So heedfulness,
Sappamadho,
Is one of the key,
The key encouragement by the Buddha,
The general sense,
Paying attention,
Heedful.
It means,
It gives the meaning also that there's something risky,
Something to be on guard against,
Something to be careful about.
Be heedful.
Like you're walking on shaky ground or thin ice.
Be heedful.
Don't be careless.
So we live in this embodied state,
Which is ticking over moment of time,
But of course any given moment it could suddenly stop,
Stroke,
Heart attack,
Whatever.
So we should actually live with that sense,
Alert,
Heedful.
And heedful particularly with regard to a mind's,
These currents.
So when we sit quietly,
Pretty,
Doesn't take long for you recognize the push of the mind.
It's eddies.
It's like wind blowing.
It's like water streaming,
Pushing on,
Circling round.
Thoughts,
Impressions,
Anxieties,
Doubts,
Things we need to solve,
Fix,
Things we need to change,
Things we want to have or be or not be,
Questions we're asking,
It's continual,
Like the wind blowing.
No stillness in that.
For a time we are just experimenting with what's it like to not be caught in the wind,
Not to be drifting in the stream.
Is that possible?
Is there a way out of that?
Not through irritation or negative mind state,
But just being heedful.
Don't go into it.
Don't give it energy.
Become disinterested.
Don't give it emotional energy.
Don't get excited by it or desperate about it or feel you're obliged to resolve anything.
The first step is just to step out of the stream and everything that pulls you into it.
Pause.
While we sit still,
There's a helpful tool in meditation.
A helpful means,
It gives us a reference to come out of the stream of the mind and to experience the sensations of sitting still.
Not because there's anything special about these,
They're also a stream.
Sensations change slowly,
But perhaps they have less emotional attraction,
Just physical feelings,
Nothing special.
They don't have the stories and the dramas and the topics the mind has.
So perhaps we come to this just to find some way of for a moment being able to lift out of the stream of mind.
What's it like to be a body?
What's it feel like?
Pressure,
Warmth,
Comfortable,
Uncomfortable?
Where's the sense of stability in the body?
Can we find something that gives you a sense of stillness,
Knowing that we're not walking?
Of course,
There's still the movement of breathing and yet tending to the stillness of the body,
To degree of that.
And your mind is not adding anything to it,
Trying to make something special out of it,
The mind just open,
Listening,
Attentive.
It's putting aside its own preoccupations just to use this sense of a still body as an anchor,
As a mooring post in the stream.
Okay?
You can use a theme in the body such as sensation,
Sensations of breathing.
So though every sensation itself is changing,
It goes from this to that,
To this to that,
As you breathe in and breathe out,
Still the reference point is steady.
We're just listening to one channel,
Steadiness,
Unwavering.
By moment,
Sensation of breathing like sand through a egg timer,
Just drifting through a slight brushing texture.
Stillness is not in those sensations,
But in the continuity of that.
Firmness of committing one's mind to that,
Making a commitment to it.
Not because they're particularly important or special,
But the sense of steadiness and stillness is a lifeline.
Coming to,
We're creating a kind of a,
Giving a message to the mind,
Hey,
This is not following this anymore,
Not going to be blowing around in the wind.
You get caught,
Of course we get caught time and time again,
But the message comes back,
No I'm taking over,
I'm taking responsibility,
I'm going to be with this.
This is training it,
Training it,
Pull it back,
Pay attention,
Wake up,
This is important.
Heedless mind can drag you anywhere,
Anywhere except to peace,
Will never drag you to a place of peace and contentment.
It can drag you everywhere else.
So,
Be particularly careful.
The ending of the breathing comes to the end of the out-breath.
Nothing particularly,
Mind can easily drift off because the energy goes down.
Relaxed,
Quiet,
Mind drifts away,
Sleepy sometimes,
Nothing to track.
So you have to back up the meditation just as if we are at that moment like the breath is sitting down.
It's been running,
It's been moving through and it's sitting.
And you get your mind to rest on that sitting,
The breath stopped,
As if you're almost leaning on it,
Pressing it.
Not anything physical,
Just your mind has a weight of attention resting on that point when you stop,
When the breath comes to an end.
Waiting there,
So you feel almost like a spring,
Waiting to spring up,
Hold it down,
Rest a little longer.
So when it comes up,
It comes up with some vigor,
You hold it,
You restrain it,
Check it,
So it comes up slowly,
Feeling it run through the body,
Comes to the top of the breath,
Feel what it's doing to your body.
Feel how your body is moved by that,
Stretched by it,
Slightly expanded,
And keep your mind keen and interested,
Like it's like a dog guarding the breath,
Careful watching it.
So we're making the mind which was careless,
Making the mind,
Being first of all heedful of the mind,
And making the mind the agent of our heedfulness,
As if the breath could slip away,
You want to keep your eye on it,
Like a dog watching its sheep.
Feeling what it will do.
Good.
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Maybe what's important is to contemplate this quality of knowing wisdom,
Which knows the mind.
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Not so much a thought,
But it can support inquiry.
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