From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GCgQvna10TE

Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

okay

hello everybody

my name is Drew and this is the

beginning of your meta Meditation

Retreat

so tonight we're going to go over the

meditation instructions and how to get

started

so to start with meditation you choose a

posture

the posture we can choose from is

sitting

standing walking or laying down

laying down is absolutely the most

difficult posture because we can dull

out right we lay down to sleep

seating is what you'll be doing here you

can sit in chairs or you can sit on the

cushions on the floor

sitting on the floor is fine it can be

difficult to sit longer than 45 minutes

on the floor

so most people sit in chairs especially

for longer sits and uh make your seat as

comfortable as you like we have all

kinds of cushions here

so once you find your seat then you

start practicing loving kindness

to bring up loving kindness you remember

a happy time or bring up happy memory

loving kindness is a warm feeling in the

center of the chest a warm radiating

feeling

if you have trouble bringing that up you

can remember a happy memory or some

people think about babies and puppies

imagine holding a baby and what do you

do when the baby smiles at you right you

smile right back

when that wish arises then you make a

wish

I make a wish for your own happiness at

first

so may I be happy maybe peaceful may

have ease

these are all fine wishes

it's good to stick with the same wish

for a period of time and not change it

up too much you can play around with

different wishes and what they're like

but you want to

not be spending time thinking about what

wish you're going to make more spending

time with the feeling of loving kindness

and it's not a mantra or repetition with

the wish

you make the wish one time and you relax

and you see what happens after that

and you stay with the feeling

and you stay with the feeling of loving

kindness and your wish as long as you

can

um

however you will be distracted

eventually

distractions come up and that's part of

the process of meditation

we don't want to fight with the

distractions or be disappointed with

ourselves because we have a distraction

this is expected and distractions are

actually an opportunity to strengthen

our mindfulness and train our mind

so mindfulness is what powers our

meditation and what makes it go

mindfulness we can Define as remembering

to observe the movements of Mind

attention as it goes from thing to thing

so we're watching the process of mind

moving the process of observation

that's what we are doing with our

mindfulness

when we're attending to our object we're

resting in the object we're not watching

our object looking for something in it

we're using it as a home base for our

mind to stay with

as we stay with the pleasant feeling of

loving kindness we can rest in it

when we get distracted we have a very

specific process to bring attention back

when you get distracted it's tension and

tightness is generated in the mind

whenever we have thoughts that we don't

notice that we're not aware of it

generates tension and tightness in the

body and mind

if we bring our distracted mind back

directly to the object of loving

kindness we bring that tension and

tightness back

and that will tighten our mind that will

tighten our body and that will actually

dull our ability to observe what's

happening

so the process is of bringing your

attention back is the six r's

the six R's uh are actually a single

movement of mind but we have divided

them out so it's easy to know each of

the steps and understand this movement

so the first one is recognize you

recognize that you're distracted

mind is no longer with the object of

meditation and it's on something else

we release that distraction

release

we simply redirect our attention to

something else

whatever we pay attention to we give

nutrient to

we reinforce it and so we stop

reinforcing the distraction and instead

we reinforce our object of meditation

but before we entirely go back to the

object of meditation and we relax

the relaxed step is the most important

part of the practice in some ways

when you relax your head and your body

and you should try that right now just

do that one time relax all of this

what happens

mind clears

mine becomes bright alert present

now maybe this happens briefly at first

maybe it is so fast you don't notice it

but it happens every time you relax

and as you do that more and more that

open bright mind will stay with you

longer and longer

and this open bright mind is what we

bring back to the object of meditation

and we smile

this is a smiling happy practice

the smile is now your companion for the

next 10 days

when we smile we brighten our mind

and it helps our mindfulness greatly for

so many reasons

one

this is a an instruction this is our

posture

when you notice you're not smiling guess

what you've lost your mindfulness

and you know that right there

when you smile it lightens up your

attention and lightens up your mind

and it doesn't have to be a real smile

one that you think you want to do it can

be a fake smile

this works just fine

and if you haven't done this practice

before

or much it's very common to have

resistance to the idea of smiling

there's many reasons we have resistance

it's it's fake it's not authentic I'm an

authentic person I do authentic things I

don't fake smile yeah

it's okay have your fake smile use it as

a tool to sharpen your mindfulness

and do it as much as possible

and then you return to your object of

meditation

and repeat when necessary so that's the

six R's so

when you notice you're distracted you

recognize there is a distraction

you release the distraction by

redirecting your attention

first to relaxing then to your smile and

then back to your object of meditation

loving kindness

when you come back bring up the feeling

of loving kindness again

maybe you can do it just bringing it up

just just because you choose to and if

it's difficult you remember you know

holding the baby or the puppies or

whatever memory triggers that

and then you make your wish

may I be happy

like that

the six hour process eventually will be

a few seconds long

at first it may be a little longer as

you figure out each step

it's not something you have to memorize

and do each step and say it out loud

recognize release no it's a single

smooth motion of mind

in the beginning if you're new to the

practice though you may want to sit down

at the beginning of each sit and just

remember the six hours until they become

second nature

eventually and quickly it'll be a Simple

Thing You Do

reflexive automatic

so that's how you practice

when you get distracted

it's important to remember this is

something that happened on its own

this happened for reasons that happened

for conditions and the distraction came

up by itself

we don't have to fix the distraction

and often distractions are us trying to

fix things we have ideas of how things

should be

and they're not happening or we're

trying to make sure that they do happen

foreign

we don't have to fix anything when

you're sitting on the cushion there's

nothing to do except enjoy the feeling

of loving kindness

and in fact trying to fix things is a

way to generate suffering for ourselves

it's a way of being dissatisfied with

what what's happening right now

it doesn't mean we don't want to improve

ourselves and improve things and make

things appropriate but

if we have an image of what something

should be and it doesn't line up with

reality

and we hang on to that image

that's how we generate suffering

you can do this practice sitting on the

chair and you also will walk

I recommend you sit at least 30 minutes

at a time

I have a lot of hindrances restlessness

dullness it's okay to get up at 30

minutes but it's if you can sit longer

please go right ahead but no less than

30 minutes

so then when you walk

you go outside and you pick a spot

30 40 feet and you walk back and forth

between uh two spots

when you're walking back and forth you

should be walking at normal speed

we don't want to be walking slowly we

want to be walking at least normally

when we walk we we get the blood moving

in the body

we help get rid of some dullness if that

comes up

and it's not necessary to be walking

very very slowly we're walking with our

object of meditation with loving

kindness

walk at least 15 minutes when things are

going very very well

you can walk up to 30 minutes walking

meditation can be a lot of fun

when you sit you can get deep you can

sit

and not have to move not have to look

anything

you can observe mine clearly when you're

walking

although you're not looking around a lot

more is happening and this leads to a

more stable kind of collectiveness

and if you get nice and collected when

walking it's easier to bring that with

you all the time

because this is the point of the

practice

we train on the cushion we train on the

chair we train walking so we can bring

this out into our lives and do this all

the time

here on retreat

please do this all the time whatever

you're doing whether you're walking

showering eating going to the bathroom

going to anywhere

keep your smile keep the keep the meta

going

like that

and this will help us bring us out into

the world

because we're training ourselves to have

joy

to reduce our suffering

so we can go out in our lives

and enjoy our lives and help people

around us enjoy their lives too

like that

so

suffering

here Buddhism sometimes people say

Buddhism is about suffering yeah

well it's a topic of Buddhism

Buddhism is really about

Joy

being present and understanding how your

mind and Life Works

but the four normal truths are the

one of the main topics of Buddhism

first Noble Truth is there is suffering

not life is suffering not everything is

suffering but suffering exists you

probably noticed yeah

suffering is not getting what you want

suffering is having what you want go

away

suffering is having that image of what

you think it should be not work out

the second Noble Truth that serves a

cause of suffering

the cause of suffering

uh we can say several things about that

but we can summarize it as craving

craving is identification

with things that you should not identify

that are impersonal

craving

can manifest as tension and tightness in

the body and it is the force the energy

that pulls you into your distraction

when you have a distraction it starts

usually with a feeling contact a thought

a sound

sound arises feeling

and then you tighten around it

maybe you don't notice the tightness but

you do and you have a thought about it

then you have another thought and more

thoughts and before long you're gone

so sound arises

it can be pleasant it can be painful

it can be neutral barely noticed

you tighten around it

you think about it you think more

and if you think enough before long you

have to do something

this process will pull you into action

when you're sitting on the cushion

itches will come up itches are fun to

talk about because they're funny they're

safe

they're gonna happen

yeah some other distractions will not be

so funny

yeah but itches are funny so you're

sitting there and your nose itches

when you're near in your meditation and

you're mindful now you have a choice

your attention has gone to the itch

the itch gets stronger and you're

thinking about it oh no why is my nose

itching again

when it can grow stronger until you

choose to do something about it

basically one of three things can happen

when you have a distraction

and it can be comforting no only three

things were going to happen here

probably when you're doing the

meditation the first one is the itch

will be strong

or you won't notice it before you

scratch it

too late scratch the itch okay start

over go back to the practice

the other thing that can happen is the

itch comes up and we 6r

we go back to the object of meditation

and we rest there

when there's not a lot of attachment

around a distraction uh a hindrance that

arises the hindrance will go away on its

own quickly

when there's not attachment what arises

will pass quite quickly and when you

take your attention off of it and you

stop feeding it

it will go away

when there is a lot of attachment or

some attachment well it's going to pull

you back again

even though u6r even though you're

relaxed even though you come back the

itch persists

and then your attention goes back to

your nose

so you do it again and you relax and you

come back

and now you're in a loop with your

distraction and your object of

meditation

this is not a terrible place to be

though it may be frustrating at first

because you have that distraction and

you wish it wasn't there

and not wanting it there of course is

making it stronger

and you're going back and forth

however even at this place is going back

and forth you're not scratching your

nose right

this this feeling has not taken control

of your behavior

The Edge came up on its own

and it's not making you scratch your

nose how nice

as you relax and go back and forth

well eventually you may forget and you

may scratch your nose

or

you may move on to something else there

may be a different distraction that

arises

you may hear a sound and start thinking

that I have a memory that comes up right

and the itch may not go away

and again this doesn't sound that good

right your nose is still itching and now

you're now you're thinking about

something that happened last week

actually again this is a pretty pretty

important uh moment here again your

behavior is not controlled

by the itch

you have broken the chain that is

leading you to do something

and so you get to work with your memory

or you get to work whatever it is or

maybe you get to be with loving kindness

for a while and distracted

and this is a good outcome

and then sometimes we work with our

attachments enough and a third option

happens

where the the edge comes up we relax

come back 6r

[ __ ] pulls us again we six are again

we go back and forth until the itch goes

away

the distraction is gone

the attachment has finally been let go

of

we let go the attachment because again

we're not giving it nutrient we're not

giving it attention and solely can go

away

when we finally let go of that

attachment however long it takes we're

not in control of this process we can't

have it make it happen faster or slower

well we can make it happen slower

by wanting it by uh by wanting it to be

different than it is

when that distraction goes away

uh there can be relief

the itch is gone

and it's like a weight can be lifted off

your shoulders briefly and on the tail

end of that relief Joy can arise in the

body

and mind settles down

the feeling of meta can be very strong

there can be happiness an uplifted mind

and mind is much more steady in the

object of meditation

there still can be thoughts here there

still can be distractions here

a little bit a little bit of thought

here and there

but you'll stay nicely with your object

of meditation

for a period of time five minutes 10

minutes 40 minutes it really depends

after the joy uh

after a while the joy will fade away and

you'll be left with the comfort in the

body and mind

the body will be very comfortable mine

will still be calm

and this is happiness this is sukkah

and we rest in that as long as we do

until the session is over or perhaps

another distraction comes up

and the process starts again

what I'm describing here is the first

genre

the first stage of practice

and we'll be talking more about this

later

but as you're sitting tomorrow

remember as your distractions come up

they're not your enemies they're your

opportunities

their their opportunities

to purify your mind to learn how your

mind works and they can be doorways into

more collectedness and deeper mind

these distractions are called hindrances

hindrances are classified in five types

we have restlessness

sloth and torpor

we have a version

lust and doubt

foreign

the first four are in pairs restlessness

and sloth and torpor

restlessness is too much energy

too much energy in the body of mind it

manifests as thinking

manifests itches

anxiousness thoughts

sloth and torpor is the opposite not

enough energy in the body mind to

maintain mindfulness

this is sleepiness

uh or or fuzziness yeah

when restlessness gets very intense we

want to jump out of our skin

yeah anything else yeah

when dullness gets too intense when

sloth and torper gets too intense we

fall asleep

we can use these to help our minds

balance

when we notice there's a lot of

restlessness in the body well we can

relax

and back off and stop trying so hard

when there's dullness that's uh coming

up more well then we sharpen up and pay

attention more to our object and

meditation and gain interest in the

process

sometimes it helps to straighten up your

spine more

then a version and lust yeah

it says I like it I don't like it

I want it I don't want it I don't want

the itch to be there

you know and hindrances will gang up on

you it's sometimes you get one at a time

usually you get a couple you get your

itchy nose and you not you get to not

like it

yeah and then you can doubt if you're

doing the process correctly yeah

doubt is wondering am I doing this right

is this right is what's going on

doubt is

okay it's okay to look at what you are

doing and wonder

if you're doing it correctly and think

about it

but when you think about it

over and over again it distracts you and

that's not useful

so when we notice a hindrance arise

we let it be there

we don't interfere we don't try to

change it

because remember a good way to generate

suffering is to want something to be

different than it is

and that is not going to work anyway

what is happening is what is happening

we can't change what's happening now

actually

we can change how we respond to it

we can fight with it

yeah if we don't like it we can try to

push it away

or we can let it be there

if we like it we can try to hang on to

it and try to keep that good feeling

there

or we can let up you there

and the thing is

if we let it be there it gets us what we

want right we want that Happy Feeling to

stay we want the bad feeling to go away

when we allow it to be there as it is

both both those things can happen

when we try to hang on to The Happy

Feeling

poof

when we try to push away that itch the

bad feeling that doesn't go poof

we reinforce it yeah and it gets

stronger

so

your hindrances will come up

and that's going to happen and that's

okay

when they come up

don't fight with them

don't be hard on yourself oh no I'm

Restless again oh no I'm sleepy again

because what am I doing wrong

nope

we have a plan when they come up you let

them be there

do the six hours you recognize you're

distract you to relax

come back

and you go back to your object of

meditation

as you rest with your objects and

meditation and if the hindrance is

strong well it's going to pull your

attention again

again not unexpected we know what to do

six hour again relax smile

come back

may I be happy

and stay with that feeling

so we have a plan it's a simple plan

it's not an easy plan

that's okay

the more you do this the easier it will

become

and the more you familiar are with your

hindrances the easier they will be to

deal with

and the sooner you'll catch your mind

going through this process

at first you may find yourself

fully in Storyland watching movies

about what you're going to do next week

about what happened that you really

think you should have changed if only

you said that

something really pertinent to meditation

and that's okay that's gonna happen

that's going to happen

as you do this more and more you'll be

able to catch the process sooner and

sooner

you catch the movie when it's starting

he'll catch the monologue earlier

you'll catch a word

they catch half a word starting

[Music]

when you're sharp you'll be able to stay

with these places that you've noticed

yeah you'll be able to watch the word

come up and let it go over and over

again

you'll be able to watch tension arise

when the tension arises You Can Let It

Go as it comes up

and when you can let the tension go it

comes up you can as it comes up you can

stay with your object of meditation

easier and easier

when you're with your object of

meditation

it is can be a spacious feeling

you're there

things can arise and pass away

you don't have to get involved you don't

get have to get pulled in

like that

and when you get pulled in

you know what to do

relax

Let It Go

6r come back

so

these are in the instructions

have fun

smile

fun is a word that is incredibly

profound

when you're having fun your mind is

light

when you're having fun you're present

when you're having fun things are going

uh going well yeah

so have fun

when you notice you're not having fun

that's okay

if you have a hindrance you have a

distraction you have an attachment

coming up and you have an opportunity to

relax and smile and come back

you don't make yourself not have a

hindrance you don't make yourself

have to feel good yeah

smile and let yourself feel good

[Music]

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

okay

hello everybody

my name is Drew and this is the

beginning of your meta Meditation

Retreat

so tonight we're going to go over the

meditation instructions and how to get

started

so to start with meditation you choose a

posture

the posture we can choose from is

sitting

standing walking or laying down

laying down is absolutely the most

difficult posture because we can dull

out right we lay down to sleep

seating is what you'll be doing here you

can sit in chairs or you can sit on the

cushions on the floor

sitting on the floor is fine it can be

difficult to sit longer than 45 minutes

on the floor

so most people sit in chairs especially

for longer sits and uh make your seat as

comfortable as you like we have all

kinds of cushions here

so once you find your seat then you

start practicing loving kindness

to bring up loving kindness you remember

a happy time or bring up happy memory

loving kindness is a warm feeling in the

center of the chest a warm radiating

feeling

if you have trouble bringing that up you

can remember a happy memory or some

people think about babies and puppies

imagine holding a baby and what do you

do when the baby smiles at you right you

smile right back

when that wish arises then you make a

wish

I make a wish for your own happiness at

first

so may I be happy maybe peaceful may

have ease

these are all fine wishes

it's good to stick with the same wish

for a period of time and not change it

up too much you can play around with

different wishes and what they're like

but you want to

not be spending time thinking about what

wish you're going to make more spending

time with the feeling of loving kindness

and it's not a mantra or repetition with

the wish

you make the wish one time and you relax

and you see what happens after that

and you stay with the feeling

and you stay with the feeling of loving

kindness and your wish as long as you

can

um

however you will be distracted

eventually

distractions come up and that's part of

the process of meditation

we don't want to fight with the

distractions or be disappointed with

ourselves because we have a distraction

this is expected and distractions are

actually an opportunity to strengthen

our mindfulness and train our mind

so mindfulness is what powers our

meditation and what makes it go

mindfulness we can Define as remembering

to observe the movements of Mind

attention as it goes from thing to thing

so we're watching the process of mind

moving the process of observation

that's what we are doing with our

mindfulness

when we're attending to our object we're

resting in the object we're not watching

our object looking for something in it

we're using it as a home base for our

mind to stay with

as we stay with the pleasant feeling of

loving kindness we can rest in it

when we get distracted we have a very

specific process to bring attention back

when you get distracted it's tension and

tightness is generated in the mind

whenever we have thoughts that we don't

notice that we're not aware of it

generates tension and tightness in the

body and mind

if we bring our distracted mind back

directly to the object of loving

kindness we bring that tension and

tightness back

and that will tighten our mind that will

tighten our body and that will actually

dull our ability to observe what's

happening

so the process is of bringing your

attention back is the six r's

the six R's uh are actually a single

movement of mind but we have divided

them out so it's easy to know each of

the steps and understand this movement

so the first one is recognize you

recognize that you're distracted

mind is no longer with the object of

meditation and it's on something else

we release that distraction

release

we simply redirect our attention to

something else

whatever we pay attention to we give

nutrient to

we reinforce it and so we stop

reinforcing the distraction and instead

we reinforce our object of meditation

but before we entirely go back to the

object of meditation and we relax

the relaxed step is the most important

part of the practice in some ways

when you relax your head and your body

and you should try that right now just

do that one time relax all of this

what happens

mind clears

mine becomes bright alert present

now maybe this happens briefly at first

maybe it is so fast you don't notice it

but it happens every time you relax

and as you do that more and more that

open bright mind will stay with you

longer and longer

and this open bright mind is what we

bring back to the object of meditation

and we smile

this is a smiling happy practice

the smile is now your companion for the

next 10 days

when we smile we brighten our mind

and it helps our mindfulness greatly for

so many reasons

one

this is a an instruction this is our

posture

when you notice you're not smiling guess

what you've lost your mindfulness

and you know that right there

when you smile it lightens up your

attention and lightens up your mind

and it doesn't have to be a real smile

one that you think you want to do it can

be a fake smile

this works just fine

and if you haven't done this practice

before

or much it's very common to have

resistance to the idea of smiling

there's many reasons we have resistance

it's it's fake it's not authentic I'm an

authentic person I do authentic things I

don't fake smile yeah

it's okay have your fake smile use it as

a tool to sharpen your mindfulness

and do it as much as possible

and then you return to your object of

meditation

and repeat when necessary so that's the

six R's so

when you notice you're distracted you

recognize there is a distraction

you release the distraction by

redirecting your attention

first to relaxing then to your smile and

then back to your object of meditation

loving kindness

when you come back bring up the feeling

of loving kindness again

maybe you can do it just bringing it up

just just because you choose to and if

it's difficult you remember you know

holding the baby or the puppies or

whatever memory triggers that

and then you make your wish

may I be happy

like that

the six hour process eventually will be

a few seconds long

at first it may be a little longer as

you figure out each step

it's not something you have to memorize

and do each step and say it out loud

recognize release no it's a single

smooth motion of mind

in the beginning if you're new to the

practice though you may want to sit down

at the beginning of each sit and just

remember the six hours until they become

second nature

eventually and quickly it'll be a Simple

Thing You Do

reflexive automatic

so that's how you practice

when you get distracted

it's important to remember this is

something that happened on its own

this happened for reasons that happened

for conditions and the distraction came

up by itself

we don't have to fix the distraction

and often distractions are us trying to

fix things we have ideas of how things

should be

and they're not happening or we're

trying to make sure that they do happen

foreign

we don't have to fix anything when

you're sitting on the cushion there's

nothing to do except enjoy the feeling

of loving kindness

and in fact trying to fix things is a

way to generate suffering for ourselves

it's a way of being dissatisfied with

what what's happening right now

it doesn't mean we don't want to improve

ourselves and improve things and make

things appropriate but

if we have an image of what something

should be and it doesn't line up with

reality

and we hang on to that image

that's how we generate suffering

you can do this practice sitting on the

chair and you also will walk

I recommend you sit at least 30 minutes

at a time

I have a lot of hindrances restlessness

dullness it's okay to get up at 30

minutes but it's if you can sit longer

please go right ahead but no less than

30 minutes

so then when you walk

you go outside and you pick a spot

30 40 feet and you walk back and forth

between uh two spots

when you're walking back and forth you

should be walking at normal speed

we don't want to be walking slowly we

want to be walking at least normally

when we walk we we get the blood moving

in the body

we help get rid of some dullness if that

comes up

and it's not necessary to be walking

very very slowly we're walking with our

object of meditation with loving

kindness

walk at least 15 minutes when things are

going very very well

you can walk up to 30 minutes walking

meditation can be a lot of fun

when you sit you can get deep you can

sit

and not have to move not have to look

anything

you can observe mine clearly when you're

walking

although you're not looking around a lot

more is happening and this leads to a

more stable kind of collectiveness

and if you get nice and collected when

walking it's easier to bring that with

you all the time

because this is the point of the

practice

we train on the cushion we train on the

chair we train walking so we can bring

this out into our lives and do this all

the time

here on retreat

please do this all the time whatever

you're doing whether you're walking

showering eating going to the bathroom

going to anywhere

keep your smile keep the keep the meta

going

like that

and this will help us bring us out into

the world

because we're training ourselves to have

joy

to reduce our suffering

so we can go out in our lives

and enjoy our lives and help people

around us enjoy their lives too

like that

so

suffering

here Buddhism sometimes people say

Buddhism is about suffering yeah

well it's a topic of Buddhism

Buddhism is really about

Joy

being present and understanding how your

mind and Life Works

but the four normal truths are the

one of the main topics of Buddhism

first Noble Truth is there is suffering

not life is suffering not everything is

suffering but suffering exists you

probably noticed yeah

suffering is not getting what you want

suffering is having what you want go

away

suffering is having that image of what

you think it should be not work out

the second Noble Truth that serves a

cause of suffering

the cause of suffering

uh we can say several things about that

but we can summarize it as craving

craving is identification

with things that you should not identify

that are impersonal

craving

can manifest as tension and tightness in

the body and it is the force the energy

that pulls you into your distraction

when you have a distraction it starts

usually with a feeling contact a thought

a sound

sound arises feeling

and then you tighten around it

maybe you don't notice the tightness but

you do and you have a thought about it

then you have another thought and more

thoughts and before long you're gone

so sound arises

it can be pleasant it can be painful

it can be neutral barely noticed

you tighten around it

you think about it you think more

and if you think enough before long you

have to do something

this process will pull you into action

when you're sitting on the cushion

itches will come up itches are fun to

talk about because they're funny they're

safe

they're gonna happen

yeah some other distractions will not be

so funny

yeah but itches are funny so you're

sitting there and your nose itches

when you're near in your meditation and

you're mindful now you have a choice

your attention has gone to the itch

the itch gets stronger and you're

thinking about it oh no why is my nose

itching again

when it can grow stronger until you

choose to do something about it

basically one of three things can happen

when you have a distraction

and it can be comforting no only three

things were going to happen here

probably when you're doing the

meditation the first one is the itch

will be strong

or you won't notice it before you

scratch it

too late scratch the itch okay start

over go back to the practice

the other thing that can happen is the

itch comes up and we 6r

we go back to the object of meditation

and we rest there

when there's not a lot of attachment

around a distraction uh a hindrance that

arises the hindrance will go away on its

own quickly

when there's not attachment what arises

will pass quite quickly and when you

take your attention off of it and you

stop feeding it

it will go away

when there is a lot of attachment or

some attachment well it's going to pull

you back again

even though u6r even though you're

relaxed even though you come back the

itch persists

and then your attention goes back to

your nose

so you do it again and you relax and you

come back

and now you're in a loop with your

distraction and your object of

meditation

this is not a terrible place to be

though it may be frustrating at first

because you have that distraction and

you wish it wasn't there

and not wanting it there of course is

making it stronger

and you're going back and forth

however even at this place is going back

and forth you're not scratching your

nose right

this this feeling has not taken control

of your behavior

The Edge came up on its own

and it's not making you scratch your

nose how nice

as you relax and go back and forth

well eventually you may forget and you

may scratch your nose

or

you may move on to something else there

may be a different distraction that

arises

you may hear a sound and start thinking

that I have a memory that comes up right

and the itch may not go away

and again this doesn't sound that good

right your nose is still itching and now

you're now you're thinking about

something that happened last week

actually again this is a pretty pretty

important uh moment here again your

behavior is not controlled

by the itch

you have broken the chain that is

leading you to do something

and so you get to work with your memory

or you get to work whatever it is or

maybe you get to be with loving kindness

for a while and distracted

and this is a good outcome

and then sometimes we work with our

attachments enough and a third option

happens

where the the edge comes up we relax

come back 6r

[ __ ] pulls us again we six are again

we go back and forth until the itch goes

away

the distraction is gone

the attachment has finally been let go

of

we let go the attachment because again

we're not giving it nutrient we're not

giving it attention and solely can go

away

when we finally let go of that

attachment however long it takes we're

not in control of this process we can't

have it make it happen faster or slower

well we can make it happen slower

by wanting it by uh by wanting it to be

different than it is

when that distraction goes away

uh there can be relief

the itch is gone

and it's like a weight can be lifted off

your shoulders briefly and on the tail

end of that relief Joy can arise in the

body

and mind settles down

the feeling of meta can be very strong

there can be happiness an uplifted mind

and mind is much more steady in the

object of meditation

there still can be thoughts here there

still can be distractions here

a little bit a little bit of thought

here and there

but you'll stay nicely with your object

of meditation

for a period of time five minutes 10

minutes 40 minutes it really depends

after the joy uh

after a while the joy will fade away and

you'll be left with the comfort in the

body and mind

the body will be very comfortable mine

will still be calm

and this is happiness this is sukkah

and we rest in that as long as we do

until the session is over or perhaps

another distraction comes up

and the process starts again

what I'm describing here is the first

genre

the first stage of practice

and we'll be talking more about this

later

but as you're sitting tomorrow

remember as your distractions come up

they're not your enemies they're your

opportunities

their their opportunities

to purify your mind to learn how your

mind works and they can be doorways into

more collectedness and deeper mind

these distractions are called hindrances

hindrances are classified in five types

we have restlessness

sloth and torpor

we have a version

lust and doubt

foreign

the first four are in pairs restlessness

and sloth and torpor

restlessness is too much energy

too much energy in the body of mind it

manifests as thinking

manifests itches

anxiousness thoughts

sloth and torpor is the opposite not

enough energy in the body mind to

maintain mindfulness

this is sleepiness

uh or or fuzziness yeah

when restlessness gets very intense we

want to jump out of our skin

yeah anything else yeah

when dullness gets too intense when

sloth and torper gets too intense we

fall asleep

we can use these to help our minds

balance

when we notice there's a lot of

restlessness in the body well we can

relax

and back off and stop trying so hard

when there's dullness that's uh coming

up more well then we sharpen up and pay

attention more to our object and

meditation and gain interest in the

process

sometimes it helps to straighten up your

spine more

then a version and lust yeah

it says I like it I don't like it

I want it I don't want it I don't want

the itch to be there

you know and hindrances will gang up on

you it's sometimes you get one at a time

usually you get a couple you get your

itchy nose and you not you get to not

like it

yeah and then you can doubt if you're

doing the process correctly yeah

doubt is wondering am I doing this right

is this right is what's going on

doubt is

okay it's okay to look at what you are

doing and wonder

if you're doing it correctly and think

about it

but when you think about it

over and over again it distracts you and

that's not useful

so when we notice a hindrance arise

we let it be there

we don't interfere we don't try to

change it

because remember a good way to generate

suffering is to want something to be

different than it is

and that is not going to work anyway

what is happening is what is happening

we can't change what's happening now

actually

we can change how we respond to it

we can fight with it

yeah if we don't like it we can try to

push it away

or we can let it be there

if we like it we can try to hang on to

it and try to keep that good feeling

there

or we can let up you there

and the thing is

if we let it be there it gets us what we

want right we want that Happy Feeling to

stay we want the bad feeling to go away

when we allow it to be there as it is

both both those things can happen

when we try to hang on to The Happy

Feeling

poof

when we try to push away that itch the

bad feeling that doesn't go poof

we reinforce it yeah and it gets

stronger

so

your hindrances will come up

and that's going to happen and that's

okay

when they come up

don't fight with them

don't be hard on yourself oh no I'm

Restless again oh no I'm sleepy again

because what am I doing wrong

nope

we have a plan when they come up you let

them be there

do the six hours you recognize you're

distract you to relax

come back

and you go back to your object of

meditation

as you rest with your objects and

meditation and if the hindrance is

strong well it's going to pull your

attention again

again not unexpected we know what to do

six hour again relax smile

come back

may I be happy

and stay with that feeling

so we have a plan it's a simple plan

it's not an easy plan

that's okay

the more you do this the easier it will

become

and the more you familiar are with your

hindrances the easier they will be to

deal with

and the sooner you'll catch your mind

going through this process

at first you may find yourself

fully in Storyland watching movies

about what you're going to do next week

about what happened that you really

think you should have changed if only

you said that

something really pertinent to meditation

and that's okay that's gonna happen

that's going to happen

as you do this more and more you'll be

able to catch the process sooner and

sooner

you catch the movie when it's starting

he'll catch the monologue earlier

you'll catch a word

they catch half a word starting

[Music]

when you're sharp you'll be able to stay

with these places that you've noticed

yeah you'll be able to watch the word

come up and let it go over and over

again

you'll be able to watch tension arise

when the tension arises You Can Let It

Go as it comes up

and when you can let the tension go it

comes up you can as it comes up you can

stay with your object of meditation

easier and easier

when you're with your object of

meditation

it is can be a spacious feeling

you're there

things can arise and pass away

you don't have to get involved you don't

get have to get pulled in

like that

and when you get pulled in

you know what to do

relax

Let It Go

6r come back

so

these are in the instructions

have fun

smile

fun is a word that is incredibly

profound

when you're having fun your mind is

light

when you're having fun you're present

when you're having fun things are going

uh going well yeah

so have fun

when you notice you're not having fun

that's okay

if you have a hindrance you have a

distraction you have an attachment

coming up and you have an opportunity to

relax and smile and come back

you don't make yourself not have a

hindrance you don't make yourself

have to feel good yeah

smile and let yourself feel good

[Music]