From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EKTSeeS21Io

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

yes well you know today one of the

biggest problems you're probably going

to face is that three hundred or three

out of every four people in

industrialized nations right now are

taking some kind of drug for depression

so can you talk to them a little bit

about that the handling and depression

through the use of meditation depression

is easy to let go of it's not a big deal

at all

what is depression a painful feeling

arises I don't like that painful feeling

I have thoughts about that painful

feeling and my habit is every time this

feeling arises I always attack it that

way the more you think about the feeling

the bigger and more intense the feeling

becomes until finally you say oh I just

can't stand this I gotta go to the

doctor and get some drugs and he gives

you something that knocks you out so you

can't even act like a real person

anymore

as you start recognizing the importance

of smiling into things and laughing the

laughter stops the thinking about now

your perspective is different

it doesn't take very long to overcome

depression it takes a while because you

have to practice your smiling and these

thoughts because of this painful feeling

they they're quite often very similar

coming up over and over and over again

you have repeat thoughts quite often

with depression I hate this feeling when

it's there I wish it would stop I want

it to go away

III who's the who's feeling is it did

you say you know I haven't been

depressed this week I think it's time

for me to do it I'm gonna get depressed

nobody is stupid enough to do that so

what you do is recognize that your mind

is trying to control a feeling let go of

the thoughts and relax see that tight

mental fist that's a painful feeling

yeah it's a painful feeling that's the

truth and it's okay for that painful

feeling to be there it has to be it's

the truth

allow the truth to be there it's only a

feeling I told you a little while ago I

used to walk through the forest

barefooted and at night and I kick a

rock and I'd break the toe that's

painful and as soon as it happened there

was the shock there was the pain there

was the dislike right on top of that and

right after that I started noticing that

I was throwing my anger and my hatred

into my toe and my toe is crying out

saying don't hate me love me

that's what I want right now

so instead of getting into my anger for

doing it I start sending love into that

spot and before long pain pretty much

goes away I might limp around for a

little bit and in a day or two days I

forget that I even did it it's nothing

it doesn't matter whether it's physical

pain or mental pain it all happens in

the same way painful feeling arises what

you do with what arises in the present

moment dictates what happens in the

future you see that painful feeling that

tightness that happens around that

painful feeling and then all of the

thoughts about that painful feeling and

your habitual tendency and I always

treat this feeling in the same way well

after a few years you should start

learning that that don't work don't do

that technique so what to do different

well let go of the thoughts and relax

allow the space for that painful feeling

to be there when I when I broke the toe

it was real it was pain and it was there

and it was okay for it to be there

it had to be okay because it was a truth

allow the space for the truth to be

there without trying to control it

another example I have a silver tooth I

was in Burma Dennis decided he was going

to do me a favor clean my teeth then he

broke it and then he says I'm gonna give

you a root canal and I said fine but you

don't clean your needles I don't want

any AIDS so give me a root canal I don't

want any painkiller he did it he gave me

a root canal I was sitting in the chair

and my hands would get real white and

all of my muscles would tense up and I

look at that and I'd say oh look at that

I saw the tension in my back the tension

in my buttocks relax allow the space for

that sensation to be there and I even

had time to send the person causing me

the pain loving and kind thoughts and

after hours of his drilling which was

only about 15 minutes he stopped and he

started doing the other things that he

had to do to my tooth and I started

noticing that my mind was bright my mind

was alert my mind was very happy not

because the pain had stopped but my mind

was very happy because it was so clear

and in the present moment that was real

pain

and I have since come to this country

and had to have another root canal and I

did the same thing I don't like drugs

so the whole thing comes down to is it

my pain or is it just a pain if it's my

pain I can't allow them to do that if

it's just a pain it's okay there's no

emergency in it

there's no tightening around it there's

no want to control it

there's only allowing the space for that

sensation to be there because it's the

truth it's there you do that with

depression that feeling is there so it's

a feeling okay not my feeling I didn't

ask it to come up allow the space for

that feeling to be there relax into it

direct your mind to something wholesome

smiley of course I've been talking about

this for years but they finally heard it

that pink pamphlet is exactly how to do

meditation and that will lead you to all

kinds of understanding and all kinds of

insights that you never dreamed possible

you

yes well you know today one of the

biggest problems you're probably going

to face is that three hundred or three

out of every four people in

industrialized nations right now are

taking some kind of drug for depression

so can you talk to them a little bit

about that the handling and depression

through the use of meditation depression

is easy to let go of it's not a big deal

at all

what is depression a painful feeling

arises I don't like that painful feeling

I have thoughts about that painful

feeling and my habit is every time this

feeling arises I always attack it that

way the more you think about the feeling

the bigger and more intense the feeling

becomes until finally you say oh I just

can't stand this I gotta go to the

doctor and get some drugs and he gives

you something that knocks you out so you

can't even act like a real person

anymore

as you start recognizing the importance

of smiling into things and laughing the

laughter stops the thinking about now

your perspective is different

it doesn't take very long to overcome

depression it takes a while because you

have to practice your smiling and these

thoughts because of this painful feeling

they they're quite often very similar

coming up over and over and over again

you have repeat thoughts quite often

with depression I hate this feeling when

it's there I wish it would stop I want

it to go away

III who's the who's feeling is it did

you say you know I haven't been

depressed this week I think it's time

for me to do it I'm gonna get depressed

nobody is stupid enough to do that so

what you do is recognize that your mind

is trying to control a feeling let go of

the thoughts and relax see that tight

mental fist that's a painful feeling

yeah it's a painful feeling that's the

truth and it's okay for that painful

feeling to be there it has to be it's

the truth

allow the truth to be there it's only a

feeling I told you a little while ago I

used to walk through the forest

barefooted and at night and I kick a

rock and I'd break the toe that's

painful and as soon as it happened there

was the shock there was the pain there

was the dislike right on top of that and

right after that I started noticing that

I was throwing my anger and my hatred

into my toe and my toe is crying out

saying don't hate me love me

that's what I want right now

so instead of getting into my anger for

doing it I start sending love into that

spot and before long pain pretty much

goes away I might limp around for a

little bit and in a day or two days I

forget that I even did it it's nothing

it doesn't matter whether it's physical

pain or mental pain it all happens in

the same way painful feeling arises what

you do with what arises in the present

moment dictates what happens in the

future you see that painful feeling that

tightness that happens around that

painful feeling and then all of the

thoughts about that painful feeling and

your habitual tendency and I always

treat this feeling in the same way well

after a few years you should start

learning that that don't work don't do

that technique so what to do different

well let go of the thoughts and relax

allow the space for that painful feeling

to be there when I when I broke the toe

it was real it was pain and it was there

and it was okay for it to be there

it had to be okay because it was a truth

allow the space for the truth to be

there without trying to control it

another example I have a silver tooth I

was in Burma Dennis decided he was going

to do me a favor clean my teeth then he

broke it and then he says I'm gonna give

you a root canal and I said fine but you

don't clean your needles I don't want

any AIDS so give me a root canal I don't

want any painkiller he did it he gave me

a root canal I was sitting in the chair

and my hands would get real white and

all of my muscles would tense up and I

look at that and I'd say oh look at that

I saw the tension in my back the tension

in my buttocks relax allow the space for

that sensation to be there and I even

had time to send the person causing me

the pain loving and kind thoughts and

after hours of his drilling which was

only about 15 minutes he stopped and he

started doing the other things that he

had to do to my tooth and I started

noticing that my mind was bright my mind

was alert my mind was very happy not

because the pain had stopped but my mind

was very happy because it was so clear

and in the present moment that was real

pain

and I have since come to this country

and had to have another root canal and I

did the same thing I don't like drugs

so the whole thing comes down to is it

my pain or is it just a pain if it's my

pain I can't allow them to do that if

it's just a pain it's okay there's no

emergency in it

there's no tightening around it there's

no want to control it

there's only allowing the space for that

sensation to be there because it's the

truth it's there you do that with

depression that feeling is there so it's

a feeling okay not my feeling I didn't

ask it to come up allow the space for

that feeling to be there relax into it

direct your mind to something wholesome

smiley of course I've been talking about

this for years but they finally heard it

that pink pamphlet is exactly how to do

meditation and that will lead you to all

kinds of understanding and all kinds of

insights that you never dreamed possible

you