Meditation for Everyone - Methods for starting or reigniting your meditation practice (3 April 2010, 1)

0:01 going to be dancing. Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:15 frustrations together. Report an error in the passage at 0:15 Highlight the passage at 0:15

0:38 Namah shu namah wuk, namah shui. Report an error in the passage at 0:38 Highlight the passage at 0:38

0:49 Chishri, Lama Chishri. So Report an error in the passage at 0:49 Highlight the passage at 0:49

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:39 we'll start today with a meditation. Before we meditate, I just wanted to explain about the posture. That's something we didn't talk about. One of the preliminaries, I don't think the computer or the microphone is on. Report an error in the passage at 1:39 Highlight the passage at 1:39

1:59 Okay, Report an error in the passage at 1:59 Highlight the passage at 1:59

2:09 so before we meditate, let's go over the posture. And it is sometimes said that the posture is about 90 % of a really good medication session. I don't know about 90%, but very high percentage. So it's important to get the posture right. So we'll just spend a little bit getting that right. And we talk about the seven point posture in our tradition. And so one of the points of the posture is the legs. Report an error in the passage at 2:09 Highlight the passage at 2:09

2:41 So sitting in a comfortable cross-legged position if you can on the floor. For people that have a knee problem, I mean it's hard for us. Most of us in our culture didn't show up, didn't grow up sitting cross-legged on the floor. So unless you do a lot of yoga, sometimes it's quite challenging sitting cross-legged on the floor. Doesn't need to be the full lotus posture at all. Report an error in the passage at 2:41 Highlight the passage at 2:41

3:05 I mean that's perfect posture for meditation, really ideal. But for most of us, for me, it's completely out of the question. I don't even try. I have enough injuries as it is to blow out my knee. But if you can, it's great. If you do yoga, full lotus or half lotus posture, or just any comfortable cross-legged position. Report an error in the passage at 3:05 Highlight the passage at 3:05

3:27 What I find really comfortable is putting one leg in front of the other, just instead of crossing at my ankles, I just kind of put, I think there's a yoga pose for me. I suppose it's called or something for those of you that do yoga, you just kind of have one. One of the things that helps a lot if you're a beginner, and after I explain the posture we can take a minute for people to get extra cushions if they need to. Report an error in the passage at 3:27 Highlight the passage at 3:27

3:55 There's a whole pile over there. Sometimes it helps in the beginning to put extra cushions under your knees because this is one of the hardest parts for beginners is getting your legs kind of down, stretching everything out. And sometimes it's helpful to put some extra cushions to elevate your knees a little bit to reduce the strain on your knees. Report an error in the passage at 3:55 Highlight the passage at 3:55

4:17 So that's one kind of tip in the beginning. Nowadays everybody does yoga and it doesn't seem to be as challenging as it used to be for people to sit cross-legged. The reason for the cross-legged position is it gives a very stable base. It's like a tripod, right? Like very, very stable base. As your practice progresses, there's ways that you can get into very, very deep states of meditation that you want your body set up so that you don't have to be thinking about it at all. Report an error in the passage at 4:17 Highlight the passage at 4:17

4:49 If you're always kind of trying to balance and adjust your position and get your balance right, then part of your mind has to go to your body. But if you set up your posture really stable in the beginning, then you can just go into that deep. state of meditation and not have to be thinking about your body at So that's the point of the cross-legged position. If you sit in a chair, that's also okay. It's good to have a stable position. Report an error in the passage at 4:49 Highlight the passage at 4:49

5:16 It's good to kind of spread your knees a little bit and get a really stable base. You know, if you're a woman it's hard because it's unladylike, right? It's a little bit hard to do that stable base, but it's good to somehow, you know, make sure that you're not always having to adjust. And whether you're sitting on the cushion or the chair, really important to keep your back straight. In fact, that's the single most important part of the posture is to have a straight back. Report an error in the passage at 5:16 Highlight the passage at 5:16

5:46 We say imagine that you have like a cord pulling up from the crown of your head, keeping your back really straight. If you're sitting down on cushions or up in the chair, it helps to have a little bit extra just under the small of your back. So if you're sitting on one of these round, fat cushions, kind of slide to the front of it a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 5:46 Highlight the passage at 5:46

6:10 If your pelvis is tilted slightly forward, it helps kind of force your back into that upright position. So just having a little bit, or if you're sitting on more than one cushion, maybe be sitting on one and have the second one just sort of halfway back so that you have a little extra support under the small of your back. Report an error in the passage at 6:10 Highlight the passage at 6:10

6:31 You're sitting right on top of one of these round cushions. Really hard to keep your back straight because you're kind of balancing and your back can be slumped a little bit. So making sure you've got your pelvis tilted forward to force your back straight. Then we have our head tilted slightly forward. Position of the eyes should be aiming down the plane of our nose. Report an error in the passage at 6:31 Highlight the passage at 6:31

6:56 Some of the early text and mistranslation said look at the tip of your nose. Bad translation. What it meant was dancing down the plane of your nose to a point on the floor just in front. In our tradition, we keep our eyes slightly open. This is a little bit hard in the beginning if you're used to meditating with your eyes closed, but we'll get to why this is important. Report an error in the passage at 6:56 Highlight the passage at 6:56

7:27 It's an antidote for something called subtle doneness, and we'll talk about that. A little bit later on today, so it's really important to just train in keeping your eyes just slightly open. And it's hard in the beginning, and I have students beg me to allow them to close their eyes all the way. I had this one student, she's like, please, please, please. I said, nope, you can't just do it. Really hard when you get to that obstacle of subtle wellness, when that starts to creep in maybe years down the line. Report an error in the passage at 7:27 Highlight the passage at 7:27

7:57 To then retrain your posture, right? Because by then you've meditated hundreds and thousands of hours with your eyes completely shut. And then to try and adjust it then really hard. So better to train and keep your eyes slightly open from the very beginning. This very same student, we did a meditation retreat. And after a couple of weeks of meditating, she came to me and she goes, you know, I tried to close my eyes today and I couldn't even do it anymore. Report an error in the passage at 7:57 Highlight the passage at 7:57

8:22 Now it's just so natural to keep them. Slightly open, but in the beginning you're blinking and it seems really hard, but it doesn't take that long to adjust. So eyes slightly open. You're not really looking, right? You're just at this unfocused gaze. You're not really at all attending to what you're looking at. Report an error in the passage at 8:22 Highlight the passage at 8:22

8:43 We say you're perceiving but not apprehending. That's the philosophical word for it. So you're not like looking at the pattern on the rug. Which, by the way, when you're meditating at home, really good to have a blank altar cloth, right? Because if you've got one of those, like, exciting brocades, and then you start making animals out of the brocade, like clouds, you know, and then their whole meditation is like, that one looks a little like a bottomless, this other one looks like a crocodile. Report an error in the passage at 8:43 Highlight the passage at 8:43

9:10 You know, so better to have sort of a blank, you know, altar cloth in front of you, because your eyes are going to be slightly open. Okay? Then your jaw should be relaxed, but your mouth should be shut, and you should be breathing through your nose. Don't breathe through your mouth, unless you have some kind of sinus trouble or some real physical problem, but we should keep our mouth closed, jaw relaxed, but not hanging open, breathing through our nose. Report an error in the passage at 9:10 Highlight the passage at 9:10

9:39 Your shoulders should be even, kind of like a coat hanger, just kind of hanging from your neck like that. We have a posture of our hands with our right hand on top of our left, with our thumbs touching, and it's centered four finger widths below the navel, below the belly button. This is the navel chakra. So we have this triangle and it's centered right here at the navel chakra. And the reason for that is it focuses the energy of the body, right? Report an error in the passage at 9:39 Highlight the passage at 9:39

10:12 When we're meditating we want the energy to be focused and not sort of... So this helps us to focus the energy of the body if we have our hands in this position. Right hand over the left with your thumbs touching, just making a little triangle like that. Report an error in the passage at 10:12 Highlight the passage at 10:12

10:31 Your elbows out a little bit so that there's some air circulating. Our tongue should be on the roof of our mouth right behind our teeth, just pressing up on the upper palate right behind the teeth. It keeps you from having to swallow constantly. The saliva just kind of goes down and you don't have to swallow. Or drooling, the other alternative, which is also distracting. Report an error in the passage at 10:31 Highlight the passage at 10:31

10:57 That's the position of the body. And now what I'd like to do is just take a minute and if anybody wants to grab some extra cushions for under the knees, you can get a little pile near you if you want. And don't be shy, there's a whole bunch up there. Maybe Katia and Marcella, do you want to just grab a bunch and maybe put it in the middle and people can grab what they want because they're shy. Report an error in the passage at 10:57 Highlight the passage at 10:57

11:23 And you can take some if you feel like you need to maybe use some later, if that's also okay. We've got enough room that we can have some extra cushions because it's really nice. If you need a little bit more support for your back too, you can sit on more than one cushion, but just make sure that you have a little bit more elevation right in the back. Report an error in the passage at 11:23 Highlight the passage at 11:23

12:14 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 12:14 Highlight the passage at 12:14

12:21 This morning we're going to do an analytical meditation. We talked a little bit about this last night, the different types of meditation. And during an analytical meditation we're actually using... We are using conceptual thought, we are using logic to try to arrive at some deeper... Thank you. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 12:21 Highlight the passage at 12:21

12:41 know, some topic of Buddhist philosophy. about it a little bit last night. We're going to meditate on impermanence this morning. So trying to get an understanding of the fact that things are changing moment by moment by moment. Things aren't as static and stable as... We think that they are, okay? They're actually changing moment by moment. And the reason for doing this is to counteract that habitual way of thinking, that things are stable and permanent, and then if they change, it's a problem for us. Report an error in the passage at 12:41 Highlight the passage at 12:41

13:15 It creates suffering for us. And if we get a deep realization of this, that only really happens through continual meditation. I can explain impermanence and everybody goes, oh yeah, sure, that makes sense. Right, things are changing from moment by moment. And then something major happens in your life. Your relationship breaks up and you freak out. Well, we're supposed to live happily ever after. Every fairy tale that we're told as children counteracts the Buddhist reality of impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 13:15 Highlight the passage at 13:15

13:44 So we have this conflicting evidence going on here. So to deepen that realization is the point for meditation. So the way we do analytical meditation, we think through, I'll guide you through, What to think about, logically using analysis, and then when you get to a realization, when you feel like you get it, right at that heartfelt level, that something goes below the net, then at that point switch to single-pointed concentration. Report an error in the passage at 13:44 Highlight the passage at 13:44

14:16 We alternate between analysis and fixation. So when you feel like you get that insight arising, it's like at the level of the heart or even at the guts, you know, something deeper in the body that's kind of heartfelt. You know, sometimes you'll actually go in the middle of your meditation. I did that once, my first really good death awareness meditation. I remember halfway through, I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm going to die sometime, yeah, right. Report an error in the passage at 14:16 Highlight the passage at 14:16

14:41 And then I got it. I had no idea how long I was going to live. I could die any minute. And I'm sitting in the middle of a big group of people, about 50 people, and I go, ooh! Report an error in the passage at 14:41 Highlight the passage at 14:41

14:54 Ding! The meditation teacher's like, ah. Report an error in the passage at 14:54 Highlight the passage at 14:54

15:01 So it's like that. Then hold it. Then focus on it for as long as possible to deepen that insight. And then when you start to lose it, Start to get distracted, go back to the analysis in the evening. So that's the way we do the analytical meditation. We'll also go through our preliminaries quite in a lot of detail. Report an error in the passage at 15:01 Highlight the passage at 15:01

15:24 We explained those last night. There's some new people here today. So these preliminaries we'll go through in a lot of detail. And you can either follow along in your book. Does anybody need those? We've got a couple left over. Anybody needs one of the books? Report an error in the passage at 15:24 Highlight the passage at 15:24

15:41 You can either follow along or I'll guide you through it if you'd like to just listen and attend to the guided meditation. Now we're going to do it more slowly than you probably do in your morning practice, but I just wanted to get you familiar and really meditating deeply on the preliminary. Okay? So first we'll get in our meditation posture. So sitting with your back straight. Report an error in the passage at 15:41 Highlight the passage at 15:41

16:09 Your head tilted slightly forward, your tongue on the roof of your mouth, right behind your teeth, your hands in this position. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:20 Generally, if your hands are in the right position, they're not resting on your thighs, right? You don't have your wrists resting on your thighs. They're sort of elevated. This takes a little bit of getting used to it, too. Report an error in the passage at 16:20 Highlight the passage at 16:20

16:35 In the beginning, you want to roll up a shawl or do something to support your hands in the right position. That's also okay if you feel on your lap. Report an error in the passage at 16:35 Highlight the passage at 16:35

16:44 Then your eyes slightly open, shoulders relax, elbows out a little bit. And then let's just take a minute or two. We always focus on the breath at the beginning of the meditation just to get our mind in neutral. Subdue slightly. So just focus on the sensation of the breath, either of the nostrils, or the chest rising and falling, Report an error in the passage at 16:44 Highlight the passage at 16:44

· · · silence, 2 minutes

18:57 to have some understanding of the suffering nature of our unenlightened existence, pervasive, except quite giving Report an error in the passage at 18:57 Highlight the passage at 18:57

19:11 some insight into the nature of reality, a way that Report an error in the passage at 19:11 Highlight the passage at 19:11

19:26 you have an understanding of bodhicitta, this wish, unenlightenment, this Report an error in the passage at 19:26 Highlight the passage at 19:26

19:39 is with that goal in mind, to evolve spiritually, develop all the qualities, Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 19:39 Highlight the passage at 19:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

20:32 Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

20:46 Thank you. about two meters in front of you. Visualize this large golden throne. Report an error in the passage at 20:46 Highlight the passage at 20:46

20:37 supported at each corner by a pair of snow lines. Report an error in the passage at 20:37 Highlight the passage at 20:37

20:44 of the throne is a lotus. Report an error in the passage at 20:44 Highlight the passage at 20:44

20:50 is my life. Report an error in the passage at 20:50 Highlight the passage at 20:50

20:57 of the room, just be seated. Shakyamuni Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 20:57 Highlight the passage at 20:57

21:07 His body is made of golden light, Report an error in the passage at 21:07 Highlight the passage at 21:07

21:12 the green robes of Lama. His Report an error in the passage at 21:12 Highlight the passage at 21:12

21:17 eyes are long, narrow, and fine. The drips are red. His hair is blue-black and he has a crown pinnacle on the top of his head. Report an error in the passage at 21:17 Highlight the passage at 21:17

21:32 He's seated cross-legged with his right hand dressing on his right knee with the fingertips touching the moon cushion. His left hand on his lap, a gesture of fermentation, holding a bowl filled with nectar. Report an error in the passage at 21:32 Highlight the passage at 21:32

21:51 The light rays are emanating from His body in all directions. There are numberless manifestations of Shakyamuni Buddha to benefit all living beings. Report an error in the passage at 21:51 Highlight the passage at 21:51

22:05 And again, I think that this is a real living presence, not just lifeless like a statue or flat like a painting, but the real presence of this enlightened being, symbolizing all those enlightened qualities. if you have a teacher. Report an error in the passage at 22:05 Highlight the passage at 22:05

22:26 For example, something like Hama Zappa Rinpoche, Chodhana Rinpoche, Soliness the Dalai Lama that you feel embodies these qualities. You can think of your own teacher, your own teacher's energy and the aspect of the Buddha to make it a little bit more real for you, more inspiring. And Report an error in the passage at 22:26 Highlight the passage at 22:26

22:57 because we're practicing not just for our own sake but for the sake of all living beings, we visualize we're surrounded with all beings. Our mother on our left, our father on our right, the rest of our friends and family are behind us, people we don't know law very well, seated in front, people we might call enemy or if enemy seems too strong of a word, people we find annoying, irritating, Report an error in the passage at 22:57 Highlight the passage at 22:57

23:31 and then all living beings in human form spreading up to their horizons. Report an error in the passage at 23:31 Highlight the passage at 23:31

23:38 Generate a sense of responsibility for all of these beings. We're leading them in meditation, leading them to practice, leading them to enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 23:38 Highlight the passage at 23:38

23:52 We're like the meditation leader, all of us seated together. Report an error in the passage at 23:52 Highlight the passage at 23:52

24:03 First we'll go for refuge. Generate, there'll be two ten, again, refuge beings. Going for safe direction in the dangerous situation of sacred existence to... Report an error in the passage at 24:03 Highlight the passage at 24:03

24:20 Enlightenment, liberation, by following the path of the Buddha, path of the Buddha talk, and not just doing it for our own sake, but in order to lead all beings to freedom. Report an error in the passage at 24:20 Highlight the passage at 24:20

24:38 I go for refuge and tell I'm enlightened, to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sacred beings. I go for refuge and tell I'm enlightened, To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 24:38 Highlight the passage at 24:38

25:06 I go for refuge until I enlighten you. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I meditate Report an error in the passage at 25:06 Highlight the passage at 25:06

25:24 on the four unmeasurables, pausing after each law, try to generate the power. We feel it our minds, in our hearts. Report an error in the passage at 25:24 Highlight the passage at 25:24

25:39 May all Report an error in the passage at 25:39 Highlight the passage at 25:39

25:49 sentent beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May Report an error in the passage at 25:49 Highlight the passage at 25:49

26:02 all sentent beings never be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering. May Report an error in the passage at 26:02 Highlight the passage at 26:02

26:21 all sentent beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment for friends and hatred for enemies. Report an error in the passage at 26:21 Highlight the passage at 26:21

26:42 purify our obscurations. When we accumulate merit, we'll meditate on the seven limbs. First is the limb of prostration. So generate a feeling of respect and reverence in your mind, that enlightened being that you visualized and found, thinking of their qualities. How amazing to have such compassion, such kindness, such wisdom. And generate in your mind the respect, admiration. Report an error in the passage at 26:42 Highlight the passage at 26:42

27:20 For those qualities, reverently I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. Report an error in the passage at 27:20 Highlight the passage at 27:20

27:40 Offering, imagining, a whole space filled with amazing offerings, both things that you can offer, physical things that you own, things that you possess, and also any kind of imagined offerings. These can be as extensive as possible, anything beautiful you can imagine, so imagine the whole space. just completely filled with the most beautiful the best that you can imagine. Report an error in the passage at 27:40 Highlight the passage at 27:40

28:11 would I have any kind of mind that lies in your name? I present clouds Report an error in the passage at 28:11 Highlight the passage at 28:11

28:25 of every type of offering, actual and imagined. And Report an error in the passage at 28:25 Highlight the passage at 28:25

28:38 the first step of purification is acknowledging our thoughts. Just acknowledging. Yes. There are negative actions that we've done that if not purified will lead to suffering, results for us in the future. So not out of mind guilt, but just honest regret, understanding the consequences of our negative actions to generate a wish to purify. Report an error in the passage at 28:38 Highlight the passage at 28:38

29:07 So thinking of things that might be habitual or there may be some negativity that you've done in the past that's quite fitting that you're hoping to purify. It may be something you did recently, in the last day or two that you have left. Report an error in the passage at 29:07 Highlight the passage at 29:07

29:27 Fire on my negative actions. In the United States, beginning this time, Report an error in the passage at 29:27 Highlight the passage at 29:27

29:46 rejoicing, being happy about virtue. So all the virtues of our spiritual teachers, their amazing activities to benefit them, all the virtues of our spiritual friends, our companions, on the path, and our own virtues also. Don't leave them out. And take a minute just to think, generate a sense of happiness in all of these virtues, actions, done by oneself, our friends, our teachers, Report an error in the passage at 29:46 Highlight the passage at 29:46

30:38 to rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. And Report an error in the passage at 30:38 Highlight the passage at 30:38

31:00 to create a cause for our teachers to stay with us life after life, to keep teaching us, we have to request. Report an error in the passage at 31:00 Highlight the passage at 31:00

31:11 Please remain until the end of sacred existence and turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:33 I take my own merits and those of all others to the great environment. Report an error in the passage at 31:33 Highlight the passage at 31:33

31:40 I will offer the Mandala, whose visualized representation of the whole universe, transformed into the Buddha paradise, this ground anointed with the field, stern of flowers, adorned with the Eru, four continents, the sun and the moon. Imagine this as a Buddha field and altar, and all living beings enjoy this pure love. I offer this jewel of mandala to you, my precious food. Report an error in the passage at 31:40 Highlight the passage at 31:40

32:16 Now our mind is prepared, our mind is ready for the main meditation. It's not that field, it's been prepared for the seeds to be sown. The Report an error in the passage at 32:16 Highlight the passage at 32:16

32:38 subject of our meditation is impermanence. The Buddha said that all produced things are impermanent, that is, changing moment by moment. Report an error in the passage at 32:38 Highlight the passage at 32:38

32:47 Produced things doesn't mean just things produced in a factory like cars and shoes and clothes, but it means anything that arises from causes and conditions, plants, trees, animals, ourselves, the planets, the universe, Report an error in the passage at 32:47 Highlight the passage at 32:47

33:12 all these things don't remain the same from one moment to the next, but are constantly changing. This isn't just a philosophical theory, it's the actual nature of reality. Report an error in the passage at 33:12 Highlight the passage at 33:12

33:24 We're not being aware of this, we're accepting this, we become attached to people and things, wishing to become to remain the same and last forever, we become deeply disappointed when we don't. So making ourselves familiar with our impermanence enables us to be more realistic and frees us in a great deal of unnecessary suffering. Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:52 Let's begin the meditation by observing, through breathing. Report an error in the passage at 33:52 Highlight the passage at 33:52

33:58 Again, going back to the sensations of the breath, and slowly become aware of the incriminates of your breathing. Each breath is different from the one that came before it, different from the one that comes after it. Breathing in different air with each breath, your body is changing with each breath, sensations around the nose, the nostrils, the lungs expanding and contracting, the abdomen rising and falling. Report an error in the passage at 33:58 Highlight the passage at 33:58

34:36 In each moment, with each breath, there's change, flux and flow. So spend a few minutes getting in touch with this impermanence, the process of breathing. Report an error in the passage at 34:36 Highlight the passage at 34:36

· · · silence, 27 minutes

1:01:51 How to set up a daily practice and how to work on both of these. So we kind of develop both our ability to concentrate and keep doing analytical meditations. It's not like you just do single-pointed concentration style meditations and develop the ability to concentrate perfectly. And then suddenly start doing analytical meditation. We have to try with even the concentration that we have that's quite weak and we get distracted and then we keep going back and get distracted. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:51 Highlight the passage at 1:01:51

1:02:23 But we just use whatever level of concentration. And then you know this as, and we'll talk about some of the antidotes for that distraction. That's the first obstacle that we'll talk about. There's specific things that we can do to counteract that distraction, which especially for new people is usually the first thing that they... Report an error in the passage at 1:02:23 Highlight the passage at 1:02:23

1:02:41 complain about just like you pain and distraction and those are the two big obstacles that we'll talk about first because I'll both of those things pull our mind away this subject Report an error in the passage at 1:02:41 Highlight the passage at 1:02:41

1:03:04 so Marcella was just saying that she is trying to meditate on the subject and we get an insight into the So we'll talk about those questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:04 Highlight the passage at 1:03:04

1:03:38 Sleepiness, that is always the challenge. And those are, we'll talk about distraction, like agitation distraction, we'll talk about sleepiness, we'll talk about bodily pain, and we'll talk about just not feeling like sitting down on a meditation cushion in the first place. These are like the main obstacles and they all have really specific... Report an error in the passage at 1:03:38 Highlight the passage at 1:03:38

1:04:03 They must have happened at the time of Lord Buddha too. I didn't know that much has changed in terms of human nature in 2600. So they're very specific for both the distraction side and the sleeping side. So talking about those obstacles and the antidotes is mostly what we're going to do for the rest of the week. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:03 Highlight the passage at 1:04:03

1:04:30 Yeah, Lynn. Yeah, I try. I'm a chair, I have all kinds of work, etc. But I do try to sit. And I laugh at times. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:30 Highlight the passage at 1:04:30

1:04:45 But it distracted me. I knew it was going to get worse. And I also, I Report an error in the passage at 1:04:45 Highlight the passage at 1:04:45

1:04:55 know I'm tired. Right. But that does happen. Yeah, yeah. And one thing is, we just don't get enough sleep. Oh no, I didn't have enough sleep. Ever. Like, nobody gets enough sleep. We amp ourselves up with caffeine and sugar. And that was my thing until my Tibetan doctor was like, no sugar, no caffeine. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:55 Highlight the passage at 1:04:55

1:05:17 And then all of a sudden I'm sleeping ten hours a night. it's morning and Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:17 Highlight the passage at 1:05:17

1:05:19 Because, you know, for years, I mean, we just don't get enough sleep. There's an interesting story. These friends of mine went to see this meditator up in the hills above Dharamsala, this famous meditator. Again, Lamritha was his name. He was one of my teachers. They went to see him, and two of them were going to be entering this long meditation retreat. So they're asking him questions about how to meditate and what do we do about this and that. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:19 Highlight the passage at 1:05:19

1:05:43 And the other thing, they noticed he served them this drink when they came. You know, you always go into Tibetan Sanskrit. The first thing you get is tea. Have you had tea? No? Okay, tea. And he's serving this thing that he called white tea. And it was just hot water with a little bit of milk in it and I think a little bit of sugar. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:43 Highlight the passage at 1:05:43

1:06:02 So they're drinking this weird thing. And then they start asking him about how do we stay awake during our session and how do we wake up? You know, you're supposed to wake up when you're doing a treat at 3, 3, 4 o 'clock in the morning. How do we wake up and what about tea? And he goes... Just get enough rest. He's like, don't, you know, don't drink tea to stay awake. Just get enough rest. And we just don't. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:02 Highlight the passage at 1:06:02

1:06:27 So often, the minute our mind starts to get subdued, and we don't have that, I mean, we're so addicted to sensory stimulus. And that sort of keeps us at this, like, you know, and the minute we shut down and get quiet, you know, we just pass out. Because we kept ourselves going on caffeine and stimulation. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:27 Highlight the passage at 1:06:27

1:06:47 For our entire adult life, well as little kids, now little kids at 8 years old have cell phones, you know, and iPods with like, you know, thousands of your favorite tunes. And it's like the minute our mind starts to get quiet, we just kind of pass out. I found for myself, now whenever I do a meditation retreat, I have to just sleep for the first two days. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:47 Highlight the passage at 1:06:47

1:07:09 And then I can start to manicate, you know. And often people will find that when they come to even a weekend. Of course, we have a Vajrapani or weekend retreat. They say the whole first day they're just falling asleep all the time. And then they get a really good night's sleep. And then maybe the second day. And I always tell people, come a day or two early and just sleep. And then you can actually meditate after that. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:09 Highlight the passage at 1:07:09

1:07:32 But it's so common for us. I think the minute our mind is just a little bit quietened and not just so amped with stimulus. We just conk out because we've just kept ourselves so stimulated. So it's really great. I mean, we don't have time to do that, but it's really great. Even if you're going to do a weekend retreat somewhere, go a day or two early and just rest like crazy. Take as many naps as you need to. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:32 Highlight the passage at 1:07:32

1:08:01 I finally had to allow myself to do this. I was sort of validated by one of my best friends who said, oh yeah. I totally do that. I just schedule that I'm going to be sleeping for two days. Then I can start my four sessions a day and start getting up at 4.30 in the morning. And you can, but you just need to rest. So we just don't get enough rest. So that's part of the problem. But we'll also talk about antidotes. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:01 Highlight the passage at 1:08:01

1:08:25 But I think the first thing is, you know, especially if we're going to do some kind of meditation practice, really look at your schedule and try and just wind down a little bit and get enough rest before you start. Otherwise you waste this precious time down at Vajrapani Institute or something, falling asleep on your cushion for a day or two, and then the last day you're finally like, oh, I'm really into it, and we're leaving. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:25 Highlight the passage at 1:08:25

1:08:51 So many people have that experience. think? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:51 Highlight the passage at 1:08:51

1:08:56 Yes, Jordan. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:56 Highlight the passage at 1:08:56

1:09:01 We start with the visualization process and then we go to the refuge and bodhicitta like imagining a mom on the left and a father on the right. Do we move on away from the visualization process already? Yeah. Or do... much. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01 Highlight the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:21 Are we, in a sense, supposed to get to a point where we can still imagine Buddha in front of you and doing the other stuff around you as we go along the process? I think we get, yeah, great question, really good question. The Buddha then, after we've set up the initial visualization, unless we're actually using the visualization of the Buddha as our object of single-pointed concentration. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:21 Highlight the passage at 1:09:21

1:09:47 We a little bit let go of it. It's peripheral then, right? It's not the main object. And then we're focusing more on kind of setting up this visualization of the people around us. And then we go on to refuge. But it's sort of like peripherally you're still supposed to have the awareness that the Buddha is still there. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:47 Highlight the passage at 1:09:47

1:10:06 Like you have this holy being meditating with you. How cool is that, right? But you're not really focusing on the visualization of the Buddha. We're setting that up to sort of set the tone and set the atmosphere of our whole practice. Then we go into the main focus being whatever our meditation subject is. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:06 Highlight the passage at 1:10:06

1:10:26 But kind of just like when you're focusing on something in this room, we're aware very peripherally that we're not alone in the room and that there's all these people around. It's kind of the same thing. But we're not constantly checking, oh right, the Buddha's there and let me make him again and let me make mom over here and dad over here and everything else. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:26 Highlight the passage at 1:10:26

1:10:49 We're not constantly distracted by rebuilding that clear visualization. We set it up once to sort of set the tone. Yeah, good question. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:49 Highlight the passage at 1:10:49

1:11:00 We're going to take a break in a second. I did want to talk just a little bit about physical discomfort first, then we'll have our break and start talking about distraction and the antidotes to distraction. So what do we do about physical discomfort? One thing, as I mentioned, is just getting used to this posture, right? And it takes a while because we're not used to it. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:00 Highlight the passage at 1:11:00

1:11:21 We're not used to it. We didn't grow up, most of us in our culture, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Like in India, it's no big deal at all because that's the way everybody does everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:21 Highlight the passage at 1:11:21

1:11:34 Chairs and things don't exist. But for us, it's quite different. So I think setting up our cushions and really making sure that you get enough support. In the beginning, I was sitting on four cushions and I had three under each knee and I was toppling on this whole pyramid of cushions. But I was so determined that I was going to sit. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:34 Highlight the passage at 1:11:34

1:11:30 You don't have to take it off. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:30 Highlight the passage at 1:11:30

1:11:54 On the floor, darn it, you know. And so I did. And then slowly, slowly, you start to be able to take the cushions away. And then, you know, you just get used to it. But it takes a long time to get used to this pressure. Now I can sit for a couple of hours without having to shift around. But that took years. And I always have to have my, I have a knee injury. So I always have my left knee elevated a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:54 Highlight the passage at 1:11:54

1:12:20 So if you've got something like that going on, that's fine. Just adjust for your posture. If you have things like arthritis and you can't sit cross-legged... I have a friend who's a nun who has bad arthritis and she got ordained I think at the age of 61 or something. She said she hesitated to get ordained as a nun for years and years because she couldn't sit cross-legged on the floor. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:20 Highlight the passage at 1:12:20

1:12:43 Like that felt like a real requisite for being a nun that you have to be able to sit. And I was like, forget it. You've got arthritis in a chair. What's the big deal? She's always so embarrassed because she's like a nun in a chair. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:43 Highlight the passage at 1:12:43

1:12:58 So you just deal with whatever is going on with your body. So that's one thing. And then at another level, often bodily pain can be our way of our mind trying to distract us from our meditation. It's not really that it hurts, right? It's just this restlessness, mental restlessness that manifests as this physical restlessness. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:58 Highlight the passage at 1:12:58

1:13:22 And I notice that. My body doesn't really need to move for a couple of hours at this point. Sometimes I'm like ants in my pants or ants in my robes or whatever it is. I'm just so shifty and restless and I notice it's usually when my mind is resisting something that's happening in my meditation, I'm like looking at something I don't want to look at, or I'm really exhausted, like when I'm really, really tired, like after some of those all-nighters with Lama Tsongkhapa, I can't sit still. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:22 Highlight the passage at 1:13:22

1:13:52 And it's not really my body, it's my mind. So that's an interesting thing to check. Are you being all shifty and restless because your mind is resisting something? You know, something, something. Often that's what it is. Okay, your mind is resisting. One thing that helps, and I think we'll try this in our next session, is relaxing our body before we sit down. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:52 Highlight the passage at 1:13:52

1:14:17 And you can do a body sweep where you actually go through and just constantly, starting at the crown of your head, Pay attention to each part of your body. It just takes four or five minutes to make sure that you're not holding anything. You know, sometimes we're like Richard Nixon with our, like, shoulders up. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:17 Highlight the passage at 1:14:17

1:14:36 Just to make sure that you're not holding any tension somewhere in your body. So it's nice before we focus on the breathing as another sort of preliminary. To just go through and go, oh wow, I'm clenching my jaw, right? I'm doing the Richard Nixon thing with my shoulders. I'm doing, you know, holding tension in the small of my back, you know, clutching somehow. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:36 Highlight the passage at 1:14:36

1:15:00 And just to kind of sweep through the body, relaxing. Sometimes when we feel pain, it's always the knees, right? It's usually always the knees. Sometimes it's interesting if you just... If you shift your attention from your object of concentration, whatever that may be, to the pain and focus on that for a minute, often it dissolves. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:00 Highlight the passage at 1:15:00

1:15:26 Right? You're struggling against it. It's just a sensation in your knee. And you're struggling against it and you're labeling it pain and you're thinking you have to get up and move. If you just shift and focus on it... And really focus on the sensation there in your body. And try to use that as the object for a minute. Often it just dissolves. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:26 Highlight the passage at 1:15:26

1:15:49 Or it transforms. It's no longer pain. It's just some tingling sensation or some sensation. And then you're able to return to the object. And you don't really have to move or shift your position. So sometimes just use it and change the label. You know, it's very interesting. And I've told this story. Some of you have heard this. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:49 Highlight the passage at 1:15:49

1:16:10 I thought, eons ago, I was studying for a master's degree, actually I was studying for a PhD in biochemistry, never made it to the PhD level, but changed my life. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:10 Highlight the passage at 1:16:10

1:16:22 At one point I was taking this course in neuropsychopharmacology. Don't remember a thing, except one fact. And the teacher was talking about the way that morphine works in the brain. It was all about, you know, the brain and the... And he was saying, morphine doesn't work... On the pain receptors of the brain, but it works in the part of the brain that experiences fear and anxiety. And he said, pain equals sensation plus panic, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:22 Highlight the passage at 1:16:22

1:16:52 If you take away the fear and the resistance and the anxiety... And you're still feeling this sensation, but you're like, hey, what the heck? Whatever, you know. And I think that's true for our meditation. Like our resistance is what makes it pain. It's just a sensation, but our fear around it, our anxiety, our resistance. And this is true for mental stuff, too. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:52 Highlight the passage at 1:16:52

1:17:18 And this is really interesting. We make a whole big story out of our stuff. And label it a big problem and pain and suffering and it's just what it is. And then we're adding this whole level of fear and anxiety and resistance. That makes the suffering the suffering. And it's true for physical suffering and mental suffering. You know, I think that teacher, because I don't remember honestly one other thing about my entire graduate school career except that. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:18 Highlight the passage at 1:17:18

1:17:47 But it's been so useful for my meditation practice that the morphine analogy, you know, you're free to use the morphine analogy. Sometimes that's the way it is with physical pain. We're just kind of freaking out. Oh, my body isn't feeling completely relaxed and at ease. Well, what do you expect from saṃsāra in the first place, right? So just kind of go to it and label it sensation and strip away the panic about it and then it just becomes sensation and no longer pain and suffering. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:47 Highlight the passage at 1:17:47

1:18:18 And it's true for the mental stuff too. So these are some tricks that we can use. If it really hurts and you feel like you're pulling a ligament or something. For God's sakes, move. It's okay. I'm not telling you not to move. But I'm saying check these other levels and see what might be the resistance manifesting as the restlessness, what might be just something that is the sensation that you're labeling pain. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:18 Highlight the passage at 1:18:18

1:18:45 Make sure you relax your body before you meditate. Spend a couple of minutes and we'll do that for the next meditation that we do this afternoon. And then these are some ways to just look it in the body. All right, so let's take a break. Let's take a 15-minute tea break. And I've got 25 after 11, so let's come at 20 to 12, and then we'll start talking about distraction and sleepiness and antidotes to those two dogs. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:45 Highlight the passage at 1:18:45

1:19:30 ask every question. going to walk her side. Okay. We'll try again. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:30 Highlight the passage at 1:19:30

· · · silence, 13 minutes

1:33:02 Believe me, it wasn't my idea. Thank you. Very nice. But Report an error in the passage at 1:33:02 Highlight the passage at 1:33:02

1:33:16 I Report an error in the passage at 1:33:16 Highlight the passage at 1:33:16

1:33:23 noticed a bit Report an error in the passage at 1:33:23 Highlight the passage at 1:33:23

1:33:40 about the obstacle of distraction, sometimes called agitation. And this is the mind jumping around to different objects. Sound familiar? Anybody have it? So the inability of the mind to stay focused on the object. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:40 Highlight the passage at 1:33:40

1:34:05 A couple of different ways that this manifests. So one way that this manifests is distraction towards an object, a pleasurable sense object. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:05 Highlight the passage at 1:34:05

1:34:19 This actually has a specific word in Buddhism. We call that excitement. It's a specific kind of sub-category of distraction. Excitement being distraction towards a pleasurable sense object. So this involves the fantasy about the vacation in Hawaii, right? Thinking about the weekend and how much fun you're going to have and you're going to go out with your friends. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:19 Highlight the passage at 1:34:19

1:34:48 So our mind is often pulled towards, you know, some sort of fantasy or visualization or just thinking about pleasant sense objects. You're thinking, oh, when is the Easter candy going to make it to me? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:48 Highlight the passage at 1:34:48

1:35:05 Anna took the thing, and which one did she take, and did she take the one I wanted? So it's this distracted towards pleasurable sense objects. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:05 Highlight the passage at 1:35:05

1:35:20 All that planning that we do as we're sitting on the meditation cushion, so that's a big one for us, is distraction towards pleasurable sense objects. Whether they're past, present, or future, doesn't matter. Pleasurable sense objects. Then we have another flavor of distraction that is much less frequent, but completely destroys your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:20 Highlight the passage at 1:35:20

1:35:47 And that some resentment, anger, aversion, that guy at work said that thing, how dare he, totally destroys your meditation. You can pull yourself back from the vacation in Hawaii a lot easier than you can pull yourself back from that jerk. Said such and such and how dare he. And going over that, ruminating about your aversion towards somebody and something that happened. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:47 Highlight the passage at 1:35:47

1:36:19 Terrible obstacle, but much less frequent than the attachment distraction, which is much more frequent. In fact, in the Theravāda tradition, they say that the root of saṃsāra is attachment. And they're mostly right, because for most people you have about a thousand of the I want the good stuff thoughts to everyone, get me away from that jerk thoughts. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:19 Highlight the passage at 1:36:19

1:36:45 So much more often our minds are constantly being pulled towards pleasurable sense objects. That's our default baseline mode all the time. Is it good? Is it going to please me? Is it beautiful? Is it going to make me happy? Our minds are constantly grasping on. And it doesn't stop when we sit down on a meditation cushion, right? So that's often the nature of our distraction. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:45 Highlight the passage at 1:36:45

1:37:14 Now, there's another interesting one. Distraction towards another virtuous object. So you're, for example, two batches in the room, the spiritual program coordinator at Tsechen Lung Center. You're sitting down to do your daily practice. Where is she? And you're thinking about all that you need to do to plan for Chodron Rinpoche's visit to Satin Raina, right? And so you're sitting there and you're supposed to be meditating on impermanence and you're thinking, oh right, I've got to call so-and-so and get them to bring the flowers and then I have to get this other one. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:14 Highlight the passage at 1:37:14

1:37:48 And then you get up from your cushion half an hour later. You feel like it's okay because you were thinking about something virtuous? This is really dangerous. Right? Because there's part of us that feels like, oh, it's kind of okay, because I was like fantasizing about, you know, Chodron Rinpoche's visit. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:48 Highlight the passage at 1:37:48

1:38:07 It's not okay. Sorry. It's great to be thinking about virtue, but not when you're on the meditation cushion, you're supposed to be watching your breath or thinking about impermanence or whatever it is. So even distraction towards another virtuous object is still considered distraction. These are some of the main ways of this kind of distraction. That has happened to me a lot, where I will have Chokkyi or Lama would suddenly be in my meditation and then when I'm still, that would be active. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:07 Highlight the passage at 1:38:07

1:38:46 It would get me into, you know, like a story. Absolutely. And in terms of that meditation session, just another distraction, just like any other distraction, and the antidotes are just the same, and we don't somehow allow it, because that's part of what the problem is. We somehow allow it, because, oh, it's biblical Mon Lama, he's such a holy being that it's okay that he's there, in my head, now, during my meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:46 Highlight the passage at 1:38:46

1:39:16 Sorry, Mon Lama, take a break, come back half an hour later. So it's, yeah, so it's not okay. Yeah, honestly. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:16 Highlight the passage at 1:39:16

1:39:27 Well, is there any point where you might be able to use a distraction to an advantage? In other words, when we were thinking, oh, we were meditating on impermanence. Right. And, of course, you know, you have all those fire trucks going by, but the sound comes up and then it goes away. So, you know, that was an example of impermanence. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:27 Highlight the passage at 1:39:27

1:39:50 Yeah, sure. Yeah, now that's alright. That's alright. If you analyze, you know, in a lot of the way that these meditations become effective is by making them as personal as possible. So let's say a memory comes up when you're doing your impermanence meditation or a sound like a fire truck. If you immediately weave that in and use that as the example of impermanence, then that's fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:50 Highlight the passage at 1:39:50

1:40:15 That's fine. But I'm talking about just getting carried away with the story. Oh, there's a fire truck. Where's there a fire? I hope it's not near where my car is parked. Oh, God. You know? And then you go into a whole story about it. But if you immediately just go, look at that. The sound comes, it goes, it fades away. You know, if you do something like that, then it's fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:15 Highlight the passage at 1:40:15

1:40:37 Because often for the Lamrim meditations, we do take personal examples from our life and analyze and break it down. And that's fine. That's fine. So that's not considered a decision. If you immediately turn it into the meditation the minute that sits, data comes in. It's just the distraction that gets you carried away into some story that has nothing to do with the topic of the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37 Highlight the passage at 1:40:37

1:41:09 I've been doing... Hold on. I'm on phone. Well, we get in big trouble. I've been doing the analytic meditations from that, it's been two and a half years. But there, it is a back and forth, you know, you do a breathing meditation and you do an analytic meditation. And so I'm very interested in what you're saying. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:09 Highlight the passage at 1:41:09

1:41:39 And I've been puzzled how you can really do an analytic meditation without breathing it. So if you could instruct us a little bit more about, because if you're thinking about a single topic, that would kind of work out. Sort of like more instruction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it is good in the beginning to get familiar with the points of the analytical meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:39 Highlight the passage at 1:41:39

1:42:09 It is helpful to have some kind of outline. In front of you, or you can even write out the narrative of what you're going to be thinking about and note where to pause. It's okay to look down at the paper, get the outline of what the next point is and then you stop and you pause and meditate on that and then you glance down for the next point. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:09 Highlight the passage at 1:42:09

1:42:34 So using something written as a prompt is fine for the analytical meditation. Also using a recording, like Tubton Chodron's book, there's this great book called Guided Meditations on the Stages of the Path. It's all about how to do meditations on the stages of the path, this lamrim, analytical meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:34 Highlight the passage at 1:42:34

1:42:54 And then there's a CD in the back that she leads you through. And a lot of people make their own CD with their own voice leading them through, and that's also great, because it's like you don't always have a teacher in front leading you through and putting your pauses in. So making your own recording or using, there's a lot of these pre-recorded, you know, guided meditations that you can get now. And that one's excellent and that book is really excellent. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:54 Highlight the passage at 1:42:54

1:43:21 I've been doing it for a few years actually and it's, but you can't do this thing you've been doing, you know, there's... with a little less time limitation. Right, right, right. So I'm very, can you answer Yeah, and the nice thing about leading yourself through it is the pauses, if you're really getting into it and you're really getting that realization, then you can pause for it to sink in and then maybe go over that one topic of the outline more. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:21 Highlight the passage at 1:43:21

1:43:51 If somebody else is leading it, you can be right in the middle of it and then they're on to the next point and you're like, wait, wait, I was just getting it. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:51 Highlight the passage at 1:43:51

1:43:58 And one thing is familiarity with the topic. When you're really familiar with the outline, you can guide yourself through the points without even referring to something. But there are a lot of nice guides out there with the outline points written down. And then that's fine to just glance down. Remember, your eyes are slightly open, you're in this posture, so you just glance down at the next point. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:58 Highlight the passage at 1:43:58

1:44:20 And with familiarity, you just see what it is and immediately you don't even have to read the whole paragraph. You just... Immediately, oh right, that's the next point, and then we kick into the analysis. And I think in Tukin Chodron, she has it, so you pause the thing, I keep calling it a tape, I'm showing my aim, but I'm never a tape anymore, but you know what I'm saying, pause the thing, the electron. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:20 Highlight the passage at 1:44:20

1:44:47 For a while, and then start it up again when you're ready to go to the next point. That's a little hard because there's a distraction there. She doesn't quite do that. Oh, is it? It goes straight through. Sometimes you process and there's silence. Yeah. But there's a breathing meditation and then when you follow the breathing meditation, it's really 17 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:47 Highlight the passage at 1:44:47

1:45:10 Okay. That's what it is sometimes. And I fool around with it. Then you go to an analytic meditation, but you don't go back and forth. And I wanted some guy to just debate on how to do that without... Right. Because I'm not listening to him. And it's nice to make... There's a book that I really like called Spiritual Friends. And it's... Report an error in the passage at 1:45:10 Highlight the passage at 1:45:10

1:45:41 Meditations that the different senior monks and nuns in Lama Tsongkhapa's organization were asked to submit their favorite analytical meditation. And they're very personal, right? Because they're the ones that they did themselves, using the traditional outlines, but making it personal. And I love those. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:41 Highlight the passage at 1:45:41

1:46:00 You know, I often use those when I'm leaving a meditation retreat. It's called Spiritual Friends. It's edited by Thutton Dandrov. I don't know if they have copies here. If they don't, they should. Because that's excellent. And they're very, they're fleshed out a bit. So when you're getting used to how to do it and not make it so dry, like just the points from the text, how to make it more juicy and personal and effective, that's a really good resource too. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:00 Highlight the passage at 1:46:00

1:46:27 I love that book. does. She has an each hour meditation for prays in your life. Yeah, yeah, and that's the way they work, you know, because otherwise it's just some outline from the book and you're like, yeah, whatever, you know, but making it really personal with examples from your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:27 Highlight the passage at 1:46:27

1:46:45 So that's the nature of this problem that we have, it's this distraction, your mind going away to other objects and not focusing on what object you're supposed to be meditating on. Now another distraction that often comes up Is you sit down on the cushion and then you start deciding what you're going to meditate on. Do that before the meditation session. You can spend the entire meditation session going, oh should I do the breath? Report an error in the passage at 1:46:45 Highlight the passage at 1:46:45

1:47:10 No, maybe I should do impermanence. No, no, Vatrasattva's really nice. Maybe I'll do, no, maybe I'll do this. What should I do? Or shifting gears in the middle. Oh, that's not really working out so I'll switch to this one. And then you spend five minutes and you're like, no, no, that's not really compelling today. I should do this. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:10 Highlight the passage at 1:47:10

1:47:28 Decide your topic, your subject premeditation, before you sit down. Sit down and just do it. Don't switch. Because that's the way you can waste years of a precious human rebirth, just shifting all over the place and not sticking with one topic. So do all that, you know, figuring out what's the best topic before you sit down. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:28 Highlight the passage at 1:47:28

1:47:54 I put in this one a lot. Yeah. I am. You get into, especially in this tradition, almost like a kid in a candy store. What should I do? It's an exciting thing to try. I was wondering, are there any readings that can sort of guide you in that? Because I wonder, like... What should you do? I've been doing one particular practice for a few months now. Should I shift over to something else? Report an error in the passage at 1:47:54 Highlight the passage at 1:47:54

1:48:21 When should I do that? Should I be alternating? Should I be doing Monday, Tuesday, Monday, Friday? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll talk about that a little bit later. We might get to that maybe this afternoon or if not tomorrow morning when we talk about how to set up a daily practice, what components should be there, exactly what you say, how do we decide what to meditate on because there's some guidance as to how to go through the topics, what kind of topics to have, what kind of components to have for a daily practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:21 Highlight the passage at 1:48:21

1:48:52 So we'll talk about that maybe a little bit later today or if not we'll devote. quite a lot of time tomorrow to that topic of you know just how do we set up a daily practice which is so important like my friend I gave the story last night practicing that musical instrument every single day know and it's so important to meditate every day you can't go into this thing like oh I don't have time during the week so I'll meditate for about three and a half hours on Sunday morning It doesn't work like that. You won't learn a musical instrument if you don't touch it all week and then try and practice for three and a half hours. You may have blisters on the tips of your fingers and God knows what out. It's the same with our meditation practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:48:52 Highlight the passage at 1:48:52

1:49:34 So we'll talk about that. So what do we do about distraction? We're all experiencing it. We all experience it in all these different ways. So what do we do? What do the text say to do? And some of this advice that I'm going to be giving you about the antidotes comes from a text written by Kamala Shila. Remember I told you a story last night about this big debate that happened in this monastery in Tibet in the 9th century that decided the way meditation would be taught in Tibet from that point on. Report an error in the passage at 1:49:34 Highlight the passage at 1:49:34

1:50:06 And there was this great Indian master, Kamala Shila, and he wrote a book called Stages of Meditation. So a lot of the details of how we study... How to meditate and the obstacles and the antidotes and the different stages come from Kamala Shila's text. So for distraction there are some things that we can do. Report an error in the passage at 1:50:06 Highlight the passage at 1:50:06

1:50:27 The first antidote to the problem of distraction is to check your posture. Remember this morning I said posture is so important. Make sure your back is straight, and especially make sure your head isn't tilted too high up. Often I find my mind is going crazy. The Buddhist texts talk about a monkey mind. We don't have monkeys in North America, but I think we can all imagine what that's like. And I'll notice if my mind is just completely distracted, I'll check my posture and often I'm... Report an error in the passage at 1:50:27 Highlight the passage at 1:50:27

1:51:03 right? Like my head has gone completely up. And it's really interesting, the position of your head can determine how agitated your mind is. So tuck your chin down, lower your head, make sure your back's straight, and that your head isn't tilted too far up. Because somehow this can create a lot of agitation. That may be enough to subdue your mind. Just lowering your chin, changing the angle of your head. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:03 Highlight the passage at 1:51:03

1:51:30 That's the first line of defense. Check your posture. Then the second thing that you can do is subdue the amount of light in the room a little bit. Sometimes if the room is just too bright, just like you can't sleep if all the lights are on in the room. Sometimes if the room is too bright, just turning down the light a little bit. Don't make it completely dark. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:30 Highlight the passage at 1:51:30

1:51:57 That will lead to another problem. We'll get there. Don't meditate in completely dark room. Guaranteed you'll fall asleep. 100 % of the time. I used to meditate in this prison, in this chapel that didn't have any windows. And the minute I'd say to the guys, okay, now we're going to meditate. One of them, I don't know where you got this idea, you'd leap up, turn all the lights off. We're sitting there in total darkness. Report an error in the passage at 1:51:57 Highlight the passage at 1:51:57

1:52:20 And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. You know, and then five minutes later, you're like, that's what happened. But subduing the light a little bit. Those are physical things that you can do. That might be enough. That might solve the problem. If that doesn't work, then we start the mental antidote. Loosen the focus slightly. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:20 Highlight the passage at 1:52:20

1:52:46 It doesn't mean drop the object. But sometimes if our mind is agitated, we're trying to grip our object. of meditation with this tight pit bull kind of a grip. And our mind is agitated just because we've kind of like, it's too much, right? Too much tightness. So just relaxing without losing the object, but just relaxing that sort of intensity of the grip that we have on the object that's just stirring our mind up a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:52:46 Highlight the passage at 1:52:46

1:53:19 Okay? Just relaxing slightly, just a slight, slight shift, slight loosening of the grip. If that doesn't work, and by the way, these are in order of intensity. Try this one, if that one doesn't work, try the next one, if that doesn't work, try the next one. So if that doesn't work, shift briefly to a sobering topic to just get your mind settled down a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 1:53:19 Highlight the passage at 1:53:19

1:53:48 Because often, We're meditating on, instead of the topic, on the vacation in Hawaii, right? Often it's the object of attachment. So in that moment, if you've had teachings on things like the precious human rebirth, death and impermanence, you think to yourself, just briefly for a couple of minutes, hey, what am I doing? Report an error in the passage at 1:53:48 Highlight the passage at 1:53:48

1:54:09 You know, my lifetime is running out, tick, tick, tick. You know, the hourglass is tipped over, the sand is running out, No way to reverse it. What the heck am I doing? This is my one chance to actually, you know, this is the half hour that I've set aside every morning to meditate. I'm just fantasizing. I can do that later when I'm driving to work. Right now I've got to focus on my meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:09 Highlight the passage at 1:54:09

1:54:38 So thinking, kind of developing a sense of urgency and developing a sense of perspective. You know, our lifetimes are finite. One of my meditation teachers, actually the moment I had that kind of experience was when she said, it's like we've jumped out of the plane without the parachute and it's only a matter of time before we're going to hit bottom. Report an error in the passage at 1:54:38 Highlight the passage at 1:54:38

1:55:01 I think because I'm so afraid of heights, I was just like, oh, you know, imagine. And it's true. It's really true. Our lifespan is running out moment by moment by moment. So just reflecting on that, not to make yourself freaked out and paranoid. But just like, wait a minute, I decided that this is going to be my morning meditation time, let me just try and do it instead of spacing out, instead of fantasizing. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:01 Highlight the passage at 1:55:01

1:55:28 Especially meditating on death and impermanence is a great one for this, to just bring your mind down a little bit from that spin-out excitement, especially. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:28 Highlight the passage at 1:55:28

1:55:40 And then if that doesn't work, if even that doesn't work, return to your breath for a few minutes. If you're meditating on another object, just return to your breath. And the breath for developing single-pointed concentration is an object that's really recommended for people with a lot of distraction. Report an error in the passage at 1:55:40 Highlight the passage at 1:55:40

1:56:00 So when we're choosing an object for single-pointed concentration, the breath is usually recommended for people who tend to have a lot of conceptual thought. And that's their main problem when they're meditating, is their mind just spinning out with lots and lots of... Report an error in the passage at 1:56:00 Highlight the passage at 1:56:00

1:56:17 So we just shift to the breath for a few minutes until our mind settles a little bit and then go back to the main object. So if our main object is in permanence like it was this morning, we find we're just constantly going off into the storyline. Try these antidotes in turn, right? One after another. This is the most severe. Second most severe. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:17 Highlight the passage at 1:56:17

1:56:44 It may be enough to just change your posture and dim the lights. It may be enough to just sort of loosen up a little bit our focus. And then we just keep trying the antidotes. So try this. Nowhere in Kamala Shila's text will you find the advice, oh give up because you're hopeless and you'll never be able to meditate anyway. Report an error in the passage at 1:56:44 Highlight the passage at 1:56:44

1:57:08 Often this is the antidote that we apply, isn't it? Oh forget it. I'm hopeless. How can I ever develop singapointed concentration? Nowhere in the Buddhist texts will you find that as an antidote. And it's amazing. If you really do try these, they really do work. So try these antidotes to distraction. Don't just sit there and feel hopeless. Don't just sit there on the cushion and feel discouraged. Actually try and apply these antidotes. Report an error in the passage at 1:57:08 Highlight the passage at 1:57:08

1:57:39 So questions about those antidotes, Report an error in the passage at 1:57:39 Highlight the passage at 1:57:39

1:57:50 distractions. you. Thank you. you. Yeah. I don't know if it's right to ask this, but I have wondered, do monastics, are they really able to have single point of concentration without their minds flying around? Because it's the nature of our minds to think. So my question is, eventually do you get very, very good at that? Report an error in the passage at 1:57:50 Highlight the passage at 1:57:50

1:58:29 Well, for one thing it has nothing to do with being a monastic or not. It helps a little bit to have a lifestyle where a lot of these distractions are no longer an option. Because then you're just like, well, why think about that? I took a vow not to do it anymore. You know, that does, that is helpful. I will say that it's helpful. It doesn't do the trick automatically, however, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:58:29 Highlight the passage at 1:58:29

1:58:49 So our minds are still going to that place. It's all a matter of training. And yes, you can progress to a point where your mind, I mean, it really is possible with lots and lots of effort and lots and lots of hard work. The same amount of hard work as becoming really, really good at a musical instrument like symphony level, you know, aptitude, to be able to focus on an object of your choosing without distraction. Report an error in the passage at 1:58:49 Highlight the passage at 1:58:49

1:59:16 It takes a lot of hard work, but it's definitely possible using these techniques. So this is why we go into these techniques so much, because it is possible. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:16 Highlight the passage at 1:59:16

1:59:29 It takes a lot of time. Remind me your name again. I'm Stephanie. Stephanie, that's right. I was right here last minute. No, I know, but I've met you before, but I couldn't remember your name. Yeah. I think this goes in this category. Sometimes my legs will fall asleep. Is that a check your posture? And that really trips me up. It's like, well, my blood flow is not getting down. If I just ignore it, then my foot might fall off. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:29 Highlight the passage at 1:59:29

1:59:54 You know, it won't fall off. And often I find when my, I found this trick for when my feet and my legs are falling asleep, often I'm too high up on my cushion and it's sort of cutting off the circulation kind of right here. And if I slide forward, I find that even now, sometimes if I don't have my cushion right, and if I slide forward a little bit so I'm not right on top of it, kind of right at the tops of my legs, often that's all I need and then the blood flow starts going again. Report an error in the passage at 1:59:54 Highlight the passage at 1:59:54

2:00:28 It's really okay if your foot falls completely asleep for the time of your meditation session, although really important... Not to try and stand up right away until the circulation. Robert Thurman, this professor and translator, broke his ankle that way. His leg fell asleep and he jumped up and the whole thing twisted. So it is really important to just take a minute to get the circulation going. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:28 Highlight the passage at 2:00:28

2:00:56 But I found that if I slide forward and tilt my pelvis, often that's enough. And I can sit for a long period of time and my legs don't fall asleep anymore. Because of that. Like I'm not just cutting off the circulation kind of right at the tops of my legs. So that's a tip. But it's really okay if they fall asleep. You know, your foot's not going to fall off unless you're sitting there for like three days or something. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 2:00:56 Highlight the passage at 2:00:56

2:01:26 Anything else about distraction? So, when you start to train your mind, right? Lots of distractions in the beginning. Realize that it's just the process. And later on we'll talk about there's nine levels leading up to single point of concentration. And we'll go into all of these levels because it's quite encouraging actually. And don't think that anybody starts off being able to meditate perfectly without distraction from the very beginning. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:26 Highlight the passage at 2:01:26

2:01:57 In fact the first level, you're already at the first level if you remember that you're supposed to be meditating on an object in the first place. You're already at level number one. And level number two is being able to stay on the object for as long as, sorry it's a little earthy as Tibetans are, for as long as it takes for a fly to land on poo. Report an error in the passage at 2:01:57 Highlight the passage at 2:01:57

2:02:20 And then it flies off here. You can be on the object for just that long. That ain't long at all, right? It lands and then it flies off here. You're already at level two. Isn't that encouraging? Because you kind of think, oh, I'm the only one that can't sit here for 20 minutes and focus on my breath for the whole 20 minutes. And it's just not true. So we're going to talk about these different levels and how we progress through the different levels. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:20 Highlight the passage at 2:02:20

2:02:48 So don't get discouraged that way. Sometimes people start to meditate and they think, my mind is so much worse. I'm so much more distracted than I ever was before. Meditation is actually ruining my mind if I'm going to stop. And that's not true either. It's just that we've hardly ever sat there and tried to meditate and focus our mind on one thing for like 15 or 20 minutes. Report an error in the passage at 2:02:48 Highlight the passage at 2:02:48

2:03:16 Especially in our super ADD prone society. I mean... I never watch TV. When I do, I can't do it for more than about four minutes. It's like these images just flashing at you. I mean, advertisements and these crazy camera angles and all this stuff. I mean, I kind of grew up in like the Leave it to Beaver reality where it's just sort of like one camera angle for 30 minutes for the entire show and then they come. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:16 Highlight the passage at 2:03:16

2:03:41 You know, it's not these flashing, this input. So it's sort of, we've gotten used to that. So I think it's harder and harder and harder for us to focus. Because nothing in our life really promotes that. We'll talk about that more too, about things to do in your life to promote your daily meditation practice being effective. Report an error in the passage at 2:03:41 Highlight the passage at 2:03:41

2:04:02 I always say, kill your television, you know, there's that bumper sticker and that's the first one to go. But I know some of you aren't very familiar. So we'll talk about that. But don't be discouraged because it does progress and it progresses in stages and your mind isn't becoming worse. Because you're sitting down and trying. We're just noticing how distracted we are all the time. And you notice it first, and then you notice progress if you really try. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:02 Highlight the passage at 2:04:02

2:04:30 You know, slowly, slowly your mind starts to sit here. Alright, so let's start, let's see, yeah, we've got time. Start talking about the second obstacle to our meditation, which is dullness. Okay, dullness. This is Stephanie's issue this morning. Many people's issues. This dullness, which ranges all the way from just a slight spaciness, right? Report an error in the passage at 2:04:30 Highlight the passage at 2:04:30

2:04:59 A slight kind of bust out, spaced out feeling, all the way through falling asleep on your cushion. And everything in between. Drowsiness is in there, nodding off, you know. Any kind of dull state of mind. So instead of your mind being agitated with all of these thoughts, it's going towards sleepiness. Report an error in the passage at 2:04:59 Highlight the passage at 2:04:59

2:05:19 Everything from this sort of buzzed out, zoned out, you know, lack of sharpness all the way to sleepiness. So again, we've got antidotes, a graded kind of list of antidotes. Try the first ones, if they don't work, we go up. Very similar antidotes for this. So the first one, check your posture. Again, always check your posture first if you're noticing problems in the meditation. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:19 Highlight the passage at 2:05:19

2:05:49 We find often with this, we've completely slumped over, right? Slumped, our heads down, sometimes on our, even if we're not asleep. And we might think our posture is fine. But we've done this. So straighten your back. Make sure that your back is straight again. Remember that thing of the cord kind of pulling up from the top of your head. Lift your chin. Report an error in the passage at 2:05:49 Highlight the passage at 2:05:49

2:06:17 And that may be enough to counteract the drowsiness. That may be enough. Just adjusting your posture. And then the second, increase the light in the room. It may be that you're going for the mood lighting, the ambiance. One little tea light on your altar in the dark room. A recipe for dominance. It's nice to have the ambience, but it's also really nice to be able to meditate because that's the whole point of the ambience. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:17 Highlight the passage at 2:06:17

2:06:49 So increase the amount of light in the room. Don't do the thing that inmates did of turning the lights out. You're not going to be able to see your outline for one thing and you're going to fall asleep. Report an error in the passage at 2:06:49 Highlight the passage at 2:06:49

2:07:03 It's nice not to have bright fluorescent lights like an office building, that's alright. But just have enough light that you don't fall asleep. So increase the light. The next one, tightening up the focus a little bit. Just sort of getting your mind a little bit more on the object. Tightening that grip a little bit. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:03 Highlight the passage at 2:07:03

2:07:28 We slide into dullness where we're a little too slack with our focus. We just started to just loosen up too much. So just mentally just perking up a little bit, tightening up, getting our mind a little bit more intense on the object. So tightening up the focus. And if that doesn't work and you're still falling into dullness, think of an inspiring topic to uplift your mind. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:28 Highlight the passage at 2:07:28

2:07:58 When we had agitation, we thought of a sobering topic to kind of subdue the mind. Here our mind is too subdued. We're falling asleep. We need to uplift it. So thinking of something like the precious human rebirth again. Oh my God, I had this incredible opportunity. If you've had teachings on that, which I know many of you have had, review that for a few minutes. Think. Report an error in the passage at 2:07:58 Highlight the passage at 2:07:58

2:08:24 What an amazing chance I have to progress spiritually. In the scheme of things, when I think about all of the possible rebirths that I could take, this is like one in a gazillion that I have this opportunity. What the heck am I doing? I'm just replaying that same old little tape over and over and over again. Jack Kornfield calls it the top ten tunes, you know, the distractions for meditation, or in this case, we're falling asleep. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:24 Highlight the passage at 2:08:24

2:08:54 And you think, wait a minute, this is my big chance to actually progress. So that's a way of sort of uplifting your mind, inspiring your mind. If you have a connection with the spiritual teacher, think about the qualities of your teacher. See, incredible that I've actually had the opportunity to meet somebody like a Soliness the Dalai Lama in this life. Report an error in the passage at 2:08:54 Highlight the passage at 2:08:54

2:09:17 Wow, I want to be like that when I grow up. That was my big thing when I met His Holiness the Dalai Lama. For the first time it changed my life because I've just never met anybody who felt like that. And I was like, whatever he's got, I want it. Think to yourself, I've got to meditate if I'm going to be like that. It's not going to happen just by wanting it. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:17 Highlight the passage at 2:09:17

2:09:39 So think of that inspiring person to you, whoever it might be, and just go, that happened. From a lot of hours sitting on the meditation cushion. I want to be like that. I've got to pull it together here. So that uplifts your mind. Now, if that doesn't work, briefly, emphasis on the briefly, refresh yourself. So that means get up from your cushion, splash some cold water on your face. Report an error in the passage at 2:09:39 Highlight the passage at 2:09:39

2:10:08 You know, if you're really falling asleep on your cushion, go outside, get some fresh air. In the Tibetan scriptures, in the ancient Indian scriptures, they go to refresh yourself, look at a view, get some space in your mind, kind of look out at an expanse. Hard to do in San Francisco maybe, unless you live on one of those top of the hills in a high rise building. But just refresh yourself briefly. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:08 Highlight the passage at 2:10:08

2:10:36 Doesn't mean give up and quit your session. Briefly and then get back on your cushion. And try again. Now, none of this is going to work if you try and do your meditation session at 11 o 'clock at night after a really big meal. Right? And maybe a couple of glasses of wine and you've been out with your friends and then you come home. Forget it. Just forget it. We have to meditate at a conducive time. Report an error in the passage at 2:10:36 Highlight the passage at 2:10:36

2:11:04 So when we're rested and when we haven't just eaten a big meal. So those are two things when you're figuring out when you're going to do your daily meditation practice. If you're just too exhausted, right, you've had a really, really busy day at work, don't come home and immediately think you're going to plop down on your cushion and do your practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:04 Highlight the passage at 2:11:04

2:11:27 Or if it's really late at night and you've been out with your friends and just eaten the big meal, don't do it then. You know, pick a conducive time. And we'll talk a little bit more about that when we talk about how to set up a daily practice. Lama Yeshe had this great advice, he was talking about this once and he said, you know, let's say you work 9 to 5 or longer in an office, you have one of those, don't come home and immediately think that you're going to be able to do a really good meditation session. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:27 Highlight the passage at 2:11:27

2:11:55 He goes, lie on your sofa and drink a cup of coffee and think about benefiting beings for a while. It was great, you know, this nice spacious advice. Just very casually, think virtuous thoughts. Unwind, relax, refresh yourself, you know, take a break, then do your meditation before it gets too late, right, and before you've eaten dinner. Report an error in the passage at 2:11:55 Highlight the passage at 2:11:55

2:12:18 So it's like we need to kind of schedule these things properly or else we're always just going to be setting ourselves up for failure and we're going to get discouraged. So really think about it. A really good time to meditate is early in the morning. Before you've checked your email, get up, wash your face, brush your teeth, make a cup of tea or whatever, kind of wake yourself up. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:18 Highlight the passage at 2:12:18

2:12:47 And then it's really good to do your meditation. And then before you started talking to people a lot, like if you live with other people, it's nice to have an agreement, if you can, to... Not really speak or interact much until you've done your morning meditation. I've lived with housemates before. I remember I had this one housemate. Report an error in the passage at 2:12:47 Highlight the passage at 2:12:47

2:13:07 We'd both kind of appear in the kitchen early in the morning making our tea. We knew that we were making our tea so that we'd be able to do our morning meditation. We'd just look at each other and smile, but we'd actually keep silence until we both finished our morning practice. So this is really good. You start chatting. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:07 Highlight the passage at 2:13:07

2:13:25 Then your mind is just filled with all this distraction and it's really, really hard to meditate. So part of it is just choosing the right time to minimize the amount of these distractions that we have for our practice. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:25 Highlight the passage at 2:13:25

2:13:40 So any questions about dullness? And getting enough rest, like I said before, we just don't get enough rest in general. So I think it's really important to look at that. Tibetan Lamas, you know, people always go to these Tibetan Lamas and they'll ask, they'll say, oh I don't have enough time to meditate, you know. Report an error in the passage at 2:13:40 Highlight the passage at 2:13:40

2:14:03 They'll always say, go to bed earlier, quit watching TV until 11 o 'clock at night, you know, get enough sleep. And I think we kind of are used to just somehow functioning. With so little sleep and all of these artificial stimulants, it's really important to just look at that and make sure that you get enough rest in your life. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:03 Highlight the passage at 2:14:03

2:14:25 Otherwise, you're always just going to be struggling and battling with the sleepiness, the agitation, all of these obstacles to your meditation. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:25 Highlight the passage at 2:14:25

2:14:41 So if conditions aren't ideal, like you decided after a big meal, is it better, you know, you're saying... I think part of setting it up so that you have conducive conditions, most people find that morning works best. There's less interruptions, there's a lot less danger that there's going to be in interference. Report an error in the passage at 2:14:41 Highlight the passage at 2:14:41

2:15:18 So it's really good to keep a consistent time every day, and morning usually works better for people. So that should be something that you do every day, even if you happen to stay up late, just to get into the habit of doing it at the same time. Maybe you'll have one or two days a week that you haven't gotten enough sleep, that you're sleepy in the morning, that you've made that commitment that every morning at 7 o 'clock you've got a date with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:18 Highlight the passage at 2:15:18

2:15:47 You're not going to blow them off any more than you would just not show up if you've made a date to have coffee with one of your friends. You've got that date with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There may be a couple of times a week that you're not feeling so terrific. Go ahead and do it anyway. Evening is more difficult. Evening is more problematic. Report an error in the passage at 2:15:47 Highlight the passage at 2:15:47

2:16:06 And often for the evening we say, for those of you that have had some instruction on how to do purification practice, we say, review the day. Dedicate your merit and then do something like bodhisattva or some purification practice for the non-virtues that you've done that day. It is good if you've really got a regular schedule to keep it regular even if you're not at your best. If you've set up the times that generally 95 % of the time work just to keep that steady habit going. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:06 Highlight the passage at 2:16:06

2:16:40 So what I meant was don't even try it. It's not best to just pick a time of day that's random. But if you do, don't pick 11 o 'clock at night like after a big meal. If you, for example, have your time in the evening and it's usually like 7.30 and you had a really, really hard day at work and you're really tired, just do a shorter session. Report an error in the passage at 2:16:40 Highlight the passage at 2:16:40

2:17:04 Kind of keep that... Consistency. So the consistency I think is the most important and there may be a day or two that it's not, you're not at your best. Just go ahead and do it if you want. You might be really spaced out. Don't go for, you know, I have to only be at my best. Because when is that going to happen? Very rarely. Report an error in the passage at 2:17:04 Highlight the passage at 2:17:04

2:17:25 And you'll never set up a regular kind of habit for your meditation session. But it's good to pick the conducive times and then stick to them and just realize that there will be days that that doesn't really work out so well. I was Report an error in the passage at 2:17:25 Highlight the passage at 2:17:25

2:17:44 experiencing a little bit of difficulties to do it at night, at least I do it in the morning. But I noticed that I was running like crazy because of time. But I changed, I started to wake up a little bit earlier and tried to go to get... Report an error in the passage at 2:17:44 Highlight the passage at 2:17:44

2:18:06 That works really well. That works really well. And sometimes, you know, if you get up, especially if you have kids when you have young children, often difficult, especially in the morning, because they get up really early. So it's really hard to beat them to the punch, you know, like, oh, you know, I was, I had a stepdaughter for a while and she was, you know, I was living with her dad between the time she was like a year and a half and about four or five. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:06 Highlight the passage at 2:18:06

2:18:34 My meditation practice, to try and beat a toddler up in the morning and do your proper meditation practice, really difficult, you know, so that was hard. So when you have young kids, it's very difficult. And sometimes for people with young kids, the evening is better. You know, you get somebody to watch the kid and then you do it. So it's always, you know, I say in general, the morning's fast, but it really depends. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:34 Highlight the passage at 2:18:34

2:18:56 But yeah, getting up earlier and just go to bed earlier. That's what his Holiness the Dalai Lama, whatever people go, he goes, hey, look, I go to bed at 9. I get up at 3.30. Works for me. You know, it's almost impossible for us to think of going to bed at like 9 or 9.30. We can. There's no rule that just because you're a grown-up living in America, you can't go to bed at like, I go to bed at 9.30. That's late for me. Report an error in the passage at 2:18:56 Highlight the passage at 2:18:56

2:19:22 Sometimes it's earlier than that, right? So just shifting kind of that whole thing might involve changing kind of the way that you socialize a little bit, like maybe you just go out with your friends one night a week instead of kind of every night until 11 or whatever. And that's the thing, it involves some shifts in your lifestyle. If you're really going to get serious about your meditation practice, there's other things that have to give to create that space. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:22 Highlight the passage at 2:19:22

2:19:50 And that's one of the things that usually works really well, is just shift your day a little bit earlier. Because those morning hours before you've gone to work, before you've started talking to people, before you've interacted, that's prime time for meditation. And yogis the world over, whatever their tradition is, Thomas Merton used to get up at like 2.30 in the morning. He used to go to bed at 7.30, this great Catholic mystic. He used to go to bed at 7.30 and get up at 2.30 and meditate for hours before sunrise. Report an error in the passage at 2:19:50 Highlight the passage at 2:19:50

2:20:21 That's awesome. You know, but for us, even 6, 5, something like that, that usually works that you can get a proper, nice session. For a daily session, I mean, nobody expects you to meditate for hours. That's kind of too much if you're a busy working person. But you notice if you can get like a 45 minute session in every day, your life will totally change, I guarantee you. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:21 Highlight the passage at 2:20:21

2:20:46 Half an hour or 45 minutes every morning, you really keep consistent at it. That's enough to really, really change things in your life. And that's doable for everybody. 45 minutes we can all carve out. Report an error in the passage at 2:20:46 Highlight the passage at 2:20:46

2:21:01 But that really works, to just shift it a little bit earlier. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:01 Highlight the passage at 2:21:01

2:21:09 So it's time for the lunch break. Don't eat too much. Don't worry, we never meditate right after lunch. That's a recipe for donuts. When we come back, we'll talk about another... obstacles that Kamala Sheila mentioned and the specific antidotes to laziness which is defined as just about feeling like sitting down on your meditation cushion in the first place. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:09 Highlight the passage at 2:21:09

2:21:35 And then we'll carry on with more obstacles and antidotes. And then a little bit later on this afternoon we'll have another break. And then we'll have another meditation. And what we do this afternoon is one of the meditations for trying to generate A positive, virtuous state of mind. We'll do a loving kindness meditation. Loving kindness, compassion, remember I said one of the goals of meditation is to try and generate these states of mind that we don't often habitually have. Report an error in the passage at 2:21:35 Highlight the passage at 2:21:35

2:22:06 So we'll work, we'll experiment with one of these a little bit later on in the end. So let's take a minute just to dedicate the positive energy, all of this work that we've done, investigating. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:06 Highlight the passage at 2:22:06

2:22:21 These obstacles and the antidotes to these obstacles will really help us when we sit down to meditate, apply these antidotes that we've learned instead of just getting discouraged. And the whole point of doing this is to be able to meditate well, generate those realizations on the path and eventually reach that state of full awakening, all of the capacity. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:21 Highlight the passage at 2:22:21

2:22:51 to benefit infants and children. Report an error in the passage at 2:22:51 Highlight the passage at 2:22:51

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:23:36 What do you say Bon Appetit in Spanish? Oh, same. Bon Appetito. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:23:36 Highlight the passage at 2:23:36

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:24:18 Right, that's right. Report an error in the passage at 2:24:18 Highlight the passage at 2:24:18

· · · silence, 1 minute

2:25:02 We're here. . . . . . Thank Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 2:25:02 Highlight the passage at 2:25:02