Impermanence, Presence & Beginning Again

20:54

Impermanence, Presence & Beginning Again

by Meredith Hooke

Rated

4.8

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

18

Recorded from a Live Event. This is the second half of a half-day silent retreat on creating space and emptying the cup, featuring a Dharma talk and Q&A. We explore impermanence and what becomes possible when we meet experience with mindfulness rather than grasping or resistance. Presence doesn't mean everything feels pleasant. It means recognizing what's here without immediately needing it to be different. Seeing that experience is simply changing allows us to meet difficult moments with more ease, discernment, and self-compassion. And when we get caught—as we inevitably will—we begin again. We also explore bringing this practice into daily life: noticing habit energy, creating space, listening to what we truly need, and living in alignment with what matters most. You can listen as the closing session of the retreat or on its own.

Impermanence Mindfulness Meditation Mind Body Connection Mindful Movement

Meet your Teacher

23232 El Sgto., B.C.S., Mexico

Meet your Teacher

23232 El Sgto., B.C.S., Mexico

Transcript

One of the things also in taking a little bit more time like this and doing these silent half-day retreats or just taking a couple hours here and there, Is that we do become more aware of just how each moment is changing. And that we go from a pleasant state to a neutral state to an unpleasant to a pleasant, Right, That we're kind of just, Each moment is a little bit different. And And with more awareness, With more mindfulness of these just different conditions arising, Coming together, Something in the body, We maybe have a lot of energy, We're feeling a little lighter, Maybe our energy starts to get a little dull, We're feeling a little heavier, Or something's coming up, All of a sudden some thinking about something was coming up. Remember, We're not choosing any of this. We don't know what our next thought's going to be. We don't know how we're going to feel in the next moment. But with mindfulness. Bringing mindfulness to what's happening. We open to it. And in that opening, Right, Just to just that mindful breath, That recognizing and allowing the feelings and opening to what's here, There is a softness around this impermanence. And there's a steadiness around it, Because we're not reaching out for the pleasant, Oh, I've got to hold on to this, Oh, This means something. You know, We're not pushing back on the unpleasant, Oh, What does this mean now? I had this thought, I felt this, Something must be wrong now, Right, Where we're constantly assessing our lives based on these changing thoughts, Feelings, And emotions. It's just changing. It's just changing. And with mindfulness, We're more discerning when we're able to open to what's here, To feel what's here, Instead of being dragged along by the habit energy, We're able to open to what's here and then acknowledge that yeah, Maybe there is a little bit of of nervous energy because you've got a presentation at work on Monday and you think, Yeah, Maybe I should go do a little work on that, Right, Now that the retreat's over, Right, Or maybe you've got something later in the day and so you think, Yeah, Maybe I should spend a little more quiet time before that just to make sure that my energy is a little balanced out because maybe I'm starting to get a little bit nervous about that. So great, You know that and then you can also kind of plan accordingly so It's not that we are just throwing out every single thought, Every single feeling and saying, Oh, None of it matters. But we do. I mean, Most of it probably doesn't. Every now and then something does, But we tend to get pulled by everything. And so this allows us to be more discerning, To know when we need to act, To act with kindness, To act with compassion, With wisdom, To act skillfully. And when we don't, To have self-compassion and say, Well, That happened, Okay, Begin again. Because that happens too, Right? And we can so easily get caught up in that. A story and that energy and, Oh, I can't believe I had a mindless moment. I can't believe I reached for my phone. And and we can be so punitive as well and that any moment it's like oh you noticed right oh okay there was a mindless moment okay no problem No problem. Begin again. Begin again. Begin again. That is always embedded in our practice. Begin again. Because there's, I mean, If we could just turn on this mindfulness switch and say, Well, That's on all day now, Just going to talk kindly to myself, Going to breathe mindfully, Give lots of space. If we could just flip those switches on and go, Great. But we can't. We can't. But yeah. With more awareness, With more mindfulness, With more being with what's here, There is more healing that's happening in the stillness and therefore we tend to we tend to you know, The spikes aren't so high and low, Right? It's kind of just, Yeah, It's a nice steadier pace. Yeah it's much steadier. And there's the energy starts to lose some of its fuel, Right? But it still comes up, It still comes up. And then yeah peace yeah we just and just okay begin again no judgment and begin again we go on yeah yeah i'm glad to hear that's in your mantra ruth because it's um it's built into our practice. This is not meant to be a punitive practice. And too often we bring that mindset in, I'm not doing it right, I've done something wrong, Oh no, I've messed up, I shouldn't have had that judging thought, And then we spend the next two hours judging ourselves because of one random judging thought that we didn't choose anyway. But then we just kind of get lost in that judging mindset, But then at some moment the mindfulness will arise and then you'll see it and go, Ah. Yeah, Okay, Just judging, I didn't say anything to anyone, Didn't hurt anyone, Right? Just wow, Wow, Really, It's very convincing. It's helpful to see just how convincing those stories are. And how quickly we can be so punitive as well. So I really do feel that the having dedicating a little more time to our practice in the form of smaller little mini retreats. Again you can just say you're going to start your day you know for an hour where you're just not going to reach for the phone, You're not going to check your email, Your you know maybe you start again maybe some some movement, Maybe some meditation, Maybe some just sitting quietly, And that really sets the day for being more mindful as well. If we just, And I do understand that some of us have to get up and be at an office, We have to work, And And so, You know, You don't maybe have that much time and maybe it's just enough that you can get your meditation practice in, But maybe you even just tell yourself during the day, I'm going to get a little 10 minute mini retreat in and just sit and do nothing. Just go sit on a park bench somewhere maybe you're at an office you just have to go sit in a stall in the bathroom but just for 10 minutes and just to feel notice what's here to to see how the energy is kind of getting stirred up so that you can be with it in a way that helps you to feel more grounded, That helps you to feel more present, You know, Here. So it's not always pleasant, It's not always pleasant, Being present doesn't mean what's here is always pleasant but when we're not fighting it There is the peace. There's the ease. It's amazing how much fighting our states, How much suffering comes out of that. So Yeah, I just, You know, As best you can, If you can put these little mini retreats into your week, Into your day, We'll do them a little bit more regularly for the next, Until mid-December, I'll maybe do one and again another two weeks on a Saturday, So that we can also have, You know, It's nice to have that structure as well, It's nice to come together, It's nice to maybe hear a little bit of a talk and and meditate together and then to have that time alone and then come back, But it is something that we can integrate more of into our lives. And I find that then we're really, We're living the wisdom teachings. We're living the compassion teachings. We need to give space, We need to give stillness, We need to be able to empty our cups for these teachings to go from an intellectual understanding down into a place of knowing. If they stay up in our head, It's just intellectual. We can sound really good. We can sound really smart, Wise. But then if we're freaking out when something doesn't go our way, When we're freaking out, When we think someone's ignored us or something breaks down, Right? It's telling us, Yeah, The teachings, And if it's happening too much, They're staying in our heads. We need to give the space for them to come down into a place of knowing. And if our cups are always full, There is no room, No room for them these teachings to go down into a place of knowing. So I really just want to strongly encourage that to try and add in a little bit more. And we'll also bring in some more of doing these maybe, You know, A couple times a month, We'll try and add these in to give a little more structure to them as well. I do find they're incredibly, Incredibly beneficial to our practice. Yeah, Ruth, So wonderful. You're saying, Yeah, Just even I did some yoga right after the morning session. And, And isn't it amazing just in that context, When we say like, Just in the context of this is, You know, I'm going to be more mindful, I'm not, I'm not rushing, I don't have anything, You know, Pressing that I need to get to, That we're more mindful in our in our yoga. Know, We're more mindful if you're doing qigong or tai chi or or in a walk. Right? I mean, We can notice the mind wanting to get to the next pose. And then, Oh, Yeah, There it is. There it is. Breathe mindfully, Right? And it's like the mind kind of got ahead. It's already in the next pose. And then as soon as you notice that. It's like, Oh, OK, Back. OK, Yeah, Yeah, Here. What's here? Feeling what's here in the body. Enjoying the feeling of the movement of the stretch. Yeah, And yeah, Peace, What you're saying, Yeah, Like it's not always pleasant, Like I think we have this misconception that presence means, I think we've even, I think spirituality has kind of, You know, Presence is bliss, And bliss comes and goes, Bliss comes and goes. But presence is being with whatever it is that's here. And we have three types of experiences, Pleasant, Unpleasant, And neutral, Neither pleasant nor unpleasant. Most of our experience is in the neutral. But these states, They come and they go. But when we're, We always, We have this mindset, Again, I think from our culture, Of, Oh, We should always be eternally blissfully happy, Like all the commercials, All the marketing tells us. And so I think when we feel a little down, When we feel a little tired, Or we're just feeling a little off for whatever reason. Could be our hormones, Could be our neurochemistry, Could be the way we slept the night before. Just for whatever reason, We're not feeling great. And we think immediately, Well, Something must be wrong. What's wrong in my life? And then. We go looking, Right? We have an unpleasant sensation, Then we go looking for a problem, And we'll find one. The mind will find one pretty quick. Oh yeah, I forgot about what happened last week. And oh yeah, I forgot about what's going to happen next week. And we give it all this meaning. That isn't there, But it's how we're feeling in that moment. And so instead, When we recognize that and we just breathe and go, Yeah, Just feeling a little tired, Just feeling a little off, Just feeling a little down for whatever reason, I don't know why, Right? We don't always have to have an answer, Just I don't know why. And we just acknowledge that, Yep, That's how I'm feeling right now. And that's okay. Because it won't last. It won't last. The feelings, They come and they go. We never know what our next feeling is going to be. We never know what our next thought is going to be. And so they can't always be blissful, Happy thoughts. It would be rather boring after a while if we really were just you know everything was just up on this floating around right life has texture to it and and we learn a lot in the unpleasant. We learn a lot when we're challenged, When things are really happening, When we're feeling ill or someone we love is ill, When we've lost someone, When we've got some financial challenges, Like we learn things or we're having a difficult, We have a difficult relationship with someone. We learn a lot about about how we truly are understanding the teachings, Whether they're remaining up in our head or whether we're truly knowing them. You know, These are the. . . Moments when there's a lot of growth. And we all know, We see the spoiled. Child that grows up to be the spoiled adult, And we all think someone should have said no to that person at some point in their life. And it's not good to always get what we want. It's good to also be okay when we don't get what we want. To be okay with that too, To have some grace around it and go, Yeah, That's okay too. Because none of these things you know, Whatever it is we're wanting or to push away, None of these things are going to complete you. There'll be nice moments, You get the praise, Yay, It's nice, It's nice, Right? We should, You know, All of course appreciate that, The conditions that came together for that maybe praise to arise or some type of acknowledgement to arise, But don't get attached to it. Because it's just going to come and go, Right? And if we get attached to the praise, Then we're devastated when the criticism comes in, When the blame comes in. So enjoy it, Right? Enjoy it. Or if you're having a nice moment with your latte, With your tea, Or just with your partner or a friend, Like, Yeah, Appreciate, Enjoy those moments. But they also, It's all coming and going. It's coming and going. No two moments the same. And I don't think, Well, First of all, We can't have it any other way. This is the way it is. I don't think we would want it that way, Any other way. Yeah, It's not always pleasant, But the more that we're able to be with what's unpleasant, I do find there's a lot of healing that goes on when we're here with it. We don't make it worse. And then there's also a sense of freedom because because I think also sometimes we can get into these really um you know we can get into these kind of high states blissful states you know um and uh and then the fear starts to come and oh no what if it changes well it will change that's the wisdom says yeah it will change and that's okay so then we can really fully appreciate yay it's nice it's here yay But it will change, And that's okay. And that's okay. Yeah, I'm just reading Vashti. Yeah, The freedom for the self-directed part of the retreat. Yeah, And there's different types of retreats and some retreats are going to be very, Very specific on how we spend our time and there's a certain benefit to that as well. Yeah. Yeah, But there's also, What I like about these, Doing the retreats in this way, Is it really is, It's in your home, So it's not like this foreign environment, It's not too foreign of a regiment, It's like you're going to do some movement, You're going to probably do some walking, You're going to do some eating, You know, And of course we do want to be adding in more just being doing nothing in our day and so integrating these into our home life where we already live and spend a great deal of our times yeah I find can be can be very helpful yeah. Yeah, Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, And in fact, I wanted to come back to Alice, Because you had mentioned that these are the perfect types of retreats for an introvert, Getting together but separately. And yeah, I mean, I find that as well, Too, Because some of us, I'm much more introverted as well, And I like to be on my own a lot. I love these gatherings, I love coming together, And I have people come to my house for classes and stuff as well. But I also really appreciate being on my own and so yeah this is a nice way to come together and to not be overwhelmed because it can be a lot of stimulation when we're around a lot of people and so yeah it's kind of a nice way to have the retreat that way. Yeah, Yeah, Peace, Yeah, Same thing with you, Yeah. So for all us introverts, Yeah, This is a great way for us to do it. And, Devika, Yeah, I think that's wonderful in your yoga practice. And, Ruth, You probably relate as well where you're saying, Like, You listen to what your body's saying and patiently, Like, You listen to it. Because, Again, Even something like yoga, Right, The practice of yoga, Which was meant to prepare the body for long sits of meditation. Of course, In the West, We kind of focus more just on the movement. And, You And so it gives us that pause to say, What is it that my body needs? And yeah, If we're not in a class, And then we can just go, Yeah, I know what needs to go next, And this is what it wants. And it's more, You know, We're more connected. It's a much, Much better mind-body connection in that sense as well. So our yoga is really, You know, Yoga is union, Yoking, Yoking, Right? Union. So we're kind of the mind really listening to the body and responding. So it's a really beautiful connection. Yeah. Yeah okay so i think we will come to the end of our retreat and um and so i just thank you guys