Transform Your Mind & Change Your Life Retreat - 7-Point Mind Training from Atisha (part 18)

0:23 So I'd like to do a very brief recap of what we've done thus far. Report an error in the passage at 0:23 Highlight the passage at 0:23

0:32 When I think of the sequence, the very first point was this very simple way of settling body, speech and mind. We've done it quite a few times now. And I would suggest this is not so much a technique as a way to establish an entirely new baseline for all day. Rather than the technique we do for ten minutes or five minutes or what have you. Report an error in the passage at 0:32 Highlight the passage at 0:32

1:04 I've worked a fair amount with scientists and scientific studies of meditation. And for example, when you're going into the fMRI or into an MRI, they'll say, okay, now just go into your rest state, your baseline. And then they'll ask you to do something and then they'll watch what happens in your brain while you do it. It's the baseline. It's our default mode. It's what's stressing people out. Report an error in the passage at 1:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04

1:28 To the point of just total exhaustion and needing medication. And that is the baseline, the default mode. Just what's your normal state? Before you enter the telephone, before you get in the car, when you just put down the telephone, and so forth and so on. What's your baseline? And for many, many people, I think, the baseline is rumination, it's tightness, it's probably unhealthy breathing, it's agitation after a while, and then it gets so tiring that you fall into dullness. Report an error in the passage at 1:28 Highlight the passage at 1:28

1:57 And so rather than thinking about what technique can we learn to reduce stress, I think it's the wrong question, frankly. I mean, it's not the wrong question. It's like if a person has had an accident on the road, then you need first aid. I mean, that's what you need first of all. Stop the bleeding, right? But then you would like to ask, well, why did the accident happen? Report an error in the passage at 1:57 Highlight the passage at 1:57

2:17 Could it have been prevented? And so forth. Not just let accidents keep on going and give everybody first aid. And so we have a lot of first aid out there. In the form of drugs, in terms of mindfulness meditation, in terms of yoga, in terms of all kinds of things that are used as kind of band-aids for fundamentally dysfunctional life and dysfunctional ways of using the mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:17 Highlight the passage at 2:17

2:40 And so in this simple practice of settling the body, three qualities. Settling the respiration, as you well know. Settling the mind. What I'd really like to invite you to do is just become so familiar with this and do it so frequently, not only for the beginning of meditation session in the afternoon or the morning or perhaps the evening, but just throughout the course of the day, just establish a new baseline, establish a new habit that when you need to engage in some activity like a conversation, in the midst of the conversation you can't really be watching your breath that much because the speech very much gets involved in. Report an error in the passage at 2:40 Highlight the passage at 2:40

3:19 It interrupts the flow of the respiration. And when you need to attend to other tasks, then you need to be very attentive to those. But to keep on coming back, whenever you finish a task, just keep on coming back and then just reboot. Reboot and come right back to relaxation, stillness and vigilance in your posture. Report an error in the passage at 3:19 Highlight the passage at 3:19

3:40 Check the breathing because you can do it in like a matter of seconds of just resting the breath. I mean, it's fast. You don't need all that talk that I gave at the beginning. Once you've learned it, you don't need to think about all the words. And then in a matter of seconds, you can just go, yeah, I'm there. Report an error in the passage at 3:40 Highlight the passage at 3:40

4:00 Nothing special, but I'm there. You can be there that fast, right? Just you come to rest. Report an error in the passage at 4:00 Highlight the passage at 4:00

4:09 And then you're ready for the next task at hand, right? But as you engage in the next task at hand... Then not be walking backwards, not going right back into the same old ruts of then tensing up as we attend to this and that and then letting the intensity of our focus, the emotions, desires then interrupt the flow of the breathing and then the mind getting in a tense and so forth and so on. Report an error in the passage at 4:09 Highlight the passage at 4:09

4:34 Keep on coming back for five seconds here and ten seconds there to that relaxation, the stillness and clarity, that dynamic equilibrium. So it's not just taking a nap or simply resting, which would just be all rest, all just relax, relax, relax. But it's relaxation, stillness and vigilance all at the same time. Report an error in the passage at 4:34 Highlight the passage at 4:34

4:53 Which means like a runner, like in the Olympics, a runner about to run a hundred meter dash, you know. Well, just before Bolt would start and keep on winning, I've never spoken with him, but I'll bet you that just before he's ready to go, if he's tense, forget, he's already lost. You've got to be relaxed. He's got to be very still because we're talking about little tiny, tiny fractions of a second. The launch, you know, the takeoff. Report an error in the passage at 4:53 Highlight the passage at 4:53

5:24 And are you alert? Are you vigilant? Because you want to hear that sound and then be so fast off that that will determine whether you win or lose, right? Relaxation, stillness and clarity. And that's for gymnastics and diving and everything else in athletics and everything else altogether. So if we keep on coming back to that simplicity, that baseline, that's normal. If you ever get into an MRI, that's normal. They'll say, okay, now you go baseline. Report an error in the passage at 5:24 Highlight the passage at 5:24

5:50 I'll say, that's your baseline? You know, like, but you must be meditating. So, no, I'm sane. Report an error in the passage at 5:50 Highlight the passage at 5:50

6:00 That is when I'm relaxing, my mind doesn't go just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's not sane. That's, you know, runaway mind. You know, there's nothing sane about that at all. So coming back there, but coming back there so frequently that when you're engaging in a conversation, especially when you're listening, you know, when you're speaking, of course, that interrupts the flow of the respiration. Report an error in the passage at 6:00 Highlight the passage at 6:00

6:21 But if you're listening, Report an error in the passage at 6:21 Highlight the passage at 6:21

6:25 you can do everything there when you're listening. Relaxation, stillness, clarity, giving your full attention to the person you're attending to. And you can do that for all the time. And then when they've stopped speaking, so often people, I feel like it's almost like a prize fight. As soon as I see an opening, I'm going to say something. Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:45 I said, oh, now you found the opening. I found the opening. In board meetings especially, I've been to so many meetings where everybody's got something to say and there's a waiting for a little in and then they jump in and then somebody jumps in and then if you don't jump in, you just never speak. Report an error in the passage at 6:45 Highlight the passage at 6:45

7:04 Because it's just continuous flow. You've been in like that? It's a continuous flow of talk. And if you don't raise your hand, you'll never have a chance. So if board meetings all started that way, where everybody just mellows out, that might be quite different. So it's a baseline. So you don't need any stress reduction. Because there's not only you're coming back so many times, but as you engage your activity, attending your email and this and that and all the other activities we have to do, doing research, meeting with clients, whatever it may be, that's your baseline. Report an error in the passage at 7:04 Highlight the passage at 7:04

7:42 And it's just the opposite of stressful. It's relaxed. And it's still, until it needs to be an action. That's the dynamic equilibrium. It's still, until you need to do something. And it's not at all, don't think, that's ridiculous. But you think when there's something to think about. And when you're finished, you stop. And whether it's creative, whether it's remembering, whether it's planning, whether it's analytical, you do it just like Khatroy. Report an error in the passage at 7:42 Highlight the passage at 7:42

8:08 You use it, and then you put it down as soon as you're finished. And then you pick them up, but you don't just walk around with Khatroy in your hands. Report an error in the passage at 8:08 Highlight the passage at 8:08

8:16 You look very crazy doing that, just always wielding, Hi Claudia, how are you doing? I'm doing fine. You know, that's very weird. Put the cutlery down when there's nothing to think about, just relax, you know, relax. So that's baseline. It's called kind of elementary school sanity, which we were never taught. Report an error in the passage at 8:16 Highlight the passage at 8:16

8:40 Then the brief review. Then we had those four utter reversals of attitude. I don't need to review them. But what that's primarily about is radically shifting priorities, values, aspirations. That's all conative. For those of you that know the conative desire, intention, volition, ideals, aspirations, that's conative or conation. Report an error in the passage at 8:40 Highlight the passage at 8:40

9:05 And this is a way, those four themes are four ways of developing very deep conative intelligence. It's not Buddhist, it's not religious really. I mean, clearly it's informed by a lot of the insights of the Buddha. But I think it's simply informing us of things that are true. But bottom line is that clearly, I mean, whether one is a Buddhist or not, if one has this type of opportunity, having met an authentic, authentic Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 9:05 Highlight the passage at 9:05

9:33 And of course, there are many types of authentic Dharma. But having encountered authentic Dharma and qualified teachers and good companions and having the leisure, having the opportunity, having the aspiration, well, just by any reckoning, there was no dogma there in anything I said, right? But having that kind of opportunity, what can one say is it's incredibly rare and incredibly precious. That's just a flat-out true statement, right? Report an error in the passage at 9:33 Highlight the passage at 9:33

9:57 And so to recognize that and radically shift the perspective on one's life, On one's own mortality, on the reality of impermanence. Feel at ease. Feel utterly at ease in the face of impermanence. That no, I can't control almost anything in the world. And yes, I could die anytime. And yes, everybody I've ever met, parting and whatever I've acquired, I will lose and I'm going to die. And I'm just as loose, easy peasy. Report an error in the passage at 9:57 Highlight the passage at 9:57

10:22 Just so relaxed that I can live with that. And I can die with that. I'm okay. Because that distinction, the crucial element, I think. For a cognitive intelligence. It's recognizing the distinction between hedonia and eudaimonia. And it's not one is good and one is bad, one is for spiritual people, one is for crude, vulgar people. Report an error in the passage at 10:22 Highlight the passage at 10:22

10:43 Nothing remotely like that. But I think Thomas Aquinas made this point, and so many other great sages of the past have, that the whole point of hedonia is eudaimonia. Report an error in the passage at 10:43 Highlight the passage at 10:43

10:56 That hedonia is very important. But then as we wish for better, we wish for more, we wish for something greater, something finer. That we don't act them like sleepwalkers and just, you know, more money, more acquisition, better success, bigger house, second wife, you know, imagination. My own conviction is we are so massively overloaded in terms of intelligence as human beings, so wildly, ridiculously more than we possibly need for survival and procreation. Report an error in the passage at 10:56 Highlight the passage at 10:56

11:31 And that's what evolution gives us. That's all it gives us. And yet we have, what, 100 times more than we need? Maybe 1,000 times more? Some people maybe 10,000 times more? My sense, here's my working hypothesis, is that all of that excess is for eudaimonia. Report an error in the passage at 11:31 Highlight the passage at 11:31

11:48 Because we just don't need it for eudaimonia. Alligators are doing very well. Pythons and the Everglades are doing very well. I don't think they're that bright, you know. But they have enough, and they have big muscles, and they can really put on the squeeze. Even more than the Wall Street wokers. I mean, they're really more so. Report an error in the passage at 11:48 Highlight the passage at 11:48

12:05 And so the hedonis there, we need maybe 10%, 5%, 3 % of our intelligence just to survive and procreate. I mean, really, not that hard. And the rest is then for eodomonia, and that's the whole point. And so it was all about cognitive intelligence. And cognitive intelligence is choosing the desires, applying ourselves, devoting ourselves to those desires, aspirations and ideals that really will enable us to fulfill our... Report an error in the passage at 12:05 Highlight the passage at 12:05

12:36 Heart's desire, our innermost longing, that yearning for fulfillment, for deeper satisfaction. For these poor billionaires that have their 30 and their 40 billion and still wishing for more, it's just like they're out in the middle of the owner. I really do feel compassion for them. And I don't want that amount of money. If I do, I'll just write checks really quickly and then be done with it so I can just get back to my life. Report an error in the passage at 12:36 Highlight the passage at 12:36

12:59 So yeah, if you want to give me 30 billion, I will accept it. But it will be gone really quickly. You'll think that, you know, I've never seen anybody spend money that quickly. Well, it'll be gone very quickly. But having the opportunity to focus just on what would truly bring you happiness, whereas the person who's got, you know, the Maserati and this and this and this, is just drinking salt water. Report an error in the passage at 12:59 Highlight the passage at 12:59

13:22 It's so clear, and it's known scientifically, this is not some kind of a very, very spiritual view. It's flat out true. I mean, all kinds of scientific studies of this. That it should never satisfy. And what you do get with more and more of that, the hedonic fixation, is just more anxiety and depression. So that's all about conation. Report an error in the passage at 13:22 Highlight the passage at 13:22

13:41 Then moving on, because we've got a lot to do today. Then moving on, then we have that one-liner. Once a stability is achieved, let the mystery be revealed. It's the mystery of life. It's the mystery of the nature of existence, the mystery of who you are, what is your nature, what is the fundamental nature of awareness itself, which in scientifically, it is simply true. Report an error in the passage at 13:41 Highlight the passage at 13:41

14:01 That we know less about consciousness, scientifically, less is known about consciousness than about the Big Bang. And the Big Bang is kind of not easy to understand, but there's a lot of knowledge there, right? Less about consciousness than the nucleus of an atom. Less about consciousness than the Big Higgs boson. Less about consciousness than almost anything at all. Report an error in the passage at 14:01 Highlight the passage at 14:01

14:21 Because we know almost nothing about consciousness scientifically. Because it's been very deliberately ignored and swept under the rug. And so... Let the mystery be revealed. The mystery is what is the nature of a path. That is, if you're attending very closely to this inner longing, what Tsongkhapa calls, your eternal longing, in this brilliant text, The Three Principles of the Path, The Three Principles of the Path, great text by Tsongkhapa, right? Report an error in the passage at 14:21 Highlight the passage at 14:21

14:49 Right towards the end he says, and now fulfill your eternal longing, my child. And he literally means that. In all past lives, what was moving us? What was moving us? Survival and procreation? I don't think so. I mean, how many monks, nuns, have just released any notion of procreation? And how many people, like this little eight-year-old girl in Italy, that covered, emotion comes up, covered her little sister, and she died. Report an error in the passage at 14:49 Highlight the passage at 14:49

15:20 And she died, and she protected her sister with only minor, minor, when the house fell in. Little eight-year-old girl. Good call. She placed something above her own survival. And she inspires us all. I look at that, I'm inspired. A girl protected her system. Report an error in the passage at 15:20 Highlight the passage at 15:20

15:42 We value things more than our own survival. And many, many people value things more than our own procreation. So we then come with maturity in our aspirations, our ideals, our yearnings. And we're applying ourselves to them, those that will actually give rise to what we seek, those that will be truly beneficial for ourselves and others. It's very stress-free there. Report an error in the passage at 15:42 Highlight the passage at 15:42

16:07 Eudaimonia, the cultivation of eudaimonia, is not stressful. And the relentless pursuit of hedonia is stressful from the beginning through the end. It just never stops. It never slacks off. It's always anxious. And so then, when we have our bearings, we have... Some authentic aspirations to pursue, to devote our lives to, that are the very meaning of life. Then we have, once stability is achieved, let the mystery be revealed. Report an error in the passage at 16:07 Highlight the passage at 16:07

16:37 And then we see, I need to stabilize my attention. I can't bring this dirty pot with its hedonic fixation, ill will, laxity and dullness, excitation, anxiety and afflictive uncertainty. This is the mind I'm going to bring to the table to try to fathom the mysteries of existence. Whether you're a philosopher, a scientist, a contemplative, whatever, that's just a very grimy part to bring. It's not really fit to take on the deepest mysteries of reality. Report an error in the passage at 16:37 Highlight the passage at 16:37

17:07 So you want to bring to that noble task, which will begin today, the most balanced, finely tuned, clear, still, luminous, discerning mind that you possibly can, so that you can attend for sustained periods. As you're applying yourself to the most important things you can apply yourself to, with a sense of ease, stillness and clarity. So we have shamatha. And that's simply designed to help us develop attention skills, right? Report an error in the passage at 17:07 Highlight the passage at 17:07

17:35 So we have the cognitive first, for those of you who might know the fourfold framework of mental balance that I've been talking about all over the world. It's cognitive, attentional, and then cognitive. And cognitive is seeing reality as it is. Not conflating it with our projections and not missing it when it's in plain sight. And then we have finally emotional. Well, lo and behold, here it is playing out in the seven-point mind training, right? Report an error in the passage at 17:35 Highlight the passage at 17:35

18:01 It starts with cognitive. Couldn't be clearer. It's all about aspiration. It's all about those four thoughts that turn the mind, that radically shift your whole view of reality so that it gives a total shakedown, an extreme makeover to all your desires. For many people, the question I always receive, I love it that he said it so clearly, how little can I meditate and still get benefit? In other words, Wallace, thank you for the interview. Report an error in the passage at 18:01 Highlight the passage at 18:01

18:26 By the way, what you're discussing is the least important to me in everything in life. And how little time can I give to what you're talking about and still get some benefit? So he's got a pyramid here, or he's got a totem pole, and the bottom of the pole is, how much do I have to do it? It's kind of like when I was living in Scotland as a child, my mother gave us cod liver oil. Straight, no capsules back then. Report an error in the passage at 18:26 Highlight the passage at 18:26

18:54 Open up and a big mouthful of cod liver oil and it tastes just as tasty as it sounds. The liver of a cod, squeezed and the oil poops out. And then you put that into your mouth and you're four years old. That's one of the questions where we have to do that in those long, long... long, dark, cold winter days, you know, in Edinburgh, there is a question, Mom, how little can I take and still get rid of it? Report an error in the passage at 18:54 Highlight the passage at 18:54

19:26 I don't want to die from vitamin D deficiency, but really the smallest amount, the better. So what we're Report an error in the passage at 19:26 Highlight the passage at 19:26

19:41 talking about is a complete inversion. Turn the totem pole upside down. So all of those other things that seem to be so important, now they're way down there and the top is not meditation, it's Yodamaniya. It is path, it is really orienting one's aspirations, that the fulfillment, the joy, the satisfaction, the meaning that you've always been seeking, your eternal longing can actually be satisfied and that's your top priority. Report an error in the passage at 19:41 Highlight the passage at 19:41

20:08 And then everything down below that is in service of that. So years ago I made it really good. I've regretted it many times since. It was long ago, like in Phuket, maybe, I don't know, six, seven years ago. And I was talking about this hierarchy of desires. And St. Augustine said, the whole of the spiritual life is a matter of getting your priorities straight. It's a paraphrase, but he said, this is the spiritual life. Report an error in the passage at 20:08 Highlight the passage at 20:08

20:33 It's setting your priorities straight. So I commented on this years ago, and I said, of all my priorities, I'll tell you the lowest one. I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate. and St. Augustine. Report an error in the passage at 20:33 Highlight the passage at 20:33

20:45 And I've received, I don't know, truckloads of dark chocolate ever since then. And I'm still getting it. I get here and there's dark chocolate. I got to Melbourne, there's dark chocolate. I got to Cairn, dark chocolate. I mean, I can't escape dark chocolate. And I try to make it clear to everybody, this is my lowest priority. Report an error in the passage at 20:45 Highlight the passage at 20:45

21:04 And they're tweeting at my, give Alan his dark chocolate fix. Otherwise he may never come back again. Make sure he's got lots of dark chocolate. So I wish I'd never said that. So I'd like everybody to forget that entirely. And if you need a little motto from me, I prefer Porsches over VWs. Report an error in the passage at 21:04 Highlight the passage at 21:04

21:29 You can remember that one. Porsches over VWs. If you want to respond to that, that's okay. Report an error in the passage at 21:29 Highlight the passage at 21:29

21:40 So there we are. And so in the training of attention, we have these two methods now. There are many, many, many. But I just plucked out from the vast bouquet of the teachings. By the Buddha on developing attention skills. Two that I found very helpful. They have a noble heritage. They go back to Dzogchen, they go back to a Saṅgha. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

21:59 These are stellar practices. It has nothing to do with me whatsoever. But they really are stellar. So just a very brief recap of that. And also in terms of two postures. So for shamatha there are really two postures that are very good. And of course these are sitting and lying down. Standing, not so good because if you go into deep samādhi you'll fall over. Report an error in the passage at 21:59 Highlight the passage at 21:59

22:19 I hate it when that happens. And then if you're withdrawing your awareness into the mind and the senses are imploding and you're walking, you're bound to have one of those unfortunate episodes. So sitting and lying down, these are the two really good postures. And overall, I would really encourage you to explore both, to really become very familiar with both and become adept in both. Report an error in the passage at 22:19 Highlight the passage at 22:19

22:44 That you know how to go into total meltdown in your posture and remain vigilant. And if you can do that, it will really be a very good investment. Because you'll find so many times you're not quite up for sitting upright meditation, for whatever reason, psychological, physical and so forth and so on. Report an error in the passage at 22:44 Highlight the passage at 22:44

23:03 But then if you know through hours, maybe hundreds of hours of experience, that yes, you can really train your mind. You can meditate in myriad of ways while looking like you're just flaking out. Well, you're not trying to impress people by your posture. You're just doing it. But when you know that, then it really just opens up things wonderfully. And so we have sitting and supine. Well, overall, whether sitting on a chair, the nice spine erect and all of that, sitting cross-legged, overall the sitting posture is very good for clarity of vision. Report an error in the passage at 23:03 Highlight the passage at 23:03

23:33 You're sitting at attention. Like, you know, the soldier standing up like, well, this is sitting at attention. So the sternum is slightly lifted. Not uptight, but you're not like this. So sternum slightly lifted, like that. And the spine straight, of course. Now the shoulders completely dropped. And the belly, jelly belly, whether you're slim and beautiful or like me, either way, really soft belly. Report an error in the passage at 23:33 Highlight the passage at 23:33

24:01 So even if you have a very shallow breath, the sensations go way down here. So you feel that. It's so loose. The sensations of breath go down to the belly. And so you're sitting there. Now this posture, anybody can see it. If you're sitting like this, you're probably sitting for only one reason like this. Report an error in the passage at 24:01 Highlight the passage at 24:01

24:20 Not to watch television or anything else. This is to train your mind, right? This is for meditation. And so it's very good for vigilance, for clarity, for acuity. You're symbolizing by your very posture, like we have of the Buddha himself, that this is a posture of vigilance, of clarity, that I'm here to do something very meaningful. Report an error in the passage at 24:20 Highlight the passage at 24:20

24:39 So that posture, whether sitting on a chair, if you're more comfortable, I'm comfortable, and I've got a little cushion here, it's very good, well supported. Or sitting cross-legged, as long as you're comfortable. The sitting is very good, and especially for the vigilance, the clarity, high acuity and so forth. The supine position is very, very good for deepening and deepening the sense of ease of relaxation, in body and mind, just totally letting go. Report an error in the passage at 24:39 Highlight the passage at 24:39

25:06 And not just getting to a baseline, okay, I'm relaxed, let's get on with it. But recognizing as with stability, it can get finer and finer and finer. It's not just, are you on target? How continuously are you on target? And clarity is not, yes, I'm clear. Now let's get on with it. Clarity can just go right through the roof. So we have these three qualities. Each of these can be cultivated to extraordinary degrees. Report an error in the passage at 25:06 Highlight the passage at 25:06

25:29 So it's relaxation, but then it's deeper relaxation. And then you say, oh, I've never been that relaxed before. And oh, this morning I've heard this. I listen to people talk a lot about meditation. And they keep on having breakthroughs. This always makes me really happy because I know there's never any downside. A deepening sense of ease. Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

25:48 That is not just muscular, it's not just psychological. But we can go very deep here. I'm going on a bit here. But what I would call existential ease. Just the opposite, the issue about fear. Fear is not being at ease. It's kind of like diametrically opposed. Now we're all exposed, you know, we're all vulnerable to fear. Report an error in the passage at 25:48 Highlight the passage at 25:48

26:06 But as that sense of refuge takes in, as compassion sets in, as insight comes in, as one releases identification with everything that we'll lose. Like possessions and family and friends and job and everything. As we release attachment to. Not abandoning job, friends, loved ones and so forth. Not that at all. But releasing attachment to. All the stuff around us that we identify with. And then release attachment to our own bodies. Report an error in the passage at 26:06 Highlight the passage at 26:06

26:37 That this is not me. This is a body. It's flesh. Just got stuff in it. But none of that stuff is me. Or by nature, mine. It's just, you know. It's just what it is. So releasing attachment to that and then releasing attachment even to the mind. Those are not by nature my thoughts, my emotions, my desires, my personal history. Report an error in the passage at 26:37 Highlight the passage at 26:37

27:00 They are just what they are. In that existential release that is not simply a lack of attachment but is profound trust, there's existential ease there. Report an error in the passage at 27:00 Highlight the passage at 27:00

27:14 Gyatratamachi made a comment once years ago to his old students. They'd been under his guidance for 20 years, 30 years. I was translating for him. And a number of them, he felt, were kind of frustrated. They weren't progressing enough. They hadn't made great breakthroughs. They hadn't had profound realizations. Are we there yet? How come I'm not? It's called whinging. I have English out there. And Giacana, which is very straight, very, very straight, he just said, you know why you're so dissatisfied? Report an error in the passage at 27:14 Highlight the passage at 27:14

27:45 You know, because while you're not making the progress you're hoping for, expecting and clinging to, it's not because you don't have enough faith in the Buddha or the Dharma or the Saṅgha or the Guru. That's not it. You don't have enough faith in yourselves. And that's really a Dzogchen statement. You don't have enough faith. You don't have enough trust in yourselves. Report an error in the passage at 27:45 Highlight the passage at 27:45

28:04 And that's what's holding you back. So, existential relaxation, spirit, I mean, I don't know a deeper term, cosmological, I don't know. But that relaxation right down to the core of your being, right down to the ground of your being, at ease. Bear in mind that all of the Buddha's activities are effortless. Effortless, spontaneously arising. Report an error in the passage at 28:04 Highlight the passage at 28:04

28:25 That strikes me as a corresponding term I've never seen in Buddhism, the perfection of relaxation. That everything's being done but with no effort whatsoever. That's really the opposite, the cosmic opposite of being uptight, stressed out. Utterly, absolutely at ease. So we have this quality of the tension development and then we move on to the cognitive and that's seeing reality as it is. Report an error in the passage at 28:25 Highlight the passage at 28:25

28:53 So that brings us up to date. So without further ado, that was kind of longer than I expected. But it's usually longer than I expect. So maybe I should start expecting longer and then I won't be surprised. Find a comfortable posture. Report an error in the passage at 28:53 Highlight the passage at 28:53