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Talk: 19880716-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-questions_and_answers-1554 Leandra Tejedor Start_time: 01:30:10 Display_question: Can you talk about how to practice with the storm inside that is connected to the stress and anxiety of daily life? Keyword_search: sitting, practice, stress, anxiety, daily life, calm, efficient, wisdom, suffering, Buddha, causes and conditions, self-understanding, joy, concentration, IMS, Barre, Boston, samadhi, restlessness, Montreal Question_content: Questioner: My experience is that sitting, or practice, but mainly sitting, in daily life I feel very different, than whether you are here. We’ve all mentioned, or you've mentioned, quite a few times about here being, protected environments, and where we can get more calm, and that's how it feels here. But when we get back to daily life, where we have jobs, and lots of stress, and anxiety, and everything, I find there that it's like very often in the job, during the job, it's like there's a storm all around us, and we're trying to stay calm, and be efficient. And then we come back home, and try to sit, and then the storm is inside, and it's a very different sitting than here. Larry: Yes. Questioner: So it's staying three quarters of an hour, or an hour, with that storm inside, can be rather trying. Larry: Yes, wisdom can help us there as well. See, again, there's some unnecessary suffering, because of a comparison between that situation, and this situation. Let me give you an example. Many of you will drive out of here tomorrow. The first time I saw this, I just roared with laughter. It just seemed so, such a humorous way of seeing how wisdom can come in, in strange ways sometimes. This is an intentional environment. So that means, and this is an expression of the Buddha’s teaching, that everything is the way it is, because of causes, and conditions. And so we've intentionally created a set of causes and conditions, that are designed to maximize calmness, and self-understanding. Break_line: And these… the particular factors that we've... silence, and all the things that are done here, it's an ancient way, it's not something we've cooked up. We've had to tailor it to this country. But the basic principles are identical, but those are causes, and conditions. So we've created an environment that optimizes, let's say, calm, and the willingness, and interest, in self-understanding. And so when you're in this environment, since the mind, and we are not inherent, we are an arising that's due to these causes, and conditions, it's possible for, let's say, a level of calm, and perhaps joy, or whatever concentration, to develop. But, when these causes, and conditions change, according to the teaching itself, that is, the possibilities of having these mind states, becomes less, because you now have a different set of causes, and conditions. Break_line: And so I remember, after one long retreat, it was as if every mile closer to Boston, first it was just leaving IMS behind, then it was leaving Barre behind. Then somehow the towns got larger, and suddenly there were gas stations, and then there were restaurants, and then there were other cars, and there were police cars. And as the causes, and conditions kept changing, I saw my samadhi get wrecked, just like, go down the tubes. And so, the first reaction to that was annoyance, and it was negative. And then I realized, far out. This is what, of course, as the causes, and conditions change, and you see your samadhi just starting to fade away, but you're mindful of it, and you're aware of it. And that's really good practice. Not convinced. Break_line: Okay, but let's say you come home. See, the practice is working with what is. So you come home from a day that, just as you described, if you could not be in the past, or in the future. But when you sit, you are with whatever life has given you, in that moment. And in that moment, it's given you, let's say, the restlessness that has come out of it. A day such as you've described. If you are in the present, then that's the practice, always. After all, even in this place, you probably had sometimes that are worse here than what you have back in Montreal, right? Questioner: Yes Larry: So that if you stick to the present…Okay Questioner: But not for very long. Larry: Okay but the guideline… Questioner: Weeks…. Larry: I understand. Questioner: One or two weekdays. Larry: Well, then why don't you come and move in, and become a long-term yogi? No? Okay. You see, so that since you've decided to go back to Montreal, then you have to live according to, your particular situation. Now, wisdom can help us there. It loosens that tightness, of wanting things to be a certain way. And again, I'm not talking about passivity or fatalism, even on that example of the highway. In fact, as you begin to see that your samadhi is falling away, because you didn't realize how much it was dependent on the conditions. As you see that, it's amazing. Suddenly you become alert again. So, forget about the past, forget about the future. When it comes time to sit, be with what's there, and if restlessness is there, you don't… then be with it. End_time: 01:35:46
