Good morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening.
So in the Zen tradition,
They often talk about awareness as being something like a mirror,
The mirror-like awareness,
The mirror-like wisdom.
And they call it the mirror-like wisdom because all thoughts,
Everything arises effortlessly.
What effort does a mirror put into that which comes before it?
No effort whatsoever.
A mirror doesn't have to try to reflect anything.
And also the wisdom is that a mirror doesn't hold on to anything.
So there's a fight between two elephants 20 years ago,
It wouldn't remember.
If there was a murder in the room,
It wouldn't remember.
If there's a kiss,
It wouldn't remember.
It's gone.
The moment whatever arises happens and it's gone.
That's the mirror-like wisdom.
It's impartial,
Doesn't have judgments or preferences.
And awareness is just like that.
It's just at ease with what's happening.
It doesn't crave for a particular experience,
A particular reflection.
It doesn't hanker after certain reflections,
Appearances,
And want to get rid of other appearances,
Which is what we do,
Which is what messes us up.
Because we have this believed I at the center of it all.
It needs to be looked after.
It needs what it believes it needs.
And we could call it ego.
I don't use the word that much.
So you are already at ease.
You're already more mirror-like.
But then there's identification with thought,
With the pattern of thought,
Which is ego.
Ego is a pattern of thoughts,
Circling around.
So in meditation,
What we're doing is,
I don't like the word learning here because this is already the case.
It's a kind of unlearning.
That's what it is.
It's an unlearning.
We see how time and time again,
On the cushion,
Off the cushion,
And we're sitting drinking tea,
Walking through a park,
Shopping,
Cooking,
Whatever,
That we keep,
Let's say going to the bar.
And then whatever is served to us,
We either like it or love it.
And then all hell breaks loose if,
Yeah,
Depending on our character,
Going to stories,
And down the rabbit hole.
In Zen,
They say it's all over turtles.
It's turtles all the way down.
All the way down.
There's no end to it.
And turtles are thoughts.
It's,
That's what Zen does.
It just mocks things.
It's turtles all the way down.
It's meaningless.
Absolutely meaningless.
You know,
There's the Koan tradition of Zen.
You know,
It might say something like,
Show me your face before you were born.
There's no answer.
So you stay in that place where there's no answer.
That's how simple it is.
You don't need an answer.
An answer is an obstacle.
But the human mind is so compelled to have answers.
And it just keeps us messed up.
It won't work.
If it's functional,
Going and doing your job,
That's when we need answers.
And that's what it's used for practical purposes.
So,
I might say to you something like,
Which one of my mentors does quite a lot.
What's between future and past?
Just stay there.
What's between A and B?
There's no answer.
If you come up with an answer,
Ditch that.
Now what?
That's all we're doing.
Getting out of this bloody mind.
Getting me out of it.
I'm talking to myself too.
Resting as the mirror-like awareness,
Which is what we're seeking.
We're seeking what we are.
Just before we begin meditation.
Mirror-like awareness is,
You could say it's like space.
You throw some green paint up,
Black paint and red paint.
What does space do?
Oh,
Hang on.
I don't like the green paint.
Don't mind the red and the black.
It doesn't do that.
There's no preferences.
It's at ease.
It can be a nuclear war.
Space doesn't mind.
Be a love affair.
Doesn't mind.
Doesn't prefer one to the other.
And believe it or not,
That's unconditional love.
Doesn't mean it's on the human level.
We'll try to stop a nuclear war.
It's got nothing to do with that.
Okay.
Let's be a little more mirror-like as we sit here.
Take a few deep breaths.
Even the mantra for a few moments.
This is an undoing.
It's not a doing.
It's not a learning.
It's an unravelling.
So leave everything alone.
And this is where it's tricky.
The mind doesn't like this.
It's the simplicity that makes it tricky.
Wants to name,
Label,
Have comments,
Know what it is.
Define it.
And then we can move on to the next thing.
Just relax.
What's happening?
You're getting entangled with certain stories.
It's okay.
Absolutely okay.
Maybe planning the day.
Thinking about dinner.
What's happening right now?
The sadness arises.
It's just experience.
Don't get lost in mind about it.
The sound of a bird arises.
It's experience.
That's the mirror-like.
Remember the breath is always here.
If you need a bit of stability,
A bit of an anchor.
Okay.
That's it for the day.
Maybe a little stretch or whatever.
Bye-bye.
