What Is Meditation - Going Beyond Techniques Of Meditation

In this Satsang, Shai Tubali explains what meditation is. He makes the distinction between the practice of meditation (meditation techniques) and the meditative state, which is essentially is 'non-meditation'. When we wish to take our meditation practice toward its next step, we let go of the technique (mantra, mindfulness, zazen, focusing etc') and enter the expanded state of no-technique. This is the real state of meditation.

Transcript

Satsang in the traditional sense is simply translated as sitting or being together in the light of truth or in the light of wisdom.

This is obviously not my truth or my wisdom or your truth or your wisdom,

It is something that we share,

We explore together by looking deeply into the core of our being or the core of our awareness or as we said last Satsang,

The core of our heart.

All of these are synonyms.

And when we look together into the core of our awareness we find exactly the same.

This is what is so astonishing about Satsang,

It is usually we have such a plural experience of life,

Right?

Each one has his or her own unique perspective,

Experience of life,

Your own inner world,

Your special past,

Specific past,

Your own hopes for the future.

And this is the only time when we peel these layers of differentiation by realizing that when we really look deeply into ourselves we will find exactly the same.

So beneath the layers of uniqueness we share the very same sense of self,

The very same awareness,

The very same being.

And if we are able to discover that in Satsang then we will discover that in trees,

In mountains,

In lakes,

Clouds,

Dogs,

Cats,

You name it.

Wherever you look you realize that since you have been able to look into the core of yourself you are now able to look into the core of everything else or everyone else's self.

And that is an exhilarating revelation.

It puts an end to the sense of loneliness,

It puts an end to the sense of separation,

It is good and healthy to be an individual but to a certain limit.

From a certain limit being an individual is just suffering.

It becomes a forgetfulness and ignorance of who we are.

So when we sit together here,

And I am so happy to be together,

Together as one,

When we sit together for Satsang we fulfill the deepest sense of taking care of ourselves,

Of self-care,

You see,

Because self-care is not just making sure that we get a good massage from time to time or that we go to nature,

That we eat well or that we have enough relaxation time every day.

When we think that we need to nourish ourselves,

We need to take care of ourselves to make sure that we have also considered ourselves,

Not only the environment,

Not only the society,

Not only our duties,

Then self-care in the deepest sense is making sure that we know ourselves and that we are in touch of ourselves,

That we have reached a certain intimacy with our own innermost heart,

That we have not overlooked the most important question of life,

Which is,

Who am I?

So let's take care of ourselves this evening.

And I always feel that I need to remind this,

Perhaps we know you need this little helicopter?

Yes?

I hope you are okay with this.

Yes?

Thank you.

It has quite some presence.

So we're just experiencing now the breaking of a heatwave in Berlin.

So the way we are going to do this is first by meditating together.

We'll meditate in a way that already contains the topic of our talk.

But it is important to say already at the beginning that it is not really so important what I'm going to talk about.

Some talks are all about the teachings,

About what is going to be said.

Perhaps you even need a pen and paper,

You see,

To make sure that you don't forget the significant message or the theory or the exact practice that you are being given.

But here it is really not the issue.

You don't need to remember anything.

You don't need to follow the theory.

It is just highlighting every time,

Every such evening,

A certain aspect or gateway that leads to you.

Therefore this is just a meditation on yourself.

We are taking everything that is being said and we are using it as a mirror to look at ourselves.

So instead of using the talk as a theory that will actually stand between you and yourself,

Use it as a direct meditation.

So then I will give the talk after the meditation and after the talk we will be able to have enough time for questions and answers.

Questions and answers can be about the talk but they can also be just about anything,

At least anything that is relevant to Sattva because I might not be able to answer many questions.

Good.

So now let's sit for meditation.

The way we are going to meditate,

We are going to use the Buddha's first stages of mindfulness of breathing.

So this is obviously a very old type of meditation,

Like many good meditations.

We will add to this a certain twist near the end of the meditation that will initiate our talk.

So we will close our eyes and as we are sitting comfortably we don't need to take care of any special positions except for keeping our body erect,

Our chest open,

Perhaps even more open than usual by allowing our shoulders to fall backwards.

And we will start by following the Buddha's simplest instruction by becoming more and more mindful of our breathing.

We will use this thought,

This statement to make sure that we are aware.

So with every in-breath we think,

Breathing in,

I know I am breathing in.

And with every breathe in-breath,

Out-breath,

We will think,

Breathing out,

I know I am breathing out.

Perhaps your breath is sometimes short or long.

And try to change the way you breathe even though naturally awareness of breathing begins to harmonize and calm down the breathing.

For breathing in,

I know I am breathing in.

Breathing out,

I know I am breathing out.

Feel how by knowing that you are breathing in and out and not just doing this unconsciously,

You are becoming more present and finding your ground in that present moment.

And with every breathe in,

I know I am breathing out.

Now,

Enlarge your mindfulness by becoming aware of your whole body.

Think breathing in,

I am aware of my whole body.

Breathing out,

I am aware of my whole body.

Breathing out,

I am aware of my whole body.

Now,

You are gradually making the body,

The breathing process and your awareness one flow,

One movement.

Once you are aware of your in-breath and out-breath and with it you are aware of your whole body.

Begin to experience unity of body and mind.

Breathing is a whole unit.

And the more you are doing this,

The more everything in the body and mind,

The more everything in the body and mind is at ease in a state of increasing relaxation.

And therefore now you are thinking,

Breathing in,

I calm my whole body.

Breathing out,

I calm my whole body.

This happens naturally.

You are not really trying to calm the body.

When the body awareness and breathing flow is one,

Everything is calming down.

But now,

There has been a world of your breathing and then a world of your body and then a world of both.

Try to see if you can just be aware.

Not of your body in particular,

Not of your breathing,

Not of anything specific.

It is as if you are almost aware of being aware.

Try to allow this natural state of awareness,

A completely effortless state of awareness.

And if you even want to add,

You can add,

Breathing in,

I know I am aware.

Breathing out,

I know I am aware.

What is it like to just be aware?

It doesn't mean that sounds don't enter your senses or thoughts,

Don't enter your mind.

It just means that you are not particularly focused on anything.

That you are just resting inside your awareness.

Very good.

So now,

Perhaps retaining this quality of awareness,

You can slowly and gently open your eyes.

This is a very good starting point of awareness.

Of our talk.

Because what we are doing right now was first that we started by following probably the most basic meditation in the history of meditation,

Which is mindfulness of breathing.

There's nothing more grounding,

More realistic than to be simply one with the process of breathing which is so natural and effortless and real,

Existing outside of our thoughts,

Our feelings,

Our projections.

This is a key.

It links us to reality.

It links us to the present moment.

It links us to life.

Because anyway breathing in and out is the way we are linked to life,

Right?

This is how I breathe in,

I breathe out,

I breathe in,

I breathe out.

And in this way I am dancing with life,

I am in communion with life.

But I'm unaware of my communion with life,

Therefore I need to return to the most fundamental reality.

This is something that the Buddha understood.

And then he taught how to use this mindfulness of breathing to become mindful of many other things.

So this is one thing.

We started with this very fundamental meditation.

And then we ended by saying,

Okay,

But now let's not be mindful of something,

Right?

Because being mindful,

I'm mindful of the trees,

Of my breathing,

Of my body.

But what about just being mindful?

Just being mindful with my whole attention,

But without any specific anchor,

Any specific object.

And the beautiful thing,

The interesting thing is that this is this type of mindfulness.

You can just for fun say the mindfulness,

Being mindful of being mindful,

Something like that.

But being aware,

This is the essence of meditation.

This is what we are going to speak about,

To meditate on this evening.

What is meditation?

This can sound like a very basic question,

But it is actually a very powerful thing to do.

Just because we sometimes get into the habit of thinking that we already know about many types of meditation.

Yes,

Meditation is transcendental meditation,

Vipassana,

Mindfulness of breathing,

Sufi whirling,

Anything.

But what is meditation really?

What is it to be in meditation?

So it does seem that there are so many types of meditation in the world,

So many ways to meditate.

But really if we simplify the whole thing,

We can talk about just two types of meditation.

One is meditation in which we have a certain focus.

I can focus on Om,

On the elementary mantra Om.

I can focus on breathing.

I can focus on the light of a candle.

I can focus on doing certain things or on a certain thought,

A certain mantra,

A certain image.

If you think about it,

Probably all the meditations in the world tell you to focus on one thing or another.

Do this,

Do that,

Meditate on this.

But then there is the meditation in which we focus on nothing.

You can say that we focus on not focusing.

Or we can call this unfocusing.

It means to do the very opposite of focusing.

Instead of keeping our mind very narrowly focused on one thing,

We begin to allow it to open up,

To spread.

So this is a very different state.

Obviously if I am told to focus on Om,

Om is a fantastic thing,

It is indescribably fantastic,

It is truly holy.

But when I focus on Om or on whatever,

What happens is that my mind goes in this direction,

Right?

I focus on one thing,

I begin to focus on Om.

Or I begin to focus on my breathing.

I become very,

Very concentrated.

I am one with one thing.

But when I take the different path of meditation,

I really do the very opposite.

I simply let go of my habit of focusing.

This is what can sometimes be called non-meditation.

It is meditation,

But it is non-meditation.

It means that instead of doing something,

Something new like focusing on Om,

Focusing on your breathing,

Focusing on anything,

You focus on not doing certain things.

This is very different.

Pay attention because it means that you focus on,

You stop doing certain things that you usually do.

You don't add something new.

You don't get a mantra,

You don't get anything.

This is why it is called non-meditation.

It is meditation,

But it is not that you are meditating on something.

It is so effortless,

So open,

So spacious,

That actually this is when you start to realize what meditation really is.

Perhaps the closest to what we are talking about right now is what is sometimes taught as just be.

Just be.

Sometimes we hear teachers of meditation say just be.

But what does it mean to just be?

So,

Just being means that for some time I have no direction,

Absolutely no direction.

I don't try to do this or do that.

I am just allowing the mind,

The heart to have absolutely no focus,

No intention.

And the amazing thing is that the most extraordinary things in life are discovered in this just being.

Non-meditation is actually the most essential meditation.

We can actually say that there are many different techniques of meditation,

But there is only one state of meditation.

I don't know if you know where Transcendental Meditation,

This is more or less how I started my journey thousands of years ago.

I'm joking of course.

Maybe 25 years ago and there was something very interesting because we were taught Transcendental Meditation and then you are given a mantra and the mantra is something that you are meant to use,

To chant inside your mind very effortlessly.

You allow it to reverberate inside your mind,

Doing whatever it wants to do.

And then there are moments in which the mantra disappears.

It's as if the mantra has been a sort of a magnet,

A sort of attractive force,

Alluring power that is meant to tempt you into silence.

So then when the mantra dissolves and there is just a state of awareness,

This is when you're obviously not meant to bring back the mantra hysterically because that would be quite self-defeating and instead you're just meant to be for a while.

After some time the noise returns and then you are meant of course to return to the mantra.

But in those moments of spaciousness you're not meant to use the mantra.

You see?

So now this is exactly the difference between technique,

The mantra is a technique,

It's a tool,

Right?

You use the mantra and then there is the state.

The state without the mantra or after the mantra has been dissolved is the state of meditation.

So we shouldn't confuse the two.

There are many mantras,

Many candle lights,

Many types of objects to focus on but there is only one state of meditation.

But because we often don't know how to go straight into the core of meditation,

Into the heart of meditation,

What we do is we are given a certain transitory tool,

You see?

You are given something that will still use your habit of focusing on something.

You are given an object,

Take this,

Focus on it and then at a certain point you will not need it anymore.

But it is very important to understand what the state of meditation is and also that we can move straight into the state of meditation and not just get stuck in chanting mantras,

Chanting Aum and focusing on mindfulness while washing the dishes all the time and so on and so on.

And there is a point in which we need to understand or it is time to understand what meditation is.

And what is meditation?

Meditation is this unfocused state,

You see?

It is when the mind,

When your awareness has absolutely no particular focus.

It is open,

It is fully aware but it is actually in a state of spreading,

A state of opening up.

So it is important to understand that if this is what meditation is,

We should be very careful about all these types of meditations,

Right?

Because we might get stuck.

We might begin to become obsessed with certain things,

Certain techniques but not get the whole point because the whole point is to learn how to be,

How to un-focus.

How to be in this natural state.

Now what do we do all day long?

We are actually obsessed with focus.

This is what we do all day long,

Right?

What we do is we all the time have our awareness narrowly focused on something.

It can be on our emotions,

It can be when we are completely focused on our work,

Right?

I need to use my awareness for a certain work,

I need to dedicate this awareness and to put my attention on this object which is sometimes very tiresome.

When I'm not,

I don't need to focus on my work or I don't need to focus on a certain duty,

Then I begin to become focused on my thoughts,

On my thoughts,

On my emotions.

I am focused on past or present or future.

Either I'm focused on the object of my memories,

The object of my hopes for the future,

My plans,

My constant effort to make everything work well,

To make everything,

To settle all the problems,

To resolve everything,

To control the future.

Or I'm focusing on present problems,

On present situations,

On my present challenges.

And when I'm not focused on my thoughts,

I'm not focused on my duties or my work,

I'm focused on my cellphone,

Right?

And my cellphone is like a sort of hell of focusing,

Of over-focusing,

Because it keeps sending me notifications,

It keeps calling me,

Calling my attention,

Calling for my attention,

Stating that I will pay attention to this message and to that,

And to all this endless flow of information.

Now what happens is that by the end of each day,

All I have done was just focusing on objects,

Right?

Now please understand,

If there is anything that is a precious asset,

It's the most precious asset that we have,

That we possess,

It is our awareness.

Awareness is an extraordinary gift,

It is the most beautiful thing in the universe.

Why?

Because if you remove awareness from the universe,

Then you have black holes,

You have supernovas,

You have moon and you have sun and you have planets,

But no one can be aware of all that.

So what's the point,

Right?

It all goes on,

But nobody can witness that.

So awareness is an exceptional thing and just living our life unconsciously is almost like not living life at all because we are not aware of the fact that we are alive,

You see?

It's as if you live through this life,

But you haven't been aware of the fact that I am alive.

So we have become completely lost on focus in this over-focus on objects.

At the end of the day,

It's as if we have been dreaming all day long.

We have been lost in so many objects and so many things to be aware of that we haven't spent a moment to do the most wonderful thing,

Which we can,

This is self-care,

Which is to separate our awareness from the objects,

You see?

To take this awareness and to be with it in a natural state.

Because you see,

As soon as you do this,

Life becomes real.

Because life can only be discovered through this awareness,

Otherwise it's just a flow.

But without the one who is aware of this flow,

Who brings consciousness and when there is consciousness there is meaning,

Beauty,

Truth and also love.

So what happens is that every day we wake up and our awareness wakes up together with the objects.

It's like it's inseparable,

They go together.

And because they go together always,

Always,

We live our life as if it were a dream.

Now it's very important to say,

I don't say that we are meant to stop focusing altogether,

This is crazy,

You see?

You cannot stop focusing,

But you cannot only focus.

Otherwise you don't know what meditation is.

And then what happens is that if you enter meditation and again you focus on something,

What have you done?

So now instead of focusing on your,

I don't know,

Your messaging,

You are focused on OM.

So this is nicer,

Subtler,

More holier,

But it still keeps you obsessed and not aware of your awareness.

Try to do this,

This is just a fun word because it's not really doing,

But to allow this,

To allow your awareness,

Although yes,

Right now of course you are listening to something,

So again you are focusing,

But just let one bit of your awareness go to that because anyway this is the only thing I'm saying.

You don't need to listen to anything.

So just begin to allow this type of spreading.

This is actually the greatest stressfulness you can ever experience because our awareness is so wasted,

Is so drained because it is not natural for awareness to be completely glued to life.

There has to be some,

It has its own life,

Its own energy.

But we have become so obsessed with being aware of something,

A thought,

An emotion,

A mantra,

A duty,

A memory,

That we have learned to associate this with life.

This is life.

Life is to wake up and to be aware of things and to respond to these things.

And so what happens when I tell you,

Okay so stop focusing?

You know what happens to most of us?

We fall asleep.

Why do we fall asleep?

Because as soon as our mind hears,

Don't focus on anything,

So oh okay,

So you mean sleep,

Right?

Because sleep is the time,

Why is sleep so rejuvenating?

Because we are giving our awareness a break,

You see,

It can now rest inside itself.

It doesn't need to be aware all the time of something.

And so this is one thing,

Right?

I think that when I don't need to be aware of something,

I simply fall asleep.

Or I think that when I'm not aware of something,

Then all that's left to do is just to allow my attention to be completely scattered,

Right?

To start thinking because you don't need to make an effort.

So you are beginning to enter a sort of a vague state,

Unfocused.

So we only know these extremes.

Focus like this,

Focus on something,

Or sleep,

Or being completely scattered and vague.

All this is obviously not meditation,

Or non-meditation.

Non-meditation is when I allow my awareness to rest inside itself,

To open up,

To spread,

To have no narrow attention,

But to become just mindful.

That's it.

Now you are all the time aware,

Right?

If your awareness is,

Imagine it like a huge source of light with which we illuminate everything,

Right?

Awareness is light.

Not in some mystical sense.

Awareness is light.

It's like right now you are aware of the tree.

When you are aware of the tree,

You are feeling it,

You are giving it the light of your attention and then it becomes illuminated.

It becomes noticeable,

Right?

This is what happens with your thoughts.

You give them the light of your awareness and here they are.

They become noticeable.

They become existent.

Right now because you are giving attention to what I say,

This becomes noticeable.

With the light of your attention,

This becomes existent.

So your awareness is the light that makes everything real or when you ignore it,

It just disappears,

Right?

So what happens when you just begin to become aware of this light and don't waste it on anything?

Not the tree.

Not a thought and not what I say.

So obviously this is not a state of scatteredness or wagness,

Right?

It is actually a state that is very awake.

It is like being fully awake but not in relation to something.

It's just being awake.

Just being awake.

And this is a state of great energy,

Great presence.

Definitely not like falling asleep.

It is like being fully awake.

This is the thing.

And again,

Let's make sure I don't say that this is how we're meant to be all day long.

Of course until at a certain point it becomes,

We learn how to have no focus,

How to be completely unfocused even while focusing on many things.

This is already when meditation becomes our life.

But before that,

It's making sure from time to time after so much focus,

Being in a state of non-meditation.

Take even five minutes,

Just be in a state of non-meditation.

Which means I don't have to focus on the past.

I don't have to focus on the future.

I don't need to focus on the present.

I don't need to focus on my issues and not even on my breathing or anything.

What happens then is that you feel suddenly how the boundaries of your mind,

The boundaries of your attention,

They begin to dissolve.

Just like you are becoming wider,

You see?

Because again,

Attention is usually,

Awareness is a vast thing but then when it is focused it becomes so small,

Like a concentrated energy.

Let it open up.

And there you are.

This is meditation,

You see?

This is where we really start meditating.

It means meditation is allowing awareness to be in a natural state.

Now this is the thing,

Because you might say,

Yes,

But what will I do when the mind begins to focus on certain things?

I try to meditate,

I try to non-meditate and then I'm starting to become again obsessed because the habit is you always have to focus on one object,

Always.

Give me something to focus on,

Otherwise I'm not alive.

And then at that moment when you notice this habit returning,

Just whisper to yourself,

Allow yourself to tell yourself,

I don't have to focus right now.

What happens when I don't focus?

So it's like untraining.

Remember what we said at the beginning,

In non-meditation you learn how to stop doing certain things that you do.

It's not how to do something new.

And it is so rejuvenating,

It is like a complete renewal because you allow your awareness to rest,

To not be wasted.

And yes it is like,

In a way like feeling that you are emptying yourself because in a way you let go of all your focus in you.

We are usually,

We experience ourselves through these objects and so there is a sort of heaviness and spaciousness but there is also a sense of fullness because in this type of open awareness life begins to be discovered.

Not just your life,

Not a specific part that we define as life but life as a big phenomenon,

As a total phenomenon,

Life as a whole is what we're missing,

You see?

Because life is not just what we do in a particular period of 70,

80,

90 years,

If we're lucky,

I don't know if this means being lucky,

But usually we define life in such a narrow way but we have this intuition that life is a huge thing,

Right,

Of which we are just a part.

So life is the trees and the clouds and all the animals and all of humanity and all past and present and future,

It's the whole thing.

But we cannot get in touch with this huge thing if we are so focused,

If we are so narrowly focused on just certain objects every given moment of the day.

Don't worry,

I will answer questions very soon.

So it is both,

It is a relief,

It is a renewal,

But it is also a discovery.

Because what meditation is,

Is the spreading of awareness,

You see?

Meditation is all about this awareness that has been wasted so much on just focusing all day long.

Now begins to spread,

To spread.

And when it spreads,

Perhaps it doesn't have an edge,

Perhaps it doesn't have a limit,

Perhaps it doesn't stop in the skull and it is even an infinite thing of boundaries.

Namaste.

.

So if it's all the time focused on past,

Present,

Future,

It is also bound to time,

But only the way we focus on certain thoughts and emotions creates the sense of time.

There is no need for the sense of time.

Of course now I am aware of the time,

You see.

I know that very soon I need to answer questions,

Otherwise I will disappoint many people,

But there is a difference between being aware of the sense of time and being bound to time.

Being bound to time means that my awareness doesn't know just to be without any time related object.

It doesn't know how to pause,

How to.

.

.

.

To be independent.

So try to do this from time to time.

If you are meditating,

Challenge your habit of meditation.

And see if you can start non-meditating.

Which is just being aware of the habit of focusing and very gently letting go of it.

Gently letting go of it.

Gently letting go of it.

And seeing what it means to be just aware of being aware.