7-2 Being an Outsider
The most important moment in meditation is the instant you leave the cushion. When your practice session is over, you can jump up and drop the whole thing, or you can bring those skills with you into the rest of your activities. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3fsIffgBbw&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=8&pp=gAQBiAQB When you leave the cushion, do you still maintain awareness and mindfulness? […]
7-1 Practice Being an Outsider
One of the most memorable events in your meditation career is the moment when you first realize that you are meditating in the midst of some perfectly ordinary activity. You are driving down the freeway or carrying out the trash and it just turns on by itself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTy1hQ_uh1s&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=9&pp=gAQBiAQB This unplanned outpouring of the skills you […]
4-2 We Do Not Really Love Ourselves
What we face every day is unpredictable. Things happen due to multiple causes and conditions, as we are living in a conditional and impermanent world. Mindfulness is our emergency kit, readily available at our service at any time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE2e3ir0nYo&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=1&pp=gAQBiAQB When we face a situation where we feel indignation, if we mindfully investigate our own mind, […]
4-1 Watch Yourself Mindfully
Feeling is one of the seven universal mental factors. The other six are contact, perception, mental formations, concentration, life force, and awareness. These are the five universal mental factors: contact, attention, feeling, perception, and intention. They are the mental activities that arise during any cognitive process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJLmrzgV_B0&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=2&pp=gAQBiAQB These five mental factors are the most common, […]
4-0 The Practice
Practice is something I emphasize the most. We usually call it “habituation,” but we are more familiar with the term “practice,” as we have been doing practice exercises since we were young. After class, we need to practice. Many people neglect the importance of practice and focus only on learning, like monkeys picking up and […]
3-16 Problem Eleven: Resistance to Meditation
Resistance to meditation arises because you haven't found the right meditation method, the one that brings joy. When you resist meditation, you lose the interest to meditate upon seeing the cushion. At that moment, there must be vexations in your mind, making it difficult to sit still, because the moment you sit down, vexations all […]
3-15 Problem Ten: Discouragement
Discouragement shows that you are still attached to the result. The direct upshot of pushing too hard is frustration. You are in a state of tension. You get nowhere. Discouragement over your perceived failure in meditation: Discouragement arises because you haven't found the right method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Sx2HMtsAk&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=5&pp=gAQBiAQB Many people are like flies, attempting to fly out […]
3-14 Problem Nine: Trying Too Hard
Trying too hard indicates that you haven't got the feeling of meditation yet. Advanced meditators are generally found to be pretty jovial men and women. They possess that most valuable of all human treasures, a sense of humor. It is not the superficial witty repartee of the talk show host. It is a real sense […]
3-13 Problem Eight: Agitation
Agitation indicates a lack of wisdom—not knowing the true nature of things. Thus, you feel agitated or restless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cj1m-TsSPo&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=7&pp=gAQBiAQB
3-11 Problem Six: Boredom
If you feel boring to sit there for an hour, it indicates that you don't even know what meditation is. You need mindfulness to be aware of what you are doing. Maintaining mindfulness is difficult. We need to maintain this awareness and then see the true nature of things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tU4ySKt2Y&list=PLG59GFmZzsi5_M67QcRHXrv2Z2nORqAYg&index=14&pp=gAQBiAQB We are trapped in ignorance, […]