So to talk about this practice of training in mindfulness,
First we need to have views which are correct.
So when we practice the Dhamma,
We've read and gained some understanding first,
We know where the suffering arises,
And when that comes up we have a feeling of dis-ease within the body,
Within the mind,
A feeling of inner turmoil,
Of aggravation,
That the heart is not at peace.
So then we come to find a path to bring our minds to peace.
Before that we need to have wisdom.
And so we know that to gain that we need to practice this path.
We need to train following sila,
Samadhi and bhajna,
This virtue of collectedness and wisdom in order for knowledge to arise,
In order for delusion to fall away,
So that suffering can't come up.
So for us we have a degree of right view already,
And we should use this to put our efforts into training our minds to be mindful.
And the reason that suffering is coming up for us is because our minds are lacking mindfulness and they're lacking wisdom,
And this attachment appears,
A sense of self appears.
The Buddha taught us to train in mindfulness,
To have a mind which is firm and established well,
To be looking at and knowing our bodies and minds.
So having this knowing there within the heart,
So knowing that the sankhara's conditioned phenomena currently concocting,
Being concocted within the heart,
That there are these experiences,
Objects which are appearing within the mind.
And so our hearts go and cling onto those objects due to the delusion present within them,
Which is conditioning the mind.
So the sankhara's conditions lead on to viññāna,
Sense consciousness,
And then to vedana feeling and so on.
And so there's this delusion that the mind has towards its experiences.
And Sājānta says that being deluded towards sense experiences is being deluded in the world,
That the mind experiences these and then concocts based upon them.
And this experience,
This act,
Is the act of being deluded,
The mind being deluded towards the world.
So we need to teach ourselves that this is just an object,
This is just a sensory experience,
That our minds have been lost in these already,
That they're deluded towards them.
We teach ourselves that this is not me,
It's not mine.
I am not this mind,
And I am not the experiences of the mind.
That the mind,
It's just the mind.
And sometimes it's not deluded towards these objects,
Sometimes knowledge appears within it,
It has that knowledge,
But still that mind is just a mind.
And so this mind which knows its experiences,
Its objects,
Is also not me as well.
The mind which is deluded towards those and attaches to them is also not me.
But when it attaches to them as me,
When it believes that,
Then the sense of self appears.
When it's not deluded,
Then we're able to separate the two out.
You see that the mind is one thing,
Its objects are something else.
And so there's the separation that takes place,
Like oil and water separate out from one another.
If the mind is lacking wisdom,
Lacking mindfulness,
Then it clings to its objects and they become one thing that is not able to separate the two out.
And so we need to train our own minds,
Whether standing,
Walking,
Sitting,
Lying down,
To be mindful.
And if we find that our minds are still scattered,
That we're trying to just maintain awareness over our mind,
But it's still thinking,
Then we need to use a form of recollection.
So we can recollect the qualities of the Buddha,
The Dhamma,
The Sangha.
And we hold to this,
To the Buddha,
The Dhamma,
The Sangha as our sarana,
As our refuge.
So we can recite that in Pali or in English.
We can train recollecting in this way,
Which is the means of cultivating our mind through using these meditation phrases.
We call Borikamma Bhavana.
So like this phrase of taking the Buddha as our highest refuge and highest object of recollection.
So if we do that and then the mind goes back into thinking and proliferation,
Then we need to bring that phrase up again and just carry on doing that until we become skilled at it.
Like how children at school recite the multiplication table and the times table and they go through that over and over again.
It's like two times two is four,
Two times three is six,
Two times four is eight.
You just carry on going through that and through the,
All of the times table.
So this is what it's like for children at school.
And so for us too,
When we go through these chants,
Then we need to be repeating them,
Going over them again and again.
It's like Buddham Saranam Gacchami,
Dhammam Saranam Gacchami,
Sangham Saranam Gacchami,
And Duttiyampi,
Dattiyampi.
And so we carry on repeating that,
That we take the Buddha as our highest refuge,
The Dhamma as our highest refuge,
The Sangha as our highest refuge,
And carry on repeating that constantly.
And so we do that like a student at school.
And we do it so that our minds don't think about something else.
We do this a lot,
Do it the most that we're able to do it,
So that the mind doesn't go off thinking,
Recollecting other objects,
And it doesn't go off into sensual,
Craving for sensual pleasure,
Or ill will,
Or scatteredness,
Or doubt,
Or drowsiness.
And so to do this,
It's very useful to have these meditation words and phrases to bring the mind to peace.
And this act of bringing the mind to peace through a meditation object is the act of applying ourselves in samatha object,
So a calming tranquility meditation.
We have an awareness over our minds.
And when the mind is peaceful already,
Then it starts clinging to another experience that we teach our mind.
So this is something which is changing.
It's not me.
It's not a permanent thing.
So these thoughts,
They're not me.
And who is the one who thinks?
Who is the one who remembers?
Who is the one who concocts?
Who is the one who has knowledge?
We keep on teaching our minds in this way,
That this is just an object,
Yeah?
That this isn't the mind,
Is it?
This isn't me,
Is it?
And if we persist in doing that,
Then the knowledge arises and the mind becomes more bright.
So we teach our minds,
Teach it about the nature of this body.
This is just a collection of elements of earth,
Water,
Fire,
And air.
That none of those are me.
This is something that needs to break apart.
That it's not me.
It's not you.
And there's no need to be averse towards anyone,
To love anyone,
To hate anyone.
And we separate these elements out.
And we see the nature of this form,
And of feelings,
And memory,
Perception,
And the thoughts going on since consciousness.
And we see all that happening.
So we can look specifically at the body,
And to see how that's something that's changing,
That's not self.
And really that all physicality,
Mentality,
Is something which is inconstant.
It's always changing.
It's not self.
It has this breaking apart as its nature.
And when wisdom sees in this way,
Then this is knowledge arising within the mind.
And then when this knowledge comes up,
Then we don't have any suffering.
So we should train our minds and do this a lot.
We shouldn't just abandon our minds,
Just allow them to do whatever they will.
I would rather follow up on them,
To be looking after them,
To not abandon them.
Because if the mind is just floating around,
Is just abandoned,
Then it doesn't know anything.
It's like a child that doesn't have a mother or a father,
That's just a destitute,
Abandoned child.
And so this is what it's like for the mind that doesn't have a refuge.
And so therefore we need to have mindfulness and wisdom looking after our hearts.
So may you be intent on this.
