1 00:00:04,384 --> 00:00:13,861 2 00:00:13,861 --> 00:00:17,517 (Questioner) Hi, Sunim. Thank you for giving me a chance to ask a question. 3 00:00:17,517 --> 00:00:22,296 I have a question about meditation and the study of the Buddhist scriptures. 4 00:00:22,296 --> 00:00:27,276 I learned that the Buddha attained a peaceful mind and profound enlightenment 5 00:00:27,276 --> 00:00:29,083 through meditation. 6 00:00:29,083 --> 00:00:32,752 I am trying to practice meditation for the same purpose. 7 00:00:32,752 --> 00:00:37,048 But, as a beginner who hasn't gone through the path, 8 00:00:37,048 --> 00:00:43,676 I have doubts about how I can reach such a deep state of enlightenment 9 00:00:43,676 --> 00:00:45,795 simply by not thinking. 10 00:00:45,795 --> 00:00:53,887 Could you explain how meditation leads to peace of mind and enlightenment? 11 00:00:53,887 --> 00:01:03,661 (Sunim) Most of our suffering arises primarily from our thoughts. 12 00:01:03,661 --> 00:01:20,563 So, we must free ourselves from our preconceived notions of 13 00:01:20,563 --> 00:01:30,420 ethics, morality, religious beliefs, and other paradigms that shape our thoughts. 14 00:01:30,420 --> 00:01:52,030 For example, consider a man and a woman who like each other and become lovers. 15 00:01:52,030 --> 00:02:00,342 In a typical relationship between two ordinary individuals, 16 00:02:00,342 --> 00:02:02,095 they can simply like each other. 17 00:02:02,095 --> 00:02:17,875 However, if they are Buddhist or Catholic clergy, they have been taught 18 00:02:17,875 --> 00:02:22,807 not to engage in romantic or sexual relationships. 19 00:02:22,807 --> 00:02:34,802 So, those who have undergone such training, 20 00:02:34,802 --> 00:02:38,869 while experiencing joy in their romantic relationship, 21 00:02:38,869 --> 00:02:41,727 also struggle with guilt. 22 00:02:41,727 --> 00:03:02,692 That guilt, the negative feeling they get, does not stem from the relationship itself 23 00:03:02,692 --> 00:03:09,622 but rather from their belief that they should not be engaging in it. 24 00:03:09,622 --> 00:03:29,802 Much of the suffering and issues we experience today occurs 25 00:03:29,802 --> 00:03:35,723 due to the clash between reality, what we truly experience, 26 00:03:35,723 --> 00:03:40,004 and our preconceived notions of how things should be. 27 00:03:40,004 --> 00:03:56,805 This suffering disappears when we resolve the contradiction in one of two ways: 28 00:03:56,805 --> 00:04:02,543 either by letting go of our preconceptions and accepting reality as it is 29 00:04:02,543 --> 00:04:07,373 or by adhering to our preconceptions and giving up what we desire in reality. 30 00:04:07,373 --> 00:04:22,887 However, we can never truly resolve this problem 31 00:04:22,887 --> 00:04:27,552 if we attempt to hold onto our preconceptions, 32 00:04:27,552 --> 00:04:30,669 while simultaneously trying to attain what we desire in reality, 33 00:04:30,669 --> 00:04:34,374 because that contradiction will inevitably persist. 34 00:04:34,374 --> 00:04:37,572 Let's take another example. 35 00:04:37,572 --> 00:04:50,804 If there are traditional ethics or morals dictating that 36 00:04:50,804 --> 00:04:55,155 men and women of certain ages should not see each other as romantic partners, 37 00:04:55,155 --> 00:04:59,527 then engaging in such relationships leads to suffering. 38 00:04:59,527 --> 00:05:11,096 Similarly, if we're taught that divorce is unacceptable after marriage, 39 00:05:11,096 --> 00:05:17,416 yet circumstances call for separation or divorce, 40 00:05:17,416 --> 00:05:21,085 this contradiction results in suffering. 41 00:05:21,085 --> 00:05:31,050 In the natural course of life, people may come together and go their separate ways. 42 00:05:31,050 --> 00:05:38,566 Coming together is not the cause of suffering, 43 00:05:38,566 --> 00:05:42,270 nor is separation or divorce. 44 00:05:42,270 --> 00:05:53,312 Rather, it is our preconceived notions of "what ought to be" that create suffering, 45 00:05:53,312 --> 00:05:57,475 whether it's meeting for the first time of a relationship or separating. 46 00:05:57,475 --> 00:06:10,927 If we can let go of the idea of "what ought to be," 47 00:06:10,927 --> 00:06:19,679 we can eliminate much of the suffering that arises from internal conflicts. 48 00:06:19,679 --> 00:06:57,701 For example, when we teach our daughters that having sex before marriage is a sin, 49 00:06:57,701 --> 00:07:02,033 if they are later forced into premarital sex, 50 00:07:02,033 --> 00:07:04,566 it causes them significant internal suffering. 51 00:07:04,566 --> 00:07:10,653 But we do not emphasize this as much when teaching our sons, 52 00:07:10,653 --> 00:07:15,936 so if they have premarital sex, they may not feel the same level of guilt. 53 00:07:15,936 --> 00:07:22,110 This is entirely due to the preconceptions we instill in our children. 54 00:07:22,110 --> 00:07:34,393 If you were to stop thinking right now, there would be no suffering. 55 00:07:34,393 --> 00:07:43,126 This is why the foundation of meditation is to stop thinking. 56 00:07:43,126 --> 00:07:54,670 What position you take, how you breathe, none of that truly matters. 57 00:07:54,670 --> 00:08:07,630 Many of you say you meditate, but, in reality, you are thinking quietly. 58 00:08:07,630 --> 00:08:10,351 That is thinking, not meditating. 59 00:08:10,351 --> 00:08:16,932 Thinking positive thoughts does not mean you are meditating properly. 60 00:08:16,932 --> 00:08:23,424 Meditation is the state where thoughts have stopped. 61 00:08:23,424 --> 00:08:30,999 And if you stop thinking, most of your suffering goes away. 62 00:08:30,999 --> 00:08:38,999 However, once you try it, you will realize that your thoughts do not cease. 63 00:08:38,999 --> 00:08:40,465 (Audience Laughter) 64 00:08:40,465 --> 00:08:52,380 In fact, they may become amplified twofold, threefold, or even tenfold. 65 00:08:52,380 --> 00:08:59,240 So, while your body remains still during meditation, 66 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,780 your mind is constantly engaged in thinking. 67 00:09:02,780 --> 00:09:15,090 Then, how can we stop thinking? If you set an intention to stop thinking, 68 00:09:15,090 --> 00:09:18,504 that intention itself becomes another thought. 69 00:09:18,504 --> 00:09:25,195 That is why the old masters taught us this analogy: 70 00:09:25,195 --> 00:09:31,674 Imagine there's dust flying all over the room. 71 00:09:31,674 --> 00:09:36,262 The dust is barely visible to us. 72 00:09:36,262 --> 00:09:41,481 But if there's a ray of sunlight coming through the room, 73 00:09:41,481 --> 00:09:47,510 we suddenly become aware of how much dust is floating in the air. 74 00:09:47,510 --> 00:10:02,370 We take a cloth or a duster and start cleaning to remove the dust. 75 00:10:02,370 --> 00:10:06,610 Yet, instead of eliminating the dust, we stirring it up even more. 76 00:10:06,610 --> 00:10:11,871 Then, what should we do? We simply let it settle on its own. 77 00:10:11,871 --> 00:10:20,613 As time passes, most of the dust will settle. 78 00:10:20,613 --> 00:10:41,851 This analogy shows that we live constantly filled with thoughts and distractions, 79 00:10:41,851 --> 00:10:44,604 but we are unaware of that 80 00:10:44,604 --> 00:10:49,468 because we lack that single ray of light to illuminate them. 81 00:10:49,468 --> 00:11:10,044 Thus, when you sit down to meditate and start noticing how cluttered your mind is, 82 00:11:10,044 --> 00:11:11,811 this is not a failure in meditation. 83 00:11:11,811 --> 00:11:16,190 It's actually a process of meditating properly. 84 00:11:16,190 --> 00:11:25,844 It's just like seeing that single ray of sunlight revealing the dust in a room. 85 00:11:25,844 --> 00:11:36,069 It is the first realization that you are surrounded by endless distracting thoughts. 86 00:11:36,069 --> 00:11:48,897 Then, you may start approaching meditation with a performance-oriented mindset, 87 00:11:48,897 --> 00:11:51,975 striving to meditate better and faster. 88 00:11:51,975 --> 00:11:56,914 This, in turn, creates more distractions just as letting dust fly even more. 89 00:11:56,914 --> 00:12:00,312 You have to just let it be. 90 00:12:00,312 --> 00:12:07,651 But it's very hard to simply let it be because thoughts keep arising. 91 00:12:07,651 --> 00:12:15,567 That's why the strategy is to focus your thoughts on one thing. 92 00:12:15,567 --> 00:12:25,172 The easiest thing to focus your thoughts on is your breath. 93 00:12:25,172 --> 00:12:42,327 It's a strategy of focusing on the inhalation and exhalation of your breath. 94 00:12:42,327 --> 00:12:51,196 In Pali, it is called Ānāpānasati. 95 00:12:51,196 --> 00:13:04,977 Another strategy that emerged during the Zen Buddhist tradition is a Koan, 96 00:13:04,977 --> 00:13:07,897 which is focusing on a single thought, 97 00:13:07,897 --> 00:13:12,998 a single question like "Who am I?" 98 00:13:12,998 --> 00:13:17,244 Just focus on that single question. 99 00:13:17,244 --> 00:13:23,304 Other thoughts will constantly arise. 100 00:13:23,304 --> 00:13:26,461 Just let them be. 101 00:13:26,461 --> 00:13:35,275 The only thing you should truly focus on is that single question. 102 00:13:35,275 --> 00:13:42,617 For example, imagine you are reading a book in the middle of a forest. 103 00:13:42,617 --> 00:13:46,338 You hear birds tweeting. 104 00:13:46,338 --> 00:13:48,939 You hear the sound of a stream. 105 00:13:48,939 --> 00:13:51,927 And you hear cars passing on a distant road. 106 00:13:51,927 --> 00:13:55,388 Because of these distractions, you find it difficult to focus. 107 00:13:55,388 --> 00:13:59,428 If the cars stopped running, 108 00:13:59,428 --> 00:14:03,424 if the birds stopped tweeting, 109 00:14:03,424 --> 00:14:06,797 and if the stream stopped running, 110 00:14:06,797 --> 00:14:14,796 then you would be able to focus in that quiet forest, right? 111 00:14:14,796 --> 00:14:19,301 But you can't stop those things. 112 00:14:19,301 --> 00:14:24,016 Even if you could eliminate those external distractions, 113 00:14:24,016 --> 00:14:27,492 it wouldn’t necessarily mean that you could focus. 114 00:14:27,492 --> 00:14:53,624 But if you truly immerse yourself in the book, 115 00:14:53,624 --> 00:14:56,236 the birds may tweet, but you won’t notice them. 116 00:14:56,236 --> 00:14:59,924 Cars may pass on the road nearby, but you won’t pay attention to them, 117 00:14:59,924 --> 00:15:02,855 nor will you notice the stream beside you 118 00:15:02,855 --> 00:15:07,780 because you are deeply focused and fully absorbed in what you are reading. 119 00:15:07,780 --> 00:15:16,589 While meditation is about the absence of thoughts, 120 00:15:16,589 --> 00:15:22,970 from a strategic perspective, it is about concentrating on a single thought. 121 00:15:22,970 --> 00:15:31,506 Let's say you focus on breathing in and out. 122 00:15:31,506 --> 00:15:39,070 When the breath comes in, you notice the breath entering. 123 00:15:39,070 --> 00:15:46,450 You are not thinking about the breath coming in. 124 00:15:46,450 --> 00:16:01,549 This is a kind of sensory experience, the flow of air as it moves 125 00:16:01,549 --> 00:16:05,327 over your skin, through your nostrils, and into your lungs. 126 00:16:05,327 --> 00:16:16,713 And you also feel the tactile sensation of the breath leaving your nose. 127 00:16:16,713 --> 00:16:22,410 This is experiencing, not thinking. 128 00:16:22,410 --> 00:16:26,532 You are simply experiencing the breath. 129 00:16:26,532 --> 00:16:31,855 You might think of your mother at some point. 130 00:16:31,855 --> 00:16:41,854 Once you become distracted by the thought of your mother, 131 00:16:41,854 --> 00:16:46,444 you start thinking, "Oh, what about the time we went on a picnic together? 132 00:16:46,444 --> 00:16:49,047 What about the time we had an argument?" 133 00:16:49,047 --> 00:16:53,215 You unconsciously create narratives around the thought. 134 00:16:53,215 --> 00:16:57,944 This becomes a distraction. 135 00:16:57,944 --> 00:17:05,290 You can't stop the thought of your mother from rising. 136 00:17:05,290 --> 00:17:11,779 But whatever thoughts come to you, you keep focusing on your breath. 137 00:17:11,779 --> 00:17:18,160 Basically, do not pay attention to the thought or give it energy. 138 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,189 Then, the thought naturally dissipate. 139 00:17:21,189 --> 00:17:23,828 But soon, other thoughts will arise. 140 00:17:23,828 --> 00:17:25,991 You might suddenly think about coffee. 141 00:17:25,991 --> 00:17:29,739 Nevertheless, you stay focused on your breath. 142 00:17:29,739 --> 00:17:33,148 Then, the thought of coffee also dissipates. 143 00:17:33,148 --> 00:17:45,328 No matter how many thoughts arise, if you do not pay attention to them, 144 00:17:45,328 --> 00:17:48,094 they will simply come and go again and again. 145 00:17:48,094 --> 00:17:59,783 But once you actually engage with a thought of coffee, 146 00:17:59,783 --> 00:18:02,622 you start following it and creating a story: 147 00:18:02,622 --> 00:18:06,772 "What kind of coffee do I want? Who do I want to drink this coffee with?" 148 00:18:06,772 --> 00:18:13,672 At that moment, you have already lost your focus on the breath 149 00:18:13,672 --> 00:18:19,558 because you can only focus on one thing at a time. 150 00:18:19,558 --> 00:18:24,226 If you focus here, you lose focus there. 151 00:18:24,226 --> 00:18:30,134 And if you pay attention there, you lose attention here. 152 00:18:30,134 --> 00:18:38,270 Thoughts are just that. 153 00:18:38,270 --> 00:18:43,358 As long as you don't pay attention to them, they will simply rise and fall. 154 00:18:43,358 --> 00:18:55,469 So, when we say we are distracted, 155 00:18:55,469 --> 00:18:59,094 it is not the random thoughts themselves that are distractions. 156 00:18:59,094 --> 00:19:05,160 They become distractions when we start creating stories around them. 157 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:27,084 If you keep practicing, the amount of time you can sustain focus on your breath 158 00:19:27,084 --> 00:19:29,606 before getting distracted can increase, 159 00:19:29,606 --> 00:19:33,219 first to 1 minute, then to 5, then to 10. It will gradually increase. 160 00:19:33,219 --> 00:19:47,020 Your attention span for focusing on your breath will continue to grow, 161 00:19:47,020 --> 00:19:52,790 and you will experience fewer distractions. 162 00:19:52,790 --> 00:20:06,218 Then, you start to gain autonomy. 163 00:20:06,218 --> 00:20:11,546 You will no longer be bound by past memories or future expectations. 164 00:20:11,546 --> 00:20:26,018 The reason you feel anger, frustration, hatred, or resentment is that 165 00:20:26,018 --> 00:20:29,781 past memories resurface, bringing back the wounds you once experienced. 166 00:20:29,781 --> 00:20:45,123 You become fearful, anxious, and nervous because you are thinking about the future. 167 00:20:45,123 --> 00:20:55,744 If you are no longer held captive by thoughts of the future, 168 00:20:55,744 --> 00:20:58,547 then your anxiety and nervousness will naturally fade away. 169 00:20:58,547 --> 00:21:10,471 That is why we teach to awaken in the here and now, 170 00:21:10,471 --> 00:21:16,636 without being captured by past memories or the future that has not yet arrived. 171 00:21:16,636 --> 00:21:29,438 Even if thoughts about the Buddha arise unbidden during meditation, 172 00:21:29,438 --> 00:21:31,927 they are still distractions. 173 00:21:31,927 --> 00:21:41,820 Maintain singular focus on your breath, and everything else is a distraction. 174 00:21:41,820 --> 00:21:53,211 If you are meditating on a Zen Koan, 175 00:21:53,211 --> 00:21:59,342 anything beyond exploring that question is a distraction. 176 00:21:59,342 --> 00:22:09,032 In that state, even what you read in scriptures, sutras, 177 00:22:09,032 --> 00:22:12,022 or even the Buddha's own teachings become distractions. 178 00:22:12,022 --> 00:22:23,822 That is why there is a teaching: "If you see the Buddha, kill the Buddha. 179 00:22:23,822 --> 00:22:27,868 If you encounter your teacher, kill the teacher." 180 00:22:27,868 --> 00:22:36,792 Of course, this does not mean to literally kill them. 181 00:22:36,792 --> 00:22:40,675 Rather, it means not to give them any attention. 182 00:22:40,675 --> 00:22:43,989 They are simply distractions. 183 00:22:43,989 --> 00:22:48,463 Sorry for the lengthy response. (Sunim Laughter) 184 00:22:48,463 --> 00:22:51,658 (Questioner) Thanks. (Audience Applause)