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<Attaining Enlightenment[br]Through Meditation>

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(Questioner) Hi Sunim, thanks [br]for giving me a chance to ask a question.

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So, I have a question on meditation[br]and studying Buddhist scripture.

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I learned that the Buddha achieved[br]a peaceful mind and profound enlightenment

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through meditation.

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I am trying to practice meditation[br]for the same purpose,

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but as a beginner who hasn't gone[br]through the path, I have some doubts

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about how I can achieve such a deep state[br]of enlightenment through not thinking.

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Could you explain how meditation can lead[br]to such peace of mind and enlightenment?

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(Sunim) All our suffering actually happens[br]because we think too much.

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So, we need to truly liberate ourselves[br]from our preconceptions of ethics,

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morality, religious faith, and other[br]paradigms. These guard our thoughts.

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For example:

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Say a man and a woman who like[br]each other have become lovers.

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So, in a regular relationship between[br]two ordinary people, they like each other.

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However, if they are Buddhist clergy[br]or Catholic clergy, they have been taught

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not to engage[br]in sexual relationships.

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So, those people[br]who are trained in that way,

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while they enjoy being with the other[br]person in a romantic relationship,

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also feel guilt.

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So, that guilt, that negative feeling[br]they have, is not the result of their

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actually having a romantic relationship[br]with another person they like.

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It comes down to their own preconceptions[br]that they shouldn't be doing this.

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So, a lot of the suffering and issues[br]we experience today actually happen

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because of the contradiction or collision[br]between what is happening in reality,

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what we experience in reality, and our[br]preconceptions of how things should be.

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That suffering disappears[br]when we erase the contradiction

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of choosing to abandon our[br]preconceptions and accept reality as it is

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or adhere to those preconceptions[br]and give up what we want in this reality.

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However, we can never solve this problem[br]as long as we try to adhere

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to our preconceptions[br]while simultaneously trying to get

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what we want in reality, because[br]that contradiction will always persist.

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So, another example:

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If there are traditional ethics or morals[br]that say men and women of certain ages

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can't see each other as romantic partners,[br]then doing so creates suffering.

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Similarly, if we're taught that divorce is[br]unacceptable after marriage,

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yet circumstances call for separation[br]or divorce,

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this contradiction creates[br]suffering.

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But in the natural course of things,[br]people come together

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and separate all the time.

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It's all coming together.[br]It's not the cause of our suffering.

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Separation or divorce is[br]not the cause of our suffering.

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It's our preconceptions of "what ought to[br]be" that actually cause our suffering,

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whether it's a first meeting[br]or a separation.

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If we can just erase "what ought to be,"[br]then we actually eliminate

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a lot of suffering[br]from our own internal conflicts.

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For example, when we teach our daughters[br]that having sex before marriage is a sin,

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and they then engage in premarital sex, it[br]causes them a lot of internal suffering.

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We don't teach our sons this as much,[br]so they may engage in premarital sex

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without the same level of guilt.[br]This is all because

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of the preconceptions[br]that we instill in our children.

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For example, if you stop thinking[br]right now, there is no cost to suffer.

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So, that is why the foundational piece[br]of our meditation is to stop thinking.

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What position you take,[br]however you breathe,

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all that doesn't really matter.

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Many of you say you meditate,[br]but you end up quietly thinking.

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That is thinking,[br]not meditating.

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Thinking good thoughts does not mean[br]you meditate well.

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Meditation is[br]a state of absence of thoughts.

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If your thinking stops,[br]most of your suffering will go away.

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But once you try it,[br]you will know your thinking does not stop.

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Naturally, your thinking is amplified[br]by 2, 3, 10 times more.

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So when you are meditating,[br]your body may be still,

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but you are[br]always thinking.

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So how do you stop thinking?[br]Because if you intend to stop thinking,

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that intention itself gets[br]amplified.

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That is why the old teachers told us[br]this:

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There's dust[br]flying all over the room.

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And we don't see it well.[br]It is almost invisible.

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But if there's a ray of sunlight coming[br]through the room,

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we suddenly realize[br]that a lot of dust is floating around.

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And we take a cloth or duster[br]and try to dust it off.

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We realize[br]that we are actually creating more dust.

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Then, what do we do?[br]We just have to let it be.

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As time passes,[br]most of the dust will gradually settle.

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So basically, what they're saying is[br]that we constantly live

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in a flux of thoughts and distractions,[br]but we don't realize it

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because we lack a single ray of light[br]to actually illuminate them.

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So, the fact that you actually sit down[br]and start realizing

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how dusty the room in your mind is,[br]is not a failure in the meditation.

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It's actually a process[br]of meditating on that recognition.

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It's the same as seeing that single ray[br]of light illuminating all that dust.

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That first realization[br]that "I live amidst all this dust,

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in these distracting thoughts".

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Then you start engaging in a kind[br]of performance-oriented meditation,

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in which you want to do meditation[br]better and faster.

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Thereby creating more distractions[br]and letting dust fly even more.

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You have to just[br]let it be.

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But it doesn't really settle that quickly[br]because it just flies around.

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That's why the strategy is[br]to focus your thoughts on one thing.

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The easiest thing to focus your thoughts[br]on is your breath.

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Basically, it is a strategy[br]of focusing

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on the inhalation and exhalation[br]of your breath.

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In Pali, it is called Ānāpāna.

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Another strategy that came up[br]during Zen Buddhist tradition is a Koan,

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just to focus[br]on one single thought.

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Or one single question[br]like "Who am I?".

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Just focus[br]on that single question.

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You know,[br]other thoughts will constantly be there.

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You just let them be.

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The only thing you actually focus[br]on is that single question.

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For example, say you read a book[br]in the middle of the forest.

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There are birds tweeting.

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You hear a stream.

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And you hear cars down the road.

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So you can't really focus.

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If the cars were not running,

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if the birds stopped tweeting,

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if the stream stopped running;

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then you could actually focus[br]in a quiet forest, right?

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But you can't stop those things.

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Just because you stop those externalities[br]doesn't guarantee that you can focus.

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But if you really focus on the book[br]and get into the substance,

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birds may tweet,[br]but you don't pay attention;

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cars may run on the road nearby,[br]but you don't pay attention,

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nor do you pay attention[br]to the stream beside you

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because you are really focused;[br]you are in that zone of focus.

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So, meditation is all about the absence[br]of thoughts, but from a strategic

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perspective, it's all about focusing[br]on that one single thought.

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Let's say you focus[br]on the breath in and breath out.

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So, when the breath comes in[br]to know that the breath is coming in.

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You are not thinking[br]about the breath coming in.

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This is a kind of sensory experience:[br]the flow of the air as it actually travels

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over your skin, through your nostrils,[br]as it enters your lungs.

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And you also feel that kind of tactile[br]sense of the breath and leaf in your nose.

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This is experiencing,[br]not thinking.

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You are just experiencing[br]that breath.

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You might think of your mother[br]at that time.

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But once you actually get distracted[br]by the thought of your mother,

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you start thinking,[br]"Oh, what about the time we went

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on a picnic with my mom?[br]What about the time

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we had an argument with her?"

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So, you actually create narratives[br]around those thoughts.

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This becomes a distraction.

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So, you can't really stop the thought[br]of your mother rising.

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But despite whatever thoughts come to you,[br]you keep focusing on the breath.

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Basically, do not pay attention[br]or give energy to that thought.

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And then the thoughts[br]kind of dissipate.

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Then other thoughts will come.

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You'll think about coffee.

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But nevertheless,[br]you focus on the breath.

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Then the thought of coffee dissipates.

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So you will have countless thoughts[br]rise and fall, rise and fall,

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as long as you don't pay attention[br]to them.

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But once you start actually doing it,[br]when you think of coffee,

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you kind of follow it[br]and create a story out of it;

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"What kind of coffee do I want?[br]With whom do I want this coffee?".

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At that time, you have already lost[br]that focus on your breath.

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Because your attention can only focus[br]on one thing at a time.

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If you focus on here,[br]you lose focus there.

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And if you pay attention there,[br]you lose attention here.

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Thoughts are just that;[br]as long as you don't pay attention

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to them, they will just rise and fall,[br]rise and fall.

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So, when we say we are distracted,[br]those random thoughts are

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not distractions in themselves.[br]It really becomes a source of distraction

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when you start creating stories[br]around those thoughts.

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So, if you keep practicing, the time[br]you can sustain focus on a single breath

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before getting distracted can increase[br]to 1 minute, then 5 minutes,

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and then 10 minutes.[br]It will gradually increase.

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So, the attention span[br]on that single breath will continue

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to increase,[br]and you will experience less distraction.

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Then you start actually gaining autonomy.[br]You are no longer beholden

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to your past memories[br]or future hopes.

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The reason you get angry, you get sad,[br]you feel this emotion and that is

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because all these past memories come[br]haunting you.

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You become fearful, anxious, and nervous[br]because you are thinking about the future.

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So, if you are not captured[br]by thoughts of the future,

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then all your anxiety and nervousness[br]will go away.

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So that is why we teach to be awakened[br]in the here and now,

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without being captured[br]by your past memories

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or the future[br]that has not come yet.

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So even if a thought[br]about Buddha comes unbidden to you

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while meditating,[br]that is just another distraction.

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So, just singular focus on that breath;[br]everything else is a distraction.

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If it's a Zen Koan,[br]anything that falls outside the scope

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of exploring that question is[br]a distraction.

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And so, in that state, even what you read[br]in the scriptures, sutras,

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or even Buddha's own teachings[br]are just distractions.

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That is why there is a teaching:[br]if you see a Buddha,

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if you think about the Buddha,[br]kill the Buddha.

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If you encounter your teacher,[br]kill the teacher.

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So, we don't really mean to[br]literally kill them,

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but obviously, we are saying is[br]to not pay them any mind.

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They are just distractions.

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Sorry for the lengthy response.

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(Sunim/Questioner Laughter)

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(Questioner) Thanks.

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(Audience Applause)