Taming the Mind with Mindfulness

0:01 She's been at BI for how many years, we've been doing a few years now. Wonderful, and I know that there's a treat in store tonight with taming the mind with mindfulness. Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:14 And I know many of you have heard Vendora Tenzin before, but for those of you who don't as well, she's a very experienced long-term practitioner. Report an error in the passage at 0:14 Highlight the passage at 0:14

0:30 And has spent a number of years now touring around teaching and well sadly for us but great for her from next year she'll actually be a resident teacher in Canada. So we may see her a little bit less frequently. What a wonderful opportunity tonight. There are tissues out there. It's a wonderful opportunity tonight and I'm sure you'll really enjoy it. Report an error in the passage at 0:30 Highlight the passage at 0:30

0:55 It's our last formal. but we also have, hopefully, we'll come to our Animal Liberation on Monday. Report an error in the passage at 0:55 Highlight the passage at 0:55

1:16 Welcome everybody to our session on mindfulness meditation. Always a popular topic which we can tell by the attendants in the room. Something that we'll talk about a bit but mostly we'll experience. So what I'd like to do tonight is lead you through some of the basic mindfulness meditations and then kind of in between we'll discuss it a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:16 Highlight the passage at 1:16

1:43 but I want to give you a little bit of a taste of... Different types of mindfulness, meditations. Usually in the evening, especially weeknights, people are tired, so we'll do frequent short sessions, which is what's recommended for tired minds. But we'll begin actually with the meditation and give you a little bit of experience before we even talk about it at all. Report an error in the passage at 1:43 Highlight the passage at 1:43

2:09 What I'd love to do is a show of hands of people who are absolutely brand new to meditation at all. Don't be shy. Go ahead. Raise those hands. Okay, great. Good to know. Good to know. Because some people, this may be your very first time meditating. Report an error in the passage at 2:09 Highlight the passage at 2:09

2:29 Thank you for coming. You've got to start. Somewhere at some point. So what we'll start with is a meditation that's found in all Buddhist traditions, which is focusing on the breath. Very easy technique, mostly because we have to be breathing all the time anyway. Nothing complicated to focus on. Like some of our meditations, we focus on a visualization, for example. But here, we're just going to be focusing on the physical. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

3:01 Experience of the breath. And so I'll guide you through with some instructions in the beginning and then we'll just carry on. Brief meditation, 10 or 12 minutes or so. So first of all, we get in our meditation posture. And for those of you that are sitting up in chairs, that's fine to be sitting in a chair. Report an error in the passage at 3:01 Highlight the passage at 3:01

3:22 But make sure that your back is straight and you're not slumped back. It's really important for the back to be straight. That's the most important part of the meditation posture because it keeps you from being sleepy. If you're slumped over, it's easy to be sleepy. Feel as if there's a cord kind of pulling up from the crown of your head, pulling your spine into that upright posture and tuck your chin in just a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 3:22 Highlight the passage at 3:22

3:57 And in our tradition, we put our tongue on the roof of our mouth right behind our teeth, so on your upper palate. It keeps you from having to swallow constantly during the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 3:57 Highlight the passage at 3:57

4:11 And we also keep our eyes slightly open, but you can also close them if you like and have your hands in a comfortable position in your lap. Report an error in the passage at 4:11 Highlight the passage at 4:11

4:23 And the instructions for this meditation are quite easy. But sometimes it can be challenging, even focusing on something that's always with us, like the breath, without our mind wandering, can be quite difficult. But don't worry, it may be that the entire session you're just bringing your attention back to the physical sensation of breathing, and that's fine, that's no problem. Report an error in the passage at 4:23 Highlight the passage at 4:23

4:53 So after settling our body, Into the meditation posture, just settle your respiration in its natural rhythm. Nothing forced, neither breathing, especially deeply or slowly. Just in your natural rhythm, uncontrolled, without any intervention. Report an error in the passage at 4:53 Highlight the passage at 4:53

· · · silence, 1 minute

6:11 And now that you've settled your breathing in its natural rhythm, narrow your focus to the tactile sensations. Report an error in the passage at 6:11 Highlight the passage at 6:11

6:23 the breathing process so that's the focus Report an error in the passage at 6:23 Highlight the passage at 6:23

6:29 this meditation session. Report an error in the passage at 6:29 Highlight the passage at 6:29

6:33 sensations of breathing. Report an error in the passage at 6:33 Highlight the passage at 6:33

6:38 And it may be that... most obvious sensation is the sensation of the air going in and out of your nostrils, maybe the feeling on your upper lip. Report an error in the passage at 6:38 Highlight the passage at 6:38

7:01 Your breathing is most obvious at the level of your lungs with your chest rising and falling, perhaps lower down the level of your abdomen, your abdomen expanding and contracting. Report an error in the passage at 7:01 Highlight the passage at 7:01

7:21 Just try and tune in and focus on just this narrow little cluster of sensations that have to do with the breathing process and use that as your focus. Report an error in the passage at 7:21 Highlight the passage at 7:21

· · · silence, 1 minute

8:25 And to the best of your ability, attend to these sensations throughout the body without distraction, without being carried off into another sense field like hearing or carried away by thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 8:25 Highlight the passage at 8:25

8:49 Keeping your attention focused on the tactile sensations of breathing, without getting caught up in thoughts of the past or the future, any other storyline. Just staying with the physical sensations. Report an error in the passage at 8:49 Highlight the passage at 8:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

10:04 And if you do notice that you've gotten carried away by the train of thought, just very gently let go of the thoughts and bring your attention back to the breath. So the minute you notice you've gotten carried away, caught up, just very gently without judgment, let go and return to the breath. And Report an error in the passage at 10:04 Highlight the passage at 10:04

· · · silence, 4 minutes

14:12 then drop. The object, let go of the focus on the breath and just return your attention to the present moment. Just rest for a moment in the feeling of just being here in this room in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 14:12 Highlight the passage at 14:12

· · · silence, 1 minute

15:09 Easy? Difficult? Surprisingly difficult, isn't it? Because did we do anything different than what we're doing all the time? No, but we were just paying attention to it or trying to. How many people couldn't believe how distracted you were during that meditation? How many people were really surprised? Yeah, amazing, isn't it? You'd think, oh, that's so easy. Of course, I'm breathing all the time just to focus on it. Report an error in the passage at 15:09 Highlight the passage at 15:09

15:39 I think we did it for maybe nine minutes or something. How easy it is to get distracted by something as simple as the breath. And so, like I said, this is one of the types of meditation that's found in all Buddhist traditions. And it's a starting point. So that's why we started with that tonight, to kind of give you an idea of what is... Report an error in the passage at 15:39 Highlight the passage at 15:39

16:02 Some of the challenges, what's going on with our minds. Okay, when we talk about mindfulness meditation, what do you think of? When I say the word mindfulness, what are the kind of things that makes you think? What are some of your ideas of mindfulness meditation? I'll pick on the people I know if nobody volunteers. There's a brave volunteer right in the back. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 16:02 Highlight the passage at 16:02

16:30 Okay, so being in the moment. Great. Good. Good. Okay. What else? Any other? Yes. Okay. Paying attention carefully. Being in the moment. Okay. What else? Any other ideas of what? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 16:30 Highlight the passage at 16:30

16:47 Okay. Remembering the object of meditation. Good. Okay. Any other ideas? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 16:47 Highlight the passage at 16:47

16:57 Being without judgment. Okay, okay, good. So we've got being in the present moment, paying attention, being non-judgmental, remembering the object. Any other ideas that you have? The word mindfulness. Okay. And it means all of these things. There are several lineages of Buddhist mindfulness practice. And all of these things... Report an error in the passage at 16:57 Highlight the passage at 16:57

17:26 are meant by the different lineages. One of them It's just about being in the present moment. The focus of that practice is just drawing our awareness into the present moment. Because it's amazing how much of our life we miss because we're lunging ahead into the future or we're ruminating about the past. Report an error in the passage at 17:26 Highlight the passage at 17:26

17:48 Have you ever had an experience? I had an experience a couple of years ago. I teach in prisons when I'm visiting in the U.S. and in other countries. Once I was getting ready to go to India on a trip, so I was really kind of thinking about my trip to India and I was driving to this prison in California that was about three and a half hours from where I lived. Report an error in the passage at 17:48 Highlight the passage at 17:48

18:08 And so I'd usually go the night before, stay in a really cheap motel and then go to the prison the whole next day and then drive home. So I set off from home to go to the motel to spend the night and the next thing I knew I was turning into the motel parking lot three and a half hours later. I didn't have a clue how I got there. I mean, it was kind of scary. I had no memory of any perception. Report an error in the passage at 18:08 Highlight the passage at 18:08

18:36 I mean, here I am driving down the road at like 100 kilometers an hour for three and a half hours, and I didn't have a clue. Anybody share this experience? And then I thought, where was I? I certainly wasn't in the moment. At all. I mean, thank goodness for autopilot and like 40 years of experience driving that saved my life, you know. Report an error in the passage at 18:36 Highlight the passage at 18:36

19:02 But we do that all the time, don't we? I mean, that was extreme and I really noticed it because it was sort of like three and a half hours later without a clue how I even got there. It was like I came out of some daze as I'm pulling into reception at the cheap motel. But we do that all the time. So that's one of the purposes of mindfulness meditation is to bring our attention into the present moment, out of the past, out of the future, into the moment. Report an error in the passage at 19:02 Highlight the passage at 19:02

19:33 But it's not limited to that. It's not limited to that. That's one of the functions, but it's not limited to that. And we also said... Something about, you know, kind of focusing without judgment on what's really there. Okay, and this is another reason for doing mindfulness practice. Buddhism says mostly we're perceiving reality through these filters of our concepts, our value judgments. Report an error in the passage at 19:33 Highlight the passage at 19:33

20:06 Our opinions about things. We're not really seeing what's there. And a big part of mindfulness practice is being able to see much more clearly reality without all of these filters. So we're paying attention in a more direct way to reality, both our sensory perceptions and slowing everything down. We react all the time, right? We're looking through these filters and then we're just on kind of automatic reaction to things in our life. Report an error in the passage at 20:06 Highlight the passage at 20:06

20:46 We have all of these built-in kind of reactive patterns. And Buddhism says, that gets us in a lot of trouble. So much of our suffering comes from the automatic reactions we have towards our experience. We're not really paying attention to it. Maybe it reminds us of something else and we get triggered and then we react, right? In a way due to our history, due to our judgments. Report an error in the passage at 20:46 Highlight the passage at 20:46

21:13 So part of mindfulness practice, a big part of it is slowing down. Paying attention to what's really going on, slowing down our reaction time so that we respond more appropriately. Buddhism says we get into a tremendous amount of trouble and a lot of our disturbing emotions arise just due to these filters through which we experience reality. Report an error in the passage at 21:13 Highlight the passage at 21:13

21:40 So if we can see things a little bit more nakedly without all of those filters, slow down. Our reactions. We won't react inappropriately. And we'll suffer less. Because that's the whole point of Buddhism. Lord Buddha said, every word I ever taught you guys after I got enlightened for 40 years was so you'd suffer less. Report an error in the passage at 21:40 Highlight the passage at 21:40

22:03 Period. You know, that's really the whole point of Buddhism. Okay? So we'll talk more about that. We'll talk more about what the cause of our suffering is. But that's a big part of mindfulness practice is, you know, can we slow this whole process of perception down, get it to accord more with reality? Report an error in the passage at 22:03 Highlight the passage at 22:03

22:26 Mostly what we're perceiving and reacting to isn't even there. It's these concepts in our heads. We say we perceive sense data, which immediately triggers a lot of concepts in our heads. And then that's what we're actually responding to and not what's out there at all. So slowing things down with mindfulness practice really helps us just cut through those reactive habit patterns. Report an error in the passage at 22:26 Highlight the passage at 22:26

22:55 OK, now there's a. Text that's the basis for a lot of mindfulness practice in the Buddhist tradition. And this text is called the Mahasatipatna Sūtra, otherwise known as the Sūtra on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. And so that's what we're going to be experimenting with in our practice tonight. Now the four foundations of mindfulness, which means the four objects of our mindfulness practice, that's what this means. Report an error in the passage at 22:55 Highlight the passage at 22:55

23:28 The body, the feelings, the mind and the mental objects. Now we've already started with the body. The breath is a way of practicing mindfulness of the body, right? Also bodily sensations, feelings. Both physical and mental. When we talk about feelings, mostly we're talking about three kind of flavors of feeling. Report an error in the passage at 23:28 Highlight the passage at 23:28

23:57 Pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. That's all. You know, when we say feeling in English, we think of it as sort of a synonym of emotion. But that's not what we're really talking about here. We're just talking about feelings with those three basic flavors. Pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. Both physical and mental. The mind itself. And we're actually going to meditate on the mind itself tonight. Report an error in the passage at 23:57 Highlight the passage at 23:57

24:23 Something else that's with us all the time that we never look at. The nature of mind itself. In fact, I think we'll do that next. It's better to do while you're still a little bit fresh. The feelings are a lot more easy to do. We'll do that at 8.15. And then mental objects. What does this list make you think of? What is this list of four things? Characterize. Report an error in the passage at 24:23 Highlight the passage at 24:23

24:53 What's that? Elements? Okay. Even more immediate. Truth? Dharma? Report an error in the passage at 24:53 Highlight the passage at 24:53

25:06 Getting close. Yeah, our experience, isn't it? This is us. Body, feelings, mind, mental objects, right? So what we're focusing on is the elements of our experience because that's what we're trying to get an insight into the reality of. So truth is right, reality is right, but even more immediately, these are the elements of our experience. Report an error in the passage at 25:06 Highlight the passage at 25:06

25:33 Right? The internal elements of body feelings, mind, and then the phenomena or mental objects of our experience. So what we're trying to do in Buddhism is get an insight into the reality of our experience. You know, how these elements truly exist. Okay? So what I want to do now, we're just going to do this throughout the evening, is kind of have a little bit of discussion and then have a little bit of practice. Report an error in the passage at 25:33 Highlight the passage at 25:33

26:00 Let's do that second meditation. We're going to skip down to mind itself. Now this one, the instructions again, super easy, but wow, this one's really hard. We would have done this one first, but I didn't want you to get too discouraged right off the bat. So Buddhism says, very, very simple definition of mind. Report an error in the passage at 26:00 Highlight the passage at 26:00

26:24 Mind is that which is clear and knowing. That's all. That's the definition of mind in Buddhism. The clarity refers to its ability to hold or reflect an object. So like a mirror, the mind holds an object. Either a sense object, a visual object, a sound, smell, taste, tactile object or a thought. So it's the mind's job description to hold an object. And then unlike a mirror that doesn't have awareness of the object that it's holding, it's aware of it. Report an error in the passage at 26:24 Highlight the passage at 26:24

27:02 So clarity, it's reflectiveness and it's awareness. Now how many people have heard that the goal of Buddhist meditation is to empty your mind of thoughts? Has anybody heard this? Impossible. It's the mind's job description to have objects. In fact, one of the words in Tibetan for mind is Yulchen, which literally means object holder. Report an error in the passage at 27:02 Highlight the passage at 27:02

27:30 So it's not the goal of Buddhist meditation to empty our mind of thoughts. Sometimes the goal to focus on an object without distracting thoughts, which I think is where this rumor comes in. And there are certain non-conceptual Mental states, high levels of realization. But what we're going to do in this meditation is we're going to look at just that aspect of mind, which is the clarity and the awareness itself and not the objects. Report an error in the passage at 27:30 Highlight the passage at 27:30

28:03 So how do we do that? Tricky. Because we're usually looking at the objects. And the analogy I like is, you know, you see a really big... Fish tank full of tropical fish, the really bright colored rainbow angel fish or whatever they are swimming around. And what are you doing? You're really focused on the beautiful fish, aren't you? And you're not focused at all on the water that the fish are swimming around in, right? Report an error in the passage at 28:03 Highlight the passage at 28:03

28:33 And somebody says, oh, look at the water. Don't look at the fish. And you're like. Oh wow, okay, right. Like it was there, but it was never the object of your focus. And our mind is exactly the same. We're focused on the thoughts, the sense experiences, which are all occurring in that space of that mere clarity and awareness, but we're not aware of that awareness itself. Report an error in the passage at 28:33 Highlight the passage at 28:33

29:01 So what we're going to do in this meditation, it's a little tricky. We're just going to take one step back in the same way that when you're looking at that tropical fish tank, the fish are still swimming around, but you're shifting your focus to the water, right? And then that's what you're focusing on. What we're going to do in this meditation is we're going to just make the same kind of shift. Report an error in the passage at 29:01 Highlight the passage at 29:01

29:30 And focus on that awareness and clarity that our thoughts are rising in. Sounds tricky, doesn't it? Okay? Yes? Report an error in the passage at 29:30 Highlight the passage at 29:30

29:47 Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't follow the storyline. You know, your mind will come up with one and it will be alluring. And we just let it go. So the object in this meditation isn't to stop your thoughts. Yes? you're being Report an error in the passage at 29:47 Highlight the passage at 29:47

30:06 They'll still arise, just don't follow them. So it's just like the thoughts will arise, you notice that they're there, but just don't follow the stream of thought. Try to shift the focus to that awareness that the thoughts are arising in. One way of doing it is sometimes you'll notice there's a little gap of awareness between thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 30:06 Highlight the passage at 30:06

30:36 And you'll get a feeling for that awareness itself in that little gap when one thought subsides before the next one comes in. So we're just noticing that awareness. It's hard, it's tricky, but it's very cool. And the reason we're doing this tonight is because sometimes even brand new beginning meditators get just a taste of that awareness and it's amazing. Report an error in the passage at 30:36 Highlight the passage at 30:36

31:02 Because often we've identified so much with the content of mind and we said, that's who I am. And we've never just noticed that awareness itself. Okay, so we'll try it. We'll just try it for about 10 minutes or so and see how we do. And I'll guide you through, I'll just remind you about the fish tank analogy. Report an error in the passage at 31:02 Highlight the passage at 31:02

31:23 And what I do is, like I said, I just make just a subtle shift. And then I'm trying to pay attention to the... Element of awareness rather than the content. So we'll first sit in our meditation posture with our backs straight. Report an error in the passage at 31:23 Highlight the passage at 31:23

31:46 And first of all, as we do with most of our meditations, after we get in our posture, focus on your breathing for just a few minutes. It always gets our mind in neutral before we shift to any other object. We usually always start with just a few minutes of focusing on the breath. Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

· · · silence, 1 minute

33:23 And now spend a few minutes just noticing the thoughts arising in your mind. Also the other sense experiences, but mostly it's thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 33:23 Highlight the passage at 33:23

33:39 And just watch the thoughts arise. Watch them pass away. Report an error in the passage at 33:39 Highlight the passage at 33:39

33:50 Just like when you're sitting at an outdoor cafe, sidewalk cafe. You're watching the passers-by. But you stay at your table. You don't get up and follow them down the street. You're noticing they walk past and then you let them go. Try the same technique with your thoughts. Just watching them arise without any attachment. Report an error in the passage at 33:50 Highlight the passage at 33:50

34:24 Also without pushing them away. Just let them go. And Report an error in the passage at 34:24 Highlight the passage at 34:24

· · · silence, 2 minutes

36:50 now shift your perspective. You've been watching the thoughts come and go, just like watching the colorful tropical fish in the tank. Now try to make that shift and focus on the awareness itself within which those thoughts are arising. You Report an error in the passage at 36:50 Highlight the passage at 36:50

37:17 can either just do the shift of perspective, focusing on the awareness as the thoughts continue to arise. Report an error in the passage at 37:17 Highlight the passage at 37:17

37:30 You can also try the technique of noticing the little gap of awareness after one thought subsides and before the other one arises. Report an error in the passage at 37:30 Highlight the passage at 37:30

37:46 So that's the object of your mindfulness, just the nature of mind itself, that clarity and awareness. When Report an error in the passage at 37:46 Highlight the passage at 37:46

· · · silence, 2 minutes

39:58 you notice yourself getting caught up in a train of thought following one of the thoughts, Just let it go, Report an error in the passage at 39:58 Highlight the passage at 39:58

40:09 just like you let the passers-by walk by. Don't get up and follow them down the street. And then try to return your attention back to the nature of mind itself, that clarity and awareness. And Report an error in the passage at 40:09 Highlight the passage at 40:09

· · · silence, 3 minutes

43:37 then just take a minute to return back to the anchor of the breath, Report an error in the passage at 43:37 Highlight the passage at 43:37

43:46 anchoring you here in your body in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 43:46 Highlight the passage at 43:46

· · · silence, 1 minute

44:39 How was that one? Hard. Interesting. Did anybody get it? Did you get a glimpse of that awareness? Any experiences or questions with that one? Report an error in the passage at 44:39 Highlight the passage at 44:39

44:56 Yeah? Everybody fall asleep? Good. It's hard though, isn't it? I mean, here's just the nature of mind, this clarity and awareness. And we can see how we're always caught up in the content. For how many of you is that the first time you've ever even really tried to look at your mind itself? Right? We don't even think of it. Report an error in the passage at 44:56 Highlight the passage at 44:56

45:20 We're just completely caught up in the content. Okay. But that's a great one. Especially when you're really caught up in the content. Right? Which we know we are. Strong emotions. Strong... Kind of storyline with whatever's going on. This is a wonderful antidote actually to strong disturbing emotions. As it helps us just get a little bit of space. Report an error in the passage at 45:20 Highlight the passage at 45:20

45:45 We can say, oh it's just what thoughts are rising in my mind. And in fact in Buddhism we say that the definition of disturbing emotions, what we call emotions in English, is a thought that disturbs our peace of mind. That's all. And what did we just see happens to thoughts? They come, they go, they come, they go, they come, they go. They're not us. Report an error in the passage at 45:45 Highlight the passage at 45:45

46:12 We don't need to identify with them. So this is a great antidote actually to a disturbing emotion attack. So the next time you have one, as you will, as we all do, maybe... Remember this technique and think the fish tank thing. Some people like the analogy of clouds in the sky, right? So there's clouds coming and going, but then there's always the sky there behind the clouds, right? Report an error in the passage at 46:12 Highlight the passage at 46:12

46:39 Even though we're paying attention to the clouds going through the sky, the sky's always there. So whichever kind of analogy helps for you. Are there any questions about that technique? Report an error in the passage at 46:39 Highlight the passage at 46:39

46:57 The clarity is just the mind's ability to reflect an object, to hold an object, right? But unlike a mirror that has no awareness, then we have the awareness of the object that the mind is holding. So we say the mind is reflective just because it... Always is holding either one of the five sense objects or a thought. We talk about six senses in Buddhism and the sixth one isn't ESPN telepathy. Report an error in the passage at 46:57 Highlight the passage at 46:57

47:29 It's just thoughts, you know, holding a thought or holding one of the five sense objects. So that's what the clarity refers to. I mean, it's a little bit funny word because you need the explanation that that is what it is that it's talking about. But it's sort of that reflectiveness. of the object that it's holding yeah good yes Report an error in the passage at 47:29 Highlight the passage at 47:29

47:54 Tell me more about what you mean by malleable. Report an error in the passage at 47:54 Highlight the passage at 47:54

48:01 Absolutely. And that is the key to Buddhist meditation. Absolutely. Rather than Absolutely. Report an error in the passage at 48:01 Highlight the passage at 48:01

48:11 We say meditation and in fact in Tibetan it comes from the same root as habituation. So Lord Buddha says we've been habituated to disturbing emotions, to delusions, to all of these negative thoughts and because the mind is malleable it can change into whatever we want. Even into the mind of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Mahatma Gandhi and all of our great heroes. Report an error in the passage at 48:11 Highlight the passage at 48:11

48:39 It's possible for all of us because the nature of mind is just that which is clear and aware. The nature of mind isn't angry and jealous and confused, right? They're just thoughts that are dependent on misperceiving reality. That's the real good news of Buddhism, you know? It's just a big misunderstanding that can be cleared up. Report an error in the passage at 48:39 Highlight the passage at 48:39

49:03 And then our minds... It's great news, isn't it? There's no such thing as original sin and all of those things. It's just confusion and misperception that can be cleared up by seeing the nature of reality. And then we can fill our minds because of that malleability with thoughts of loving kindness and compassion and selfless service of others. Report an error in the passage at 49:03 Highlight the passage at 49:03

49:28 I think it's really great, actually, if you're a spiritual seeker, to read the biographies of some of these great masters. Mahatma Gandhi, he worked really, really hard on his mind to become the great saint that we all admire. I mean, for sure he didn't start out that way. You know, he really worked hard. And I think it's great to actually read these inspiring biographies because then we get a taste for how with habituation and with practice we can fill our minds with... Report an error in the passage at 49:28 Highlight the passage at 49:28

50:02 Positive thoughts, you know, we're not stuck with those delusions, we're not stuck with those disturbing emotions. And that's the real, that's actually what we call our Buddha nature. In Buddhism, one sort of meaning of the word Buddha nature is the purifiability of our mind from all the garbage and the fact that we can actually develop all enlightened qualities. Report an error in the passage at 50:02 Highlight the passage at 50:02

50:26 I mean, that's really what Buddha nature... It's not something that's permanent and solid in there somewhere that we're just trying to sort of dust it off. It actually refers to the changeability of our minds. So it's a great point. And noticing that, by the way, is one of the reasons for doing this mindfulness meditation. Knowing how changeable our minds are. Report an error in the passage at 50:26 Highlight the passage at 50:26

50:49 How many thoughts did you have in that 10 or 11 minutes that we were doing that meditation? You know, just try and control your mind. But with practice we can have more and more control over it and habituate more to the positive thoughts. We're not at the mercy anymore of our minds. Yeah, good. Any other questions about that nature of mind? Yes. Report an error in the passage at 50:49 Highlight the passage at 50:49

51:23 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think in the beginning... We have to remind ourselves of the technique and that's okay. And then for that mindfulness meditation, you'll just automatically let them go. I mean, we're so habituated to hanging on and following the storyline and getting up from our decaf latte and walking down the street after the person. Report an error in the passage at 51:23 Highlight the passage at 51:23

51:49 We do that mentally. It's like thought comes up, we're off. Another thought comes off, we're off in another direction. So I think it's okay as a reminder. To go, you know, just something simple like let it go. Don't make up a story about letting it go. Because then that's just another story. Because we can do that too. Oh, let it go or else you'll never get enlightened. And, you know, Lord Buddha said I had Buddha nature but not me because I just can't seem to let it go, you know. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:18 We can do that too. But just a quick reminder, and we do that with some of the meditations, for example, on physical sensations. There's another meditation, maybe, let's see if we have time. We'll try, where we just note the sensations in our body, but again, noting quickly, you know, like, you know, or just whatever thought. Report an error in the passage at 52:18 Highlight the passage at 52:18

52:41 We'll note quickly as a way to let go, oh, memory, you know, oh, physical sensation. Oh, tired, you know, but let it go without making a whole big story. But it helps us identify kind of the nature of our distraction sometimes by just labeling very quickly. But again, be careful because we're so habituated to making up a big story about it. Yeah. Any other questions about that? Report an error in the passage at 52:41 Highlight the passage at 52:41

53:12 That technique. Yeah, try that. Try that as an antidote to the disturbing emotions. So we've talked about a couple of purposes for our mindfulness meditation. Getting ourselves in the present moment, right? From the past and the future. And I think that in and of itself feels really good. I said the point of Buddhism is happiness and avoidance of suffering. And I think just getting ourselves in the present moment, there's some amazing, good, fresh feeling that comes when all of our attention is focused in the present moment. Report an error in the passage at 53:12 Highlight the passage at 53:12

53:54 I have this personal theory that that is what is behind extreme sports. You know, people doing these things like hanging off the side of a cliff by their fingernails. You have to be in the present moment. You know, that makes your mind be completely in the present moment. I was teaching a class in New Zealand a couple of years ago. I've been teaching there in the New Zealand summer, which as a North American, I'll never get it straight. Report an error in the passage at 53:54 Highlight the passage at 53:54

54:23 You know, to me, January is winter. I'm sorry. But anyway, I've been doing that. I know. One year, all of this group of New Zealand college students came rocking up on their summer vacation. They're all barefoot. They tumble out of this van, camper van. They've been camping. And they wanted some meditation, so we're meditating and talking about Dharma. Report an error in the passage at 54:23 Highlight the passage at 54:23

54:47 And I said, oh, actually, a couple of them were really interested. And I was doing an introductory class that weekend. And I said, oh, you know. You could stay if you want for the intro class. Oh, no, no, because they couldn't do that because the next day they were going on a big adventure somewhere on the North Island of New Zealand. Report an error in the passage at 54:47 Highlight the passage at 54:47

55:07 There was this chasm, like a thousand foot drop, you know, this chasm. And they were going to fling this net made out of like bungee cords over it and walk across it. And I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. And then this one guy is explaining to me and he just goes, oh, it's a spiritual experience to walk across on this net. Report an error in the passage at 55:07 Highlight the passage at 55:07

55:32 I'm sure there's a name of it, you know, but they're explaining to me and he's like, you walk across and it's like you feel like you're going to die. So all of your attention is in the present moment. I'm like, dude, you could meditate and have your attention in the present moment. It would be a lot less risky. Report an error in the passage at 55:32 Highlight the passage at 55:32

55:48 But my personal theory about all of those things are that that's the part that feels good, is having your attention in the present moment. And that's almost the only way to do it, unless you learn how to meditate, isn't it? Because we know, from my experience driving to the prison, if my life isn't at risk, I'm just off somewhere else. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:12 You know, it's really... Those kind of experiences that bring you in the present moment. So it feels better to be in the moment. We don't miss our entire lives. Wouldn't you hate to be lying on your deathbed and go, wow, I was just thinking about the past and kind of planning for the future and I think I missed that entire rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 56:12 Highlight the passage at 56:12

56:32 I need another one. So we can do it all over again. But if we don't learn now, then the next one is just going to be lost in the past and the future too. Because the present moment is the only thing that we have. So we might as well get used to it. So that's one of the purposes for mindfulness meditation. And again, like I said, slowing down that habitual reaction time that we get into. Report an error in the passage at 56:32 Highlight the passage at 56:32

56:57 Because that's going to make us suffer less. Instead of seeing things through this screen, through this filter of our habits and our concepts and our judgments and our preconceptions, we'll actually slow down, start seeing reality the way it really is, which will make us react a lot less in those negative, dysfunctional ways, which is really good news in terms of our current suffering and our future. Report an error in the passage at 56:57 Highlight the passage at 56:57

57:27 Karma. I'm going to say the K word. I know we've only got like half an hour left. We can't get into it. It's just a little, you know, teaser for more Buddhist classes on karma. Because we say that the negative actions that we do, motivated by those disturbing emotions, create the cause for all our future suffering. Report an error in the passage at 57:27 Highlight the passage at 57:27

57:48 It feels really bad in the moment and those disturbing emotions that feel so bad now also are the motivations for negative actions, right, that create the cause for all of our future suffering. So mindfulness helps us slow that whole reaction time down. And then probably the ultimate reason for doing mindfulness meditation is so that we'll develop... Report an error in the passage at 57:48 Highlight the passage at 57:48

58:14 This wisdom that sees the nature of reality the way it really is. Okay, so that's the biggest reason for doing mindfulness meditation is developing wisdom about the nature of reality through just observing reality, specifically the reality of our body, our feelings, our mind and our mental objects. Now, many of you, if you studied in the Tibetan tradition, For a while, we'll be used to certain techniques of seeing the nature of reality, right? Certain analytical meditations that we do in the Tibetan tradition. Report an error in the passage at 58:14 Highlight the passage at 58:14

58:54 This is a different approach. This four foundations of mindfulness says we can get an insight into certain aspects of the nature of reality just by observing, just watching, okay? Our body, our feelings, our mind. Report an error in the passage at 58:54 Highlight the passage at 58:54

59:13 So what are some of these characteristics of the nature of reality that we get insight into? Impermanence, dissatisfaction and selflessness. So let's talk about these a little bit and then we'll do another final meditation. So Lord Buddha said, phenomena are characterized by these three. Characteristics. Can we say characterized by characteristics? Anyway, you know what I'm talking about. Impermanence, which means changing moment by moment by moment. Report an error in the passage at 59:13 Highlight the passage at 59:13

59:51 Now, our body, if we sit there and watch it long enough with our mindfulness techniques, we can watch the impermanence of breathing, can't we? Exhalation, inhalation, every breath different from the previous one, every one new. New oxygen coming in every time, new exhalation, bodily sensations always changing. Report an error in the passage at 59:51 Highlight the passage at 59:51

1:00:20 Because Lord Buddha said, we don't really have an insight into... The impermanence of our experience. Without analyzing and without thinking and without checking, we sort of think that things are permanent. Right? And it's a cause of a huge amount of suffering for us. Just this unquestioned assumption that things are going to be permanent. Because then they change and what happens? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:20 Highlight the passage at 1:00:20

1:00:47 We freak out, don't we? Right? The good stuff changes. We think it should last forever. We freak out and suffer. And Lord Buddha said if we just could get an insight into the fact that everything, our body, our experience, everything else that exists is changing moment by moment by moment, we wouldn't be so surprised when we age. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:47 Highlight the passage at 1:00:47

1:01:14 You know, the genes get stuck in the dryer and shred and our friends die. And the house falls down in the earthquake. Do you guys have earthquakes in Australia? Do you? Not as much as New Zealand and California. Okay. I probably experience more earthquakes than most people in this room. So when things change, if we're used to it... Report an error in the passage at 1:01:14 Highlight the passage at 1:01:14

1:01:42 Lord Buddha wasn't being pessimistic, he just said this is the nature of reality, but we're clueless about it and this causes a huge amount of suffering for us because we have a really different expectation that's completely unexamined because we didn't check. So part of our mindfulness practice is to give us this insight so that we're habituated to the fact of constant change of everything, ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:42 Highlight the passage at 1:01:42

1:02:10 Everything else in our experience, other people, situations, our minds, right? Our mental content. Dissatisfaction arises through not understanding the first one, okay? And we experience this in our meditation too, in our mindfulness meditation, because Lord Buddha said, dissatisfaction is also characteristic of our existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:10 Highlight the passage at 1:02:10

1:02:39 I think everybody in this room has some clue about that. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here trying to find out something about meditation. You'd be home watching whatever's on TV tonight, you know, Wednesday night, whatever it is. Or you'd just be off trying to seek happiness in some other way. But somehow you have an insight. You've experienced that dissatisfaction. Lord Buddha calls it dukkha. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:39 Highlight the passage at 1:02:39

1:03:06 The Sanskrit word dukkha. Sometimes it's translated as suffering. I'm not so crazy about that translation. What it really means, the word dukkha comes from two words. Part of it means constricted or out of kilter. The do part of the word dukkha. The other part of the word refers to space. It also refers to the hole in the middle of a wheel that an axle goes through. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:06 Highlight the passage at 1:03:06

1:03:37 So think of grocery trolley stuck out of kilter wheel. You're just aiming it towards the broccoli and it keeps slamming up against the frozen food section. That's what Lord Buddha is saying about our life. And it's like that, isn't it? We have happiness. We know what it is. It's just right down there. It's in sight. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:37 Highlight the passage at 1:03:37

1:04:04 And what are we doing? We're pushing the out-of-kilter grocery trolley and we just can't seem to get it. And Lord Buddha said, that's characteristic of our experience, isn't it? I mean, I think everybody, you know, the word suffering or dissatisfaction, you go, oh, I don't know, that's kind of heavy. Maybe Lord Buddha was kind of pessimistic. But the out-of-kilter wheel thing, we can get that, can't we? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:04 Highlight the passage at 1:04:04

1:04:29 I mean, isn't that, and don't we always think? I talked to a Buddhist friend of mine years ago, and we said we still think. There's that one thing that isn't quite working out and it's tweakable and we'll fix it and then it'll be smooth sailing. And we're talking, we're like, we're trained Buddhists. We should really have given that idea up a long time ago. It's sort of like, you know, the apartment's really good, the roof doesn't leak, the relationship's going really well, you know, new car hasn't broken down yet, but the job, that boss. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:29 Highlight the passage at 1:04:29

1:05:07 That needs some work. And then you tweak that one and something else is tweaked out of kilter, isn't it? And it's always like that. Like you're always, we're making these mid-course corrections and then something else falls apart. And Lord Buddha said, guess what? It's the nature of our unenlightened existence. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:07 Highlight the passage at 1:05:07

1:05:27 And one of the reasons of doing these meditations is to really notice that and to accept that, right? Selflessness. Long story. We won't get into it. Really long story. Let's see. Lord Buddha said, we don't exist in the way we think we do. We think there's some concrete me somewhere in there. We usually think it's either here or here, because that's where we point, don't we? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:27 Highlight the passage at 1:05:27

1:05:57 Me, you point. And you think that you're somewhere living in your body, the real me. how, oh, okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:57 Highlight the passage at 1:05:57

1:06:04 I used to think when I was a little kid I did this thing that I thought was so profound and it was just a meditation on the root ignorance that is the cause of all of my suffering and I'd say, oh, the real me, I'm in my head looking out my eyeballs like I'm in here and the eyeballs are like these windows. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:04 Highlight the passage at 1:06:04

1:06:27 And we feel that, don't we? And Lord Buddha said, we don't exist like that at all. How we exist is an ever-changing process of body, feelings, mind, mental objects. We're flux, we're flow, we're a process. There is no solid, concrete me in there anywhere, right? All we are is this process. And that... Helps us suffer so much less. Because when we hold on to a concrete idea of me, what are we trying to do? Defend it from any attack. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:27 Highlight the passage at 1:06:27

1:07:07 Boy, better not criticize me. I didn't do that. Not me. Or all of the things that we do, the dance that we do to invoke ego-gratifying feedback. Isn't that most of what we're doing? All day long, warding off the threats. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:07 Highlight the passage at 1:07:07

1:07:28 And invoking, you know, it's like, oh, I'll smile at you so you smile at me and I feel good about myself. And then, ah, okay, wow, I exist. You know, thought it was getting a little sketchy there for a minute. I went to that meditation class Wednesday night. I'm really glad to hear that I'm still there. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:28 Highlight the passage at 1:07:28

1:07:47 And the Buddha said, forget it, we don't exist like that at all. If we could just let go and understand that we exist as a process. And that's really, this last one is really the most fundamental reason for doing this meditation practice, okay? So, like I said, selflessness, long story, you have the little quick... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:47 Highlight the passage at 1:07:47

1:08:10 Taste of selflessness, you know, we don't exist in that solid concrete way that we think we do that invokes almost all of our actions. Really invoked by that wish to ward off threats and gratify the ego. So if we let go of that, then we have all kinds of time to serve others, which is what Lord Buddha also said, where our happiness really comes from. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:10 Highlight the passage at 1:08:10

1:08:36 You know, the other one is endless. And by the way, we're trying to reinforce and gratify something that doesn't exist, never could exist, never will exist. So we might as well just let it go. So that's the main reason for doing these four foundations of mindfulness. Questions about that? Any questions about those three characteristics of phenomena? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:36 Highlight the passage at 1:08:36

1:09:12 Yeah. And like I said, it's kind of a long story. I mean, I have an hour and a half to really try and transmit as much as possible. And it's something that we keep investigating over and over, especially that last one. That takes a lot of investigation, you know, to really understand what the Buddha was saying, actually about all of them, but especially about how we exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:12 Highlight the passage at 1:09:12

1:09:35 It's not that hard to understand intellectually, but it goes so against our habitual way of thinking about ourselves. That's the hard part. So it takes lots of meditation, lots of mindfulness meditation and a lot of study too. Like I say, it's not so complicated kind of theoretically or intellectually or philosophically, but it's just such a radical new idea. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:35 Highlight the passage at 1:09:35

1:10:04 Because Lord Buddha said, not just for this lifetime, but actually since beginningless time, which is a really long time, we've thought that we existed in that other way. So getting used to the other idea of how we do exist is this impermanent flux of body and mind, both changing moment by moment by moment. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:04 Highlight the passage at 1:10:04

1:10:25 And what we call me is just a concept labeled on that. That's all. What we call the me that does exist is just an idea that we've imputed onto this flow. That's all. Not as this thing or this thing. Not like that at all. And that takes a lot of getting used to in meditation, actually. So, if you don't understand... Report an error in the passage at 1:10:25 Highlight the passage at 1:10:25

1:10:54 You're still with me, you know, and it's 820, so that's great. And it's just a process of getting more and more used to that idea, you know. And through this meditation, that's why Lord Buddha taught this, and this is such a fundamental meditation in so many Buddhist lineages, is to directly experience that, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:54 Highlight the passage at 1:10:54

1:11:15 Through directly experiencing the impermanence of body, mind, feeling, mind, mental objects, all of the components of what we call me, it loosens that grasping a lot. Because you can no longer hold to it so solidly when you've been sitting there watching the impermanence of it. It just loosens that tight grasping. So it's a process of habituating to it in meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:15 Highlight the passage at 1:11:15

1:11:46 All right, let's do one more meditation. I wanted to do all four. We'll do one on feelings. And this is an interesting one to watch what kind of feelings and sensations arise. So I'll guide you through this one too. We'll get back in our meditation posture with your back straight, either in a chair or sitting down on the floor. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:46 Highlight the passage at 1:11:46

1:12:28 And in this practice we're going to deliberately look at some of the desires, fears, doubts, attitudes of mind that we have. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:28 Highlight the passage at 1:12:28

1:12:47 We're going to deliberately make them conscious. Just open the mind and allow whatever is there to surface so we can become conscious of it, acknowledge it, understand it and let go of it. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:47 Highlight the passage at 1:12:47

1:13:12 Before we start the main subject of the meditation, we're again going to just return to the breath for a few minutes just to make the mind tranquil again. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:12 Highlight the passage at 1:13:12

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:14:02 Simply going to drop into our mind a particular thought or idea. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:02 Highlight the passage at 1:14:02

1:14:11 So we'll focus on areas of emotional strain or struggle because It's usually in the emotional world that we experience most of our suffering and as a society we tend to be quite unconscious of our emotional world or at least at a loss is how to handle it. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:11 Highlight the passage at 1:14:11

1:14:39 So just introduce a thought or an idea or bring up the face of a particular person, our father or mother, our partner, our child or a particular doubt. To voice to ourselves whatever is the thing that most strongly affects us. As we bring that idea to mind, bring the attention down to the area of the heart. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:39 Highlight the passage at 1:14:39

1:15:15 We're not trying to analyze or even figure out the question conceptually. Just raise the question, bring the attention down to where we feel the emotional response to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15:15

1:15:30 Whatever it is, a relationship with a person, a question in your mind. Some area of emotion. And Report an error in the passage at 1:15:30 Highlight the passage at 1:15:30

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:16:08 then we're able to witness the flow of emotion that occurs around those questions, around those areas of our life that we can't see clearly when we're involved. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:08 Highlight the passage at 1:16:08

1:16:29 So just witness the habitual emotions and reactions that come up. Watch the flow of emotion. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:29 Highlight the passage at 1:16:29

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:17:53 So just feel the flow. Of emotions, of feelings. Just Report an error in the passage at 1:17:53 Highlight the passage at 1:17:53

1:18:09 witness all the feelings that arise around this question, this situation. In Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

· · · silence, 2 minutes

1:20:24 conclusion, we'll dedicate all the positive energy of our session tonight. This is something we do in Buddhist practice. We aim all of the positive energy, the spiritual momentum that we've created. Through our discussion, through our meditation, tonight let's dedicate our energy towards being able to use our mindfulness practice to give us an insight into the nature of reality so Report an error in the passage at 1:20:24 Highlight the passage at 1:20:24

1:21:07 that we'll be able to let go of our concrete grasping to ourselves, to things, to events, Report an error in the passage at 1:21:07 Highlight the passage at 1:21:07

1:21:21 thereby reducing our attachment. Our aversion and our ignorance. Let's Report an error in the passage at 1:21:21 Highlight the passage at 1:21:21

1:21:31 take a minute just to aim all of our positive energy in that direction towards that goal. Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:21:31 Highlight the passage at 1:21:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:22:19 you all for coming tonight and like I said we didn't have much time and this is just a little bit of a taste of mindfulness practice but there are many opportunities to learn more about Buddhist meditation practice both mindfulness and other. And to see what the Buddha said about the nature of reality and study that more in depth as well. So I hope you'll carry on with your practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:19 Highlight the passage at 1:22:19

1:22:47 Great. Thank you very much. Thank Report an error in the passage at 1:22:47 Highlight the passage at 1:22:47

1:22:52 you. And we hope that you will come back very soon. It's been wonderful this evening and as you said, just a little taste. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:52 Highlight the passage at 1:22:52

1:23:05 Tenzin also mentioned that she's visiting prisons. She's also involved with Liberation Prison Project. And I've been a visiting chaplain for some years now. And he's also on the board of Liberation Prison Project and doing a lot of work for us, which is really fabulous. And leading pilgrimage, she led the pilgrimage last year. And then next year she'll lead the pilgrimage, no, no, January 2014, leading pilgrimage to Tibet, I wish. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:05 Highlight the passage at 1:23:05

1:23:39 We wish for that. India and Nepal and maybe a little side trip at Borobudur, which we're trying to look at. So come along. We had such a great time last time. Come along. It would be fantastic. The last one became legendary for several reasons. One, all the pilgrims within about two or three days started calling it the Magical Mystery Tour. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:39 Highlight the passage at 1:23:39

1:24:02 And we had one of the pilgrims got ordained the last day of the pilgrimage. So we decided we raised the bar really high to have an ordination as she became a nun, this woman from Tasmania. So come along next time. Not necessarily to get ordained. But it was really cool. So in the meantime, it's kindly offered to you on Friday morning from 10 to 11 and maybe sit around and chat after. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:02 Highlight the passage at 1:24:02

1:24:32 And we have the Animal Blessing on Monday at 11am. It's public holiday Monday, so bring your pets or just come along anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:32 Highlight the passage at 1:24:32

1:24:42 And what's happening? There's a whole program of what is happening. The regular meditation sessions we have here are Tuesday morning and Friday morning and Wednesday evening. I think some of you are from the Wednesday evening session, so yeah. keep coming and bring your friends along. There are regular ones and then we have other ones that come along as well and retreats as Report an error in the passage at 1:24:42 Highlight the passage at 1:24:42

1:25:07 you want to keep in touch with the program and you're not already in touch with the program, just pop your email address down outside. And tonight is by donation, so we have a donation bowl out there if you wish to make some contributions so we can continue going. Thank you Thank you, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:07 Highlight the passage at 1:25:07