good morning good morning i have a little bit of special lecture for you this morning and i would like to know your names what's your name my name is christina maybe your mom he says your name isabella what a nice name and your name Sayane, yes, I remember you. You came to practice discussion with your mommy when you were as small as your sister. Hi, Sayane. Nice to see you again. And your name? Yes. Annabella. Annabella. Isabella, Annabella, Sayane, and... Nika. Welcome. So why don't we all join the children and just put our hands on our belly.

[01:04]

And breathe in so deeply that you can actually feel your belly move. Let's try that. And then we breathe out all the way and feel our belly move inward. And you can make a sound like this. wind blowing till there's no more air and then we wait and then we breathe in again when it's time through our nose really deep till we feel it in our belly going out making a big belly like those buddhas that sit there these round buddhas with their big bellies then we go out again And one more time, just in your own time, breathe in deeply until there's no more air can come in.

[02:11]

Everything is filled with air. And then let it go out. And now keep your hands on your belly and just let your breath come in and go out. the way it wants to, just by itself. Not doing extra deep, not doing extra long. Can you just feel it come in and go out? And maybe at the very end when it goes out, there's a little Pause before the air wants to come back in. See if you can feel it. Keep your hands on your belly and see if you feel it move when you breathe.

[03:22]

And now, Close your eyes and think of something happy that made you happy. Can you remember something, maybe even today or yesterday, that made you happy? Maybe your dog came running when you came home. Or your daddy gave you a hug when he came home. And when you remember how you were happy, just feel how feeling happy feels like in your body. What do you usually do when you're happy? Do you maybe jump up and down? Or you laugh or smile?

[04:30]

And then think of something that made you sad. Can you remember something that made you sad? And how does sad feel when you remember it in your body? can be sad because something didn't happen that you wanted to happen. Or your friend is ill and can't play with you. Or your friend moved away to another town. Just something That made you sad.

[05:42]

And how does sad feel in your body? What do you do when you're sad? Do you go curl up on your bed? Do you go sit on your mommy or daddy's lap? Do you go? What do you do? How does it feel when you're sad? Then take a moment and remember when you were angry. And how does being angry feel? How does angry feel in your body? What was it that made you angry?

[06:44]

And usually when we're angry, just very quickly before we get angry, we have another feeling. We either feel hurt or we feel a little bit afraid. So when you go to what you remember when you were angry, Can you feel what was just before you got angry? Were you disappointed, hurt, afraid, scared? And then feel how when you think of somebody you love, How that feels, loving somebody. How does loving feel?

[07:58]

Can you think of the person you love and then feel how that feels? How do you express that love? Do you throw your arms around them? You jump on them? You run towards them? You smile? How does it feel when you think and express that you love the person? You know, we all do it a little differently. How do you do it? Does it show outwardly? Can somebody notice or is it all inside? And then think of someone who loves you.

[09:02]

And how that feels to be loved. Just like that. how that person expresses their love. How do you know they love you? Maybe because it gives you a warm feeling in your heart. Maybe they give you a hug. How they say goodnight to you in the evening. There was a grandfather a Native American grandfather who talked to his grandchildren and he said sometimes there is a battle inside myself between two sides and he called them two wolves because in the Native tradition where they lived there were wolves and he said one wolf is angry

[10:27]

more jealous, is greedy, or feels often sorry for himself, sometimes lies, is just unhappy. And the other one is full of joy and peace and love and hope and is generous and tolerant and patient and trusting. So the grandchildren sat quietly for a while and then asked, well, which one, if it's a battle, which one wins? And the grandfather says, the one I take care of. Like you take care, maybe you have a pet. And you take care of it. You give it food. You give it water. You make sure if it's a bird, its cage is cleaned.

[11:32]

If it's a little guinea pig, it's cleaned. If it's a dog, you go with a plastic bag and clean up after him. So the one we take care of. You walk your dog. If it's a dog, you take care of your cat. And that's what we can do. And that's what you can do. You can think a happy thought in the morning when you get up and before you go out of the house. You can think of something that makes you happy or made you happy. And your parents can help you. They can help you find a happy thought before you leave the house in the morning. when you wake up, before the day starts. And you can do it in the evening, and your parents can help you in the evening, too, to think about somebody you love and about somebody who loves you before you go to sleep.

[12:46]

So that prepares you to be more, see everything that makes you happy in the day. And feel safe when you go to sleep at night. So that's what I like you to remember, maybe. Have happy thoughts in the morning and loving thoughts in the evening. And if you remember and your parents don't, you can remind them that that's what you're going to do from now on. And I think somebody is going to have more happy things happening. Steve is waiting already and... Terrible. I can't remember your name right now. It doesn't come to me. Janine. Sorry. The more I know the people, the more I forget their names.

[13:51]

It's awful. So you're having, hopefully, much fun. So today is Independence Day. And of course, what I recommended to the children is also really a great practice for the grownups. Try it out. It makes a big difference. In a place where I worked, we were in a team. We discovered that we would have breakfast in the morning, was in a psychiatric clinic. We would have coffee and croissant. The alternated who would bring the croissant would sit down and have that. And it was amazing to watch when the first person who spoke spoke about an unpleasant experience. We would all start remembering the unpleasant experiences we had the day before and would share those.

[14:56]

And then the whole day we had unpleasant experiences. When the first person who spoke spoke about the pleasant experience, we all remembered pleasant experiences and shared those. And the whole day we had pleasant experiences. It's like you put on a pair of glasses. What you think in the morning and speak out loud in the morning is like a filter and tints the rest of your day. So please remind your children, remind your inner, all the family that you have inside you, all the different beings in you, and practice that. Tomorrow is Independence Day. And 1776, they wrote down, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

[16:06]

that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It could be Buddha who said that. Probably said it before 1776. It's part of the practice. to pursue happiness. And what I would like to encourage you to do a little bit more than just thinking a happy thought is giving yourself the gift of nothing. And I brought a little book for you all. It was a special day There are two little houses and snow is coming down.

[17:09]

And Mooch, who is a cat, looks out the window and sees the snowflakes coming down. Wanted to give his best friend Earl a gift. And Earl is a dog sleeping on his pillow, looking out the window, seeing snowflakes coming down. I will put this book later in the dining room and you can look at it. But what to get him? sits here with question marks around his head. What can I get Earl? He had a bowl. He had a bed. He had a squeaky chewy toy. He had it all. So here is Earl lying on his bed with his squeaky toy in a warm house with a nice person taking care of him. Much thought and thought. What do you get someone who has everything?

[18:12]

So more question marks than before. He lies down and thinks. Nothing. Nothing. He will give Earl the gift of nothing. Nothing. in this world filled with so many somethings, where could he find nothing? So he looks around the corner. Mooch often heard Frank say, there was nothing on TV. But as far as Mooch could tell, there was always something on TV. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Mooch often heard Doozy and her friends say there was nothing to do. But as far as Mooch could tell, everybody was always doing something.

[19:19]

So they're running around throwing balls and he has, you know, snowballs and he has to run away. Millie came home from the store and said there was nothing to buy. So Mooch went shopping. He went shopping for nothing. Comes to the store and there's full carts and boxes and for sale and buy and money signs. Mooch looked up and down every aisle. He found many, many, many somethings. The latest this, the newest that, but as far as he could tell, nothing was not for sale. So Mooch went home, very despondent, because he couldn't find nothing for his friend, and sat on his pillow.

[20:22]

And just stayed still, as cats often do. Have you seen a cat waiting in front of a mouse hole? or just sitting by the window. So he just sits. And not looking for it, he found nothing. So he went and got the box and put nothing in it. Then Mooch thought, hmm, maybe Earl deserves a bigger box, more than this. So he got the bigger box. Now that's plenty of nothing. He has to climb up on the box. It's so big. For me, said Earl. Mooch, you didn't have to give me anything. Who told him, thought Mooch.

[21:29]

Earl opened Mooch's gift. And looks in. and has a question mark. What the hell is that? There's nothing here, said Earl. Yes, said Mooch. Nothing. Nothing. But you and me. And they hug. So Mooch and... Earl just stayed still and enjoyed nothing. They sit by the window and look out. And everything. And then they play.

[22:37]

So you can give yourself the gift of nothing. Every morning, five minutes, and every evening, five minutes. In the morning, before you do anything else but have brushed your teeth, before you make your coffee, before you get the paper, before you maybe even get dressed, you sit down. On a chair, if you sit on a chair, sit. That much forward so your back can balance freely. And just sit as upright and comfortable as you can. And just do nothing. Just feel your breath. Feel that this body is alive. That it doesn't have to do anything. Don't have to plan your day. This is... the gift you're giving yourself of nothing, of just being there with the person that woke up this morning.

[23:50]

Rumi in his poem, The Guest House says, this being human is like a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. So who's here this morning when I sit down? And just allow the being, the feeling, the sensations, the experience to be just simply exactly as it is. With no commentary, with no wriggling and meddling and explaining why, nothing. Just the way it is. After five minutes, You say, thank you very much and go about your day. Think a happy thought. Even if it seems impossible, the Red Queen says, why every morning before breakfast, I think at least of six impossible things.

[24:53]

So don't go, oh no, this is not possible. Think, remember something happy or think a happy thought. In the evening, when everything is done and you're ready to go to bed. Before you step into bed, you can be in your night attire. Sit down five minutes. And again, just see if you can feel your breath coming and going just the way it does. Feel the aliveness of the body. Who's sitting here tonight? What state is... my body in? What state is my mind in? What state is my heart in? And just meet it exactly the way it is without changing anything, explaining anything. And then think of somebody you love and think of someone who loves you.

[26:00]

And allow yourself to really feel that. and then go to sleep. Rilke says, what is necessary after all is only this, solitude, vast inner solitude. To walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours, that is what you must be able to attain. Then he says somewhere else, for one human being to love another human being, that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us. The ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.

[27:03]

That's what you're attending to when you give yourself the gift of nothing, of sitting down five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. That's what you're attending to. That solitude and that loving yourself just the way you are. Nisargadatta Maharaj says, wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two, my life flows. So that's the practice of Buddhism is about tending to both of those, both of those truths that we are not the thing we usually think we are. In that sense, we are

[28:08]

no thing, nothing. We are life living itself, continuously changing. And we are everything, because if we're not in the place where we are completely, we clog the energy streams. Like in Indra's net, everything is connected. So if we are right there, completely connected, in those five minutes with whatever the experience is, if we meet it with no resistance, then everything can flow the way it should and we're in the right place because there's no other place than where we are and how we are at the moment is the right place. Can we meet that? Can we try that for five minutes twice a day? So the practice of appreciation or the practice of thinking of something that promotes happiness or contentment or joy in you in the morning is

[29:43]

is a way of cultivating, feeding the wolf that is peaceful, compassionate, generous, tolerant, not self-centered, takes others into account, and kind of not giving space to the other one that wants to have it all and is envious and wants it to be different than it is. And it takes courage to be happy. We often feel guilty when we're happy. Feel guilty because others are having a hard time or not having enough. We have enough, so can I really enjoy it that I have enough? So we kind of back off from fully appreciating

[30:45]

What is there? So when my friend who was dying last year, over the years we had this phone conversation and she would tell me these horrendous stories and she would always be interested in what's going on in my life. And at some point I decided to tell her completely unedited what is going on in my life, even if it meant the complete opposite of what she was experiencing. that I was happy, I just had met the love of my life while she was utterly lonely. And it wasn't about forcing it on her, but when she asked me, I took that that she really wanted to know. I didn't make the assumption, now I have to say all the things that are difficult in my life so she doesn't feel lonely. She appreciated this so much. It wasn't what I first thought, that she would feel more lonely.

[31:50]

She felt less lonely. And we have a saying which you may have too in the German culture, German speaking culture, Germany, Switzerland. Shared sorrow or suffering is half the suffering. Shared joy is double the joy. And it really, truly works that way. Because if we tend to start to be careful and only think we have to match the other person's experience, then we isolate the person. Then suddenly there's a world where there's only suffering and only difficult times and only loneliness and not the other part. And we are so interconnected that if you're happy, it makes the other people happy. Unless they're cultivating, taking care of the part in us that compares, that wants to have it all, that gets envious.

[33:00]

So it's up to us what we cultivate. And that's what this practice is teaching us. So the practice of appreciation, appreciate what you have, appreciate a cup of coffee, appreciate a smile at the cash register that somebody's giving you. When somebody express your appreciation for a co-worker and say what it is you appreciate, you know, be specific. And if someone appreciates you Let it in. Or pay attention when you can't. How do you deflect it? Oh, it's so easy. Oh, it was nothing. No, it was this person. We have all these ways of actually not being courageous enough to let it in. The practice of happiness takes courage.

[34:03]

Because to let it in, you have to surrender. It's a very humbling, A friend of mine who lives at Green Gulch said the hardest thing for her had been to let her husband really love her, to let it in completely. It's the most frightening, most vulnerable-making task. So we can start with appreciation. That's like a little bit less scary, but maybe even that is scary. And appreciate yourself. Appreciate the efforts you're making, not based on the results. That you made an effort. That you tried. So not, oh, it didn't work, so it wasn't worth anything. It actually was worth everything because you made the effort.

[35:09]

Five minutes of nothing in the morning and five minutes of nothing in the evening. That's what I would like to send you off with. And thank you for being here on this gorgeous day. And have some cookies and tea. Think happy thoughts.

[35:40]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_97.57