Day 350/365: Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm

Ajahn Brahm delivers 15 minutes of dharma talk/meditation advice and inspiration, followed by 45 minutes of semi-guided meditation (about 20 minutes guided meditation and about 25 minutes of silent meditation). After the meditation practice, there is a Q&A session with the community.

In this session, Ajahn Brahm talks about the importance of happiness during meditation practice.

Transcript

So welcome to this afternoon's meditation class.

This is the ongoing class,

Those who have come for the first time or the first couple of times.

The introduction to meditation class is to the right over there.

This is the ongoing class.

And in the ongoing class,

After 15 minutes of introduction,

Then we do 45 minute meditation followed by any questions which you have about the meditation.

And in particular,

When we start our meditation,

Sometimes people get restless,

They start thinking.

And the reason we start thinking when we meditate is only because that it's our reaction to pain and discomfort.

If you are getting to a certain part of meditation where you start to feel happy,

Enjoying it,

Then why think about things?

Why get restless?

Why want to move?

Why want to get up and do something else?

Because you are having a very happy time.

So it's that happiness which comes up in meditation is almost essential to be able to sit for long periods of time.

Otherwise it's just endurance,

Just force.

Yeah,

You can do that.

I often mention the simile of those guards in Buckingham Palace who sit,

They stand perfectly straight for 45 minutes or an hour.

And even though the tourists come up and try and photograph them and poke them and do stuff,

Still they sit perfectly straight.

But that's just for a force through willpower.

But to be able to sit perfectly still through happiness means you are happy to be here,

It becomes almost like effortless.

So important when we meditate to bring up that joy and that happiness which is one of the reasons why I keep encouraging people to get into a beautiful posture,

A comfortable position So you've got those little stools,

Chairs,

Leaning back against the wall,

Cushions,

More cushions,

We've got heaps of cushions up there so you can get the whole lot if you wish and put a big bed around and sit on them because whatever makes it comfortable for you,

That's really important.

However doesn't matter what you do with chairs and cushions,

Even if you bring like your personal armchair here,

You know,

A lazy boy,

You just press this button and the thing goes out this way and that way,

Still you can only get so comfortable through your posture.

Then comes,

It's a bit hot,

It's tired,

It's aching,

There's always something in our bodies.

So two weeks ago after the New Year's,

I was really tired,

Exhausted.

So I was just taking a week or two by myself in my cave for retreat and just feeling the body was just really aching and tired but sort of what do you do with that?

You just sit there and be with it.

Important thing just to be with it,

Don't try and get somewhere,

Don't try and force it to be something different.

In other words,

Don't get any negativity up.

The negativity,

The ill will in Buddhist meditation is called the second of the five hindrances,

Vyapada,

It's ill will.

I don't want this,

I want this boring old breath,

I want to get nimittas,

I want to get the lights and the jhanas,

I just want to get these bliss states,

I want to get this,

I want to get that.

You can see that is like the ill will,

That is what the problem is.

So instead of seeing it's too hot,

It's too cold,

I wish somebody would turn the heater up or turn the cold up or whatever it is.

You know that whatever it is,

Look,

You know the reason I prefer it cold,

If you are too cold you can always put something on but if you're too hot you can't take anything off.

Not to be decent in this place because remember the camera's on.

So you can't strip off in this place.

But what you can do is just try and keep cool and it will never be perfect for you so you just learn how to be.

And every now and again I remember an occasion once when I was travelling and it was in Thailand.

I don't know what you eat,

It's always par for the course,

Sometimes you get tummy ache,

No,

Well now you look at it,

Talk about health and safety regulations,

Those monasteries would never pass,

Not once.

You know the sort of the dirt and the hygiene there was almost non-existent.

But you know I used to get a strong tummy but every now and again it was too much,

I got a tummy ache and I remember just having to wait for an hour or two hours until the next buzz or whatever it was,

Taking me to the next destination,

Really feeling sick but just staying with it,

Just sitting down,

Feeling the ugh inside your tummy but you couldn't do anything which is great,

You just stayed there and just focused on the discomfort,

Just be with it.

But not with just endurance,

Not trying to get rid of it,

Not trying to escape from it or find a place where you could be where that pain wasn't,

You really go into it.

Just going into any form of discomfort,

Just being with it as totally as you possibly can,

Leave it.

It sucks,

It's unpleasant.

But one thing really happens after a little while,

You stay with it,

Stay there long enough and the ache,

The pain tends to disappear by itself,

It gets less and less and less and less when you're not trying to get rid of it.

Because all that's happening is understanding it's a very basic Buddhist teaching,

Well maybe basic but it's a very important one,

There's the two types of discomfort.

The first is the physical,

The actual ache,

The pain,

The heat,

The cold.

That's one part which you can't do really much about.

It's never exactly the right temperature,

It's always a bit too hot,

But it's never totally quiet,

It's never exactly the food which I want or when I want it,

It's always never just enough rest or too much rest or whatever.

You know the body,

It's never find the best part.

So that part you can never do much about,

You can get aches,

Sick,

Too hot,

Too cold,

Want to go to the toilet,

Whatever it is,

But the other part of the pain is the reaction part of the pain.

I don't want this,

I want it to be different,

I want to get rid of this,

I want to escape.

And that is the part which allows meditation to happen no matter how you feel.

Because that you can do everything about.

In the suttas,

The teaching of the Buddha,

He called out the two dharas,

The physical and the emotional response.

One you can't do much about,

The other one you can do everything about.

And it really helps because you've got an ache or pain,

Too hot,

Too cold,

Tired,

Whatever,

Just be with it.

In other words,

Don't add with your emotional reaction.

I don't want this,

I feel so yucky,

I might always have to feel like this,

I feel so tired,

So much ache,

So much pain,

There's always something going on.

All you can do is just be with it,

Part of life.

It's where I always say there's three things you can always do.

Always,

Make peace,

Be kind and be gentle.

You can't always be free of aches and pains,

But you can always make peace,

Be kind and be gentle.

So it's hot.

Always make peace with the heat,

Be kind,

Which is open the door of your heart at this moment,

Be gentle,

So you don't react.

When you don't react,

You find something really weird happens.

After a while,

You don't feel the heat and the cold,

The aches and pains,

Where the heck have they gone?

You put a bit of mindfulness there,

It's still there,

Still hot,

Still aching,

Still hurts,

But you've taken away the importance of it by not making a big fuss and bother about it.

You make peace,

You're kind to it,

You're gentle with it.

It just tends to not be important anymore.

It's one of the reasons why there are some people who have chronic pain and after a while they get used to it.

Weird to say,

But it's just part of their life and they smile,

Happy,

Just like you wouldn't know just what they're actually going through.

They don't know because they don't pay too much attention to it.

What they're paying attention to is the other part,

The emotional response.

So we can actually,

When we meditate,

We can actually put our attention on one of those two things,

Our emotional response,

Are we making peace,

Being kind,

Being gentle,

Are we trying to get rid of stuff,

Trying to get somewhere else,

Trying to go somewhere else,

Being discontent?

Are we looking at the making peace,

Our emotional response,

Or are we looking at the actual feeling,

The pain,

The ache,

The heat,

The cold,

The noise,

People burping,

Whatever it is?

If you're looking at the wrong place,

Of course,

Meditation never happens.

The emotional response,

After a while,

You get this energy coming up,

You're alive,

You're happy,

You're joyful.

And it just comes not because you want it,

It's because you're always making peace,

Being kind,

Being gentle,

Focusing on what's really important,

Not on the body,

Not on the complaining,

Not on the why does this have to happen,

Why does it come all this way,

You know,

To have some meditation,

Are we looking forward to this afternoon and get tummy ache,

Blah,

Or people cough,

Blah,

Or that there's a police car outside,

Blah,

Blah,

Blah,

Blah,

This,

Instead of that negativity,

That ill will,

We learn how to be at peace,

Make peace,

Be kind,

Be gentle.

Now,

One of the reasons why this happens,

It's one of those teachings I keep banging on about is that when you use up your mental energy with doing,

With wriggling,

Writhing,

Struggling,

Striving,

Trying to get your body just nice,

Trying to say,

Okay,

As soon as Ajahn Brahm closes his eyes,

I'm going to creep up here and I'm going to grab the air-con.

I can't get it exactly how I want it to sit.

So I'm going to put this under here somewhere so you can't get it.

I'm sure there's a spare somewhere.

So instead of trying to manipulate,

Think,

Plan,

Because that is the stuff which causes the problems.

Instead just let it go,

Let it be,

It's good enough,

You're not going to die.

If it's too hot,

Wonderful.

You can sweat and lose some toxins.

It's wonderful,

Free sauna,

No extra charge.

And if it's really cold,

Excellent,

Because when you're cold,

You tend to extend your life in cold weather.

That's why you put things in the refrigerator so they don't go off.

So if you think you're being chorogenically frozen here,

If you're sitting too close to the air-con,

Wonderful.

Anyway,

All that's really happening here is the changing the mind state,

Not the body state.

And what happens because you're not doing things,

The energy in your brain is not being used up,

Which means that after a short while,

All that wasted energy goes into your mindfulness.

You become happy.

The mind becomes,

This is that happiness which comes from an energized mind.

And of course,

Most people's minds are struggle to get here,

Working on the committee,

Just what else,

Looking after all of the caretaking,

Having to deal with people at work,

I don't know what else you've got in life,

But there's plenty of causes in our life.

So,

But now,

Instead,

We just don't even think about it,

Don't worry about it,

Don't do anything about that at all.

And instead,

We can learn how to relax and let go and be.

When we do that energy of our mind,

Mindfulness becomes more powerful.

And this is where anything you see starts to become beautiful,

Delightful,

Joyful.

That's the energized mindfulness,

The happiness of meditation.

And of course,

Then,

You know,

You feel the wind of the aircon.

It's just like this beautiful breeze just blowing over your body.

It's a bit chilly,

But oh,

It's just so wonderful,

Just the feeling of being alive and feeling that.

You feel the sound,

The sound of the,

What can you say,

Of somebody just banging the doors,

Wow,

Just the bang of a door.

It's an amazing experience,

Just bang or whatever.

You hear the aircraft over the top of us,

And it's amazing sounds,

Because when you're mindful and happy,

You can see the beauty in almost anything,

And it really is true.

And your body starts to feel really,

Really beautiful,

Delightful,

Weird.

You start,

It's bleurgh,

Aching,

Tired,

Hot,

Indigestion or whatever.

But after a while,

If you just make peace,

Be kind,

Be gentle,

The energy comes up and it feels good.

And then when you have happiness in the body,

Just sitting here,

It's really comfortable.

And people get the feeling,

They can see it for hours.

Just so comfortable,

So happy just being here.

And then if you want to go into your breathing,

Into the emotional world,

It's just so easy.

It's just that entry point into really deep,

Good meditation.

What I used to call the pivot point is just the happiness,

The joy.

Where does the happiness come from?

It comes from just being still.

No ill will.

You have to endure for a little while.

And again,

Simile,

Always find it hard to have similes,

But that simile I try to develop about sitting down on a hard,

Like just sitting outside on that wooden little bench outside underneath which your shoes go.

You sit down on that,

It's hard.

It's not that comfortable at first,

But you sit there long enough and after a while it sort of warms up.

It becomes comfortable.

If you sit there long enough,

Anything becomes really comfy.

You sit still with whatever you experience right now,

Your body starts to become comfy.

And then it means the body relaxes.

It gets even more cozy and comfy.

And you can really give it some nice deep meditation.

The joy which comes up,

Just a little bit of persistence,

A little bit of endurance,

Just not reacting to the difficulties,

The pains,

The disturbances of meditation.

Just staying there,

Making peace,

Being kind,

Being gentle,

And then you get your energy up.

Then you want to watch the breath,

You want to sort of do metta or vipassana or whatever you want to do.

It's easy.

You've got the energy,

The focus,

So easy to do.

Okay,

So let's give it a try.

There's opportunities for questions and complaints afterwards.

Just,

People are really desperate.

I'll close my eyes.

Okay.

Close your eyes.

I usually lead the meditation first 5,

10,

15 minutes or something.

And then just be quiet so I can enjoy the meditation.

You can just carry on.

You close your eyes.

I know some people say,

Leave your eyes open.

It's too much distraction.

I prefer closing my eyes.

If I could close my ears I'd do that too.

Open your eyes,

Your eyes are closed.

Start to feel your body.

Feel this,

The ache,

Heaviness of the body,

Warmth.

There's always some ache or pain there somewhere.

I didn't know how to deal with it,

I'd be fidgeting all the time.

So,

Get myself into what I recognize as a reasonably good posture.

And then I really get into adjusting my body.

Now I just focus just on my legs,

My toes,

And my feet,

Ankles,

Calves,

Knees,

Thighs,

I feel a whole lot.

It's like I'm saying,

How are you guys?

Anything you need?

They tell me I should adjust the posture.

There we go,

That's better.

So,

Again,

You never just believe what's the best posture.

What some guru or great master or mistress,

Keeping gender neutral,

Tell you.

You feel it for yourself.

They all come and see.

I feel my posture with my mind,

It's called awareness.

You really get to know how your body is positioned.

And then,

If I need to move it,

I will.

This is not an endurance test,

This is a part of compassion and kindness.

Sensitivity,

So sensitive to my legs,

Because if I look after them,

They'll be quite happy for the next 45 minutes.

If I try and control them,

Tell them what they should be doing,

Rather than listen to what they need,

Then I find I'll get in aches and pains.

Once I find my legs,

Pretty good.

Not the best,

Not perfect,

But okay.

I go to my butt,

Feel the pressure of my body on these big muscles.

Just adjust,

Fidget,

Till they're comfy.

Sometimes if you're sitting on a stool,

Sometimes you need to move the stool closer to your knees,

Sometimes a bit further away,

To get it right.

With a cushion,

Sometimes I'm too much on the edge,

Sometimes I need to sort of pull the cushion closer into my knees.

Get the right place.

It's worth it,

Putting in the time,

Putting in the care.

SPACE?

TIME?

Then to the back.

If your back is not in a good position,

That is a sure cause of discomfort.

So you check the posture of your back.

You get to know your muscles and your bones.

And they get to know you too so they can work together.

Sometimes if you want to share your lean back,

Sometimes you lean forward.

Sometimes you curve your back,

Sometimes you just keep it straight.

You find out trial and error with mindfulness and kindness.

You get in the best position for your back.

So feel those feelings and sensations.

Don't go wandering off into fantasies yet or ever.

Just really feel the body.

It's important for you.

With that just your hands.

Just how are your hands positioned?

Where are they right now?

Is that good enough?

When asking those questions,

Asking a question is a great way of developing mindfulness in the area which is most important to you.

Questions focus mindfulness,

So direct it.

Shoulders as well,

Nice and relaxed.

As soon as you become aware of that area,

That's the time you can find some problems.

If you don't look,

You don't see.

Until the problem gets so bad,

It causes you a lot of difficulty.

So you catch it early.

Checking out,

Make sure your shoulders are nice and relaxed.

Your neck is just relaxed.

Just move my head around,

Just stretching a couple of muscles there just to make sure the neck is not going to be in pain.

If you need to swallow,

You need to cough,

You're most welcome.

We don't force things,

We don't suppress.

We let things be.

Going up to your head,

You feel the itchiness of the face in the hot weather.

My face is filled with the itching.

Feel the heat.

And you relax.

As soon as you're mindful,

You're aware of any feeling there,

The next thing,

Learning how to relax it is quite simple.

Far and narrow,

You soon learn just how not to keep pushing and pulling and stretching and putting your muscles in your face under stress.

Sometimes I imagine that like a sponge which is squashed and I just take off the pressure.

The sponge expands,

Becomes loose and fluffy and light,

Just like muscles on my face.

My whole body,

Part by part,

Meticulous,

Carefully relaxing it.

At the same time,

Establishing mindfulness,

Awareness and the kindness,

Relaxing things,

Opening things up.

Those of you who like to heal parts of your body,

Go to some part of your body which is really irritating more than most.

It could be tummy,

Headache,

Irritating throat,

Whatever.

You feel that part of the body,

Feel your mindfulness,

Zoom in on it.

That's all that you can experience,

Just feeling the irritations in your body or pain or ache.

And see what relaxes it,

Letting it be or trying to get rid of it.

You soon find what relaxes that irritational pain.

You're aware,

Gives you trial and error,

You soon find out how,

The cause.

You find the cause of relaxation is kindness,

Opening the door of your heart to that irritational pain,

That ache,

That heat.

And it gets nice and easy,

Open,

Peaceful.

If you have any injuries,

Any sicknesses,

This is really powerful.

To be able to ease,

Get beyond the stress,

Obviously it's usually fear,

Control,

Stress,

That cycle,

Which really twists and squashes and messes up your body.

Everything just is wide,

Expansive,

Free.

So I usually indulge by just enjoying my body which is really relaxed.

Then up to my emotional world,

My mind.

Look at the old peace-o-meter.

How irritated are you?

Anxious,

Disturbed,

Agitated?

Or how peaceful,

Content,

Happy?

Be honest.

Give it a number from 1 to 10.

One really peaceful,

10 agitated.

Now you are looking at the peace-o-meter.

Aware.

Next,

What do you need to do?

What attitude of mind?

To bring that needle of the peace-o-meter closer to deep,

Deep peace and stillness.

You're not watching the breath or the body or loving kind or whatever.

What you're doing right now is going to the heart of the matter.

How peaceful are you?

What causes peace in the mind?

You soon learn.

Same thing which relaxes your body,

Causes peace in the mind.

Take away the stress,

The pulling and the pushing and the worrying,

Carrying burdens from the past or anxiety about the future.

All that stuff is pushes and struggles and strives and stretches and squashes and compresses and contains,

Imprisons.

Instead you're letting go.

Opening the door of your heart to freedom,

Just to be.

No past,

No future,

Just being.

As your mind starts to feel peaceful,

Just stay there.

Stay there until,

Because the mind,

The brain doesn't do much work,

No need to have a commentary,

No need to have a counter-argument or a philosophical debate about what's the right meditation or not.

Just be silent by being here.

This is good enough.

Stay here,

Know your will and soon you'll find the joy comes up.

Naturally,

Just coming because you're conserving your mental energies,

Not struggling,

Letting things be and recharging to your bright.

And then watching the breath whatever,

So easy.

I'm not going to be quiet now.

Stay here.

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Reviews

Wonderful, so Wonderful. Saving this one. Thank you. ☮️💖🙏