Transcript
[0:01] So good morning everyone and
[0:09] I would like to begin by reading um a
[0:12] passage from the teachings of the
[0:13] Buddha. There's a number of places where
[0:16] he talks about his kind of his awakening
[0:21] and this is the one that uh does so in
[0:24] the most social terms in the context of
[0:27] the challenges of his times and uh so
[0:30] it's kind of touching for me given that
[0:33] how challenging our times have become
[0:36] and uh I grew up with um uh my parents'
[0:41] generation had gone through World War II
[0:44] and And I talked to people who had
[0:45] experienced it very intimately in Asia
[0:49] and all over Europe and it was qu I
[0:53] heard a lot of stories a lot of a lot of
[0:56] was very prominent for me the whole
[0:58] experience and I was always you know
[1:01] somewhat relieved that we weren't going
[1:02] through the same level global level of
[1:05] violence and but uh in seeing all the
[1:08] challenges that's always hitting the
[1:10] world I don't think I've ever seen it
[1:13] get as close to the edge of what
[1:16] happened for World War II as they are
[1:18] currently at least in my way of reading
[1:20] what's going on.
[1:22] And so in that kind of context there's
[1:25] this wonderful I think very very I don't
[1:28] want to say wonderful exactly but a very
[1:30] evocative passage for
[1:35] um
[1:37] so it's a poem in the what's called the
[1:41] the sutanipa this one of the anthologies
[1:44] of ancient poetry and the Buddha says
[1:49] in this translation
[1:51] Um
[1:53] uh and in my little I translated but I
[1:56] couldn't find my translation
[1:58] easily today. So so I I'm going to
[2:01] paraphrase Taniser Abigu's translation.
[2:06] When embraced
[2:09] violence breeds danger and fear.
[2:14] look at people quarreling
[2:17] and I will tell how I experience dismay.
[2:22] We don't usually associate the Buddha
[2:24] with experiencing dismay. There's a way
[2:26] in which he's highly idealized figure
[2:30] that uh is always whether before he was
[2:33] he became enlightened or after he's
[2:34] always depicted as being completely
[2:36] perfect and dismay is not doesn't
[2:40] exactly represent perfection. So it's
[2:44] it's very human this description and uh
[2:47] and I I really appreciate this.
[2:51] Look at people quarreling and I will
[2:54] tell of how I experienced dismay
[2:59] seeing people floundering
[3:03] like fish in small puddles
[3:06] com uh in conflict with one another.
[3:11] As I saw this, fear came into me. Here's
[3:15] another very human side of the Buddha
[3:18] again in the perfection of how the
[3:19] Buddha is almost deified in the history
[3:22] of Buddhism and become such a being of
[3:25] perfect perfection and we don't
[3:28] associate that with someone who's
[3:29] afraid.
[3:31] So I saw all this violence and fear came
[3:34] to me.
[3:38] The world is entirely
[3:41] without a core.
[3:44] All directions are being tossed around.
[3:50] Wanting a harbor for myself, a safe
[3:53] place for myself, I saw nowhere I could
[3:56] go.
[4:00] Seeing nothing in the end
[4:04] but conflict,
[4:06] I felt discontent.
[4:10] And then and this is this is the his
[4:12] enlightenment. This is his answer to all
[4:15] this. He was afraid. He was dismayed.
[4:18] He had fear.
[4:23] And then I saw an arrow here.
[4:28] So very hard to see embedded in the
[4:31] heart.
[4:35] Overcome by this arrow,
[4:38] you run in all directions.
[4:42] But simply on pulling it out, you don't
[4:45] run and you won't sink.
[4:52] So his description of his awakening is
[4:55] that he saw something in his own heart
[4:58] that he calls an arrow. Some people try
[5:01] to call it a dart because it's fits
[5:03] better in there than an arrow, but it's
[5:06] a metaphor
[5:08] and uh and he sees something and he
[5:11] pulls it out. And in pulling it out,
[5:14] he's supposedly then free of his dismay,
[5:17] free of his fear, uh free of needing to
[5:20] find a safe harbor this uh in this world
[5:23] that doesn't provide that.
[5:26] And he sees in that in in seeing it in
[5:29] himself that it's been pulled out, he
[5:31] recognizes for others have this too. And
[5:34] this is why people are running around
[5:35] kind of like, you know, chickens without
[5:38] a head. Maybe none of you are that way.
[5:41] of course.
[5:44] And um and so it's a very uh and then
[5:47] the rest of that the poem describes the
[5:50] practices that he taught that uh to to
[5:53] be able to do this deep work
[5:56] and um and that's what I thought I would
[5:59] offer today. A little bit orientation
[6:02] about this. Uh it's a little bit for me
[6:04] a warm-up for the theme of the retreat
[6:07] that I start this week. So you'll get a
[6:10] a taste of it and we'll we'll spend a
[6:14] whole week on this kind of theme.
[6:18] And um so in this poem he uh the
[6:21] solution came when he saw something. And
[6:24] so this ability to see clearly, see
[6:27] deeply he saw something in his heart.
[6:30] And I know that for myself when I'm kind
[6:32] of agitated and spinning and preoccupied
[6:35] in my mind, I can't really see myself
[6:38] clearly. I can't see deep into my heart.
[6:41] I have to get quiet enough, settled
[6:43] enough. Uh the conditions have to be in
[6:46] place in such a way that I can see.
[6:50] And I think that this is what the Buddha
[6:52] teaches as well that part of practice is
[6:55] to create conditions so that we can see
[6:57] deeply
[6:59] and and uh I would say to see in a new
[7:02] way. One of the topics from last week's
[7:04] talk. So we can see in how can we see
[7:06] deeply? Can we see in a new way? Can we
[7:09] see in a way that brings peace to
[7:10] ourselves? And if if it starts with us,
[7:14] then perhaps we can offer it to the
[7:16] world around us as well, the world that
[7:18] needs peace.
[7:20] But if we continue to be one of the fish
[7:23] floundering in a small puddle and are
[7:26] dismayed or angry and afraid, it's all
[7:30] too easy that we create the conditions
[7:32] that perpetuate the challenges of this
[7:35] world rather than uh sol solving the
[7:38] challenges of the world. That the people
[7:40] who are afraid, people who are angry,
[7:43] people who are upset and despairing
[7:45] usually don't behave that wisely.
[7:48] usually don't uh don't see very clearly
[7:51] what's going on and there's all kinds of
[7:54] then opinions, attitude, judgments,
[7:58] biases, reactivity that comes up that
[8:01] doesn't usually contribute to greater
[8:04] peace in this world.
[8:06] So how do we see how do we settle fear,
[8:11] dismay? How do we set settle uh
[8:14] reactivity enough so we can start seeing
[8:16] more clearly?
[8:19] So uh and so the theme of the retreat is
[8:22] that in order to do that uh uh there's
[8:26] what we what we want to see deeply in
[8:29] this tradition of insight but then uh
[8:33] there's the conditions that prepare us
[8:35] to see well
[8:37] and it's kind of nice I think or per I
[8:40] think maybe more than nice maybe there's
[8:41] something profoundity to it that we
[8:45] cultivate the opposite of What we want
[8:48] to see and in this way what we want to
[8:52] cultivate according you know to in this
[8:54] teaching of the retreat is we want to
[8:57] cultivate
[8:59] a a deep inner stability a steadiness
[9:03] that in the tradition is often called
[9:05] samadei
[9:06] u sometimes in English called
[9:08] concentration but that misses the real
[9:11] real benefit or what's really being
[9:14] cultivated here and the purpose that's
[9:15] being cultivated we We want to be able
[9:17] to be a strong, stable inner life,
[9:21] steady, peace, quiet so that we can see
[9:25] clearly. And the metaphor I like to use
[9:28] for this is the difference between
[9:30] making yourself into a tripod so the
[9:33] telescope can look at the moon versus
[9:35] standing on a train and train car train
[9:39] wag you know you know is moving along
[9:42] and um and you're holding that telescope
[9:44] in your hand trying to focus on the
[9:47] moon. It's going to be very hard in that
[9:49] kind of situation. back of a pickup
[9:51] truck, pickup, maybe a back of a pickup
[9:53] truck going over a bump a bumpy dirt
[9:55] road, you know, like trying to see the
[9:57] moon.
[9:59] You need to be still, stopped, quiet,
[10:02] and then there a tripod because even
[10:04] you're standing still, you can't hold a
[10:06] telescope still enough.
[10:08] So our inner life is so precious and so
[10:12] valuable that we really need to have the
[10:15] stability really well. So we have to
[10:18] stop something. We have to stop you know
[10:21] the all the driving down the bumpy roads
[10:24] of our minds and our life so that we can
[10:28] somehow you know see see clearly.
[10:33] [clears throat] The other thing that the
[10:34] Buddhist tradition emphasizes the second
[10:36] thing that's the opposite of what's
[10:38] going to be seen is uh it's really
[10:41] helpful to to discover to to cultivate a
[10:45] sense of well-being.
[10:48] cultivate happiness.
[10:50] And some people find this is
[10:51] counterintuitive
[10:53] because you know I'm desparing and the
[10:55] world is falling apart. The sky is
[10:57] falling and we better just run around
[10:59] and the last thing you want to do is be
[11:01] happy because that somehow denies how
[11:04] difficult the world is. That denies
[11:07] what's how difficult my life is. And uh
[11:10] and I have to hold on to how difficult
[11:12] it is. I have to hold on to being a
[11:13] victim or have to hold on to the the the
[11:16] understanding of the challenge and
[11:18] because somehow that's supposed to
[11:20] provide the solution to turn away from
[11:22] it and be happy is um not going to do
[11:25] it.
[11:27] But in fact, what the Buddha says is
[11:29] that uh you it's really important to be
[11:32] able to discover some way in your own
[11:34] way to be able to not only be settled
[11:37] and stable, but find a way to be uh have
[11:41] some sense of well-being.
[11:43] Don't sacrifice that. Don't overlook
[11:46] that. Don't disinish the importance of
[11:48] it because it's with a sense of
[11:51] well-being that you're not going to be
[11:54] so agitated that you
[11:57] uh can't see. Well, there's something
[12:00] about a basic well-being, not a happy
[12:03] goluckiness that you're just kind of
[12:04] like, you know, whistling and delighted
[12:07] and skipping around and then maybe you
[12:10] don't see deeply either, but uh and
[12:13] certainly not a polyianish happiness
[12:15] that kind of looks at everything
[12:17] through, you know, sugary eyes or
[12:19] something, but uh to really uh have a a
[12:23] well-being that continues this process
[12:25] of settling, settling the heart,
[12:28] settling the stomach, settling the
[12:30] shoulders, a sense of well-being because
[12:33] it clears the eyes to be able to see
[12:35] more clearly. And it allows us to see
[12:38] what's difficult
[12:41] in a way we can't be with seeing what's
[12:44] difficult if we are already upset and
[12:48] anxious and and struggling.
[12:50] So to cultivate a sense of well-being,
[12:53] that's one of the conditions we want to
[12:55] develop.
[12:57] And the third is um uh I call
[13:00] self-confidence
[13:02] uh inner strength that uh we want to be
[13:05] able to be very kind of a certain kind
[13:08] of inner dignity in our sense of value
[13:10] and importance a kind of confidence in
[13:13] our humanity in our beingness.
[13:16] uh to not um be dismissive of ourselves,
[13:19] not undervalue ourselves and not uh be
[13:23] caught in insecurity or uh sense of
[13:27] unworthiness but to cultivate a sense of
[13:30] worthiness or value or confidence in
[13:33] oneself, inner strength for ourselves.
[13:36] strength of practice, then strength of
[13:39] seeing, strength of honesty, strength of
[13:42] being able to be present without being
[13:44] agitated.
[13:46] Uh, another way of saying this is is is
[13:49] we want to be able to expand our
[13:52] personal capacity to be with what is
[13:55] challenging. So that our capacity to be
[13:57] most challenging is we can see clearly
[14:01] rather than shutting down getting
[14:03] agitated so we don't see running away.
[14:07] We want to be able to stand there in a
[14:09] confident way with being the challenges
[14:13] that we see in ourselves and in the
[14:15] world around us.
[14:17] So the idea is to cultivate these three
[14:20] and it can't be that bad to cultivate
[14:22] stability, well-being and
[14:25] self-confidence.
[14:27] And so all a lot of Buddhist practice
[14:30] can be subsumed under these three
[14:32] different care qualities.
[14:34] And when these are cultivated, then
[14:38] we're ready to see in a new way. And
[14:41] there's three things that tradition
[14:42] emphasizes that we can see. And I I the
[14:47] way I'm introducing it to you today I
[14:49] feel is very important because when I
[14:51] practiced in Thailand and Burma uh these
[14:55] three new ways of seeing ways of seeing
[14:59] were emphasized over and over and over
[15:00] again as if you could just do it from
[15:03] day one is just you know just like you
[15:05] can just do this you know just do it
[15:07] right away this is the truth this is
[15:09] what's really true and just see this way
[15:11] and and just kind of get over it or
[15:16] And um and I think it does people some
[15:19] people a tremendous disservice. It can
[15:21] actually make the whole life much more
[15:24] difficult. So um the uh the first way of
[15:30] seeing in a new way is to see change.
[15:36] To see that everything is changing all
[15:38] the time. That there's nothing that's
[15:41] permanent. Everything is changing.
[15:44] Now, we kind of know that for people who
[15:48] go through the kind of challenging the
[15:50] Buddha saw in the world that everyone's
[15:53] in conflict, there's war zones. Um I
[15:56] talked to someone told me recently that
[15:58] their parents
[16:01] um uh lost everything
[16:04] two times. They lost it in their home
[16:06] country when there was war. They moved
[16:09] to another country, restarted their
[16:11] whole life. And the same thing happened
[16:13] to there and they had to go to a third
[16:15] country in order to kind of start their
[16:18] life all over again. So they know things
[16:21] change. They know that things change
[16:22] radically. Some some children grow up in
[16:26] war zones where things are always
[16:28] changing, always horrible. And to tell
[16:31] them, you know, oh, things change, just
[16:33] accept it.
[16:35] I mean, I mean, it makes the whole thing
[16:37] worse. You can't, you know, that just
[16:39] makes it terrible to say when change is
[16:42] awful and challenging and maybe even
[16:45] deadly for people, what they see around
[16:47] them.
[16:49] And um and I've heard Buddhists uh
[16:52] people have come to me as a Buddhist
[16:54] teacher and say, "Gil, I uh can you just
[16:57] remind people that everything's
[16:58] changing? It's a Buddhist teaching.
[17:00] Everything's impermanent.
[17:02] [clears throat] Somehow that's supposed
[17:03] to make it better when the situation is
[17:05] really awful."
[17:06] >> [clears throat]
[17:07] >> And I think that it can do a disservice
[17:11] and it's [clears throat] the right thing
[17:12] for deep insight to see a new way. So
[17:16] that's why it's so important to be
[17:18] prepared for it to have a context for
[17:20] doing that. [clears throat]
[17:22] The second one is that um is to see have
[17:28] in a see in a new way suffer suffering.
[17:32] There is a lot of suffering in this
[17:33] world and Buddhists emphasize how
[17:35] important it is to see it and not just
[17:38] but not just to see it but see it in a
[17:40] new way. See it in a useful way.
[17:44] There too there are people whose lives
[17:46] are unmitigated suffering uh of some
[17:49] form or others. I mean I people come and
[17:51] talk to me. It's just heartbreaking what
[17:54] some people are dealing with in their
[17:56] lives and um and it just kind of there's
[17:59] no seems to be no no end of suffering
[18:02] and suffering for them. There's a few
[18:05] people I've met in my my teaching career
[18:08] who uh have some kind of condition where
[18:11] no pain they have a lot of pain and no
[18:14] pain medication work works for them. So
[18:16] they're just living their whole body is
[18:18] racked in pain and and uh sometimes they
[18:21] consider suicide because that's
[18:23] unmitigated
[18:26] and uh so to say from day one you know
[18:29] Buddhism Buddhists you know in Buddhism
[18:31] just look at your suffering life is
[18:32] suffering you know some people are going
[18:35] to hear that and give up all hope
[18:39] but if you can see in a new way after
[18:42] there's a very clear context for it of
[18:45] stability wealth well-being and real
[18:48] confidence and value in oneself. There's
[18:50] a whole new possibility that's possible
[18:53] with seeing suffering.
[18:57] So, so the third uh kind of called it's
[19:01] called an insight sometimes a way of
[19:03] seeing or perception that we have can
[19:05] have is uh to see uh something that's
[19:09] called not self often mistransated
[19:14] as with the idea that there really is no
[19:16] self
[19:18] and that's not what the Buddha was
[19:19] saying rather he's saying uh that
[19:24] uh There's nothing in the world
[19:28] that's worth or is appropriate to make
[19:32] claim to that this is myself. This is my
[19:36] true self.
[19:38] You you're important. You're valuable.
[19:41] You are a person. You're you're we're
[19:43] not denying you. But the the movement of
[19:46] the mind to latch on to something and
[19:49] then be defined by that thing, that's
[19:52] one of the sources of suffering.
[19:55] And so there's a way of seeing this very
[19:58] fact, this very thing, this thing of
[20:01] there's not there's a there's nothing
[20:03] here that I can claim as the self.
[20:08] Again, if you say that they want to
[20:10] someone, some people their sense of self
[20:13] has been yanked away, destroyed,
[20:15] devalued.
[20:17] They they are confused. they've never
[20:20] had a chance to really
[20:23] matter in anybody's life. Um, and to say
[20:26] that just kind of makes it just hopeless
[20:28] again, just difficult for them.
[20:31] I was very touched many some years ago
[20:33] when um someone I know who was uh taking
[20:38] inner city kids out into the to go
[20:42] camping in place in forest where they'd
[20:44] never been in the natural world before.
[20:45] their always and and they found out that
[20:48] one of them one of the kids had um was a
[20:51] was his birthday. So [clears throat]
[20:53] they had a birthday party and the kid
[20:56] said, "I've never had a birthday party."
[20:59] I mean, imagine a kid never having a
[21:02] birthday party, never being cared for
[21:03] that way.
[21:06] And um
[21:08] so um
[21:12] so the the the idea in Buddhism is to in
[21:15] this insight insight practice the
[21:17] insights of insight practice is to be
[21:20] able to see change in a new way to see
[21:25] suffering in a new way to see not self
[21:29] see self in a new way
[21:32] but only after you've done the
[21:34] cultivation you prepared the ground for
[21:36] it. It's not it's not it is not supposed
[21:40] to be a belief you have. And that's kind
[21:42] of how I heard it when I was in
[21:44] Southeast Asia over and over again that
[21:47] this is the truth. This is what's really
[21:49] there and you should believe it and
[21:51] should live accordingly.
[21:53] And uh and it's a little bit uh uh that
[21:56] way because the way they're classically
[21:58] talked about is they're called
[22:00] characteristics.
[22:03] And um uh and in early English
[22:06] translations it was called what was it
[22:08] called? Um what's the marks that Jesus
[22:11] has on his hands called when from being
[22:14] from being nailed what? Stigmata. Yeah.
[22:17] The three stigmatas of Buddhism.
[22:20] That's a kind of curious thing. Three
[22:23] stigmatas. The three that hurts.
[22:27] But um but the three characteristics and
[22:29] what they say these are the three
[22:31] characteristics of reality.
[22:34] which makes it an absolute existential
[22:36] metaphysical truth about our existence.
[22:39] Everything is marked by these three
[22:41] characteristics. The Buddha never said
[22:44] that. He was never interested in these
[22:46] wide big sweeping statements about
[22:49] reality itself, ultimate statements like
[22:51] this. Uh the Buddha called them
[22:54] perceptions, ways of seeing.
[22:57] And uh it's a very different feeling
[22:59] that more has to do with how you see
[23:02] than it has to do about the nature of
[23:03] reality. So that's why I call it a new
[23:06] way of seeing.
[23:08] So we can see change
[23:12] uh in such a way that we understand
[23:16] the opportunity in change
[23:19] as difficult as it can be is to find our
[23:22] freedom in relationship to it. to not
[23:25] cling, not hold on to it, pretending
[23:27] it's permanent, trying to make it
[23:29] permanent, trying to grip, trying to
[23:32] close down, trying to run away, but to
[23:34] be able to stay there and be present for
[23:38] all the change in a with freedom.
[23:42] And for that that's what the Buddha
[23:44] talked about pulling out the arrow that
[23:46] the the what one way or the other the
[23:50] primary arrow for the in the Buddhist
[23:52] language it's a met it's a metaphor is
[23:55] um what in English uh it can be called
[23:59] thirst
[24:01] that there's a thirsting there's a
[24:02] strong kind of craving strong kind of
[24:05] attachment to something really we're
[24:07] driven by drivenness
[24:09] that we can't be if we're driven If
[24:12] we're if we're addicted to something,
[24:16] then it's very hard to be free in the
[24:19] midst of all the change. If we're
[24:21] addicted to or or wedded to in a strong
[24:24] way to anything in the world being has
[24:28] to be this way in order for me to be
[24:30] happy, then when that thing disappears,
[24:33] uh we're crushed.
[24:36] There is a freedom that Buddhism says
[24:39] that emphasizes a different kind of
[24:41] well-being and happiness that comes from
[24:43] letting go of what our contribution is
[24:46] to suffering. The world is a hard place.
[24:50] It's hard to be human.
[24:52] But we can where we can make the most
[24:54] difference is what we can do to
[24:57] contribute. And the and the
[24:59] representative kind of metaphor our
[25:01] contribution is thirst. is this dri
[25:05] drivenness. So what is that? Can we find
[25:07] that arrow? Can we pull out that thirst?
[25:10] Can we pull out that drivenness? And
[25:12] what do we see then? And one of the
[25:15] things we see is we see still see
[25:17] change, but we also see our freedom in
[25:20] the middle of it. And uh and then change
[25:23] becomes something we can work with
[25:26] rather than resist. something we can we
[25:29] can uh uh you know maybe help other
[25:32] people then because if we we've found
[25:34] our freedom with it
[25:37] and then with this thing about the
[25:38] suffering there's a lot of suffering in
[25:40] the world and we want to see our
[25:43] suffering in particular in a new way and
[25:47] in seeing it ourselves in a new way
[25:49] maybe we can see other people's
[25:51] suffering in a new way and make a
[25:53] difference so for me there was a time in
[25:56] my life when I a Buddhist monk living in
[25:59] monasteries where I saw my suffering in
[26:02] a new way. I said I I knew I suffered a
[26:04] lot and my early years of Buddhist
[26:06] practice was was mostly I didn't do
[26:09] meditation practice. I did suffering
[26:11] practice
[26:13] and um and it was actually invaluable to
[26:17] for me to do that because I just stayed
[26:19] present. I didn't try to run away from
[26:22] it. I didn't try to deny it and I didn't
[26:24] have enough wherewithal or knowledge
[26:27] that I could do anything about it. And I
[26:29] was so lucky that I wasn't trying to fix
[26:31] it. And slowly that being just being
[26:34] present, something softened in me,
[26:37] something gave away in me. And one of
[26:40] the things that rose in its place was
[26:42] compassion because I needed it so much.
[26:45] There was so much suffering. And so
[26:46] slowly something relaxed and relaxed,
[26:49] meditating day after day. And then this
[26:52] compassion arose and that's a wonderful
[26:55] way to see my oneself and see the world.
[26:58] And then at some point I saw that for me
[27:01] that uh kind of at the core at the
[27:03] center my little arrow
[27:06] in my heart was a certain kind of
[27:09] attachment to self clinging to self
[27:12] holding on to self for dear life that I
[27:15] was surprised to discover this this
[27:17] little seed deep inside that seemed to
[27:19] be that's that's the only way I could
[27:21] characterize it. And I began to
[27:24] understand that it it didn't have to be
[27:26] there. there was an alternative to that.
[27:29] [clears throat] But I could only do that
[27:31] by really seeing the dart, seeing that
[27:33] deep suffering.
[27:35] And uh it was when I saw it in myself
[27:38] that that was the consequence of doing
[27:41] that and I say this partly to defend the
[27:43] value of seeing this and doing this
[27:44] inner work. I hope this works to be is
[27:48] uh the consequence of doing this
[27:52] is I decided to dedicate my life to to
[27:56] bringing Buddhism to people
[27:59] and so you know to some degree you're
[28:01] here because of that
[28:04] so this is not the example of you know
[28:06] go you know I'm not the model of someone
[28:08] that goes in deep you know to see
[28:11] suffering to see the you know do this
[28:14] inner deep inner work and then just go
[28:16] live in an enlightened retirement
[28:18] someplace.
[28:19] You know, this work is consequential. It
[28:22] can really change you in a deep way. If
[28:24] you can really see your own suffering
[28:27] and um and uh and then you start seeing
[28:31] as we see see suffering, we see the
[28:33] clinging, we see the holding. Uh we
[28:36] start seeing
[28:38] that this this attachment to self,
[28:39] clinging to self is not needed. And we
[28:43] start seeing how there's a lot of things
[28:46] that go on in this world. And to see it,
[28:49] well, this is interesting, but I don't
[28:51] have to make a self out of it.
[28:53] Constructive construct a self, construct
[28:56] a self- definitionf out of it. I need to
[28:59] be responsible for it. For example, in
[29:00] myself, you know, if I'm irritated,
[29:04] uh, I don't have to say, you know, this
[29:07] is my true nature. I'm an irritated
[29:09] person.
[29:11] And that but rather I see this is
[29:13] irritation. There's irritation happening
[29:15] now. This is how it is now. I have to be
[29:17] careful with it.
[29:19] Uh there was a there was once upon a
[29:21] time when I had met which was 20 or 21
[29:24] 20
[29:26] that something happened in the world
[29:27] that from in my life that I I um got to
[29:32] be really happy
[29:34] and uh it was kind of induced by the
[29:36] circumstances but it it lasted for some
[29:38] months and um and I had this idea I'm
[29:43] never going to be be depressed again.
[29:46] I'm now just a happy person. I was
[29:48] defined myself by it and then I became
[29:51] more depressed than I'd ever been in my
[29:53] life in the in the wake of that. And uh
[29:57] so this idea of making a self making a
[30:00] self-defin this is who I am. I know who
[30:03] I am.
[30:05] I would say now I know who I am because
[30:07] I know these different forces and states
[30:10] and thoughts and beliefs inside of me
[30:13] well enough. So I see them. I take them
[30:16] into account. I'm careful with them. I'm
[30:18] wise about them hopefully, but I don't
[30:20] latch on to them. These define who I
[30:23] really am.
[30:25] And that makes a world of difference
[30:27] that belongs in that world of freedom. I
[30:30] found a degree of freedom.
[30:32] So in this context then
[30:36] we cultivate
[30:40] stability,
[30:41] steadiness. We sit and meditate. We
[30:44] stand in a way that where our feet our
[30:48] feet are firmly on the ground. We sit in
[30:51] a chair with stability.
[30:54] Uh I see I meet with people who sit in
[30:56] chairs to talk to me. And one of the
[30:59] things sometimes I point out to people
[31:01] is how they're sitting and um and some
[31:04] people are sitting ways that don't
[31:06] represent stability and strength and
[31:08] confidence. The opposite is actually
[31:10] being being expressed. And so
[31:13] occasionally I gave people the exercise,
[31:15] I wonder if you could just sit up
[31:17] straighter, step sit away from the back
[31:19] rest. Could you put both your feet flat
[31:22] on the ground rather than crossed? Um,
[31:24] you seem to be collapsing in your chest.
[31:26] What would be like if you had your chest
[31:28] more open? And and then I say, "Now sit
[31:32] and close your eyes and feel that for a
[31:33] while.
[31:35] What that's like for you. Thank you very
[31:38] much. Now you can go back and sit sit
[31:40] back where you were.
[31:42] and they do and said now what's the
[31:44] difference between that and their eyes
[31:46] go wide and they say wow that's
[31:48] different I had no idea that my ordinary
[31:52] posture I'm giving up on myself the
[31:54] ordinary posture actually is the very
[31:56] creates the energies inside the
[31:58] conditions the feelings inside that
[32:01] actually make my life more difficult but
[32:03] if I can sit in an upright strong stable
[32:06] posture it creates a very different way
[32:09] of being in the world being with myself.
[32:12] It allows me to be present and anchored
[32:14] and not batted around so much by the
[32:17] world.
[32:19] So to create stability and strength,
[32:21] we're allowed to do that. Sometimes in
[32:23] Buddhism when we emphasize when it when
[32:26] this idea of no self is emphasized, some
[32:29] people kind of take it to mean that
[32:31] you're not supposed to count. You're
[32:33] supposed to just kind of disappear.
[32:35] you're supposed to kind of be self-
[32:36] aacing and kind of not be noticed
[32:39] anything because otherwise you're
[32:41] exerting yourself.
[32:43] The Buddha was not someone who did that.
[32:45] The Buddha was someone you always knew
[32:47] he was there.
[32:49] He he was he was there fully and
[32:51] present.
[32:53] So you you can do that if you want to be
[32:56] stable and create really good conditions
[32:59] for you to be able to see well see the
[33:02] world well. see yourself. Well, find a
[33:05] strong stable way of holding your body
[33:09] even.
[33:11] And then how about your mind? Can you
[33:13] steady your mind? Some minds are jumping
[33:16] around all the time from one thing to
[33:18] the other. it. I I to myself I I was
[33:22] surprised when I started doing the kind
[33:24] of web surfing kind of thing and and
[33:28] doing the clicks
[33:30] that when I stopped doing it, I was I
[33:33] thought, wait a minute, my I've lost my
[33:36] mind.
[33:37] [clears throat]
[33:39] Uh my mind now is keeps moving in the
[33:42] same way. Just what's next? What's next?
[33:44] What's next? Even though the laptop is
[33:46] closed. Wow, that was quick. It didn't
[33:50] take long for the brain to be
[33:51] reconditioned and have this momentum of
[33:54] looking, looking, looking looking. And
[33:56] there are some people who spend all day
[33:58] on the laptop, maybe for work. And we
[34:03] some of us I mean there are times I
[34:04] haven't recognized the effect something
[34:07] like being on the screen has been until
[34:09] I go to meditate because it's so built
[34:12] into kind of how I see the world
[34:15] sometimes that I don't recognize how
[34:17] it's affected me. So the same thing when
[34:19] people don't take when people sit in a
[34:21] collapsed posture on a chair and that's
[34:24] the usual way in which they sit. They
[34:26] don't recognize that that that's what's
[34:28] going on. They need to sit up straight
[34:30] and strong to be able to recognize that.
[34:33] The same thing the n the 2026 mind that
[34:38] most of us have now.
[34:41] If you could just have
[34:45] a 1966 mind,
[34:50] you know,
[34:52] you your mind would you you'd like think
[34:54] you were awakened. You think you've been
[34:56] enlightened. Wow. Oh, I mean this is
[34:58] different. Um, you know, the whole world
[35:02] was so different
[35:04] and uh it affects the mind. It affects
[35:06] how the mind works and and um you know
[35:10] there's a lot of research now and and a
[35:12] lot of ad you know a lot of uh um effort
[35:17] to manipulate what's called the
[35:19] attention economy.
[35:22] Imagine there are people's job is to
[35:26] clearly manipulate your attention so you
[35:29] click so you do. And um you know there
[35:32] was a time when there was there was no
[35:34] one had that job and you could just go
[35:37] about go about your life on the farm and
[35:40] take care of the animals and take care
[35:41] of the plants and and there was nothing
[35:44] keeping you distracted from that. You
[35:46] just did your thing.
[35:50] So uh and then cultivating well-being
[35:56] and we do that in Buddhism sometimes by
[35:58] cultivating loving kindness. We do it
[36:00] sometimes through concentration
[36:02] practices that create the kind of
[36:04] unification and gathering together. We
[36:07] do it by beginning to appreciate there's
[36:09] more joy in life than we take advantage
[36:12] of. the simple joy of the blue sky or
[36:16] the, you know, the the beautiful tree
[36:20] and a neighbor who smiles. And there's
[36:23] there's a lot of small things that we
[36:26] miss if we're constantly preoccupied.
[36:29] But to take slow down enough to begin
[36:31] appreciating, there's a lot of things to
[36:33] appreciate here. If the whole experience
[36:36] of the world is seen through the the
[36:39] filter through the narrow little world
[36:42] of the news that happens on your laptop.
[36:46] Uh that gives you a very skewed
[36:48] perception of what the world is like. I
[36:51] was very delighted recently to uh talk
[36:53] to a person uh who uh I think was born
[36:57] in Haiti and was Haitian background and
[37:01] goes back there regularly and brings her
[37:03] children to Haiti. 80. And she said,
[37:06] "Yeah, in the capital, in the big
[37:08] cities, it's dangerous. But in the
[37:10] countryside, I let my kids run around
[37:12] and play unsupervised.
[37:15] It's a beautiful country with beautiful
[37:17] people. There's a rich culture and and
[37:20] um and I said, "Wow, I just knew Haiti
[37:25] by the headlines
[37:27] and uh and by the news." And so I re I
[37:30] realized how biased I was in my p
[37:33] perception of that country because my
[37:35] perception was completely shaped by the
[37:39] terrible news that comes out of it which
[37:40] I don't want to deny that's happening
[37:43] but it had limited my ability to see it
[37:45] and to hear this woman's joy of bringing
[37:48] her kids back there and far from the
[37:51] capital far from the places of violence
[37:53] and and how she really and she she
[37:55] represented that culture in such a
[37:57] beautiful inspiring today
[37:59] that I was so happy to see, oh, there's
[38:02] more to this world than what we see
[38:04] through the news.
[38:07] And um and then this mystery of self
[38:13] and the mystery
[38:15] of being so at ease,
[38:19] so peaceful, so subtle, so confident, so
[38:23] stable
[38:24] that our mind can stop playing the self
[38:28] game.
[38:31] The mind can stop seeing the world
[38:34] through the filter of me, myself, and
[38:36] mine.
[38:38] can stop seeing without constantly
[38:40] judging and evaluating and criticizing
[38:43] what we think is myself.
[38:46] I mean, it's remarkable what's possible.
[38:50] So, to summarize this,
[38:53] we cultivate the opposite of what we're
[38:56] what we what we eventually see.
[39:00] And um and I because we're not supposed
[39:02] to
[39:04] try to try to see it this way. We're not
[39:06] supposed to try to see change. We're not
[39:09] supposed to try to see suffering. We're
[39:12] not supposed to try to see uh not self.
[39:16] Sometimes I call it revelation.
[39:18] Do the cultivation practice until it
[39:21] becomes obvious to you, until it comes
[39:24] to you. And for sometimes in this world,
[39:27] it'll come to you sooner than you expect
[39:30] than than what you want. So cultivate
[39:33] these three good things soon
[39:37] because you don't know when you're going
[39:39] to need them to be able to respond well
[39:41] to how the world world changes and to be
[39:45] able to be wise and contribute to the
[39:47] world rather than being part of the
[39:50] problem.
[39:53] So those are my thoughts for today. I
[39:57] hope that uh
[39:59] that inspired you a little bit to do the
[40:01] cultivation part. The this this the
[40:04] third part doesn't really matter too
[40:06] much. Um you don't have to think about
[40:09] it too much until it's revealed,
[40:12] but now you're prepared for the
[40:14] revelation.
[40:16] So, thank you all very much.
