Please make yourself comfortable.
GONG Allow the eyes to close.
Take a moment and ask yourself what state are you experiencing at this moment.
States from the Buddhist standpoint are generally looked at as what we might label as a feeling,
How we feel.
I feel happy,
Sad,
Jealous,
Angry,
Loving,
Compassionate.
All these different words that we can use.
It might be pleasant,
It might be negative.
In Buddhism,
The idea of what feelings are is just simply pleasant or unpleasant and neutral.
When we look at and label things such as desire,
Aversion,
Restlessness,
Worry,
Doubt,
These types of things,
These are usually considered states.
And when we look at these,
That moment that we are looking for this state in the mind-body,
We can assure ourselves that we are very mindful in that moment.
Looking at what state we are experiencing.
Mindfulness is that moment before the cognition slips in,
Before the thinking slips in.
It's that moment of bare attention.
And we see everything for what it is without any labels.
So nothing is good nor bad or beautiful or ugly.
Because these are just labels.
The seen is seen,
The heard is heard,
The touched is touched.
What is smelled is smelled and tasting is simply tasting.
And even if there is a thought that arises in the mind,
We can notice that thought before the cognition.
We have to be very sensitive to that.
We just notice thinking,
That thinking is happening.
There is a particular thought and nothing to hang on to.
We don't want anything to get sticky,
Nothing to attach to.
So any thought that does arise,
We just let it go.
Just let it go in whatever direction it wants to go.
Not trying to change it or mold it or hang on to it.
All of this happens in the present moment.
It's difficult to be mindful when we're thinking about the past or thinking about the future.
Until we recognize that the mind is dwelling on the past.
Or we notice that the mind is reaching into the future,
Looking for something to change or fix.
Or looking at something that is fearful.
Apprehension.
We can do all this while remaining mindful.
Meditation is the training ground for all of this.
And during all of this we don't want the idea of the ego or the I or the me or the my to interfere with any of it.
Because when there is any kind of attachment,
That is when the I shows up,
That we want something for ourselves or we want to hold on to something or we want something not to change.
Or even we want something to change.
Or I or we desire for things to be different in some way.
And without the I,
The my,
The me,
It's very difficult for that to happen.
If not impossible.
All of this is done with the breath and mind.
We're using the breath as our meditation object.
And so adding the breath in these three characteristics of mindfulness isn't something that should complicate things but actually simplify things.
We rest our attention on the breath.
We notice this presence that comes about,
This idea that the mindfulness is very much in this present moment.
We're resting on the breath,
Using the breath as a tool that the cognition slows down.
And we notice that the continuous thinking and judging,
The inter-dialogue,
The commentary slows down to a great degree and becomes more controllable and actually more watched with mindfulness.
So the breath is the tool of choice in most situations.
So if we ever wonder what we are doing in our meditation,
We are trying to be and hopefully being as mindful as we possibly can.
Non-cognitive awareness,
Being very present and being very selfless in the moment.
All right.
Thank you,
Everyone.
