Day 43 Morning Meditation - A Case Of Extreme Drunkenness

Please note: These are unedited recordings from live sessions held each weekday morning online. Please keep in mind the context when listening.

During this session, there is a 4 to 5-minute teaching followed by a spacious guided meditation. The meditations are spacious intentionally so that you can feel into your own experience rather than me talking through the whole 20 minutes.

Transcript

Good morning, Good afternoon, Good evening. It's almost like everybody, Or most people, The vast majority of us, Are walking around drunk and we're drunk on thoughts. We're intoxicated with our own personal dramas. It's all happening, So to speak, Between the ears. Nobody else can see it. Although we like to share it. And to share our dramas, Because they're so important to us. And some things are important, I'm not denying that. But this approach, If you like, Is a case of becoming sober. We're sobering up. We're not indulging the drunkenness on chasing after more experiences. It's just a case of drunkenness. You know, We spend our life at the bar of, You know, The bar of thoughts, Drinking away. We don't want to, But we don't know what else to do. We just keep gravitating towards the bar of thoughts, The thought bar, Shot after shot. You know, And then we might pick up a book on philosophy or another book on spirituality, And it's, You know, It can be a case of more drunkenness, More ideas, More notions, More opinions and philosophies, And words can't free us. That's what we forget. Few good words can just point. In the Dzogchen tradition of Buddhism, Very few words that just point. These are what they call pointers. Sit there, Relax. But for most Westerners, Like, I need lots more than that. And so we want the Dzogchen teacher to make, You know, To make me drunk, Make me drunk. And a good teacher, Like the ones I've met in the past, Don't do that. They don't play that game. So how do we become sober? Get out of there. Come back here. Send message every time, Just in slightly different ways. You know, We're like an alcoholic who keeps going to the bar, Wanting to stop drinking, Expecting to stop drinking. Just got to stay away from the bar. You know, And because we're drunk, We don't, We don't recognize what's already here. We don't get it. It takes, It can take a while to just tune into that, To attune to it, To align with it. All of Zen is very good for that. Just come back here, Come. But it's not, See, It's not bells and whistles. That's just more drunkenness. But that's what, You know, If I was a good marketer, I could market all these bells and whistles and be a multimillionaire. But I can't sell that. I can't sell it. I went after the bells and whistles, Supreme cosmic enlightenment. How's that for drunkenness? So, This session, We're literally going to sit. It's called Shikantaza in Zen. This is our primary practice. I'm just being fancy, Giving it a bells and whistle name. Shikantaza, Doesn't that sound exotic? And it's called serene reflection. And just take a breath. And we drop into this sense of presence, The body, Being no body, Going nowhere. Just get out of the way. Just notice what presents itself. A thought, Which lasts a millisecond if left alone. Sound. Just feel the body. Just feel what's here. Where are you now? What's happening? Are you at the bar? Just drop all ideas and just experience what's here. It's all you need to do. The breath, Just feel the breath. Where's your attention right now? Nothing to achieve. So, Rest, Stay alert. Okay, That's the session. Have a little stretch. Thank you guys. We'll see. Have a good day and see some of you tomorrow. Bye.

Reviews

Another brilliant guided meditation. I always find I've had one too many at the thought bar.

all your meditations are my favorites. Simply sitting with whatever is here. Thank you for being one of my favorite teachers here at Insight Timer. 🌹🥰♥️🌹🥰♥️🌹