Transcript
[2:00] Mhm.
[2:17] >> Good evening, Ajahn.
[2:18] >> Hi, Lyndon.
[2:19] >> Hey, Osama.
[2:21] And good evening and welcome everyone to
[2:23] the Monday night guided meditation at
[2:25] the Buddhist Society of Victoria.
[2:27] Uh tonight's guided meditation is being
[2:29] led by Ajahn Sudhiro. Thank you
[2:31] >> You're welcome.
[2:32] >> for your tonight teaching tonight and
[2:34] for yesterday as well.
[2:35] >> No problem.
[2:35] >> Um
[2:37] for those of you who are unfamiliar with
[2:40] how the the tonight's run, um Ajahn
[2:43] Sudhiro will just probably do a very
[2:44] brief introduction and check in and then
[2:47] we'll be meditating until 8:30.
[2:50] Um at 8:30 there'll be a few brief
[2:51] announcements about upcoming events and
[2:53] then you'll be able to ask any
[2:54] questions. Um if you're here in the
[2:57] hall, you can raise your hand and I'll
[2:59] pass the microphone to you um just so
[3:02] everyone can hear. If you're online, uh
[3:05] wherever you are in the world, um you
[3:07] are welcome to type your question into
[3:09] the live chat and we'll alternate
[3:11] between questions in the room and on
[3:13] online.
[3:14] Um finally, if you are here in the hall,
[3:16] please make sure that your mobile phone
[3:18] is not going to disturb anyone's peace
[3:20] and quiet
[3:21] by uh turning it off or otherwise
[3:24] silencing it. Um that's much
[3:26] appreciated. Thank you very much.
[3:28] Thanks, Ajahn.
[3:29] >> Perfect. Thanks, Lyndon.
[3:31] Okay, nice. Good to see you people. Um
[3:33] is there anybody that's new tonight?
[3:35] First time that you're here?
[3:38] Nope.
[3:41] Cool. Anyone relatively new to
[3:43] meditation at the moment?
[3:48] Relatively new? Uh you you uh you look
[3:50] like you know what you're doing. Yeah.
[3:52] >> [laughter]
[3:54] >> Uh so as as Langdon said um
[3:57] as Langdon said we'll be sitting for
[3:58] about an hour. Um and I'll give some uh
[4:01] I'll give a little I'll give some
[4:03] instructions uh and obviously if you
[4:06] know what you're doing, you don't have
[4:07] to listen to me. It's fine. You just
[4:10] tune out.
[4:11] Um uh but I'll give some kind of some
[4:13] basic instructions uh just for anybody
[4:15] that does want to follow follow along
[4:17] with the instructions. So with that
[4:19] we'll without further ado we'll just
[4:21] we'll start sitting now. Floor. Yeah.
[4:25] >> [snorts]
[4:42] [snorts]
[4:43] >> Just start to
[4:45] settle in
[4:46] to your seat.
[4:50] >> [clears throat]
[4:55] >> And
[4:56] allow your body to
[4:59] make the kind of necessary adjustments.
[5:09] And check in and notice if there's any
[5:12] tension or tightness.
[5:15] Maybe in the shoulders, in the face.
[5:22] In the chest or back.
[5:31] If there is anything
[5:34] heavy or
[5:36] tight there.
[5:38] Let's see if you can soften it and
[5:39] loosen those areas.
[6:01] >> Likewise, if there's
[6:05] any mental
[6:07] burden that you
[6:10] feel like you're carrying,
[6:16] problems from the day,
[6:19] things that are ongoing,
[6:27] just see if you can
[6:30] put those aside for a little while.
[6:34] It's obviously not so easy to do that,
[6:36] but
[6:40] at least try to set the mind up where
[6:44] anything that it that is on your mind,
[6:48] just see if you can leave it aside for
[6:50] about an hour or so.
[6:57] Just give your attention
[7:00] to the practice.
[8:00] >> And just not to
[8:03] settle in with
[8:08] whatever meditation that you
[8:11] find most comfortable for yourself, that
[8:13] you usually do.
[8:19] Might be the breath.
[8:23] Might be
[8:25] observing sensations.
[8:30] Developing compassion or kindness.
[8:33] Whatever you feel
[8:35] most comfortable doing.
[8:38] That allows your mind to
[8:41] stabilize.
[8:48] And just work with that for the next
[8:51] few minutes.
[11:35] >> Mhm.
[13:30] >> Mhm.
[15:25] >> Mhm.
[16:55] >> [snorts]
[21:52] [clears throat]
[25:00] >> Mhm.
[26:18] >> As you
[26:21] continue with your practice
[26:24] >> [clears throat]
[26:29] >> notice if there's
[26:34] anything you
[26:36] might need to readjust or
[26:41] recalibrate.
[26:47] Don't allow the mind to become
[26:51] a bit more stable.
[27:01] Is there anything in the
[27:03] quality
[27:06] of your attention or your awareness
[27:11] that you can adjust that
[27:17] leads to greater balance.
[27:33] And we
[27:36] don't try to make these improvements in
[27:38] a
[27:40] top-down or forceful way,
[27:48] but rather
[27:51] gently guide
[27:55] our awareness.
[30:45] >> Mhm.
[32:40] >> Mhm.
[34:35] >> Mhm.
[36:30] >> Mhm.
[38:25] >> I know.
[40:20] >> Mhm.
[42:15] >> Mhm.
[44:10] >> Mhm.
[46:05] >> Mhm.
[48:00] >> Mhm.
[50:06] >> In the
[50:10] final few minutes of the practice,
[50:21] just take stock
[50:26] of how the mind is.
[50:37] Is there anything we need to
[50:42] re-establish
[50:46] or
[50:48] reinvigorate?
[51:00] So, maybe something we can do to
[51:04] brighten the mind.
[51:13] Like moving towards gratitude or
[51:18] compassion or kindness.
[51:20] >> [snorts]
[51:25] >> These last few minutes, just see if
[51:27] there's
[51:31] maybe something you can do differently
[51:35] to brighten the mind.
[53:45] >> Mhm.
[57:35] >> Mhm.
[59:30] >> Oh.
[1:00:14] >> [bell and music]
[1:00:56] >> Thank you very much, Ajahn.
[1:00:57] >> No problem.
[1:00:58] >> It's a very nice quiet evening.
[1:01:02] I have a quick few announcements about
[1:01:04] upcoming events.
[1:01:07] Most things here are crossed out.
[1:01:10] Um
[1:01:11] there is an upcoming
[1:01:14] uh retreat at the Sanctuary of Stillness
[1:01:16] that's being led by Bhante Cunda and
[1:01:19] Bodhidhaja. They haven't taught here for
[1:01:21] a while, but they have been frequent
[1:01:23] visitors of the Buddhist Society of
[1:01:24] Victoria. Both are very experienced
[1:01:27] meditation teachers, and they're running
[1:01:28] a retreat um
[1:01:30] at Sanctuary of Stillness up at the
[1:01:32] Newbury Buddhist Monastery between the
[1:01:33] 27th of November
[1:01:36] and the 2nd of December. Registrations
[1:01:39] are now open through the BSV website or
[1:01:42] find out more details through the BSV
[1:01:44] newsletter.
[1:01:46] Uh
[1:01:47] next week's
[1:01:50] uh teaching program will be led by Ajahn
[1:01:52] Erana Vihari. So, he's taking the Sunday
[1:01:55] morning Dhamma talk, and he'll be here
[1:01:57] next Monday evening for the guided
[1:01:58] meditation.
[1:02:00] And the big event coming up,
[1:02:03] excuse me as I sniffle a little bit, is
[1:02:05] uh Sunday the 15th of November, which is
[1:02:09] the Kathina. It's the celebration to
[1:02:11] mark the end of the rains retreat. Um
[1:02:13] that will be at Newbury Buddhist
[1:02:15] Monastery, so one to mark in your uh
[1:02:18] calendars, your diaries if you are
[1:02:20] interested to attend. That's on Sunday
[1:02:22] the 15th of November in the morning.
[1:02:26] Um they're all the announcements we
[1:02:28] have.
[1:02:30] So, I'll um open up the floor to any
[1:02:33] questions
[1:02:35] for Ajahn.
[1:02:37] Does anyone here in the hall?
[1:02:43] Yes.
[1:02:45] Yep, we'll just grab the mic just so
[1:02:47] that just so they can hear online.
[1:02:51] >> Thanks, Ajahn.
[1:02:51] >> Yep.
[1:02:52] >> I had a question around um awareness and
[1:02:55] consciousness.
[1:02:56] >> Mhm.
[1:02:57] >> Um in meditation, I just noticed how
[1:03:00] um during that meditation, you mentioned
[1:03:04] awareness. And I wondered if you could
[1:03:06] speak to that, please.
[1:03:09] >> I could speak a lot to it. Uh
[1:03:11] depends how far down the rabbit hole we
[1:03:13] want to go.
[1:03:14] Um now, obviously both of those
[1:03:15] constructs, it it obviously depends how
[1:03:18] we define either one of those two.
[1:03:21] Um
[1:03:22] Uh on the one hand, you can you can
[1:03:24] actually define them as the same thing.
[1:03:26] Uh some people might say awareness is
[1:03:28] consciousness.
[1:03:29] Um
[1:03:30] uh some people might say that, you know,
[1:03:33] the fact that you are aware of things,
[1:03:36] this kind of means that you are
[1:03:37] conscious.
[1:03:39] >> [gasps]
[1:03:39] >> On the other hand, you can you can say
[1:03:41] you uh you can look at it in a way of
[1:03:43] saying, "No, awareness and consciousness
[1:03:44] is a different is a different thing."
[1:03:46] You might say that consciousness is
[1:03:47] something like um
[1:03:49] like
[1:03:50] an a priori condition behind awareness.
[1:03:53] Um
[1:03:54] If you have consciousness, then you can
[1:03:56] be aware. And some people will say uh
[1:03:58] these different things.
[1:04:00] Uh you can you can look at it in a way
[1:04:02] where you can have different like
[1:04:04] quality of awareness. So, you can have
[1:04:06] more or less awareness. Well, they'll
[1:04:08] say in that kind of respect, they'll
[1:04:09] say, "But you can never be like more or
[1:04:11] less conscious in any kind of way."
[1:04:15] You're just either conscious or you're
[1:04:16] not conscious. So, usually usually what
[1:04:19] you're talking about in So, there's look
[1:04:22] again, there's so many different ways
[1:04:23] you can go down these different rabbit
[1:04:25] holes of how to define those things.
[1:04:27] Now, if we just if we just make it
[1:04:29] really simple though, um and we think
[1:04:31] about it from a meditative perspective,
[1:04:33] usually when we say something like
[1:04:35] awareness, actually that is we're kind
[1:04:38] of using it as a little bit of a synonym
[1:04:40] for uh
[1:04:43] both awareness in terms of like like
[1:04:47] being mindful of things.
[1:04:50] But then also as a as a kind of quality
[1:04:52] of one's attention as well.
[1:04:55] And so, attention and awareness are
[1:04:56] actually different things as well.
[1:04:59] So, but
[1:05:00] purely from a meditative perspective, a
[1:05:02] lot of the times we use awareness in
[1:05:03] that kind of
[1:05:05] knowing, mindful, um
[1:05:08] alert, attentive state.
[1:05:10] So, we kind of we think about it in that
[1:05:13] way. And a lot of times in a meditative
[1:05:15] actually let's just call it more of a
[1:05:16] Buddhist perspective, we use
[1:05:17] consciousness more in terms of like the
[1:05:20] mind itself. Again, we can
[1:05:24] There's so many ways we can carve
[1:05:28] the Buddhist nature at its joints to say
[1:05:31] that consciousness is a different thing
[1:05:32] in different parts of Buddhism.
[1:05:34] But a lot of the times we'll be saying
[1:05:35] consciousness as like the mind from a
[1:05:38] Buddhist perspective. So,
[1:05:41] the to wrap that up from that meditative
[1:05:44] and like a Buddhist perspective, we'll
[1:05:46] call like awareness that quality of of
[1:05:50] mindfulness, attention in this kind of
[1:05:52] way.
[1:05:53] >> [gasps]
[1:05:53] >> But then we'll call consciousness like
[1:05:55] the mind of like the quality of the mind
[1:05:57] is the mind infused with certain
[1:05:59] qualities.
[1:06:01] Is the mind aware of things that are
[1:06:04] happening? Is the mind perceiving
[1:06:05] certain things that are happening?
[1:06:07] So, we kind of think about it in that
[1:06:08] way. I think that and that's a it's in
[1:06:11] some way it's a little bit of a it's a
[1:06:14] good way to think about it in that way
[1:06:15] because it is just kind of simple. Like
[1:06:17] it's just very simple. It's very
[1:06:19] intuitive. Um
[1:06:21] We can over complicate a lot of these
[1:06:24] constructs.
[1:06:25] And sometimes we need to over complicate
[1:06:27] them a lot obviously.
[1:06:29] But if we're thinking about it just from
[1:06:30] this kind of meditative perspective when
[1:06:32] we're meditating it's like well the
[1:06:33] quality of the quality of the awareness
[1:06:36] that I have.
[1:06:37] This is again mindfulness kind of thing.
[1:06:40] But and consciousness is like it's
[1:06:43] what's the mind kind of like in that
[1:06:44] stage? Does that
[1:06:46] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Does
[1:06:48] that kind of make sense or
[1:06:53] >> Thank you Ajahn. We do have a number of
[1:06:55] online questions. Let's go to the first
[1:06:57] one and then see if we want to have any
[1:07:00] more questions in the hall. They're all
[1:07:01] quite interesting questions. So, the
[1:07:03] first question is just simply "Dear
[1:07:05] Ajahn
[1:07:06] why do we meditate? What purpose does
[1:07:08] meditation serve in the Buddhist
[1:07:10] spiritual path?
[1:07:13] Why are we here?
[1:07:14] >> [laughter]
[1:07:14] >> Yeah.
[1:07:16] >> Yeah, it's a really good question. Like
[1:07:18] um and I think so
[1:07:21] Okay, so there's a lot of you that might
[1:07:22] have been meditating for a long time and
[1:07:23] you go, "Oh, why would you ask that?"
[1:07:25] It's like I think you should be asking
[1:07:26] yourself that all the time.
[1:07:28] Like regularly. I don't care if you've
[1:07:30] been doing it for like 50 years, you
[1:07:32] should be kind of uh still asking
[1:07:34] yourself that question as well. Why do
[1:07:36] you actually meditate?
[1:07:38] Now,
[1:07:39] I don't want to give a prescriptive
[1:07:41] answer to this because I think everyone
[1:07:45] should be meditating for different
[1:07:46] reasons.
[1:07:48] Um people should have their own
[1:07:50] motivation and their own drive for why
[1:07:52] they want to do for why they want
[1:07:54] actually want to meditate.
[1:07:56] So,
[1:07:58] So, if you know, for some people for
[1:08:00] some people it might be look, you know,
[1:08:02] there's there's those on the spectrum of
[1:08:05] why we want to meditate. It's like I'm
[1:08:08] going for full enlightenment. I'm you
[1:08:10] know, I'm doing the whole thing. Some
[1:08:12] are just like, "Man, I'm I'm overworked
[1:08:15] and I'm stressed and I just need
[1:08:16] something to calm down."
[1:08:18] So, I think I think
[1:08:22] like
[1:08:23] everybody's different in why they
[1:08:25] actually meditate. And I think it's
[1:08:28] really something that you have to find
[1:08:29] an answer for yourself and you have to
[1:08:31] keep trying to find the answer.
[1:08:33] >> [sighs and gasps]
[1:08:34] >> But then I also think your answer should
[1:08:36] change. It should constantly change. Um
[1:08:41] so, so, not not constantly like
[1:08:44] day-to-day change, but uh as you
[1:08:47] progress uh in your practice, the
[1:08:49] reasons that you're doing it actually
[1:08:51] should be changing as well.
[1:08:53] So,
[1:08:55] yeah, I don't want to give like a
[1:08:56] prescriptive answer here because
[1:08:58] depending where you're at, that will be
[1:09:00] the reason why you want to practice.
[1:09:03] Depending what's going on in your life
[1:09:05] at any one particular time, that will be
[1:09:06] the reason of why you want to practice.
[1:09:09] So,
[1:09:11] usually,
[1:09:12] again, because I don't want to get
[1:09:13] prescriptive with it, I usually kind of
[1:09:15] if I'm going to give a specific answer
[1:09:17] about it, it's like I I give the answer
[1:09:19] from the other side of that of like,
[1:09:21] "Well, what happens if you don't?"
[1:09:24] What, you know, what happens to the
[1:09:26] quality of your mind, your attention,
[1:09:28] your consciousness if you don't do this
[1:09:30] thing?
[1:09:31] And that's I think that's something we
[1:09:33] can give a little bit more of a
[1:09:34] straightforward answer to. Maybe it's
[1:09:36] like usually usually if we don't
[1:09:39] practice, you know, uh we become more
[1:09:41] reactive.
[1:09:42] If we don't practice, we become more
[1:09:45] kind of like uh pulled around by the by
[1:09:48] the by the way that the world is kind of
[1:09:50] impacting us.
[1:09:52] Um you know, we you we have a little we
[1:09:55] have less kind of
[1:09:57] clear insight into the way that our mind
[1:10:01] is operating and and um
[1:10:04] So,
[1:10:05] while I can't give like a good answer of
[1:10:07] like why we should meditate, I think I
[1:10:09] can give a better answer of why like
[1:10:11] what happens if you don't.
[1:10:13] Most things just kind of like,
[1:10:15] you know, there's a very short answer to
[1:10:17] that is like we kind of have more
[1:10:19] suffering.
[1:10:20] Um and we don't really know that we're
[1:10:23] uh we might not even be really be aware
[1:10:24] how much we're actually suffering if we
[1:10:27] don't do this thing.
[1:10:28] So, yeah, it's it's like it's
[1:10:32] it's a really good question to ask and
[1:10:36] to ask constantly and keep asking
[1:10:38] yourself. Um
[1:10:40] um
[1:10:41] and you really should be coming up with
[1:10:43] a different answer like
[1:10:45] as you progress with the practice. So,
[1:10:47] yeah.
[1:10:48] Good question. That's really good
[1:10:49] question, though. Yeah.
[1:10:53] >> Thank you, Roger.
[1:10:55] Are there any more questions here in the
[1:10:56] hall?
[1:11:01] The next online question is if you have
[1:11:03] had a consistent practice as of
[1:11:06] observing the breath for quite a while.
[1:11:08] >> Yep.
[1:11:09] >> Will there be a natural evolution to an
[1:11:11] insight practice or does this need to be
[1:11:14] intentional?
[1:11:16] >> Mhm.
[1:11:23] It can be both, obviously. Um
[1:11:26] I think it's uh and depending on the
[1:11:29] like
[1:11:30] the characteristics of the individual if
[1:11:32] they will naturally start to gravitate
[1:11:34] more towards towards insight-based
[1:11:37] practices.
[1:11:38] Um
[1:11:39] look, there might be something where you
[1:11:41] start to by just by osmosis of listening
[1:11:45] to Dhamma teachings or reading books or
[1:11:48] talking to other practitioners
[1:11:51] about ways of perceiving and seeing
[1:11:56] seeing one's experience in a particular
[1:11:58] kind of way, i.e. things are
[1:11:59] impermanent, you know, things are
[1:12:01] impersonal in this way.
[1:12:03] Just by osmosis of listening to some
[1:12:06] things like that, even if you just have
[1:12:07] a simple breath practice, you might be
[1:12:09] starting to take some of those things on
[1:12:11] and that might be
[1:12:12] uh contributing more towards towards
[1:12:15] insight in this way.
[1:12:18] On the flip side of that, you might be
[1:12:19] very you know, you might be very much
[1:12:21] no, I need to do a specific kind of I I
[1:12:25] need to learn a new technique of
[1:12:27] meditation to develop a certain kind of
[1:12:29] insight.
[1:12:31] So
[1:12:33] yeah, I think it could probably go like
[1:12:35] one of either ways. Now
[1:12:38] I think one thing that we is that is
[1:12:40] very useful for us to do in our
[1:12:42] practice. And again, it getting comes
[1:12:43] back to that question of like, well, why
[1:12:45] do we practice? And you know, um
[1:12:49] one thing we always should be looking at
[1:12:50] is like like
[1:12:52] what area am I kind of lacking in at the
[1:12:56] moment? What area am I getting
[1:12:59] just generally like pulled around by the
[1:13:01] world? What area am I becoming confused
[1:13:04] about? What area is causing me stress?
[1:13:06] What area is causing me to have some
[1:13:09] sort of
[1:13:11] some sort of non-clear seeing of the
[1:13:13] world?
[1:13:15] And when we identify those areas, those
[1:13:18] are the areas where I'm like, "Okay,
[1:13:19] well, that's what I need to work on a
[1:13:21] little bit." I think I said that in the
[1:13:22] meditation tonight is like, "What part
[1:13:24] of your practice might maybe needs
[1:13:28] readjusting or recalibrating?"
[1:13:30] So, if for yourself, if you think,
[1:13:33] "Okay, I've had this practice on my
[1:13:35] breath for a long time and
[1:13:38] kind of you know, things are going well
[1:13:39] with that, but I don't really feel like
[1:13:41] I have
[1:13:43] decent insight or I'm getting you know,
[1:13:45] I practice when I sit down at I can
[1:13:47] meditate, I can calm my mind, but then
[1:13:49] when I go out in the world, kind of get
[1:13:51] dragged around by all these things, then
[1:13:53] yeah, look, you know, maybe you need to
[1:13:55] intentionally develop an insight
[1:13:57] practice.
[1:13:58] So, it's really a question of asking
[1:14:01] yourself where you might be might be
[1:14:03] lacking in some kind of way and then
[1:14:05] seeing, "Do I need to intentionally
[1:14:07] develop that thing or is that thing
[1:14:09] actually starting to naturally occur?"
[1:14:11] Um another example of that might be
[1:14:14] uh you know, you might just do be doing
[1:14:16] the breath meditation and naturally
[1:14:18] brings up a lot of um
[1:14:21] you know, like like joyous states in
[1:14:23] some kind of way, which has a knock-on
[1:14:25] effect to it's actually kind of easier
[1:14:27] for me to be kinder and more caring
[1:14:30] towards others because my mind's
[1:14:32] uplifted. So, look, maybe I don't need a
[1:14:34] like a compassion or a kindness
[1:14:36] practice.
[1:14:37] And that's fine. Some people might
[1:14:40] watch the breath, calm their mind down,
[1:14:42] but it's like, you know, I still can't
[1:14:43] really develop that kind of
[1:14:46] you know, caring, kindness, and motive
[1:14:48] kind of things towards others. So, it's
[1:14:50] like you might need to intentionally
[1:14:51] develop it.
[1:14:52] So,
[1:14:53] So, the sh- So, to wrap that up, you
[1:14:56] know, there's there might be times and
[1:14:58] then depending on the individual where
[1:14:59] they will naturally some of those
[1:15:01] qualities will naturally start to fall
[1:15:03] out of the practice.
[1:15:04] But, there'll be other times where you
[1:15:05] might see a shortcoming in your own
[1:15:07] practice where you do intentionally need
[1:15:09] to to develop those things. So, wherever
[1:15:12] you wherever you're kind of at, if you
[1:15:13] think you need one of those things, then
[1:15:14] intentionally do it. But, if it's
[1:15:16] naturally occurring, you know, just keep
[1:15:18] doing what you're doing.
[1:15:21] Thank you.
[1:15:26] Nobody wants to get in front of a
[1:15:28] microphone.
[1:15:29] Not tonight. Not in the room, but
[1:15:31] they're
[1:15:31] >> Yeah. That's okay.
[1:15:32] >> They're very curious behind the
[1:15:34] keyboards.
[1:15:34] >> Okay. Yeah, cool.
[1:15:36] >> Um can there be attachment to a specific
[1:15:40] type of meditation practice which then
[1:15:43] becomes a hindrance?
[1:15:46] >> Yeah.
[1:15:47] So, from a Buddhist perspective, um
[1:15:51] what we have we we do have something
[1:15:53] called the like uh and this is getting a
[1:15:55] little bit technical.
[1:15:57] We have something called the we pass and
[1:15:58] new key laces. Uh now, these are these
[1:16:01] are things that are
[1:16:04] the way you're developing good qualities
[1:16:06] of the mind or you're developing good
[1:16:07] qualities in meditation,
[1:16:10] but they start to become a a subtle
[1:16:13] hindrance to your meditation in this way
[1:16:16] or they they kind of get in the way in
[1:16:18] some ways.
[1:16:19] So,
[1:16:21] with uh a particular kind of practice,
[1:16:25] it might be developing a certain kind of
[1:16:29] blind spot in some ways.
[1:16:31] Um
[1:16:32] but the nature of a blind spot is that
[1:16:34] you don't see it. So, it's really hard
[1:16:37] to see it. And especially if something
[1:16:40] seems like you're developing and you are
[1:16:42] developing good qualities, but it's kind
[1:16:44] of developing a blind spot in another
[1:16:46] area. It's really hard to It's really
[1:16:48] hard to see this.
[1:16:50] So, you know, and look, I kind of
[1:16:53] uh I'm going to I'm going to
[1:16:56] throw a whole
[1:16:58] technique under the bus at the
[1:17:01] at the moment, and probably be very uh
[1:17:03] unfair and very un
[1:17:05] uh uncharitable towards it.
[1:17:07] But, there is a kind of there's there's
[1:17:10] a modern movement
[1:17:12] at the moment, and I'm just using this
[1:17:13] as an example. I'm not saying everybody
[1:17:15] that practices like this is has a has a
[1:17:17] blind spot or anything like that, not at
[1:17:19] all. I'm just using it as a as a
[1:17:21] specific example, um
[1:17:23] uh one among the very, very many.
[1:17:26] Uh there is a a bit more of a movement
[1:17:29] these days on people on people having a
[1:17:32] non-dual uh practicing non-dual
[1:17:35] practices, and you know, looking at the
[1:17:37] nature of the self, the me, the I behind
[1:17:41] the eyes, or whatever.
[1:17:42] And some people kind of taking that as
[1:17:47] uh if you just do this thing, that
[1:17:48] everything is fine in the practice. You
[1:17:50] don't need to do anything more.
[1:17:53] Um now,
[1:17:54] you know, look for you know, for some
[1:17:55] people that might be the case, but uh
[1:17:58] uh a lot of times what it's actually
[1:18:00] doing is, you know, you're
[1:18:03] you're kind of getting like stuck, and
[1:18:04] you're plateauing at a particular kind
[1:18:06] of level. You might have insight into
[1:18:08] one thing, um but that insight mightn't
[1:18:10] be very strong uh because it's not
[1:18:12] supported by not supported by being able
[1:18:15] to deeply still the mind, or it's not
[1:18:18] supported by
[1:18:19] um sustained knowing of that state, um
[1:18:24] so,
[1:18:26] while it can kind of feel as like, "Ah,
[1:18:27] I just need to like turn my attention
[1:18:29] back to the feeling of being a self, and
[1:18:31] that's all I actually ever need to do,
[1:18:32] and that's all I need to do in the
[1:18:34] practice."
[1:18:35] That can become like a hindrance in this
[1:18:38] way, because you think, "Well, this is
[1:18:39] all I have to do. I actually don't have
[1:18:41] to develop anymore."
[1:18:43] So, certain kinds of Yeah, so if you get
[1:18:47] like attached to one particular kind of
[1:18:50] method and you think doing this one
[1:18:52] method is the only way to practice,
[1:18:55] yeah, it will become a hindrance. It
[1:18:57] will become something where
[1:18:59] it starts to get in the way of your
[1:19:02] progress.
[1:19:04] So,
[1:19:05] I think with any
[1:19:07] with any kind of technique, you always
[1:19:10] with any meditation method, you always
[1:19:12] have to be going like, "How do I You
[1:19:15] know, how do I kind of improve on this?
[1:19:18] How do I maybe see things in a different
[1:19:20] way? How do I How do I deepen this
[1:19:23] practice even more?
[1:19:25] >> [sighs and gasps]
[1:19:26] >> What kind of layer of
[1:19:29] kind of delusion delusion do I still
[1:19:32] have in my eyes? What kind of blind spot
[1:19:35] actually is this practice like bringing
[1:19:37] up for me and how do I maybe uh look at
[1:19:40] this from another perspective or try a
[1:19:42] different way?
[1:19:44] Cuz I think
[1:19:47] it doesn't matter how deep you go in the
[1:19:51] practice.
[1:19:53] As soon as you go like as deep as you've
[1:19:55] ever been, you think, "Man, this is it.
[1:19:57] Like this is
[1:19:59] This is it. I've Oh.
[1:20:01] This is it."
[1:20:02] But then you kind of realize in about
[1:20:03] like 6 years of like, "Oh, no, there's
[1:20:05] like another level."
[1:20:06] You go down another level. So,
[1:20:09] I think sometimes when people hit that
[1:20:11] like deep level or have some kind of
[1:20:15] epiphanetic insight or something, they
[1:20:17] think, "That's it."
[1:20:18] And they don't progress anymore from
[1:20:20] that, so they get stuck in that
[1:20:22] technique or that method.
[1:20:24] So, I think it's like even if we have
[1:20:27] these like deep experiences and
[1:20:29] something about this technique really
[1:20:30] works, we should always be going as like
[1:20:34] but there's more.
[1:20:36] Like there's deeper levels. We can
[1:20:38] there's more we can strip away.
[1:20:40] Uh there's other ways that we can like
[1:20:43] practice to maybe develop other
[1:20:44] qualities. So
[1:20:46] yeah, I think
[1:20:48] a technique in that kind of way, if you
[1:20:51] take it as the
[1:20:53] like the be-all and end-all,
[1:20:56] yeah, it does become it does become a
[1:20:57] hindrance. Again, what we call a
[1:20:58] Vipassana kilesa, um something that gets
[1:21:01] in the way of insight.
[1:21:03] But if we're like if we remain open and
[1:21:05] flexible and go, "Okay, well, I've had
[1:21:07] this kind of experience and this this
[1:21:09] technique does this kind of thing, but I
[1:21:11] but I also need to develop in different
[1:21:13] ways." And we stay open in that way. I
[1:21:15] think we like I think it will develop
[1:21:17] and we won't we won't get stuck on those
[1:21:20] kind of
[1:21:22] in those ways of thinking of like,
[1:21:23] "Well, this technique actually does
[1:21:24] everything for me." Hopefully, that's
[1:21:26] clear. And again, I'm not throwing all
[1:21:28] non-dual like look at the self people
[1:21:31] under the bus. I'm just kind of seeing a
[1:21:32] bit more of a trend of those kind of
[1:21:37] practitioners now and it's like you go,
[1:21:39] "Like what about this other thing you
[1:21:41] develop?" No, I don't need to do that. I
[1:21:42] just do this.
[1:21:43] Okay, fine.
[1:21:45] So yeah, but so it's not it's it is a
[1:21:47] good practice, but you know,
[1:21:49] everything has its limitations. So does
[1:21:51] a lot of other Buddhist practices as
[1:21:52] well.
[1:21:55] >> Thank you, Ajahn.
[1:21:57] Um there's one last question
[1:22:00] um online. Are there any in the hall
[1:22:02] before we get to it?
[1:22:06] No one dares to ask a question cuz I
[1:22:08] want to leave as soon as possible.
[1:22:10] Um
[1:22:11] >> [laughter]
[1:22:12] >> this is an interesting one that I can
[1:22:13] relate to. How how do I stop my mind
[1:22:16] focusing on my tinnitus
[1:22:19] or tennitus while meditating? Or is it
[1:22:22] good to focus on the ringing?
[1:22:24] Yeah, so
[1:22:27] yeah, do you tinnitus as well?
[1:22:30] Do you have tinnitus as well?
[1:22:32] >> I actually use it as my meditation
[1:22:34] object.
[1:22:34] >> Okay.
[1:22:34] >> My my tinnitus here.
[1:22:36] >> Right. Okay, yeah. So, it's something I
[1:22:38] had
[1:22:39] a lot worse of when I was [snorts]
[1:22:41] younger as well. So, I had it really bad
[1:22:44] after my 20s.
[1:22:46] And so, but
[1:22:48] I
[1:22:50] So, there's different ways there's
[1:22:51] different ways you can go about it. Talk
[1:22:53] to many different practitioners about
[1:22:54] it. Uh one way one way is to yeah, use
[1:22:59] it use it as an object.
[1:23:01] Use it as an object and kind of
[1:23:04] using it as a way where it's like
[1:23:07] a kind of white noise. Like a kind of
[1:23:09] white noise and there there can be a
[1:23:11] silence within the white noise when
[1:23:13] you're when you're focusing on that.
[1:23:15] Another way at least what I kind of
[1:23:17] found is just to
[1:23:19] And again, this is just me. This is
[1:23:21] totally just me. So,
[1:23:23] try a few different things and see what
[1:23:26] what works.
[1:23:27] Uh I just got to the point where it's
[1:23:28] like I'm just I'm just not going to pay
[1:23:30] attention to this thing because I'm
[1:23:32] paying attention to this other thing.
[1:23:35] So, it might have been a different
[1:23:36] object of meditation. It's like
[1:23:38] whatever's going on like in here,
[1:23:41] um I'm just not paying attention to
[1:23:43] that. Uh and it gradually like and it
[1:23:46] gradually like abated. I I do have like
[1:23:49] hearing damage. Um
[1:23:51] and that's that's always something in
[1:23:53] there, but it's also just something I
[1:23:54] don't notice as much anymore because I
[1:23:57] spend a lot of time refocusing
[1:24:00] on another thing. But,
[1:24:02] Langdon, like what do you what do you
[1:24:03] think if you use it? Like why not? You
[1:24:05] got a microphone there and it's a
[1:24:07] different perspective. So,
[1:24:08] >> [laughter]
[1:24:10] >> Um well, for me it's there anyway, and I
[1:24:12] relate it to Ajahn Sumedho's sound of
[1:24:14] silence.
[1:24:15] >> Yeah.
[1:24:15] >> Yeah. Which he he so he talks about
[1:24:17] using what he refers to the sound of
[1:24:20] silence as it's object.
[1:24:21] >> Yeah.
[1:24:22] >> And so for me, it's always there. It's
[1:24:25] always constant.
[1:24:26] >> Yep.
[1:24:27] >> So it's very still in a way. There's a
[1:24:29] stillness in it.
[1:24:30] >> Yep.
[1:24:30] >> And as you said, there's a silence
[1:24:31] within it as well because of the
[1:24:33] stillness in it. So I find it as a very
[1:24:35] effective
[1:24:36] meditation object for myself.
[1:24:37] >> Yeah. Nice. Yeah.
[1:24:39] Yeah, so the like the main take home
[1:24:41] point with it is like um
[1:24:43] try different things with it because
[1:24:45] it's something that's kind of constantly
[1:24:47] there and um
[1:24:49] it's something you do have to get you
[1:24:51] know, if you do have like tinnitus is
[1:24:53] like you do have to get used to it.
[1:24:55] So
[1:24:56] So So it's either it's either get used
[1:24:59] to it by like like leaning into it or
[1:25:02] get used to it by
[1:25:04] leaning out of it like or or jumping out
[1:25:07] of the window from it
[1:25:08] like in my case which was a a bit more
[1:25:11] that way. So but
[1:25:12] yeah, bottom line try different try
[1:25:15] different things with it and what works
[1:25:16] for you
[1:25:17] just kind of stick with it.
[1:25:21] There's one
[1:25:22] one came came in the hall.
[1:25:25] >> Fabulous. Thank you.
[1:25:26] >> Yeah.
[1:25:28] We got
[1:25:30] Yeah, just just for the people online
[1:25:31] just so they can hear it.
[1:25:34] >> I'm very new to meditation but so so the
[1:25:37] question I have is
[1:25:38] should should you or is it okay to
[1:25:41] change the meditation object during the
[1:25:43] course of the meditation if the first
[1:25:46] meditation object isn't isn't working
[1:25:47] for you?
[1:25:48] >> Yeah.
[1:25:49] So do you mean within one meditation
[1:25:51] setting or or as in or as in I've been
[1:25:54] doing this thing for about a month or
[1:25:56] >> It could be one meditation setting.
[1:25:58] Like for what one meditation setting? So
[1:26:01] for example, if you're
[1:26:02] focusing on the breath but you're
[1:26:03] noticing yourself falling asleep then
[1:26:05] should you you know
[1:26:07] look look at a candle or something like
[1:26:09] that.
[1:26:09] >> Yeah, cool.
[1:26:10] So
[1:26:11] um
[1:26:13] So yeah, like it's fine. It's like it is
[1:26:16] fine to do that if you notice uh like
[1:26:19] like I said before about uh notice where
[1:26:21] you're having a shortcoming and do
[1:26:22] something that's like the opposite of
[1:26:24] that to to change it. So, as you said,
[1:26:26] if you're
[1:26:27] if you're watching the breath and you're
[1:26:28] starting to fall asleep, look, you might
[1:26:29] need to kind of
[1:26:31] wake up, open your eyes a little bit,
[1:26:32] and then start to focus on something
[1:26:34] else.
[1:26:35] So, like
[1:26:36] I think every now and again, like within
[1:26:38] one meditation session, it is just it's
[1:26:40] okay to change course because it's like
[1:26:43] I'm doing this thing today and it's
[1:26:44] really not working in this kind of way.
[1:26:47] Now, but you also don't want to fall
[1:26:48] onto the other extreme as well of I'm
[1:26:51] practicing and every time I practice I'm
[1:26:54] doing something like different. I sit
[1:26:56] down and do one thing,
[1:26:58] and then I kind of change halfway
[1:26:59] through.
[1:27:01] So, what I think is a a useful like a
[1:27:03] very like a useful rule of thumb is if
[1:27:06] you're just starting out, you know, you
[1:27:07] might have like three
[1:27:10] different techniques that you might find
[1:27:12] useful. Let's say, just very easy one is
[1:27:14] like well, you you watch the breath,
[1:27:16] maybe you do some loving-kindness, maybe
[1:27:18] you do some reflective and insight
[1:27:20] practices.
[1:27:22] So, a good way to good way to go about
[1:27:24] it is well, well, okay, for this session
[1:27:25] I'm just going to I'm just going to
[1:27:27] watch the breath. Like and I'm just
[1:27:28] going to watch the breath and I'm just
[1:27:29] going to do that for this session. And
[1:27:31] look, if things don't go great, yeah,
[1:27:33] that's fine.
[1:27:34] Another session you might go, well, I'll
[1:27:36] do a little bit of a little bit of each.
[1:27:38] Um little bit of each and you you just
[1:27:40] kind of stick to that.
[1:27:42] Um so, I think it's like a good habit to
[1:27:46] get into. And again, like different
[1:27:48] people practice in different ways, but a
[1:27:50] good habit to get into is like setting a
[1:27:52] bit of an intention before you start.
[1:27:54] >> [snorts]
[1:27:54] >> Okay, for this 10 minutes, I'm just
[1:27:57] going to watch the breath.
[1:27:59] If, you know, if I fall asleep, I fall
[1:28:00] asleep, but I'm just going to watch the
[1:28:02] breath.
[1:28:03] Um setting a bit of an intention is
[1:28:05] always good cuz that
[1:28:07] allows you to learn to like deal with
[1:28:09] thing uh deal with things by using that
[1:28:12] technique without sort of jumping to
[1:28:15] something else.
[1:28:16] So, I think you know, as a as a you
[1:28:19] know, as an 80/20 rule, that's pretty
[1:28:22] like it's pretty good to set that
[1:28:23] intention and try to stay with it. Now,
[1:28:25] but then there's the 20% of the time
[1:28:27] where it's like, "Yeah, this thing isn't
[1:28:28] working. Like I'm all over the place.
[1:28:30] I've sat down and like the breath thing
[1:28:33] like it just isn't working. I really
[1:28:35] need to try to do something else." Then
[1:28:36] that's kind of okay every now and again.
[1:28:39] >> [gasps]
[1:28:40] >> It's the nature of
[1:28:43] when you are new to the practice. And
[1:28:45] when And And honestly, like when I say
[1:28:47] new to the practice, I kind of mean like
[1:28:48] the first five years of your practice.
[1:28:51] Um
[1:28:52] you're going to try different things.
[1:28:54] Just like try a lot of different things
[1:28:56] and see what works.
[1:28:57] The real litmus test with this stuff is
[1:29:01] um
[1:29:02] if you try something and it helps you
[1:29:05] become calmer, become more stable,
[1:29:08] or it helps you develop a little bit of
[1:29:11] wisdom and insight into things, then
[1:29:12] that's then it's going in the right way.
[1:29:15] So, look
[1:29:17] So, who am I to say who am I to say that
[1:29:19] changing techniques mid-course
[1:29:22] is not going to lead to that. It might
[1:29:24] might lead to that.
[1:29:26] Like practice is something we really do
[1:29:28] measure by our own experience. So, if
[1:29:31] you do something and it works, it's
[1:29:32] like, "Yeah, cool. Like
[1:29:34] do that. Do that thing."
[1:29:37] But as I said, just as a useful
[1:29:38] heuristic, like an 80/20 kind of thing,
[1:29:40] try to set an intention before and try
[1:29:42] to at least stick with that. And then
[1:29:45] allow that 20% of the time to go, "Yeah,
[1:29:47] actually it's fine for me to
[1:29:50] switch um because um because you are
[1:29:53] going to need to be flexible in
[1:29:54] different times."
[1:29:56] But then in the on the other hand of
[1:29:57] that, like you don't want to be getting
[1:29:58] into the habit of every time something's
[1:30:01] going a little bit wrong, you keep
[1:30:02] switching and switching the technique.
[1:30:04] So, does that makes does that make
[1:30:05] sense?
[1:30:06] Yeah, cool.
[1:30:12] Okay, so that's that's the that's the
[1:30:14] top of the top of the hour kind of
[1:30:16] thing. So,
[1:30:17] very good. It's nice when there's a few
[1:30:19] questions. Any [snorts] questions
[1:30:20] tonight? So, yeah, nice when people
[1:30:22] stick around as well. There's you know,
[1:30:23] sometimes there's like a 8:30 exodus
[1:30:26] kind of thing. It's like 8:30 hit the
[1:30:27] bell and it's like everyone gets up and
[1:30:29] like runs out the door. So, it's nice
[1:30:31] when a few people stick around. So,
[1:30:33] yeah, I really appreciate you sticking
[1:30:34] around and asking questions and yeah,
[1:30:36] we'll see you next time. Yeah, night
[1:30:39] everyone.
