1996-07_07 Vipassana Retreat, Part 7 of 8 - Q&A 4

Talk: 19960707-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-vipassana_retreat_part_7_of_8-43311 Start_time: 00:35:07 Display_question: Is it appropriate to review content that comes during sitting? Keyword_search: content, review, process, parent, trigger, practice, reflection, Kant, Hume, philosophize, death awareness, death, samadhi, meditation, sit Question_content: Questioner: You're talking about a process important of observing the process of events occurring… Is it appropriate at all to review the content? Larry: Sometimes. Questioner: The situation that occurred for me with my parents and something gets triggered off, I react in certain way. Then when I'm sitting, I'll allow it to enter in and look at it and experience again. Is that part of the practice? Larry: Yes. In the light of, when the mind is more calm and meditative, you can take up anything for reflection and you can go more deeply into it. It's actually a method in and of itself. You can reflect, almost anything, it's unlimited what you can do. So, what you're saying is a useful thing for a human being to do from time to time, yes. But if that's what you're spending the bulk of your time doing here on this retreat, then you're not going to be learning the strength of this particular method. This method is not all of the path, but it's the heart of it. The degree to which the mind can become calm and steady will actually enable you to go deeper into what you reflect on. But reflection is something that is used. Break_line: For example, the reflection is only now. If you have no meditation experience and the person, you give it to someone, they may be extremely brilliant, and they'll basically intellectualize about it: Kant said and Hume said and Wittgenstein said. If you come to that and let it soak in a concentrated mind, the deeper implications of that come up. If you take up, for example, there are death awareness meditations that we use. One is “Death is certain.” Just a simple thought. Death is certain. It's what you could call a true fact. You take it up and you repeat it a few times and then it's not so much the words, but especially if you have some samadhi, some samadhi power that comes out of the practice, you take those words up and it takes you deeper into the feeling of what that evokes in you. The words got you there. Break_line: And so, let's say understanding some experience with your parents, sometimes it may be very helpful to take it up and to examine it with a meditative mind. Sure. But do you see? It's a useful thing to do. Yeah, okay. End_time: 00:38:06