And we'll continue,
We're on the fifteenth step of mindfulness of breathing which is represented by the Pali word nirodha,
Nirodha.
And I know that sometimes using these Pali words can make one feel a little bit disconnected to the practice so I just want to say that like it's too religious or something.
But I share them because in their original context in India they have very rich connotations.
So nirodha means being without obstruction.
And the most common translation for nirodha in English is cessation,
Ending.
So for most of us cessation is an ending.
And the word cessation has a very different feeling than being free of obstruction,
Right?
So last week we looked at the fourteenth step which involves the fading away or the ending of attachments.
The cravings,
The compulsive ways of being that have us feeling stress and even pain.
So as the mind becomes more quiet and still in meditation normally what happens at first is that all of the pain and the stress of our life becomes more and more apparent.
It stands out in highlight like wow this is really uncomfortable,
This sitting still.
But as we train again and this is following this these sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing,
The fifteenth step says one trains observing nirodha.
Again nirodha is the experience of unobstruction without obstruction.
One breathes observing cessation ending.
One breathes out observing cessation.
One breathes in observing non-obstruction.
One breathes out observing non-obstruction.
So what this is pointing to is a deepening meditation and at some point in our practice and it might not be in our daily life practice as much as it would be if we were retreating together.
So I just want to preface that.
But you'll notice you know we start to observe the absence of something.
This absence is really strong and noteworthy and it looks like you so perhaps in some point in your practice or in your life you're quite reactive to whatever situation is in front of you.
And then to notice same situation happens and you're no longer reactive in the same way that you once were.
So that absence is really strong and it's really noteworthy.
And many of us had had we've had these experiences either in the meditation practice or some point in our life where our habit pattern our reactive response doesn't arise in a situation where we habitually react.
It's absent.
So when we have those moments it's a moment to celebrate like wow I am progressing on the path.
The habit of reactivity is no longer there to obstruct my freedom.
So but the ending in the absence that's talked about in this step it's interesting because it's not just a temporary absence.
You know that fades and comes back a second or a minute later.
It's very impactful for the mind and the heart.
So kind of like wow it's possible to really be free of cynicism.
I've been cynical for decades.
This is possible that I'm no longer cynical or I've always had this deep self preoccupation.
Wow this preoccupation with like me myself and mine has fallen away.
I look around and like where is it?
It's absent.
It's gone.
You know this is you can see this with jealousy or doubt or hatred you know resentment that once was there desire fear sometimes so embedded in the structure of our minds and then wow it ceased.
You know it might come back you know in the next day in the next meditation but the thoroughness of the absence in the moment it kind of makes an impression.
And in a way it's this confirmed faith like now I know this is possible.
I had no idea.
And when that sense of absence is impactful and really strong like a deep thorough absence in my experience you know will never be the same again.
Our whole life becomes reoriented in a way.
So to recognize the value of absence the importance of absence is a hard thing for many people to appreciate.
You know in a sense we can watch the mind and see that as soon as there's some quiet moment the mind kind of reaches out for the next thing reaches out for the next thing to think about or reaches out towards that next problem to solve.
And then the mind wants to and once you solve that problem in the mind then you go to the next problem right.
So the mind is filling itself all the time.
This is quite normal and human but as we collect and collect and keep coming back to just this breath this relaxing this unification of mind this collecting of mind.
And then there's this absence of wow I'm no longer I'm no longer reacting there's this there's like this deep sacred pause.
Let that impact us because that impact is like it's possible to be free of all of this activity in the mind.
And it's important I think to understand that the absence is not like a badge that you can put on you know absence is not the presence of something.
I think that somebody is trying to do something and I had to mute them so okay we're all good there now.
Sorry about that folks.
So this is kind of an important point.
Absence is not the presence of something okay.
You know oftentimes you know there's this wanting to get something out of the practice.
What absence provides when we start to see things drop away that fading our ability to be present for things become stronger.
And freedom like the freedom that they talk about on this path it's not tangible.
It's not something that the mind can focus on as an object of attention in the usual ways.
You know we can't see it or touch it.
In the history of this this Buddhist path around these 16 steps there were debates and big concerns about this absence.
You know some great Buddhist teachers couldn't understand really that the ultimate goal the ultimate freedom in Buddhism could be represented by the absence of something.
They posited like a variety of transcendental states and experiences because the ultimate goal in the discussion was that there had to be like a thing.
And like whether this is true or not I don't know.
But the absence of suffering the cessation of suffering like that's possible.
And this 15th step it's an encouragement I think to appreciate and recognize when our preoccupations our greed our anger our desire our lusting for something anything that involves the mind and the heart sort of contracting when it's not there to recognize this to appreciate it and to allow it to grow because when we do there's some confidence in this practice.
The Buddha made a great statement that I'll paraphrase for you.
If it were not possible to bring an end to our unwholesome mental qualities I would not teach you to bring an end to them but it is possible it is possible to bring unwholesome mental qualities to an end.
And so I teach you that this is possible.
So thank you thank you for your kind attention on this journey of mindfulness of breathing and we have a little time to kind of flush it out as a community.
So please.
