All right,
Good evening everybody.
Good to see you all.
Okay,
So today we're getting into the sixth lesson of this month-long journey and the lesson is we're going to commit to focusing on gratitude.
Of course to develop that sort of quality within our psyche which is beneficial all around but if we move out of just sort of the fixation on gratitude specifically,
What we're really doing is redirecting our focus which is the main skill set of meditation and we're redirecting it into emotions.
And specifically virtuous emotions and there's a really powerful idea in this redirecting of our attention from sensation to characteristics or emotional qualities.
And so to sort of enrich that idea I wanted to talk about Buddhism,
Yoga and Jainism.
It's nice to consider that yoga is also sort of a religion just like the other two,
Buddhism and Jainism.
These religions distinct from other religions maybe like modern Christianity or what Christianity has become,
These religions are called path religions.
And so what that means is a practitioner of yoga,
A practitioner of Jainism and a practitioner of Buddhism will ultimately attempt to become the pinnacle expression of that religion.
So a Buddhist at a certain point in their life will attempt to become a Buddha.
A yogi will attempt to achieve enlightenment or samadhi and a Jain will attempt to reach,
Jainism has five sort of levels of,
You know,
Five levels of studentship which I do not know offhand but a Jain will attempt to reach that fifth level in this lifetime or another lifetime.
And so again what makes these path religions distinct is that they are a path to follow.
And so with that it's like all of these religions involve serious meditation.
As most mystic sects of all religions,
Even Christianity,
They involve meditation.
And so the idea behind this is that we are attempting to become divinity.
We are attempting to become supremely good.
And there is this remarkable nobility in that that I think it's worth considering for a moment.
As you meditate,
As you involve yourself with the ideas of spirituality and meditation,
This silent drive to become a better person starts to emerge and you start to take that more and more seriously.
We have a long time to reach in this direction of goodness,
You know,
Decade after decade after decade.
Because we all exist sort of personally and silently and sacredly within our own minds,
I can't say if wanting to be a supremely good person is normal within each of us.
I hope it is.
But you know,
Hanging out in these circles and reading the literature of these sorts of people,
The desire to become a better person,
A beacon of compassion,
A force of balance in the world is common among all of them.
So we're redirecting our practice into this space today and sort of working to build upon the emotion or the virtue or the characteristic of gratitude.
And more than anything,
Using these next three days as an experiment to see how flexible and fluid our personality really is.
It's like,
Can I restructure my characteristics just through sort of observing my mind and through the mystery of attention,
You know,
Sort of building this emotional seed?
Can I or can't I?
And when we discover that in fact we can,
The persona becomes something to manipulate,
Which is astounding.
So let's get into it today.
Comfortable seated position,
Tall spine,
Wrists resting on knees or posture.
Close your eyes,
Slow down your breath.
Just feel the immediate shift.
And so this is all very familiar with you now,
This 19th day of meditation.
And again,
As I noted yesterday,
This is all it is.
Whatever you're doing now,
If you do this every day,
Once in a while,
Every other day,
The benefits of meditation are yours.
If you do this,
Whatever it is you're doing or not doing,
You are on the path.
And so let's just describe or narrate the experience for a moment.
You're not moving,
You're breathing slowly.
And you're attempting to be more mindful than usual about your immediate experience.
More than likely you can feel your body more than you usually do.
And so all of this suggests that your attention,
Your awareness,
Is being concentrated into your immediate surrounding.
And more than that,
Internalized or pulled into the body.
And so at first the mind is nothing,
It's not real.
And then the mind is an obstacle.
It's wild,
Usually negative,
Out of control,
Tends to wander,
Tends to panic,
Tends to worry.
It's an obstacle.
But as we learn to control it,
Utilize it and appreciate it,
It becomes a miracle or at least a tool.
So again,
Feel that you are internalizing this tool that was once nothing,
Nonexistent,
Now is at least something.
Slow down the breath.
Commit to your stillness.
Now I've been getting some emails that have been sharing the experience of the practice.
And many of you are starting to recognize or occupy a certain space,
A certain quality of mind that's hard to define.
It involves a sense of letting go.
It permits a sense of connection.
It feels like harmony.
It feels like tranquility.
It feels like surrender.
It feels like embrace.
And so this meditative high is euphoric and certainly feels positive.
So you can utilize your practice to sort of run away from the world and escape responsibility to enter this zone of quiet in the same way that we can use sleep to avoid the struggles of the world.
I just like you to consider that this sense of disassociation,
This sense of disconnection,
It's not about disconnecting from our reality or our lives.
It's about creating a little space to gain perspective so that we come back to our lives,
Reopen our eyes,
Empowered and divinized.
And so following up on yesterday's class,
Sort of warming up our capacity to focus.
Feel your left eye.
Feel your right eye.
Feel the tip of your nose and feel the center of your chest.
Just for a few minutes,
Again,
Warming up your focus,
Warming up your task-oriented network.
Do your best to feel the center of your chest.
If it seems like you need more power,
Hold your breath,
Build the CO2 content in your body and force your brain to pay attention to the internal sensations mechanically.
A few minutes here.
Okay.
So we all only have one life.
And in that one life,
Every breath,
Every day,
Every year is an opportunity to become more than what we are.
We all know this instinctually.
What that more means,
What that more represents itself as is individual.
But the path religions of the East inform us that goodness,
Compassion,
Balance,
Generosity,
Gratitude,
Openness.
These are strengths that fortify that experience of more,
That experience of potential.
And so for a couple moments,
Breathe and contemplate that the very fact that you're meditating today,
Focusing on gratitude,
Relaxing your nervous system,
Connecting to the moment,
The very fact that you're participating with this suggests you are interested in this path,
This ancient direction.
And if you're open to it,
There is a touch of prophecy in that.
There's a hint of destiny.
And the mystics of these Eastern religions would say,
It's due to your karma that you've done this before in some past life and now you're picking up where you left off,
Looking into this most noble direction,
Putting energy to follow it and see it through.
So that's an enriching idea that every second of perfect focus is a step forward.
Your choice to slow down your breath is a step forward.
Thank you.
.
So at this point through your contemplations,
I hope you can feel that your practice of stillness and your practice of focus is a practice of virtue and nobility and that there is some impulse within you to become a better,
A more balanced,
A more open person.
And so now into the details.
For the next 12 minutes,
We'll be focusing on gratitude,
But how can we conjure up this virtue?
I'd like you to repeat and contemplate the phrase,
This will not last.
And in that,
You're acknowledging a truth.
Everything is ephemeral.
Every breath is here and gone.
Every life is here and gone.
Every civilization is here and gone.
And so the idea behind this phrase is that experience itself will not last.
The buzz of your nervous system will not last.
Ears to hear the world will not last.
Eyes to see the world will not last.
Your body,
Your relationships,
Reality will not last.
It will be replaced one day with black.
And so if you can open yourself up to this truth,
It will force you to be grateful for the opportunity of this moment.
All of these path religions hold death very close to themselves.
They hold mortality at the forefront of their mind.
So this will not last.
This will not last.
This will not last.
And all of a sudden,
That gratitude should sprout out of nowhere.
Once you feel that gratitude,
Breathe slowly and focus on it the way you focus on the tingling sensations of your body.
It takes energy to repeat that phrase over and over again.
A mental resilience.
If you need more energy,
Hold your breath.
Feel your lungs breathing in your chest,
Repeating the mantra,
This will not last.
One day,
When the body dies,
There will be no breath.
And I won't have the privilege of feeling this,
The satisfaction of oxygen rushing in,
The satisfaction of carbon dioxide being pushed out.
The weight of your body,
That won't always be there.
You won't always be held by gravity.
The satisfaction of meat on your bones will one day dissolve.
So this takes work.
You're thinking seriously.
And while it's safe to say that the vast majority of the world is preoccupied on other things,
Chit chat,
Work,
Cleaning,
Eating,
Sleeping,
Gossiping,
Entertainment,
Survival.
Here you are thinking about these huge ideas,
Working to build a virtue inside of yourself directly.
This is the path.
And this is how meditation can literally turn us into better people.
So last push,
About four minutes.
Slow down the breath.
Again,
If you need more energy,
Hold your breath for longer than you want to.
Repeat the phrase incessantly.
And as the meaning of those words becomes more and more real to you,
It should provoke gratitude for what you do have for the moment.
And so this isn't rocket science.
It's a fairly straightforward idea once you believe that emotions can be fortified and that our characteristics can be built up,
Positive or negative,
By practicing them.
What's most important is taking the time to do this.
That involves a disconnect,
A willingness to stop the engines of externalizing.
Sit still.
Close our eyes.
Breathe slowly.
Relax our anxious and craving nerves to open up and manipulate the internal.
And so back to the fundamental techniques.
Everyone boost your posture,
Tilt the hips forward,
Lengthen the spine,
And immediately notice that comes with more presence and confidence.
And so yet again,
We let our strength slip between our fingertips in some small way.
Slow down your breath,
Breathing more deeply into the belly,
And notice that comes with satisfaction and peace.
And yet again,
We let our peace slip away in some small way.
Now listen to the environment around you,
Appreciate the life you lead,
And notice the increase in gratitude,
Simply because you took the time to think about it for a while.
So as small as that seems,
It's profound.
A journey of a thousand miles starts and ends with a single step.
Everyone bring your hands to heart center.
The spine is already lengthened.
Consider this is the peak of your practice,
Perfect units of meditation.
So whatever impatience might exist,
Cast it out for 30 seconds.
Whatever distractions might be entertaining you,
Avoid them for 30 seconds.
Repeat the mantra sincerely,
Because it's true this will not last,
And let that provoke gratefulness.
Lift your thumb knuckles to third eye center.
Just building our focus,
Feel the tingling sensation as your thumbs press into the skin of your forehead.
Still repeating that mantra.
Because you exist,
You have the opportunity to sharpen focus.
Because you exist,
You have the opportunity to feel thumbs against a forehead.
And again,
While the whole world is focusing on this or that,
Here you are appreciating something so small,
So seemingly insignificant,
But finding purpose in it.
Let's take one more breath in.
One more breath out.
Hold your breath with nothing in your lungs,
Release your wrists to your knees.
Nice tall spine,
Hold for as long as possible,
Allow CO2 to build.
This is just an endurance thing.
Hold for as long as you can when you need to breathe in mindfully through the nose,
Again holding the breath.
Holding holding holding.
The body's tightening.
With your lungs full of air,
Everyone take an exhale.
With your next breath in,
Open your eyes and just repeat.
I am no longer meditating.
