I usually focus most of my efforts here on practical benefits of meditation,
Of helping to make your life just that little bit better in the real world.
I do this because I think those sort of benefits are far more inviting and practical and sort of,
They get you meditating because you see why.
But when you look into the literature and the teaching and all of that sort of stuff,
They really emphasize the final goal,
The end point,
The liberation.
And some of the instructions to get there are quite contradictory.
They talk about not wanting things or not craving things.
Yet,
They're saying that you can achieve the end of all suffering,
But to do so,
You shouldn't crave it,
Right?
There's some contradiction there.
They talk about the idea of things being empty or impermanent.
They talk about the idea of mire or illusion.
And all these things to the lay person,
To someone just beginning,
I think can be quite confronting,
Off-putting or just confusing.
And my fear is that when those sort of things are presented without tact or to someone who's not ready for them,
It can cause the person to turn away or look away or believe that everything we're doing here in terms of mindfulness meditation is just bunk,
Useless,
Esoteric,
You know,
In line with every other spiritual,
Religious thing that they've discarded.
And I can see why.
It seems a bit ridiculous.
It seems a bit out there.
It seems quite contradictory to everything we've come to believe.
But the response back would be,
Well,
That's because those thoughts,
Those mental states,
Those contemplations are in fact coming from a place of delusion,
Are coming from a place of ignorance,
Of trapping with thought and all of that sort of stuff.
So there's a bit of a back and forth of how to expose someone to this sort of content.
What I'm leaning into,
What I'm trying to do now is sort of frame mindfulness in a way that's showing you the benefits of your life now,
But also hinting at that future state.
And,
You know,
I've come across a quote today that sort of highlights this.
It says,
It's from the Buddha.
It says,
Whatever has the nature of arising also has the nature of seizing.
Whatever has the nature of arising also has the nature of ceasing.
And what this is hinting at is that you can look at anything,
Everything really,
And notice that things come and go.
Notice that your thoughts come and go,
Your emotions come and go,
Your memories come and go.
The pain,
Pleasure,
All of that,
It arises and then it falls away.
The place you work for,
The country you live in,
Your life,
Everything you know,
All of that has the nature to arise and all of it has the nature to cease.
The universe,
The world,
Right?
And that knowledge,
The knowledge that everything has the nature of arising and to cease,
That knowledge itself will fall away because you'll forget it,
Right?
It's an interesting look at impermanence.
It's an interesting look at the reality of the nature of things.
Whatever has the nature of arising also has the nature of ceasing.
Whatever can arise will also cease,
Right?
So if I've lost you here,
I do apologize.
Not all of my talks and most of them in fact will be more grounded in real world stuff.
But I don't know,
There's something beautiful about this because it really shows you that you're free because no matter what comes,
It will cease.
You are not trapped.
There is nothing to be trapped because it all comes and then it all goes.
So for the rest of the day,
Just have a little bit in the back of your mind,
Just a little 1%,
Just noticing.
Noticing things that are arising and then falling.
The thing you can notice right now is your breath,
The sound of my voice or other sounds in your environment,
Physical sensations in your body.
These things are always real.
They're always real.
They're always real.
They're always are the sound of my voice or other sounds in your environment,
Physical sensations in your body.
These things are always arising and always ceasing.
But take that to the next step.
Take this little contemplation into your day and just see where it leads you.
You never know.
It might lead you to somewhere quite grand,
To somewhere quite beautiful,
Which itself may cease.
Have a good day.
