Good afternoon everybody and welcome to the experts class on meditation.
Those who don't qualify as experts,
Get into the other room.
This is the one for the ongoing class.
Those who have come for the very,
Very,
Very,
Very first time,
They can go to the next room.
Oh,
You want a donation?
I've got a donation for you.
Very good.
So today I've got a call,
So I'm going to teach you today sneezing meditation.
Or in other words,
That even if one is not feeling 100%,
Still it's a very good time to meditate.
In other words,
If you are feeling a bit off-color,
Sick,
With a fever or with all sorts of other stuff that doesn't mean you shouldn't meditate.
In fact,
It's one of the best things you could possibly do when one is sick is actually to start focusing on the body,
To relax it,
To make it peaceful and to see if that body can sort of disappear.
Because from my experience,
Both personal and teaching others,
Is that the more you focus on the body,
The more sort of it tends to get unbalanced,
Sick and the symptoms seem to get worse.
But if you can somehow take your mind off that body,
By first of all relaxing it and then going into the realm of the mind,
It seems to be that the sickness sometimes even vanishes.
I know one of my stories,
When I was a young man many,
Not years ago,
Well,
I'll be honest,
Many years ago when I was a young man,
I was up in a university feeling really,
Really sick with the flu and the cold and everything else and staying in bed while everybody else in the house I shared with fellow students,
They went off to their lectures and I was there alone feeling terrible.
And then there was a knock on the door and I didn't want to get out of bed but the person kept on knocking and so I dragged myself to the door.
And there was somebody delivering my,
What you used to call in those days,
For somebody of my generation,
The HiFi system,
The machine on which you could play sort of these,
You remember the vinyl records?
So it was just delivered from my home in London to this place where I was staying.
So I was very excited,
I unpacked it,
Set it all up which took a bit of a while,
Maybe half an hour and I played my first vinyl record which,
Surprise,
Surprise,
Happened to be Jimi Hendrix.
And then I noticed my cold had totally disappeared.
I was sneezing,
Runny eyes,
Runny nose and just taking your mind off it and doing something you liked,
It disappeared.
So I know that somebody brought me some medicine earlier to get rid of the cold I just developed today.
If this doesn't work,
Please get me Jimi Hendrix.
See if that works.
No,
Don't do that.
I've got to be careful because what I suggest is seeing some people actually do it.
I don't know the difference between a joke and a real thing but just the reason,
I often thought why did that actually happen and since that time when I really got into meditation,
Since that time too you can focus on some sort of sickness or illness and use your mindfulness on it because what happens,
What most people do when they feel a bit sick or ill or not so of their best is they try and always get rid of things.
What meditation does is allow you to be with things rather than trying to get rid of them.
You're being here,
You're being with things,
You're allowing it to be,
You're being kind to it,
You're opening the door of your mind,
Of your heart to whatever you're experiencing,
Not trying to fight or get rid of it.
And just by doing that much it takes away the tension and the stress which often surrounds sicknesses and illnesses or pain or discomfort,
Takes away that response which tightens up the body.
When you loosen off the body it does really seem that the usual curative energies of the body can be free to heal,
To help,
To relieve,
Very often just to get that sickness or whatever it is to totally disappear.
So these days when you are really sick and you have to teach,
And that's most of my life these days,
I have a schedule which I have to keep and even if I'm sick I have to be almost dead before I stop teaching.
And even if I am sick and have a sleep I'm sure that I'm giving a dumber talk in my sleep when I'm asleep because I'm so used to talking.
So what you do do if you have to perform is just to relax the body,
Learn how to relax the mind,
Go deep inside and really relax to the max.
And of course I've taught many of you for a long time now that the art of relaxation is just a combination between mindfulness and compassion.
I said I think last night that if you want to define what meditation is,
Not by where it leads but what you do to meditate,
The process rather than the outcome,
You want to decide to define the process of meditation.
You can very well define it as a combination of mindfulness and kindness.
Put those two together and that is the process which we call meditation.
Especially when you focus that inside,
The mindfulness of your body and eventually the mindfulness of the mental world,
Being kind to everything and you feel everything relaxes,
Becomes peaceful,
Becomes relieved and still.
And often you do feel,
Find these energies start to flow through your body.
You can feel those energies.
When it's really good healing energy,
For me anyway,
Always feels this very pleasant sort of force coming through the body,
A bit of a joy,
But it's a very pleasant feeling.
You feel that energy coming through,
That's very hard for me to describe it.
When you realize that this is doing something wonderful for whatever sickness,
Pain,
Discomfort is actually happening in the body,
You find that things really relax.
The nice thing with mindfulness,
Mindfulness is not just what keeps you aware of what's going on,
It also gives you feedback.
You're aware of how you feel and you notice those feelings change.
You get feedback to see whether the body is relaxing and getting healthier,
Whether the mind is getting healthier.
You feel this.
One classic example I remember when I had to do this,
I was visiting,
I think,
Canberra for the first time,
Giving a series of talks there and I had some very nice hosts but they decided to take me on a tour of the area around Canberra.
They picked me up in the morning and you know,
Those of you who have been to Canberra,
The coldest city in the whole of Australia.
This is what it feels like.
And I got a cold and as the day was going on,
You were getting worse and worse and worse and worse and people were,
They got lost,
They couldn't find their way back.
I was supposed to give a talk about 7 o'clock or 7.
30,
I can't remember when,
I only got to the temple,
I was supposed to give a talk about 10 minutes beforehand.
I'd been out since about 7 o'clock in the morning,
No shower,
No cup of tea,
Nothing.
I thought,
Oh this is going to be a really bad talk and it was.
I started giving the talk and I was sneezing and when you've got a really bad cold,
Your eyes are watering and all this stuff is coming out from your nose and it's not air,
It's all this liquid stuff and you have to keep interrupting your talk to wipe it off with the tissues and you feel really bad and there's now maybe,
I think in those days,
Maybe 100 people,
150 people had come trying to listen to your talk and it really was a bad talk.
You couldn't keep your attention on what you were talking about,
You had to keep on sneezing.
And after 15 minutes,
And you know because when I'm giving a talk you look at the audience and when they start looking at the clock or looking down at the floor then you know that you're in big trouble.
Well these days they start SMSing or looking to see what emails they've just got and so I said,
Right,
Instead of giving the talk we'll now do some meditation and actually everyone's very happy to do that.
All it was was half an hour meditation,
I recall this,
Half an hour meditation and you know if you're sick you really have to not mess around and do it properly.
So I sat down,
Meditated and after half an hour I gave this really nice fluent talk,
Not one sneeze or cough.
I remember some of the people would say,
Wow,
Your talk was good but what was really impressive was the fact that half an hour you totally changed.
You had a very,
Very bad cold and then it was just gone.
And that happens,
You know how to do that.
Because when you were meditating you were really focusing on what was happening in your nose and your throat,
Really focusing and really relaxing to the max.
And you relaxed so much,
Half an hour and it was gone.
Now for those of you who want to understand my psychic powers,
Floating up through the air,
Being able to read minds and all that sort of stuff,
That's not really useful but to be able to overcome a sickness,
That's when it's actually quite good fun.
That's actually something which is useful to be able to do.
So that's what I advise you to do.
If you're sick,
Still come to the temple to meditate.
If you're dying,
Still ask the nurse to sort of wheel you in on the gurney and you can meditate in here,
Even if you've got drips.
So it's a wonderful thing to do because it actually works.
You can get amazing results from learning how to meditate.
So today we're learning how to meditate,
Even if you're a little bit sick.
So before we actually start,
I have to make the announcement again because some people come in late.
This is the ongoing class for those who meditated before.
If you come to the Introduction to Meditation class,
That is being held in the room to my right because here we're going to meditate for about 45 minutes.
If you haven't meditated before,
That's a long time.
So we advise you to go to the room on your right.
Now we're going to meditate.
As I say,
You've been warned.
So here we go.
So if you like to get yourself nice and comfortable in your meditation position,
I will get my tissues close by.
The let go of all that stuff in my nose.
And I cross in my legs,
Getting my meditation posture just right.
And as usual,
When I first close my eyes,
I don't assume that I'm in a good posture.
I need more clarity to be able to assess how I'm sitting.
That clarity doesn't come immediately.
I need to allow the brain to turn away from seeing and put all that extra attention onto my body.
With my eyes closed,
I can feel much more of what's going on in my body.
Using the body,
I ask myself,
How can I make my body more relaxed?
What can I move?
What can I scratch?
What can I loosen so my body is more comfortable?
I know I've got to sit like this for about 40-45 minutes.
If I'm careless at the beginning,
It's going to disturb the middle and the end of my meditation.
It's almost like the law of karma.
If I'm heedless to my body at the beginning,
I suffer later.
I'm really careful when I begin meditation.
That good karma to my body means my body is going to be at ease and peaceful and comfortable.
I make good body karma at the beginning by relaxing as much as I possibly can.
This does serve a dual purpose.
It does give a comfortable body.
It also starts to widen the mind towards mindfulness and kindness.
It arouses two magnificent qualities,
Working together to make your body at ease.
Not trying to change your body,
But being with your body.
Being kind.
Having this beautiful friendship which doesn't want to control your friend or tell your friend what to do.
Just likes to stay and hang out with your friend.
So your mind,
Hang out with your body a little while longer.
Being very gentle to her.
Then let your mindu Washington aware of this thing.
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When the body is really relaxed,
You can deliberately let it go.
As an intention,
Now I will not be concerned with my body.
Now I will focus on my mental world.
You focus on your mental world,
You try and relax with whatever is happening now.
But be mindful of what's happening now and being kind.
Almost automatically you let go of the past and the future.
Because your work,
Your meditation is all to do with what's happening now.
Being at peace,
Being kind,
Being gentle,
For this moment.
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It's getting close to the end of meditation now.
It's a time to reflect on the state of your mental world and body.
To recognise the difference from when you started.
To see how much relaxation,
Peace,
Ease and joy.
You've developed.
And also reflect on what worked and what didn't.
You've been very helpful.
Thank you.
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Very good.
So we don't have the laptop with the questions from overseas.
I hope you enjoyed that meditation.
Is there any questions from the floor this afternoon?
Very often this is broadcast live.
I'm not quite sure if it is this afternoon.
But anyhow,
There's an opportunity now to ask some questions about your meditation.
Who's,
Anyone wish to ask a question about the meditation?
There's no extra charge.
It's all for free.
So whatever the,
What I was mentioning today was the basic idea of learning how to make peace,
Be kind and be gentle with your meditation.
To be able to do that is learning how to relax.
When the mind relaxes,
It becomes still.
It's in that stillness that power can arise.
You can see what happens when people aren't still.
And it's so noisy and disturbing.
But when people are still,
Everything is nice and quiet.
And quietness,
Especially inside the mind,
Sometimes life is so irritating.
Maybe if you can close the doors,
You go out please.
No,
That's very good.
Very good.
So sometimes it's like your mind always thinking backwards and forwards.
It's just like this terrible sound inside the ears which you can't get away from.
But by learning how to close the doors,
In other words to let go,
Until you can't hear anything,
You can't feel anything,
But everything disappears and becomes really peaceful and still.
It's just so pleasant.
It's just like you've been in a noisy place all day,
While your neighbors have been having a party,
And then suddenly they turn off the noise and everything gets calm and peaceful.
It's a great joy.
It's important to realize the joy of peace.
If you'd realize the joy of peace more and more,
Then the mind would incline towards peace more and more.
It's just the nature of things.
Whatever you enjoy,
That is what your mind,
Your attention inclines towards.
And if it inclines towards thinking,
Because it enjoys thinking,
You won't be able to stop thinking.
But if it knows the pleasure of peace,
You can really touch that pleasure of peace,
You know it well.
You don't have to tell the mind to be peaceful.
You just want to be peaceful.
Just like those of you who have dogs,
You get the leash out,
The dog knows straight away it's going for a walk.
It would incline towards that.
However,
If you're taking the dog to the vet,
You'll find the dog will usually hide because it doesn't like going.
I remember this story of this man who was blind,
Had a blind guide dog.
He could never get the dog to go to the vet because whenever he'd rely upon the dog to actually to guide him and on purpose,
The dog would always guide him away from the vet because he never liked going there.
So if you've got a blind dog and the dog doesn't like the vet,
It's very hard to get the dog to go to the vet because the dog guides you somewhere else.
But in the same way,
If your mind,
If it doesn't like something,
It will guide you away from it,
Against all your decisions and willpower.
So one of the great tricks in meditation is to appreciate the delight,
The joy of peace,
Just the beauty of silence.
And the more you recognize that,
I mean really recognize that,
Soon just you can't stop the mind.
The mind when it gets even close to peacefulness,
Close to stillness,
Will just jump into it.
That's actually what the Buddha said.
In some of the old teachings of the Buddha,
He said like a well-trained mind,
It inclines,
It leans and it jumps into the beautiful states of mind.
Basically you see it close by,
Right,
I'm getting into that,
And you leap into the silence,
Into the peace,
Into the joy.
That's only when you really appreciate just the pleasure,
The benefit,
The health benefits,
The mental benefits,
Just the peaceful mind.
So I know that sometimes people who meditate have trouble stilling the mind and they just work so hard.
Just using willpower,
It's not the way to go in meditation,
It just leaves you more stressed out and more frustrated.
Please remember that the thing which works in meditation is wisdom power,
Not willpower.
So at the end of the meditation,
When you are a little bit peaceful,
Really learn how to appreciate the pleasure of peace,
The joy of stillness.
Whenever you even get close,
Just linger there and tell the mind,
See mind how pleasurable this is,
See how joyful it is,
See mind.
And then by telling yourself that over and over and over again,
The mind will learn,
Oh yes,
She's right,
This is a nice place to hang out,
Which means the next time you even get close to peacefulness,
The mind will recognize it and just leap into it,
Not because you tell it to,
Just because the mind is used to this wonderful happiness and pleasure of peace.
You can't stop it,
You can't resist it.
Your mind just goes into it all by itself.
That's what happens when you train the mind.
My mind has been so well trained over many years,
You get a little bit of peace,
I can't stop it.
Off it goes.
That's why it's quite tough coming out of meditation today.
I was having an argument in my mind,
Come on,
You've got to get out because you've got to wind things up.
Well,
I don't want to go,
I'm having fun.
You've got to get out.
People have been meditating for about 40,
50 minutes.
If you do a bit longer,
They'll be hurting.
But no,
I want to stay.
So that was what my mind was like today.
So eventually you guys won.
I'm too compassionate.
Otherwise you'll still be meditating here.
Or maybe I would and maybe you'd have left by the time I come out.
But anyway,
That's what happens,
The mind just enjoys itself.
The way you understand that meditation is when the mind really enjoys itself in peace and stillness,
Then you really get into the meditation.
You just can't stop yourself.
You're just sitting here having a great time.
So that's what meditation really is.
So anyone got any questions or comments yet?
Going,
Going.
Okay,
Good.
If you do have any questions,
I know we used to do this a long time ago,
But it stopped,
You can always write them down on a piece of paper and leave them on the little bench here before the meditation session so that your questions are anonymous.
And even though many of you are members of our Buddhist Society and when you join I've got records of your handwriting,
I promise I will not compare the sort of question and find out who wrote it.
It will truly be anonymous.
Because that means you can ask a question and you won't feel embarrassed.
I don't know why people feel embarrassed about asking questions.
I don't feel embarrassed about answering them.
So I don't see why you should be embarrassed about asking them.
But anyway,
If you have a question about meditation in the next weeks,
Piece of paper and just leave it on here.
And then you can feel very happy.
You've got your question answered and you're not really embarrassed.
Okay,
So we can now maybe just finish off.
Then I can have a good sneeze.
So let's just play this piece of Buddha Dhamma Sangha.
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