Four Applications Of Mindfulness Retreat 2013 with B. Alan Wallace (part 33)

0:04 So over these six days that we have together, we'll be exploring, or have begun to explore, three or four different methods of shamatha. So we already have some familiarity with mindfulness of breathing. And for that practice, where we really are seeking to cultivate a sense of peace and quiet in the mind, and that entails not only the awareness becoming still, calm, clear, but also the mind, that is, we really would like, we prefer. Report an error in the passage at 0:04 Highlight the passage at 0:04

0:30 They have fewer thoughts, memories and so forth coming up. So that subjectively and objectively within the mind there's something of a symmetry and a peace and quiet all the way around. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:41 And for that frankly it's really nice to have a peaceful and quiet environment as well. Not to have people shouting in the next room or it can be a little bit hard to practice that in a very busy area like an airport or what have you. Just because there's so many psychologists who call them distractors. Seeing this is pulling on your attention every which way. Report an error in the passage at 0:41 Highlight the passage at 0:41

0:59 And one may find those irritating, like, gosh, I wish you could be more quiet. Whereas when it comes to the settling the mind in its natural state, we're attending to the train station. We're not seeking to get the space of the mind to be quiet. If we are, we're not doing this practice. We're allowing, again, we've opened up the Pandora's box and whatever's coming out, the ideal really is to allow it to flow without even the preference that everything will calm down in the mind. Report an error in the passage at 0:59 Highlight the passage at 0:59

1:28 If you have the preference, that's an expression of grasping, which means you're not doing this practice. And so this is a sattva practice. It's more challenging. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:38 It's very soothing, calming and not that difficult to practice mindfulness of breathing, however frequently we may stray from the practice. But here it has this nuance to it that we're seeking the stillness, the unperturbability of our own awareness. But not seeking to still the mind, but allow it to flow. So there's something of an asymmetry here, a juxtaposition of the stillness of your awareness and the unimpeded movement of the mind and allowing the movements to subside of their own accord in their own way, but without trying to hasten it, without trying to force it. Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

2:14 So as previously we did our very best to breathe egolessly, relinquishing all control over the breath. Here we seek to attend to the mind egolessly, relinquishing all control over the mind, all of the activities, the events taking place in the mind, although we are exerting control or doing our best in terms of controlling the awareness. Report an error in the passage at 2:14 Highlight the passage at 2:14

2:40 And that is not just having it wander all over the place, which is simply called daydreaming or rumination. But the nucleus of control now is very, very limited, right? We're just letting the body rest. Resting the awareness in its own mind, but again not by clamping down tightly, but by releasing all grasping and then attending to whatever is coming up in the mind. So while the awareness is very still, we allow the mind to be in motion and only of its own accord, gradually calm down in a very uneven and sporadic way. Report an error in the passage at 2:40 Highlight the passage at 2:40

3:10 And only over time do we see that it really is calming down a lot. But then by, as an analogy then, or parallel, Insofar as we cultivate this subtle skill, and that's exactly what it is. Some people be more gifted, some people less so, but it's a trainable skill. Then when we do go out into very busy environments, off the cushion, out into the world, the rest of the world, we're in heavy traffic. Report an error in the passage at 3:10 Highlight the passage at 3:10

3:38 We're in a business where there's a lot of coming, going, lots of activity, lots of desires, lots of emotions coming up. In the marketplace, on vacation, and so on. Pretty much anywhere is going to be more hectic than your meditation room, hopefully, that when we venture out into that socially engaged world, insofar as we've really cultivated this ability of stillness in the midst of motion, we may be bringing with us a skill that money can't buy. Report an error in the passage at 3:38 Highlight the passage at 3:38

4:07 And that is the skill to be in a rather tumultuous environment. Maybe, let's just take a board meeting. I've been to quite a few of them when I was in university. on occasion some Tempers might rise. You may see some really strong kind of grasping or maybe some ego coming up. It could happen, right? Occasionally. Report an error in the passage at 4:07 Highlight the passage at 4:07

4:29 And when you see these perturbations, manifestations perhaps of other people's mental afflictions, maybe, again, getting a bit hot, a bit passionate. It's very easy for that to be contagious and be swept right into it and take sides. That's the easiest thing to do. But insofar as one has cultivated this... Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:49 Loose, relaxed, stillness of awareness. You may be able to be in the midst of such a conversation, a discussion, board meeting, heavy traffic, lots and lots of noise in the marketplace and so on. We know the wide variety of situations there. And even though your environment is very busy, maybe quite hectic and maybe even toxic on occasion, you see that you have, you're not withdrawing from it. Report an error in the passage at 4:49 Highlight the passage at 4:49

5:17 But you're not getting entangled in it either. You're simply present where it is, but you're not getting swept away by it. You may be able to maintain that stillness of awareness. Totally present. So people look at you. They won't see like you've become a zombie or something. You're kind of spacing out. Report an error in the passage at 5:17 Highlight the passage at 5:17

5:34 Where did he go? Where did he go? No, you're very there. You're very much there. Totally present. Very attentive. But what you're doing that perhaps the other people are not is attending without grasping. Just being totally present, taking it in, and then of course responding when appropriate. But not reactively, not with grasping, not with craving hostility, coming from a saner place. Report an error in the passage at 5:34 Highlight the passage at 5:34

5:57 And so this is one of those abilities that has tremendous applicability in I would say almost any context, even falling asleep, that's another context. So even though it's subtle, it's challenging, it can be frustrating on occasion. Once you see the merit of it, if you do, then you'll see, well, this one should be cultivated no matter what, whether it comes easily, it's hard, fast or slow. Report an error in the passage at 5:57 Highlight the passage at 5:57

6:24 This is really, really valuable. And that's out in just the world, let alone the value of being able to observe whatever is coming up in the mind and not be carried away, abducted, kidnapped by everything that comes up and thereby become vulnerable to every toxicity that arises in the mind. So, multiple benefits. Report an error in the passage at 6:24 Highlight the passage at 6:24

6:43 Let alone settling the mind all the way in its natural state, new platform and so forth. So this practice is very strongly emphasized, especially in a couple of schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Mahamudra, the Dzogchen, very, very strongly highlighted. And it's especially emphasized as kind of the ideal choice among a wide array of shamatha methods, the ideal choice to prepare you to really probe into, explore, research and discover. Report an error in the passage at 6:43 Highlight the passage at 6:43

7:12 Really core elements, the very nature of the mind itself, the nature of consciousness. Because the shamatha object, the object of mindfulness in the shamatha practice is the mind already. So you're already poised, having stabilized, brought in a lot of clarity there, to go to the next door. And that is venture in and really start exploring the nature of this phenomena that we've become so familiar with. Report an error in the passage at 7:12 Highlight the passage at 7:12

7:36 So, that's an introduction, a little introduction to this practice. How's it going? Any observations, comments, questions, insights? Go ahead, please. Peter first. Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

8:16 You notice that? Wouldn't it be nice if there were? You're about to become distracted. Beware, beware, beware. The yellow light, right? The amber alert. You're about to become distracted. Report an error in the passage at 8:16 Highlight the passage at 8:16

8:36 So get off the track, yeah? Report an error in the passage at 8:36 Highlight the passage at 8:36

8:41 Yeah, that would be nice. Not to be facing the direction, I would say, To which the train is going and sitting in the middle of track two, right? Learned about it that much too late. It's a very fascinating point that, and I want to expand a little bit because I do find it very interesting and illuminating in multiple ways. Report an error in the passage at 8:41 Highlight the passage at 8:41

9:09 So that train of thought is a nice term, or it's called rumination, or another way of using it is simply a non-lucid sequence of thought. Non-lucid. Report an error in the passage at 9:09 Highlight the passage at 9:09

9:19 And I'm using that word, of course, as a parallel to a non-lucid dream. And I'll draw another parallel as well. But when it's rumination, when it's a wandering thought that catches us unaware, then we can say by definition, that is, I can right now deliberately think, I'm about to think Mary had a little lamb. Report an error in the passage at 9:19 Highlight the passage at 9:19

9:39 And I did. So I saw it right there when it started, as in Mary, I was right there, because I knew what was going to happen, right? So that was not a rumination. That wasn't wandering mind. I decided to think and I did. And that can be very creative, productive and so forth and so on. But the rumination by definition, or in Tibetan, in Sanskrit it's called vikarpa. We all know what it is. Report an error in the passage at 9:39 Highlight the passage at 9:39

10:01 Rumination is not a bad translation. And that is by definition it catches us unawares. If it didn't, it wouldn't be rumination. It would be you are about to ruminate, don't do it. And so it's exactly one of those cases where we never saw it coming, but we do have the potential to see it going. That is, we're aware of it after it's already occurred, and then we may become lucid, recognize it's happening, and we may either observe it playing itself out, or we may snip it, if we're practicing mindfulness of breathing, and simply terminate it and be aware of the moment when it's terminated. Report an error in the passage at 10:01 Highlight the passage at 10:01

10:42 So that's quite interesting. From our perspective, everything being relative here, relative to your cognitive frame of reference, Report an error in the passage at 10:42 Highlight the passage at 10:42

10:51 That from the perspective of being within that thought or attending to the thought, you're not aware of when it began. If you were, it wouldn't be a rumination. So therefore, there has to be unawareness at the beginning. You're aware of it in the middle and then you're aware of it as an end. It's one of those things that from your perspective it has no beginning, but it does have an end, at least potentially. For some people that might sound familiar. Report an error in the passage at 10:51 Highlight the passage at 10:51

11:17 Here's a, I think a very interesting and I think it's a valid... Epistemological claim in Buddhism. And that is, and moreover it's reflected, since you brought up the issue of quantum mechanics, it's reflected, I mean exactly the same statement is found in quantum mechanics. And it's from Werner Heisenberg. And here's, so I'll just quote it from Werner Heisenberg, but I'll say it's exactly the same in Buddhism. Werner Heisenberg, he said, let us not attribute existence to that which is unknowable in principle. Report an error in the passage at 11:17 Highlight the passage at 11:17

11:50 How do we know whether something is unknowable? We can say right now we don't know, that is scientists don't know, Whether there is life on other planets or whether there are other planets in our galaxy, for example, that are habitable by biological organisms like ourselves. We don't know that. They're finding some ones that look pretty similar, but right now we don't know. Is that unknowable? I would say, no, there's no reason to say it's unknowable. Report an error in the passage at 11:50 Highlight the passage at 11:50

12:16 Why would you put that lid on it? Increase the technology, keep on exploring, and one day it may be knowable. So we just have to say, it may be. We just don't know, but it could be. So we'll not say, It's unknowable because we don't have enough knowledge to know that it's unknowable, right? And there are many things like that where it's very easy simply by the fact that we don't know to say it's unknowable. Report an error in the passage at 12:16 Highlight the passage at 12:16

12:39 Like the philosopher said it's not possible to observe thoughts because they're not able to do it. Well, they made a mistake. They thought it was unknowable but that's just because they're metacognically retarded. And so can we ever say that something is unknowable? Well, yeah, here would be a case and that is the beginning of rumination. Report an error in the passage at 12:39 Highlight the passage at 12:39

12:59 If you know it, then it's not a rumination. So we've defined it as such that the rumination has to begin in unknowing, in unawareness. Because if you're there, right there, vividly attending to it, right when it occurs, you're there in the breathing process, so to speak. It's not rumination. You're observing a thought come up. That's cool, but it's not rumination. So we can say semantically or by way of definition, the beginning of a rumination, a chain of thought, It's unknowable, because we've defined it as such. This means it begins in unawareness. It begins in unawareness. Report an error in the passage at 12:59 Highlight the passage at 12:59

13:38 But it doesn't stop there, unfortunately. It's not simple, innocent unawareness. But when a rumination begins, and we are unaware that a rumination has taken place, and it takes us by the back of the head, we didn't see it coming, and yanks us off and rivets our attention to the referent. I'm thinking about that. Even though I don't know I'm thinking about that, I am attending to that. And it's got my head in a vice here. Look at that. The problem with commonplace rumination is that we not only don't know we're ruminating, but we are conflating our thoughts for reality that exists independently of our thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 13:38 Highlight the passage at 13:38

14:17 And so we can be sitting there in rumination and getting so angry at a certain person that we think we're really focusing on that person. Report an error in the passage at 14:17 Highlight the passage at 14:17

14:27 It's a complete fiction. I mean, we're just creating something in the mind and then focusing on that, exactly like in a non-lucid dream. We get really angry at somebody in a dream. We're furious at them and thinking about them. What you did was so terrible. And we're not even aware that we're dreaming. But it's not only that we're not aware that we're dreaming, but we are misapprehending the dream as being something it's not. Report an error in the passage at 14:27 Highlight the passage at 14:27

14:51 And then twisting our knickers in a twist, twisting our knickers. We get all uptight, bent out of shape, emotionally perturbed, focusing on something that isn't there at all. But we think it is. We think that's a person I'm really angry at. So the parallel is very, very strong. But now we can say, if we follow the maximum of Werner Heisenberg, and Buddhism says the same thing, the Buddhist epistemology, basic Sartrantic philosophy, Buddhist epistemology of Dagnaga and Dhammakirti says that something that exists, if you say X exists, Then the definition of its existing is that it's knowable. Something is existent if it's knowable. Report an error in the passage at 14:51 Highlight the passage at 14:51

15:36 If it's not knowable, it's not existent. And so he's saying the same thing as Van Heisenberg. If something is unknowable in principle, then don't attribute existence to it. Report an error in the passage at 15:36 Highlight the passage at 15:36

15:46 What this would imply then, if we just follow the logic from quantum mechanics in Buddhism, is that there is no beginning of rumination. It doesn't have the beginning. That didn't mean it was going on forever, because you know that's not true. But if you try to find its beginning, you can't find it, because it's unfindable, because you can't remember something you never knew in the first place. Report an error in the passage at 15:46 Highlight the passage at 15:46

16:10 Simple point. If you knew it in the first place, it wouldn't be rumination. You didn't know it in the first place, therefore you can't know it in the second place, because you can't retrieve what you never had. Report an error in the passage at 16:10 Highlight the passage at 16:10

16:20 So rumination has no beginning. Well, isn't the same true? So that's the microcosm. And then the mini-cosm, a little bit bigger. is a non-lucid dream. In a non-lucid dream, you have no idea when it began. Because when it began, you didn't know you were dreaming. You were unaware that a dream was beginning. If you were aware when the dream was beginning, you'd be lucid. In which case it's not a non-lucid dream. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:49 But by definition, a non-lucid dream is one that begins without your knowing it. And therefore you're unaware. You're not only unaware, but you're deluded in the sense of apprehending it as something that it is not. But in the course of the non-lucid dream, you may suddenly discover an anomaly, like I had one this morning, and I was flying. That did it for me. I mean, I was flying without an airplane. Report an error in the passage at 16:49 Highlight the passage at 16:49

17:13 And that was big enough and a very nice dream. I was lucid in the dream because of an anomaly. And I don't remember when the dream began. But I certainly remember when I became lucid, and then I was clear for the rest of the dream, and I was aware when it ended. It's very standard. What I describe is really commonplace, extremely commonplace. Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:33 But the beginning of the non-lucid dream is unknowable and therefore has no beginning. Report an error in the passage at 17:33 Highlight the passage at 17:33

17:44 But it does have an end and you may know it. That's the mini-cosm. And then you know where the macro-cosm is going to be. Saṃsāra. Absolutely standard Buddhist worldview accepted through all Buddhist schools. Saṃsāra has no beginning. Saṃsāra begins in avidya, the 12 links of depended regeneration. The first link is avidya, unawareness. Report an error in the passage at 17:44 Highlight the passage at 17:44

18:11 Not knowing, unawareness. If the first link is awareness, then you don't get subsara. If the first link, the first link in the sequence is unawareness, then out of that unawareness, then something can be catalyzed. It's called compositional factors, activities, karmic energies, setting things into motion. Out of unawareness. And then out of that comes consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 18:11 Highlight the passage at 18:11

18:41 And then out of that comes name and form, differentiation. And then we play it out. So saṃsāra, because it begins in ignorance, and you can ask, well, when did that happen? Who did it to us? Was there a primordial Buddha that got bored and decided to go unconscious and made this? No. Did God do it? Not in the Buddhist view. Did anybody else do it? No. Did we do it deliberately? No, that didn't happen either. It started in an unawareness, so we can't remember the beginning of our saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 18:41 Highlight the passage at 18:41

19:11 But the whole Buddhist worldview is it didn't happen a long time ago. That is, how many billions of years? How many cosmic cycles? When did it first begin? And the answer is, it never first began. Does this necessarily mean, and I'm posing a question here for which I don't have a definitive answer, does this necessarily mean that we've been here already for an eternity? Report an error in the passage at 19:11 Highlight the passage at 19:11

19:37 I mean, literally an infinite number of previous lives. Is that, I mean, is that really the case? An infinite number? Anybody who studies a bit of mathematics, you know that word infinite is pretty big. Pretty big term, a lot of implications. If we really had an infinite number of previous lives, but you could draw the implication, then in an infinite number of lifetimes in the past, we've had the opportunity to practice shamatha. Report an error in the passage at 19:37 Highlight the passage at 19:37

20:02 Because we've had one chance, so why not more? And if we've had two chances and an infinite sequence, then you've had an infinite number of chances. This means, folks, you've had an infinite number of chances to practice shamatha already. How are you doing? How did that work out for you? Report an error in the passage at 20:02 Highlight the passage at 20:02

20:19 And we're also practicing Vipassanā. We've had one chance. We must have had, oh, not many, no, an infinite number of chances. And you've failed every single time, an infinite number of times. Shall we leave right now? Because you've got one over infinity chances of getting anywhere this time. Right? That looks a little bit bleak. Report an error in the passage at 20:19 Highlight the passage at 20:19

20:36 Shall we go home now and just eat ice cream? Because we have a hundred percent chance of enjoying that. So I find that kind of problematic. I can't say I quite believe that. Report an error in the passage at 20:36 Highlight the passage at 20:36

20:48 But then am I going to refute the Buddha? So no, there had to be sometime, okay, let's say 13.7 billion years ago, the Big Bang. That sounds long enough that it's long, but not infinitely long. But of course, nothing in Buddhism that supports that. So what do we do? We see that something may have no beginning, but it doesn't necessarily have to be eternal, going backwards. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:12 Non-lucid thought, non-lucid dream. No beginning, but the dream didn't go on forever. It hasn't already gone forever. And so when does saṃsāra start? And that's where it begins. We move out of the realm of metaphysics, religious belief. Was there beginning to the universe? Was there no beginning? And Stephen Hawking has his idea and St. Augustine has his idea. And then Kant said, you know, that's one of those imponderables. Report an error in the passage at 21:12 Highlight the passage at 21:12

21:39 Kant was a pretty smart guy. And he said, there's some questions. He had a special term for it. He used to know it. Can't get it right now. It doesn't matter. But I think he listed four of them. Four questions. And this is one of them. Does the universe have a beginning or not? And he said, you know, you try to wrap your conceptual mind, your reasoning abilities around that one. Report an error in the passage at 21:39 Highlight the passage at 21:39

22:01 And whatever you come up with, you can get slapped in the face. It's not going to turn out well. You say, yes, there was a beginning. Then you just got mugged. You say, okay, there was no beginning. There's just no way to win. And so then this critique of pure reason, asking, As scientists should be asking all the time, what are the limitations of our modes of methods? They're extremely good, but are they boundless? Report an error in the passage at 22:01 Highlight the passage at 22:01

22:28 Can we solve every single problem about human existence, including the nature of compassion, the nature of intelligence, spiritual maturation, enlightenment and so forth? Can we understand all of everything that happens in life in terms of Neo-Darwinism? That is Darwinian natural selection, genetic mutation and neuroscience. Report an error in the passage at 22:28 Highlight the passage at 22:28

22:47 Put that into a bundle, it's called Neo-Darwinism. Can we explain every aspect of human existence, including religion, philosophy, art, theoretical physics, and everything else in terms of that framework? And those who have adopted that matrix of scientific theories as a religion say, yeah, uh-huh. They just keep on falling on their faces again and again and again, but they get up with a great big grin and say, give us some more time, you know? Report an error in the passage at 22:47 Highlight the passage at 22:47

23:12 That's where I think science becomes a joke. Science is science is marvelous. Science is religion. It just sucks. It's like a big buffoonery. Not knowing the limitations of the method. And Kant was pretty keen on knowing the limitations, what are the limits of pure reason. And he wrote about that quite clearly. Report an error in the passage at 23:12 Highlight the passage at 23:12

23:29 So existence, beginning or not beginning. Kant said that's one of the four. Almost had it. Nobody knows Kant, eh? It was there and then slipped right off my tongue again. Antimony. I think it's called an antimony. But check it, you can Google it. There are four of them, that's one of them. He said, you're not going to succeed. Report an error in the passage at 23:29 Highlight the passage at 23:29

23:48 It's one of those things that the intellect won't be able to wrap itself around and come out with a decisive, compelling, conclusive answer. So stop trying because it's beyond the scope of the intellect. Buddhism certainly posits a number of elements of reality. They say, okay, your intellect can approach it and then it just has to stop because it's not going to capture it. Report an error in the passage at 23:48 Highlight the passage at 23:48

24:10 The nature of rikma, pristine awareness, the third dimension of consciousness, primordial consciousness. Well, you can try, you can huff and you puff and you can try to blow that house down, but it's not going to work out. Because rikpa, pristine awareness, primordial consciousness, transcends all conceptual frameworks, including the dichotomy of existence and non-existence. Report an error in the passage at 24:10 Highlight the passage at 24:10

24:30 So there are many books written about it and so forth, but they are all fingers pointing to the moon. You can look at that finger until the cows come home, but you're not going to find the moon in there. And you're not going to find rikpa, pristine awareness, within a conceptual category. But language, thought, Meditative practices can lead to it, transcending concepts, and then you can have an immediate non-conceptual realization of it. So it cannot be known conceptually, but it can be known. Report an error in the passage at 24:30 Highlight the passage at 24:30

24:56 And that's once again where shamatha plays a subservient but very important role. So, no beginning does have an end, doesn't necessarily imply eternal. Report an error in the passage at 24:56 Highlight the passage at 24:56

25:09 So you're quite right, Peter, there's no warning sign. But I would say this, that was kind of a long spin-off elaboration, which I find interesting. Report an error in the passage at 25:09 Highlight the passage at 25:09

25:22 It also kind of has the added perk when you apply this to saṃsāra. The things actually are not hopeless. But of course the hopelessness is something that was just a little hat trick conjured up by the intellect to make itself feel hopeless. Because if it just sets that all aside and asks, has anybody achieved shamatha recently? The answer is, oh yeah, they have. Yes there are. In which case the problem is solved. Report an error in the passage at 25:22 Highlight the passage at 25:22

25:44 However many times they may or may not have failed in the past, there are people achieving shamatha, vipassanā, gaining deep realization of rikpa, emptiness, bodhicitta and so forth. The answer is yes. There's empirical evidence. So you can stop asking the question. Evidence is there. So that's the real answer. And not creating little conundrums created by the intellect that then make us feel bad. Report an error in the passage at 25:44 Highlight the passage at 25:44

26:05 No reason to do that. So, answer then, practically speaking, is... It's just about universal when people venture into this practice. That we're aware of the thoughts only after the train has come through the station, retrospectively. We're aware of a wandering thought only after we have wandered. And then one can ask, is that the only way? That's why, of course, some philosophers say you can never observe a thought because every time it's happened you're already thinking it. Report an error in the passage at 26:05 Highlight the passage at 26:05

26:35 And then they just stop asking the question and move on and write another article. There is no meditative training in modern philosophy, which is, I think, its greatest deficit. So how to overcome it? There's the problem, that we're aware of thoughts only after they've already occurred. But is that always the case? The answer is no, it's not always the case. Mary had a little lamb. You saw it coming. Mary had a little lamb. Report an error in the passage at 26:35 Highlight the passage at 26:35

27:00 It's coming into the station, coming in about five seconds. And then it does. So you can see it coming when you deliberately generate it. And likewise, mental images. In three seconds visualize a pineapple. Train came into the station right on schedule. There's a pineapple. Mine is a little bit green. Report an error in the passage at 27:00 Highlight the passage at 27:00

27:20 And so we can have these premeditatively. And as you get into the rhythm of that, into the flow of that, and seeing, I don't have to fail every time. When they're premeditated, I see them coming. It's much more, again, it's not a matter of kind of getting hyper-vigilant, straining the bit, so to speak, but rather becoming more and more loose and relaxed. Report an error in the passage at 27:20 Highlight the passage at 27:20

27:44 Tasting, really, and that's the word often comes up, experiencing. Just the sheer stillness of awareness. Sitting quietly, like right now. Report an error in the passage at 27:44 Highlight the passage at 27:44

27:59 And simply being aware. And knowing you're aware. Resting there. Luminous, clear, cognizant, not carried away by anything. And feeling at home. Feeling, okay, but this is kind of home. I've not gone anywhere. I'm sitting on my throne. Awareness is resting right where it is. And I didn't just fall unconscious. Report an error in the passage at 27:59 Highlight the passage at 27:59

28:20 Even though I withdrew my attention from all objects, that didn't make me go unconscious. I'm still conscious. But I'm mostly conscious of just being aware, of being in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 28:20 Highlight the passage at 28:20

28:32 Getting the taste of that, lingering there, lingering there. And then when a thought comes up, spontaneously, actually being there when it first comes up. Report an error in the passage at 28:32 Highlight the passage at 28:32

28:45 And when it happens, I can tell you what it feels like. It's a commonplace. Because I spend a lot of time traveling, that means in hotel rooms. And so you're sitting quietly in the hotel room, no television on, just sitting quietly, maybe resting up, maybe just lying on your back, sublime position in the infirmary. God, I've got a bit of a rest before my next engagement, next meeting. Report an error in the passage at 28:45 Highlight the passage at 28:45

29:06 And there you are, just infirmary. Report an error in the passage at 29:06 Highlight the passage at 29:06

29:12 And then you hear some people walk by in the corridor. They're talking in a normal voice, but you hear them talking. You hear it softer, getting louder and louder, and then softer. Report an error in the passage at 29:12 Highlight the passage at 29:12

29:24 And then it's gone. But you heard it as soon as it was audible. From the hall. You heard it right when it first happened. And it got it louder and then clearer. You can hear exactly what they're saying. And you can still hear it. And then it fades off and then it's gone. You are aware of it in the beginning, the middle and the end. You didn't participate at all. You're not part of the conversation, didn't want to be. You simply witnessed it. Report an error in the passage at 29:24 Highlight the passage at 29:24

29:51 It's like that. It just came and it went. You're not perturbed by it. You're not upset. You're not taking sides. You're not involved. You're not identifying with it. You just witnessed it. Arising. Playing itself out, vanishing. That's what it's like. No big deal. But you want to be really relaxed. And you don't want to already have taken sides. Report an error in the passage at 29:51 Highlight the passage at 29:51

30:15 Well, I'll take side of the man or I'll take side of the woman or be participating. No, just let it be. Okay? Then it comes with practice. But it's nice to have that default mode. That is, when you do find it gets, if it starts getting frustrating, what I strongly encourage is don't let frustration become a habit. Because it really will demoralize you and make you want to just do something else. Report an error in the passage at 30:15 Highlight the passage at 30:15

30:36 Which may be a good idea. Maybe this isn't the practice for you. But just generally speaking, frustration in any type of endeavor is not a good habit to cultivate. And so if you find at some point, gosh, I'm just not doing this at all. I know what I should be doing. It's not happening at all. Then say, cool, then I'm not ready for this right now. I'm going to reel it back in again and go back to something I can do. Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

30:56 Like how about the breath of the nostrils or the belly or maybe the full body awareness. Maybe I can do that. Yep, I can do that. Not flawlessly, but at least I can do it. Okay, good. Throttle back or downshift to the point where you get traction. And that's not looking for perfection, but it's looking for, this is okay, I'm doing it. And this is helping, this is helpful. And it's not just being frustrating. Actually, this is okay. Report an error in the passage at 30:56 Highlight the passage at 30:56

31:24 And I know there's room for improvement, but that's what I'm doing it for. I'll get better at this and it will be beneficial. So having these multiple practices then can be very helpful in that regard. And your bottom line in meditation is the infirmary. Flattering your back, breathing in and out, relaxing with every out breath. You can do it. I think you can do that. Report an error in the passage at 31:24 Highlight the passage at 31:24

31:42 And it can be really helpful. Anything else coming up? Yes, please. Report an error in the passage at 31:42 Highlight the passage at 31:42

· · · silence, 2 minutes

34:04 Each of these practices has its own integrity and each is complete. That is mindfulness of breathing. I haven't completely unpacked it. We had a short time. But the mindfulness of breathing practice is a complete practice if what you're intending to do is achieve shamatha. You don't need to augment that with other practices. Report an error in the passage at 34:04 Highlight the passage at 34:04

34:19 That is, other shamatha practice. That one's a complete package. And likewise, settling the mind in its natural state. It's a complete package. That is, that method, and it actually is a very simple method, that will take you all the way to shamatha. If you persist, you're skillful. And so one doesn't necessarily need the other, right? But there are clearly different methods. So here, as you well know, in the mindfulness of breathing, you are tending to tackle sensations. Report an error in the passage at 34:19 Highlight the passage at 34:19

34:44 And then the sensations will get subtler and subtler and subtler, and then you'll find this wonderful synergy arises. Of an ongoing growth, emergence of deeper and deeper sense of relaxation, stillness and vividness. Good. Dharma wheel to Shambhala. To Shambhala. To Samatha. And then for settling the mind in its natural state is the same thing. And that is, as you progress in the practice, slowly over time and not very evenly, the events arising in the space of the mind will become subtler, less populated. Report an error in the passage at 34:44 Highlight the passage at 34:44

35:16 Your awareness will become more and more vivid, and then eventually your mind settles in its natural state. When you're practicing settling the mind in its natural state, and the tactile sensations of the breath are still impinging upon your awareness, well, number one, it's totally normal. Of course, you didn't get a general anesthesia just by doing that practice. You'll still hear sounds. In the classic practice, your eyes are open, so you still have some visual impressions coming in. Report an error in the passage at 35:16 Highlight the passage at 35:16

35:43 But you don't deliberately give attention to them. So they're knocking on your door and you don't answer. So the breath knocks on your door. You say, yeah, but that's not what I'm attending to. Likewise, your sounds, visual impressions coming in, but what you're interested in and what you're deliberately focusing on is just the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 35:43 Highlight the passage at 35:43

36:03 And so it is a subtle practice overall. A subtle practice than attending to coarse tactile sensations of the breath. You mentioned the word frustration though, and that's a good red light term. And that is... When doing this practice of settling the mind, we really mean it and all the way through that it should be without preference. And that is, be not frustrated then when you don't get your preference. Report an error in the passage at 36:03 Highlight the passage at 36:03

36:25 And if your preference was, okay, I should be attending to thoughts and images and I'm not getting any and therefore I'm frustrated, this means you're grasping. You're preferring to have thoughts and images so you could have some grist for your milk, right? But it's a practice without preference. And so when thoughts are arising, thoughts, images and so forth, you attend to them. Report an error in the passage at 36:25 Highlight the passage at 36:25

36:45 When they're not arising, and that's bound to happen for various intervals, when they're not arising, then you attend to what's left over when they're not arising, and that is that sheer vacuity of the space of the mind, and be content with that. Report an error in the passage at 36:45 Highlight the passage at 36:45

36:59 So the object of mindfulness is the space of the mind and whatever's arising in it. If nothing's arising in it, be happy, attend to what's left over, and that's the space of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 36:59 Highlight the passage at 36:59

· · · silence, 1 minute

38:21 We're out of time, but I give a short response and we can always come back. And that is, if one is sticking to mindfulness of breathing, then whatever technique one is following, at least in the initial phases, and I won't give the commentary to that, but at least in the initial phases, we are attending to tactile sensations of the breath, whether the flow of prama throughout the whole body or, for example, this classic Theravāda approach here. Report an error in the passage at 38:21 Highlight the passage at 38:21

38:44 But it can happen, and it seems like it has happened in your case, that one is saying, okay, that's my practice. I'm not doing settling the mind. It's a different method. I'm doing this one. So in practicing mindfulness of breathing, this is a problem because I'm attending to the target area and I'm not picking up any sensations of the breath at all. Report an error in the passage at 38:44 Highlight the passage at 38:44

39:04 So now what do I do? Right? Is that the question? The sensation of the breath is still there. But? Report an error in the passage at 39:04 Highlight the passage at 39:04

39:17 And then just pay close attention. Report an error in the passage at 39:17 Highlight the passage at 39:17

39:22 I haven't heard that one before. But as long as you're simply clearly cognizant of the sensations of the breathing, however subtle they may be, that's enough. And if it has a dreamlike quality to it, no sweat. Not a problem. We can come back to it. But now let's take a break. See you at 2 o 'clock. Report an error in the passage at 39:22 Highlight the passage at 39:22