Morning,
Good afternoon,
Good evening.
So what?
This can easily become.
And I remember my teacher saying to us,
A group of us,
When we first started in Buddhism,
25 years ago or so now,
It says most of you are not practicing Buddhism,
You're practicing Shuddhism.
We're Buddhists so we shouldn't be angry now.
Because we're Buddhists,
Walking around with,
You know.
And speaking slowly and,
You know,
Sort of,
It was.
.
.
You know,
We had this idea of how we should be and it's just not helpful.
So I've been meditating now for six months.
I should have a quiet mind.
There's the should.
It just messes us up.
There's no should here.
How am I?
I'm really angry right now.
Because someone's overstepped the boundary.
It's just honesty.
There's nothing wrong with anger.
Anger is necessary.
To get things done too.
If someone does step over boundaries,
Like now.
But then it's gone.
It doesn't hang around.
For weeks and feeling resentful.
So forget the should I should be,
Or how should I be.
If someone hurts my dog,
How should I be with that?
Forget it.
How are you with it?
You don't even think about it.
There'll just be a response.
It's not how should I be right now,
It's how am I.
And you go into the body.
The body will show you.
That's why I talk about us being drunk on thought and ideas.
We've got all these ideas that are just not helpful.
There's that saying by Socrates about an examined life,
An unexamined life is not worth living.
I would say it's the other way around.
Our bank,
He never examines himself,
Yet he's completely happy.
This is not about examining ourselves.
Like what a project.
This is coming out of all the stories and coming into presence,
Which is your true nature.
It's the natural intelligence,
Like Banky,
The dog.
Like a cat.
We have a natural intelligence which is awake,
Aware,
Compassionate,
Courageous,
Brave.
Of course,
It's slightly different with everybody because you have the character.
We're not all,
You don't all become the same.
You shine.
You're beautiful.
Character and personality allowed to shine.
I've been with one of my teachers,
Sailor Bob Adamson.
Such a sweet man.
He's not with us anymore.
And someone was,
Who we thought was rude,
And he just stopped it.
Stopped that.
Not here.
And then it was gone.
He didn't sit there thinking,
How should I be with this?
Should I?
I don't know.
Stop.
It's just assertive.
And then he was gone.
And let it go.
So always coming back to how am I right now?
What's going on right now?
Underneath the story.
On an eatish I should be.
So let's drop down into the body A couple of deep breaths.
We can feel the breath.
Just resting in the body,
Feeling the breath.
Not try to achieve anything.
That's not it.
Just attending to what's here.
Rather than what's not here.
The sound of the bird or the traffic.
That feeling of disappointment or sadness.
That sense of relaxation.
Whatever.
Is actually happening.
That's your practice.
Just be that.
Everything else is fantasy.
Was going on.
You lose your way,
It's okay.
Realize you've been lost in thought for two minutes.
It's gone.
Don't drag it back up as a regret,
As a judgement.
Feel around the face.
Now listen to the silence and the sounds that come out of the silence.
Just listen.
Now feel the breath.
You don't need to do just that.
That's what heals our lives.
Thinking doesn't heal it.
It's a tool.
It's wonderful.
Where is the attention?
What's happening?
Just notice,
Don't go into a story.
Having a thought.
Either here listening,
Feeling,
Smelling,
Seeing.
Are we lost in thought?
Either awake or you're asleep.
Either sober or drunk.
Where are you?
Okay that brings to the end a little stretch or whatever.
Thank you all,
See you tomorrow.
