Day 095/365: Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm

Okay,

It's 3 o'clock now,

We can actually start.

So this is the every Saturday afternoon class,

Teaching people how to continue on with your meditation to get into peaceful and deep states.

And I'll be taking many of these Saturday afternoon classes now I'm back from the retreat period.

And the first thing I wanted to say that meditation should really be the easiest thing in the world to do.

It is simply relaxing the body and relaxing the mind.

And many people in the western world think they know how to relax the body,

Sometimes they can't even relax their own body,

They're so tense inside.

But the way you relax your own body is with a combination of mindfulness together with kindness.

Because what we mean by that is you're aware of feelings and sensations in your body.

And you become sensitive to the body.

And the more you practice this meditation,

The more sensitive you actually become to the aches and pains,

The feelings of relaxation and all the different sensations which are there in your body but often we're too busy to notice.

So you become aware of those sensations.

One of the reasons you close your eyes is you've literally got more space in your brain to feel sensations in the body or to hear sounds where you haven't got so much of your brain capacity taking up with processing visual stimuli.

So when you close your eyes,

You've got more space to feel.

And as you feel the body,

You add this wonderful thing called compassion which means your body starts to relax.

If it is true kindness,

It actually relaxes the body.

And you feel what you've recognized in many other experiences in your life,

The body actually loosening up.

Bright areas being released,

Tensions just being loosened and everything becoming loose,

Free and easy in your body.

And your mindfulness gives you that feedback that you can recognize that yes,

This is relaxation.

And relaxation feels pleasant and you all know it is very beneficial and therapeutic for your health and well-being.

So the mindfulness gives you the feedback,

The kindness does the job of relaxing your body and giving you this pleasant feeling of a relaxed and peaceful free body.

And you can experience that.

I think you all know that that feels very wonderful.

Sometimes I have to remind people what it's like to be relaxed.

You can imagine you've just been swimming or lazing around the beach somewhere on holiday or you've had a massage or a spa or maybe it's just you've woken up on a Saturday morning with nothing to do,

Maybe it's a long weekend,

You're cozy in your bed and you feel just very comfortable and pleasant.

That coziness,

That ease,

That no real pain but warm and cozy,

That is a feeling of relaxation on your body.

And in meditation we want to take that same process of relaxation into your mental world.

The physical body can be relaxed.

Now how about relaxing your mental world?

In the same way there's pains and aches in your body.

There are pains and aches in the mental world.

Want to somehow release those things.

And of course the way we do that is all those aches and pains in the mental world,

The majority,

The vast number of them is concerned with the past and the future.

And that's one of the first things we need to do to relax.

To let go of everything which ever happened to you up until this moment.

If what happened to you before you came into this store,

Let all of that vanish.

And it's not that hard to do.

Number one,

To let go of the past,

You have to give yourself permission to let go.

To understand it's number one,

Alright,

It's allowable,

It is permitted to let go.

A lot of the time because of guilt,

Because of anger,

We thought no,

We can't let go.

It's wrong to let go.

But please understand that you deserve some peace.

So you have to let it go.

I said yesterday that everybody who comes into this hall has to leave their shoes outside.

Their left shoe and their right shoe.

I want to get two big baskets to put outside the hall but not for your shoes.

In the first basket you have to leave all your past,

Put it in a little bag with your name on and you leave it outside before you come into this hall.

You can pick it up on your way home afterwards.

The same with your future,

All of your fears and hopes,

All of your anxieties and plans,

All that stuff which fills up your brain with tension to leave that outside as well in a little bag called the future with your name on it.

And then you can pick that up too when you leave this room.

But here in this room,

In this room there's no mobile phones allowed,

There's no smoking allowed,

No alcohol allowed,

No past allowed and no future allowed.

Remember you get these two big signs,

The red circles with the line drawn through.

No future,

No past is allowed here in this meditation hall.

You know you can leave these things behind if you really want to and when you understand that,

It's not that hard to let go of the past and the future which stops you relaxing,

It stops you being at peace.

Have you ever gone on holiday and you tell your friends,

I'm going over to this exotic place overseas called Rotness Island,

Wherever else it is you're going,

I'm going to get away from it all.

And what do you do when you get away from it all?

There's half of the population of Perth is that place too,

So you don't get away from anything.

But if you really find a secluded spot like our monasteries or retreat centre,

You really do feel you're getting away from it all.

What are you actually getting away from?

You're getting away from all that stuff which causes you stress,

Lack of relaxation,

And that is mostly the past and the future.

So these are the first stage of meditation,

To let that stuff go,

To experience all those memories which bug you,

Stuff you've been holding on for years or at least for a few days,

What happened to you earlier this week,

You can actually drop it and you're free of it.

Imagine what that feels like.

All those difficulties and problems in your life so far,

You can totally put it down,

Let it go and be free just for 40 minutes.

And all the fears of the future,

The argument which I give,

I haven't found a better one yet for letting go of the future is to realise that where is your future being made?

When is the only time you can do anything about your future?

When is that?

Right now.

This moment right now is where you are making your future.

And if you can let go of the past,

Let go of the future and focus in this present moment,

The place your future is being made,

You will find that your future becomes happier,

Healthier,

More successful.

Because you're putting your attention in the action point,

The place where things are happening,

The only place you can do anything for your future,

Right now.

And to do that is almost like a marketing tool to get you to come into this present moment.

And that gives you a good idea of what meditation is,

The mental relaxation.

It's being here,

Only more fully here than you've ever been in your life.

It's amazing just how many people are somewhere else.

So somewhere else that life goes on and life goes past,

Days and weeks and years go by and you think,

Where's it all gone?

And it's a very good question.

It's all gone because you've been busy thinking about something else most of your life.

You've hardly ever been here.

So we try and become here as much as we possibly can.

Now in just being here,

It's not as simple as one would think.

Sometimes you wonder,

Why is it that I keep going back to the past or the future or fantasize or dreaming or falling asleep?

Why do I do that?

The reason is because too many people are uncomfortable just being in the present moment.

It's outside of your comfort zone.

You're all very good at planning the future.

Very good.

They've got big diaries,

Planning what you're going to do today and this weekend.

It's all been worked out.

You go shopping,

You've got all the list of what you have to do and when you have to do it.

You're excellent planners.

As far as memory is concerned,

You're excellent at keeping all those bad memories of the past.

You're not so good at keeping the good memories of the past but the bad memories are your geniuses.

What some people can remember,

15,

20,

30 years ago,

But what we are not skilled at is just putting all that aside and just being here.

Being in this moment,

Experiencing life as it happens.

So in order to get into that present moment,

We come back to this mindfulness and compassion technique again.

Whatever you're experiencing right now,

Be aware of it.

How do you feel in this moment?

What's occurring in your mind right at this very moment?

Number two,

Be kind to it.

If you're compassionate and kind to this moment,

This moment will stay with you.

For example,

Your partner in life,

Your friends,

If you haven't got a partner or friend,

You have a dog.

Why does your dog like to stay with you?

Because you're kind to that dog.

If you keep kicking the dog and don't feed it anything,

The dog will run away somewhere else just like your partner might run away.

Maybe they'll already run away if you've been kicking it too much.

Who wants to be with someone who's a control freak?

Someone who's not compassionate and kind?

That's one of the reasons why we fall asleep,

We lose the present moment or we go off into past or future because we're not kind enough to this moment.

So whatever this moment is,

Imagine opening the door of your heart to this moment no matter what it is.

It's the sound of the wind,

The car horns,

Somebody making a noise in the room.

Whatever it is,

Have this beautiful sense of compassion and softness to this.

You're alive,

You're here,

Well done.

And if you have this beautiful sense of kindness and love to this moment,

You're actually engaged in the moment.

You're right here and it's a strange thing whenever you're kind to somebody,

They enjoy your company.

I often say,

If you're looking at me,

If I smile,

People smile back.

If you smile at this present moment,

Give it some kindness,

The present moment appears to be a wonderful place to stay.

You add that compassion and kindness and you give yourself peace.

You stay with the moment.

You don't go travelling and losing the meditation by going off to the past or the future because you're kind to this moment.

It sticks with you.

Sometimes that happens,

It may be a bird comes to visit you in your garden and you feed it,

You're kind to it,

It will come every day after that.

You're kind to a stray cat,

It will adopt you.

You're kind to this moment,

It will stay with you.

You find that meditation is very easy.

You always have to add the compassion and kindness to whatever it is you're watching.

And basically,

I'm just focusing on just that first step of meditation because it is crucial.

If you can learn how to be mindful and kind to whatever you're experiencing in this present moment,

All the rest of the meditation will just happen quite naturally and normally.

Because in meditation,

Once you get into the moment,

It's not what you're experiencing,

It's always how you are experiencing it.

What are you doing?

Are you trying to get rid of things?

Are you trying to get some things?

That's always past and future occurring in your mind.

Just be in this moment,

As deeply in this moment as you can,

With kindness.

And you find your mind becomes still.

It's not jumping around so much.

Even thinking stops.

Because look,

Examine your thinking.

Most of your thinking is about the past or about the future.

There's nothing much you can think about this present moment.

It's already here.

And before you know it,

It changes to something else.

If you really open your heart and your mind to this moment,

You'll be amazed at how much is going on in this moment and how beautiful it all is.

We look for solutions in the future.

We try and fix up our past.

We just get into more trouble,

More stress,

More ill health.

And just let that future and the past be,

Let it go.

And be kind to this very moment.

Not only are we more alive,

We learn how much we missed in life by not being here.

So in this meditation,

We're not trying to get somewhere.

We're not having some goal we're trying to reach.

That's just more mental stress.

Our aim in meditation is to be here in every moment,

To be more fully here,

To be more fully in this moment than we've ever been before in our life.

That means we're incredibly aware and you find we're still and later on,

Maybe the next time I'll say,

Just how this develops enormous energy and happiness as well in meditation.

Then you realize how much energy you waste by going off into past or future thinking stupid thoughts.

How much mental energy gets drained from you.

If you could only just stop that drain,

Like plugging a hole in the dam,

The dam would fill up and even overflow.

Your mind will become so powerful,

So energized and so happy.

That's one of the great things about meditation,

When you really get into it,

The joy just overflows.

You really do experience great states of ecstasy without any drunk.

So nature,

When the energy comes back to you.

So keeping it very simple today.

Relaxing the body,

Relaxing the mind.

No tightness or tension,

No expectations,

You've got nothing to live up to,

Nothing which is wrong in the past,

It's all gone.

You're free like a bird,

So you can fly.

That's the meditation today.

So are you ready to fly?

Are you all asleep?

I think someone's nodding in the back,

So someone can hear.

So anyone who's a bit stiff,

You want to stand up and stretch your legs,

Or at least move around,

Get yourself nice and loose.

You're going to have to sit still for 45 minutes or so,

40 minutes,

And make sure you're nice and comfortable.

And then when you're ready,

I should say once again,

As I always have to anyone who's here for the introduction to meditation class,

That's in the room to my right.

So if you want to get there quickly,

Because this is going to be a meditation for about 45 minutes or 40 minutes and a bit,

So please be prepared.

So when you're ready,

Close your eyes,

And only when your eyes are closed,

Then adjust your meditation posture.

The meditation posture is sitting on a chair,

On a stool,

On the floor,

Any position which is comfortable enough that you can maintain that position for 40 minutes without having to move.

There's no magical posture which is good for everybody.

So each person has their own best position.

So don't look at me,

Don't look at the person next to you,

You find your best position.

To find it,

With your eyes closed,

Ask yourself,

Can I make myself more comfortable?

How can I adjust my legs,

My bottom,

My arms,

My hands,

My back,

My neck,

My head?

How can I arrange this so I know it's going to be comfortable enough not to cause me too many problems for the next 40 minutes?

Whatever answer you get,

Please respect that answer and do something.

I got my cushion in the wrong place under my bottom so I'm going to move.

Much better.

My mindfulness now tells me I'm more comfortable.

What does your mindfulness tell you?

Can you make yourself more comfortable?

If so,

Please do so.

The very act of making yourself more comfortable is compassion.

Make sure your shoulders aren't too tight,

Your shoulders could relax.

There's no tight pieces of clothing on you.

Please be aware of your body,

How it feels.

See how much more you can relax.

You'll be surprised that sometimes you think you're relaxed with a bit of mindfulness and kindness on one part of your body,

You can relax even more.

You can actually feel some tight muscles in your body.

Just focus on those,

Be mindful of that tightness.

You can imagine that either side of that muscle is two invisible monsters pulling or pushing you.

Then you imagine those little monsters,

Those demons vanishing,

Letting go of the rope so your muscle relaxes.

Nothing is pushing it or squashing it anymore.

The whole thing becomes loose.

You notice how it feels physically when that part of your body is more relaxed than it's been in ours.

I also use this technique for any internal aches or pains.

If you've got some injury or some physiological problem deep inside of you,

Whether it's a sore knee,

Sore gut or something else which is aching inside,

Focus on it,

Be aware and see if you can will it to relax.

Be kind.

Let go of the tightness around that feeling.

Don't be so afraid.

Just let it be.

Let it be loose.

Even internally your mindfulness can actually notice things relaxing.

The aches getting less,

The pains getting less sharp.

Well done.

You're learning how to wilfully relax your own inner parts of the body.

It works.

The body starts to feel at peace,

Relaxed,

Loose,

Happy.

There's your balance.

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When the body is really relaxed,

Only then should you let it go.

Then learn how to relax your mental world.

First of all by letting go of the past and the future.

You may have many things to do this weekend and beyond,

But this is not the time to plan them.

They will just tire your brain and it will stop you enjoying this moment,

It will stop you being here.

And all the things which have happened to you in the past,

All your memories good and bad,

It's not the time to figure them out now.

That's like work,

This is relaxation.

So resolve to get away from it all,

To be free.

What's it like when there's no past and no future?

When you're just here listening to the sound of the wind,

Listening or rather feeling the warmth in your body,

Just being here.

What are you experiencing right now?

What is this?

And don't be afraid of this moment,

Embrace it.

It may be a stranger to you,

But it's your peace and happiness coming to visit you.

It's called now.

Whatever you're experiencing,

Whatever this now appears like,

Give it all the kindness and compassion you can.

As if it was a stray cat or dog or a wounded bird come into your garden.

This moment,

Care for it,

Opening the door of your heart to whatever it is you're experiencing now.

Knowing what it feels like to hear,

To feel,

To know.

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See if you can stop the mind from going elsewhere.

Just keep it in this moment,

This kindness.

Hear the sound of the birds.

See if you can be aware of the peace in this moment.

If you can't stop thinking,

Just use a little mantra,

Saying to yourself,

Peace,

Peace,

Peace.

And listening to what happens once the thought has finished.

What is occurring in your mind between one thought of peace and the next thought of peace?

Peace.

Peace.

Peace.

So you can feel,

Touch and smell the meaning of peace.

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And to help you focus on the present moment,

See if you can be aware of your breathing.

Ask yourself,

Am I breathing in or am I breathing out?

How do you know?

Whatever sensation is telling you you are breathing in or breathing out,

See if you can let that feeling fill up your mind.

Just like you may be sitting on the beach,

Just watching the waves gently come in,

The waves gently go out,

You watch the breath gently come in,

Watch the breath gently go out.

Filling the mind with a calm rhythm of your life's energy,

The oxygen coming into your body,

And all the waste products leaving,

Coming in,

Going out,

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

In this present moment,

With kindness.

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How much peace have you generated in your mind?

How different do you feel from when you started?

This is where we learn the result of meditation.

Even if you think your meditation was not that good,

Still you'll feel more peaceful,

More relaxed than when you started.

You are learning to be here.

I will now ring the gong three times.

Please listen to every sound from the gong.

When the third ringing vanishes,

That is the signal to come out from your meditation.

The third ringing of the gong.

Very good.

So now,

After the meditation is finished,

We have the opportunity to ask some questions about the meditation.

This particular meditation today,

I was really putting most of the focus on the present moment and just learning how to be here,

Which is an essential part of the meditation.

After a while,

I was also emphasizing why it is that sometimes we don't stay in the present moment,

What actually takes us away.

So these are things which we learn.

We learn that you can't stay in the present moment through willpower.

It's always learning how to appreciate this moment.

And I appreciate the moment with a lot of kindness and compassion.

You soften up like anything else.

If you are kind to somebody,

That person likes to stay with you.

If you are kind to this moment,

The moment stays.

That's the secret of stopping the restless mind.

So has anyone got any comments or questions about the meditation today?

There's no extra charge for questions.

In fact,

Sometimes we think we should pay someone to ask the first question just to break the ice.

And I know what sometimes happens.

We say no questions and so we finish the session.

There's a whole line of people up here asking their questions.

There's something disconnect there.

And you know what happens when they ask the questions individually?

They ask me the same question.

First person comes and says,

Oh yes,

But I fall asleep,

What should I do?

And the next one says,

I am sleepy,

What should I do?

And the third one comes along and says I'm sleepy.

So it's lovely out of compassion for me.

So I only have to answer the question once.

Please,

If you have a question,

Ask it.

Wow,

You're either all asleep or you're all deaf or you're all enlightened.

Thank you,

Jay.

Ah,

That's an interesting question.

What advice have you got for dealing with sleepiness?

It is number one,

It is par for the course because when you meditate and relax,

Your brain thinks at last I can catch up on a bit of downside.

So number one,

Please let the brain just get dull for a little while.

And if it does,

Number one,

Don't feel guilty,

Don't feel bad,

It is par for the course.

And after a little while,

When you feel a little bit sleepy,

Just make peace with that sleepiness,

Be kind to it.

And because you're not doing anything,

If you really are just accepting the sleepiness and the peacefulness,

Then you'll find that it will start to build up energy.

Just like the mist in the early morning,

Once the sun comes up,

It burns off the mist and you can see again.

That sun is just the light of mindfulness,

The warmth of compassion,

It's just burning off the tiredness.

If you try and fight that tiredness,

Once it's there,

You just get more deeply stuck into the mud,

You're wasting your energy.

So at least if you're sleeping,

You're tired,

At least you're resting,

You're not thinking too much.

The biggest problem is when people think,

Think,

Think,

Think,

Think,

Think,

Think.

So usually what happens,

You go through the stages,

Think,

Think,

Think,

Think,

Think,

When you stop thinking,

You get tired and sleepy.

The next stage is you can be peaceful and also be aware at the same time.

So it's par for the course,

In other words,

Don't worry about it.

That is the advice and thank you for that.

So now that's three people won't be lining up to ask the questions.

Are there any other questions anyone would like to ask?

Thank you.

Watching the present moment,

It's really a series of moments that.

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It's a series of moments,

Present moments,

Sometimes it's like when you watch.

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Because you keep using the singular and yet it's never,

The moment never lasts for long,

So it's really a series.

And what I find that,

I actually find that watching the present moment probably the most difficult aspect of.

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Ah,

Exactly.

And I find that what really comes to the fore very quickly is just what I see in the present moment,

Is my own breath.

Yeah,

Very good.

And everything else is a little bit in the background.

Very good.

So the breath,

Of course,

It's not the one breath,

It's a series of breaths,

It's one at a time,

In breath,

Out breath.

Very good.

And whatever is in between.

So,

I suppose the way I understand it,

And I'm just double checking with you,

It's a question of not attaching to the previous one but sort of flowing with it?

Flowing with it,

That's the start.

It's like I've given similes,

Like you're greeting people who come into your house for a party.

And you're the host,

So you shake hands with the first person coming in.

And you get into a conversation,

How is your friend going,

The one who was sick and went overseas?

Then if you carry a conversation with this guest,

You miss the guest coming in right behind.

So that the present moments of a series of guests coming into your life,

You have to greet this one but not too long.

If you linger with this present moment,

You miss the next one coming right behind.

Even though we are all here in the same room,

The experience of the present moment for every one of us might be different.

Absolutely different.

Because there's a number of noises and I don't know,

Other sensations and some of us might be catching some of them,

Some of us might be catching others.

Indeed.

So it doesn't matter what the content of the moment is,

As long as you are here.

But what happens next?

Is it almost like,

I don't know,

Like watching a movie?

Whatever happens,

Just accept it and move on to the next?

But after a while,

When you don't really worry what's coming next,

And you don't look back to what's happened,

Then the whole meaning of time vanishes.

When you get right into the center of the moment,

Then it is still.

Time is no longer moving.

Because the idea of time which people have is a measure,

A measure between the future and the past,

Or rather the past and the future,

The past and the present,

Or the present and the future.

You do need to have some concept of future and past to have this idea of movement.

And when that concept vanishes,

When you really get deep into the present moment,

It is a moment.

It's always been the same.

Like when you were a little girl,

There is something about experience when you were a girl,

It's what you experience now,

It's what you experience when you are an old lady.

It's just here.

And that gives a great sense of freedom from this movement of time.

Time literally becomes still.

And that's one of the things in great meditation,

When you get so much into the center of this moment,

There is no moving anymore.

That's how you perceive it.

And that's how you can sit for long periods of time.

And many have had that experience,

You sit for 40 minutes or something and I ring the bell,

What already?

It can't be 40 minutes.

Because you've lost all the concept of time.

You've lost its meaning.

It's really our perception of this all through the process of gradual,

Of degrees of stillness.

Exactly.

So you are letting go of your perception of past and future and you are letting go of your perception of the moving of time.

You are getting more and more still.

So then the question is how to sit long enough?

Ah,

It just happens naturally.

When you are having fun,

You don't even think of how long it is.

You know,

I say that you are having a cup of coffee with your best friend,

Oh my god,

It's that time already.

And you are late for work or you are late for some other appointment.

You always notice that when you are enjoying,

You are in the moment because you are enjoying every moment,

You don't notice time.

And that's what will happen.

Never set your clocks and try and be your PB,

Your personal best and how long you sat.

That's just ego and trying to attain things.

You just sit there and you enjoy yourself and sometimes say wow,

That was a long time I sat meditation for.

It hasn't been forced at all,

It's natural.

Just like sometimes,

You know,

Sometimes you get really tired and you fall asleep and you sleep way longer than you normally sleep.

You really crash out because you need it.

Other times you sleep a shorter amount of time because you don't need it.

Sometimes when the mind really needs some peace,

It just gets in and enjoys every moment and it meditates longer than you thought it was possible.

That's what I find,

The longer the process is allowed to last,

The better you become.

Yes,

The more still you become.

So the more you enjoy it.

But 40 minutes is still pretty good.

That's why if your legs are aching,

You sit on a chair,

It doesn't really matter.

Or you can have the two cushion or the three cushion.

We've got lots of cushions in there.

Sometimes I've seen people with huge cushions.

I can imagine it's just like you get vertigo sitting on top of that,

So high.

But anyway,

Whatever is comfortable for you.

And thank you so much for asking a question.

Did the answer okay?

Very good.

Was your answer okay?

Thank you Jay,

Just getting some feedback.

You say yes or no,

It's okay anyway,

Because he's a nice guy.

So thank you all for listening and thank you for asking those questions.

If you have another question next week,

You can always write it down and get your partner to answer it.

Ask it or whatever.