When our attention is anchored on the breath or a mantra,
Even a contemplation,
An object,
There's the chasing is gone,
Right?
That's the chasing is gone and it feels so pleasant.
And it doesn't mean that we can't go about our day.
Even go about our day you want to create things,
You want to progress in your job,
You want to learn things,
You want to do things.
Like that's fine.
Enjoy the world,
Right?
We're here.
Let's not deny the world.
But we can do that while still being here and enjoying every bit of it.
Not imagining that I'll be happier over there when I get something because I won't be.
And if you always imagine you'll be happier somewhere other than where you are,
When you get there,
All that's going to happen is you'll have a moment's break because the chasing mind will drop out for a few moments,
But it will just start back up again.
It will start right back up again.
If you cannot be present now,
There is nothing in the future that's going to bring you greater happiness.
Because when you get to that future moment,
It's the present moment.
And the mind will just keep doing what it's been doing,
What you've been training it to do.
What our culture and society also very much reinforces,
That it's always out there.
It's the next thing,
Right?
And to feel,
Again,
Why we ask the question in the meditation,
What's most important,
As again,
Another anchor to keep reminding us we are so easily distracted.
We so easily get lost in what someone else has,
Their achievements,
Their success,
They're going on a retreat,
They're going on a holiday,
They've got this partner,
Right?
That we get so easily distracted and lost in chasing things that just perpetuate this mindset of happiness is over there.
And all that happens is the goalpost just keeps moving again,
And again,
We get there for all this effort,
All this stress,
All this energy wasted,
All this unpleasant energy,
Because what if I don't get there?
What if someone gets there first?
What if someone takes it all?
Right?
All this unpleasant energy to get there.
And for a few moments,
Ah,
It falls away.
Right?
We feel good,
Not because of the object,
Not because of the success,
Not because of the praise,
Because the chasing mind fell away for a few moments.
The fearful mind,
The mind that was fearful,
That thought,
What if I don't get there?
Because the chasing and the fear,
The desire and the resistance,
Right?
The aversion,
They're two sides of the same coin.
I want to get over there,
And now I'm afraid that I won't get over there.
So,
The energy,
The vibration that we want to feel,
The connection,
The belonging,
The sense of worthiness,
Of being whole,
Of feeling complete,
It is not in anything outside of us.
That simply perpetuates the sense of lack and scarcity.
It is in remembering it's right now.
And even as we're going about our day,
Right?
And we're pursuing goals and we're doing things,
It's okay to do things,
Right?
But to not imagine that my happiness is over there,
It's right here.
It's here in this moment,
My sense of connection,
My sense of belonging,
My sense of wholeness,
It's only ever right here,
This moment.
And that's what we're doing in mindfulness,
Is to recognize that tightening and all the minds over there and just bring it back no beating ourselves up,
Right?
As we talked about in our sangha on insight timer a couple weeks back,
Right?
Begin again,
Just begin again,
No judgment,
No beating ourselves up because we had a little comparing thought or a jealous thought or a worrying thought,
Not,
Right?
There's no,
We have this idea that somehow if I beat myself up about it,
Then I'll stop doing it.
No,
You just go from one sense of separateness to another sense of separateness,
Now beating myself up for it.
So it's begin again,
Every time,
Begin again,
Let go,
New moment,
Begin again,
You're here.
And then we learn to trust this moment over time,
The present moment,
Because we do not trust the present moment,
Right?
That's why we keep going back up into our thoughts,
No,
I've got to hold everything together,
I've got to make sure everyone likes me,
I've got to make sure that all my relationships are in good order,
I've got to make sure that I'm safe,
I'm secure for the future,
Right?
And not to say that there's not ever,
Thinking is not bad,
Thinking is not the enemy.
But when this constant kind of just,
I mean,
We have 50,
60,
70,
000 thoughts a day,
I mean,
Just the same,
Just rehashing again,
This feeling of scarcity and lack,
And I'm incomplete,
And I'm not worthy,
Only to kind of get to that moment,
Oh,
No,
No,
I feel like everything's good,
All my ducks are in a row,
For a few moments,
We feel safe.
Oh,
Phew,
They finally texted me back.
Oh,
They don't hate me.
Oh,
I can breathe again.
And we feel good for a few moments.
And then the mind just go,
Oh,
But what else?
Oh,
No,
No,
No,
What about what happened?
What if this happens?
And we get lost again.
And we just keep getting lost and lost and lost.
It's just begin again to keep coming back,
To begin again.
Our ducks are never going to stay in a row for very long.
They're always changing.
The world is always changing.
The wisdom of impermanence that's,
There's nothing in this world that isn't changing,
Nothing.
Sometimes we win,
Sometimes we lose,
Sometimes we get praise,
Sometimes we get criticized.
Yes,
The praise feels better than the criticism,
No question,
But let the praise go through you.
Don't get attached to it,
Right?
Just,
Ah,
It's nice.
It's a good cue,
Good social cue.
Oh,
That was a good thing.
Okay.
And then let it go through you.
And the wins?
Yeah,
Enjoy it.
Enjoy the wins,
Enjoy the comfort,
Enjoy the nice meal,
But just letting them go through you,
Right?
Because every experience is impermanent.
The more we grasp at it,
The more we suffer.
There's just this moment.
There's nothing on the other side of this moment.
There's just this moment.
