Common Sense Guide To Meditation #3 - The Use Of A Mantra

This is Part 3 of John Butler's 'common sense' guide to meditation, where he gives clear direction on the use of a mantra. The purpose of a mantra in meditation is to have a focus other than thinking about your worries and problems. In effect, it's like waking from a dream.

Transcript

This work that we are engaged in, All it requires is that we are simply present. Feet on the floor, Bottom on the chair, Listen and look. And my dears, If I have anything to give you this morning it is just that. Because when we are present the infinite is available. And I thought of the instruction that Jesus gave to his disciples when he sent them out into the world. He said, Take with you neither script nor purse. In other words, No preparation, No planning. And where you are received, You will be received, And where you are not, Then don't worry, Brush the dust off your feet and carry on. Now this, Doesn't this just sum up what we're about? This is what I call, At least what I was taught to call, The work, The real work, Capital W. And if you don't mind, While you're here I will include you, Because I presume that's what you've come for really, In contrast to what the world calls work. So I don't know what I'm going to say to you, Dears. I've got no notes, No agenda, No anything. I've come to, I stand as it were, Naked before you, Naked and unashamed. But interestingly, When I learned to meditate in a school of meditation in London, And in the early years of the school, Somebody asked a question, What's it all for? Why do we meditate? What for? And the answer came, Your job is to provide the rest. And how can we rest unless we rest ourselves? Peace comes from peaceful people, Doesn't it? Peaceful circumstances. We can't make it. But what we can do is just remove the obstacle of me, Of restless me. I was taught to meditate at the same school as Catherine. It was an offshoot of her school, Called the School of Meditation, But it was from the same authority, From the same tradition. And I also went through this business of being checked, Which is what we use this one-to-one session. And similarly, I remember there were at least as many not-so-good ones as there's what I might call a good one. And because I was living in Bakewell, My first farm was in Bakewell, And I had to travel down to London for these checks. And all the paraphernalia of providing for the animals and going down to London just for 20 minutes with not always a very good checker seemed rather disproportionate to me. Anyway, I stuck with it and did it. But I soon realized that as soon as I began to make preparations, And it sort of turned my mind in that direction. So that's really when the lesson began. The whole business of putting the work first, Even at times like when the farmers crying out for attention. It was quite a discipline. So I'm glad I persevered with it, Because those that have it all easy don't usually progress so well as those who have to make a big effort. These two aspects of meditation, They're not really, They're just like two sides of a coin. One's what we call the inner turn, Which is when you turn inwards with the help of a mantra or something, Whatever you use, A different method. The other is the outer turn, When you simply listen and look and pay attention to where you are. In other words, The outer circumstances become like a mantra for you. Pay attention to me, And then you'll stop thinking, Won't you? If you're eating and you're enjoying your food, Chances are you won't be thinking, You know? Or a bird flies past, You suddenly notice it, And in that moment you'll stop thinking, Because your attention is elsewhere. And that's the whole principle of meditation, That you simply give your attention something to focus on, And if you focus on that, You can't be thinking about that, Which is all your worries and your problems. It's rather like waking up. There you are in a dream, And you wake up, And what happens to the dream? It just evaporates, Doesn't it? And so it is with thinking. If you turn your thoughts to an alternative, Especially a preferable alternative, Then you'll stop worrying, Won't you? But of course, We usually just turn to this alternative in a half-hearted way, So we end up sort of half and half. That's why the key instruction when we learn to meditate is to listen with full attention to the mantra, As full as one can. Normally, We find it very difficult to give full attention to anything. We're so accustomed to being here, There and everywhere, That it is the way our life is these days. But when you really get the bit between your teeth, Then it's a sin or not. That's why it's really helpful to have some love motivation in your life, Because when you love something, You usually give your attention to it. Anything that's aggressive, Anything should, Must, Ought, Suppression, Getting rid of, All these dreadful things that we say about poor little thoughts, What's wrong with them, Dear? There's nothing wrong with our thoughts. They're totally natural. They're just like clouds in the sky. They serve their purpose. That's what's called a discursive mind, It's for. You don't get rid of anything. What for? All you've got to do is just turn away, Turn to something else, And then there's no problem. I know it really hurts me when people say, How do I get rid of thoughts? What for? Think of meditation as a more healthy alternative to the biscuit tin. Any form of criticism or judgment is to be avoided. Stop thinking negatively about anything, Because what you do, All you do is magnify it, Don't you? I know we're obsessed with this idea of controlling and doing it. We think we, By our own efforts, Can become enlightened or can achieve spiritual consciousness or something. So we go at it with a sledgehammer, Break down all these terrible thoughts and things, Negative emotions. Think of the clouds, Love. The top side of the cloud is light, Isn't it? And the underside's dark. There you are. Nice sunny thoughts or dark thoughts. Cloud's just a cloud, Dear. The choice really is to get into the balloon. There are levels of consciousness, From the physical to the mental to the, What's the word, To higher consciousness. And on this, As it were, This range of steps, There are all sorts of sensations and sorts of levels of manifestations, From the effortless to the effort required to get your body up the hill, For example. So you're asking about one of these intermediate levels. Well, We can spend an awful lot of life, In fact our whole lives, Trying to analyze the intermediate to what avail. It's all contained within this effortlessness. So really, The universal answer to what do I do about it, Or what do you think about it, Is that there's always a beyond. And the practice of meditation consists of this, Which is letting go. Letting go the intermediate, Whatever it is, And just discovering what's beyond it. So if there's any sensation of discomfort or effort or stress or strain, You can always just do that, And discover what's beyond it. We are insatiably curious about these intermediate manifestations, Because at that moment we forget about the beyond, And we don't know any better. So there we are, Struggling with these, Is it right or wrong? All these questions. Come back, Come back. Feet on the ground, Bottom on the chair, Just listen. And you'll hear these inner voices, What about this, What about that? It's just beyond. And you find the rest. And you don't need even to believe me or not, Because here and now, It's an experience, Isn't it? So we have the transience of this life, And immortality or eternity of the spiritual world. One comes to pass, And the other is, That's why we're told to trust, To trust, To seek first the kingdom of God, Which is this, Which is spirit, And everything else falls into place. And it's always, The opportunity is now. The opportunity is now. And if it makes us cry, You see, That means you're getting the connection, Because it's not really of the intellect, Is it? It's of what's called the heart, Which is a deeper level of understanding. Blessed are those that weep. To this journey there is no end, Because it's infinite. The one absolute requisite of any progress in meditation is you've got to practice it. Practice makes perfect, And without it, Nothing much happens. Darling, We all start as beginners. You know, It takes, At what point do you become skillful? I'm still learning, Dear. You never stop. So don't worry about that. We go, Start off, We are where we are. But how many stillnesses are there? How many stillnesses is there in the whole world? If we're all contained in stillness, Isn't the whole world? Now, Let's use another word. Silence, Stillness, Space, Spirit. What is spirit? Can we be brave and shake? What's the difference? Where does one end and the other begin? God is with us, Right here. We can never be closer to God than right where we are. Now then, What does God do if he does anything? God holds the whole wide world in his hand. This is obvious, Because it's like the stillness is holding us in its hand, Isn't it? Hmm? So when you merge, Totally, Still presence, How many others do you need? How many other people do you need? The whole world's contained, Isn't it? In fact, What happens to what we call others? Are there any others? Or is it all just one? So what else is God? Almighty, All-knowing, All-merciful, All-providing? These words aren't just sort of meaningless. At this level of separate you and me, We think, Oh God, We want everyone to do this. Oh, I've got another group of ten people come to meditate today. Great, We'll count numbers. But in the real world, You see, All this is just really kid stuff. All this is people who are absent from the presence of God. Lost souls out in the never-never land. Come back, Come back, Come back, My dears. Feet on the ground. Come back to where we are. Connect with the ones. Now it all begins to make sense, Doesn't it? The shepherd gathers the sheep. They're all back home, Safe where they belong. But you see, There are steps along the way. At this level, It's all effort. Gather numbers and organize them and have meetings and all this sort of thing. But in the real world, It's Lord provides. It's effortless. So absolute rule for meditation, If it takes effort, You're doing it wrong. But you can't really meditate wrong. That's not possible. You know how it is when you sleep? Well, We don't, Because that's the whole point, Isn't it? We don't know what happens when we go to sleep. But the clever people who somehow research it say that in sleep, You sort of do this. We talk of deep sleep. And they say that you dream as you're coming out of deep sleep into your last few moments before you wake up, Don't they? But if you say to someone, How did they sleep? The chances are they'll say, Oh, I was dreaming. You know, They described to you the last few moments of their experience. And so it is when you ask someone, How was that meditation? They always tell you about the last few moments. They think that they're telling you how the 40 and a half hour or the hour and a half passed. That's what they believe. But they're saying, I was just thinking all the time. But actually, If you observe people meditating, You can tell when they start thinking because there's usually a little flutter of movement in their faces, Which occurs in the last few moments when they rise up out of deep meditation into what we call awakening. But because you can't describe deep meditation, Like you can't describe deep sleep because you go beyond words. It's like when you go up through the clouds, You see, In an airplane, How do you describe what's beyond the clouds? You can't. There's no space. So like this morning, You see, We were standing around there. And you went and talked. Well, When I joined you, There's nothing to say. We were all still. So I don't need to ask you. I know you all experience at least some rest, Which is mission accomplished. And if I say, How was it? You'll all say, Oh, I was thinking I had just something or other or stresses or strains or something. And what's important is that there's beyond, You see, Beyond this mental, What you can describe. It's not what can be described that's important. It's what cannot be described. And that you can't. It doesn't exist, Does it? There's a story from the Upanishads, Which you probably know better than me. There was an arrow maker called, I think, Dattatreya, If I say it correctly, Who was making arrows in his shop on the street. And the procession passed by in the street, And he didn't raise his head, Didn't seem to notice it. He just went on making his arrow. And so he was asked, Why didn't you notice the procession? And he said, Oh, I didn't know there was one. I was just making my arrow. You see, That was given to us in the school of meditation as an example, You see, Of full attention. And when you give full attention to something, You don't notice anything else. But this is exactly what meditation does. Meditation endeavors to give attention, You see, To one thing, And then all the bothersome things that you don't want to attend to, They just go out of your attention. And when something isn't in your attention, It doesn't exist, Does it? That's why it's a good idea, If you can, First of all, To express negative emotion less and less. You know, If you're aware of talking critically of somebody, Just stop. And you'll immediately, That whole situation will diminish. Because the more you give attention to something, The bigger it gets, Doesn't it? This is how monsters grow. It's very commonly fueled by fear. We dwell on it, It gets bigger and bigger and bigger. But the person next to it doesn't even exist. So we carry around these burdens, Self-made burdens, And fears and things, And weigh us down. Well, When you sit to meditate for the half hour or so, Whatever you meditate, You endeavor to turn inward, Follow your mantra. When you turn out, The rest of the day, You try to be present. It's simple, Just two turns, In and out. And during the day, If you're sitting in a bus and you want something to do, You can close your eyes and say the mantra. You can say it any time, Anywhere. So you can get used to this, Inner and outer. And gradually the difference will merge and you'll realize that the same is within as it is without. The one practice helps the other. This deep rest is here and it's there. Well, The mantra is like a mental hand rail. This is a mantra. When you go into a cave, A dark place, Or a dark room, You hold on to the wall or you hold on to something, Don't you? Like that. You get to keep a hold of it. And when you're confident of the way, You just hold it very lightly. Don't you just touch it with your fingers? Sometimes you hardly need it at all. You just occasionally just remind yourself that it's there. That's what a mantra is. A mantra is like a mental handrail. It's there if you want it. Yes, I was taught with the mantra, But of course, Mantras change and you can adapt it. You can do anything with it. It's not an absolute rule. It's nothing. It's just a spiritual tool. The handrail, It doesn't matter what the handrail's made of. It's something to hold on to. Those of you that have a religion and have a holy man, Jesus, Or if you feel devotion to that, Well, Not a bad idea to use that as your mantra. There's a very ancient practice that the Jesus prayer was used in the name of Jesus for those that love Jesus. Well, That's a wonderful mantra. There's nothing better than that. Use that if you like. Well, There we are, Dears. The problem of mantras solved. It's just to get us started, You see. Just like this handrail, You see, To start with. There we are. You hold on to it. You don't want to lose Hadi or him. But see, When you get confident, It's like when you're walking with the person you love. At first, You hold them. You can't let them out of your arms, Can you? And then when you get more confident, You just walk happily side by side. All you need to do is look at each other from time to time. So it is with these mantras. To start with, They're really important. You need to work at it. But then when you get confident, You can just sail away. We don't always need to put grip on things. Melt into the arms of the beloved, You see. It's that melting that's the freedom. Then there will be effort if you forget about it. You might start off, For example, By saying the name Jesus aloud. Lord Jesus Christ, Have mercy on me, Or something like this. Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Because you say it aloud, It'll be more effective in bringing you into the present and focusing your mind. If you start it off too subtly, Then it hasn't really got the energy to counteract all thoughts. So say it quite loudly, If you like, To start with. Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ. And then, You see, Quieter and quieter. You're saying it within yourself. See, That'll bring you to deep rest. If you listen to it quietly, You see, First of all with a whisper, And then even less than a whisper, You'll find it's naturally taken you to that place of deep depth within yourself. That's how it works, Isn't it? Simple. Just like that, You see. Just follow it. For you to know who you are. And when you forget, Of course you will do, After a few minutes you'll start thinking again. Oh, I've been meditating. Do it again, And again, And again. Just rest. The Jesus Prayer, It's in the full form of it. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me. Then a sinner. Now, Sinner is very simple. I don't know whether you've seen the video where I try to describe it. Like, You know, There we are. There's the light. And in the light, I can see, Can't I? My face is lit. When I turn from the light, I'm in shadow. And the world is dark, Full of problems. I don't see. So seeing is simply this, Turning away. And all you've got to do is turn back to the light and the darkness. What happens to it? God, You forget about it. So when you say, If you keep seeing Lord Jesus, You'll forget about all the problems. That's why they say Jesus saves, Because he is the Saviour. He pulls out of all your problems and difficulties. Come unto me, He says. Come unto me at rest. That's why it works. Think of a phrase like, Be sensible. Use your common sense. You see, If we lose our common sense, You're in peril. Common sense is what? It's looking, Listening. Well, They're the main words we use, Isn't it? Looking and listening, Feeling. Being sensible and being stupid is just, It's this, Isn't it? It's getting lost in the head. Lost in thought, Which is, I can almost say, Is the normal human condition. It's lost in the thought. The contrast to that, This is common sense when you're connected with feet on the ground, Bottom on the chair. You're aware where you are. And seeing and hearing. When we really see and hear and feel, Life becomes all together. Suddenly comes into reality, Doesn't it? In this world where people are looking for security, Aren't they security and peace? Well, What's more secure and peaceful than the floor?

Reviews

Joy 🙏💚🤗✨

How can you not love John?