MA 25L Meditation & The Modern World (Live)

So we start by closing our eyes very gently,

Breathing deeply to ourselves for two or three breaths and making sure our eyes are closed very gently.

From there we do what's known as a body scan,

Which means scanning down through the whole of our body,

Relaxing each and every muscle as we go.

So from our forehead,

We relax any tension there and we make sure our eyebrows and our eyelids are relaxed.

The way we close our eyes is really only with our upper and lower eyelashes touching lightly together.

We allow the muscles of our face to become soft,

Relaxing our jaw,

Taking care not to clench our teeth together.

And then moving on down,

We relax our neck and let our shoulders drop to their natural height,

Relaxing our arms,

Our forearms and then our hands and fingers.

So that even the way our hands rest in our lap is as light and gentle as possible.

Moving on down,

We relax all the muscles of our torso,

Chest,

Trunk and abdomen,

Relaxing both legs,

All the way down to our feet and our toes,

Until we feel satisfied that no remaining part of our body has any sort of stress or tension anymore.

There may be places in your body where tension still lingers on,

In which case you do your best to relax them as far as possible.

And this allows us to forget about our body,

Turning our intention instead to the feeling inside us,

That sense of warmth and well-being within,

Something which by any other name you could call your state of mind.

And even our state of mind needs to be relaxed as far as possible,

To set the scene for the meditation ahead.

The way to relax the mind is to let go for a few moments of all the worries and concerns from any aspect of your life,

Any regrets from your past or any plans for the future.

But remaining in the here and now,

While conjuring up a sense of happiness and joy in the mind,

As if happiness and joy were like tiny particles growing and spreading within yourself,

While chasing away any residual stresses and strains from the space of your mind.

And at a certain point when we feel comfortable with ourselves,

We can imagine our whole body to be nothing but an empty space or a hollow cavity,

With no organs or tissues,

Muscles or bones.

Alternatively,

You might imagine your body to be like a transparent bubble,

With nothing on the inside.

But at this point you can remember back once again to the picture of the sun shining,

Or perhaps a full moon,

A star or a diamond,

Or perhaps an object that you can feel rather than see.

All you need to do is conjure it up in your mind,

And it may be that the object is clear to you or it may be that it's vague,

But for our purposes it doesn't really matter,

We just work with what we have.

We allow that inner object to float the steepest point of the breath.

If our awareness wanders away anywhere else,

Then we're just going to bring it back again to this point.

If the inner object disappears,

We can think of a new one.

If the mind is free of thought,

Then we allow it to remain that way.

But if thoughts are still numerous in the mind,

Then we can make use of that silent mantra by hearing the sound of the words,

Samma Arahang,

Samma Arahang,

Samma Arahang,

Coming up as if from the same point at the centre of our diaphragm.

The two things hand in hand,

The inner object and the sound of the mantra,

Will gradually lead the mind deeper at the centre,

Freeing the mind of unwanted thoughts to the point that nothing but a sense of stillness remains.

We cultivate our mind on track in this way just for a few more moments in silence,

Each to our own practice until we come to the appropriate time.

So,

We continue to keep our mind on track with the inner nature of ourselves,

By keeping the mind in place at the centre of the body by means of our inner object,

And then mantra two if necessary,

To keep the mind free of thought.

In order to return to our true nature,

In order to give our mind some distance from the technological lives that we tend to live from day to day.

So,

Although technology has transformed our lives,

Which superficially may seem so beneficial,

Sometimes lasting happiness is hard to find,

No matter how fast technology progresses,

But it never seems to catch up with all the problems that we experience.

Some people may be left wondering whether there's more to life than mere technological prowess,

Whether what we have is real happiness or whether it's just the postponement of further suffering.

Often with technology it's as if we've forgotten something,

It's as if we've forgotten a point of balance within ourselves,

Where we know we're after something,

But we're not quite sure what we're looking for.

We only know that if we can find it,

Then it would be blissful.

We suspect that meditation is something of what we've been missing,

And might provide answers for our quest.

And in fact we wouldn't be far wrong,

Because the point of balance inside us is part of our natural birthright.

Those who know how to balance themselves on the inside will be more resilient in the face of social pressures and can live a life of happiness in spite of them.

In society we often feel worn down by problems that seem to get in the way of our happiness,

But there's no need for us to play the victim,

Because each of us has a potential in us to find a balance free from all these problems.

But if the power of our mind is still insufficient,

It will leave us vulnerable to the stresses and strains imposed on us.

The power of the mind is concerned with everything we do 24 hours a day.

To perform any task successfully takes concentration,

Encouragement,

Memory,

Awareness.

And an understanding of those around us.

And if our mind lacks the ability to centre,

Then happiness cannot stay with us for very long.

Rather like rain which drop by drop splashes and scatters over the land,

Each drop alone has no intrinsic value and soon disappears.

In the same way if the power of the untrained mind is scattered and divided by a thousand personal complexities,

It has no momentum,

And is vulnerable to a lack of true friendship and despair in the face of problems.

The very things that are at the root of discontent in society.

With meditation what we are exploring is,

What can happen if the power of the mind is withdrawn from a thousand concerns into a unified focus.

Rather like the rainwater,

It can come together as riverlets and streams,

Gathering momentum and power,

Until as the torrent of a mighty river,

It can generate enough power to fulfil our need for meaning in life.

And at some point we'll start to realise that we have a new sense of intuition in understanding ourselves.

It's easier to make our journey towards higher knowledge,

And we can start to explore the frontiers of inner space.

Because our knowledge of the world goes hand in hand with what we can see of the world.

In the darkness of the night,

When the sun's rays cannot penetrate,

It's much more hard to discover or explore things beyond our understanding.

In the same way,

Although our mind may be powerful,

We cannot explore the mind that's still in darkness.

But at the dawning of the day,

When the sun illuminates the world for us to see,

We can truly say we know the world.

Although the rays of the sun are bright,

They cannot shed light into the inner world of the mind.

The illumination that the mind needs is the light of the mind itself.

The illumination that comes from the mind's natural point of balance at the centre of the body.

It's an illumination that arises from the power of the mind that has become focused in stillness at the centre of the body.

And because balance of mind brings brightness and the power of unification,

It is also the source of knowledge and happiness which we need to keep up with the stresses and strains of the world around us.

Meditation is a legacy passed down to us from the wisdom of the ancients.

It harnesses the unification of nature in the power of our mind.

The river's torrents,

The brightness of the sun and a cool stillness.

All we need to do is to close our eyes,

Feel at ease and bring the mind to a point of balance at the centre of the body.

As if we are returning to find the true nature of ourselves with all the time in the world.

So we leave behind all the tensions and concerns about the things of the world.

Finding a point of focus at the most peaceful point at the centre of our body.

Maintaining the mind there at its point of balance.

And whatever we're doing,

Training the mind not to drift out of harmony with the centre of our body.

Until the focus of the mind becomes more and more unified at the centre of ourselves.

Bright and clear,

Harnessing the natural brightness of the mind.

Which will allow us to glimpse at the unending happiness that comes from the balance.

Without succumbing to the pressures of consumerism,

Suspicion,

Fragmentation or problems.

But keeping only benevolence and compassionate understanding.

Meditation and stillness and unity can bring together the natural brilliance of the mind at its point of balance.

It gives rise to a penetrating knowledge to understand ourselves in relation to the root problems of society.

The meditation alone or together,

Even for only 20 minutes a day,

Allows us to explore and understand ourselves.

And the mind uncluttered by the influences of the modern world.

Allowing us to return to a point of harmony and balance with nature.

Balance that is a happiness which is beyond words and also beyond doubt.

Once we've seen that point of balance within ourselves,

The happiness we've attained will spread to those around us in society.

Eventually to all the countries of the world.

So now for a few more moments in silence we keep our mind focused gently at the center of ourselves.

With the inner object of our choice.

Whether it's something that we can see or something we can feel.

Each to our own practice for a few more moments in silence until we come to the appropriate time.