Good morning.
I've got a pussy cat around my feet and she wants to get on my knee.
She will not do anything I ask.
Yeah,
Adorable.
So,
If we think in terms of,
I come across an image a while ago from the Zen tradition.
If we think in terms of,
Imagine an airline pilot and caught in a hurricane.
What they do,
They have to fly into the eye of the hurricane so that they're not buffeted around by the winds.
That's where the calm and quiet is.
But the pilot must keep his or her eyes on the control panel and keep everything steady.
They can't take the eyes off the control panel.
Now,
If you liken that to a glider pilot,
They're just up,
There's no engine,
No controls.
They actually,
The winds and everything is what creates the thrill.
What the airline pilot is avoiding,
The glider pilot enjoys.
And what that is pointing to in my sense,
Anyway,
Is we are like the airline pilot.
We've got our eyes on the control panel.
And the control panel is,
You know what it is,
Mind or thoughts.
Yeah,
Making sure everything goes just as we want it to.
And two things,
It's exhausting and it's impossible.
Because it's impossible means it's exhausting.
But we don't know any other way.
And so,
What we do,
Because we've got our eyes on the control panel,
We fixate on thought,
What might be,
What if,
We miss life.
I mean,
We miss it.
We actually miss it for an imagined version of it.
And that's what we call life.
That's what we call living.
You know,
You can't walk down the street without,
You know,
Being lost,
Sitting having a cup of tea,
Thinking.
Even if it's not,
You know,
Dread,
It's a fantasy or make-believe or regrets and whatever.
And what it means to be the glider pilot is just to be in the senses,
To be alive.
Because the only way we experience life is through the senses.
They are portals,
They are the portals to experiencing,
Portals to the wonder of life,
To the joy of life.
Show me somewhere else.
Show me how to experience it in any other way.
I've never found one.
We've got five senses,
Sixth sense if you include thinking,
And they're all so different.
It's amazing.
So,
What we're doing when we're meditating here,
Noticing when we fixate on the control panel,
And there's no comment on it,
There's no judgment or criticism,
There's nothing,
There's just,
That's thinking.
That's the control panel.
And you come back,
And it actually doesn't matter where you put the attention.
It doesn't matter which sense you use,
Just that the obvious sense is the feeling sense.
And the body is a good place to put the attention because for many,
For a long,
Long time,
A lot of feelings and attitudes,
Etc.
Have been like banished.
They get banished,
Because for whatever reason,
Won't go into the ins and outs of that.
But we don't want to experience them.
So,
They get frozen out.
And when we go back into the body,
We begin to melt those parts of frozen out.
And that's another metaphor for another day.
Eyes open or closed.
And just notice when you're in the control panel,
Fixating on it.
Rest the attention,
The seat area.
And there will be long pauses so that you can rest in the senses,
Rest in the body.
Haven't fallen asleep.
Just relaxing into the body.
Don't try to achieve anything.
Allow yourself to relax.
Notice when your attention is on the control panel.
Spinning away.
Our latest obsession,
Our latest fear,
Latest worry or fantasy.
Or just reminding us to go to the shops.
Doesn't matter.
Right now,
It's just thinking.
Not good or bad.
Where are you now?
Mind a little too agitated.
Place the attention on the breath and the end of the out-breath.
Feel that.
Just resting back in the body.
You're in thought,
Just release the thoughts and relax.
Into presence to the body.
As we bring this session to a close.
Just to remind you that during the day,
Watch when you're in the control panel.
I'm obviously not talking about functional thinking and practical.
That's different.
Get out of the head,
Into the senses.
Okay,
Time for coffee.
Bye-bye.
See you tomorrow.
Bye.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
