1996-07_06 Vipassana Retreat, Part 6 of 8 - Q&A 5

Talk: 19960706-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-vipassana_retreat_part_6_of_8-43310 Start_time: 01:11:40 Display_question: When I’m aware of all sound and it feels like a symphony in meditation, is this considered being awake? Keyword_search: intruding, validation, bombard, sweet, symphony, harmony, awake, breath, sound, thought, identify, attention, calm, unwavering, back and forth, steady, sensitive, open, happy, happiness, sadness, free, freedom Question_content: Questioner: This may sound really silly, but I want to make sure, at least get some validation, if I could please, that what I'm doing is the right direction. Initially, when I began with the breath, I was really using it to focus, to keep all those bombarding thoughts and all those things from intruding. Larry: We're not trying to keep anything from intruding. Questioner: I understand, because it didn't make any difference because it kept coming anyway. Larry: Yeah, it's hopeless. Give up the fight. Questioner: I figured that out. Then the next thing was, and I have to tell you, I'm very grateful to you, because when you gave us the instructions to let sound back in, then it became a sweet thing. Then it feels so sweet and it's like a symphony going on, different things and harmony. And I enjoy it immensely. And I forget about the breath. I don't even remember that the breath is there. I become part of it, or just the thing that I was focusing on before. There's no more thought process. I'm not identifying with any thoughts. Larry: Are you awake? Questioner: Yes. Larry: Very good. Questioner: The thing I want to know is, am I being attentive while I’m enjoying this wonderful symphony? Larry: It’s hard. It sounds like you might be. What I'm concerned about is being happy doesn't mean that you're awake. It doesn't. Happiness is part of life. Happiness comes and goes. Sadness comes and goes. Awakeness is awakeness. And it can be awake to whatever is there, including happiness. In fact, that's what we're learning. That brings us to an even deeper happiness. So that if you're able to sit and be aware of the flow of sounds and just as you put it, and you're really practicing and hearing them the way you are feeling the breath, then that's fine. Questioner: I shouldn't be trying to pick out one special sound and be with that? Larry: No, not necessarily. But sometimes one will pick you out. Okay. You have the freedom to kind of let's say. Yes, I'm going to use this silly analogy again. Let's say you're in a small town and you know most people. They walk by and it's just a little “hi, hi, hi.” And then someone they knew comes in. And maybe you walk over, and you see they're a little puzzled and you say, “Can I help you? Are you new in town?” And you give much more focus and attention. So sometimes, yes, you have the freedom to allow that flow to just come and go and now and then to inquire more deeply into something. Usually, it's no mystery when you're doing that. It's something's very strong is happening. Break_line: So, yes, yeah. Your mind is free. You are free. We're learning how to freely observe our experience in the second mode. Now, we've had a lot of training not being free, so we're learning how to do that and also to be able to come back. And they're two very different skills, as you can see, but they're related. To come back and just take one thing and stay with that. Now, let me give you a sense of how they're related in many ways, but this is a vital one. Break_line: If you can learn to be with the breath. In, out, in, out, in, out, in, out. Not only does your mind get calm, but you're developing the ability for the mind to be unwavering. And if you do it enough, you can transfer that ability anywhere, not just in special places, but in life. It's a tremendous asset to be able to put your attention where it's needed and to keep it there for as long as it's needed. Now, in the second set, we've now opened everything up. Now, okay, fine. Some people hate it. Everyone's different. You can work back and forth. You may be doing more of that, but you have to watch out. You're not just drifting. But now some of the quality that we've learned with—that in, out, in, out, in, out—is equipping the mind to be more steady and sensitive with that moving field of objects which are changing all the time. And so it's that kind of back and forth. Yeah. End_time: 01:15:38