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Guided Meditation: An Attitude of Peace

Greetings, greetings sangha^[1], wherever you are in this moment on this planet Earth. Good wishes to you.

So we continue today, our fifth day in the series of exploring supportive conditions for samadhi^[2]: for concentration, for calming, settling, unifying the mind and heart.

Just to briefly remind us what we have worked with, and all these conditions together really support each other. It's not just one versus another; all of them together. It's as if samadhi is a fabric, and it's made of all these threads.

Relinquishing what is not helpful, and on the other side of the coin, noticing there is joy in the present moment. This moment is enough. There is beauty, wonder, awe, and the simplicity of this moment.

And then there is relaxing the body. A relaxed body so that it can support a relaxed mind. And that is only possible—it becomes a wise effort—if on the other hand we have atapi^[3]: gentle persistence, coming back over and over again, as well as what we discussed: vitakka^[4] and vicara^[5]. Initial application, sustained application. Connecting with the breath, surfing the breath, enjoying surfing the entirety of the breath.

We could have gone on more and more, and yet today what we will add here is our attitude, our intention, our interest. Because the way we approach this practice makes a difference. Is the mind tight? Is the mind curious and interested to learn, no matter what? Does the mind have zest? Does the mind have a wanting—"I want the mind to settle"? Does it want a state? Does it want an experience?

So what is the attitude? Is the heart giving itself? Is it dedicating, as if it's honoring, as if it's putting itself on the altar? As if it's a sacred act, this practice? Are these dimensions of beauty and sacredness in the practice, or do we have a work orientation? Do we bring the mind that we have in daily life, the achievement orientation? Do we bring that? What is the attitude? What is the container?

So becoming tuned to that again, without judgment. If you notice, "Oh yeah, I really want a state. I really want to get concentrated and have absorption and samadhi, access concentration and jhanas^[6]"—okay, yeah, there it is. So sweetheart, yeah, I know. That brings tightness. That brings pain. The practice becomes a source of suffering. So just know. Just notice.

So with that, let's settle. Let's settle and begin.

Ah, settling into our bodies. Blending. Turning your gaze inward to the simplicity. Delicious simplicity. Of taking refuge in this moment. Taking refuge. This body and this breath.

In the goodness, in the goodness of our intention. Of wanting to wake up, wanting to cultivate goodness, kindness, peace. Offering ourselves, offering ourselves wholeheartedly.

Trusting the goodness of our intention. Connecting to something above and beyond ourselves. Trusting. This expansiveness, spaciousness of this goodness that we are a part of. Whether or not we see it, we have access to it. Trusting it and relaxing into it. Trusting the stream that will carry us.

Letting the body relax, soften. As if you're floating, floating in a gently loving stream of goodness. If your body is tight, it's harder. Imagine yourself floating on top of the water with ease. Stream of the dharma, the goodness you're a part of.

Turning away from what is not helpful. Recognizing the joy, the delight of coming back, connecting with the breath. Staying on the breath as if you were surfing this beautiful wave of the breath, this gift of the breath, for as long as possible before dropping off. And connecting, catching the next wave. With interest, with reverence. Not with expectation or tightness, but with grace.

Let the body be soft and relaxed, letting go of any tension. With each breath. Calming, soothing, subtly.

Checking in now and then: is the body relaxed? Ah, is the mind relinquishing, turning away from what's not helpful in this moment? Recognizing the simplicity, the joyful, delicious simplicity of what's already here. Connecting with the breath in the lower abdomen if the mind is busy. Today, the lower abdomen is most settling. Observing the breath as many breaths as available, enjoying surfing, the joy of surfing the breath.

What is the attitude of the mind that's meditating?

And as we end the sit, having appreciation, acknowledgment, gratitude for having been able to show up as much, as well as it's been available. Letting our hearts brighten in the goodness. Trusting there is goodness. Letting go of any judgment. Although distracted, sleepy, it's okay, you showed up. You showed up to the temple as well as you could. Walking, bouncing, crawling, you showed up. It's all that matters. Appreciating, appreciating yourself, and sharing this goodness as a gift, as a gift of generosity with yourself and all beings everywhere. May our practice, our cultivation of peace and goodness support the awakening of all beings everywhere, including ourselves. May all beings be happy. May all beings be free.

Thank you for your practice.

Samadhi (5/5) Aspiration vs. Expectation

So greetings, greetings, international sangha friends around the world, this green-blue planet of ours.

So for this week, we have been exploring supportive conditions for cultivating samadhi, often translated as concentration, but perhaps more preferably translated as calm, unification of the mind, calm abiding, etc. So that there is less of a sense of tightness in the word, that there might be associations for some people with concentration.

And today we combine them all together and brought in the container that holds them all, which is our attitude, our intention. So again, we had started with relinquishing what is not helpful, and on the other side of the coin realizing, "Oh yes, there's beauty, there is grace, there is delight, joy in the simplicity of the present moment." They work together; they support each other, these two supporting conditions.

And then the other couple of supporting conditions we talked about: one was relaxing the body. Relaxing the body so the mind can relax. And then if the body is just relaxed, well, maybe the attitude becomes a little too relaxed. But then on the other side of the coin, with a relaxed body, we have coming back again and again, gently. Atapi: coming back, perseverance, gentle perseverance. And together, vitakka and vicara: connecting and sustaining. Vitakka, initial application; vicara, sustaining.

So all of these four—and you see two and two, the first two are kind of a pair, the second two are kind of a pair—and then what holds all of these is our attitude, our intention, the mind that is meditating. And attitude, intention is so important that actually I have been weaving it through all of these teachings, all of these supporting factors. Our attitude is not separate from them. It is in the way we show up, in the way we approach each of these factors. It's not separate. And yet, it is important to name it today as the container that holds it all, holds our practice, holds our cultivation.

A few notes on attitude, on intention. Sayadaw U Tejaniya^[7], a Burmese monk I've practiced with, has an interesting way of putting attitude. He often says, "What is the quality of the mind? What is the mind that is meditating? Is it a greedy mind? Is it a mind that has aversion and ill will in it? Is it a confused mind?" So is it a mind that is infused with the three poisonous roots^[8] already, or is it a mind that is infused with their opposites? With relinquishment, ease, generosity? Is it a mind that is infused with kindness, goodwill? Is it a mind that is infused with wisdom, with trust, with faith?

So knowing what is the mind that is practicing, what is the mind that's meditating? Is it a mind that wants, "Okay, alright, I want to get concentrated, I want this, I want that"? What is the quality of the mind? At first, if you're beginning in our practice, sometimes it is hard to notice the quality of the mind because we might be a fish swimming in water. It might be hard to know. If the water has dye in it, has a little bit of color in it, we may not notice. But just gently keep noticing, what is the attitude in the mind?

And I tell you, especially with the practice of samadhi—practice of samatha^[9] leading to the state of samadhi—I've seen so many practitioners get exceedingly tight and unfriendly. The sense that, okay, say that I'm in a meditation hall and practicing on retreat. They become so attached without seeing it. They become so contracted, attached to the quiet, to connecting to the breath, to cultivating this, that the mind becomes really brittle and irritable. Every sound, every door that closes, every noise outside, every breath next door is like, "Oh, make it stop! Quiet! I'm trying to develop concentration." It's ouch, ouch, ouch.

Notice. If that arises for you, it's okay, just realize that the practice is becoming a source of suffering because of the attitude in the mind. It's okay. Does the mind have generosity and kindness, or grasping, craving, and aversion? Just notice, what is the mind? So that is one question you can drop in now and then and become attuned to it in a very friendly, gentle way. Because again, it's the water that we swim in in our practice.

And similarly, the sense of intentionality is, what is the intention? Is the intention "me, me, me, I want this, me, me, me"? What is the intention? You get to know it. Is it an intention of service? Are you giving your heart to this practice without expectation? It's wonderful to have aspirations, but not expectations.

So are they different? An aspiration is a beautiful intention. To have an aspiration, an intention, a design... you use the word aspiration for waking up, for service, for generosity, for kindness. So as an aspiration, it lifts us up, it supports us in our path. Whereas expectation—"I expect to wake up, I expect to become more generous"—you see, it's much tighter. This expectation tightens us, it makes us smaller, it becomes about "me, me, me, I expect."

Whereas aspiration, it is as if we're putting ourselves, we're putting our precious minutes, precious moments on the altar of humanity together. It connects us to something above and beyond ourselves that we are a part of. It expands us.

So, attitude, intention. Another thing I wanted to bring here, which is important, is an attitude of interest and curiosity. Whatever happens, even if your mind is distracted, if things are coming up, if it's sleepy—as long as there is interest, curiosity, there is zest. "Oh, this is interesting. Ah." Just like a scientist of your own mind. There is no failed experiment because you always learn, as long as you have that attitude. As long as the attitude is one of openness, curiosity, learning, interest. Chanda^[10], zest, this interest in practice.

Instead of, "Okay, alright, I got it, sit down, it's my 30 minutes. Alright, okay, I gotta do this. Just as I brush my teeth, yeah, I'm supposed to meditate because I read in whatever news articles that it's good for me." Oh, don't. If you're showing up like a soldier, like every day it feels like drudgery, stop practicing for a week. Just don't. Until you love it, until you miss it, until like, "Oh yes." Even actually for longer, until you really feel the desire, the love, the curiosity, the interest. Do it with love. Do it because of love, not because "I have to." That's the perfect way to kill aspiration.

So dear ones, there's so much more to say about samadhi, about this beautiful practice of cultivation. And as I said, it's been a primary practice, the jhanas have been the primary practice for me. And I do like to mention with gratitude, really with love, my Burmese teacher, Pa-Auk Sayadaw^[11], who is a living jhana master, with a lot of devotion and love. So offering the goodness of my practice with you this week to him and all beings everywhere.

Announcements and Closing

So come and visit us at Happy Hour. Diana Clark^[12] and myself, every weekday Pacific Time between 6:00 and 7:00 PM Pacific Time, we are on Zoom. And also Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'm also on YouTube. Come visit us, come practice with us, come practice cultivation of the heart. Metta^[13], loving-kindness, compassion, goodwill, vicarious joy, gratitude, forgiveness—all the practices of the heart, we explore them. We've been exploring them for a long time. So come and join us. It's a lovely sangha, many of you I recognize the names are part of that sangha also. So come and join us when you can, when your heart is called to it. Not because you should, but if your heart wants to cultivate, come and join us. Especially on Zoom because we have small group practice, which is very intimate and sweet.

So thank you so much for the gift of your practice. May you, may all of us, may all beings everywhere know the goodness, know their own goodness. May they be safe, happy, healthy. May they have ease. May they be free, including ourselves. Thank you all. Take good care of your dear selves.