Subtitles
well now 00:00:08
the easiest way to get into the meditative state is to begin 00:00:16
by listening 00:00:24
if you simply close your eyes and allow 00:00:32
yourself to hear all the sounds that are 00:00:35
going on around you just listen to the 00:00:40
general hum and Buzz of the world 00:00:44
as if you were listening to music don't 00:00:49
try to identify the sounds you're 00:00:52
hearing 00:00:52
don't put names on simply allow them to play with your 00:00:58
eardrums and let them go in other words 00:01:12
you could put it let your ears hear 00:01:15
whatever they want to hear 00:01:15
don't judge the sounds there are no as it were proper sounds or improper sounds 00:01:23
and it doesn't matter if somebody coughs 00:01:28
or sneezes or drop something it's all 00:01:33
just sound and if I am talking to you 00:01:41
right now and you are doing this 00:01:44
I want you to listen to the sound of my 00:01:46
voice just as if it were noise don't try 00:01:50
to make any sense out of what I'm saying 00:01:52
because your brain will take care of 00:01:54
that automatically you don't have to try 00:01:57
to understand anything just listen to 00:01:59
the sound 00:01:59
as you pursue that experiment you will very naturally find that you can't help 00:02:07
naming sounds identify them that you 00:02:16
will go on thinking that is to say 00:02:19
talking to yourself inside your head 00:02:21
automatically but it's important that 00:02:25
you don't try to repress those thoughts 00:02:28
by forcing them out of your mind 00:02:32
because that will have precisely the 00:02:34
same effect as if you were trying to 00:02:36
smooth rough water with a flatiron 00:02:39
you're just going to disturb it all the 00:02:41
more what you do is this as you hear 00:02:45
sounds coming up in your head thoughts 00:02:48
you simply listen to them as part of the 00:02:52
general noise going on just as you would 00:02:55
be listening to the sound of my voice or 00:02:57
just as you would be listening to cars 00:02:59
going by or - birds chattering outside 00:03:02
the window so look at your own thoughts 00:03:06
as just noises and soon you will find 00:03:11
that the so-called outside world and the 00:03:16
so-called inside world come together 00:03:18
they are a happening 00:03:21
your thoughts are happening just like 00:03:25
the sounds going on outside and 00:03:27
everything is simply a happening and all 00:03:30
you're doing is watching it 00:03:30
now in this process another thing that is happening that is very important is 00:03:39
that you're breathing and as you start 00:03:46
meditation you allow your breath to run 00:03:46
just as it wills in other words don't do at first any breathing exercise but just 00:03:58
watch your breath breathing the way it 00:04:05
wants to breathe and the notice the 00:04:11
curious thing about this you say in the 00:04:17
ordinary way I breathe because you feel 00:04:21
that breathing is something that you are 00:04:24
doing voluntarily just in the same way 00:04:27
as you might be walking or talking but 00:04:32
you will also notice that when you are 00:04:34
not thinking about breathing your 00:04:37
breathing goes on just the same so the 00:04:42
curious thing about breath is that it 00:04:44
can be looked at both as a voluntary and 00:04:47
an involuntary action 00:04:50
you can feel on the one hand I am doing 00:04:52
it and on the other hand it is happening 00:04:55
to me 00:04:56
and that is why breathing is the most 00:04:59
important part of meditation because it 00:05:02
is going to show you as you become aware 00:05:05
of your breath that the hard and fast 00:05:08
division that we make between what we do 00:05:12
on the one hand and what happens to us 00:05:15
on the other is arbitrary so that as you 00:05:21
watch your breathing you will become 00:05:23
aware 00:05:25
that both the voluntary and the 00:05:29
involuntary aspects of your experience 00:05:31
are all one happening 00:05:35
now that may at first seem a little 00:05:37
scary because you may think well am I 00:05:41
just the puppet of a-happening the mere 00:05:44
passive witness of something that's 00:05:46
going on completely beyond my control or 00:05:49
on the other hand am I really doing 00:05:53
everything that's going along well if I 00:05:56
were I should be God that would be very 00:05:59
embarrassing because I would be in 00:06:01
charge of everything that would be 00:06:02
terribly a responsible position the 00:06:06
truth of the matter as you will see it 00:06:08
is that both things are true 00:06:13
you can see it that everything is 00:06:15
happening to you and on the other hand 00:06:18
you're doing everything for example it's 00:06:21
your eyes that are turning the Sun into 00:06:23
light 00:06:24
it's the nerve ends in your skin that 00:06:26
are turning electric vibrations in the 00:06:30
air into heat and temperature 00:06:33
it's your eardrums that are turning 00:06:36
vibrations in the air into sound and in 00:06:38
that way you are creating the world but 00:06:38
when we are not talking about it when we're not full of philosophizing about 00:06:47
it then there is just this happening 00:06:53
this 00:06:53
and we won't give it a name now then when you breathe for a while 00:07:02
just letting it happen 00:07:08
and not forcing it in any way you will discover a curious thing that without 00:07:16
making any effort you can breathe more 00:07:22
and more deeply in other words supposing 00:07:27
you simply are breathing out and 00:07:30
breathing out is important because it's 00:07:32
the breath of relaxation as when we say 00:07:36
on heave a sigh of relief so when you 00:07:41
are breathing out 00:07:43
you get the sensation that your breath 00:07:46
is falling out dropping dropping 00:07:52
dropping out the same sort of feeling 00:07:55
you have as if you were settling down 00:07:58
into an extremely comfortable bed and 00:08:01
you just get as heavy as possible 00:08:03
and let yourself go and you let your 00:08:07
breath go out in just that way and when 00:08:11
it's thoroughly comfortably out and it 00:08:13
feels like coming back again you don't 00:08:15
pull it back in you let it fall back in 00:08:19
letting your lungs expand expand expand 00:08:24
until they feel very comfortably full 00:08:28
and you wait a moment and let it stay 00:08:30
there then once again you let it fall 00:08:34
out and so in this way you will discover 00:08:39
that your breath gets quite naturally 00:08:41
easier and easier and slower and slower 00:08:45
and more and more powerful so that with 00:08:52
these various aids listening to sound 00:08:59
listening to your own interior feelings 00:09:02
and thoughts just as if they were 00:09:04
something going on not something you are 00:09:07
doing but just happenings and watching 00:09:10
your breath as a happening that is 00:09:11
neither voluntary nor involuntary you 00:09:14
are simply aware of these basic 00:09:16
sensations then you begin to be in the 00:09:20
state of meditation but don't hurry 00:09:23
anything don't worry about the future 00:09:27
don't worry about what progress you're 00:09:29
making just be entirely content to be 00:09:33
aware of what is don't be terribly 00:09:38
selective particular say I should think 00:09:40
of this and not of that just watch 00:09:42
whatever is happening 00:09:42
you 00:14:36