Let's close our eyes.
And let's become aware of our presence in the room we are in.
We don't have to imagine anything.
Neither do we have to work hard towards this.
It's just a simple plain recognition.
Oh,
I'm here and I'm present.
Once we are present.
Whatever is hovering in our minds right now about whatever has happened so far in the day.
Or whatever we think is going to happen.
Let's put all those things on pause.
This pause is not a dismissal of the past or the future.
But it's an opportunity to emphasize what is happening in the presence,
In the present.
Let's close our eyes.
Many times it feels that what is happening right now is quite uneventful.
It's quite boring.
So we go on a little excursion to the past events in our minds.
Or imagination of the future events.
And it's like a movie to be honest.
Would you pay $15-$20 to go and watch a movie about uneventful things?
Now we are paying to actually go and see drama.
And the way our mind works is not so dissimilar from a movie.
Only eventful things get recorded in our memories.
Think about how many times you drank water yesterday.
You went to the bathroom.
You blinked your eyes.
You sat down or you got up.
All those things didn't even register in our minds enough to be recorded as a memory.
Only a handful of things get recorded and only a handful of things keep us lost in the past and future.
Breeding anxiety,
Disappointment,
Excitement,
Anxiety again,
Fear,
Anticipation.
So today's sitting is a boring sitting.
It's a boring from the conventional categorization that the mind gives to whatever is happening now.
No drama is going to happen in the next few minutes.
No drama will be encouraged for the next few minutes.
We are not going to dig up any drama from the past.
Or imagine any drama in the future.
There is only current experience that we have right now.
It is still a very pure,
A pure version of experience that hasn't been tainted by categorizing it as eventful or not,
Drama or not.
For example,
Let's say something happened over the weekend.
Let's pick an example which was intense enough to leave a trace in our minds.
It was either disappointing,
Aggravating,
Fearful.
A simple,
Impersonal example that I'm going to present which we can extrapolate to our particular example to make it more visceral.
Let's say I went to a particular restaurant over the weekend.
And I was really looking forward to this entree that I ordered from there.
And as I start eating it,
In the moment,
The experience is of eating.
But a few moments later,
I feel disappointed.
And if I'm with someone eating that meal,
I'll make a very harmless comment.
Yeah,
Today's food is not as good as it was last time.
But in the moment,
I was just eating.
The comparison between this time and last time hadn't happened yet.
It's only when we have to tell someone else about it.
We repeat this story so many times that it falls in the category of drama.
It's like a line on water to begin with.
But once we repeat it,
It becomes like a line on sand.
And the more we repeat it,
It becomes like a line on a rock.
Seems indelible.
It makes for a good story.
Hey,
Watch out for this restaurant.
It's flaky.
Watch out for this person.
They are flaky.
Etc,
Etc.
Makes for a good story.
But right now,
We are just in the first phase of experience.
Sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts and images,
Feelings.
They're all coming one after the other and going one after the other.
Very uneventful.
I remember when I speak to my niece.
She's almost eight.
If I take her to my friends or for a walk or something,
She'll just tell me,
I'm bored.
At that age,
You're quite fearless to acknowledge and announce that I'm bored.
I need something more interesting.
But as we age,
We don't acknowledge that we are bored.
We just slip into thinking,
Imagining.
So right now,
We are becoming aware of this tendency that we all have.
Of dismissing what is happening in lieu of what has happened or what we think will happen.
We are becoming aware of this tendency that we all have.
I had this insight a few days ago.
Which is very relevant to our discussion here right now.
Over the past few weeks,
I've been quite occupied with moving and managing of my office and other commitments.
And I realized that I wasn't able to give or I wasn't able to create as I have used to,
As I have been creating in the past.
And I realized that in order for me to create something,
I need to sit down,
Free of being rushed,
Free of to-do lists.
And actually let my mind be bored.
That's where the source of my creativity is,
Or the trigger for my creativity is,
In boredom.
But as long as I'm hustling and bustling,
As long as I'm occupied,
I'm venturing into the past or planning my future,
Etc.
There's no energy,
There's no incentive to create anything.
So although we all want to create,
We want to love,
We want to laugh,
Have fun.
Those things are obscured when we are not present long enough.
The lure of busyness,
The lure of drama is quite enticing.
But your heart knows it.
Your heart knows that you need to slow down,
You need to sit down.
What the mind calls boredom,
The heart calls it peace,
Which we are all longing for.
But we are letting our minds govern the definition,
So it ends up being categorized as boredom.
So the real source of love,
Creativity,
Joy,
Friendship is peace.
So as we sit here,
I'll encourage you to take stock of how the current experience tastes like.
Is it something your heart could get used to?
Being peaceful?
Away from drama?
Thank you.
Thank you.
