1996-07_03 Vipassana Retreat, Part 3 of 8 - Q&A 6

Talk: 19960703-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-vipassana_retreat_part_3_of_8-43307 Start_time: 01:14:06 Display_question: What do I do about wanting to leave during meditation? Keyword_search: emergency, exit, authority, free, mind, guru, self-reliance, lamp, book, Buddha, help Question_content: Questioner: I found myself wishing for an emergency exit to get out of it. Larry: Get out of this room? Yeah. You know, I don't know if you know this, but I have absolutely no authority whatsoever. Has that occurred to you? Nothing. I have no authority. And not only that, there are no grades, no certificates. Your mind is free. So what did you do? Why are you here? I mean, why'd you stay? Questioner: Because I decided to. Larry: Okay, why? Questioner: I thought it’d be good for me. Larry: It'd be good for you. Okay. Like cod liver oil. The practice would be there's nothing wrong in having that notion that, “My God, I hate this. I want to get out of here.” The question is, can you be aware of it? See and here the mind giving you a strong argument for leaving. Now, should the building catch fire and your mind says, “My God, I want to get out of here,” then listen to it, that would be wisdom. Do you see what I'm getting at? Okay. So, clear mind is helping us more and more be able to tell as we get to know ourselves, we can see what is wise and what isn't. You can't learn that from a book, sorry. Break_line: You can get some inspiration, a few hints from a book or I hope a little bit from me but not much. Mainly, this is first hand research that each one of us has to do. This is not a guru-oriented tradition. I'm not against gurus, by the way, when it works–when you have a genuine guru, genuine students. But this particular approach is not. The Buddha is teaching self-reliance. You be a lamp unto yourself was an important part of the teaching. For me, it's important. I would like to grow up. I'd like to be what is called an adult. And I find the message of self-reliance a beautiful one. And I'm happy that no one can really help me. I don't know if you know that yet. Have you figured that out, that no one can really help you? Good. That's a big one. So then it's up to numero uno, right? Yes. Is that a foot or a hand? Okay. End_time: 01:16:22