1 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,400 I'm Danielle and we're going to, we're going to try something a 2 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,520 little bit different tonight and if you like it, we can keep 3 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,800 doing it in future weeks. And if you don't like it, we can 4 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,840 do something else. Want to talk tonight about 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,439 Lojang. Lojang is a training program, a 6 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:35,960 mind heart training program associated with Tibetan Buddhism 7 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,400 and pragmatic Buddhism's. Our lineage goes through Chan 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:44,120 and Zen, so it doesn't go through Tibetan, but we do think 9 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,480 about using tools that might be helpful. 10 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:50,400 And I think that the idea of this Lojang training might be 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:54,080 helpful to us. So Lojang training in the strict 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,880 sense, in the Tibetan Buddin sense, it's a very structured 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,880 training program that requires a lot of guidance and a lot of 14 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:01,520 reflection. And we're not, I'm not 15 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,680 approaching it exactly this way. I'm thinking about this more as 16 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:09,280 a sort of cognitive reframing tool and a tool that we could 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:15,720 use maybe to help us achieve our better achieve the goals of 18 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,320 enlightenment in awakening. So the idea with Lojang is 19 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,240 there's a series of 59 slogans or phrases or or statements, and 20 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:31,160 the idea is to deeply meditate on one of the statements and 21 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,320 meditate so much that the statement kind of becomes more 22 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:37,320 abstract and conceptual and kind of settles into your body. 23 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:40,200 All of these statements are designed to help us think about 24 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,320 various facets of Buddhism so that we can think about how they 25 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:46,320 work in our lives and then how they become a part of how we 26 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:50,600 kind of engaged in the world. I can't go over all 59, so I'm 27 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,760 just going to go over a few that can help us at least with this 28 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,840 idea of perception and refraining the way that we see 29 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,880 the world so that we can better train our mind and our heart. 30 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,360 So we're less reactive, we're less ego centered, and we are 31 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,919 better able to achieve the kind of enlightenment that we're 32 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:10,680 going for. And I keep saying achieve as if 33 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,000 it was a goal oriented thing, but you know what I'm saying? 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,280 This is, you know, it's not a a race, but it's a practice 35 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:20,000 anyway. So I'm going to talk about a few 36 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:25,760 of them. So 1 slogan #2 says regard all 37 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,560 dharmas as dreams. One of the points of these is 38 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,400 that sometimes these slogans seem very abstract and that way 39 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,640 they're a little bit like a Zen koan where it's kind of trying 40 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:39,480 to figure out what it means as part of what you gain through 41 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,680 enlightenment. But I'm going to explain it to 42 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:42,720 you to make it a little bit easier. 43 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,360 I'm not going to make you sit there and just like meditate on 44 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,280 what does this mean when we're saying regard all dharmas as 45 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,000 dreams, when we, when he, they talk about this, what they're 46 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,440 saying is that all of our experiences, 1 they're, they're 47 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:58,680 always changing, right? So this does relate to the 48 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:03,320 concept of impermanence, that even though our experiences feel 49 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,640 real and tangible, it is all sort of temporary and it's all 50 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,240 you know in our interpretation of an event. 51 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:15,280 The idea with this regard all dharmas as dreams is to think 52 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,760 about your experiences not as sort of concrete fixed reality, 53 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,440 but as a really fluid part of life. 54 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:28,240 The purpose of focusing on this idea is to help us to let go of 55 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,280 our attachment to the way that things that we think things 56 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,440 should be, or the way we want things to be or the way we don't 57 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,800 want things to be. So the idea is if we can imagine 58 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:43,680 a very our very fluid state of of existence and that we frame 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,480 that state of existence and understand it in a variety of 60 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,200 maybe not so helpful ways. Like you've had dreams and 61 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,160 they're just bizarre and they don't really make sense of 62 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,240 things. Sometimes we experience world in 63 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,000 our world in that way. So the idea is if we can think 64 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:03,280 about life as a really fluid, moment by moment dynamic 65 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:09,160 experience that we interpret in a variety of ways, we can let go 66 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,600 of the story that we're telling ourselves about what the way 67 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,800 that things are or the way that things should be. 68 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,399 So that's the point of focusing on this idea of regard all 69 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:22,680 dharmas as dreams, another one when the world is filled with 70 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,720 evil, transform all mishaps into the path of awakening. 71 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,440 This one I felt was really appropriate for right now a lot 72 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:36,080 of people are suffering, and the idea there is to use all of 73 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,400 life's difficulties as opportunities for practice. 74 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,840 One of the reasons that many of us come to Buddhism is because 75 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,840 we're told that it can help us help alleviate our suffering and 76 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:49,560 the suffering of others, right? Which means we experience 77 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,560 suffering. What this is telling us is try 78 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,600 to learn from those experiences or use those experiences to help 79 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,560 you on your path. We often get really reactive 80 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:03,080 when things don't go the way that we want. 81 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,800 When we see things that are bad that are happening in the world 82 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,120 where people are getting hurt or where we're we we are getting 83 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:15,320 hurt, we tend to have a really strong initial reaction that may 84 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,520 not be helpful. And instead what this is telling 85 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,800 us is like you're going to have a strong reaction when you see 86 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,160 bad things in the world. When bad things happen to you, 87 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,480 of course you're going to have a strong reaction. 88 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,600 But instead of acting through that strong, a strong reaction, 89 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,760 use that as a moment of reflection, of learning, of 90 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,120 observation. See if you can step back from 91 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:39,800 that reaction and see where it's living in your body and make a 92 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,560 more intentional choice about how moving, about moving 93 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,560 forward. So the idea of when the world is 94 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,080 filled with evil, transform all mishaps into the path of 95 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,760 awakening is that we can use our daily experience, no matter how 96 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:59,120 difficult it is, to help us reframe the way that we interact 97 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,640 with the world. This is not to say that we 98 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,200 should pretend like nothing bad is happening, but this is to say 99 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,680 that we don't have to take on the weight of all of the bad 100 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,680 things that are happening to us or to the people that we love. 101 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,000 We can observe that things are happening. 102 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,640 We don't have to hold on to the emotional weight of the bad 103 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,120 things happening. The idea with this is that using 104 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,920 this, using bad things that happened to you or to the people 105 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,680 that you love, as practice, is to let go of that emotional 106 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,520 reactivity so that you can engage in the work that would 107 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,040 actually be helpful for you and for others. 108 00:06:36,280 --> 00:06:40,560 It is really difficult to solve big problems that are causing a 109 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:44,040 lot of pain while you're in the midst of the pain because all of 110 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,640 your actions are informed by that sort of pain. 111 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,760 So if we can step back and observe that we are in a 112 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,720 difficult situation, that we are observing pain and suffering, 113 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,040 then that can help us to not be as reactive, to be more 114 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,600 intentional about how we're going to engage with these bad 115 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,520 things that are happening to us or to other people in our lives. 116 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:10,240 Two more. So one is drive all blames into 117 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,160 one. This is this one gets 118 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,240 misinterpreted a lot because people think that that means 119 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:19,440 like blame people for what's happening. 120 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,840 And the one is you it your reactivity. 121 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,800 So the idea is to take responsibility for your own 122 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,720 reactivity. So one of the problems that 123 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,200 often happens when we are suffering or when we see 124 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,600 suffering, we want to assign blame. 125 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,680 Whose fault is it? Whose responsibility is it? 126 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,400 What's the cause of it? And what this is saying is that 127 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,680 that doesn't necessarily help you, that what's better is to 128 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,520 take responsible for what's coming up for you, your own 129 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,840 reactivity about this thing that is problematic or hurtful or 130 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,440 whatever, and sit with that part, sit with your reactivity. 131 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,640 And in the same way, if you can sit with your reactivity, 132 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,160 observe it, step back from it instead of like allowing it to 133 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,800 consume you, you might be able to be more intentional in the 134 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,760 way that you engage with whatever that thing is that you 135 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,760 want to blame somebody else for. So it's not saying to take 136 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,760 everything onto yourself in the sense of like, I'm responsible 137 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,600 for everything, it's all my fault. 138 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:19,240 It's to say that I am responsible for the way what I 139 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,880 put out into the world, how I react to things. 140 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,480 I may not be able to fully control all of the kind of 141 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,080 emotional physiological reactions that come up, but if I 142 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,400 can think about that there are emotional physiological 143 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:37,559 reactions coming up, then I can use some of my volition and act 144 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:42,120 more intentionally and not act out of that kind of reactivity. 145 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,600 And then the last one I'll talk about is be grateful to 146 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:50,040 everyone. This is another one that can be 147 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,240 misinterpreted and can be and can fall into the sort of false 148 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,040 positivity realm. But really the idea is that 149 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:01,680 everyone in your life can be a teacher to you that can help you 150 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,160 on this path. Sometimes they are a teacher 151 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,040 because they are doing things that are really problematic, 152 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:10,440 right? So it's not that you want to 153 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,320 emulate everyone that you see and that you're grateful that 154 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,360 everybody's doing bad things, but that people that are 155 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,560 engaging in activities that seem to be harmful or are causing you 156 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:23,360 harm can actually still teach you a lot about what you're 157 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,160 reacting to, how you're perceiving the situation. 158 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,600 So it's all of these together are about observing the world 159 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,160 the way that it is and trying to be accountable for your 160 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,960 perceptions of the world and your reactions to the world. 161 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:42,600 So not in a blaming kind of way, but in recognizing that this is, 162 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,000 this physical form is what we have. 163 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,920 This is how we understand the world and our physical form, our 164 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:54,400 mind, our body, our heart, gives us a lot of information that can 165 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,640 be not helpful. They can help us. 166 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,160 They can help us misunderstand the world. 167 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,520 So if we're spending time focusing on what's coming up for 168 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,720 us, if we're grateful to people as teachers, even if what 169 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:11,800 they've done was hurtful to us, if we look at what's happening 170 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,480 in the world, in our lives, or in the wider world as harmful 171 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:19,800 and damaging, but step away from the emotional weight of that, 172 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,840 all of these can help us to navigate the world more clearly. 173 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,360 And if we were engaging in a true low Zhang training, it 174 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,720 would be focusing intensely on one of those, picking one 175 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:37,720 slogan, one phrase, 1 mantra, and really allowing that to 176 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,040 settle in about what that means for us, what comes up for us and 177 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:46,000 how we can make that useful in our daily practice. 178 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,200 So I'm going to turn it over to you because I'd like to hear 179 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,920 your comments. Your, your, if you've ever had 180 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:55,000 experience or heard of Lojang, I'd be interested to hear that. 181 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,480 If you want to know more about Lojang, I'd also like to hear 182 00:10:58,480 --> 00:10:59,960 that because we can talk about this more. 183 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,760 There's 59 slogans. That's a lot to choose from. 184 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:08,160 And, or if there's anything that came up in particular about the 185 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,160 slogans that I picked to discuss tonight, I would really 186 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,840 appreciate hearing that. So I'll turn it over to you. 187 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,880 This time is yours. When you speak, please start 188 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:19,960 with your name so we can get to know you better. 189 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:21,360 What do you have? Can I? 190 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,280 Ask that you read the slogans. Yes, I can, I can. 191 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:30,600 So I read slogan #2 Regard all dharmas as dreams. 192 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:36,000 I read slogan #11 When the world is filled with evil, Transform 193 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,840 all mishaps into the path of awakening. 194 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:46,560 I read slogan #12 Drive all blames into one and slogan 13 be 195 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:49,520 grateful to everyone. Hi, I'm Kathy. 196 00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:56,160 I like all three. They give us permission to say 197 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:05,240 yes, to touch other people. And so therefore I may, because 198 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,760 OK used to be called a busy body, but I've changed it to 199 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,360 kindness busy body, which is different. 200 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:19,160 I volunteer at the public school on Wednesdays. 201 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:21,720 And this week I walked into the classroom. 202 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:24,480 It was a brand new classroom. I had never been there before. 203 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:30,320 And there was that the teacher was shouting at a student who 204 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:35,160 was trembling. And I don't know what happened 205 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:39,520 to cause teacher to lose it, but we're talking about second 206 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:45,720 graders and I have a visitor. The teacher could make you leave 207 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:49,280 at any time, right? I'm just a volunteer. 208 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:58,320 But I couldn't not do something. The teacher's back was to me, so 209 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,200 she didn't even know I was in the room yet. 210 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,520 And all's I did was raise my eyebrows and go, oh, I did make 211 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,280 a notice of promise. But I swear all the cheating 212 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:14,520 relax I've I was aiming at that person, the child trembling. 213 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:23,360 But everyone was on edge because of this big yelling going on. 214 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:28,520 And I just tapped a person and took them to the back and read 215 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:32,160 votes. That's right, literacy poach and 216 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,480 just got done in business. I felt bad all week. 217 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:41,520 For being like a clown. I thought it was clown and I was 218 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:44,920 judging myself. But you're giving me permission. 219 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:53,200 That I saw evil and I vomit to do somethings. 220 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,480 I I do think that a lot of people, when they see things 221 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,840 that are harmful, really want to do something to help. 222 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:03,160 I think especially people that come to to Buddhism really want 223 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,520 to make the world a better place and really want to help. 224 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,680 And I think the challenge is figuring out what is the balance 225 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,040 right? Because when is it ego driven 226 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,160 helping or when is it like trying to control other people 227 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:19,120 and when is it like trying to establish some clear parameters 228 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:20,560 for the way that the world works? 229 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:22,480 And that takes a lot of practice. 230 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,000 It does take a lot of practice and it, and it, it takes, I 231 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,800 would argue it takes a lot of meditation, it takes a lot of 232 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:32,400 groundedness and reflection for us to kind of assess if, if do 233 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,800 we, when we interact with people, are we interacting with 234 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,360 people to say like, oh, no, that's, that's a harmful 235 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,240 behavior. Let's talk about this. 236 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,800 Or are we just trying to make people do what we want? 237 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,960 It's, it can be kind of a difficult sort of thing. 238 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,600 And I do agree that part of what Buddhism is saying is that you 239 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,080 should be interacting with people. 240 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,320 We are interconnected beings. We we are connected to each 241 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,760 other in a variety of different ways. 242 00:14:57,080 --> 00:14:59,920 And we shouldn't try to isolate ourselves. 243 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,280 That's not the solution is to withdraw from everything, but 244 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,080 the solution also isn't to try to, you know, smother other 245 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,840 people with whatever it is we think is the right thing to do. 246 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:13,600 So I think you're exactly right. Finding what that balance is and 247 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:18,520 how to engage in a way that is, you know, let's say wholesome or 248 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:25,240 helpful or more acknowledges more are interconnectedness. 249 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,720 That's that's what we're going for. 250 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,960 We don't want to withdraw from the world, even when the world 251 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:38,760 is sometimes scary and mean. This my name is Aaron. 252 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:49,600 This is an interesting lady to digest these 59 you said points 253 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:56,560 and we we do have the issue that they're like translated into 254 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:00,280 English and and that we have that to digest and that might 255 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:05,280 take a little more unwinding to initially get the true meaning 256 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,320 of the intent of the real statement. 257 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:17,160 But in kind of my joking, I was referencing the comedian prior 258 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:23,320 to this say that just there's younger people that have never 259 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,880 wound anything in their life and like just sitting there and 260 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:29,880 being like, oh, this is Avhs tape. 261 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,480 I have returner. I'd reminded before returner to 262 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:37,360 sit there and wait the seven to 30 minutes or whatever it took. 263 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,520 I can't remember. I really and a lot of tapes, I 264 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:46,320 can't remember how long it cook, but I feel there's a hole. 265 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,760 There's an absence of just sitting and being present, and I 266 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,520 think that this could be a tool to do that, have these 267 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,720 individual points and to meditate on them and to just 268 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:03,600 really draw down on something small for so long, to ground 269 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:05,520 yourself in meaning of it and understand it. 270 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:11,079 It affects us in different ways and points and 59 of them is a 271 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:20,079 lot, but it's something. If I were to do it. 272 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:27,400 I would want to take one for a week and digest that. 273 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:33,600 So if I'm to do that and that have times where it's in my 274 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:40,360 mind, but not necessarily just doing, but but that's it is it 275 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:44,120 is interesting to me. What I'm noticing about, though, 276 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:49,320 in my intent is to privately Mull over it and figure it out. 277 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,960 And we talked. We had such a beautiful, 278 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,280 meaningful. We talked about Sanga and how 279 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,880 technically important was to just our life. 280 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:07,360 And so right now we're trying to formulate how, how I could bring 281 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:12,320 that practice into A to a more social thing, because to me it 282 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:17,320 feels like homework to go home new way or so I don't don't know 283 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:22,600 if that's the intent. It is work. 284 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,440 Then the homework that you go home do by. 285 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:30,000 Yourself well, to be fair, the Lojang training is kind of 286 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,920 homework that you do on your own the part of the reflection, but 287 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,840 it is supposed to be like understanding that concept can 288 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,200 hashing that out with other people is a really helpful part. 289 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,640 I mean in traditional Lojang training, you do this with 290 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,800 intensely with a teacher who can guide you and tell you all of 291 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,200 the kind of points and counterpoints and that sort of 292 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,440 stuff but there is I mean this is one of the the things that I 293 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:53,720 appreciate about Buddhism. The three jewels are a real 294 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:58,280 thing that the idea of like the the Buddha, we are responsible 295 00:18:58,280 --> 00:18:59,560 for doing this work on our own right. 296 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,640 This is homework the Dharma. This is the homework that we're 297 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,880 supposed to study, but then the sangha is really, we do learn to 298 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,240 set settle this into our body better. 299 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:13,160 When we're in a group, that part of it is about talking with 300 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:15,400 other people. It's one of the advantages that 301 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,920 we have in this group because we have such a variety of different 302 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,280 opinions and different ways of seeing the world that there's 303 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:25,000 lots of people that can reflect on the exact same slogan, for 304 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,440 example, and see things in a different way and it can land a 305 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,640 little bit differently. So it's both it's it's a group 306 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,920 projects, but also and homework for an individual. 307 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:45,120 And isn't it that we learn the concepts, kind of understand 308 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:47,480 them, but it's in the presence of others? 309 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:53,680 So that's homework out in the world of the testimony privacy. 310 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,000 My name's Carolyn. I'm very interested to worry 311 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,320 more about this. It sounds what you the examples 312 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:07,840 you've given us today. I could feel like if I practice 313 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:14,920 some of that like Dharma. And the evilness like skeet, you 314 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:16,600 know, just been listening to the news. 315 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:21,000 Sometimes there's such a waste. Thank you. 316 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:27,920 I wish I could do something but you this sounds like a a 317 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:32,520 potential way to look at things differently so you don't feel 318 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:34,440 the way. Step away a little bit. 319 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,720 Observe and have different feelings or questions or come up 320 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:44,400 with something more creative and it sounds great to me. 321 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:52,360 Be able to have a different perspective on things and the 322 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:57,320 interconnection with others always. 323 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,520 That's something I throw. I would like to work more on its 324 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:06,240 well and the Dharma. This sounds so interesting to 325 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,640 me. Yeah. 326 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,480 I just think they're all very interesting concepts that will 327 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:16,600 help us cope and be less suffering in the world. 328 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,520 I mean, to be fair, this is the kind of thing that we do every 329 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:25,320 week anyway, but this is, it's a way to focus that like part of 330 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:26,680 the Dharma that we're talking about. 331 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:30,640 I mean, all Buddhism is a, is a mind training program, mind body 332 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,120 training program, where we are trying to be aware of whatever 333 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:38,800 is coming up for us and then learn practices that allow us to 334 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:40,600 step back from that kind of reactivity. 335 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,760 So all of Buddhism is is trying to help us to do that. 336 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:48,840 This is one way to do that right up, focusing on one particular 337 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,840 statement and then kind of going deep into into that. 338 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:56,080 So yes, we can. We don't have to be as explicit 339 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,520 using humor slogans. If this doesn't work for people, 340 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,800 we're going to continue to do this same idea. 341 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,680 The idea of like cognitive reframing is a big part of 342 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,000 Buddhism. And to be able to reframe 343 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,440 something, you have to know what it is that you're thinking and 344 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,520 what it is that you want to be thinking instead. 345 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,240 And so this is this is a way to help with that. 346 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,400 It gives us something more concrete to hang on to. 347 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,200 I'm Steven. I just wanted to say I'll keep 348 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,080 it short tonight, but the one that I kind of like, just the 349 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,040 one that I simply wouldn't gravitate torque. 350 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:32,760 So the one of all Dharmas or dreams, the thing that kind of 351 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:38,760 arose in that for me is that one of the cool things that I've 352 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:47,880 found a lot of keys in Buddhism is the idea that being awake is 353 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:53,360 sort of like what it means to be a well adjusted person in that 354 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:58,400 there's no prescriptive rules about when, where, how and why 355 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,360 you should maybe intervene or not intervene depending on 356 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,800 context. And so it's kind of a call to us 357 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,240 as people that we have a responsibility to be awake and 358 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:17,400 to be present because each situation requires that ability 359 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:22,960 to evaluate if our input is useful, skillful, you know, I'm 360 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,280 going to contribute to something in the conversation. 361 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:30,400 And so like what Kathy was saying with the classroom notes, 362 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,400 it's tough to know what to do in the moment, right? 363 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:37,040 Especially when we're caught off guard. 364 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,800 And you, if you're thinking about interacting with someone, 365 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,120 you're not sure if it's ego and emotion, you haven't had a 366 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:45,600 chance to reflect on it, you know, and maybe it's an acute 367 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,240 situation where you have to do something. 368 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,560 So that was kind of interesting to me that all dharmas are 369 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:55,440 dreams because it sort of points to that, that even this thing 370 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,880 that we are all gathering here to practice with Buddhism, the 371 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:05,640 tenant of this framework itself and saying, hey, you still have 372 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:10,400 to be responsible and bring your awareness and be evaluating in 373 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,800 real time, which is. I I love the the idea of 374 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,280 awakening in general, and and that's what this that one's all 375 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,760 our most our dreams makes me think of like we're most most of 376 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,480 us are kind of sleepwalking through life, like just reacting 377 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,200 and and a kind of on autopilot and it's or avoiding. 378 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,440 Yep, Yep, exactly. It's helpful to think about 379 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,480 that. We are trying to wake up. 380 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,760 And one of the things that like all of the Buddhist practice, 381 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,040 we're trying to learn how to become more spontaneously 382 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,760 skillful, right? So the the premise is that our 383 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,800 sort of inclinations, our cultural inclinations, our 384 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:54,400 physiological inclinations are leading us to reactions that are 385 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,560 not helpful. They are unskillful in the sense 386 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,440 that they cause us suffering and they cause suffering for other 387 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,840 people. And what we're trying to do is 388 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:06,160 reach, train our mind and body so that eventually we can become 389 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,920 spontaneously skillful. So this, this idea about waking 390 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,440 up means that we have to engage in some really intentional 391 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,720 practices, right? We have to reflect on things, 392 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,120 learn things about the world. We have to observe what's coming 393 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,480 up in our body. We have to step back and spend 394 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:28,240 some time in meditation often so that we can observe kind of 395 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:32,000 what's happening and, and there is an element of planning. 396 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,560 So this part of the cognitive restructuring is OK. 397 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,520 Well, what a, what would I do in a situation like this? 398 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,800 Or how would I respond or, or how did I respond? 399 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:46,560 That can be helpful if it's helping us to think through a 400 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:51,320 different frame of reference so that when we get into a similar 401 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:55,200 situation in the future, maybe we can respond with more skill, 402 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,080 right? Instead of not knowing what to 403 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,520 do or being really reactive. That's, that's the goal. 404 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,160 But to your point, it's not that easy. 405 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,360 Easy. I mean, we have a lifetime of 406 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,640 momentum in a particular way of being, and we're trying to learn 407 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,600 a new way of being. So it does take a lot of 408 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,560 intentional practice. It takes reflection, takes 409 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:19,560 meditation, and it takes making mistakes because that's part of 410 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:24,000 being human too. But we it, it does get easier in 411 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,520 the sense that there are more opportunities, more, more 412 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,840 instances of being spontaneously skillful after we've practiced 413 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,640 than before we've practiced. But I think what we all want is 414 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:40,360 to be spontaneously skillful all the time, and that takes some 415 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:50,310 sustained practice. There was. 416 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,600 Yeah. I mean, it's, it's this is just 417 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:57,080 making me think, especially some of the things we just now said 418 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:03,120 about, you know, just as an example, metaphorically, if you 419 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,240 walk across the desert or go for a run or ride your bike some 420 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:12,080 long distance, do something that depletes your body or hydration. 421 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:18,680 And then you, you know, you go and you drink a soda or if you 422 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:22,320 have a coffee or, you know, some something that's a diuretic, 423 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:23,560 it's just going to make it worse. 424 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,800 You're not going to hydrate. But that's what we do a lot of 425 00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,280 the time, not necessarily after a run, but you know, we often 426 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,240 hydrate ourselves by drinking things that are not hydrating. 427 00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:40,360 And, and it's partially because of culture, right? 428 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:43,480 We, you know, when our bodies need food, sometimes we eat 429 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,760 things that are not really food, not really nourishing. 430 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,720 And I think that when I hear the like these things we talk about 431 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,680 a lot and some things you were saying just now about our 432 00:27:53,680 --> 00:28:00,000 culture and it it kind of tells us that when you have some sort 433 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:01,720 of issue. You. 434 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:05,640 Should do these things, right? You should go to social media. 435 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,360 You should, you know, I mean, how many TV shows have you seen? 436 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,400 Whenever someone's upset, what do they do the next scene? 437 00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,040 They're at the bar. Right, someone's upset, someone 438 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:17,720 has an argument with their wife or girlfriend or boyfriend, the 439 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,200 next scene they're at the bar and or they're drinking 440 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:23,920 somewhere somehow, right? There is so many aspects of our 441 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,400 culture that tell us to deal with problems in these ways that 442 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,200 are self-destructive. Just like going for a marathon 443 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:35,880 run and drinking whiskey. And I and I think like these are 444 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,080 the water in that meta core, right? 445 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,400 These things are what you're what you're supposed to do. 446 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,080 These are the healthy ways to deal with problems, to deal with 447 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:48,320 issues and conflict and stress. But we just have like this 448 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,720 chaotic culture that is telling us to do everything but this 449 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,280 stuff. Actually the exact opposite of 450 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,720 these things. We have the president who's I 451 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,160 don't have to talk about them too much, but any retribution, 452 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,480 right? I mean, retribution is like the 453 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,520 way things go now on a national scale. 454 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,800 And it's not just because of that guy, but it's also because 455 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,160 we've had already decades of like, you know, smartphones and 456 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,800 social media and reaction, right? 457 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:19,320 Like unthoughtful reactions things. 458 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,880 And yeah, I mean, I like to think of it kind of like, well, 459 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:28,120 when I have some sort of issue, do I want to drink the whiskey 460 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,560 or the water, All right. When I could run for a marathon, 461 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,360 do I want to come back home and drink some water and hydrate 462 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:35,680 myself? Or do I want to do something 463 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:39,880 self-destructive? And I don't know, I'm not saying 464 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,160 that I'm great at it. I'm just saying that that that's 465 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:44,480 the way that that's the metaphor that came up for you. 466 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:50,160 And these things are the nourishing, hydrating, healthy 467 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:56,040 things do. I think that is that can often 468 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:58,040 be a little bit of a challenge because when you grow up in a 469 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,040 culture that's telling you the ways that the path to happiness 470 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,440 is the various things that we've been told, whatever that is, you 471 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,600 know, buy more things or have a better job or live in a bigger 472 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,560 house or all of these things, we're told that that this is the 473 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,200 path to happiness. And you know, a lot of various 474 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,680 different messages that we've been told. 475 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,280 And and so as far as we know, that is the water because that's 476 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,040 what we're told. This is what will make you 477 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:24,560 happy. Do these things and it will make 478 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,920 you happy. And so it, what I appreciate 479 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,240 about Buddhism, but it's also kind of frustrating is it's 480 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,560 telling us like, well, why don't you evaluate the effects of 481 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,200 those solutions? Just sit with it, Try the things 482 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,960 that they're saying will cause you happiness and sit with it. 483 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,040 Did that 'cause you lasting happiness? 484 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,400 Did it give you a sense of contentment and peacefulness? 485 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,840 And, and if you go through that many as of us say like, OK, no, 486 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,120 it turns out it doesn't make me happier. 487 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,320 No matter what size the house is or what kind of car it is or 488 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,040 whatever The thing is that supposed to make me happy? 489 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,280 The drugs or the alcohol or, you know, all the food, whatever 490 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,560 those things. And then then trying to figure 491 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,240 out, OK, so clearly that's not the water in this metaphor. 492 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:09,920 It's, it's, that's what we've been told. 493 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:11,400 This is what will make you feel better. 494 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,320 This is what will hydrate you. We have to figure out like 495 00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:19,000 phrases like this or different kinds of Buddhist practices that 496 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,440 can actually, when we assess them, make us feel more peaceful 497 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:28,880 or content or, or grounded. But once, even when we do, we go 498 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,120 right back into the world where the, this is just the way that 499 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:35,080 the world is. And so it's, it's one of the 500 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,280 reasons why practice is difficult and why we have to 501 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,880 continue. I mean, you have to continue 502 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,160 practicing anyway. Any practice, you need to 503 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,200 continue to keep up with it, right? 504 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,000 That's true of running or playing the piano or, or 505 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,600 anything else. Buddhist meditation is the same, 506 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,400 but it's especially true when you're in a context where you're 507 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,240 not getting that message reinforced from other people, 508 00:31:57,240 --> 00:31:59,920 places, or things, right? So this is one of the biggest 509 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:03,400 problems and where actually the sangha makes a big difference 510 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:07,760 because when you're trying to do it all on your own, we can of 511 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,280 course, you know, you can have the strength of mind. 512 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,040 You can, you know, sit in meditation, you can do your 513 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:17,440 reading, but it is more difficult if you are outside of 514 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,440 a community of, of support. It just makes it a little bit 515 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,880 easier when there, when you can be like, there are other people 516 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,840 like me. I'm not just this weirdo all of 517 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:28,760 the time. I there are other people that 518 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:30,360 are kind of following the same path. 519 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,680 It just, it makes a little bit easier because if you talk to 520 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:36,280 other people that don't think the way that Buddhism is 521 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,720 encouraging us to think, I mean, they often will be like, there 522 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:43,440 might be something wrong with you because this is the water 523 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,560 and you're like, but it doesn't feel hydrating to be. 524 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:52,040 So yeah, it's helpful to come to a place where you're like, OK, I 525 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:54,960 can get some some confirmation that it's working for other 526 00:32:54,960 --> 00:33:00,320 people too. So what would we? 527 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:05,320 What would it stop like if internal weight cookie meditate 528 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,680 on I'm meditating you just thinking. 529 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,680 Yeah. So in the Lojang training, the 530 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:15,080 it's called an analytical meditation. 531 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:18,480 So the idea is really like thinking, like being an intense 532 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,680 and like thinking about that, that concept. 533 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,800 It is meditative in the sense that like if you have, if you 534 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,240 ever tried to sustain thought on one thing, you still get 535 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,600 distracted and then you start thinking about your grocery list 536 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,760 again. So it is, it's a different kind 537 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:36,040 of meditation than we do, right? We, we sit in zazen, we sit in 538 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,040 like the open, open awareness, the meditation sense. 539 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,440 So this is different. But the idea is to spend time 540 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,680 just focusing on that phrase and thinking about that phrase. 541 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,240 And then when you get distracted, keep coming back to 542 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:52,760 the phrase. And the idea is if you 543 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:58,040 concentrate explicitly enough on one phrase, eventually, if you 544 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,320 can sustain that concentration, then the phrase kind of like 545 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,960 sort of breaks up and becomes more of an abstract concept. 546 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:09,920 The idea is at that point, you can, like, let it settle into 547 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,120 your being instead of just into your mind. 548 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,800 And then throughout the week, as you're just going along your 549 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,840 daily activities, you bring that phrase to mind. 550 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,560 So just, you know, driving your car and you think about the 551 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,600 phrase and doing the dishes and you think about the phrase. 552 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:27,719 That's the idea about this kind of training. 553 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:37,480 So is it making it a habit? No, I mean, yes, yeah. 554 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,880 I mean, cuz it's about like retraining your mind and what is 555 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:42,880 the training program? But it's a habit building 556 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,760 program, right. And so we are trying to get 557 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,800 retrain the kind of distracted brain that we usually have, the 558 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,920 way that our mind goes in a different much of different 559 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,480 directions and the way that our body responds to things. 560 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,160 So we are trying to develop a new habit. 561 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:02,920 And sometimes these are like reminders, like, OK, I'm trying 562 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:07,360 to learn to be less reactive. So which of these phrases helps 563 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,640 me to remember to be less reactive? 564 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,440 And then you remind yourself. So in that way, it's helping you 565 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,280 to build a new habit, if that's what you meant. 566 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:21,320 So our phrase is being mindful, right? 567 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,240 I mean, you like in Buddhism, yeah. 568 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:26,320 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. 569 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,160 So you can say, oh, there I vote again. 570 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,600 Old habit. Oh, we're fake. 571 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:35,520 OK, well, it's all, it's all connected, right. 572 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,960 So part of the argument then, Buddhism really believes in the 573 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:39,880 connection between the mind and the body. 574 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,200 So it is a way of thinking, but it settles into our body and 575 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,920 then it's a way of acting. So and that is that's, I think 576 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,360 what you mean by that kind of habit, like things that we do or 577 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:50,520 think or say. Yes. 578 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,600 You said, I think you said well comes up. 579 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:57,000 Did you mean what in your body? That's kind of like guys, great 580 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:02,280 abstract concept can be sort of detached from my body except the 581 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:08,280 back end, the Omni No, here I except for things that happened 582 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,920 that are pretty strong guilt or sensation. 583 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:14,720 So where? What's the example? 584 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,880 Something that come up in my body or in your body? 585 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:21,720 Yeah. So how, how do you become aware 586 00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:24,120 what's coming up for you? Or what does that mean to become 587 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:25,320 aware of what's coming up for you? 588 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,000 So there's a couple. There's a first little caveat. 589 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,760 You know, how people perceive their own body sensation varies 590 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,320 from person to person. Some people are going to be very 591 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,760 aware of their physical sense of space and what's happening in 592 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,200 their body, and other people are going to be less aware. 593 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:40,800 So there's already a spectrum of that. 594 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:45,080 The idea is to try to increase your own awareness wherever you 595 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:46,520 are. Start from the amount of 596 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,080 awareness you have of your body and increase that that a little 597 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,360 bit. And I was, I was much the same 598 00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:52,920 way. I think a lot of us in the West 599 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:54,920 are because we tend to cut ourselves off from the body 600 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,000 right where the culture of the mind, we want to know what we 601 00:36:57,000 --> 00:36:58,320 think. We don't want to know what we 602 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:01,120 feel because that's like yucky, messy body stuff. 603 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:05,480 So it can be helpful to engage in like specific meditative 604 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,120 practices that are designed to get you to like focus on what 605 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,480 you're feeling. So body scans are really great 606 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,200 for this. And it can be like, no, nothing 607 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,160 extreme is happening. You're just sitting and focusing 608 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:19,960 on your body. And like, where do I feel, where 609 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,280 can I feel my shirt touching my arm? 610 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:25,040 Where do I feel my seat touching the ground? 611 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:29,160 Where do I feel the, the, the breeze on my, on my skin? 612 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,480 Like all of that, just focusing on those sensations that can be 613 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:37,960 part of becoming more aware. Then I would also recommend like 614 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:43,080 learning what comes up for us in a physiological sense is often 615 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:44,760 helpful. If you can do that when you are 616 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,240 in an emotional situation, you're having an emotional 617 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:50,720 reaction. It's really helpful during that 618 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:53,920 emotional reaction, if you can, to step back and then go into 619 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:55,560 your body. Like where do I feel that? 620 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,920 So where, where does it, where does the pain feel or the 621 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,240 discomfort or the tension? Like is it in my knees or my 622 00:38:01,240 --> 00:38:04,080 legs or my head or my face or that kind of thing? 623 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:06,800 This is where when I did that, this is when I realized that I 624 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:09,200 could hold a lot of work stress in my jaw. 625 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,280 Other kinds of stress I hold in different places, but my work 626 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,080 stress I hold in my jaw and I don't, but I'm not always aware 627 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:17,800 of that. So I had to do a lot of 628 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,480 reflection because it got to the point where I get so much stress 629 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,080 in my jaw. That was just like lock up and I 630 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,560 can hear a crack just from talking because it was, there 631 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:28,560 was like so much tension there. So, and I didn't even realize 632 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:30,240 that it was happening. So I had to do a lot of 633 00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:33,000 reflection and, and now I'm much more aware. 634 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,000 So I just like check in with my jaw. 635 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,240 Like am I stressed about work stuff? 636 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:39,680 Nope. Jaw's OK Am I stressed? 637 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:41,280 Yeah, OK. I'm a little bit stressed about 638 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:46,520 work stuff and 'cause I, I don't pay attention as well in the 639 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,680 daily actions, engaging in work stuff where I'm like, this is a 640 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:54,600 stressful situation, but my body is like, excuse me, this is a 641 00:38:54,600 --> 00:38:57,240 stressful situation. So that can be one way. 642 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:01,400 Now I know when I start to get tension and pain in my jaw, like 643 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:05,360 I'm having work stress and different other parts of bodies 644 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,720 that that like something like, you know, if I haven't slept 645 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,880 enough, my knee starts to hurt. This knee, the left knee hurts. 646 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:13,800 And when my left knee is hurting in this particular way, I 647 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,640 haven't gotten enough sleep. And I don't know why, but there 648 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:18,400 it is. And those are the things that 649 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:21,520 takes a lot of practice and a lot of sort of reflection. 650 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,720 Has anyone ever has anyone else been like engage disconnected 651 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:28,600 from your body sensations and figured out a way to get in 652 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:34,920 touch with them all? Right sucks it's just real short 653 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:39,800 the term emotion and feeling these different things. 654 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,840 These are very helpful for me to like digest like but I'm angry 655 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:47,280 in the head, but my shoulders are rolled forward and my back 656 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:49,680 is stiff. That's the feeling that they. 657 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:53,280 Create. Kind of sad in my head, but I 658 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:55,880 have kind of think of achy sense and attire. 659 00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:00,440 It's like the feeling of sadness and noticing the differences of 660 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:04,560 feeling of an emotion at the mental state that the motion 661 00:40:04,720 --> 00:40:07,160 having, like treating them as two different things of 662 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:08,720 examining. It's kind of what you said. 663 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:12,800 It's just like semantically in my head, using those two terms 664 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:15,160 as meaning input different things has been very helpful. 665 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:22,840 Maybe to digest them, but yeah. Oh, I come back getting a 666 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:27,240 massage or getting a massage or stretching and breathing deeply 667 00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:30,880 and soon personable to get into the body and notice what is 668 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:34,000 happening in the body. We get to get a massage and 669 00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:37,440 focus on when you're touching you and how your body feels. 670 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,240 Then you'll be so in your body afterwards. 671 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:43,200 No, tried it doesn't work. I don't want those people. 672 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,360 And I mean that I did. I got a jaw massage. 673 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:48,440 There was masseuse was like all in my mouth and like and I was 674 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:51,000 like, I don't like it and I don't think it's helping. 675 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:52,960 So it wasn't very meditative for me. 676 00:40:52,960 --> 00:40:55,840 So I'm not going to do that. Let's try to avoid this rest. 677 00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:57,440 Sorry, Douglas, what were you going to? 678 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:02,400 Say, and I was going to say also that one of the types of 679 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,840 meditation that Danielle was talking about is the Pashna 680 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:09,320 meditation. And in the Pashna, you spend a 681 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,640 whole, the whole time you're meditating with scanning your 682 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:13,160 body equal over and over and over. 683 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,680 And if you are doing that on a regular basis, or if you go to 684 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,120 one of the retreats and you do it for hours and hours and hours 685 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,480 and you start to become very aware of your body. 686 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,440 And one of the things that they teach you while you're in there 687 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:28,240 is that we have, as you're saying, this mental 688 00:41:28,240 --> 00:41:32,720 disconnection from our bodies. But there is, there are things 689 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:37,640 happening in our bodies that we are that are not voluntary, 690 00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:39,360 right? Like our organs are functioning 691 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:40,680 without us having to think about them. 692 00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:42,240 Our blood is moving, our heart is pumping. 693 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,800 And then there are parts of our body that we do have control 694 00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:47,840 over, like our arms, our hands, our eyes. 695 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:52,720 And then there's a part of our body that sits at the center of 696 00:41:52,720 --> 00:41:55,480 those two things, right? The the functions that we don't 697 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:57,200 control and the functions we do control. 698 00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:00,520 And then one of very few parts of our body that can go on 699 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,760 autopilot if we're not thinking about it or we can control it if 700 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:07,920 we are thinking about it, which our lungs, which is why 701 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:11,200 meditation, you know, people who meditate are very often focusing 702 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:14,160 on the lungs that the lungs for the passion of becomes this 703 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:18,320 conduit between the, the mental and the physical, the mind and 704 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:21,080 the body. And if you, once you become more 705 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:23,360 in touch with what's going on in your body, then you can start to 706 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,760 notice things like, as Danielle was saying that you know, when 707 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,120 you become upset sometime, not sometimes when you become upset, 708 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:32,880 there's a physiological change in your body. 709 00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:36,080 As often times, if we're not aware of the fact that that 710 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:40,800 physiological change is separate from from the stimuli, then we 711 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:44,160 start to react to the physiological change, right? 712 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:48,280 Like the feelings that we get when we're upset pushes along a 713 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,680 reaction that if you were to disaggregate them and say, well, 714 00:42:51,680 --> 00:42:55,200 actually this is just my physiological reaction, there's 715 00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,280 a stimuli, but I don't have to respond to either. 716 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,120 I don't have to allow the physiological stimuli to make 717 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,080 the app. I can just see it and observe it 718 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:05,000 and then possibly let it go away. 719 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:07,600 Yeah. So that's. 720 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:13,160 We're about out of time, but if there's anyone who hasn't yet 721 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:15,840 spoken who would like to, I'll open the door for you. 722 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,400 Do you have something that you'd like to share? 723 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:25,840 OK, well, we'll close. When we close, we like to say, 724 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:30,160 may the fruit of our practice extend to all living beings. 725 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:31,000 Svaha.