Day 098/365: Guided Meditation | Ajahn Brahm

And that sort of teaching was not sort of criticising or putting someone down or demeaning somebody,

Just actually saying that why you do that,

Wasting time,

But why do people do that?

And one of the reasons is because again,

You're very focused if you're fantasising and looking at TV or watching a football match or tennis match,

Whatever you like,

Why is it the mind doesn't wander?

Because you're enjoying it.

And when I started focusing on that,

I realised that one of the reasons why the mind wanders off is because it's not enjoying where it already is.

It's not seeing the delight in the moment.

It's not seeing the benefit.

Just staying put where you are and not wandering off.

Why do you want to go somewhere else when you have a wonderful time right here where you are?

And of course,

Whenever we are where we are,

So often people can find fault with the present moment.

They can say,

Oh this is too cold,

This is too hot,

It's too noisy,

It's too even too peaceful.

I thought I'd never hear this but I went to one monastery many years ago in the north of Thailand.

Beautiful monastery,

It's perfect,

Idyllic.

I was only left here because Chancha asked me to come back.

The Queen of Thailand was visiting at the time and I had to go back to be there for that.

But anyway,

It's a beautiful perfect monastery but there's no monks there.

And I asked the villagers,

Why aren't there any monks here?

And the villagers said,

Because all the monks have come so far,

They tell me the monastery is too peaceful.

And I thought I'd never hear that,

That place being too peaceful.

Anyway,

For some people who don't have the ability to delight in peace,

They'll wander somewhere else physically.

And it's the same if you're not peaceful where you are,

You're not enjoying the delight of that peace where you are right now.

Of course the mind will wander off.

That's one of the reasons why to overcome the hindrance,

The problem of the mind thinking about this,

Thinking about that.

I just in the guided meditations,

I get people to focus on their body,

Which is important to people,

To focus on it,

Get to know it,

Be aware of it,

Relax it.

And just to experience the delight in a peaceful body.

Because that peaceful body,

It is delightful.

And it's not just something to make people happy in the meditation.

One of its main aims is to create stillness and to stop the mind wandering.

If you're happy where you are,

You don't want to go anywhere else.

So the body becomes delightful in its feeling of relaxation.

And all the time that you are just watching the feelings and sensations in the body that are happening right now,

In this moment,

You're delighting in present moment awareness.

And for many people who practice meditation,

They can be mindful,

But if you don't have the delight with your mindfulness,

You'll find that the mind will wander off.

You can look over it,

You can guard it,

You can be a supervisor of your own mind,

But after a while the mind will go somewhere else.

Because the mind sort of needs that satisfaction,

That delight,

That fulfillment.

So if we can generate the perception of delight,

When?

Even at the beginning of the meditation when we're just relaxing our body and checking our posture,

Then you find it's a pleasant abiding and you just stay with the body.

So often when I meditate,

Relaxing the body,

Sitting down,

Making it comfortable,

It is delightful for me.

Cultivated that perception of delight in the body,

I've learned how to see that.

And it means that sometimes I don't want to go on to the next stage.

I'm just so happy just being here.

It's fulfilling,

Satisfying.

Sitting down you don't want to move.

You're still,

You're peaceful.

Realizing the importance of that delight,

It works when you just go into the emotional world,

The mind,

And you are with this moment,

Because this moment is also delightful.

Just watch your peace-o-meter.

When the peace-o-meter gets pretty low reading,

Very,

Very peaceful.

Peace is extraordinarily delightful.

And you value the peace.

I don't know why it is where people,

Many people are afraid of delight.

They think that somehow you'll get attached to that and will stop your progress.

Whereas for those who have studied the suttas,

Especially those teachings about meditation,

You find that the Buddha kept on saying that delight is an important part of the meditation.

The joy,

The happiness of meditation.

And whether it's the,

When one goes to the breathing,

And the breathing is just so peaceful,

So joyful,

So delightful,

You have what the Buddha called the pithi sukha,

The joy and happiness which comes naturally with the breath.

You're just enjoying this moment.

And it was only recently that part of my job,

Because I have to keep up what's happening in this world,

Even I do remember our friend,

Liam,

Our friend Charles,

One of his chief disciples.

He was a really good meditator,

Very peaceful.

And then when Ajahn Chah saw how peaceful he was,

He ordered a copy of the Thai newspaper and ordered him to read it every morning,

So that he can understand how other people think,

Have their language so he could teach.

But anyway,

Every now and again you get an interesting article.

One of those articles was about these hermits.

One of those hermits was a lady,

She was a Christian,

Who was living by herself for years in Scotland.

And every now and again,

That she would just bliss out by herself,

When her,

She called it her,

She experienced enhanced perception,

Whatever she tasted.

I remember she said,

Even her porridge,

Which is so delicious,

And the scenery,

Which is so amazingly beautiful.

And of course I've talked about that several times,

About,

I call it powerful mindfulness,

When the joy with the mindfulness shows that what you're seeing,

What you're tasting,

What you're feeling,

Becomes enhanced.

And it's beautiful,

It's delightful,

It's joyful,

It's part of the path of meditation,

To have that joy.

So when the joy comes up in your meditation,

Please don't discard it and think it's some sort of danger.

It's a good sign.

It's a sign that you're very likely not wander away anywhere,

Because you're enjoying where you are,

And having a good time just watching the breath.

Sometimes when I taught meditation to so many different people,

And sometimes the young people have never meditated before,

The idea that watching the breath for a couple of hours could be delightful,

Just is unbelievable to them.

But it's true,

So happy,

So joyful.

And then when you are joyful in your meditation,

It's so easy to be peaceful.

You don't need to go anywhere.

So you don't go anywhere.

You stay and it's the stillness,

Which becomes the cause of enhanced perception.

Your awareness is getting stronger,

The hindrances are getting weak,

And the mind just doesn't wander anywhere.

It stays put,

Not because you hold it there,

Because you enjoy being here,

Because you don't want to move.

And that becomes the way where the hindrance of restlessness just disappears.

You're happy being where you are.

Okay,

So now is the opportunity to actually to do the meditation.

And so those of you overseas or wherever you happen to be,

Even in Perth here who are watching this,

Now please close your eyes in your meditation posture,

On a chair,

On a stool,

Or wherever you happen to be.

If you're ill in bed,

Lying in bed is fine.

Close your eyes,

Have your eyes closed.

First of all,

Just do a rough awareness of my body.

Just roughly making sure I'm in a reasonably good posture.

Then I go more refined.

Start by checking my legs.

And to be able to check my legs,

To raise awareness of my legs.

I just ask that question.

So I want to ask anyone of you,

How are you feeling today?

Ask my legs,

How are you right now?

Are you comfortable?

Do you need to be adjusted?

And they say yes,

They do need to be adjusted,

So I'll do that.

I don't just adjust them once.

I really care.

Ask my legs again,

Are you okay now?

When I put my awareness on my legs,

I can pick up feelings,

Sensations,

Which I didn't notice when I was busy.

Making sure that my legs are comfortable.

When they are comfy,

I move up to my butt.

I zoom in with my mindfulness,

Checking the position of my butt.

Not just checking,

But doing something about it,

If I can possibly improve those feelings and sensations happening now.

I do notice that what I'm aware of is always in this present moment,

When I'm feeling my body.

Physical sensations happen now,

With the thoughts,

Fantasies,

Dreams and plans,

Which take you away from the reality of now.

When I move out my back,

Stretching it,

Easing it.

I'm asking,

Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?

Just like you would care for a child,

You're settling them down in bed at night,

Making sure they're warm,

Feel safe,

And then they can fall asleep and disappear.

I care for my back,

I make sure everything is comfortable and at ease.

And I move out,

Move to my shoulders.

These are just how I divide up my body.

You can divide it up differently if you wish.

For this I managed to cover every part of my body.

As I move from my back to my shoulders,

Noticing any tension and learning to use kindness,

To relax any tensions in my shoulders,

To bring them to a state of peace.

And I move down my arms,

Past my elbows,

My wrists,

My hands,

Making sure the hands are comfortable.

And sometimes I think everything is fine,

I do pause a little bit longer.

Because some physical feelings are subtle,

I need to be there a little bit longer to pick them up.

Because they could be the ones which are the most disturbing.

And I go back up to my shoulders and neck,

Just focusing on that one area.

And the throat.

Finally sweeping that attention up to my face.

Experiencing any tightness around my eyes,

My mouth and forehead.

And learning how to relax all of those muscles.

So nothing is being pulled tight,

Nothing is squashed or scrunched up.

Everything is loose and free.

And I go back up to my shoulders,

Past my elbows,

My hands,

My hands,

And then I look up my whole body sitting here.

Relaxed,

I never leave that body until you feel the delight of relaxation.

How free it is to be sitting here.

The body doesn't need to go anywhere or do anything.

It's at ease.

Like it's retired from the busyness of doing stuff.

We may not be 100% relaxed,

But it's more relaxed than usual.

Which is the cause of delight,

Appreciative of the peace.

Once the delight is perceived,

My body relaxes further.

And any wandering mind doesn't exist.

So I'm happy to be here with the feelings of a relaxed body.

But it is important to go deeper inside.

So I check my peace-ometer.

How peaceful am I right now?

And I know,

Having watched that peace-ometer,

How to bring that level of peace,

Even on a lower level,

So much more peaceful.

Simple being here right now.

There's no inclination to think of the future or plan what I'm going to say next.

There's no meaning right now in bringing up anything to do with the past.

I want to be in this moment,

To be free with very,

Very few things.

I want to restore the silent present moment awareness.

I stay there because soon,

Being in this moment,

Not going anywhere,

Not dreaming,

Not thinking,

Perceptions do become enhanced,

The mind energizes,

The lights in the mind become stronger.

Soon it's quite natural,

You become aware of your breathing.

Doesn't matter what type of breath or where the breath goes in or goes out.

So breath does the breathing all your life.

It does it well.

Let the body do the breathing.

You do the awareness of it.

And the kindness,

The friendliness to your own breathing.

Until you feel the delight,

Just being in this moment with part of the breath.

And to stay there,

It will soon get even more delightful.

As the meditation starts to take off,

I will now be quiet and as you continue the meditation,

Again when I start speaking,

It will be close to the end of the meditation.

I will now be quiet and as you continue the meditation,

Again when I start speaking,

It will be close to the end of the meditation.

Rules are they are not right?

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That's this signal to come out for your meditation.

The third ringing of the gong.

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