Hello again,
Welcome.
Now this is the second video.
The first one was called Be Absolutely Still.
And this one is the second.
In relation to the first.
Be absolutely still.
The distractions.
So I'm going to list And many of these I'm sure you'll identify with.
And we'll have a look at them each by one by one.
And I'll comment where necessary as we go down the list.
So the first one,
What prevents us from being still?
The Constant Habit.
Doing.
Feeling that something always needs to be accomplished.
The belief that being still is unproductive.
A mind that is continually looking for the next thing.
The need to solve,
Fix,
Understand or control.
Replaying what has already happened.
Anticipating what might happen next.
The discomfort of having nothing to focus on.
The fear of what might be noticed in stillness.
Restlessness that arises when familiar distractions disappear.
Belief that thoughts must be stopped before stillness is possible.
Becoming involved in every thought that arises.
Following sensations,
Emotions,
Memories and stories.
The constant search for stimulation.
Reaching for the phone,
Music,
Conversation or entertainment.
Mistaking mental activity for being alive and engaged.
I'll say that again.
Mistaking mental activity for being alive and engaged.
Constantly busy.
Constantly busy.
And that's the nature of the mind.
The identity built around I am someone who desires.
The subtle desire to achieve stillness.
A subtle desire to achieve stillness.
Now what does this mean?
It means that even when someone sits down intending to be still,
The mind can turn stillness into another goal to accomplish.
I need to quieten my mind.
I should be more peaceful.
Am I still enough yet?
I'm not doing this meditation properly.
I need to get into a deeper state.
So the person appears to be doing nothing externally,
But internally there is still effort.
Striving.
Measuring and seeking.
And this is the paradox.
The attempt to achieve stillness can itself become another form of identity.
Going back to this list.
Previous one.
I've just highlighted again the subtle desire to achieve stillness.
Next one.
Expecting stillness to feel a certain way.
Judging the present moment as not being enough.
Resistance to simply allowing things to be just as they are.
The belief that something is missing from this moment.
Perhaps most fundamentally,
The assumption that stillness is somewhere we have to get to.
I'm sure all of you will relate.
To that.
Now,
In terms of reference,
You have this list here.
And I've also created a new group in the playlist.
And that is,
I think it's called awareness plus being still.
And you will see that as you scroll down in the playlist.
There's 11 groups now.
There was 10 a couple of days ago.
Now there's 11,
And this is the 11th one which accommodates all in relation to the meditation.
Be absolutely still.
So these are the main areas that causes us to be in a constant state of doing.
And when we reflect back,
I'm sure all of us will be able to identify with most of these,
If not all of them.
So we will look at all these a little bit more in depth in the live cross the live video,
Be absolutely still,
Which is every week.
So this is a list that you have that you can keep referring to in between those lives.
So I do hope this has been of benefit to you.
Blessings to you.
