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Guided Meditation: Relaxed Recognition

We will sit mostly quietly today, but I do want to emphasize the role of recognition. Imagine that you're sitting in your usual way, but imagine that it's as if you're in an easy chair, or leaning against an oak tree, looking at a river or a pastoral scene. You're at ease, content, and happy, settling back. In this settling back, you're observing; you're just allowing what's happening to appear for you. There is no reaching out, no trying to figure anything out, no trying to make anything happen. Just settling back and letting everything come to you and show itself to you.

Your awareness is open. Your eyesight is receptive. Your hearing is receptive. All the perceptions, all doors are open to receive. And then, in the most easy way possible, relax. Almost as if it's from a deep inner place of relaxation and ease, but with a little bit of clarity, use a single word to recognize what it is that's arising in awareness. There is no hurry, just an irregular kind of stream of recognition: a thought, a body sensation, a sound, an inhale. It is just very simple, in this kind of laid-back way. And the recognition is a little bit of a tether to the present moment so you don't wander off; you just stay there. So let's sit that way quietly, and we'll find our way.

As we come to the end of this sitting, one way or another, we have a connection, a relationship to other beings—other living beings, other people. Some people we know, we know of. But there are plenty of people who are important for our lives, and whose lives are cared for by those who we don't know and will never know. The circles of people who do things that support our lives, the circle of living life on this planet that keeps us alive, is in some kind of way part of us, inseparable.

One of the ways to care for ourselves is to care for all these people, all these beings. And one of the ways to care for all these beings is to care for ourselves. A way to do both simultaneously is to sit quietly with goodwill in all directions—goodwill towards oneself, goodwill to the world. It is simply a radiance of goodwill, circles of goodwill that spread from us. It turns out that having goodwill is one of the best nourishments we can offer ourselves.

May each of us start our day, continue our day, or end our day—wherever you are—remembering that you have a capacity for goodwill, for well-wishing, for kindness. And as we go forth from this meditation, may we go forth with a wish that all beings be happy, that all beings be safe, that all beings be peaceful, and that all beings be free. May we benefit from this wish as much as others do.

Dharmette: Clear Recognition (3 of 5) Comprehension of Suitability

To continue these talks on sampajañña^[1]—clear comprehension or clear recognition—I love this particular word because of how it overlaps with the simplicity of mindfulness practice, simply recognizing how things are, and the richness of a contemplative life, a life that's lived reflectively. Both have a role and a place in our lives.

There are times where I've thought that the way Buddhist meditation has been taught in the West, especially in Vipassana and sometimes in the Zen world, places such a strong emphasis on non-discursive awareness. It emphasizes simply being aware in the simplest possible way and letting go of thoughts. People get the message that they're not supposed to be thinking at all. Certainly, in meditation, it is helpful to quiet the thinking mind and become really quiet, maybe still. But for a wider life, there is a time for a quiet mind, a still mind, and there's a time for reflection and contemplation.

I think of a reflective life—when I use the word contemplative as a life of reflection, deep reflection—as being associated very much with calm. It involves calm reflection, considering and thinking about our lives, and pondering in a way that is intimate, cozy, and nice. It's about being engaged and reflecting on the nature of our life and what we're up to. This clear comprehension encompasses both of these areas: quiet, non-discursive awareness, and also this contemplative life.

Yesterday we discussed the first of the four kinds of clear comprehension, which is clear comprehension of purpose: why we're doing something. The second is clear comprehension of suitability: what's appropriate, how to engage in something, and what actions, behavior, or ways of thinking are suitable for the purpose we have.

There's this analogy that if you try to squeeze oil out of gravel, it won't work. If you want oil, you have to take olives or sesame seeds and really squeeze them to get the oil out. In the same way, we have to know what is suitable for the purposes we have. If you are trying to become kinder and you do it through aggressive straining, it is kind of like trying to squeeze oil out of gravel. We have to find the suitable way to be, or the right approach for something.

I think this reflection on suitability involves asking: What's right for me? What's the way that I can do whatever I've set my mind on, given my weaknesses and my strengths, given my interests, given what nourishes me and benefits me, and given what the situation requires? What is needed in the situation? What's suitable? What's the right thing to do?

It is a life of reflection and questioning suitability, as opposed to looking for a policy or the "right way" to do something—maybe looking for a manual to follow, like meditation by the numbers or Buddhism by the numbers. It's not rote; there's no fixed way that we should do things. Rather, we do things as is appropriate for the circumstance of who we are and the situation. So, being reflective about suitability means asking, "What's the right way to do this?"

If one's purpose is to follow the Buddhist path to greater and greater forms of liberation and freedom, to clarify and bring an end to our suffering, we can ask: "That is a great purpose, now what is suitable for this?" If we spend a lot of time watching movies on our computer and justify it by saying, "I need to relax so that I can get on with Buddhist practice," but we spend an inordinate amount of time doing this, it probably is not suitable for the purpose of becoming free of suffering. It might give relief from some of the suffering, but it doesn't really get to the bottom of it and penetrate it.

So, what do you do in your daily life? What are the activities you're involved in which are suitable for the purpose you have, and which are not? If the purpose you have is just one of many things you're doing, and you slide it in here and there, then the idea of suitability varies. But if your idea of your life's purpose is a central orientation—the central thing you want your life to be about—nothing else matters. Or to say it differently, everything matters, but everything has to matter through the lens of your dedication to living a life of freedom, compassion, and care.

What would be a suitable way to express that and live that in my life? Do I infuse everything I do with those qualities, or do I limit what I do and only do those things that are really for that purpose? It's possible to live a life where everything we do is organized around the principle of compassion, or care for self and others, or the purpose of becoming free of suffering and allowing the flourishing of wholesome states within. Not in a selfish or hedonistic way, but because this is really beneficial for self and others. It's better than the alternative of continuing to suffer, being contracted, and stressed.

If we're really clear about having a central purpose like that, then what is suitable to support that? How can we live our lives in a way that we clearly see and reflect that this supports what we are trying to do, leading us further and further along this path? Perhaps in that kind of contemplation, we realize, "Well, this is not suitable. This is not helping me. This is kind of a waste of time." This life of ours is quite precious, and we don't have that much time to be alive. Time goes by quickly, so we might as well do the things that are most meaningful and purposeful. This includes understanding that the path of liberation is to enter into meditation, where we let go of the preoccupation with meaning and purpose—because we already have it—and really sit and be present for our experience in a deep, intimate way.

Suitability also involves our work life and our social life. In Zen practice, they sometimes ask a question that relates to suitability, and I think it's a beautiful way to go through one's life. The question is: What is the request here? What are we being asked? Even with inanimate objects, there's a feeling in Zen of asking what is being asked for here. Rather than acting from our desires, wishes, and what we want, asserting ourselves on others and the world, it's rather asking: What is suitable in this situation? What is the appropriate response? What is the request of this situation?

I remember a tiny little event that happened 45 years ago or so. I was just getting interested in Zen, and I went to the Los Angeles Zen Center for an evening. There was some meditation and a Dharma talk. There were two sessions of meditation, and in between, we did slow kinhin^[2]—slow walking meditation—around this small living room where everyone was meditating. People were meditating on these black mats called zabutons^[3].

The person in front of me was walking slowly, and I was walking slowly behind them. I saw the person bend down to straighten out one of those black meditation mats that had gotten slightly crooked. They're all lined up quite nicely, and I thought that was bizarre. Why would one care enough to straighten out the mat? It made a big impression on me, that kind of attention to detail. I imagine that if you ask, "What's the request here?" what is being asked is to straighten the mat slightly. Exactly where the request is coming from is probably somewhat from our own inner sensibilities, understanding the situation, and projecting it onto how it is to be a human being there. But it's still coming from someplace deeper than just "me, myself, and mine" or what I want.

So, finding a way forward, having a sense of purpose, and knowing what is suitable for that purpose is part of this clear comprehension, a reflective life. One of the things you might try doing for the next 24 hours is to reflect a little bit, not only about your purpose in the things you do, but also on their suitability. Are the things that you do through the day suitable for your purpose? Are they supportive of some bigger purpose and value that you have? In this kind of reflection, do you benefit as a result? Is it nice for you? Is it supportive for you? Is it suitable?

Thank you very much, and we will continue here tomorrow.