The Samurai Mind (Talk And Q&A)

This is the recording of a live event on the topic of 'The Samurai Mind', which blends ancient wisdom and modern mindfulness. It starts with a brief meditation and covers topics such as forgiveness, presence, adaptability, and embracing life’s challenges as opportunities for growth. The Q&A part of the event answers questions on overcoming anxiety and depression, observing thoughts without attachment, and releasing physical and emotional pain. By listening to this audio you will return to the present moment, connect with your inner strength, and embody the way of the modern samurai.

Transcript

Hi everybody and welcome to this live event on the Samurai Mind.

The event will begin with a short meditation followed by a talk on this topic and then a questions and answers session at the end.

So we will talk about a lot of topics such as forgiveness,

Presence,

Selfishness,

Adapting to the moment and so much more.

And during the Q&A session you will have the opportunity to ask your questions and personalize the topics to your situation and I will be here to answer whatever comments or questions you have.

So right now I propose to take a deep breath in,

Close our eyes and just meditate for two or three minutes and just come back to what is here now.

The breath you are now taking in is the first breath,

No past,

No future.

And notice how you feel in this new moment,

What thoughts and sensations are present right now.

And when there is no time in this way,

When we let go of the past,

There is a curiosity that automatically opens up.

What is it that this moment has invited?

Without thought,

Without projection,

Most of the time our experience is heavenly.

We are just sitting somewhere,

Breathing,

Maybe doing a bit of work,

Maybe talking with someone.

But there is no pressure,

No expectation,

No judgment,

Just being.

Like we are doing right now.

Each breath is new.

And we are just noticing,

Nothing to change,

Nothing to do about our experience.

Witnessing heaven as it has unfolded in this moment.

And so with this brief introduction,

I propose to take a few deeper breaths in,

Open our eyes and let's dive into this topic.

It's interesting for me because I have been exploring a lot of different things,

Movement-wise and mind-wise.

And this title,

The Samurai Mind,

Is what naturally unfolded because it brings together all of these explorations.

And for those that know me previously on this platform,

I have been talking a lot about non-duality,

Presence,

Acceptance,

Forgiveness.

And these topics also fit within this way of being.

So forgiveness is actually a big topic if you think about fighters,

Because you have to forgive the past.

You have to know that what is unfolding is unfolding for a reason.

And just being present,

Being in the moment,

Without holding a grudge against another or against yourself.

Because as soon as there is a grudge,

There is a closing of the heart and the closing of the mind.

And when that happens,

You are no longer present,

You are no longer able to perform optimally and to adapt to the moment.

So The Samurai Mind then in this case is a mind that is simply present,

That doesn't hold anything from the past,

Doesn't project anything onto the future,

But is just here with what is.

And also what I have been learning recently is,

What if this is the highest order of things?

What if everything that happens is perfect in itself,

Is meant to happen in every way and is part of a much larger unfolding that no single mind can actually understand?

And by taking that perspective,

Then every tricky situation,

Every challenging person,

Every difficulty that we face in our lives becomes the highest order.

It is something to learn from,

It is something that is there to teach us something.

And what it's there to teach us is always to realign the mind and body back with what is,

Back with heaven,

Back with God's mind,

Because what is unfolding is God's mind.

So if we resist what is,

We are automatically in a personhood,

In a selfish mode of thinking,

Because I am right,

What is happening is wrong and needs to be corrected.

And just by having that outlook,

We are facing the universe,

We are facing the entire unfolding,

Which we have no control over.

So we can surrender,

Work on ourselves,

Work on our resistances,

Face our fears,

And then come back and align with what is,

And work from love,

Work in line with the universe,

Which is a loving universe.

And another thing that for me links to samurai and fighters and training is this using every opportunity to train,

Whether it is the mind,

Doing the dishes with presence,

Or using,

Throwing the bins as an exercise of mindfulness,

Getting fit,

Maybe playfulness,

Creativity,

You know,

Just using the mind,

Using everyday situations to develop the body,

And then use triggers and things that we consider wrong as opportunities to train the mind back to surrender,

Back to presence,

Back to realign.

And in this way,

When we are present,

When there is no past and no future,

When we are in heaven on earth,

Then we can be focused,

We can be flexible,

We can adapt to every situation,

We can come from a place of love and freedom within us,

Knowing that there is no wrong,

Knowing that whatever happens is a win,

Even if I lose my possessions or I lose some money,

Great,

An opportunity to be grateful that I wouldn't have wasted that money on something worse,

Or I wouldn't have used it in a way that hurts others,

Or who knows what else would have happened.

So this is the highest order,

Returning to it's happening for a reason,

It's great.

And then the other thing that comes to mind that links to the samurai way of being is coming from a place of service,

Of no selfishness,

Of no sense of I am right and this is the way things have to go,

But being open to anything that life gives and accepting it with grace and with gratitude.

So let me know if this makes sense so far.

Sadhana,

Hello.

Hello also to everyone else here.

Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions or comments.

I know that this is actually quite deep suggestions,

Invitations to ponder upon,

To meditate upon,

And very frequently we are faced with a world that appears to be unkind,

Unloving,

At war,

Etc.

But it's the highest order and until we see it as wrong,

Until we see it as something that shouldn't happen,

That is only leading to pain and suffering,

Then we have work to do on ourselves.

And to end the war in the world happens one person at a time,

And it starts with me and it starts with you.

And as soon as there is no war in my mind,

Then there is no war in the world as well.

Sadhana,

You say,

Please explain how should I deal with depression and anxiety in relation to Samurai Mind?

Great question.

There are many ways to deal with it and it depends what you resonate with,

What your approach is mostly,

Whether you come from the body perspective,

With movement,

With expression,

Or whether it's more mental,

That you feel like challenging your thoughts,

Which will then change your feelings.

But yeah,

I would say very broadly,

Take a belief,

Something that makes you anxious or makes you depressed,

And start challenging it.

You can challenge the belief,

The thought directly by,

For example,

The Byron Katie method,

If you've heard of it,

Or you could challenge a more direct way to do it,

Is to ask the self that is anxious or depressed,

Who is that self,

And then through non-duality go directly to the essence of who we are,

Which is not the mind,

Not the body,

But a presence,

An awareness that is everything.

So a good approach maybe,

A good direction to go towards is totality.

So go towards the totality of your experience.

What happens with anxiety and depression is that we focus so much on the body and the mind,

We identify right here,

But if you expand your awareness and you start thinking and seeing where you are,

That your feet are on the floor,

That right now you are safe,

That right now you don't need to do anything,

Things like that,

And then you start feeling that you are and you become everything that is around.

You're not just the body-mind,

You are the totality of experience.

So sadhana,

And then I will go to Jen.

You say,

I'm trying to be mindful,

But my anxiety is even causing severe neck and shoulder pain.

So in this case it looks like you associate mindfulness with stillness maybe,

But if you're experiencing neck and shoulder pain,

Then try and move that pain,

Maybe have a massage in this area,

And then if some emotions come up and thoughts come up,

Be with them,

See if you can allow them or if you feel ready to challenge them.

And again,

This is the highest order.

So there is a reason why exactly here.

And the more you explore this,

The more you realize that any pain,

Any pattern that is so-called negative that you may have is part of a much larger whole,

And then maybe it goes back to your parents and the whole family,

And so nothing is random,

And that's partly why it's the highest order.

Let me know if that makes sense.

Jen,

You say,

This reminds me of the saying,

Be the change you want to see.

I'm practicing being what I want to see in the world.

It's definitely an ongoing practice.

Wonderful.

And what's amazing about change is that,

You know,

How can.

.

.

If someone is doing something that I consider wrong,

Rather than trying to change that person,

I should try and change my thoughts about that person and their behavior.

And the more I challenge my own thoughts,

My own projections,

Then the person changes.

If I can start seeing their behavior as kind,

As sensitive,

As intuitive,

As emotionally intelligent,

If I can see my own part in what they are doing and saying,

Then that's how they change.

And when you do that enough,

The world no longer needs changing.

So,

Sadhana,

You say,

Yes,

My family has generalized anxiety disorder.

How should I find the root cause and get rid of it permanently?

Yeah,

And as I said,

That's often the case with any anxiety or eating disorder,

Or it's not a disorder.

We can even call it eating order,

Because again,

It is intuitive.

It makes sense.

As kids,

We pick things up from our parents that they haven't worked through.

So then we can work through them.

And that's called evolution.

So,

Yeah,

It's an ongoing practice.

And just being here,

Just,

You know,

Trying out mindfulness,

Expressing your feelings,

Asking questions,

Etc.

That's a great way to go deeper and eventually,

And over time,

Release those tensions,

Those feelings within you.

Something else that I feel from your second question,

You know,

Getting rid of it permanently.

Even the pain in the body is not so painful as the mind says it is.

So,

I don't know if you were here during the meditation,

But if you experienced the breath as your very first breath,

And your body has a completely new sensation and experience,

Then maybe it is not so painful.

Yeah,

It's uncomfortable,

Probably,

But it's not so painful.

It's not so difficult to be with as the mind and the thoughts can say it is.

Jen,

You say,

Sadhana,

I experience anxiety and have for a long time,

And I find movement to help.

Even when I don't feel like movement,

I get up and start moving.

Stretching,

Dancing,

Shaking,

Any kind of movement may help.

Yeah,

Absolutely.

Thank you,

Jen,

For sharing that.

Thank you also,

Sadhana,

For your questions and everything that you shared.

AJ,

You say,

Are we the thoughts or are we the observer of the thoughts?

Well,

Checking with your own experience,

If you close your eyes for a second,

And you invite this question in thought form,

Am I a thought or the observer of my thoughts?

Here is your answer.

And I don't know if you're getting this already,

But you are witnessing the thought appearing,

The question forming,

And then maybe changing to a different thought,

Etc.

So you are observing thoughts as they come and go.

And that's a direct experience of the awareness that you are.

And in the same way,

We are aware of the body,

We are aware of the world,

But we are not any of these objective experiences.

We are the awareness,

The present that witnesses everything that unfolds.

And sometimes the thoughts are strong.

So the mind will kind of take over your awareness and question,

Who am I?

I am the thought.

I am in control.

I am determining what I experience.

But when we go back to awareness,

To presence,

We see that even that is a thought.

Even the mind taking control is a thought.

The mind has no control.

I think some teachers say that,

And I like this,

The mind is like the subtitles of a movie.

It's just trying to make sense of what's going on,

On the screen of awareness of life,

Trying to predict,

Trying to control,

But it's just the subtitles.

It's just like a distant sound,

A radio that's for most people constantly on in the background,

Explaining,

Thinking,

Doing.

But yeah,

It's nothing to be taken too seriously or trusted very much,

Actually.

Is the mind the enemy of our truth?

Truth has no enemy.

It simply is,

And everything unfolds within it and is it ultimately.

But the mind,

Yeah,

When we identify with the mind,

It works in dualities.

And since that's the case,

It creates right and wrong.

It creates confusion.

It creates good and bad.

It creates heaven and hell.

And when that happens,

We are again lost from truth.

We are away from the present moment.

We are in our own world,

Creating scenarios,

Projections.

It's like a virtual reality device is created here through which we start perceiving the real reality.

But that device is never actually there.

And even when we don't perceive the truth,

The truth remains true.

So the best thing to do when the mind creates these dualities is again to challenge the thoughts,

To find the opposites of what it's saying.

So for example,

If I have the thought I'm anxious or I'm depressed,

To go back to Sadhana's question,

I can say,

What's the opposite of that?

I am happy.

I am at peace.

And then find even a tiny place in your body where you feel at peace or find an occurrence of the day or yesterday that was happy,

That was nice.

And just to show the mind that its stories are not true.

So yeah,

That's how to find truth even through the mind.

Amélie,

You say,

Increase your energy.

What do you mean by that?

That's what comes to me as a reply.

But I don't know if it's a question or a comment or what it is.

But a way to increase the energy is again letting go rather than trying to energize the body,

To suppress emotions,

Etc.

Eventually,

They come back.

Eventually,

The feeling or the thoughts that keep us trapped within a low energy mode are there in the background.

So it's like when we are identified with the body-mind,

We are tense,

Like a fist.

And by returning to truth,

We are slowly letting go of this tension.

And by letting go,

We connect to the source of all of life,

Which is who we are,

And that energizes the body-mind and heals all sorts of relaxations and openings and freshness begin flowing through the body-mind as a result.

Amélie,

Yes,

Release pain,

Exactly.

And AJ,

You say,

It seems that the effort needed in this journey is to convince the mind that it is not us,

To put it in its place.

But the mind is not something to be fought against.

If I have the thought,

I am anxious or I am unhappy in this moment,

Then I should do my best to hold that thought in love and compassion and curiosity and see where it's coming from,

Be open to it,

Showing me something,

A pattern,

Maybe a deep-seated pattern that I've had,

Maybe my family has had,

Maybe many people have.

And lovingly guide the thought back to its source,

So it's not something to be fought against.

And often in my courses and my events,

I start with returning to our self,

Because our self is this open presence of awareness,

That allows everything to unfold,

To be exactly as it is.

And from that space,

The mind can have one thought or many thoughts or a lot of anxiety in the body.

The presence that we are is not affected by any of these experiences.

So I hope that makes sense.

And thank you all for being here,

For listening,

For your questions and comments.

As I said in the beginning,

I will share ways in which you can go deeper into these explorations.

And one way is my six-month program called Applied Nonduality,

The Art of Living in Freedom.

What I shared today is a combination of the second month.

Each month has a course,

And the course in the second month is Becoming Free from Identifying with the Mind.

And the third course is Liberate Your Body,

Nonduality and Natural Movement.

So if you are interested in that,

Then you can write me a message or check out my website,

And I'll be happy to continue this journey with you.

I'm really a big samurai.

Thank you.

In a funny way,

I think it is our most natural state to be,

To be present,

To be forgiving,

To be able to adapt to the moment,

Be ourself,

Be free,

Not experience past and future,

And all the things that I've talked about in this event.

So we are all samurai.

Thank you all for being here,

And I look forward to staying in touch with you.

Bye-bye for now.

Thank you for all the love.