Guided Meditation: Recognizing Thinking; Dharmette: Patience (2 of 6) Gentle Perseverance

This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Guided Meditation: Recognizing Thinking; Patience (2 of 6) Gentle Perserverence. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on August 30, 2021. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Guided Meditation: Recognizing Thinking

Good morning, everyone, and good day. I am quite happy to be back here, sitting and continuing where we left off from a week ago on Monday. The topic still is patience, and hopefully, you have been patient to wait for the continuation of this.

In a certain way, when we meditate, we don't accept the status quo. We don't just sit and allow things to be as they are. There are many ways we don't do that depending on the meditation technique and all kinds of things, but the certain way with mindfulness is that we always continue with the mindfulness practice. We always keep a steadiness, coming back to it, being mindful again, being mindful again. That makes a world of difference. To accept the status quo is to not be mindful.

A simple way for some of you to maintain the continuity, to keep coming back to mindfulness and not drift off in thought, is on every exhale. It could be the inhale if people prefer that. With every exhale, recognize whether or not you have started to think again. Just that mindfulness of thinking might be enough for you not to be caught in it or drift off in it. If you want, you could also let go of it at that point. Recognize you are thinking, and let go of it every time in the cycle. So it only goes a couple of seconds between a recognition of thinking and letting go.

Thinking can be, in some ways, quite clever in camouflaging itself or pulling us into its world so we don't know or recognize that we are thinking. But the clear recognition—"Oh, I'm thinking again"—and doing it on such a regular basis is patiently and steadily practicing coming back to mindfulness.

Every exhale, every exhale. That moment of mindfulness, that kind of clarity, is where the steady, slow, patient approach to mindfulness occurs. We are not looking for some big experience, but just looking, being content and patient with showing up and waking up to this: here, there is thinking.

So, assume a comfortable, alert posture. Relax your gaze. If you are looking at the screen, maybe look down at a 45-degree angle and see if the eyes can be a little bit more at rest. If it is comfortable for you, gently close your eyes.

To establish a stronger connection to the present moment through your body, take a few long, slow, deep breaths. Breathe deep enough so you feel your rib cage stretch as it expands, or you feel the ballooning out of your belly in that deep exhale. With a long inhale and a long exhale, feel the ballooning out of the belly as you inhale, and then with the exhale, releasing, relaxing, and softening.

Let the breathing return to normal. Take a few moments in the silence to relax your body. Maybe each time you exhale, relax some part of your body and release the holding.

Then, from within your body, as part of your bodily experience, become aware of the body breathing. Notice wherever the breathing is most comfortable for you to experience, or where it is clearest and easiest to connect to. It could be the movements of the belly, the movements of the chest, the sensations of the air going in and out through the nostrils, or some broad, whole-body experience of breathing.

As you exhale, at the end of the exhale, perhaps you can relax a bit or release a teeny bit more so there is a slight continuation of the exhale, or perhaps an ever-so-slight pause before you inhale.

Whenever it is time to inhale, quietly and attentively receive the inhale. Receive the movement and sensations of the body as you inhale. As you exhale, allow the exhale and allow the release.

Every time you exhale, notice if you have been thinking. If you have, you might very gently whisper to yourself, "thinking," as a clear recognition. If it is easy enough to let go of your thoughts during the exhale, let them go. Let go into the quiet and stillness at the end of the exhale so you can better receive the inhale.

Remember to recognize with every exhale if thinking has returned. If it is easy enough, let go of it. If it is not easy enough, be ready to recognize that you are thinking again when you exhale next time.

Perhaps be a little bit more attentive so that you can notice if you have begun thinking on the exhale, and see if you are able to let go of your thoughts by the end of the exhale. Be attentive to how thoughts begin, how they creep in on the inhale. Watch this phenomena from a quiet place within, unperturbed and undisturbed by it, but clearly recognizing.

As we come to the end of the sitting, appreciate that if you can recognize that you are thinking, you might recognize the ways you are thinking that are not so accurate: the projections you have on people and events, the interpretations, and perhaps even the bias.

If you are also able to let go of your thoughts, or to put them aside enough to see clearly without the filter of your thinking, then it is possible to be present for people. You can be companions for people and be friends with people more fully and more clearly.

This is a gift. May it be that our ability to be mindful supports our ability to be friends with others and to see them clearly. May we have the ability to be present without the pull and the tug of our desires, aversions, and interpretations.

May it be that this practice we do helps us to engage in the world in a kinder, friendlier, supportive way. In that way, when we dedicate the merit^[1], maybe we are more likely to be the conduit through which the merit travels out into the world.

Whatever benefit and merit we have had from this practice together, may we dedicate it to the welfare and happiness of all beings everywhere. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. And may all beings everywhere be free.

Dharmette: Patience (2 of 6) Gentle Perseverance

Hello, and welcome to the continuation of our little series on patience. Today's topic is another form of patience, which I call "gentle perseverance."

Perseverance is just the small, ongoing, step-by-step engagement and involvement. To do it gently is to do it without strain, without strife, and without resistance. It is just taking the simple steps and keeping going.

In this way, it is sometimes helpful to appreciate that in the Buddha's teaching, action was extremely important. His teaching is sometimes called a teaching of action^[2]. That means a variety of different things, but one of the ways I like to think of it is that it is not a passive practice.

For a lot of modern Western practitioners who are over-striving, overdoing, over-analyzing, and over-critical of themselves, the lesson of just letting things be and not doing is powerful and useful medicine. But for the Buddha, there is an element in which the practice is always an activity—a little bit of doing. It is a doing which is an undoing of stress, strain, tension, criticism, and striving, but it is a kind of doing.

In sitting meditation, mindfulness can be experienced as a non-doing, just allowing awareness to be there. But even that is a very subtle doing, because chances are we have to keep coming back to allowing, to receiving, and to being. That is the doing. That is the action.

Whatever the action is, it is a very simple action in practice. Today in the meditation, I suggested the action of noticing if you are thinking every time you exhale, and seeing if it is easy enough to let go of those thoughts. There is always a little bit of something—waking up, being present, being here for the next thing and the next thing. There is a little engagement, a little effort, and work that is involved.

As we get familiar with mindfulness, that work is often better than the alternative of what the mind does and the spinning it often engages in. We have this amazing capacity for gentle perseverance: just keep doing the practice.

In other walks of life and other situations, perseverance—doing it over and over again, being willing to fail, coming back, and starting over again—can be a huge strength and support for a wise and good life. Gentle perseverance is useful in so many areas, but particularly in practice.

In meditation, gentle perseverance means not looking for big, dramatic experiences, but being very content and patient with a simple, ongoing practice moment by moment. Just showing up and being mindful of this, being present for this, right here and now.

On a slightly larger scale, it means meditating every day. Gentle perseverance means, no matter what, sitting down to meditate every day. Even if it is nothing more than getting into your meditation posture for a minute each day, it is the gentle perseverance of touching into this wonderful repository or special place where a certain kind of special attention, calm, and subtleness can exist.

So we keep doing, keep doing, and keep doing. Gentle perseverance in practice, in the day-to-day ordinary way, is enacted in small steps. It is the small things we do: just being a little bit more attentive, more present, and coming back more often. Those small little steps can make a huge difference in the future.

If you take two parallel lines, they would go on parallel forever. But if you take and nudge one of them a little bit to the side, initially, the change is infinitesimal. You might not see that they are separating from each other. But over time, the distance between them becomes greater and greater. If you make a small change and keep up that small change, over time, it can make a huge difference in your life and transform it in beneficial ways.

Gentle perseverance means not giving up. It means not being discouraged—or, perhaps being discouraged, but having the patience to do it anyway. Just keep showing up to sit, to meditate, and keep showing up to be present for the next moment. This very much applies to meditation practice. That is probably the ideal place to practice this gentle perseverance. Keep coming back for the next breath. This breath. This breath.

Sometimes we have issues, problems, and difficult things that happen in our lives. There is something about the continuity, the ballast, the grounding, and the sense of stability that comes from just being with the breath through it all. It allows so many things to settle and allows us not to get wrapped up in other things or be reactive. We are not denying anything, but rather relying on gentle perseverance with the breathing.

Alternatively, there is the gentle perseverance of being mindful and attentive, recognizing: "Oh, this is happening. My mind is afraid. There is fear." In that little recognition—even using those words actively in your mind, following the words up by feeling and sensing what is happening more fully—you may begin finding that you are not wrapped up in it. You are not caught by it or impacted as fully by the fear, anxiety, or desire. Just keep steady, recognizing that this is what is happening.

Gentle perseverance in Buddhist practice can take many forms. It could be the gentle perseverance of not giving into anger, one act of speech after another. Just saying, "Okay, I'm not going to say it now. I'm not going to say this now. Not now." To declare, "I am no longer going to be angry and I will never say mean things to anyone ever again"—when we make these big commitments or big ideas, it is sometimes much harder for the mind to cooperate and participate. But sometimes, it is the moment-by-moment steps where it really counts the most. It is saying, "Nope, not saying that mean word. Nope, nope. Gentle perseverance."

Or a strong desire arises, and you say, "Nope, I'm not giving into that. I know what happens; this is not healthy for me or good for others. Nope." Gentle perseverance is repeating it over and over again until something settles and the whole thing shifts. It is not meant to be a big struggle or a wrestling match. It is just these little steps, moment by moment: now, now, now.

Be patient. If we are doing things which are useful, healthy, appropriate, and necessary, persevere. Do not resist, do not procrastinate, and do not give up. Just find a gentle steadiness, showing up and showing up.

I don't know how it is for some of you, but the idea of gentleness implies that it doesn't require heroic or strong effort. Just move in that direction. Don't hesitate. Don't give up. Just take a little move in that direction and keep doing it.

Certainly, in Buddhist practice and meditation practice, gentle perseverance carries the day, because any other effort that you make is probably agitating and will not really be sustainable in the long term. But gentle perseverance may be sustainable and engaging. It may become self-rewarding and begin to shift that line just a little bit, so that over time, it makes a huge difference in your life.

Maybe you don't see it in one day, one week, or one month, but gentle continuity—just doing and doing and doing—can be revolutionary in one's life.

So, gentle perseverance. What we persevere in depends on the context we're in: gentle forgiveness, gentle kindness, compassion, just whatever is needed. Keep gently doing it so we don't succumb or collapse into states of mind, thoughts, and ideas which are not helpful for us.

Finally, I will say that the alternative—the continuity and perseverance of distracted thought, aversive thoughts, desirous thoughts, selfish thoughts, or victim thoughts—also has an effect over time. Slowly and imperceptibly, the parallel lines move in a different direction that may be not so useful. It is very helpful to be careful with what the mind does regularly and continuously, because it really has a big effect over time.

Once you have a sense of what practice is and what a wise and wholesome way of living is, gently persevere. Take gentle, step-by-step, ordinary movements in the direction of what is wholesome and good. It can be done, and it can make a huge difference.

Thank you very much. Tomorrow we will discuss patience under insult, which is a much more difficult one, but it has tremendous benefit. Thank you.