Ok,
Very good.
I did read in the newspaper that actually somebody got struck by lightning when they were listening to their mobile phones.
I think that's because they never turned them off while they were in a talk one day.
So be careful about the law of karma.
Please turn off your mobile phones.
And it's very nice to be here again.
I'm supposed to be on retreat so I wasn't here last week but today I got homesick for you all.
That's not quite true but nevertheless.
So now is an opportunity we can do some quiet meditation.
So this is a time when you too go on retreat for 30 minutes.
So you can let go of the whole world and disappear into beautiful,
Peaceful,
Calm states of your mind.
So,
As the last people come in,
Will they get a nice quiet place to sit down?
You can just close your eyes.
With your eyes closed,
You're physically letting go of much of your world.
It's as if you go inside of yourself when your eyes are closed,
Much closer to your heart.
So when you go inside with your eyes closed,
You can start to feel,
Start to feel the sensations in your body.
Very often we're so busy we can't even spend time knowing how our body feels,
How tense are our muscles,
How tired are our limbs,
And how tight are some of those parts of our body.
Once we close our eyes and become aware of the physical sensations in the body,
So much we can observe.
Whenever there's some tightness,
We can loosen it.
We can just relax that part of our body.
Whenever there is a bit of stress in the place,
Just giving it some attention,
Some loving kindness is enough to relax.
For other times we need to move slightly.
Still with our eyes closed,
We adjust our body until we get the optimum comfort.
We move because we care.
We look upon this body as our friend,
A friend who we want to be happy and comfortable.
So we are concerned enough to search out any places of discomfort and deal with those irritations.
Again,
Quite often all it needs is attention and kindness and calming.
And your body will relax.
The first few minutes of the meditation,
Always relaxing the body,
With your eyes closed through awareness.
When the body is nice and relaxed,
You may find you've already entered what we call the present moment.
If you haven't,
Focus on this thing we call now.
And value the present moment more than the past or the future.
Sometimes,
Thinking of the past,
You can learn something.
Sometimes,
Planning the future can mean that the future runs more smoothly.
But not now.
This is meditation time.
It's not the time for carrying the burdens of the past on top of your head like so many coffins.
Nor is it the time of filling your head with your future,
With all the possibilities.
This is the time for emptying the mind.
All the first things we can throw out because they're not necessary.
The first things we can abandon is all the past and all the future.
It's like clearing junk out of a cupboard.
Anything to do with a moment ago stretching back even earlier,
Throw out.
Anything which is from moment ahead until the far distant future,
Throw out.
So all you've got left is what we call life as it happens.
See if you can make peace with this moment.
Whatever's happening,
Any sound,
Any feeling,
Any thought,
Don't fight it.
Just embrace the moment as it is,
As best you can.
Making peace with now.
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Just making the present moment more valuable than the past or the future.
If to you the future or the past is more important,
You'll never stay in the moment.
So give value,
Give importance to now.
You deserve this break.
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As you establish yourself in the present moment,
Be careful of not getting lost in thinking.
Be so in the moment,
So in the present,
You're always aware of what's happening.
You don't have time to give it a name or to think.
Just be aware of the silence and give pure knowing in silence more value than all these thoughts.
And all this inner chatter.
Take away the importance of the inner conversation and give more value to the beautiful silence of the mind.
Whatever you value,
That you will sustain.
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Okay,
So please make yourselves comfortable again.
You can move,
Cough,
Scratch,
Whatever you want to do.
And in a few moments,
Once everyone settled down again,
Begin this evening's Dhamma Talk.
