Don't Be A Sneaky Santa - Give Away Absolutely Everything

Ajahn Dhammasiha brings up the metaphor of a 'Sneaky Santa Claus,' who is not distributing all the gifts in his sack to the kids, but instead keeps some of the stuff for himself. That would be a bad Santa.

Similarly, we would be sneaky meditators if we continued to hold on, cling, and identify with anything at all that we encounter in our mind during meditation. Like Santa's task is to give away all the gifts in his sack, so our task in meditation is to empty the mind completely.

Transcript

Some people like to hire a Santa Claus.

Students or maybe some elderly unemployed or a pensioner,

They sometimes like to earn some money over Christmas by playing Santa.

So the parents now hire that person and this person puts on the beard,

The wet coat,

The big sack for the gifts.

And of course the parents will buy all the gifts for their kids and then they just secretly pass it on to that Santa and discuss which kid is getting what.

In the evening the Santa will ring the bell and the kids don't really know what is happening and they are very amazed.

And then Santa comes in and the kids believe this is really Santa Claus.

And then Santa pulls out the gifts and distributes them and the kids are very happy.

But just imagine when Santa is leaving you are already wondering why the wax sack still looks so full.

And then you check the gifts and you notice that the iPhone for your daughter and the Air Jordan for your son and the Xbox for the little one was not given.

Santa has kept them.

He didn't give it to the kids.

He kept it for himself.

What would you think?

This is a lousy Santa,

Isn't it?

This is not the job of Santa to keep stuff.

It's to give everything to the kids.

It's not for him,

Isn't it?

Or what is your view on that Santa?

It's to give everything away,

Isn't it?

So please,

When you do your meditation be a good Santa,

Don't be a lousy Santa.

When you do your meditation your job is to give everything away.

Don't do it like this cheating Santa who gives only some things and something which he thinks is nice or really he is attached to and he just tries to sneak away for himself.

So this is our job in meditation.

Maybe we have been carrying this heavy wax sack like Santa when he is going to deliver carrying a very heavy wax sack.

Similarly we have been carrying the past and the future for long enough and last time when we meditated to give it away.

We have been carrying old crutches and disappointments and blaming ourselves for mistakes we may have made blaming others for how they have hurt us or done things which we disagree with and we are covering that but the job is in meditation to empty it completely.

Our mind is,

So to speak,

Santa's sack with all these gifts that is our mind and you have to go in there and take out the very last item.

Santa hasn't done his job until he returns to his sleigh there is not a single thing in his sack,

Isn't it?

If he keeps back just one gift this is not right.

If we meditate and there is just anything left in our mind which we continue to hold on which we try to possess,

To own which we try to cling to because we think this will give us happiness I better keep it then we are not really doing our job as meditator properly.

All these wabbies about the future all these hopes and expectations we shouldn't burden ourselves with that we should empty that from our mind when we meditate.

These lockdowns can be a good lesson in that regard because now our plans are always uncertain but these lockdowns teach us exactly that point.

My compassion,

My thoughts and best wishes to everyone on the podcast who may be in a less fortunate situation than we are in Queensland and who may be locked down and I imagine for many people in this world the holiday season,

The Christmas season was very different from that they have been planning and what they were intending but that is the nature of conditioned phenomena and we are very uncertain that is the nature about having plans for the future having expectations is always a danger of disappointment because things turn out very differently from our plans so when we meditate we have to empty our mind from all planning for the future from all expectations,

From all hopes and fears and anxieties and excitements regarding future events and of course in meditation it is not only about material things in that simile with Santa he is obviously carrying only material objects in the big sack thrown over the shoulder with all the gifts but in our mind we are covering also these five khandhas the five groups of clinging bodily form,

Feeling,

Perception,

Intention and consciousness so it has to be all emptied pleasant feeling and unpleasant feeling and even neutral feeling it has to all go out of course going out in this case doesn't mean that one really can give it away like a material thing all material possessions,

All money we can give away in a very literal sense but when it comes to feelings we cannot give them away they continue to arise even in the mind of the Buddha or the Abhayant as long as the body is there and alive and walking around but what is meant there is to empty out the attachment to empty out the clinging to feeling to let go,

To give up the liking of pleasant feeling the disliking of unpleasant feeling and the delusion,

The ignorance in regard to neutral feeling this is how we empty the mind of feeling we have to empty the mind of the identification with feeling the problem is not so much whether there is a pleasant or unpleasant feeling arising in the mind the problem is that it quickly turns for us into I am in pain or I am experiencing so much pleasure this I am is not in the feeling this I am is a delusion which we create in our own mind so emptying the mind there in a means abandoning,

Seeing through and then destroying that delusion the delusion of ownership I own that pleasure,

My pleasure,

My pain sure enough there is pleasure and pain even in the mind of the Buddha but in the mind of the Buddha or an Abhayant,

An enlightened person there is no longer my pain or my pleasure there is no longer feeling as myself and very similar with perception,

With intention,

With consciousness wherever consciousness arises,

Whether it is now I consciousness and we say now I see something I see the beautiful blue sky,

I see a horse,

I see a tree this is just the I consciousness arising when there is the I faculty and it is healthy and there is an eternal and a visual form and then there is a sufficient act of intention and naturally in the I consciousness,

Really wise that is not so much a problem yet,

The problem is in the moment when the delusion kicks in,

The I see this or when one sees a photo of oneself this is me,

This is just a visual form in consciousness that we regard as I,

Me,

Mine,

That's why we call it a selfie don't take so many selfies as a Dharma practitioner,

Take non selfies it's all about non-self naturally as we are emptying this big sack of gifts as we are doing the job of center,

Of giving it away one has to dig in deeper and deeper,

It has to be courageous that is normal when we do meditation and we start digging into the mind that there will also be ugly things nowadays if you get hired as center you never know what the parents have there as gifts for their kids there may be monsters,

Some of the boys may be really fond of monsters or mutants or dangerous dinosaurs there may be beautiful dolls,

Pictures,

Whatever so we shouldn't get frightened if we are digging in the mind we find some monsters there,

The response when you dig in there a monster appears,

It's not meant to start screaming and trying to run away,

The job is the same like with everything we just give it away even if unpleasant things arise,

Unpleasant memories we encounter that,

Even if defilements arise and we may be surprised if we meditate intensively it is sometimes quite amazing what kind of stuff can arise in terms of defilement,

Desire,

Anger,

Aversion,

Delusion,

Tiredness doubt,

Jealousy,

Conceit and so on,

That can be quite strong and no need to get overwhelmed,

To get shocked we just have to remember our job,

And what is the job?

We give it away that's something beautiful,

Alluring,

Enticing beautiful memories and images and fantasies job is give it away,

Not me,

Not mine this is my job,

I am center,

This is gift stuff,

It's not for me my job is to just emptying the sack there and there's ugly things,

Anger,

Aversion,

Jealousy all it hurts,

Same thing my job is not meant to have now aversion and get frightened by that my job is not to just give it away not to hold on,

Not to identify,

Not to cling just like center can't leave the session there once he goes to one family,

All the gifts have to be given and then he goes out,

Goes back and is happy that he has done his job so similar whenever we meditate in that session whatever wise,

We are only satisfied if we succeeded in giving it away if we get up from our meditation and we are still carrying that stuff there's still that grudge,

There's still that hope,

There's still that expectation there's still that disappointment and so on and we realize,

Ok,

We haven't fully done our job in that meditation next time we do better,

We make sure that there's nothing left behind fairly easy and straightforward instructions,

Isn't it?

No one can complain that it's not clear what we should be doing in meditation one job,

That's all whatever you find there in the mind,

Give it away and then something else arises,

You find something else what do you do with that?

Give it away don't hold,

Don't cling,

Don't identify don't get worked up about it,

Don't like it,

Don't dislike it I would just drop it my father and my relatives the sun and the moon and all virtuous leaders of the world may the highest cause then be no forces still as hero beings guardian spirits of the earth and the lord of faith may those who are friendly,

Indifferent or hostile may all beings receive the blessings of my life may they soon attain their dreadful bliss and realize the needless through the goodness that arises from my practice and through this act of sharing may all desires and attachments quickly cease and all harmful states of mind until I realize new wonder in every kind of birth may I have an upright mind with mindfulness and wisdom prosperity and fear may the forces of delusion not take hold no reason might resolve the Buddha is my excellent refuge once the past is the protection of the Dharma the solitary Buddha is my noble life the sunlight is my supreme support through the supreme power of all these may darkness and delusion be dispelled you can play the spats to a Buddha down on Sunday Maha raha samma-sambhuto bhagavat udlam dha-gavantam ravi vadini sva-khato bhagavatam yamo bhagavatam asami sva-khati bhando bhagavatam sva-khatam yamo

Reviews

Delightful and so perfect for the holiday season—yes, we must empty out the sack 🎅

I love the insight