How to Meditate - Weekend Course with Jonathan Landaw (part 4)

0:00 So I'm Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:07 not sure that everyone who's coming is here yet, but you're here and it's time, so we'll start with questions and if anyone drifts in afterwards they can join us. Report an error in the passage at 0:07 Highlight the passage at 0:07

0:18 Is this working? Report an error in the passage at 0:18 Highlight the passage at 0:18

0:25 So I mentioned before that at the beginning of this session we would have any questions or things that you'd like to bring up to discuss or clarify if we could. So if you have anything like that, we can use the first period to address those things, if we can. Are there any ways to help someone determine their motivation? Report an error in the passage at 0:25 Highlight the passage at 0:25

0:54 Is there any way we can help someone determine their motivation? Yes, like a principle, a method. Report an error in the passage at 0:54 Highlight the passage at 0:54

1:05 Well, the first thing that comes up... In my mind, it's just a simple question or a variation of the question, why are you doing that? Report an error in the passage at 1:05 Highlight the passage at 1:05

1:21 Especially if the question comes up where someone is doing something you're kind of questioning about, like, is that a skillful action? Is that beneficial? Do they have something in mind? And so you can just say, oh, why were you doing that? What did you hope to accomplish? And that could help them clarify. Report an error in the passage at 1:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21

1:46 I'm trying to think of situations in which it would arise where I would be interested in helping another person find out what their motivation was. Report an error in the passage at 1:46 Highlight the passage at 1:46

1:57 And that's the only one that came to my mind is a questionable action. But maybe there's some, is there some situation that you were thinking of? You're totally reading my mind. For me it's a bit, because I have guidance. Report an error in the passage at 1:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57

2:20 It takes time in therapy. It takes time in spending time alone and doing things that meets our fundamental needs. But yeah, it's quite difficult to help somebody right away because it doesn't happen overnight. It is. It's a big question even to ask ourselves. It's a very big question. But then to be able to be skillful enough to help bring it out to the other person. Report an error in the passage at 2:20 Highlight the passage at 2:20

2:46 In ways that's helpful to that person. It's not just simply we're intellectually curious what the person's motivation might be, but hopefully we're interested in allowing a person to see the difference between the kind of motivation which leads in an uncomfortable direction, in a suffering direction, and the kind of motivation which is more to the light, brings in a positive. Report an error in the passage at 2:46 Highlight the passage at 2:46

3:17 So we have to be kind of skillful in kind of sort of teasing it out of another person in a way that they can say, oh yeah, I realize I'm doing that same thing again. Last time it caused me a problem and now I see this time it's causing me a problem. You have to be quite skillful, quite gentle and especially have to be really concerned. Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:46 With the welfare of the other person. If our motivation is to screw the other guy, like show him how bad he really is, hold up a mirror to his ugliness, and if we're doing it out of some kind of intent to elevate ourselves and put him down, that's completely the wrong motivation ourselves. But if we're thinking, well, maybe... Report an error in the passage at 3:46 Highlight the passage at 3:46

4:15 If this person could clarify for himself why he's doing those things, maybe he'd be open to doing things in a better way. So we're really interested in his welfare. We're not interested in elevating ourselves and putting him down. It's more of a fellow feeling, kind of guiding along. Then, if we have that kind of motivation, Report an error in the passage at 4:15 Highlight the passage at 4:15

4:43 I've come to believe that if that motivation is truly altruistic, something skillful arises in us. There's a better chance, a very good chance, that we'll demonstrate a certain wisdom that we didn't even know we had. Report an error in the passage at 4:43 Highlight the passage at 4:43

5:03 That was very thoughtful, thank you. I've experienced situations like that. Report an error in the passage at 5:03 Highlight the passage at 5:03

5:16 I hope you don't mind if I tell you a personal story here. Because this was a very powerful experience in my life. And I just don't know where to start the story because otherwise it will take a couple of hours. Report an error in the passage at 5:16 Highlight the passage at 5:16

5:40 It was the first meditation course that I took in Nepal with my main teacher. And when I went there... Because I had been a student in India for a couple of years with another great teacher, the teacher of that course, the one in Nepal, asked me if I would be willing to lead discussion groups or question and answer groups there. Report an error in the passage at 5:40 Highlight the passage at 5:40

6:09 And I professed that I didn't know anything. I was a very new student myself. And he says, it doesn't matter, you know more than the other people here. Because I had studied for a few years. Most of them hadn't studied anything. So you'll be helpful. You'll be able to do it. So I met with the group and the individuals from that group over the next few weeks on and off. Report an error in the passage at 6:09 Highlight the passage at 6:09

6:35 And on this one occasion, this young woman came up to me between sessions and she started to basically spill out her guts, you know, telling this really heavy... Story of what was going on in her life and in her mind like that. And I was sitting there listening to her and I was thinking, you know, at some point this woman is going to stop speaking and I'm going to be expected to say something and I don't have a clue what to say. Report an error in the passage at 6:35 Highlight the passage at 6:35

7:13 There was none of the experiences that she was describing that I understood, that I had had, that I had seen, that I knew anything about. So I had a completely empty deck and I started to get really nervous, you know, that, as I said, she's going to stop speaking and she's going to expect me to say something and I have nothing to say. Report an error in the passage at 7:13 Highlight the passage at 7:13

7:34 And I started getting really nervous. I even started to kind of sweat a little bit on that. And fortunately, I recognized what was happening. Report an error in the passage at 7:34 Highlight the passage at 7:34

7:46 And I said, well, the reason I'm nervous... It's because I'm just concerned about what she's going to think of me. But it isn't about me. It's about her. So I made a very strong distinction, sorry, decision. I made a very strong decision then to send myself out of the room. You know, just get out of here. You know, vacate. And in the place, I kind of invoked my own teacher. Report an error in the passage at 7:46 Highlight the passage at 7:46

8:17 You know, if there's wisdom to answer it. My teacher has it. So I just kind of invoked that. And then I let go of myself, my self-concern, and just really focused strongly on this woman. You know, what she was experiencing, how she was sitting, just her being like that. And I still had no idea how to answer her question, how to respond. Report an error in the passage at 8:17 Highlight the passage at 8:17

8:44 No idea whatsoever. But when she stopped speaking, things started to come out. I have no idea where they came from. They weren't based on my experience or my knowledge or my study or anything. But I have a feeling that because I sent John out of the room, the one who was causing all the problems, and because I really focused on her, and because I directed my mind to the inspiration of my own teachers, something came through. Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

9:16 And I think that's available to all of us, you know, that there's a deeper wisdom. that's within us And if we can send the, let's say, the small I self temporarily out of the room and allow something to arise from that crystalline purity that exists deep within us, then there's a source of wisdom that we can tap. Report an error in the passage at 9:16 Highlight the passage at 9:16

9:45 And, you know, in many spiritual paths, including Buddhism, the guru or the teacher plays an important part. But as my own teacher often said, the purpose of the external guru is to introduce us to the internal guru. Not to rely on him or rely on her, but to use our connection with that source of inspiration to find the inner voice of wisdom, the inner guru. Report an error in the passage at 9:45 Highlight the passage at 9:45

10:19 Anything else you wanted to bring up? Yes, please. Oh, by the way, I don't see your name tag and I've forgotten your name. My name is Nathan. Sorry. My name is Nathan. Nathan. I forgot my name tag. I've noticed a pattern when I'm practicing breath awareness where after a while my mind will kind of switch from the active awareness of the breath to kind of a more passive mode and time will be passing and it's kind of like watching a movie or something like thoughts are just kind of going by peacefully but it's not active and it kind of will just go on for... Report an error in the passage at 10:19 Highlight the passage at 10:19

10:56 An indeterminate amount of time until the bell rings or something. Is that a zone that I should try to steer away from? Or how can I avoid kind of lapsing into that passivity? Report an error in the passage at 10:56 Highlight the passage at 10:56

11:13 I'm not sure that there's so many good ways to avoid lapsing into that state. But identifying it, you know, seeing that you are there and noticing its qualities. If in that state you still had... If you had some kind of clear awareness of the breath and it was kind of sharp, that you actually were present, then there's nothing wrong with it. But if it's a little bit like a sleepwalking state where it's going on, but again, the example of your mind's in neutral and you're stepping on the gas, something's happening but there's no real movement, there's no real sharp awareness, then doing what I think you ended up doing was... Report an error in the passage at 11:13 Highlight the passage at 11:13

12:01 When the bell rang, it reminded you, oh, go back to what I was meant to be doing. And I think that bringing the mind back like that, either reminding ourselves or having something externally remind us, the external reminder eventually gets internalized. Report an error in the passage at 12:01 Highlight the passage at 12:01

12:22 That's really helpful. And one other thing I wanted to add on this, I may have... I may have touched on this before, but I don't remember. A lot of people think what a good meditation session is, is one in which you're on the object, breath or whatever the object might be, that you're on it without distraction for an extended period of time. Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:46 And a bad meditation session is one where your mind is wandering and has to be brought back again and again. That's, I think, a common assumption people have. Report an error in the passage at 12:46 Highlight the passage at 12:46

12:58 In a sense, in many cases, the opposite is true. Those sessions in which your mind is not wandering have often just lapsed into certain dullness. They're not going to any other object, but they're also not really on the original object either very much. It's kind of like a very lax state of mind. It's a dull state of mind. Whereas the other situation, where you focus on the object, Then the mind gets distracted, then you realize it and you bring it back again. Then it gets distracted again and you bring it back again. Report an error in the passage at 12:58 Highlight the passage at 12:58

13:37 This continual bringing the mind back, technically it's known as replacement, placing the mind again on the original object. This action of replacement is where the real work of the meditation is done. The real work of the meditation is not basically done while you're on the object. But while you're building up that mental muscle of bringing the mind back. Because eventually, by doing that, that mental muscle, if I can call it, that mental factor of replacement, gets strong enough so that the mind is brought back more and more quickly from distractions. Report an error in the passage at 13:37 Highlight the passage at 13:37

14:18 It doesn't wander as far away. Or, even better, before the mind wanders away, You notice these subtle signals and by just glancing at the mind, just paying a little attention to it, it stays on the object. In other words, it doesn't have to go away and be brought back. You're actually noticing the precursors to it, the antecedents to it. Report an error in the passage at 14:18 Highlight the passage at 14:18

14:45 And just by doing that, you stay on it. And so that extends the period of time to focus. So we shouldn't be distraught. If at the end of the meditation session someone asked you how to go and you said, oh, it was only five minutes long but I had to bring my mind back a hundred times, you know, my teacher Lama Yeshu would congratulate you. Report an error in the passage at 14:45 Highlight the passage at 14:45

15:06 He would say, fantastic, you know, you're building up that power, that ability. Report an error in the passage at 15:06 Highlight the passage at 15:06

15:18 Thank you, Nathan. Anything? Yes, please. Report an error in the passage at 15:18 Highlight the passage at 15:18

15:29 Relaxing, Mark. Report an error in the passage at 15:29 Highlight the passage at 15:29

15:44 I don't seem to be able to assist. Report an error in the passage at 15:44 Highlight the passage at 15:44

15:55 I'm just trying to think exactly what you mean by relaxation and what's the problem with it. Report an error in the passage at 15:55 Highlight the passage at 15:55

16:06 I'd associate a certain feeling in my body gently. Report an error in the passage at 16:06 Highlight the passage at 16:06

16:20 I have a different physical sensation when I know I'm pushing a little. I'm assuming that the former is what I want to get away from that. I find that I struggle with it every day. It's not as if I'm developing a skill in the voluntary, sustained. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:55 one of the reasons I'm here is I'd Report an error in the passage at 16:55 Highlight the passage at 16:55

17:02 more of that sustained relaxation. Report an error in the passage at 17:02 Highlight the passage at 17:02

17:09 Do Report an error in the passage at 17:09 Highlight the passage at 17:09

17:13 you think the length of time in a particular practice makes a difference? In other words, if you were to do a shorter session, could you access this more relaxed state? Whereas if you do a longer session, a certain kind of maybe, I don't know, What to call it exactly? A frustrated energy arises and then it's difficult to relax. Could it be something like that? Just the sheer amount of time that you're spending on it? Report an error in the passage at 17:13 Highlight the passage at 17:13

17:45 It could be. Much more disciplined about Report an error in the passage at 17:45 Highlight the passage at 17:45

18:03 it. And maybe that's where the struggle is. I can't speak from any kind of authority whatsoever, unfortunately. But that could be a large part of it. Report an error in the passage at 18:03 Highlight the passage at 18:03

18:16 When people go into retreats specifically... To do this kind of meditation, not just to do it as a prelude to another meditation, but when they're actually seriously focusing on developing the sustained attention through breath awareness. The general instruction is to do many short sessions during a day and avoid longer sessions. Report an error in the passage at 18:16 Highlight the passage at 18:16

18:47 In other words, it's like someone... Doing several sprints rather than one long marathon. Because the longer sustained practice can be very, very frustrating and tiring and we can fall into bad habits. Whereas if we think, well, I'm only going to do this practice for, I don't know, I'll say five minutes or ten minutes like that. And when it's over, I'm going to accept whatever it was, you know, and just rest with that. Report an error in the passage at 18:47 Highlight the passage at 18:47

19:21 For the time being, then you feel confident enough to put as much energy into focusing as you want because you know you're not going to have to sustain it for a long period of time. So you can give it that clear energy knowing that it has a time limit to it. And then slowly, over a period of time, you may be able to extend that longer. Report an error in the passage at 19:21 Highlight the passage at 19:21

19:51 But... We're meant to do that kind of gingerly. Too often a person has an experience in which, well, I just had a really good meditation session for half an hour. So the next time you sit down and say, oh, today I'm going to do an hour, right? I'm going to do two hours. And then you just extend yourself like that. Report an error in the passage at 19:51 Highlight the passage at 19:51

20:15 And then after a while you don't even want to meditate. So many of my teachers have said, leave the meditation session when things are going well, and then when you're approaching your next meditation session, your meditation cushion will look attractive to you. If you extend your meditation session too long so that the meditation experience degenerates, the next time even the sight of your meditation cushion will disgust you. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:47 So you kind of leave. Leave on good terms with the meditation. So that might be the answer. I can't say for sure it is, but it might be. Report an error in the passage at 20:47 Highlight the passage at 20:47

21:01 When you say many short, short is five to ten minutes. Everybody's starting point is different. Report an error in the passage at 21:01 Highlight the passage at 21:01

21:18 Well, as you yourself said, of course, it varies for everyone. But you might, you know, if you're really serious on developing deeper states of absorption. You might go into a retreat which lasts several months and each day you might do 10 or 15 very short sessions, Report an error in the passage at 21:18 Highlight the passage at 21:18

21:50 you know, 10 or 15 sprints like that. And slowly evolving, you know, as you build up your capacity, then you can, each session can be a bit longer, right? Report an error in the passage at 21:50 Highlight the passage at 21:50

22:12 earlier when you were talking about the beginning, middle, and end of the meditation. Did you say that the beginning is motivation, middle is action? And then what was the end then? And I use the word action for the middle. That's not a great word, but it's basically what is going on in the main body of what you're doing. Report an error in the passage at 22:12 Highlight the passage at 22:12

22:42 Whatever that might be, whatever that practice might be. I just called it the action. So it's what you're actually doing. So for here, in the meditations we've been doing so far, the main thing we're doing is focusing on the breath and building up that mental muscle of replacement and then keeping our attention focused as best we can on the chosen object. Report an error in the passage at 22:42 Highlight the passage at 22:42

23:11 That's mainly what we're doing. And we're keeping our attention alert to distractions. So that's kind of the instructions. So those are the instructions that we're following for the main body. So before that, in the beginning, why are we doing a practice like that? For what purpose are we doing it? What's our motivation for doing it? And at the end, we recognize that... Report an error in the passage at 23:11 Highlight the passage at 23:11

23:41 No matter how the meditation sessions went, the very effort to try to control the mind, to develop these good qualities, the very effort itself, whether it's successful or not, is positive. Report an error in the passage at 23:41 Highlight the passage at 23:41

23:54 So you dedicate that positive energy. Does that quite enough answer it? Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:07 Yeah. Actually, I told you before that when our teacher Lama Zopa Rinpoche gives teachings, he often spends a tremendous amount of time in the motivation in the beginning. And then at the end, when it comes time to dedication, the dedication is even longer. And it becomes expansive. It ends up touching the whole universe, sending out this positive energy all over to every possible use, to the benefit of every possible being and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 24:07 Highlight the passage at 24:07

24:35 Well, we don't have to go to such lengths, but we can think, well, this positive energy, before it dissipates, may it serve to benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 24:35 Highlight the passage at 24:35

24:47 Think of the benefit in terms of experiences we actually have, you know, like see what people need, see what we need and dedicated to the fulfillment of that, you know. May this positive energy bring clarity, peace, insight, consolment, you know, for all the beings who are currently suffering from any deprivation. Report an error in the passage at 24:47 Highlight the passage at 24:47

25:16 So we can make up our own list of what we want to use that energy for and then just mentally give it away. Report an error in the passage at 25:16 Highlight the passage at 25:16

25:31 Yes, back there. I Report an error in the passage at 25:31 Highlight the passage at 25:31

25:37 just wanted to ask before we got into it, if it's okay. Do you recommend just visualizing one being or can you visualize a different being for compassion, wisdom and... Report an error in the passage at 25:37 Highlight the passage at 25:37

25:52 A different being as being who we're dedicating it for? Oh, no, the visualization being. Report an error in the passage at 25:52 Highlight the passage at 25:52

26:06 the compassion element and Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:10 The source of these positive qualities, you mean? Report an error in the passage at 26:10 Highlight the passage at 26:10

26:17 That's a very, very interesting question. Report an error in the passage at 26:17 Highlight the passage at 26:17

26:22 I think I might have to repeat that question because what it's referring to is something that we haven't covered yet, and you may not have read it, and I'm not sure exactly when I'm going to get to it. I don't know whether I'll get to it today or tomorrow. I want Report an error in the passage at 26:22 Highlight the passage at 26:22

26:37 But one way of using the breathing meditation is as a purification practice. Not just concentration, but actually purifying, helping rid ourselves or dissipate whatever negative energy is currently shrouding our pure crystalline nature. So, in the description, I mentioned that... We have in front of us a source for three qualities. The quality of compassion, the quality of wisdom, and the quality of what we can call skill or power, the ability to actually help other people. Report an error in the passage at 26:37 Highlight the passage at 26:37

27:27 So these are the qualities that we wish to develop, not only to make our life more meaningful, but in order to be of maximum benefit to others. So the question was, do we think of one source providing these three qualities, or for each quality, for compassion, do we use one source, figure, wisdom another, and power or skill another? Report an error in the passage at 27:27 Highlight the passage at 27:27

27:56 And there is a very profound practice in which we actually use three different beings, one for each of those three. Report an error in the passage at 27:56 Highlight the passage at 27:56

28:13 Providing compassion is viewed as white, the wisdom as red or orange and the skill as blue. And we visualize it as coming from three places, one from the brow, from the throat and from the heart. So you can get very, very detailed. But in writing this up, I didn't want to give all the detail here. I wanted to give it very general. So I wanted it to be such that one could just... Report an error in the passage at 28:13 Highlight the passage at 28:13

28:42 Simply think of radiance, you know, like solar radiance. You know, the sun is the giver of all power. So symbolically, a sun-like radiance is emanating with the qualities of all three, compassion, wisdom and this skill or this power. Report an error in the passage at 28:42 Highlight the passage at 28:42

29:10 Whatever, if we're visualizing some kind of radiant sphere of golden light, for example, which we might want to use, that's a very good one. Report an error in the passage at 29:10 Highlight the passage at 29:10

29:23 Then we do one practice where the light that comes from this golden sphere is bestowing the quality of compassion. And then on the next phase, that same light is bestowing the quality of wisdom. and then Report an error in the passage at 29:23 Highlight the passage at 29:23

29:43 Or different colored lights can represent these different qualities. So it can be more detailed or less. And I wanted to write it in a way that was a little bit easier, you know, so not have to put so many details. So my thought was we just use one source of radiance, irradiating all the qualities and then just focusing on each one in turn. Report an error in the passage at 29:43 Highlight the passage at 29:43

30:11 But I wanted to mention that there is a very profound practice in which we actually use three different figures that represent those three qualities and that can be very powerful. Report an error in the passage at 30:11 Highlight the passage at 30:11

30:29 Well, so I hope to lead it before the course is over and I'll just have to see. Which is the best way of doing it? I might decide to lead it in the more general way and then indicate there's a way of doing it with more detail. I'm always afraid that adding too much detail in the beginning, then we end up doing nothing. Report an error in the passage at 30:29 Highlight the passage at 30:29

30:52 Whereas if we have a very general approach, then it's more comfortable to get into it and the details can be added later. That's my preferred way of approaching it. Report an error in the passage at 30:52 Highlight the passage at 30:52

31:07 Yes, please. How meditation Report an error in the passage at 31:07 Highlight the passage at 31:07

31:19 practice goes? It seems like I have. A whole variety of tools. I've done all the DB classes. Report an error in the passage at 31:19 Highlight the passage at 31:19

31:31 Where I struggle is, it seems like I have all these resources at my disposal, but internalizing the meditation I struggle with at times. And then I, as a result, my practice, I just, like you had mentioned earlier, the cushion doesn't always look so good to me. I just feel like, well, I'm not getting it. Report an error in the passage at 31:31 Highlight the passage at 31:31

32:00 You know, I'm just not getting it. And so now, even with art, the 35 Confessions to All the Purification Practices for Vajrasapha and the 35 Buddhas, I have a very hard time kind of internalizing that and feeling it. You know, it seems very regimented and not heartfelt. Is any of the problem having to do with memorizing the details of the practice, or is it just relating to the practice? Report an error in the passage at 32:00 Highlight the passage at 32:00

32:33 It's relating to the practice more than it is. It's how I can kind of feel it. So it's not a matter that you don't know what to do. It's just you don't feel the connection with it. That's the primary issue I have. Report an error in the passage at 32:33 Highlight the passage at 32:33

32:54 So I guess that's my... If you have any advice on sort of getting over that or how to kind of bring that feeling. Report an error in the passage at 32:54 Highlight the passage at 32:54

33:10 Well, again, I could only approach it from my own... But I often find that if I have a problem getting into a practice, it's because it's not simple enough. Report an error in the passage at 33:10 Highlight the passage at 33:10

33:29 Because a lot of Tibetan practices have many, many parts to them. Like the 35 Buddhas of Confession have 35 different Buddhas, different names and everything like that, ranging over at least five different colors. Report an error in the passage at 33:29 Highlight the passage at 33:29

33:48 Sometimes in cases like that, just try to reduce the number of the things we're paying attention to. Again, many people here don't know specifically what I'm referring to, because you don't know this 35 Buddha practice. But basically, from the heart of one Buddha, 35 others emanate, and then you call upon each one for the inspiration. Report an error in the passage at 33:48 Highlight the passage at 33:48

34:17 Well, if that's too much, if that's too detailed, if it becomes like too regimented and so forth, then I would just stay with the one original Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 34:17 Highlight the passage at 34:17

34:30 And instead of thinking that that Buddha is Shakyamuni Buddha who lived 2,500 years ago, think that what I'm visualizing is the essence of whoever has been my source of inspiration, whether you have it. a particular teacher or Report an error in the passage at 34:30 Highlight the passage at 34:30

34:54 know, someone who has inspired you, someone who seems to be embodying qualities of, you know, love and compassion and wisdom and power and so forth, and then thinking that that is. It isn't just some abstract figure, it isn't some historical figure, it isn't just some archetypal image, it's the... The person that I can relate to, the person who actually manifests in his or her life these qualities that I'm trying to cultivate. Report an error in the passage at 34:54 Highlight the passage at 34:54

35:29 So it brings it alive that way. How do you kind of reinforce that then to, I find, talking about motivation earlier, what I tend to do is I try to set my motivation out of mind, but then I seem to lose it somewhere, you know, in a way. Report an error in the passage at 35:29 Highlight the passage at 35:29

35:48 And so that's, it always, that I want to, oh, gosh. You're not doing very well. I kind of get down on myself. Maybe it's my initial Catholic upbringing. Report an error in the passage at 35:48 Highlight the passage at 35:48

36:03 Reinforcing these things. Report an error in the passage at 36:03 Highlight the passage at 36:03

36:09 I also struggle with the same thing where, yes, I know what Lama Zopa Rinpoche would say, and I can say that, but then it still doesn't sort of... Report an error in the passage at 36:09 Highlight the passage at 36:09

36:21 Maybe I have to say it 10,000 times a day or something to have it kind of... know so I Report an error in the passage at 36:21 Highlight the passage at 36:21

36:26 Well, that's one approach. And I know people who, when they teach or lead meditation, they are kind of like a tape recorder for what they've heard Lama Zopa say. Report an error in the passage at 36:26 Highlight the passage at 36:26

36:41 They use the same kind of imagery, extensive examples, the speaking, the same rhythm pattern and so forth. But it never strikes me as authentic. Report an error in the passage at 36:41 Highlight the passage at 36:41

36:53 It's like the outward form of it is right. Nothing you can criticize, but it's not coming from inside. It's coming from just something that they heard and repeating. Now, I'm a fine one to talk because that's exactly what I do. Whatever I give is just what I'm heard and repeating. But sometimes it strikes me that people's approach is not coming from inside, but something that they're just... Report an error in the passage at 36:53 Highlight the passage at 36:53

37:25 Reflecting or mirroring, almost like a ricochet. So it's better to then, in my opinion, it's better to simplify things down, you know, which means like simplifying the words, simplifying the imagery, and really trying to get down to what is the nitty-gritty. You know, like if it is, let's say, compassion, that particular thing, you know, then really tuning into... Report an error in the passage at 37:25 Highlight the passage at 37:25

37:55 What a real experience of compassion is, not a theoretical one, but how our own experience, when we see someone who is distraught in one way or another, and this feeling very strongly comes up from the center of our being, how wonderful it would be if they were released from this suffering, and then recognizing that's compassion. Report an error in the passage at 37:55 Highlight the passage at 37:55

38:22 Don't worry about Tara or Chen Rai Sikh or... Or the Buddha or anything. That feeling itself, that's the essence of what compassion is. And then when you do the practice, just link it to that. And so you have simplified it tremendously and it's coming from inside. And for me, I find that very, very helpful. Report an error in the passage at 38:22 Highlight the passage at 38:22

38:52 The other thing is... is Report an error in the passage at 38:52 Highlight the passage at 38:52

38:59 Setting the motivation in the morning is very important, you know, as early as we can when we become conscious, you know, how we're going to use the day. But we shouldn't feel that having set it, that that is going to carry over automatically to all our actions. It can. It can lead to that. It can set the tone for the whole day. But it's very natural with all the other things that are going on in our mind. Report an error in the passage at 38:59 Highlight the passage at 38:59

39:29 In our experience, for that motivation to dissipate, to become less and less clear, less relevant. So, then we think to reinforce it again. Report an error in the passage at 39:29 Highlight the passage at 39:29

39:43 Not to be down on ourselves because it faded, just recognizing that's a natural process. And in order to reset it again, sometimes, sometimes a very short prayer. Report an error in the passage at 39:43 Highlight the passage at 39:43

39:58 It's helpful. If there is a prayer that embodies the meaning of what you're trying to cultivate, like there's one four-line prayer that many people have heard once they've been involved with Tibetan Buddhism for a while. I'll just recite it quickly now. You can get copies later if you're interested. It says, I go for refuge until I'm enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the enlightened assembly by the virtuous merit that I by practicing giving in other perfections. Report an error in the passage at 39:58 Highlight the passage at 39:58

40:31 May I attain the state of a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. And when I do that prayer, I repeat that last line. Instead of repeating that whole four lines three times, I just repeat the last line three times. May I attain the state of a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. May I attain the state of a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Now, if one is not Buddhist, Right? And to say, may I attain the state of a Buddha, doesn't mean anything. In fact, it can be contraindicated. You know, I don't want to become, you know, kind of a golden figure with long earlobes and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 40:31 Highlight the passage at 40:31

41:12 I'm not interested in that. But then you realize, well, that's not what Buddha means. What Buddha means is someone who has perfected these qualities of compassion, wisdom, the ability to help others and so forth. That's what the Buddha is. So you make up your own prayer. May I emulate the qualities of... And then you can think of somebody who is a real good exponent of... Report an error in the passage at 41:12 Highlight the passage at 41:12

41:41 No, proponent of any of these qualities, compassion, wisdom, skill, whatever it might be. So may I attain her qualities. And then the most important part is the last... And if that phrase, in order to benefit all sentient beings, again sounds too abstract, because you don't know who all sentient beings are, all seven billion humans on this planet and countless animals, then you can think, may my spiritual evolution, may what I'm doing, may what I'm trying to cultivate, allow me to be able to Benefit those people I come in contact with. Benefit those people whose lives impinge upon mine. Benefit those people who run in the same circles as I do and have experiences that I can relate to. Report an error in the passage at 41:41 Highlight the passage at 41:41

42:41 In other words, you make it true to your actual experience rather than just keeping it on some abstract level. So in short, it's... For me, it's simplifying the practice and translating the prayers into one's own language. And again, it doesn't have to be a language of prayers. It can just be an attitude. The words are just ways of connecting with the qualities that we want to cultivate. Report an error in the passage at 42:41 Highlight the passage at 42:41

43:14 But the qualities don't exist in the words. The quality exists in actual living beings who are embodiments of compassion, wisdom, power. Tolerance, patience and all these other qualities. I don't know whether that's helpful, but that's the only thing that I can think to offer. Report an error in the passage at 43:14 Highlight the passage at 43:14

43:38 Anything more now? Report an error in the passage at 43:38 Highlight the passage at 43:38

43:55 It so happens we're just right in the midpoint of this session. We've gone about 45 minutes for an hour and a half session. So this is a good time to be gentle to ourselves and give ourselves a brief break to stand or stretch or get a drink like that. And then we can come back and focus more on practice. And again, I urge people that if questions come up and if you feel shy about asking or if there's just no occasion to ask, then to write them down is very helpful. Report an error in the passage at 43:55 Highlight the passage at 43:55

44:38 Just put it on the desk and I'll see if I can respond to them in some reasonable way. Okay. And also, the idea of wearing the name tag, if you don't have any big objection to it, it is helpful to me. It's slowly, slowly I start learning. But without the name tags, I have no hope. Report an error in the passage at 44:38 Highlight the passage at 44:38

45:04 So... Did you post your name tag in the woods? I think we have more on the table back there. Report an error in the passage at 45:04 Highlight the passage at 45:04

45:13 Okay. So see you in... Let's see. How about... It's 3.35 on that clock there. I thought you were going to say three minutes. You're saying 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Yeah, this is a longer break. I did. Report an error in the passage at 45:13 Highlight the passage at 45:13

45:49 It's a very, very wonderful area. It's truly awe-inspiring. I can't usually say that in the woods, but I went, wow. Oh, Report an error in the passage at 45:49 Highlight the passage at 45:49

· · · silence, 4 minutes

49:49 thank you. It's Report an error in the passage at 49:49 Highlight the passage at 49:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

50:22 reminding me of a retreat I did with you in Vajrapani. Gosh, this must have been when I was like 17, so 13 years ago. Wow. Yeah. My goodness. Yeah. Was it a Vajrasafra retreat? It was a Vajrasafra retreat. Report an error in the passage at 50:22 Highlight the passage at 50:22