Transcription
Friends, you have all assembled here this evening to understand what is Vipassana and how it helps one to generate peace and harmony within. Everyone seeks peace and harmony. Everyone wants to live a life free from agitation, free from irritation, free from misery. And this technique will help you to live a peaceful life, a harmonious life.
Depression is nothing but an art of living. How to live peacefully, how to live harmoniously within oneself, and how to generate nothing but peace and harmony for others, so that people around you live a harmonious life.
What is Vipassana? The word in the ancient language of India means to see, to look with open eyes. They form the color, the shape. Vipassana is to observe, observe in a special way. That means the correct way, the right way to observe the reality as it is, not just as it appears to be, not just as it seems to be, but as it is in its true nature, in its true characteristic.
One is to realize the reality within the framework of one's own body. Even if one wants to explore the truth pertaining to things outside, one is to work within the framework of the body. You can understand the objects outside by using your intellect, reasoning, logic, but you can't realize unless you experience it. The experience will be only within the framework of the body. Even outside, objective there are no objects for you unless they come in contact with this physical structure. A sound is no sound for you unless it comes in contact with your ear. To a deaf person from birth, there is no world of sound for him. There is no world of sound. A person blind from birth has no world of shape or form or color or light.
When these outside objects come in contact with the ear, sense to, or the eyes, sense to, or the tongue, sense to, or the body skin, sense to, then only they are real for us, otherwise not. So if one has to realize the reality of things outside, then also one has to depend on one's own body, one's own mind. And one who has to realize the truth within oneself, then every step that you take for this self-realization, for the truth realization, has to be taken within the framework of this body. And this is very personal.
Realize the truth within yourself. A process of self-realization, a process of truth realization. Not for the sake of curiosity, not just to quench your thirst of inquisitiveness about yourself. Vipassana is not for that. As you start exploring the truth about yourself within the framework of the body, you find that you are getting liberated from tensions, you are getting liberated from the old habit of tying knots within, tying knots, not making yourself miserable. The mental defilements, the mental impurities which keep you so unhappy, so miserable. Just by observing the reality as it is, you find that you are getting liberated from this. This is what was found by enlightened persons. They become enlightened because they realize the truth within the framework of the body, and they found that they got liberated from all the miseries, all the unhappiness.
How it works? Let us see how it works. Why one becomes miserable? Why one becomes unhappy? In the outside world, something has happened which you don't like. Some unwanted thing has happened, or a wanted thing has not happened. An obstacle has come, as a result of which you become agitated, you become irritated, you become unhappy, you become miserable. Everyone wants to come out of misery. Everyone wants to live a peaceful, happy life, a healthy life. What to do about it? One should develop so much power and strength that nothing unwanted should happen in the life, which is not possible. Even if someone becomes the ruler of the entire world, so powerful, yet it is not possible that nothing unwanted will happen in his life, in her life. Wanted things will keep on happening, will also not happen. Unwanted things will keep on happening, however you don't like them. But unwanted things will keep on happening.
How to remain undisturbed by things outside? How to keep the mind peaceful in spite of unwanted things happening? Enlightened people, they found out a way. "Know thyself." Know thyself, not merely at the intellectual level, not merely at the devotional level, at the experiential level. Know yourself. What is this physical structure, the material structure, the corporeal structure, to which one keeps on saying "I, I," "mine, mine, mine"? One keeps on identifying oneself with this corporeal, this material structure, keeps on developing tremendous amount of attachment towards it, and as a result of which one becomes so tense, so unhappy, so irritated, so agitated, so miserable. And also, what is this psychic structure, the mental structure, to which one keeps on saying "I, mine, I, my"? Identifying oneself with this, with this mental structure, developing tremendous amount of attachment towards this mental structure, and again becoming miserable, miserable, and unhappy.
What is this "I"? What is this "mine"? Is this body "I"? Is this body-mind "I"? Is the mind "I"? Is the mind mind? Or is there something which is beyond mind and matter, the body and the mind? This has to be investigated, explored, experienced, realized by oneself. And this is when one starts exploring the truth within oneself at the experiential level. The law of nature becomes so clear, the universal law of nature, which is applicable on one and all. One may belong to this sect or that sect, this community or that community, this sex or that sex, makes no difference. Human being is a human being. The laws of nature, one reality, which will become so clear that you start observing the truth inside objectively. One truth will become so clear that as and when you generate any defilement in the mind, anger, hatred, ill will, animosity, oppression, fear, jealousy, any defilement, you become miserable. You are bound to become miserable. One generates a defilement and wants to feel peace inside or happiness inside. This is not possible. Law of nature is such. A Hindu may generate anger, is bound to become miserable. A Muslim may generate anger, bound to become miserable. Or so also a Christian, or a Jew, or a Buddhist, or a Jain, makes no difference. As soon as one generates any defilement in the mind, one becomes miserable. And when one is free from such defilement, one starts feeling peace and harmony within. You. When the mind becomes free from these defilements, by nature, the ultra pure mind, by nature, is full of infinite love, infinite compassion, infinite sympathetic joy, infinite equanimity. These are the characteristics of a pure mind.
How to attain that stage? For that, Vipassana is a very important tool, which will take you from the reality at the surface level, the grossest reality, to the subtler, subtler, subtler, subtler reality pertaining to the matter. And so also this subtler reality pertaining to the mind, mental factors. And then easily you will transcend the field of mind and matter. You will transcend the entire sensual field, and you will experience something which is beyond mind and matter, which is free from all conditioning, unconditioned stage. That has to be experienced. And once one experiences that, comes out a totally changed person, free from misery. And in the process of this truth realization, self-realization, one finds that one is coming out of misery little by little, little by little, little by little. It is not that only when you reach the final goal, then only you live free from misery. The habit pattern of the mind starts changing.
What is this habit pattern of the mind? As one starts exploring the truth of both mind as well as matter, understand both go together. A physiologist gives so much importance to the body only and ignores the mind. A psychologist gives so much importance to the mind and forgets the body. A meditator gives importance to the combination of the two, the totality of it. And it is very important. Whenever any defilement arises on the mind, simultaneously something starts happening at the body level also. One at a very gross level, other at a very subtle level. At the gross level, you will find that you lose the normality of your breath. Your breath is no more normal. Whenever you generate anger or hatred or passion or fear, any defilement, any impurity, you find that your breath has become abnormal, hard, fast. When that impurity goes away, again it becomes normal. So the breath, which looks like a physical function only, has got is so strongly related to the mind and the mental impurities. At a subtler level, as soon as you generate any defilement in the mind, there is bound to be some biochemical reaction on the body. Maybe heat, maybe cold, maybe tension, maybe expansion, contraction, pulsing, vibrating, tingling. It can be anything, something or the other, some sensation or the other, you feel on different parts of the body. To explore the truth pertaining to the mind, you have to give importance to the truth pertaining to the body also. Therefore, the technique of Vipassana starts by observing your own respiration, the respiration, the breath as it comes in, as it goes out.
People who come to courses to practice Vipassana meditation, there are two prerequisites. Preparation have to be made to start your practice of real Vipassana. The one requisite is that you stop all such physical and vocal actions which are harming beings, which hurt other beings, which disturb the peace and harmony of other beings. Why? Not because the Buddha said so, not because any other enlightened person said so, not because the scripture says so. What the law of nature is such. Law of nature is such. Whenever you perform any action at the physical level or vocal level which harms other beings, you can't perform it unless you generate tremendous amount of anger or hatred or ill will or animosity or passion or fear in your mind. And as soon as you generate such defilement in the mind, the nature starts punishing you then and there. You become so miserable. Anyone who starts exploring the truth within the framework of the body, you start realizing this truth that whenever I perform any action at the physical level, vocal level, like I kill somebody, or I steal something, or I speak harsh words, or try to deceive others by speaking lies, anything at the physical, vocal level which harms other beings, look, I can't do unless I generate defilement in my mind. And when I generate defilement in my mind, I become so miserable. Law of nature, universal law of nature. So also when the mind is pure and starts generating nothing but pure love, pure compassion, then whatever action you perform at the physical level, vocal level, are good for others. You can't harm others, and they are simultaneously good for you. The law of nature is such. The nature starts rewarding you because now you are keeping your mind pure. You don't generate anger or hatred or ill will or animosity or passion or fear. Only pure love, pure compassion, sympathetic joy, goodwill. A meditator will find that as soon as one generates love, compassion, goodwill, one starts experiencing the peace of the Kingdom of Heaven within, the peace of the Brahmanic plains within, the peace of Nibbana within, because the mind is pure.
Therefore, to start the work, you have to observe certain precepts at the physical level, at the vocal level. Don't do anything which will disturb others, which will harm others, because you will start harming yourself simultaneously. And then develop, at least to some extent, control over your mind. Control in the sense that try to concentrate on any one object. The object that is given to a Vipassana meditator, as I said, is the respiration. There could have been many objects with the help of which one can train one's mind to get concentrated. One can use some word, a mantra, or one can just imagine some shape or form and use that to get the mind concentrated. But one who has to practice in its pure form cannot use any kind of verbalization, cannot use any kind of visualization. The reality as it is. The breath, pure breath, natural breath, normal breath, as it comes in, as it goes out, without adding any word to it, without adding any shape or form to it. Just a breath. And merely observing the breath. Not a breathing exercise. It is not what we call Pranayama. Pranayama is regulating the breath. And here you don't regulate the breath. Natural breath. If it is deep, you are just aware it is deep. If it is shallow, you are just aware it is shallow. Passing through the left nostril, you are just aware it is passing through the left nostril. Passing to the right nostril, you are just aware it is passing through the right nostril. You never try to change the natural flow of respiration. Let the nature play its own role. Your job is to observe, observe objectively.
Now, with this object, your own respiration, you train your mind to become concentrated, at least to some extent. People come to courses, observing the precepts where they don't harm others at the physical level, in vocal level, and start working with respiration. Within three days, there is the stage where the mind is becoming calm, quiet, tranquil, and it becomes sharper and sharper, it becomes more and more sensitive, and it starts experiencing something very subtle, the biochemical reaction, the electromagnetic reaction throughout the physical structure. They start getting sensations. First on this area, the triangular area with the base of the upper lip, covering the entire area of nostrils, and then they spread their attention throughout the body, and they find that there is sensation throughout the body. Every moment, every particle of the body has some sensation or the other. But the mind is too gross. These sensations most of the time are so subtle that the gross mind cannot feel them. By this training of three to three and a half days, the mind becomes subtler and subtler, more and more sensitive. It starts feeling these sensations. And then you explore the entire body, and you find there are sensations throughout the body. This is one part of Vipassana. You are developing your faculty of awareness. You are making your mind very sharp, very sensitive to feel the sensations on the body.
But the another part of the technique, which is more important, is to train your mind to remain equanimous with it. You will find that throughout the body, you will have gross sensations or subtle sensations, pleasant sensations or unpleasant sensations, agreeable sensations or disagreeable sensations. Whatever the sensations may be, you don't react to them. You just observe and observe objectively, without identifying yourself with the sensations. Whatever is happening, no "I," no "mind." Things are happening, and let us see what is the nature of all this. And you will find that even the most unpleasant sensation, which is the reason, sooner or later, it passes away. It does not stay continuously. It arises, stays for some time, and then passes away. It arises to pass away. It arises to pass away. So also the most pleasant sensation arises and passes away, arises and passes away. Or even the neutral sensation arises, passes away, arises, passes away. Then it becomes clearer and clearer to the meditator that the entire physical structure, the entire mental structure, and the combination of the two, is constantly changing, constantly changing. There is no meaning in generating craving for something which is just passing away, however pleasant it may be. Look, it has come to pass away. And if I generate any craving, I become tense. Just observe. Let it happen. Keep on observing. So also, however unpleasant the sensation may be, it is not going to stay forever. Look, sooner or later, it passes away. Yes, it passes away. Just observe. There is no meaning in generating aversion towards something which is constantly arising to pass away. It arises to pass away. Like this, you train your mind to remain equanimous, a silent observer of the reality, whatever manifests itself, pleasant, unpleasant, gross, subtle. You don't get affected by it. You just observe, just observe.
You started changing the habit pattern of the mind at the conscious level of the mind, at the intellectual level of the mind. One understands, one agrees that "I should not generate anger or hatred or ill will or animosity or passion or fear because this makes me very agitated and this harms me and harms others also. So I should be free from it." In spite of understanding, one keeps on generating such defilements, one keeps on rolling and suffering. Why? Because deep inside, the unconscious mind, the so-called half-conscious mind, does not listen to your intellect. At the intellectual level, you may keep on advising this unconscious mind, "You shouldn't do this, you shouldn't do that." It keeps on reacting according to its own habit pattern. And the habit pattern of the unconscious mind is to react with craving whenever it feels a pleasant sensation on the body, to react with aversion whenever it feels an unpleasant sensation on the body. To change the habit pattern of the so-called unconscious mind is so important. And Vipassana helps you to take you to the deepest level of your mind and change this habit pattern.
This does not mean that one who practices Vipassana will become so inactive in life, will live like a vegetable. "Let anybody come and cut me, I don't care. I'm a compassionate." Oh no. For us to live life, and one will live a very healthy life. Now, what happens is, one is living the life of reaction. Anything happens outside, pleasant or unpleasant, one reacts immediately, so blindly that one becomes agitated. Every reaction, there is negativity with it. But if the habit pattern changes, then the life becomes life of action, not reaction. Anything has happened outside, even for a few moments, to try to feel what is happening inside, which is more important for you than things happening outside. What has started happening inside? And for a few moments, you feel sensations, you remain equanimous. And with a balanced, equanimous mind, when you do anything, it's an action, it's not a reaction. This pause, this gap, that you are given by observing your sensation, then taking action, if is always positive. It can never harm anybody, and it will never harm you. But when you react, you are harming yourself, you are harming others.
This technique will help you to go to the deepest level of the mind which keeps on reacting. Every moment, there is such a big barrier between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. An example: the conscious mind is busy talking, and all attention is to people outside. Sitting for a long time, with the weight of the body, some pressure has started somewhere, slight pain started somewhere. The conscious mind doesn't know, it's busy talking. But what you call unconscious is conscious in its own way. It starts feeling that pressure, starts feeling that pain, and starts reacting to it. And then you make a little movement like this, like this. You keep on making these movements the whole day. Just notice somebody doing this, doing this. Scratching started. You scratch. This person is highly agitated deep inside, although this person will not know that "I am agitated inside." Everybody remains so agitated because deep inside, the unconscious mind keeps on reacting. Even when you are in deep sleep, who is in deep sleep? Your conscious mind is in deep sleep. The so-called unconscious is awakened every moment, feeling the sensations on the body. Every moment in deep sleep, a mosquito has bitten somewhere. In deep sleep, your hand goes there, you drive the mosquito, and then scratch. The conscious mind doesn't know at all what is being done. Morning hours, you feel a little chilly, you take the blanket. The conscious mind doesn't know. The whole night you are in deep sleep, you keep on making this movement or that movement. Unconscious mind keeps on reacting every moment. This has become the habit pattern of the unconscious mind. It is always connected with this material structure. And whatever arises on this material structure, due to this reason or that reason, we are not concerned about reasons, but anything that arises on the material structure, it arises as a sensation. This unconscious mind keeps on reacting to it. And its reacting pattern is that whenever something it feels pleasant, it will react with craving, clinging, craving, clinging. You want to retain it, you want to multiply. And whenever one experiences something unpleasant on the body, one starts aversion, hatred, aversion, hatred. You want to get rid of it. This habit of push, pull, push, pull, makes you so agitated. The whole life, one remains so very much agitated.
If that habit pattern is changed, one can feel the peace deep inside. In the body, you may get peace on the surface of the mind. You divert your attention, and agitation has come, a defilement has come in the mind. You divert your attention, see, you start reciting a name or a mantra. Your mind gets diverted, and you feel peaceful. It is good, good to a certain extent. Your conscious mind has become peaceful, calm, tranquil. But deep inside, at the unconscious level, the same habit pattern is there. Constantly you are reacting to things, pleasant, unpleasant, craving, aversion, craving, aversion. Or at the conscious level, you start visualizing, imagining a form, a shape of this God or that God, this Goddess or that Goddess, in whom you have a great devotion. You just keep on contemplating that, you keep on imagining that, you find that your mind is becoming peaceful, quiet, tranquil. But only the surface of the mind, the conscious level of the mind. Deep inside, still the same habit is going on. Craving, aversion, craving, aversion. You are not out of your misery at the deepest level, at the root level.
Vipassana helps you to go to the root level and take out the habit pattern due to which you keep on reacting with craving, aversion, craving, aversion, craving, aversion, becoming miserable, agitated. And when you become agitated, you never keep this misery limited to yourself. You keep on throwing this misery on others. You keep on distributing this misery to others. When you generate anger or hatred, any defilement, you become miserable, but then you start making others also miserable. The entire atmosphere is made tense because I generate anger within me. Anybody who comes in contact with me at that time is bound to become miserable. I live an unhappy life, I make others to live an unhappy life. This is not the way of life. This is not the good way of life.
Vipassana will help you to live a good way of life, art of living. How to live peacefully within, and how to help others to live peacefully? It starts with these precepts, that at the vocal level and the physical level, don't take any action, don't perform any action which will harm others. Human being is a social being. He has to live in the society. He has to live with the members of one's own family. He has to deal with people. And if you keep on taking such actions which are harmful to others, actions, vocal or physical, then you are disturbing the peace of the society, peace of others, and at the same time, you are disturbing your own peace inside. So you start with that. Although this is done only at a very surface level of the mind, but when you start practicing respiration and you start practicing observing your sensation, you are going deeper, deeper, deeper. The impurities, the deep conditioning of the mind gets eradicated, eradicated. And then you find your habit pattern has changed. Initially, when you want to live a life of morality, of good ethics, not to disturb others, you try to control your mind. And whenever you try to control your mind, it is good to some extent, but then you are creating tension deep inside. You are tying knots inside. This is not the proper way to live a happy life, a healthy life. The mind has to be purified to the deepest level. Once it is purified to the deepest level, then by nature, by nature, you won't generate such defilements. By nature, you won't harm others. By nature, you won't harm yourself. One is to reach that stage, and it takes time.
People come to these 10-day courses. Not that in 10 days, one becomes fully enlightened, one becomes free from all misery. If someone becomes good, I congratulate. But at least the beginning is made. One is taken the first step on the path of self-realization, truth realization, on the path of enlightenment, on the path of purification of the mind. First step, a tiny step, although a very tiny step, but a very valuable step. The journey is quite long. However long the journey may be, it starts with the first step, which is most important. One who has not taken even the first step on the path cannot be expected to reach the final goal. One who has taken the first step, there is every possibility of this person taking the second step, the third step, and step by step, step by step, one reaches the final goal. It has nothing to do with any particular sect. It has nothing to do with any particular religion. It has nothing to do with any particular philosophy or dogma or belief. Law of nature is applicable to one and all. The malady is universal, therefore the remedy has to be universal. It can't be sectarian. Anyone who becomes enlightened is not interested in establishing a sect. No enlightened person has ever established a sect. Universalist teachings are always universal. Therefore, it is not necessary that you must get yourself converted from one organized religion to another organized religion, and then only Vipassana will start helping you. Nothing to me. A Christian should keep on calling oneself a Christian, a Jew a Jew, a Hindu a Hindu, a Muslim a Muslim. Makes no difference. The malady is universal. When defilement arises in the mind, you can't give a label to it. When you generate anger, you can't say, "Now this is a Hindu anger," or "this is a Christian anger," or "a Muslim anger," or "a Jew anger." Anger is anger. And because of that anger, when you start suffering, when misery arises, then again, you can't label it. "This time it's a Hindu misery," or "a Muslim misery," or "a Christian misery." Misery is misery, universal. And when this defilement goes away, and because of that, you start experiencing peace and harmony within, again, you can't label it. "This is a Hindu peace, harmony." "This is a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Christian." This is peace, love. Nature is such. As soon as one generates defilement on the mind, when we keep on calling oneself a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian or a Jew, makes no difference. One is bound to become miserable. If one comes out of this mad habit, and one gets the freedom from such defilements, and one can live a life full of love and compassion, one comes out of all the miseries, one remains peaceful, harmonious. When we keep on calling oneself by this name or that name. Therefore, these organized religions, they have nothing to do with the technique. It is not at all necessary that one should get converted from one to the other. Of course, conversion is involved in this technique, but the conversion is from misery to happiness. The conversion is from bondage to liberation. The conversion is from ignorance to enlightenment. And every human being, every human being, belongs to this sect, that sect, this country, that country, this color, that color, makes no difference. Every human being can attain this enlightenment. Every human being can practice because it is so scientific, so logical, and not involved in any kind of blind belief or blind faith or dogma that you must first believe this philosophy or this dogma, then only Vipassana will help. Nothing to it. You start from whatever position you are, and you just start observing yourself, start observing your respiration, start observing your sensation on the body, and just remain equanimous with all that, objectively. If you keep on observing, not that you will become perfect. As you start, the old habit will be there, overpowering you again and again. Whenever unpleasant sensation arises, you will react with craving, with aversion. Whenever present sensation arises, you will start reacting with craving. But moments will arise when you are neither craving nor hating. You are just observing, just observing. Those few moments will increase to few seconds, will increase to few minutes, and the stage will come when you are fully established in the technique, and really, you will find that you change the entire habit pattern of your life. You started living a very peaceful life, harmonious life. Give a trial. And to for giving a trial, to spare at least 10 days of your life. You go for holidays now. Take this as a holy day, and start feeling peace and harmony within, and come out so fresh, so refreshed, so that you can face the world, all the ups and downs, the vicissitudes of the world, you can face them so strongly, all the time keeping the balance of your mind, the equilibrium of your mind. Then you learn the art of living. You know how to live peacefully and harmoniously. May the people of the world, suffering in different ways, take advantage of this wonderful technique and come out of their misery, live a peaceful life, harmonious life. May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be liberated from their maladies, be liberated from their miseries. Any questions, please raise your hand.
Um, the subject is so clear. No question? Good. Yes, yes, sure. Go ahead.
[Music]
Final goal, as I said, is to purify the mind from all the defilements by realizing the ultimate truth. As you proceed further, first you will feel intensified, solidified, gross reality pertaining to the matter. And so also pertaining to the mind. As you learn how to observe it objectively, you will find that this reality, the apparent reality, which is so intensified, so solidified, starts getting disintegrated, divided, dissected, dissolved, dissolved, dissolved, till you reach the ultimate truth pertaining to the matter, which is nothing but vibrations. Vibrations. So also the intensified, solidified truth pertaining to the matter, mind gets dissolved, dissolved, and you reach the stage where it is nothing but vibrations. Both the mind and matter, the combination of the two, is nothing but vibration. That has to be experienced. And if you keep on maintaining your equanimity with that, you will transcend the field of mind and matter. You experience something which is beyond it. And once you experience that, there's a big mutation, a big change, and one finds that the mind has totally changed, and can live a very peaceful life, free from these miseries.
Well, it, it remains only in your imagination because when you go to the reality, then all these imaginations will get dissolved. What you call the soul or the ego is nothing but your own imagination, an artificial created thing which keeps you so miserable. If you start observing, observing, you find that there's nothing but the combination of mind and matter. And when you come out of that and experience something which is eternal, which is not arising, not passing away, then you can't give any name to it. It is an experience beyond the sensual field. It cannot be explained in words. It is just to be experienced. So those people who experience, they stop saying this soul or this or that. But those who are not experienced, yes, they keep on fighting with these philosophical beliefs. Yes.
Well, if you have just taken the first step, it is good. You are living a life of morality. You are not harming others. You are not harming yourself. But as I said, this is some gain that you get only at the surface of your mind. Deep inside, the complexes are there, they keep on overpowering you from time to time. Although you abstain from taking such actions which harm others, you don't take any action, vocal or physical, which harm others, but deep inside, you keep on boiling in your impurities, and you are miserable. So the second step is important, the third step is important, so that you come out of this.
So let me talk about something which continues into the future. Quite, quite so. You will, as you go deeper, you will find what is it that continues. This also arises, passes away, arises, passes away. Let that be experienced because even at the intellectual level, if you give argument about its existence or non-existence, it's not going to make any difference. Those people who believe in the existence of a soul are as miserable as those who are not believing. So why fight over things which is, yes, yes, not clear?
What do you say? This, it goes beyond the experience of mind and matter, but takes you to the stage where you experience again something which is beyond mind and matter, but not describable in words. It has to be experienced. That also experience remains all the time. It is not just believing something, it is experiencing. So Vipassana is to experience. You will remember when you experience that, you will remember what you experienced, but you can't describe in words because this is an experience beyond the sensual field where your senses do not work. So when you come back to the sensual world, you can't explain. It is like a dumb person, he has tasted the candy, but he can't explain what the taste is like. Experience it, then this question will have no meaning. That's true. That's true. But practice will help you. If you start, take a course of 10 days, you will know that when they, whenever there is a big turmoil and you are not able to concentrate even on your breath, then you take slightly hard breathing, conscious breathing, intentional breathing. If you do conscious intentional breathing, and you will find that then you can observe the natural breath also easily. Technique will help you. Practice only can make you perfect. Come, try. Give a try. Yes.
[Music]
Um, in whatever position you are. [Music] Certainly, you have to be on the ground. If you keep on flying in the air, it won't help. You have to keep your foot strongly on the ground, face the world, and yet remain equanimous, happy, peaceful. This is, as you start with a cross leg, but it is not absolutely essential. You can sit on the chair like this, and you can start that way. If your back is straight, that's all. Whichever position is convenient to you, start with that. If you join a course, you will learn the details of the technique easily. And an average human being easily grasps the technique. There is nobody, yes, which is responsible for creating the sensations. Now, for a starting man, according to the priorities, the material fact is, yes, it is not. In that case, the first step is. [Music] Quite, quite true. When I say people should come and practice this technique for 10 days, this does not mean, as I said, that they will become inactive and they won't care for their day-to-day problems. But they will get more strength to deal with the situations, to get solutions of the problems. If somebody is having a big problem in life pertaining to food or this or that, and remains agitated, whatever one does will not have very good result. If the mind remains equanimous, and then you take action, you will find that the results are very good. This is like going to a hospital to get good health and then to live with this health, not to live in the hospital for the whole life. You don't come to a camp like this to live in for the whole life like that. You just train your mind to face the problems and then face them bravely, strongly. This technique will help in that case.
This particular, this particular process of meditation, is it not at a particular section of the society who have privileged enough not to suffer from salvation? Not necessarily. In my courses, people have come from the lowest strata of the society, especially in India, where you find that there are people who are miserable because they are have-nots. And having come to the course, they get so much strength of the mind that in their day-to-day material life also, they get benefited. We got such proofs of large number of people. It is not merely for the haves, it is for all. Haves or have-nots, both are miserable. Yes.
This is a very simple question. Can possibly taken out of a great way of going, or is it just an aid? It is an aid to help you because ultimately you are dealing with the people, you are dealing with the situation. Is of utmost importance. Every person, I will help you how to deal with the situation, how to deal with people. So it is an aid, but it will help you to live peacefully, a better life. And what meditation? Well, this is objective. Is nothing to but to observe objectively, but within the framework of the body. Yes. When you use a mantra, every word, whatever word you use and keep on repeating it, every word has got certain vibrations. And if you keep on repeating the same word again and again, you get yourself engulfed in a particular vibration, which is good to some extent. It gives you a shield that outside bad vibration will not affect you. But it won't take you to the depth of your mind where your natural vibrations are there. What vibration you get when you are angry? What vibration you get when you are full of passion or hatred? That is more important for you because you have to root out those things. And mantra will not take you to that level. It will help the conscious mind to a certain extent, the half conscious mind, but can never go to the depth, to the unconscious level. Yes. People that are practicing the positive meditation.
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Not necessary. As I said, ashrams or these meditation centers are like hospitals where people come to gain health, not to live there for whole life. They can take their good lesson as to how to live peacefully, and then they work in the world.
Um, oh no. If that was the case, then large number of Christian priests would not have come to such courses. They have arranged courses in their cathedrals, in their churches. Muslims have arranged courses in their mosques. Large number of Muslims are coming. Jains are coming, not merely Buddhists are coming to such courses. As I say, when you observe these precepts, you won't harm others, you won't harm yourself. It's a law of nature. Everybody accepts it, and they find it is helpful. For a long time, by yourself, in good looking. Well, it happens in cases where people start working by listening to discourses or reading books. But if you start taking lessons with somebody who has experienced, and just 10 days, it is not that you remain under the clutches of a guru. In this technique, there is no gurudom. You are your own master. Somebody can just guide you, at least the initial guidance. If you get from somebody, an experienced person, there is no danger. You're not come across a single case where somebody is harmed by a person.
Because it makes you agitated. At times, you have to take hard action. Where people do not understand soft words, you have to use hard words. But deep inside, you must be equanimous, full of love, full of compassion. Then you find it is so effective, so good. But if you take any action with anger, you harmed yourself, you harmed this. Well, the minimum age is before birth. A pregnant mother should practice repulsion, or the child gets to a person comes out a dhamma baby, very peaceful. People have done that and they have found good results. Otherwise, say at the age where they start understanding a little bit. In families, meditators, the observation of respiration is given to the to the boys and girls who are just five or seven years old. Not necessary that they should stay for 10 days and pass through all these. Few minutes, few minutes morning and evening, good enough for them. They get at least a seed. As they grow and they start understanding, then they can take a full course. It is an art of living. People should learn in young age. It is not something which people should learn at the old age, at the young age, because the whole life is there to live peacefully. Good. Be happy. Be peaceful.