Guided Meditation With Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (May 24, 2020/S7)

Hani yah seo.

Hello to you all.

Today is may 24th,

Sunday night.

Since we are entering into late spring in South Korea,

It seems like we are heading into summer temperatures already.

We are also getting a lot of mosquitoes today.

We are getting a lot of mosquitoes today.

We are getting a lot of mosquitoes today.

With the warming weather,

We are getting a bountiful harvest of vegetables so that we don't like vegetables anymore.

We have plenty.

Since we have to harvest in time,

We harvested a lot of cabbages today and lettuces and they are in the fridge.

Today and tomorrow,

We will be planting rice seedlings.

I am sure if you live in the U.

S.

Or other parts of the world,

You might not have experience planting rice seedlings.

Since in Korea,

Traditionally,

Rice has been the staple food,

We are on a schedule to do rice seedlings this time around to harvest in the fall.

It also seems like it's a season for roses because I see roses everywhere.

This is what it looks like to me today where I live.

Now let us begin to look at your questions you submitted from last week.

Your first question is,

When we are mentally or physically tired,

Should we do meditation?

Does meditation help?

If you are physically tired,

It's better to actually rest before starting meditation.

If you say,

This is the time I set myself off for meditation,

Then you might be a little tired but it's okay.

If you are tired,

You can go ahead with meditation.

If you are mentally tired,

Meditation may actually help.

This nature of meditation is all about calming your body and mind to be able to focus on to a singular point.

It doesn't really matter that much whether your body or mind is tired.

The only risk may be that you may fall asleep or you may feel sleepy if your body is too tired.

In this state,

You can do meditation even a while in that state of sleep.

Second question,

Am I supposed to lose blood flow to my legs?

Yes,

It is.

That is normal.

When I say normal,

It's not a position you are used to.

You are always used to sitting up in chairs and what not.

When you first do it,

The body is not functionally equipped to actually accommodate this new position.

Is there a way that it's acceptable to sit?

That means this one must be the position of meditation.

You could do meditation while sitting on a chair.

In that case,

The only thing you are avoiding is the pain in your legs.

Any other mental distraction may be even more severe.

The aching of the legs naturally resolves itself.

It goes away after about five days to a week of continuous meditation every day.

Even sleepiness goes away after three days or so.

On average,

It varies by individuals.

Do we have to be in a lotus position?

No,

That's not true.

There is that position that sits in a lotus position.

And there is another meditation tradition that you meditate lying down.

But if you are beginning meditation,

Sitting in a lotus position is probably the easiest.

Because if you start off doing meditation while lying down,

You are likely to fall asleep.

If you are standing or walking meditation,

You will probably not be able to focus as well.

That's why you are sitting down.

That's why sitting down is a compromise to optimize both the untentiveness and the comfort factor so that you are able to meditate better.

Once you get used to this meditation,

You won't fall asleep.

You can meditate lying down.

That's fine too.

If you get used to the sustained focus,

You can engage in walking or standing meditation.

And once you get used to the sustained focus of meditation,

You can actually engage in meditation throughout your everyday activities.

But in the beginning,

To start off meditation,

Sitting down position is probably most stable and the optimal position to start meditation with.

Third question.

At times during meditation,

The mind seems to be deeply calm.

The focus on the breath is very light.

The breath is shallow and hardly noticeable.

Then awareness comes again with the thought that this has occurred and mindfulness falls away.

The peace that is experienced however seems beyond grabbing.

Is fading occurring regardless of the chattering of thoughts that it is within reach at all time?

What is this?

What is the correct understanding?

About five minutes since the start of meditation,

For about five minutes it's easy to be mindful of your breath.

The reason why it's easy to focus on your breath is that your breath is a little rough because you have just sat down from a moving position.

So the breath remains a little rough and easier to recognize.

But after five to ten minutes,

Your body slows down.

You don't require a deep breath.

So the breath becomes lighter,

Shallower.

So it becomes more difficult to actually maintain focus on it.

So unless you're intently focused on the subtle nuances of the breath on the tip of your nose,

It's easy to lose that focus.

And after focus,

You lose focus.

The space created by that lack of focus is merely filled with other distractions and thoughts.

Different thoughts from the past and plans of the future come streaming into that empty space.

And since the mental activity as it ramps up,

Direct metabolism goes up.

So the amount of breath you need goes up as well.

That allows you to refocus and be more mindful of the breath again.

That's when you recognize that I lost it.

I lost the focus.

And once you regain that focus on your breath,

Then the breath becomes a little more subtle and nuanced.

Then it's easy to lose that focus at a moment without warning.

And that empty space created by the lack of focus,

Other thoughts stream in.

This is subtle,

Yet at the same time,

It's instant.

But if you tense in order to maintain that focus,

Then your activity ramps up and your breath becomes rough again.

So if you being able to recognize a breath as roughened already,

It's not that helpful to be mindful.

So what we are trying to build during meditation is the capacity to always be observant and focus on the subtle breath,

The nuanced breath,

That we can always be mindful at all times.

And if you are able to maintain the mindfulness and focus on the breath,

Even at this subtle,

At the shallow calming level,

At some point,

As the questioner said,

You are able to reach that state of peace,

Of calmness.

At that point,

You might actually feel good about reaching that state,

And there is a danger of being attached to the sensation of feeling good to have reached that state.

And then that sensation of feeling good actually scatters once you recognize it.

Then at that point,

The danger becomes that you are not trying to refocus on the breath.

You are trying to regain that sensation of feeling good that you achieved during meditation.

The same thing as moving away from meditation,

Because you are trying to regain that sensation,

Not regain focus on the breath.

Because at that point,

You can no longer awake to the now.

You are trying to regain something that has happened in the past already.

So in that case,

Just now,

You are feeling good,

You are feeling good,

You are feeling good,

You are feeling good,

You are feeling good.

That's why it's important to let go of any kind of performance bait or result-oriented meditation,

Because that allows you to attach to either past performance or your planned future performance.

So in a state of calm and peace of your mind and body,

Focus your mind at the edge of your nose and the subtle sensation of the breath coming in and going out.

And whatever sensations or pains or obstacles or mental distractions,

Whatever these are,

Just let them be and still maintain focus of the breath.

Even the thought of,

I did this better yesterday or not,

Even those thoughts of performance or results,

Just let them be and focus on the breath.

Do not try to do well.

Do not despair when you don't do well.

Let all these thoughts go and just focus on the breath.

If you lose that focus,

Regain that focus.

The fact that you did something well or not that actually is already in the past,

That the only thing that you should be focused on is focus on the breath now.

Regain the focus.

If you lose it,

Regain and regain again.

That's the only thing that should matter.

Now let us try.

Calm your body and mind.

Do not try to try or do not tense in order to try.

Do not give up and despair.

At this point,

Do not ask,

Why am I doing this?

Because at this moment in time,

At this now,

We're just doing it.

Straighten your posture.

Close your eyes.

Focus your mind at the edge of your nose.

Recognize the breath as it comes in,

Recognize the breath as it leaves.

If you lose the focus,

Know you lost it,

Regain the focus.

If you maintain that mindfulness,

Continue maintaining it.

If you lose focus,

Regain it.

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