From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YrS0ZtQw8Qc

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

good evening we're here this evening at

Dhamma sukha Meditation Center with

Ponte Vila Ramsey and he's going to be

giving a talk from the Mishima nakiya

number 113 the Supper recess

suta the true man

thus have I heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at sawatya in

jeta's grove anathapindika's park there

he addressed the monks thus monks

honorable sir they replied the Blessed

One said this monks I shall teach you

the character of a true man and the

character of an untrue man listen and

attend closely to what I shall say yes

venerable sir the monks replied the

Blessed One said this monks what is the

character of an untrue man here an

untrue man has gone forth from an

aristocratic family and considered thus

I have gone forth from an aristocratic

aristocratic family but those other

monks have not gone forth from an

aristocratic family so he loves himself

and disparage as others because of his

aristocratic family this is the

character of an untrue man but a true

man considers thus it is not because of

one one's aristocratic family that

states of greed hate or delusion are

destroyed even though someone may or may

not have gone for it from an

aristocratic family yet if he is entered

upon the way that accords with dhamma

and entered upon the proper way and

conducts himself according to the dhamma

he should be honored for that he should

be praised for that so putting the

practice of the way first he neither

lods himself nor disparage as others

because of his aristocratic family this

is a character of a true man one of the

reasons I wanted to read this was

because there's a lot of mention of

Truman in the suta's and there's a lot

of mention of now it's it's just get me

well there's mention of men that are

that are true practicers and are

successful so

it's I had a few questions about what's

a difference between a true man and and

somebody that's successful with their

meditation and a true man is somebody

that they considered himself just a man

it doesn't matter where they come from

during the time of the Buddha there was

an awful lot of people that were very

wealthy and came from very rich families

and then became monks some of those some

of those people would kind of demand

that other people do things for them and

and that sort of thing

and that's not the way of the Sangha it

doesn't matter where you come from even

if you're an untouchable it doesn't

matter

there is only human beings so this is

this is what being a true man really is

it's somebody that doesn't get caught up

at all in thinking you're better than

anyone else because you're wealthy or

you're over educated or whatever so

when I was in Korea I'd given a retreat

I came back the next year giving another

retreat and the people that had done the

first retreat some of them had been very

successful with their meditation to a

point they did they weren't real

successful but they were reasonably

they'd gone through all of the drownings

and they started strutting around say

well I've got this jhana and that can

turn into a real problem because people

will hear you say this and they don't

know whether it's for real or not and

it's easy to get criticized and that

sort of thing it's one of one of the

things that monks never talk about is

what their practice is we don't talk

about our own practice I have a lot of

people asking me about my press practice

but I don't I don't talk about it

because it doesn't matter what matters

is the Buddha's teaching and your own

practice and this gets kind of funny in

a way because if you do a retreat with

somebody else you pretty much know what

their practice is so you can talk with

them about it but you don't talk to

people outside of that small group of

people what your attainment is if there

is any

and that's been translated in to you

never talk about your meditation

practice to anyone but there's advantage

of talking to people that have close to

what you you have for experience because

then you can you can compare notes with

each other

and that can be real helpful sometimes

so the the real trick is you you talk

with somebody else about what your

practice is and they you compare your

notes then when you leave them you don't

talk about them and their practice at

all but you need to be able to get

together and compare notes quite often

there is one lady in Indonesia that she

thought she was an are hot and she was

telling everybody about it I've had this

experience I'm in are hot and I talked

to her by Skype and she she wasn't nor

was she in a Nogami

so

she was trying to build herself up and

kind of look down on other people

because they weren't as good as she was

and that that runs into problems

moreover an untrue man who has gotten

forth from a great family from a wealthy

family from an influential family

considers I've gone forth from one of

these kinds of families but those other

monks have not gone forth from being

influential or whatever so he logs

himself in disparages others because of

this influential family that too is a

character of an untrue men they have a

tendency to talk about a lot of stuff

that doesn't have to do with Dhamma and

a true a true man he is more interested

in Dhamma and how things work

but a true man considers not thus it is

not because of one's influential family

that states of greed hate or delusion

are destroyed what is greed hate and

delusion greed is the I like it mind

hate is the I don't like it mind and

delusion is the belief that it is me so

what are we talking about here we're

talking about people that are caught by

their craving so it's a real interesting

thing that it's necessary to be able to

recognize craving when it arises

and craving can arise in quite a

incredibly quickly and you don't even

notice it but it's easy to get caught up

in emotional states of dissatisfaction

dislike and you are taking those

personally you if if you weren't taking

it personally it means that you would

have equanimity in your mind so that

there would be balance and there would

be no emotional reaction there would

just be with balance a response craving

is always recognized as tension and

tightness in your mind and in your body

now one of the insights I've had since I

saw you last is that it talks about

especially in the society putana suit

being mindful of your body but what is

it actually saying your body and your

mind are interconnected if you relax

your body your mind is relaxed if you

relax your mind your body is relaxed and

that is talking about the tension and

tightness in your head that's what my

informants of body is all about

so anytime you read or at the end of the

retreat that was always kind of comical

when I was doing the Vipassana that the

last thing the teacher said are one of

the last things they said is be mindful

of your body and how are you supposed to

do that I mean they give you good advice

but they don't tell you what that

actually means being mindful of your

body means seeing that tension and

tightness in your head around your brain

and how that contracts that means that

there is craving in your mind at that

time it always starts with a feeling

arises the feeling is pleasant painful

neither painful nor pleasant doesn't

have anything to do with emotion it's

just a pleasant feeling a painful

feeling a neutral feeling right after

that there is this tension and tightness

that wraps around your brain and right

after that is when you start getting

into your thoughts and your opinions and

ideas and concepts and story and then

there is the habitual tendency which is

where emotions are this is where you fly

off the handle and get angry or sad or

fearful or

anxious or whatever the catch happens to

be and that leads to the birth of action

which leads to a lot of suffering so the

whole point of this meditation is to be

able to recognize when it first starts

that tension and tightness I haven't put

you on a what do we call it by oh no

it's not biofeedback at the screens

anyway a bio circuit

it's it's a screen that's about this big

it's copper and you put one here and you

put one at the base of the spine and

then you hold on to the handles that are

attached to them and you got to cross

your left leg over your right leg and

then you just start relaxing and

relaxing and relaxing and relaxing and

it starts to balance your energy but

also you can get so peaceful and calm

that you see the start of the thought

coming up and you see that tightness

break them or you can see a feeling

starting to arise in your body and you

see that tightness rate that so it's a

that was one of the best meditation

teachers I've ever run across the bio

circuits and it's that was using that

device was one of the one of the things

that taught me about mind and body and

how it actually worked and it made me

sensitive to the slightest feelings when

they started to arise and that's why

later I started

noticing that relaxing that tightness in

your head was the key to tranquilizing

your bodily formation so they got a pair

for you and let you try it it is worth

it you can learn a lot from it so the

more familiar you come you become with

that tension and tightness that arises

in your head in your mind the more

familiar you become with it the faster

it is to recognize the easier it is to

let it be in relax and with that when

you let go of that tension and tightness

you are purifying your mind because

there's no there's nothing that will

pull your attention away to anything

there is just this quiet mind that's

very alert there's no tightness in your

mind which means there's no craving so

your mind is pure and you bring that

pure mind back to your object to

meditation and the more you do that the

less craving there is the faster your

progress becomes but you will find out

that craving although it's not

particularly strong it is very very

persistent and it keeps coming up in all

different ways this is the cause of

suffering

so it's important aspect to be able to

recognize that tension and tightness

every time there's a thought

there is tightness with it every time a

feeling arises or a sensation arises

there is this little subtle tightness

that happens so you want to be able to

become exceptionally observant of that

part of your body the the brain is has

this membrane around it and it contracts

it really doesn't do it a lot but all of

that little contraction when you relax

it lets go and you feel a little bit

more open in your mind but the thing

that's most important is noticing that

your mind is clearer and bright and

that's the mind that you bring back to

your object of meditation

it can't be stated enough the relaxed

step because that is the cause of

suffering and what is suffering well if

I get something that I don't want that

suffering if I don't get what I do want

that's suffering why is it suffering

because I am there whenever there is

that slightest tension and tightness in

your mind there is the false belief in a

personal self so the whole point of the

meditation is to be able to recognize

that now the one of the easiest ways to

do that is to stay on your object of

meditation and then you notice when

something starts to come up your mind

starts wobbling and before long it's

wobbling bigger and then it starts to go

away from your object of meditation well

if you can sharpen your mindfulness

enough and this is done by smiling the

more you smile the sharper your

mindfulness becomes why because when you

smile you have an uplifted mind and then

when a thought comes in it starts to

pull your mind down and it's easy to

recognize that way so the more you smile

the sharper your mindfulness becomes the

sharper your mindfulness becomes the

faster you're able to catch these little

tiny disturbances when they arise so

before long you'll be able to notice

that your mind does wobble before you're

actually able to see how it it get

pulled away and if you see that mind is

starting to do this and wobble a little

bit then you 6r8 then

you relax smile come back to your object

of meditation the more you smile while

you're practicing meditation the faster

your progress becomes an awful lot of

people they really don't believe the

fact that you're supposed to have fun

when you're meditating and it takes a

lot to convince some people that you're

trying too hard back off

have fun with this don't get serious

with doing we just had a couple leave

not long ago and both of them are so

serious and they're bound and they

determined to attain nirvana well it's

not going to happen for not until they

learn to lighten up that's just the way

it is so keep it light okay don't get

serious don't get to try to push and

make something happen the nature of this

kind of meditation is it happens all by

itself when the conditions are right so

your job is to make the conditions right

what are the conditions smile

stay with your object of meditation as

fast as much as you can and notice when

there is a disturbance that starts to

arise

then do the six hours relax let it be it

doesn't matter whether it's a physical

sensation or mental it doesn't matter at

all what matters is what you do with

that and your meditation is such that

it's not going to be the same all the

time it's going to change so don't look

forward to having a great meditation and

coming back and making it great again

that doesn't work right

it's real important that you realize all

of life is part of the game it's nothing

to get serious about but we do get

serious and we get upset because things

don't happen the way we want them to

happen with this person or that person

and then then it's real easy to get

caught up in this whole cycle of pain as

you become more familiar with how Minds

attention moves from one thing to

another you will start to develop more

and more balance in your mind now this

is all the time too many times people

have the idea that meditation is just

about sitting but it's an all the time

practice watch what your mind is doing

when you're walking from here to there

don't let it just ho-hum around which

happiness

as you wish happiness and you give that

happiness away guess what happens for

you more happiness comes what you give

away you get so it's a real interesting

phenomena that when you start becoming

more and more aware of how little tiny

things start and then it turns into an

annoyance of some sort I want things to

be the way I want them I don't care

well good luck doesn't happen that way

all that often so you need to have that

balance of mind

that's really important the equanimity

as you start to go deeper in your

practice the equanimity equanimity

starts to get stronger and stronger so

it's an important thing to be able to

recognize when mind starts to get tight

and when body starts to get tight

and the more fun you have with this

meditation the easier the meditation

becomes

too many people are way over serious

about getting something some kind of

benefit well you really do gain great

benefit when you let go of trying to

gain great great benefit as Yoda has

said on occasion there is no try

there's only do it or don't do it don't

try to control anything don't control

anything stand back and watch how it

happens keep relaxing into things

keep smiling into things and the more

you do that the easier it becomes now

I've done a lot of retreats with a lot

of people that were practicing straight

Vipassana and they very seldom do they

have faces that look happy they just are

trying so hard they're pushing they're

trying to make something occur the way

it's supposed to and they hear that in

their Dhamma talks that you're supposed

to make this happen

and when you have a distraction or a

hindrance arise you're supposed to make

it go away

well no hindrances are necessary for

your practice during on the night of the

Buddha's awakening he was one of the

most advanced meditators in the world

and he still sat down to start

practicing and he got hit with

hindrances and they were big and they

were real and all he could do was watch

them and let it be in nevermind it's not

so important

when a hindrance arises it is your

teacher it's showing you where your

attachment is but it's also helping you

to improve your mindfulness so your

mindfulness gets sharper when you get to

a certain level in your meditation you

start seeing that as just a hindrance

and it's not my hindrance then you start

appreciating the fact that these

hindrances are there they're not making

your meditation worse they're trying to

help you to improve your mindfulness but

if you get caught in your thinking and

liking and disliking you can look

forward to that hindrance coming up and

visiting fairly often until you learn

until you learn that it's only this

hindrance it's no big deal

it can be a memory it can be a desire

that you want something to happen in a

particular way it could be anything it

doesn't really matter it's strong enough

to pull your attention away from your

object of meditation so now you have to

deal with it you have to allow it to be

by not keeping your attention on it

it won't get bigger but when you keep

your attention on the hindrance it does

get bigger and more intense because I

don't like that I don't want it to be

there I hate this feeling when it arises

never might just allow it to be don't

resist or push

soften your mind and smile that works

and it works very well but that doesn't

mean that that hindrance still isn't

going to be there just because you

soften your mind and smile you relax

into it it can still stay there but as

you lose your attachment to that

hindrance it can be there but it's not

going to pull your attention away when

it doesn't pull your attention away you

just stay with your object of meditation

even if it's over here fluttering around

and flip-flopping and all this kind of

thing there's a deer

and that

so

as you stay on your object to meditation

that hindrance will start to get weaker

and weaker and it'll fade away by itself

when it fades away you go deeper into

your practice that's how your hindrance

is helping you that's how it's truly

your best friend it shows you where your

your attachment is and you start

allowing it to be there so it's teaching

you a couple of good lessons one is that

everything that arises is impersonal

it's not yours

you didn't ask this disturbance to come

up it's there because the conditions are

right for it to be there but what are

you doing with it in the present moment

are you fighting it with it are you at

war with it or are you allowing it to be

and not keeping your attention on it so

as teaching you to develop your

mindfulness more deeply and it's a big

help

and the Buddha actually he had a couple

hours of hindrances coming up now the

thing with this particular kind of

meditation to realize is that relaxed

step is the most important part of the

meditation why because you're letting go

of the craving craving is one of the

reasons why that hindrance came up

because there was the personal belief

that these thoughts these feelings these

memories whatever they happen to be are

yours and as you see that as it actually

is and allow it to be and relax and

smile and come back to your object of

meditation without getting caught up in

any of the thinking about it you are

improving your mindfulness a lot and

it's changing your perspective it's

changing your view from I am that - it's

only that if it's only that it's just

impersonal it's not mine

I didn't ask it to come up I can't make

it go away but I not keep my attention

on it let it be it'll fade away by

itself the more you get caught up in

trying to solve a problem with your

thinking the more you're causing

yourself suffering and that's the truth

so we want to be able to let things be

nothing is so important that you have to

think about it right now

nothing is so important that you have to

try to solve the problem there is no

problem unless you make one for yourself

by trying to solve with your thinking

thinking is part of restlessness and

who's trying to solve the problem I am

and this problem has no answer to it I

mean you can sit down and you can start

planning they have a problem with the

person at work or wherever and you can

start planning and thinking well I'm

gonna say this to them and they're gonna

say that back to me and then I'm going

to say this to them that's all nonsense

thoughts that's all a game that your

mind wants to play so it's real

important to let go of these kind of

distractions you can't solve any problem

by thinking about it

so let it go

all right

until you get into a situation with that

other person let it go you don't have to

worry you don't have to have anxiety you

don't have to have this like you don't

need any of that sort of thing

why because that's where I am and I'm

building this little tiny thing into a

big mountain that can't be solved but

when you change your perspective and see

that it's just this little bump it

solves itself so the more you can

remember to let go of the distracting

thoughts seeing that tension and

tightness in your head relaxing into

that not allowing your mind just a

ho-hum around you need to smile come

back to an object of meditation even if

your object of meditation is smiling so

the more you can do that the less

suffering there is now this whole thing

with the the being a true man is what

I'm talking about being a true man not

not building yourself up and pushing

others down it is the fact that you're

practicing Dhamma that's when you become

a true human being when you are

practicing Dhamma when you are spending

time watching what mind is doing instead

of letting it run all over the place

6r it

I don't care what you're doing

6r let go of their tension and tightness

let your mind become pure and bring that

pure mind back to your object of

meditation so it's a real interesting

thing to realize that there's not one

part of your life that isn't meditation

you want personality development you

want to let go of the things that cause

mental upset then it takes practice the

more you practice the better you are at

letting things go the more giving the

more kind you will become it's

interesting too that we are our own

worst enemies we are hard on ourselves

because we have this mental image I'm

supposed to be perfect and you're not

and it's okay it has to be okay because

that's the truth

you gotta make mistakes welcome to the

human race show me somebody that didn't

make a mistake but the trick is not

letting your mind become hard and tight

with that self-criticism as that's just

as unwholesome as anything else you want

to develop a mind that is kind to

yourself Buddha said it very nicely said

anybody that truly loved themself would

never harm another being well what does

that mean it means that you have to let

go of the harsh criticisms of yourself

you have to start being kind to yourself

and the more kind you are to yourself

you start noticing other people and you

give that kindness away and the more you

give that kindness and love away the

more it comes back for you that's what

personality development is all about

it's not about trying and forcing and

making things happen the way you think

they should it's backing off and

watching yourself and accepting yourself

without criticism

and if you make a mistake be aware

enough that nope that didn't work let's

try something else next time so the more

you can really be aware of what mind is

doing in the present moment the more you

can be aware of that slight tension and

tightness that arises in your mind and

in your body and relax into it the more

successful you are in your life the more

fun you have in your life so what is

Buddhist meditation personality

development being able to recognize when

that craving is in your mind and in your

body and be able to let it be be able to

let it go

the more you do that the more balance

you have in your life the more fun

everything becomes and that's

exceptionally important

okay

so you have any questions

well if if you see the start of the

wobble it's not come back it's just stay

with okay it works kind of like this

you're on your object of meditation

right there and your mind is with it and

for whatever reason the mindfulness

starts to get weak and mine starts doing

this and then it does it more and it

gets bigger and bigger and then finally

it just goes away so if you can smile

enough and have fun with this you'll be

able before long you'll be able to see

when mine is starting to do that and

then you use your six hours right then

and your mind just stays on your object

of meditation sometimes people describe

it like you're boiling water and a

little tiny bubble is down at the bottom

and it lets go and it starts to come up

and then it gets up to the top and it

pops okay that's when you're already

lost lost your object of meditation but

to be able to see it as it's coming up

and relax means that you'll be able to

stay with your object of meditation more

easily make sure that you do this with

your walking the longer you set the more

you have to walk okay

so if you're starting to sit for an hour

and a half or two hours I want you to

walk for 45 minutes and walk fast enough

that you're breathing through your mouth

this is an important part of the

meditation because you stay with your

object of meditation while you're

walking like that and it picks up your

energy it gives you better blood flow in

your body and that helps your sitting to

be good okay anything else

so how long were you sitting though

and make sure you get some good exercise

it how long were you sitting okay walk

for at least 30 minutes

and when you're walking it's best not to

look around it's best to have your eyes

down a little bit so you can stay with

your object to meditation

okay yes

yes absolutely yeah

yeah

oh yeah

yeah

good

by far and I'd like to get a hold of the

man that said this is supposed to be

serious and you got it you got to really

go for it

a good metaphor it's like wahoo

sitting in the theater and you're

sitting there trying to watch

I'm trying not to miss anything

take my channel you know I just got a

move but I can sit there going

solve the problem

triangle

everything's good

now the biggest problem is that when

you're watching the movie is trying to

think the movie doesn't miss an awful

lot of stuff when you do that but when

you're having fun and being attentive

you don't miss stuff yeah

but even even then you have to 6r

sometimes

what movie I saw these things just flesh

flickering laughing

okay let's share Samaritan a suffering

ones be suffering free and the fear

struck fearless be me the grieving shed

all grief and may all beings find relief

may all being share this merit that we

less acquired for the acquisition of all

kinds of happiness may beings inhabiting

space and earth Davis and Nagas almighty

power share this merit of ours may they

long protect the Buddha's dispensation

good evening we're here this evening at

Dhamma sukha Meditation Center with

Ponte Vila Ramsey and he's going to be

giving a talk from the Mishima nakiya

number 113 the Supper recess

suta the true man

thus have I heard on one occasion the

blessed one was living at sawatya in

jeta's grove anathapindika's park there

he addressed the monks thus monks

honorable sir they replied the Blessed

One said this monks I shall teach you

the character of a true man and the

character of an untrue man listen and

attend closely to what I shall say yes

venerable sir the monks replied the

Blessed One said this monks what is the

character of an untrue man here an

untrue man has gone forth from an

aristocratic family and considered thus

I have gone forth from an aristocratic

aristocratic family but those other

monks have not gone forth from an

aristocratic family so he loves himself

and disparage as others because of his

aristocratic family this is the

character of an untrue man but a true

man considers thus it is not because of

one one's aristocratic family that

states of greed hate or delusion are

destroyed even though someone may or may

not have gone for it from an

aristocratic family yet if he is entered

upon the way that accords with dhamma

and entered upon the proper way and

conducts himself according to the dhamma

he should be honored for that he should

be praised for that so putting the

practice of the way first he neither

lods himself nor disparage as others

because of his aristocratic family this

is a character of a true man one of the

reasons I wanted to read this was

because there's a lot of mention of

Truman in the suta's and there's a lot

of mention of now it's it's just get me

well there's mention of men that are

that are true practicers and are

successful so

it's I had a few questions about what's

a difference between a true man and and

somebody that's successful with their

meditation and a true man is somebody

that they considered himself just a man

it doesn't matter where they come from

during the time of the Buddha there was

an awful lot of people that were very

wealthy and came from very rich families

and then became monks some of those some

of those people would kind of demand

that other people do things for them and

and that sort of thing

and that's not the way of the Sangha it

doesn't matter where you come from even

if you're an untouchable it doesn't

matter

there is only human beings so this is

this is what being a true man really is

it's somebody that doesn't get caught up

at all in thinking you're better than

anyone else because you're wealthy or

you're over educated or whatever so

when I was in Korea I'd given a retreat

I came back the next year giving another

retreat and the people that had done the

first retreat some of them had been very

successful with their meditation to a

point they did they weren't real

successful but they were reasonably

they'd gone through all of the drownings

and they started strutting around say

well I've got this jhana and that can

turn into a real problem because people

will hear you say this and they don't

know whether it's for real or not and

it's easy to get criticized and that

sort of thing it's one of one of the

things that monks never talk about is

what their practice is we don't talk

about our own practice I have a lot of

people asking me about my press practice

but I don't I don't talk about it

because it doesn't matter what matters

is the Buddha's teaching and your own

practice and this gets kind of funny in

a way because if you do a retreat with

somebody else you pretty much know what

their practice is so you can talk with

them about it but you don't talk to

people outside of that small group of

people what your attainment is if there

is any

and that's been translated in to you

never talk about your meditation

practice to anyone but there's advantage

of talking to people that have close to

what you you have for experience because

then you can you can compare notes with

each other

and that can be real helpful sometimes

so the the real trick is you you talk

with somebody else about what your

practice is and they you compare your

notes then when you leave them you don't

talk about them and their practice at

all but you need to be able to get

together and compare notes quite often

there is one lady in Indonesia that she

thought she was an are hot and she was

telling everybody about it I've had this

experience I'm in are hot and I talked

to her by Skype and she she wasn't nor

was she in a Nogami

so

she was trying to build herself up and

kind of look down on other people

because they weren't as good as she was

and that that runs into problems

moreover an untrue man who has gotten

forth from a great family from a wealthy

family from an influential family

considers I've gone forth from one of

these kinds of families but those other

monks have not gone forth from being

influential or whatever so he logs

himself in disparages others because of

this influential family that too is a

character of an untrue men they have a

tendency to talk about a lot of stuff

that doesn't have to do with Dhamma and

a true a true man he is more interested

in Dhamma and how things work

but a true man considers not thus it is

not because of one's influential family

that states of greed hate or delusion

are destroyed what is greed hate and

delusion greed is the I like it mind

hate is the I don't like it mind and

delusion is the belief that it is me so

what are we talking about here we're

talking about people that are caught by

their craving so it's a real interesting

thing that it's necessary to be able to

recognize craving when it arises

and craving can arise in quite a

incredibly quickly and you don't even

notice it but it's easy to get caught up

in emotional states of dissatisfaction

dislike and you are taking those

personally you if if you weren't taking

it personally it means that you would

have equanimity in your mind so that

there would be balance and there would

be no emotional reaction there would

just be with balance a response craving

is always recognized as tension and

tightness in your mind and in your body

now one of the insights I've had since I

saw you last is that it talks about

especially in the society putana suit

being mindful of your body but what is

it actually saying your body and your

mind are interconnected if you relax

your body your mind is relaxed if you

relax your mind your body is relaxed and

that is talking about the tension and

tightness in your head that's what my

informants of body is all about

so anytime you read or at the end of the

retreat that was always kind of comical

when I was doing the Vipassana that the

last thing the teacher said are one of

the last things they said is be mindful

of your body and how are you supposed to

do that I mean they give you good advice

but they don't tell you what that

actually means being mindful of your

body means seeing that tension and

tightness in your head around your brain

and how that contracts that means that

there is craving in your mind at that

time it always starts with a feeling

arises the feeling is pleasant painful

neither painful nor pleasant doesn't

have anything to do with emotion it's

just a pleasant feeling a painful

feeling a neutral feeling right after

that there is this tension and tightness

that wraps around your brain and right

after that is when you start getting

into your thoughts and your opinions and

ideas and concepts and story and then

there is the habitual tendency which is

where emotions are this is where you fly

off the handle and get angry or sad or

fearful or

anxious or whatever the catch happens to

be and that leads to the birth of action

which leads to a lot of suffering so the

whole point of this meditation is to be

able to recognize when it first starts

that tension and tightness I haven't put

you on a what do we call it by oh no

it's not biofeedback at the screens

anyway a bio circuit

it's it's a screen that's about this big

it's copper and you put one here and you

put one at the base of the spine and

then you hold on to the handles that are

attached to them and you got to cross

your left leg over your right leg and

then you just start relaxing and

relaxing and relaxing and relaxing and

it starts to balance your energy but

also you can get so peaceful and calm

that you see the start of the thought

coming up and you see that tightness

break them or you can see a feeling

starting to arise in your body and you

see that tightness rate that so it's a

that was one of the best meditation

teachers I've ever run across the bio

circuits and it's that was using that

device was one of the one of the things

that taught me about mind and body and

how it actually worked and it made me

sensitive to the slightest feelings when

they started to arise and that's why

later I started

noticing that relaxing that tightness in

your head was the key to tranquilizing

your bodily formation so they got a pair

for you and let you try it it is worth

it you can learn a lot from it so the

more familiar you come you become with

that tension and tightness that arises

in your head in your mind the more

familiar you become with it the faster

it is to recognize the easier it is to

let it be in relax and with that when

you let go of that tension and tightness

you are purifying your mind because

there's no there's nothing that will

pull your attention away to anything

there is just this quiet mind that's

very alert there's no tightness in your

mind which means there's no craving so

your mind is pure and you bring that

pure mind back to your object to

meditation and the more you do that the

less craving there is the faster your

progress becomes but you will find out

that craving although it's not

particularly strong it is very very

persistent and it keeps coming up in all

different ways this is the cause of

suffering

so it's important aspect to be able to

recognize that tension and tightness

every time there's a thought

there is tightness with it every time a

feeling arises or a sensation arises

there is this little subtle tightness

that happens so you want to be able to

become exceptionally observant of that

part of your body the the brain is has

this membrane around it and it contracts

it really doesn't do it a lot but all of

that little contraction when you relax

it lets go and you feel a little bit

more open in your mind but the thing

that's most important is noticing that

your mind is clearer and bright and

that's the mind that you bring back to

your object of meditation

it can't be stated enough the relaxed

step because that is the cause of

suffering and what is suffering well if

I get something that I don't want that

suffering if I don't get what I do want

that's suffering why is it suffering

because I am there whenever there is

that slightest tension and tightness in

your mind there is the false belief in a

personal self so the whole point of the

meditation is to be able to recognize

that now the one of the easiest ways to

do that is to stay on your object of

meditation and then you notice when

something starts to come up your mind

starts wobbling and before long it's

wobbling bigger and then it starts to go

away from your object of meditation well

if you can sharpen your mindfulness

enough and this is done by smiling the

more you smile the sharper your

mindfulness becomes why because when you

smile you have an uplifted mind and then

when a thought comes in it starts to

pull your mind down and it's easy to

recognize that way so the more you smile

the sharper your mindfulness becomes the

sharper your mindfulness becomes the

faster you're able to catch these little

tiny disturbances when they arise so

before long you'll be able to notice

that your mind does wobble before you're

actually able to see how it it get

pulled away and if you see that mind is

starting to do this and wobble a little

bit then you 6r8 then

you relax smile come back to your object

of meditation the more you smile while

you're practicing meditation the faster

your progress becomes an awful lot of

people they really don't believe the

fact that you're supposed to have fun

when you're meditating and it takes a

lot to convince some people that you're

trying too hard back off

have fun with this don't get serious

with doing we just had a couple leave

not long ago and both of them are so

serious and they're bound and they

determined to attain nirvana well it's

not going to happen for not until they

learn to lighten up that's just the way

it is so keep it light okay don't get

serious don't get to try to push and

make something happen the nature of this

kind of meditation is it happens all by

itself when the conditions are right so

your job is to make the conditions right

what are the conditions smile

stay with your object of meditation as

fast as much as you can and notice when

there is a disturbance that starts to

arise

then do the six hours relax let it be it

doesn't matter whether it's a physical

sensation or mental it doesn't matter at

all what matters is what you do with

that and your meditation is such that

it's not going to be the same all the

time it's going to change so don't look

forward to having a great meditation and

coming back and making it great again

that doesn't work right

it's real important that you realize all

of life is part of the game it's nothing

to get serious about but we do get

serious and we get upset because things

don't happen the way we want them to

happen with this person or that person

and then then it's real easy to get

caught up in this whole cycle of pain as

you become more familiar with how Minds

attention moves from one thing to

another you will start to develop more

and more balance in your mind now this

is all the time too many times people

have the idea that meditation is just

about sitting but it's an all the time

practice watch what your mind is doing

when you're walking from here to there

don't let it just ho-hum around which

happiness

as you wish happiness and you give that

happiness away guess what happens for

you more happiness comes what you give

away you get so it's a real interesting

phenomena that when you start becoming

more and more aware of how little tiny

things start and then it turns into an

annoyance of some sort I want things to

be the way I want them I don't care

well good luck doesn't happen that way

all that often so you need to have that

balance of mind

that's really important the equanimity

as you start to go deeper in your

practice the equanimity equanimity

starts to get stronger and stronger so

it's an important thing to be able to

recognize when mind starts to get tight

and when body starts to get tight

and the more fun you have with this

meditation the easier the meditation

becomes

too many people are way over serious

about getting something some kind of

benefit well you really do gain great

benefit when you let go of trying to

gain great great benefit as Yoda has

said on occasion there is no try

there's only do it or don't do it don't

try to control anything don't control

anything stand back and watch how it

happens keep relaxing into things

keep smiling into things and the more

you do that the easier it becomes now

I've done a lot of retreats with a lot

of people that were practicing straight

Vipassana and they very seldom do they

have faces that look happy they just are

trying so hard they're pushing they're

trying to make something occur the way

it's supposed to and they hear that in

their Dhamma talks that you're supposed

to make this happen

and when you have a distraction or a

hindrance arise you're supposed to make

it go away

well no hindrances are necessary for

your practice during on the night of the

Buddha's awakening he was one of the

most advanced meditators in the world

and he still sat down to start

practicing and he got hit with

hindrances and they were big and they

were real and all he could do was watch

them and let it be in nevermind it's not

so important

when a hindrance arises it is your

teacher it's showing you where your

attachment is but it's also helping you

to improve your mindfulness so your

mindfulness gets sharper when you get to

a certain level in your meditation you

start seeing that as just a hindrance

and it's not my hindrance then you start

appreciating the fact that these

hindrances are there they're not making

your meditation worse they're trying to

help you to improve your mindfulness but

if you get caught in your thinking and

liking and disliking you can look

forward to that hindrance coming up and

visiting fairly often until you learn

until you learn that it's only this

hindrance it's no big deal

it can be a memory it can be a desire

that you want something to happen in a

particular way it could be anything it

doesn't really matter it's strong enough

to pull your attention away from your

object of meditation so now you have to

deal with it you have to allow it to be

by not keeping your attention on it

it won't get bigger but when you keep

your attention on the hindrance it does

get bigger and more intense because I

don't like that I don't want it to be

there I hate this feeling when it arises

never might just allow it to be don't

resist or push

soften your mind and smile that works

and it works very well but that doesn't

mean that that hindrance still isn't

going to be there just because you

soften your mind and smile you relax

into it it can still stay there but as

you lose your attachment to that

hindrance it can be there but it's not

going to pull your attention away when

it doesn't pull your attention away you

just stay with your object of meditation

even if it's over here fluttering around

and flip-flopping and all this kind of

thing there's a deer

and that

so

as you stay on your object to meditation

that hindrance will start to get weaker

and weaker and it'll fade away by itself

when it fades away you go deeper into

your practice that's how your hindrance

is helping you that's how it's truly

your best friend it shows you where your

your attachment is and you start

allowing it to be there so it's teaching

you a couple of good lessons one is that

everything that arises is impersonal

it's not yours

you didn't ask this disturbance to come

up it's there because the conditions are

right for it to be there but what are

you doing with it in the present moment

are you fighting it with it are you at

war with it or are you allowing it to be

and not keeping your attention on it so

as teaching you to develop your

mindfulness more deeply and it's a big

help

and the Buddha actually he had a couple

hours of hindrances coming up now the

thing with this particular kind of

meditation to realize is that relaxed

step is the most important part of the

meditation why because you're letting go

of the craving craving is one of the

reasons why that hindrance came up

because there was the personal belief

that these thoughts these feelings these

memories whatever they happen to be are

yours and as you see that as it actually

is and allow it to be and relax and

smile and come back to your object of

meditation without getting caught up in

any of the thinking about it you are

improving your mindfulness a lot and

it's changing your perspective it's

changing your view from I am that - it's

only that if it's only that it's just

impersonal it's not mine

I didn't ask it to come up I can't make

it go away but I not keep my attention

on it let it be it'll fade away by

itself the more you get caught up in

trying to solve a problem with your

thinking the more you're causing

yourself suffering and that's the truth

so we want to be able to let things be

nothing is so important that you have to

think about it right now

nothing is so important that you have to

try to solve the problem there is no

problem unless you make one for yourself

by trying to solve with your thinking

thinking is part of restlessness and

who's trying to solve the problem I am

and this problem has no answer to it I

mean you can sit down and you can start

planning they have a problem with the

person at work or wherever and you can

start planning and thinking well I'm

gonna say this to them and they're gonna

say that back to me and then I'm going

to say this to them that's all nonsense

thoughts that's all a game that your

mind wants to play so it's real

important to let go of these kind of

distractions you can't solve any problem

by thinking about it

so let it go

all right

until you get into a situation with that

other person let it go you don't have to

worry you don't have to have anxiety you

don't have to have this like you don't

need any of that sort of thing

why because that's where I am and I'm

building this little tiny thing into a

big mountain that can't be solved but

when you change your perspective and see

that it's just this little bump it

solves itself so the more you can

remember to let go of the distracting

thoughts seeing that tension and

tightness in your head relaxing into

that not allowing your mind just a

ho-hum around you need to smile come

back to an object of meditation even if

your object of meditation is smiling so

the more you can do that the less

suffering there is now this whole thing

with the the being a true man is what

I'm talking about being a true man not

not building yourself up and pushing

others down it is the fact that you're

practicing Dhamma that's when you become

a true human being when you are

practicing Dhamma when you are spending

time watching what mind is doing instead

of letting it run all over the place

6r it

I don't care what you're doing

6r let go of their tension and tightness

let your mind become pure and bring that

pure mind back to your object of

meditation so it's a real interesting

thing to realize that there's not one

part of your life that isn't meditation

you want personality development you

want to let go of the things that cause

mental upset then it takes practice the

more you practice the better you are at

letting things go the more giving the

more kind you will become it's

interesting too that we are our own

worst enemies we are hard on ourselves

because we have this mental image I'm

supposed to be perfect and you're not

and it's okay it has to be okay because

that's the truth

you gotta make mistakes welcome to the

human race show me somebody that didn't

make a mistake but the trick is not

letting your mind become hard and tight

with that self-criticism as that's just

as unwholesome as anything else you want

to develop a mind that is kind to

yourself Buddha said it very nicely said

anybody that truly loved themself would

never harm another being well what does

that mean it means that you have to let

go of the harsh criticisms of yourself

you have to start being kind to yourself

and the more kind you are to yourself

you start noticing other people and you

give that kindness away and the more you

give that kindness and love away the

more it comes back for you that's what

personality development is all about

it's not about trying and forcing and

making things happen the way you think

they should it's backing off and

watching yourself and accepting yourself

without criticism

and if you make a mistake be aware

enough that nope that didn't work let's

try something else next time so the more

you can really be aware of what mind is

doing in the present moment the more you

can be aware of that slight tension and

tightness that arises in your mind and

in your body and relax into it the more

successful you are in your life the more

fun you have in your life so what is

Buddhist meditation personality

development being able to recognize when

that craving is in your mind and in your

body and be able to let it be be able to

let it go

the more you do that the more balance

you have in your life the more fun

everything becomes and that's

exceptionally important

okay

so you have any questions

well if if you see the start of the

wobble it's not come back it's just stay

with okay it works kind of like this

you're on your object of meditation

right there and your mind is with it and

for whatever reason the mindfulness

starts to get weak and mine starts doing

this and then it does it more and it

gets bigger and bigger and then finally

it just goes away so if you can smile

enough and have fun with this you'll be

able before long you'll be able to see

when mine is starting to do that and

then you use your six hours right then

and your mind just stays on your object

of meditation sometimes people describe

it like you're boiling water and a

little tiny bubble is down at the bottom

and it lets go and it starts to come up

and then it gets up to the top and it

pops okay that's when you're already

lost lost your object of meditation but

to be able to see it as it's coming up

and relax means that you'll be able to

stay with your object of meditation more

easily make sure that you do this with

your walking the longer you set the more

you have to walk okay

so if you're starting to sit for an hour

and a half or two hours I want you to

walk for 45 minutes and walk fast enough

that you're breathing through your mouth

this is an important part of the

meditation because you stay with your

object of meditation while you're

walking like that and it picks up your

energy it gives you better blood flow in

your body and that helps your sitting to

be good okay anything else

so how long were you sitting though

and make sure you get some good exercise

it how long were you sitting okay walk

for at least 30 minutes

and when you're walking it's best not to

look around it's best to have your eyes

down a little bit so you can stay with

your object to meditation

okay yes

yes absolutely yeah

yeah

oh yeah

yeah

good

by far and I'd like to get a hold of the

man that said this is supposed to be

serious and you got it you got to really

go for it

a good metaphor it's like wahoo

sitting in the theater and you're

sitting there trying to watch

I'm trying not to miss anything

take my channel you know I just got a

move but I can sit there going

solve the problem

triangle

everything's good

now the biggest problem is that when

you're watching the movie is trying to

think the movie doesn't miss an awful

lot of stuff when you do that but when

you're having fun and being attentive

you don't miss stuff yeah

but even even then you have to 6r

sometimes

what movie I saw these things just flesh

flickering laughing

okay let's share Samaritan a suffering

ones be suffering free and the fear

struck fearless be me the grieving shed

all grief and may all beings find relief

may all being share this merit that we

less acquired for the acquisition of all

kinds of happiness may beings inhabiting

space and earth Davis and Nagas almighty

power share this merit of ours may they

long protect the Buddha's dispensation