Common Sense Guide To Meditation #2 - Monkey Mind

John Butler in Part 2 of the 'common sense' guide to meditation covers other aspects of his common sense approach, including discrimination between what is useful and what is not and dealing with 'monkey mind' thoughts. "Meditation is really very simple."

Transcript

Let me emphasize again that spiritual work is a long,

Gradual process,

And we have to start from where we are.

And most of us,

When we start to meditate,

Are very much in our bodies,

Very much identified with the body,

And even more so with the mind.

So how can we possibly just,

Like a frog,

Go one,

Two,

Three and jump out of them?

And even if we do get a moment of doing that,

We still find ourselves back again,

Don't we?

So it's just practical.

It's just what works.

To start off,

We'll put in the physical body,

First of all,

In a comfortable position and keep it reasonably still,

Because how can we still the mind if the body is jumping up and down?

So get the body right first.

And then this collection of feet on the ground,

Bottom on the chair,

It seems quite laughably simple if you're aiming for the higher regions.

Again,

It's really just practical because it works.

If you try to venture into the deeper waters of spirit without actually being present,

Well,

You're going to,

Goodness knows where you're going to end up.

Stilling the body is,

Again,

A very effective preliminary to bringing the mind under control,

Quieting the mind.

And that is why throughout one's day,

It's very advantageous to have the sort of employment which requires you to focus the mind on some simple action of the hands.

I was very fortunate to work as a farmer where I was working by hand with a hand tool.

If you're trying to chop wood with an axe,

For example,

It's essential that you watch the action.

You watch where the blade of the axe is cutting into the wood.

That's the way to achieve precision.

If you're doing any sort of handwriting,

It might be called old-fashioned writing,

Now with a pen or a bit of paper.

It's very good to listen to the sound of the nib scratching on the paper.

If you're washing up,

For example,

Or washing your clothes,

Then the old-fashioned way in the sink,

It's very good to watch your hands,

Watch the play of your hands in the water,

Listen to the clinking of the plates.

There are a hundred and one,

A thousand and one different simple everyday tasks which can be marvelously effective as a sort of early-stage mantra in giving the mind a focus and bringing it to rest.

Consider the books we read.

If you read books,

All the programs you watch on internet,

Do these disturb the mind or do they bring the mind to rest?

Do they upset you or do they make you feel peaceful and happy?

Think of the company you keep.

Is it good company?

Does it make you feel quiet and happy to be with them?

Or does it jazz you up and get you all screwed up?

Think of the word discrimination.

Discrimination between what is spiritually useful and what is useless in terms of spiritual advancement.

Just consider how you spend your day.

Just consider basic things like cleanliness,

Fresh air.

You know,

There's a,

Again,

Let me quote from the Bible,

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Well,

If that's your aim,

Just consider how pure or impure is your heart.

Do you have negative critical thoughts?

Look and see how many negative critical thoughts you have in your mind and try to,

At least if you don't,

If you can't get rid of them,

Try at least not to express them or keep them to yourself.

If you can't say something nice about something or somebody,

Don't say anything.

That's a good old saying.

What about your daily habits?

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy,

Wealthy,

And wise.

It's another old saying that's worth considering if you're inclined to lie in bed till midday and stay up till midnight.

Are you in tune with the sunrise and the sunset?

Are you even aware of the passing of the day,

Aware of the seasons?

And it may not be too easy if you're in a high-rise flat in a big city,

But do your best to get in tune with the natural rhythms.

Consider what you eat,

Whether you drink too much,

Are your minds distorted with drugs?

Well,

These are a few practical things you might consider before you start thinking about a mantra.

I wouldn't worry too much about mantras,

Really.

If you're lucky enough to find a good teacher and he gives you a mantra and you're happy with it,

Well,

Stick to it if you like it,

If it seems to work for you.

If you haven't got a teacher,

Well,

Don't fret about it.

There's another good saying,

When a student is ready,

A teacher will appear,

And that seems to happen.

Well,

There's no hurry about it.

Just consider nature,

How slowly things develop.

Well,

Again,

I suggest before you jump into worrying about the breath,

Consider the disposition of your own heart,

What it is you really want.

That's an awfully good question to ask yourself.

What do I really,

Really want?

So what do I love most?

Because if you love the idea of eternal love,

Not just a flash in the pan,

One night stand or something,

But real love,

Infinite love.

Love that's never failed.

That's the best possible outreach that you can have to spiritual development.

Devotion,

The heart of devotion.

There's nothing more important than that.

You can play around with all the mantras in the world,

But if you take a simple word,

Just like ABC and say it with love,

With the heart's devotion,

You'll find your goal.

There's a much simpler way of dealing with the monkey mind.

Don't try to control it,

Whatever you do.

You never will.

Why should you?

What's wrong with the monkey mind?

Now,

Look,

I'll show you a much better way of dealing with it.

Look,

Here am I,

The monkey mind.

All these funny thoughts,

Or funny or terrible or whatever sort of thoughts they are.

Anyway,

You can't get out of them.

I often draw the analogy between thoughts and clouds.

Clouds seem a terrible problem on an overcast day,

But if you get in an airplane and go above clouds,

You couldn't care less what's going on in the clouds.

That's just the state of the mind.

Don't worry about it.

But just either attend to the washing up,

If that's what you're doing,

Or attend to,

If you're walking,

Just try to watch what's going on around you,

And you'll forget about the mind.

A suitable word or breathing can give you an alternative,

An alternative to your attention.

It's not to control the mind.

I avoid all these violent words like get rid of or control.

All this is just violence.

This has nothing to do with spirit,

Which is pure love.

This is spirit.

Look at my hands.

It's forgiveness.

That's forgiveness,

When you open your hands.

This is forgetting,

You see?

And you take things onto yourself.

My thought,

How do I get rid of my thought?

This is forgiveness.

Just think of this,

My friend.

There's no better illustration of meditation than that.

Open your clenched fist like that.

Let go,

Let God.

Observation is another very desirable,

If not essential,

Exercise in spiritual work for the simple reason that the seer,

S-e-e-r,

The one who is seeing,

In other words the observer,

Is not the thing that is seen.

Now let that little saying sink into your minds and your heart.

It's pure gold.

The seer is not the thing that is seen.

Now then,

Whatever you see,

All these what you may consider undesirable features of life,

Once you see them,

You're already free of them,

Aren't you?

They're there.

They're part of the furniture,

As it were.

But that's not you,

If you are the observer,

The witness.

Yes,

This is very important.

You can't have too much of it.

This is how you learn to discriminate.

See what is useful and what is useless.

Traditionally,

There's said to be three ways.

The way of action,

The way of knowledge,

That's right,

And devotion,

Where the heart.

Most of us are pretty much a mixture of all three of these things.

But one may predominate,

And in relation to your daily practice,

You may find that you go on to one or the other.

So this is just part of self-observation,

Recognizing the sort of person you are,

And following your natural inclination.

If you feel happy,

That's always a thing you're doing here.

Certain actions make you happy,

What is probably useful to you.

Stage one,

Feet on the ground.

Come back to Mother Earth.

Feet on the ground.

If you're sitting bottom on the chair and standing,

Just stand.

Look around you.

Just be aware of where you are and what the conditions are,

What the weather is.

Listen and look.

Just listen and look,

And almost immediately you'll be aware of the stillness,

Of the quietness.

You'll be aware that there is,

As it were,

Surrounding you,

Not in conflict with yourself,

But surrounding you,

A sort of peace.

There'll be a quietness.

Even if you're standing in busy traffic or driving a car,

Just to come into the present moment,

If you can find this quietness,

This stillness,

It really supersedes all else,

Doesn't it?

It really is the gateway.

The stillness,

Which I've often told you,

Is really just the first step in the realization of Spirit.

And it's all here,

So utterly simple,

All provided.

It's sometimes called the invisible friend,

The wholeness,

The completion in which we find our rest.

Come unto me,

Just as simple as that,

Isn't it?

She said,

Come.

Come unto me,

All ye that labour and are heavy laden,

And I will give you rest.

You don't have to believe it,

Just get an inkling of it,

Just in the simple practice of being present.

And perhaps at later stages,

We can think about being selective in what you read and what you watch on the internet,

And choosing how you live your day.

Because a glimpse of the goal will teach you what's best for you and for the world you live in.

It will teach you everything.

What do I do?

Total and its utter,

Utter simplicity.

And it's always here and now.

You can never be closer to God than here and now.

That is sure.

Reviews

Thank you for the quiet wisdom. Not of what's real and good is complex. :)

Bless you 🙏💚🤗