The Changing Nature Of Experience

A meditation on anicca - the changing, transitory, and inconstant nature of all things. The guidance explores how seeing phenomena in this way can reduce ill-being and increase wellbeing for us. The session was recorded live and includes an introduction followed by a guided practice.

Transcript

So good morning,

Everyone.

Lovely to see you all,

Or to see some of you.

So this morning,

I'd like to,

That wasn't meant to pressurize anyone to turn on their screen.

I was just trying to write speech to be truthful.

Yeah,

Maybe just to acknowledge the care,

And some of you have sent us messages of care.

And that's been really,

Yeah,

I really appreciate it,

And I'm very touched by it.

And maybe just to add to that,

That Rob has been ill for a long time,

And has been in the process of leaving the body for quite a long time.

So yeah,

Very much died at peace and held in love.

So this morning,

With the meditation suggestions,

We're looking at what is the theme of our program,

Actually.

The theme of change,

Which we've been exploring together in so many ways over the months to get to know each other.

Together,

Which is an ongoing exploration of our lives.

There's in Pali,

A Nietzsche,

Which is change,

Transitoriness,

And constancy.

It has,

Like many Pali words,

So many flavors,

So many nuances of meaning.

And over the months,

We've been exploring this deepening into it,

And very much cultivating skillful ways of relating to change.

OK,

I'm just going to check.

Am I breaking up,

Or are you able to hear me?

So I'm just going to check again.

Are you able to hear me OK?

Let me know if you can.

No,

I think you're all frozen now.

OK,

So I'm going to check again.

Are you able to hear me OK?

Are you able to hear me OK?

Are you able to hear me OK?

Are you able to hear me OK?

You're all frozen now.

OK.

OK.

So I'm just going to check whether you can hear me now.

Yes,

OK.

So there it was,

Anicca in action.

I didn't do that on purpose.

But yeah,

Even a good internet connection,

The best,

Is unstable.

So yeah,

Let's hope that this works.

See,

You're frozen again.

Can you still hear me?

Yeah,

OK,

Brilliant.

So we've been cultivating skills,

Skillful means of,

Skillful ways of relating to change,

Yeah?

And also skillful ways of looking at Anicca in our lives.

It's a big part of what we've been doing.

And I'm just going to give some examples of that.

So for example,

We've been looking at change.

We've been looking at inconstancy as part of life.

That's been a way of looking that we've been cultivating.

I'm not sure again if you can still hear me or not,

Because,

Hmm.

OK,

Let's hope this is going to be third time lucky.

Let's hope this will be third time lucky.

I think Nathan's left so that we have less pressure.

We have less pressure on the bandwidth here.

And if I go again,

I'll connect via my phone.

So it'll be a different network,

So it might take a few moments.

So be patient.

OK,

So I'll just start from a few moments before where I got cut off.

So we've been cultivating skillful ways of relating to change and skillful ways of looking at change,

Such as seeing change,

Seeing inconstancy,

Seeing the transitory aspect of our lives as part of life.

Not something that gets in the way of life,

But it's actually part of life.

We've been opening to see both the beauty and the sadness and the pain that a Nietzsche brings forth that it makes possible.

So right now,

We're in spring time.

So we can see that it's a Nietzsche.

Spring is a Nietzsche.

The beauty of spring is a Nietzsche,

But it's that changeability of life that makes that beauty available and possible.

We've also been looking at relating to a Nietzsche through seeing it as nonpersonal.

So it's not just mine.

When we're looking at the daily recollections,

The aging,

The ill health,

The death and the loss,

They're not just my experience.

It's not just my personal thing.

But it's actually a human or even beyond the human experience.

It's something that we share.

And when we look in that way,

That increases,

And this is things that you've been saying,

It increases sometimes a sense of connection and also opens us up to compassion,

To seeing others with compassion.

So all these are examples of how we've been deepening,

Or understanding and exploring different ways of relating to a Nietzsche.

And today,

We're actually going to use,

We're actually going to explore using a Nietzsche itself,

Like a lens that we look through,

A way of relating,

A way of looking at experience in itself.

And again,

This is something that we've actually been doing already.

The understanding that things change is actually what allows us to practice at all.

Otherwise,

We would just kind of give up.

But yeah,

I'm going to give an example of that.

Yes,

Seeing how life and experience is changing and also changeable.

And sometimes,

We've really seen,

And people have shared this,

How the degree of problematic in an experience can change according to how we relate to it,

According to how we see it.

And we had an example here in our online meditation hall just a few days ago.

Someone speaking of a certain sensation arising in the body.

And with that sensation,

Fear arising.

And when we pay attention to that kind of experience,

We can see that in that moment,

Both the sensation and the fear intuitively,

Initially have a sense of solidity to them.

They can feel fixed.

This sensation is like this.

And the fear or whatever the emotional response to that also feels fixed,

Feels solid.

But in that example that someone was sharing,

It was the learned experiential knowing of what happens when I bring interest,

Both to the fear itself and to the physical sensation.

When I bring interest in,

I change the way of relating.

That changes the experience.

And particularly,

It changes the degree of a sense of problem.

That there is a problem.

So sometimes,

And many of us have had these experiences,

Sometimes the actual sensation itself might change or the emotional response to it would change.

And that can even become,

You know,

Move from being unpleasant to pleasant.

Or the actual initial thing can feel like it hasn't changed,

But the atmosphere around it is different.

So there's interest in the fear.

Maybe the fear is still there on a kind of physical vibration.

We can still feel it.

There's interest in that.

But nothing can become actually more in the pleasant realm.

Because there's something interesting here.

We're engaged and we feel aliveness around it.

And definitely the sense of problem goes down and sometimes completely disappears.

So there's something there which is actually rooted in that understanding of everything changes.

And therefore is changeable.

And that understanding that allows us this creativity and this possibility of engaging with our experience differently.

So when we say everything changes,

I've just said that,

You know,

We can divide that,

We can see that in at least two ways,

You know,

That I'm going to offer here.

We can see that,

You know,

Changes over time.

So something may be really difficult now.

It might be a physical sensation,

A mind state.

Something is really difficult,

A situation that we're in.

So something might be really difficult right now.

But we know because when we look back at our lives,

We can see that,

That everything changes over time.

Yeah,

Things change over time.

So that's one way,

Yeah,

That we can see,

We can relate to a nature.

And the other is moment to moment changes.

So everything also changes on a very kind of in the detail.

Yeah,

So we can look at a huge perspective and we can look at the detail.

Yeah,

And both of these can be interesting,

Valuable and relevant to different times.

So even,

You know,

A chronic pain that we may have,

Something that feels like it's always,

You know,

It's never going to disappear,

Which is how we tend to hope change will occur.

Something will go if it's unpleasant.

But even within it,

Yeah,

There will be changeability,

There will be variation.

Yeah,

There will be,

You know,

Different sensations,

Different conditions,

Different flavours that make it up,

Different degrees of intensity.

So the change over the time of the big picture when we zoom out and the change in the detail when we go in.

And both of these can be really liberating and free.

So the invitation today with the practice is to use a Nietzsche directly as a way of relating to experience.

OK,

Directly.

So we're looking at a body sensation,

We're looking at the breath.

And we see it,

Our practice is to see it as changing,

To see it as transitory,

To see it as inconstant and to see what happens with that.

What does that reveal?

What does that allow?

What does that support?

So,

You know,

We can do it right now as I'm speaking.

The sound,

Sounds around us,

Seeing them as a Nietzsche,

As changing.

The breath,

The body sensation,

The Vedana of any experience.

Some of you have been working with Vedana with quite a lot of juice.

So you can stay with that exploration of Vedana and see,

You know,

Vedana too is a Nietzsche.

It's changing and changeable,

Not fixed.

So seeing what happens when we see things as changing,

As transitory.

And it can be helpful for some of us to use a gentle label with this practice.

It helps to keep us kind of threaded in to the practice we're doing.

So,

You know,

Say we're with the breathing and we meet the breath with that sense of ahh,

Ahh,

Nietzsche or changing.

Find what works for you,

What the language is if you're using a label that works.

Personally,

I often use changing,

Changing as my label,

But it can be changed,

Transitory.

Sometimes the Pali works better,

A Nietzsche,

Because we get less kind of tangled up.

And,

You know,

What Mahin was mentioning the other day,

Like,

Is it exactly,

Is it transitory now or is it changing now or is it in constant?

So we just use the,

Might use the Pali and that kind of holds it all together.

So see what works.

That can be really helpful to just use a very gentle label in the meeting with experience.

Just staying steady,

Open and seeing what is arising as a Nietzsche.

And then noticing any impact of the practice,

Because there may be,

You know,

As we practice in this way,

There may be some sense of release,

Some sense of well-being,

A reduction in a sense of problematic.

And if there is,

It's really worthwhile to stay with that,

You know,

To stay with that opening,

That spaciousness,

Whatever arises that feels like has a frequency of well-being to it.

So staying with that for a while.

And yeah,

And all of that,

Yeah,

With this interest,

You know,

What happens when I see appearances as changing,

As transitory?

Oh,

Sorry.

What happened?

It's really a bit spooky.

I just muted myself like I don't even know how.

Spooky today with the emergence of,

Of emergence of a Nietzsche into this,

Into these instructions.

Yeah.

So what happens when I see appearances as changing and transitory?

What does that support?

What does that allow?

Yeah.

So that's the introduction.

Does it feel clear enough to practice together?

I'll guide the practice.

Yeah.

OK.

And then there'll be time for,

There'll be time for questions after,

Of course.

So taking a few moments to feel the body,

The mind and to choose the appropriate posture.

And then settle into the posture.

Settling into the posture,

Making any adjustments that are needed.

Finding the balance of uprightness and ease.

Allowing the body to be supported and steady through the contact with the seat and the ground.

As we do this,

The awareness coming into the body.

Grounding and reaching in the sensations of contact.

So taking the time that you need to settle and ground the awareness.

In the body and particularly the contact of the body.

And in your own time,

When you're ready,

Gently opening out the awareness and allowing it to spread through more and more of the body.

Slowly expanding and filling up the whole space of the body.

And then from this wide body awareness.

Opening out to receive sound that's arising.

Might be from far away,

Might be from nearby.

Doesn't matter,

Just receiving sound as it arises and passes.

Staying with the flow and the movement of the sound arising,

Changing and passing.

Not needing to know what sound it is,

Who it is,

Where it's coming from.

Just meeting it and seeing it as a nature.

Changing.

Transitory.

And staying with this for a while in your own way,

Grounded in the body and open to the experience of sound.

Meeting the sound as it arises and passes.

And remembering it's changing.

You can use a gentle label if that's helpful.

You can use a gentle label if that's helpful.

You can use a gentle label if that's helpful.

Just resting into the body and resting into that knowing of a nature.

Changing and transitory.

Arising and passing.

Sounds being known and then allowed to pass away.

Steady and open in the body.

Awareness wide through the whole body.

Seeing if you wish and can to also include body sensations and breath in this flow and movement of appearances arising and passing.

Feeling the breath.

Feeling the contact of the body with the seat.

Day two changing and transitory.

Seeing if you can come close.

Seeing of a nature not from a distance but with intimacy.

This breath right now.

Can I tune in to how it changes?

See it as a nature.

All but me.

Any distractions that may arise,

No matter how persistent.

That too,

Anicca,

Changing,

Transitory,

Mindfulness itself.

Anicca,

Changing,

Changing.

Is there any joy that arises when we see in this way?

Any lightness?

Steady and open in the body and feeling what would be helpful right now to stay with wide open awareness and to meet the different phenomena,

The breath,

The body,

The sounds,

The vedana as anicca.

Or to stay closer with a particular object and to meet that through the lens of anicca,

Whether it's the breath,

Whether it's the body or sounds.

Seeing for yourself wide open awareness or more gathered and specific with a particular object.

The way of looking is the same.

Whatever the object in awareness,

Anicca,

Changing,

Transitory.

What happens when I look in this way?

Any lightness?

Any wellbeing that comes?

Relish it.

Rest into it.

Absorb it.

Having experience with intimacy and interest.

Seeing a nature and change.

Straight ahead.

This moment wherever you are.

Whatever is in your experience.

Can you meet it as changing?

Transitory.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And when the bell rings,

Taking time to meet that sound too.

As a nature.

When you open the eyes or move the posture,

Taking time to meet that contact to meet those sensations.

As a nature.

Not needing to catch every moment,

Every nuance.

But meeting the whole.

Changing.

Yeah.

And through the day if you wish,

You can open to this way of relating with looking as a practice.

Might be useful to work with a meditation object that has been steady for you.

Body,

Breath,

Vedana,

Metta,

Any of those.

And then seeing what arises as a nature.

As you practice.

And then balancing the time you spend in this way of looking with having enough kind of practices that nourish.

Yeah,

Like we were doing at the end,

We can bring this into transitions.

Yeah,

The nature of everyday moments and activities.

Might be particular things like whenever you open a door.

Yeah,

Every open a door you you pause there.

You know,

You pause and relax with that experience and you notice the nature of all the different things that are happening.

In the body,

Outside the body as you open the door.

Whenever you sit down,

Sit into your meditation posture or come out of it,

You know,

So we can kind of pinpoint for ourselves particular things that we're going to then notice.

Or look in that way and and see what it what it allows,

What it brings,

What it engenders.

And of course,

This can be a really wonderful practice in walking as well.

So if we're using the contact of the feet with the ground,

More attention to their fluidity,

Diversity,

Variety of sensations.

And really,

You know,

When we're walking,

Really see the nature,

Right?

We see the change as we walk within a step.

So many things happening and changing.

And also when we open out into that,

Into the world.

You know,

At the end of a path and we stop and we look.

And we see the change around us.

Yeah,

The movement.

Maybe the the weather is different than it was earlier today.

It's quite likely if you're in Britain.

You just see that change in the big scale and the small scale.

And maybe there's some buds that weren't there earlier.

You just kind of notice that movement of change,

Tune into the process during the walking as well.

And always with a kind of light interest in the background of what happens when I see appearances in this way,

When I meet experience in this way as changing and transitory what happens.

Reviews

The long delay before the meditation was very interesting and gave me time to sink into a very receptive state. Then the meditation experience became deeply restorative and so peaceful. Thank you 🙏 💕🙏