where... Report an error in the passage at 42:10 Highlight the passage at 42:10

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44:37 non-distracted, Report an error in the passage at 44:37 Highlight the passage at 44:37

45:01 dissolve like writing in water. the natural freedom of thoughts. sound with the piano, the moment you hear it, it dissolves. Report an error in the passage at 45:01 Highlight the passage at 45:01

45:13 the natural freedom of sound. Report an error in the passage at 45:13 Highlight the passage at 45:13

45:18 also known as the grading on the horizon, the moment it arises, whatever sensation you find. Report an error in the passage at 45:18 Highlight the passage at 45:18

45:35 is more easy to experience in relaxing your awareness with space. So as your open and just relax your breath and breathe out and ride the mind out and relax it with the quality of spaciousness. is simply... Report an error in the passage at 45:35 Highlight the passage at 45:35

45:52 concluding the meditation session, whatever your meditation, a way of. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

45:59 before getting up, before doing something else. Report an error in the passage at 45:59 Highlight the passage at 45:59

46:07 just a relaxed, present openness. Report an error in the passage at 46:07 Highlight the passage at 46:07

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46:57 moved into the third pillar of the practice, which is dedication. This can simply be an extension of whatever our initial motivation was. Report an error in the passage at 46:57 Highlight the passage at 46:57

47:14 So our initial motivation was for happiness and for the cessation of suffering. So we can just simply dedicate the merit, dedicate whatever energy we had put forth towards this. We just simply dedicate may all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness and may all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 47:14 Highlight the passage at 47:14

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48:54 much. Report an error in the passage at 48:54 Highlight the passage at 48:54

49:08 can be very rich when you bookend it. motivation and dedication. Report an error in the passage at 49:08 Highlight the passage at 49:08

49:24 comments or questions that? I did more of the deep breathing in the beginning, just to get connected to the body, and then the felt sense. And again, just connecting to that. If you don't feel a felt sense, you can say everything in my life is perfect. And there'll be a part of your body that'll be like, hell no. Report an error in the passage at 49:24 Highlight the passage at 49:24

49:49 So that's one way to connect to your body. It's just a... But a lot of times we have what's there. That was Report an error in the passage at 49:49 Highlight the passage at 49:49

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50:33 a Report an error in the passage at 50:33 Highlight the passage at 50:33

50:41 big emphasis in his teachings. He always emphasized to really leave meditation slowly. slowly don't just so i and so the practice of whether you're you know if you're practice if you i practice with my eyes open but even if you don't have to open the eyes and so you just relax with that know again permission that the meditation is over you are just sitting there Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

51:19 spaced out. You're not daydreaming. So you're present. But just, done. It's like no more meditation. There's no right or wrong. Just be there. Let yourself be there. Report an error in the passage at 51:19 Highlight the passage at 51:19

51:37 And I find that's actually a very powerful practice for connecting to the elements, just if I'm sitting in front of the ocean or just in nature. It really is, it's very rich because you're open, you're not in your head and there's a, my teacher calls it the ketosphere. It's like kind of a, there's like a, not just a felt sense of the body but you're feeling the environment. Report an error in the passage at 51:37 Highlight the passage at 51:37

52:05 and connecting to your, a quality of the, a of being touched. So this is like another piece is when we are in our narrow gaze and we have an agenda, we can't be touched. Report an error in the passage at 52:05 Highlight the passage at 52:05

52:30 There's not an openness to be touched. Nor would you want to be touched in a lot of times or places. Report an error in the passage at 52:30 Highlight the passage at 52:30

52:44 this is this kind of quality of relaxed openness at the end of meditation, during meditation. It's fundamentally... fabricated mind, awareness in its natural state. Report an error in the passage at 52:44 Highlight the passage at 52:44

52:58 invitation when you're in that place of just Report an error in the passage at 52:58 Highlight the passage at 52:58

53:03 unfabricated, naturally, again, facilitated by shamatha practice, working with the breath, and then relaxing the focus. bringing the mind very deliberately into a place of focus and then relaxing the focus. Report an error in the passage at 53:03 Highlight the passage at 53:03

53:23 that, nature, is you're letting yourself be touched. another, you can let yourself be touched. Report an error in the passage at 53:23 Highlight the passage at 53:23

53:51 I think basically that's... the main with the second class is still. It's still basic about just instruction or advice on formal practice, but then I think what I'm talking about here is moving more into kind of just day-to-day life stuff, which is a little bit more class three and four. Report an error in the passage at 53:51 Highlight the passage at 53:51

54:33 I find for me personally when letting that space to be there after meditation, the eyes open with the gaze soft. Report an error in the passage at 54:33 Highlight the passage at 54:33

54:47 then during my day-to-day, sort of if I'm in my office or if I'm in the waiting room or somewhere, or like you were saying, you could be anywhere, learning to soften the gaze, can really bring a quality of just relaxation into your body and mind. Report an error in the passage at 54:47 Highlight the passage at 54:47

55:13 just a way of letting yourself focus on anything, but just relax the gaze softly on space. then there's an element that mingles with your awareness. So that's just a nice kind a... Report an error in the passage at 55:13 Highlight the passage at 55:13

55:45 You're inviting life into your practice at the end of your practice when you open your eyes. So it's kind of like if you're practicing however you practice with whatever your practice is, when you're finally going to open your eyes, you're inviting your mandala, you're inviting your world back into your awareness. Report an error in the passage at 55:45 Highlight the passage at 55:45

56:09 So then just let that mingle. Report an error in the passage at 56:09 Highlight the passage at 56:09

56:13 So it's an integrated point. It doesn't really fall into one or other formal or informal. It kind of gets mixed, which is kind of a good thing. Report an error in the passage at 56:13 Highlight the passage at 56:13

56:34 So Report an error in the passage at 56:34 Highlight the passage at 56:34

56:42 I recommend this book. And Genlin, G-E-N-D-L-I-N. And Report an error in the passage at 56:42 Highlight the passage at 56:42

56:59 again, just bring your body into the equation. Report an error in the passage at 56:59 Highlight the passage at 56:59

57:16 That's all I have to say. Report an error in the passage at 57:16 Highlight the passage at 57:16