1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:06,080 Hey there, welcome to Tea with Mara. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,840 Thanks for seeking out these recordings and listening. 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,960 My name is George and you may know me as Keoki in the 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:14,280 metaverse. These recordings are from my 5 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:18,320 live sessions in virtual reality and in person at Two Hand Sanga. 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,160 For the best experience of these sessions, you can join me in 7 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,400 virtual reality, but when you can't, or if you want to go back 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,400 and listen again, these audio recordings will be offered 9 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,520 freely. If you have AVR headset or an 10 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,720 Android or Apple smartphone, you can log into VR Chat and search 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,680 for the group Mindfulness VR with No Spaces. 12 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,800 Join that group and you can find me there at 8:00 PM Eastern Time 13 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,600 on Tuesdays or 9:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursdays. 14 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:49,800 If you wish to support my teachings and these recordings, 15 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,520 the best way to do that is to leave a review and share this 16 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,400 podcast with others. And if you find value in them 17 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,760 and you want to, you can make a donation offering right within 18 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:05,720 the Two Hands Sanga website at www.twohandssanga.org/donate. 19 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,120 Now let's invite the bell and begin. 20 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,280 All right, good evening and welcome, and thank you all for 21 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,000 coming tonight. Hopefully we'll have some more 22 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,080 of our friends show up. Some people might be saving up 23 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,600 their VR time for the big event afterwards. 24 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:54,680 For Rick Roll, today is a truly auspicious day for us because on 25 00:01:54,680 --> 00:02:00,920 July 23rd, 1980, Vietnam sent their first cosmonaut into 26 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:06,400 space. the United States and several other nations boycotted 27 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,960 the Olympics in Russia because of the invasion in Afghanistan. 28 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:17,880 Back when we had values and Mount Saint Helens erupted, I 29 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:22,680 remember that and sent hot air and all sorts of stuff shooting 30 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,120 into the air. And on that same day our very 31 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:32,440 own Rick Rolled Ray was also erupted into this world and it 32 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,600 was like 3 years late for the debut of Star Wars. 33 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:42,600 Which might explain why 40 years later Rick rolled erupted into 34 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:47,240 the ancient ruins world in alt space on May the 4th and ran up 35 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,600 to me in the middle of a Dharma talk and booped me on the nose 36 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,000 not realizing that I was a human in the middle of a Dharma talk. 37 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,840 He thought the world was like a game or something and that was 38 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,960 our introduction to Rick rolled on on the may the fourth be with 39 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:11,320 you talk that I do. And subsequently Rick rolled 40 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:16,800 became one of our wonderful community members here and while 41 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,520 here and in many other places in between and is also somebody I 42 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,920 consider to be a dear friend. So happy birthday Ray. 43 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:31,200 May the Force be with you always, and thank you. 44 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,480 And I hope that after this talk, your party tonight here in VR is 45 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,880 going to be a wonderful time for everybody who loves you and 46 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,760 cares about you. And so to all of you who are 47 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,880 here, if you don't already know, I think most of you do based on 48 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,120 your avatars. But if you don't know, stick 49 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,280 around if you're able and help Ray celebrate his birthday. 50 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:56,680 But first, let's talk tonight about aging, about birthdays, 51 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,480 and about how easy it is to fall into the habit of dreading our 52 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,600 birthdays, And if not dreading them, then perhaps not inclining 53 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,800 our minds in the best direction on the day of our celebration. 54 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,280 Rick rolled inspired this talk. He asked him what he was 55 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,440 interested in, and he brought this one up. 56 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:24,800 And we of course wish him a happy birthday and appreciate 57 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,840 him suggesting this topic tonight. 58 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:32,320 But birthdays can be kind of weird because everybody tells us 59 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:39,640 that we're supposed to celebrate the birthday, and we do 60 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:41,320 sometimes. Some of us don't. 61 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,560 Some of us have gotten to an age where birthdays aren't that 62 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,680 important to us anymore. And a lot of us on the, on our 63 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,360 birthday, we start doing a lot of math. 64 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,040 Let me start adding those numbers up and looking back down 65 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:02,240 the line and we, we might say, oh, well, I'm 60 or I'm almost 66 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,040 40 or how many birthdays are there left on my, how many 67 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,880 blinkies are left in my blinker? If you were here the other 68 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:12,200 night, you know what I'm talking about. 69 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,600 Copyright Peter Shepherd But we start kind of looking at our 70 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,800 birthdays and for some of us, it turns into, instead of a 71 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:27,040 celebration, it turns into a sort of a, a, a dread reckoning, 72 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:32,920 a time where we start kind of like instead of celebrating, we 73 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,280 start looking back and sort of auditing. 74 00:05:37,280 --> 00:05:44,280 We we go from a joyful, fun celebration to suddenly it 75 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:49,400 becomes we're auditing our life and what we have had and what we 76 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:53,720 have left to have. And for those of you that know 77 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,960 Rick rolled in here, he has shared often about this, that 78 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:03,200 birthdays are a little bit hard for him because he ends up 79 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,400 sometimes spending his time ruminating on all the things 80 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,800 that he feels like he should have done or hasn't done or 81 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,320 whatever, all the things he wanted to do or be by this point 82 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,880 but didn't get to. And and then like sits there 83 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:18,720 wondering like, oh, why didn't I do that? 84 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:22,080 Or how that kind of thing. And I don't think he's alone in 85 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,360 that. I think a lot of people have 86 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,720 that tendency to do that. And it's all things, these 87 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,640 things that we judge ourselves for not having done and 88 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:37,200 whatever, they're just things that sort of society has told us 89 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,440 that we should have done by now or whatever. 90 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:45,640 It's all based on comparing ourselves to a false reality, 91 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:49,080 really. And he has shared with us that 92 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,400 he finds it a bit depressing. And I think a lot of us can 93 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,240 probably relate to that feeling sometimes. 94 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:01,560 And that might be the first lesson of the talk tonight, is 95 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,200 that a lot of times if what we do is we suffer about these 96 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,120 kinds of things, or anything really in silence. 97 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:11,400 And we think, oh, I'm the only one who feels this way or 98 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,880 whatever. When actually, if we talk about 99 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,800 it openly in groups like this, might find that a lot of people 100 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,360 can appreciate those feelings and that we're not as alone as 101 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,600 we thought we were in feeling those things. 102 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:34,840 And the mind's favorite game is to take inventory and compare. 103 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,160 The mind loves to compare things. 104 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,440 What immediately appears when we think of getting older is not 105 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:49,000 usually gratitude. It's not usually being happy to 106 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:50,800 turn another year old or whatever. 107 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,520 But as as Wee Willie said the other night, it's a privilege 108 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:57,160 denied too many, so we should be grateful. 109 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:58,840 I think that was Wee Willie said that. 110 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,440 But instead what we do is we start looking back and we think 111 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,240 about all the missed opportunities or careers that we 112 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,000 didn't pursue or wish we had pursued or whatever 113 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:17,080 relationships that may have ended or not gotten started as 114 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,560 we would have liked them to, or dreams that we let go of or 115 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:25,040 bodies that don't cooperate. That's one I'm familiar with. 116 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,240 Time that feels like we've somehow lost it when really you 117 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,600 can't lose time in one way of looking at it another way you 118 00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,799 very much can. But the Buddha would recognize 119 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:42,000 these thoughts immediately as papancha and it's that 120 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,920 proliferation of the mind that we've talked about a couple of 121 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:49,920 times recently. One thought of Oh man, I wish I 122 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,640 had done that thing. One little thought like that 123 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:57,880 suddenly explodes into fifty thoughts and becomes a birthday 124 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:04,920 autobiography sometimes, and not one written by a kind author. 125 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:12,920 So our feeling, when we feel a certain way about something 126 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:18,440 pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral becomes a perception, and that 127 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:23,880 perception becomes thinking, and that thinking becomes conceptual 128 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:29,120 proliferation or papancha, until suddenly we're no longer sitting 129 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,120 around in this Dharma hall meditating together. 130 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:37,040 We're reliving something that happened or didn't happen 40 131 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,320 years ago or 50 years ago or 30 years ago or whatever. 132 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,840 And this is how we plant a seed and water it, and it grows very 133 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:55,480 rapidly. Rumination and comparing is a a 134 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:00,640 very fast growing weed. It makes our kudzu here in 135 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:11,400 Georgia look tame by comparison. And the Buddha never sat around 136 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,520 going. He didn't really talk about like 137 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,480 how old people were and it wasn't a you. 138 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:19,440 You'd be pressed to find a suit. It it's out there. 139 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,480 I'm sure it's out there, but you'd be fairly hard pressed to 140 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:26,240 dig up the sutas where he does talk about age because it it 141 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,600 just wasn't important in what he was teaching. 142 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,400 Age had nothing to do with teaching the Dharma. 143 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,840 And I can tell you some of my own suffering around this. 144 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,240 I just mentioned it recently. My whole life I've always felt 145 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,440 like I was 25 years old. Before I was 25, I felt 25. 146 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,160 And after I was 25, I kept feeling like I was 25 for a very 147 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,960 long time until I turned about 55. 148 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:58,120 And around the time I turned 55, boy, things changed for me. 149 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:03,880 And I, I started the first thing I noticed when I turned around 150 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,480 the age of 55, the first thing that I noticed is when I would 151 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,680 stand up from a chair, from a sitting position, I would make a 152 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,120 weird sound. It went from this being a couple 153 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:21,080 of snap crackles and pops to being grunts and weird noises 154 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,480 and my wife going, are you OK over there? 155 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:31,040 What was that? And I slowly, very subtly 156 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,240 stopped thinking of myself all the time as being 25. 157 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:41,520 And I began noticing little moments where I would think I, I 158 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,040 may not actually be 25 anymore. What? 159 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,080 What's happening here? And I was kind of astonished by 160 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:49,920 it because I felt like I had conquered that. 161 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,360 I felt like, this is it. I'm going to feel like 25 the 162 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,640 rest of my life. And suddenly I wasn't anymore. 163 00:11:57,200 --> 00:12:02,040 And my COVID beard that I grew is now more salt than pepper. 164 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:07,920 And it used to be a good mix of salt and pepper. 165 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:13,880 Great now I got a salt and pepper song stuck in my head. 166 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:25,000 But anyways, my body, this not 25 year old body everyday finds 167 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,520 new physical pains that I've never experienced for doing 168 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:34,960 amazing feats such as breathing or sneezing or blinking too 169 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,920 quickly or something. Everything I do there's a new 170 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,160 ache or pain. And make no mistake, thinking in 171 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:47,000 this way is dangerous. Ignoring reality completely and 172 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,760 pretending you're 25 is dangerous, but also focusing on 173 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:56,680 the wrong things and dwelling on not being 25 can also be 174 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,920 dangerous in a different way. Meaning like if I sit around and 175 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,200 I complain about being old all the time, then what's going to 176 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,360 happen is I'm going to start finding all manner of aging 177 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,520 issues that I can focus on and they'll be everywhere because 178 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:17,320 you find what you look for. Whereas if I focus on things 179 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:23,040 that are amazing in my life, not focus on being 25, that's just 180 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:27,360 as bad, but focus on all the amazing things I have at this 181 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:33,560 age, how incredible it is to be this age, whatever this age is 182 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:38,800 for you, You know, for me, if I look at it and I go, man, this 183 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:45,600 body has survived incredible hazards. 184 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:51,120 I have not been kind to my body and I'm here. 185 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,600 I'm alive with a few minor aches and pains. 186 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,200 I'm here and alive and doing pretty good. 187 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,240 But if we look at it just a little differently, all the 188 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:02,920 sudden we're down a rabbit hole thinking that Oh my gosh, I'm 189 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,360 falling apart. I can't, this aging sucks and 190 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:10,320 all that kind of stuff. But if we take the time to look, 191 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,360 we have so much to be amazed by. Like Rocky from Project Hail 192 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,000 Mary, you know, a maze, a maze, a maze. 193 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,000 That's how we should be living our lives, is being amazed by 194 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,240 everything that we have before us. 195 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,960 And you can be amazed by even difficult things. 196 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:37,480 You can find beauty in dreadful things and you can find joy in 197 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:42,200 difficult times. But it does take practice. 198 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,560 And this struck me as I thought about it tonight. 199 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:54,040 The Buddha speaks with children, young monks, old monks, kings, 200 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:58,000 farmers, people who are dying, people with one foot in the 201 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:04,360 grave already, quite literally. And he almost never talks about 202 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:08,160 age or treats it as something that's spiritually important. 203 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,560 Instead, he asks questions like, what is it that you're 204 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,280 cultivating? What is it that you're clinging 205 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,800 to? What is it that you're 206 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:25,600 practicing? Because you are always 207 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:31,200 practicing something and because awakening has no age 208 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,760 requirement, there's no minimum age to wake up and there's no 209 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:44,400 there's no age too late to wake up until until there is no age. 210 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,200 I guess there is actually a little bit of an age to wake up 211 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,640 to start waking up. The Buddha did say that you have 212 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:56,480 to be at least seven years old to Start learning about the 213 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,400 Dharma and putting your feet on the path to awakening. 214 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:03,040 But he did some funny stuff like that. 215 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:08,960 He initially said it had to be like he always used the number 7 216 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,400 in that case, but he said it was like a lot longer now. 217 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:17,160 You had to be, I don't know, the 717 or something, I don't know. 218 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,040 He kept winding that number back and he eventually got to seven 219 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,480 and all of that had to do with Rahula, his son becoming a 220 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,360 monastic. So, but I digress. 221 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,600 He didn't worry about this stuff too much. 222 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,960 He just worried about what are you doing with your time? 223 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,960 What are you, how are you using the life you have not? 224 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,000 What did you do in the past or what did you not accomplish from 225 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,760 the past or what should you have accomplished from the past? 226 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,240 He didn't talk about those things. 227 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,560 He didn't ask what are you going to do in the future? 228 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,240 What are you going to? Where are you going to be in 10 229 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,040 years? What's your five year plan? 230 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,960 He didn't ask any of that. He just said what? 231 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,600 What's happening right now? What are you cultivating? 232 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:04,920 What are you becoming right now? Your karma from the past put you 233 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,359 in this moment, and you can't change that. 234 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,880 Whatever you do right now is what's going to decide where you 235 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,240 are 10 years from now. So what are you going to do 236 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,800 right now? What are you going to do in this 237 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,720 present moment? And where is that going to take 238 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,440 you? Do you want it to take you to a 239 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,720 lasting happiness, or do you want it to take you to more 240 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:32,640 suffering? This is simple as that. 241 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,520 That's the that's really like you could learn nothing else 242 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:42,440 about the Dharma except do you want to be happy or do you want 243 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:48,120 to suffer And then just inclining yourself in that 244 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:52,040 direction, not ending suffering. He didn't say. 245 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:55,040 He didn't say tomorrow you're going to end your suffering. 246 00:17:55,040 --> 00:18:00,920 He said let's start heading in that direction and let's put 247 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,800 effort in to consistently head in that direction instead of not 248 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,440 paying attention and drifting in the wrong direction. 249 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:16,600 On Guli Mob, the serial killer in the Buddhist Canon, he 250 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,440 changed his path very late in life. 251 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:29,000 King Pasinati regularly repeatedly matured little chunks 252 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,280 overtime. He got a little bit more 253 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:36,280 awakened overtime. Lots of elderly lay followers 254 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:44,440 entered the stream, as they call it, late in life, entering the 255 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:46,360 stream, they call it stream enterer. 256 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,760 That's Sotopanya, which is the first of the four sort of stages 257 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:52,720 of awakening. So a lot of these elderly 258 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:57,400 laypeople became stream enterers very late in their elderly 259 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,000 lives. And if you believe in rebirth 260 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,400 and all of that means that once they become a stream enterer, it 261 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,520 means that they're only have to live a maximum of seven more 262 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:12,640 lives. There's that number again, seven 263 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,200 more lives before they will reach full awakening. 264 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,880 I don't know if I believe in all of that, but I do believe in 265 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:27,760 stream entry. The Dharma doesn't really talk 266 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,920 about, oh, you should have started sooner. 267 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,400 You should have progressed more, you should have achieved this or 268 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,360 that. All the shoulds. 269 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:37,880 We don't really get into all of that. 270 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:43,280 We get into practice. We get into what are you doing 271 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,040 right now? What what's what is something I 272 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,560 can do right now that's going to lean me in the direction where 273 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,200 of the place that I want to go so that my karma leads me in 274 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,400 that direction. And when I talk about it like 275 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,160 this, I'm sometimes conscious of the fact that sometimes people 276 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:08,440 assign like metaphysical, sort of like spiritual magical 277 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:14,360 thought to that. But karma leading you towards 278 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:19,000 lasting happiness or to or to away from it, towards suffering. 279 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:25,240 It just means like what do I whatever I do right now is 280 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:29,160 setting me up for? Going in that direction, if I go 281 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:33,680 out and punch a kid in the face outside, that's going to take me 282 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,240 away from lasting happiness because the police are going to 283 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,600 show up and I'm going to have to explain why I punched that 284 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,080 little kid in the face or whatever it is. 285 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,600 I don't know why my mind went to punching a kid in the face, but 286 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:48,920 there you go. And you're literally it's cause 287 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,000 and effect, it's action and and outcomes. 288 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,880 So if I do something that will get me into trouble, then I'm 289 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,680 going to find trouble. But if I go out there and I 290 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:05,400 spread joy and happiness, I tell somebody how nice they looked at 291 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:06,880 it. Today I saw a woman in a 292 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,480 Starbucks walk in and I just told her she looked like she was 293 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:12,160 having a great day. I hope you are. 294 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,080 And it just made her whole day. She was very happy that somebody 295 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:17,920 she didn't care about a compliment. 296 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,400 She she liked that somebody spoke to her because the kids in 297 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:23,880 the Starbucks sure as heck don't. 298 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,480 So they can barely. Well, I won't go down there. 299 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,000 We have a generation out there right now that oftentimes 300 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:37,120 doesn't really even speak. And that's karma. 301 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:42,960 They arrived at that station in life by growing up in the COVID 302 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:45,400 era and all sorts of other reasons. 303 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:50,440 But anyhow, you can tell how tired I am because my mind's 304 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:54,120 going in 10 different. I could give like 5 Dharma talks 305 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:58,320 tonight, probably because I keep having offshoot ideas here. 306 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,120 But one of the cruelest habits of our mind is that we don't 307 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:08,160 compare ourselves to actual reality. 308 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,360 We compare ourselves to imaginary versions of ourselves. 309 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,320 The person who should be making more money, the person who 310 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,160 should have exercised more, the person who should have written 311 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,880 that novel by now, or the person who should have done all the 312 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,880 traveling they wanted to do, or saved more money, or be kinder, 313 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:33,320 or make less mistakes. And we compare ourselves to a 314 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,760 person that never existed in the first place. 315 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,680 And the, and that's just for the imaginary ones. 316 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,800 We also compare ourselves to real people. 317 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,560 And comparing yourself to another person who's completely 318 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:51,480 different from you is just, I mean, that's incredible that we 319 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:55,160 would even allow ourselves to do that, right? 320 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,840 It's what, what value can there possibly be found within 321 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:04,520 comparing yourself to another different person when they're 322 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:08,520 different? And we do it all the time, all 323 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:19,360 day, every day. And there's not some fixed self 324 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:24,840 inside of us that's broken. The self that we're grieving is 325 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,960 usually an imaginary self that we made-up based on those false 326 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,400 comparisons. And that's where fear enters in. 327 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,120 Not just like, oh, I'm getting older, but I don't have enough 328 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:45,920 time or stuff like that. The Buddha just reminds us that 329 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:52,800 we never possessed A guaranteed outcome or guaranteed tomorrow. 330 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:56,320 The Buddha reminds us that the only time that we have 331 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,080 guaranteed is this moment, right now and now. 332 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:12,360 Anything that you have exists here and now and you don't know 333 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:22,070 if it exists in the future. And he said, don't chase after 334 00:24:22,070 --> 00:24:24,950 that past. Don't place expectations on the 335 00:24:24,950 --> 00:24:28,110 future. The present moment alone is what 336 00:24:28,110 --> 00:24:33,110 should be clearly seen. And this is this is an important 337 00:24:33,110 --> 00:24:38,080 point here because he didn't say don't plan and don't have goals 338 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:40,960 and all of that. He said just don't live in a 339 00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:47,120 future, Don't Daydream your life away and don't waste your life 340 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:51,840 away reflecting and remembering and reliving the past or trying 341 00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:55,920 to because you can't. You can learn from the past and 342 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,520 you can make goals in the future, but don't waste your 343 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,360 living trying to be in one of those two places because you 344 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:06,600 can't. At least not yet. 345 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,800 We may get to the point where science and stuff allows us to 346 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:16,200 travel to some alternate timeline like somebody's avatar 347 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:22,200 in here earlier doc, but we can't do that yet. 348 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,680 That we know of. Not that I know of. 349 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:34,080 The Buddha just says, what has your mind become instead of what 350 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,520 have you accomplished? What has your mind become? 351 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:43,800 You might never be famous or wealthy or a best seller or get 352 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,440 to retire early or travel the world or whatever, but you have 353 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,520 become something. And has it been that you've 354 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,840 become more patient as it being in that you've become more 355 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,520 generous? Have you become less reactive or 356 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,000 more forgiving? And if so, then you have not 357 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,600 wasted a moment of your life because it has LED you to being 358 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,680 that better kind or more generous person. 359 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:15,040 The Buddha pretty consistently measured success ethically 360 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:20,040 instead of socially. He said avoid evil, cultivate 361 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,560 good, purify the mind, and that's it. 362 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,640 That's the things that he said that you should focus on and 363 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,440 that you won't go wrong doing that. 364 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:37,480 One of his very hopeful teachings is that every 365 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,440 intentional action you do plants a new seed, which means no 366 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:46,200 matter your age, your next intention until you don't have 367 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:48,720 an age anymore and you have no intentions. 368 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:54,040 In other words, till you kick the bucket, your next intention 369 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:56,760 is the only thing that really matters. 370 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,560 This conversation matters. This time together matters. 371 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,560 This meditation matters. The kindness that you show to 372 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,160 one another when you leave here matters. 373 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:15,400 And you're never just living off of your past karma. 374 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,120 Yes, you are living into your karma, but you're never living 375 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,560 off of your past karma. You're always creating 376 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:35,490 tomorrow's karma. Today when I drank a an iced 377 00:27:35,490 --> 00:27:40,010 Blondie that creates karma that I'll deal with tomorrow. 378 00:27:43,090 --> 00:27:47,330 When I spent time with my daughter reading a book tonight 379 00:27:47,330 --> 00:27:51,200 and we're reading the same book right now, doing a buddy read. 380 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,000 And when we went for coffee and tea together and spent some time 381 00:27:55,000 --> 00:28:00,000 together and laughed and joked and read in silence and just 382 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,600 enjoyed one another's company. That is creating karma that I 383 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:09,000 will live into tomorrow. A month from now when she's at 384 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,760 Disney by herself, the karma that I will be living into is 385 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:20,560 having raised a child that is now out of my house and on her 386 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,320 own. And the karma that she created 387 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:27,320 with me all these years alongside me is going to be her 388 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,920 out in the world, surviving and finding her way and learning to 389 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:36,600 grow and change and all of that. We're creating our future with 390 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,200 our actions right now. So what are we actioning? 391 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,560 That's it. And this is the crux of it for 392 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:53,480 all of us, but for Ray, this is the part that I see for Ray in 393 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:58,280 my own view, Ray, who shared this idea with us tonight for 394 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,160 this talk. Historically, this time of year 395 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:03,520 tends to focus on what he has not. 396 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:10,640 While those who love Ray look at him and all we see is what Rick 397 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,000 rolled or Ray gives to the world, we don't see. 398 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:20,520 I don't know anyone who looks at Ray and sees failures. 399 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,640 I know a lot of people, many of whom, not even most of whom, 400 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,880 many of whom are in this room. A lot of people who look at Ray 401 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:38,680 and they see a person who gives time and energy and money and 402 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:43,840 everything that they have to helping other people and being 403 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,840 there for them and helping people who are in need and 404 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,560 people who have financial troubles or hard times. 405 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,360 People who just need someone to show up for them. 406 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:59,600 And people who, when they're feeling low, he'll be there to 407 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,200 play a game of golf with them or something else or just hang out 408 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:10,840 and listen. And he does this in his real 409 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:16,840 life, not just in VR. And he's not alone. 410 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,440 A lot of us have these wonderful traits. 411 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:26,840 Ray is especially gifted in this area, giving thought and care to 412 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:34,080 people. And it's a weird irony that 413 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,880 sometimes the people who give the most feel like they have the 414 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,880 least when they look back like that. 415 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,440 And it's a bit of a curse that we look back. 416 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,560 I don't mean to pick on Ray with this in a positive way, but it's 417 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,120 I think we all do this. It's a pity that we look back 418 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,360 and we see everything we didn't do or everything we should have 419 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,240 done. We don't look back and see, I 420 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,720 helped this person when they needed a shoulder to cry on. 421 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,800 I I have supported that person when they needed help. 422 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,880 I was there for that person when they celebrated their big 423 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,600 victory. Or we don't look at that stuff 424 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,360 and we should be. That's the direction we should 425 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,880 be facing and the route that we should be taking. 426 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,800 Ray gives and then mistakenly thinks that he's Cameron and 427 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,920 Ferris Bueller, who doesn't think he's seen anything cool 428 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:36,400 today. And so, just as Ferris suggested 429 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,640 for Cameron, we can say the same thing. 430 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,040 Shake it up. All of you who might think you 431 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,600 aren't doing the right thing, shake it up, look at it 432 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,920 differently. Turn the opposite direction from 433 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,680 the direction that's dragging you down, and look in that other 434 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,120 direction and you'll see all that you have done. 435 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,720 And you might say to yourself, Oh yeah, but I did all that for 436 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,760 other people, not for me. But doing that for other people 437 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:14,280 is doing it for you. When you help other people, you 438 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:16,520 help yourself. And when you help yourself, you 439 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:21,360 help other people. Karma is intention. 440 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:28,000 As long as intention is still functioning, your life is still 441 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:34,360 unfolding. I turned a, a, a friend of mine 442 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:41,600 onto a, a, a musical person the other day and they were stunned 443 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:46,520 by this revelation. And this musician has a line in 444 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:53,640 one of his songs that says the system is Jim Henson and we're 445 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,200 all Muppets or something like that. 446 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,640 The system is Jim Henson and we're all Muppets. 447 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:05,800 And your mind works that way if you don't pay attention to it. 448 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:12,360 If you look at the puppet show, your habit, energy, mind, your 449 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:21,240 unobserved, untrained mind is the puppet master, and you're 450 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:26,880 the puppet. But if you train your mind, then 451 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:32,320 you become the puppet master. That's what this is all about. 452 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:38,520 Regret is not an enemy that we need to fight or something like 453 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:42,320 that. Regret just says, it's just 454 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,960 saying I get it, I understand and that's beautiful if it can 455 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,880 be, if we let it. The danger is when regret 456 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:53,360 becomes who we are. I made mistakes become I am my 457 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:59,120 mistakes. When regret goes from being I 458 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:03,880 wish I had done that thing to I'm nobody because I didn't do 459 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:08,239 that thing. That's when we are in the wrong 460 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:16,239 territory. The Buddha taught to face the 461 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,719 other way, put 1 foot in front of the other and keep moving. 462 00:34:26,679 --> 00:34:29,800 When I was 32, I got married and I felt like I had waited too 463 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,400 long. My wife and I didn't want kids. 464 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:36,639 So when my biological clock, not hers, kicked in at the ripe old 465 00:34:36,639 --> 00:34:39,679 age of 37, I thought I'd waited too long. 466 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:41,400 I was too old. I couldn't do it. 467 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,800 I always swore that I wouldn't be that old parent like my 468 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:46,800 parents were. My parents were like 469 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,760 grandparents, and I didn't. I said I wouldn't be that way. 470 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,639 And I had a lot of reasons why we should not have a kid. 471 00:34:53,639 --> 00:34:59,080 And then we had a kid, and that kid is going off to college now. 472 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:06,880 I would have never bet on that. So don't ever make the mistake 473 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:11,520 of thinking that you messed up or you missed out or your your 474 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,120 best is behind you or anything like that. 475 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:18,800 This all goes back to that comparing yourself. 476 00:35:24,240 --> 00:35:27,400 So I'll wrap us up and we'll do some meditation here. 477 00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,680 But if you just think about coming to the end of your life 478 00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,800 and not asking, did I accomplish enough? 479 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,000 But instead asking, did I love well? 480 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:47,200 Did I practice sincerely? Did I become kinder? 481 00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:53,080 Did I meet the life that I had with increasing wisdom? 482 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,160 And if those answers are yes, then your life has been well 483 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,040 lived and you don't have to be at the end of it. 484 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,840 You can look at wherever you are on the spectrum of age. 485 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,000 And if you're not at the end of your life, and by the way, you 486 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:09,760 don't know, you don't know if you're at the end of your life, 487 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:13,960 you, you might think you are, you might think you're not and 488 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:15,960 you walk out and get hit by a bus tomorrow. 489 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:22,040 So treat it like you're at the end of your life and ask have 490 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:26,880 you lived well, loved well, been sincere and kind and caring and 491 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,760 increased your wisdom? And if the answer is yes, great. 492 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,040 Keep you keep doing it. You're doing great. 493 00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:36,640 If the answer is no, then turn around, face the other 494 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:41,440 direction, and start creating the karma that will carry you 495 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:49,440 every day in that direction. So let's meditate with that for 496 00:36:49,440 --> 00:37:06,120 a bit. Just take up whatever 497 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:13,400 comfortable posture you can. Let your hands fall wherever 498 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:17,280 they feel comfortable in your lap or your knees, whatever. 499 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,400 If you need more of those slow deep in breaths and longer 500 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:33,600 slower exhales, go ahead and do those and just reflect on that 501 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,760 in breath. And then pay attention to that 502 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:52,590 out breath, letting it return to normal but never letting go, at 503 00:37:52,590 --> 00:37:56,990 least not yet of observing it as it comes in and out. 504 00:38:00,990 --> 00:38:07,800 Just breathing and being here and it may not seem like it, but 505 00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:12,800 this is what we just said to do. Creating actions that are going 506 00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:14,400 to carry you into the next moment. 507 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:17,040 What are you creating here? You're creating peace and calm 508 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:22,800 and kindness, observation. And that's going to carry you 509 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:32,520 into a certain kind of future. And if you continue to do 510 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,600 similar actions, then you'll continue to move in that 511 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:37,360 direction. That's it. 512 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:46,120 You can notice that you're being supported by whatever chair 513 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,960 cushion you're on. You're being held by community. 514 00:38:56,410 --> 00:39:00,530 You're not trying to make your breath deeper, slower, or more 515 00:39:00,530 --> 00:39:03,210 meaningful. Now you're just observing what 516 00:39:03,210 --> 00:39:08,720 the breath is doing. And if the mind wanders, just 517 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:11,480 come back to it. No criticism or judgment. 518 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:16,920 Just come back to it. Notice whatever sensations are 519 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:21,520 present in this moment, in the next Is it warmth? 520 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:27,160 Is it coolness, pressure, tingling or comfort? 521 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:40,640 Discomfort and just like that mistaken comparison to a false 522 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:44,200 reality, don't judge your moment right now. 523 00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:46,080 If you're uncomfortable, just notice that you're 524 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,120 uncomfortable. You don't have to say, oh, I 525 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:51,680 should be comfortable. You can just say, Oh yeah, 526 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:59,960 there's discomfort here. This body is experiencing 527 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:06,280 discomfort in this moment, or this body is perfectly fine in 528 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:15,080 this moment. You might have moments where you 529 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,160 suddenly think, oh, yeah, but I'm not 20 years old anymore. 530 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:23,160 A stiff knee or an aching back, a shoulder that complaints or 531 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:31,320 neck that reminds you of that. Just noticing without resisting 532 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:33,560 or telling stories about it to yourself. 533 00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:39,200 Making up stories, just noticing these sensations that you 534 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:43,520 experience in this moment. And recognize that this body has 535 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:50,160 carried you through every joy and every sorrow, every mistake 536 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:59,480 and success and every expectation, every ordinary 537 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:04,960 Tuesday. And instead of judging it, just 538 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,880 thank yourself. Thank your body. 539 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:14,040 Be like Snoop Dogg when he thanked himself. 540 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:18,360 I want to thank me for making me possible. 541 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:30,600 Notice the stories of the mind. Notice the mind itself creating 542 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:35,640 these stories, and you begin to realize that that's just the job 543 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:38,320 that it's doing. It's not right or wrong. 544 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:40,960 It's not true or false. It's just a thing that's doing a 545 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,040 thing. And you don't have to believe 546 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,840 it. You don't have to buy into it. 547 00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:50,520 And then when you do that, those thoughts will ride off into the 548 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,240 sunset without you, and you don't have to follow. 549 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:59,040 You start to realize that thoughts don't ever stay for 550 00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,520 very long. If we let them go, they'll go. 551 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:05,320 It's when we jump on. We ride with them, we think 552 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:07,040 they're staying, but really we're going. 553 00:42:14,770 --> 00:42:17,610 Mine might start cranking up stories for you. 554 00:42:17,610 --> 00:42:20,290 I should have. I wish I had. 555 00:42:21,730 --> 00:42:23,810 I'm behind. I've wasted time. 556 00:42:25,090 --> 00:42:27,530 If one of those stories appears, just notice it. 557 00:42:28,410 --> 00:42:31,970 As thinking, as planning, as remembering or comparing. 558 00:42:34,050 --> 00:42:38,760 No need to finish it, just notice it, let it go and go back 559 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:40,240 to the breathing. Begin again. 560 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:47,200 Another step in the right direction, the wise direction. 561 00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:17,560 And then in the interest of giving us all some time to share 562 00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:24,560 together before Rick Rolls event, let's wrap up here. 563 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,440 Start to bring your attention back out into the space, 564 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,720 wiggling and moving your body a little bit to bring some 565 00:43:35,720 --> 00:43:39,520 sensation back and attention back into that. 566 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:44,640 And then you can end with another nice big deep in breath 567 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,320 and long slow exhale and a stretch if you like. 568 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,800 You're still here. It's over. 569 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:17,000 Go. Practice. 570 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:18,800 Go.