This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video above. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Introduction

Greetings and welcome to our meditation session together. I am very happy to be here with all of you. As a little introduction to the meditation, when I was in Burma practicing Vipassana^[1] there, I would have regular meetings with the abbot to talk about my practice. One day, as I entered the room where he was, just on the right was a shelf, kind of like an altar shelf. There are usually some Buddhas there, and I didn't think about that much; they were just there, and I went past them to get to where he was.

One day I came in and there was a new Buddha there. I glanced at it, and my mindfulness was somewhat sharp. I saw in a very quick and rapid succession the recognition of the Buddha there—it was a beautiful statue—the recognition of the statue, and the pleasure of looking at it. With the pleasure came wanting the statue. What surprised me was the clarity of that sequence: first there being pleasure in looking at it, and then the wanting. The wanting was really a wanting for more of that pleasure, even though it was expressed in wanting the Buddha and wanting to continue the pleasure of having that Buddha.

This is the idea of being able to see more deeply where our desires come from, and how often they might come for something as rudimentary, something as basic as whether there's a pleasure or discomfort^[2] with something going on, or anticipated pleasure or anticipated discomfort. One of the advantages of sitting quietly in meditation is not to study for this exactly, but rather to quiet enough that we start seeing the sequence of events that come into play—how one thing is the condition for the next thing. How pleasure can be the condition for a desire, how displeasure—something painful or uncomfortable—can be the condition for aversion, resistance, clinging, and tightening down.

In that event there in Burma, when I saw that very quick succession of Buddha, pleasure, and desire, I didn't do anything with the desire, and that was the freedom there. The desire arose, I saw it with such clarity—how it arose and why it arose, the conditions for its arising—and I was able to just leave it completely alone. In a sense, my mind went, Wow! And in that wow of seeing it, I didn't pick up the desire. I didn't do anything with the craving for it; I just left it alone. In that leaving it alone was my freedom in that moment.

Guided Meditation: Wanting and Not Wanting

So, to sit now. The idea is to sit with mindfulness. Mindfulness is a clarity of awareness, a clarity of mind within which our life reveals itself; the lived experience appears in that clarity. So, gently close your eyes. Without further ado, with whatever clarity of mind that you have now, what is the present moment experience for you? What's actually happening?

What's happening in your body, your physical sensations? Is there any physicality of resistance, or leaning forward, or wanting, or pulling back, contracting? If there is, it might be unpleasant, and there might be a reaction to that—judgment about that, or desire in relationship to it. That's okay, maybe just see it all in the clarity of the mind. Whatever degree of clarity you have, don't try hard.

Then, notice what's happening in your heart, in your emotional being. Without working too hard at it, how are you feeling emotionally? Is it on the pleasant side or unpleasant side? It's all okay for the purpose of meditation, but then is there any desire or resistance in relationship to it? There is no need to do anything but to allow that to be known in the clarity of the mind.

Then, what's happening in the mind, your thoughts, mentality? Is it more on the pleasant side or unpleasant side? Is there any desire, or resistance, or pushing away? Seeing that in the clarity of the mind, just letting it be. Seeing pleasant mind states and thoughts and the subtle, perhaps, desire for it, reaching for it. Or unpleasant mind states, unpleasant thoughts, and perhaps the resistance, pushing away, or displeasure.

Now become aware of your body breathing. Become aware of how your body experiences breathing, so that awareness, in a sense, is in the experience of breathing. Not in the control tower looking at it or thinking about it, but rather in the body sensing it, feeling what's happening as you breathe. Is the experience of breathing more on the pleasant side or more on the unpleasant side? Is there any desire, wishing for, or any pulling away or pushing away, any aversion?

Take a few moments to feel whatever pleasure, whatever is pleasant in the experience of breathing. No matter how subtle or how small a percentage of the experience it is, look for what is pleasant in the experience of breathing. Use that sense of pleasantness as a touchstone, as an anchor for being present for your breathing. In a very simple way, there can be a very simple desire, prioritization, or enjoyment even of the pleasure of breathing.

Some people can have a little bit more pleasantness in breathing if they subtly adjust their breathing. Breathe a little bit more, slightly more deeply, maybe by letting go into the inhale and letting go with the exhale. Slowing down the breathing a teeny bit, speeding it up a little bit, or relaxing parts of the muscles involved in breathing—the belly, diaphragm, chest.

Perhaps there's a gentle and non-assertive way to let the pleasantness of breathing, if it's there, help with the clarity of the mind, help with a quieting of the mind, the settling of the mind. Every time you exhale, let go of your thoughts in favor of being clear with the experience of breathing. Quiet and clear, and in the clarity, seeing how things arise. Maybe seeing how desires arise and leaving them alone, not getting involved. One breath at a time.

Wanting and not wanting can be such a regular habit of the mind ongoingly that it becomes invisible to us. As the mind becomes more open and clear, can you notice the movements towards or pulling away? The reaching forward of the thoughts and feelings that come with desire, the pulling away or the pushing away, contractions of not wanting? Not that you have to do anything about it, except see it clearly. Know clearly it's happening, and then let things unfold from there on their own.

Reflections

When there is desire and we reach for the desire, when we cling to it, have passion for it, depend on it, get attached to it, this all can obscure the goodness of our hearts, cloud it over, and distract us from it. When there's something unpleasant and we want to push it away, we're attached to it, a negative attachment. We are attached to it for it to go away, a certain kind of negative passion for it to go away. Clinging to it, involved in pulling away—all those extra movements cloud the heart, obscure the goodness of our hearts.

But to learn to see things in the clarity of the mind, and in the clarity itself, helps us be free from the clinging, the pushing, the grasping, and the tightening that obscures the goodness of our hearts. In the goodness of our hearts we can view people. In that goodness, we can see people independent of what is pleasant and unpleasant in what they say and what they do.

We might clearly see that people do unpleasant things and say unpleasant things, and we have wisdom about that, clarity, good understanding about that. That's the case. But we avoid getting entangled in the attachments, the clingings, and the involvements, so that in the goodness of our hearts we can also relate to the hearts of those we disagree with.

Whatever clarity of practice that we have, may we understand how that can free up our care, our love, our goodwill for everyone, including those we disagree with. We can still disagree with what they say and what they do, but we don't have to disagree with them, with their basic inner humanity. They also have a heart like you do.

May we today learn how to extend our kindness, our goodwill, our compassion to the hearts of those we disagree with. May we wish them well. May we live in such a way that they might be happy, and healthy, and safe, so there's an opportunity for what's good in them to come forth as well. May we not sacrifice our own goodness because of our antipathy for others. May our care extend in all directions to all beings today.