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Talk: 19890501-Larry_Rosenberg-UNK-anapanasati_full_awareness_of_breath_series_tape_12-33815 Leandra Tejedor Start_time: 00:19:22 Display_question: If feel this practice is helping be to with my experience, just as it is. Keyword_search: piti, unified field, anatta, relative truth, joy, vipassana, samadhi, hindrances, fear, anger, ill will, metta, doubt, self-reliant, insight, investigation, sukha, peace, impermanence Question_content: Questioner: Just that when I focus in on feelings in the breath, I experience a profound sense of just being. And what often happens is, at the beginning, and then mind comes in, and I come very sidetracked, around the piti beginning to happen. One of the outcroppings of that, which has been good, I think it's been real good, and helpful to me, and has shown up in other areas, is an ability to say, this is my experience right now. Even if its mind coming in, and seemingly, which is another aspect of mind ruining it, I say, this is my experience right now. And my ability to join that experience, even for a short time, is something that I've never been able to do before. Larry: Great. Now, does the breath help you do that? Questioner: Yeah. Larry: Because it's designed to. See at a certain point, if any of you experience it as a unified field. It's not like I'm being with the breath, but I'm being with my left big toe, which hurts. After a certain point, it becomes a unified field. Questioner: Of a unified field. I mean, I feel funny saying this, in the context of anatta, but the unified field is me, or whatever that breath stands. Larry: The language of I, and mine, and me, is perfectly good, as long as we understand, that it's language that… and it has relative truth. Anatta is a much more profound doctrine. It has no gripe with ordinary language saying, you can say I, and mine. The question is not the word, I, or mine. It's whether that emotional possessiveness comes in and creates something. If you're free, you can say I, and mine, all day, and it's not a problem. Then it's doing its job properly. That's good. Now, the thing about piti starting to pick up, and then you get distracted. Questioner: Because it's a very joyous feeling, to have that even if it's just a moment to have that unity. Larry: Okay. When you have whatever degree of it you have, does it give you a feeling of want to practice more? Questioner: I feel that a lot of the time. I'm at the point in my practice, where even though there may be difficulties coming up… Larry: Second honeymoon, there are many honeymoons, because there's always the first one when you first, wow, vipassana. But then that fades out. But then it comes back at increasing levels when you suddenly realize, wow, vipassana. Questioner: It's true. Sometimes I say, it's happening something really… Larry: I've had quite a few honeymoons already. Okay. Some of that is simply as your samadhi gets stronger, the piti will get. Stronger because this piti grows out of the samadhi. Now, what can help, and this is also part of our… go ahead. Questioner: I also see well, there's still enormous periods of leaving. Larry: Yes. Questioner: And still, I think my work is to not be over critical. Larry: Okay. But you can all bring in something that probably, let's say, most everyone in this room is familiar with. Those are the hindrances. Questioner: I use it as proof… Larry: Okay. But that itself is a hindrance. Okay. One thing that can help, is that you start to see if there's particular hindrance, for example, that's problematic, for you. Let's say, one might be the first one, or the third, whichever one it is. Because if you can begin to identify that, let's say it's anger, and. ill will, that comes up a fair amount. We all will have a sample of all of them. But let's say, one in particular, and it varies from person to person. Once you identify that, let's say you see that anger, and ill will, is coming up a lot. Anger at yourself, anger at other people. And that, of course, it undermines your samadhi, and bye bye, to piti. So, if you identify, you see it's fairly substantial, then you can pick a specific antidote, like metta, and work with that much more, because that's going to neutralize some of that anger. Questioner: I think an interesting form of metta for me, is in the joining, because in rejoining, if I'm in one of those states, and I can join it, I'm expressing metta towards it. Larry: Okay, that's a good way to look at it. But what I'm talking about is, a metta practice. It's a systematic method practice, where if you realize there's a lot of anger and ill will, then that would be, more, and more, as you go on. A number of these tools can be used very creatively, and individually, you become resourceful, and self-reliant, and you'll know that this is a time when metta would be good for me. And you might use it in every sitting, or even devote bigger chunks of time to do metta. And then as that, let's say, smooths out the anger, and ill will, well then when you go back to the samadhi practice, because you've used that antidote, it will be easier to get into samadhi, because you've smoothed out what was the main obstacle to it, someone else, that might be skeptical, doubt, and so forth. Break_line: Now the other thing of course you can use, which is also a remedy, is Vipassana, that is insight into, let's say, whatever it is you're saying. Let's say some form of anger, ill will and just to see it as, an impermanent phenomenon. And that means you now temporarily you've left the breath for a while, and you're investigating, because it's keeping your piti from really growing, because it's keeping your samadhi from growing. So fine, you set aside some time, you investigate it, and you see it arise, and pass away. You see that you don't own it, it doesn't have your name on it. The anger, and ill will, you just watch it come, and go. That takes the energy out of it, so it loses some of its potency. Then you come back to your samadhi practice, which might be a bit stronger because you've weakened the hindrance. And because it's stronger the piti, the joy, is more likely to come. And as that is sustained, out of the joy comes sukha, or peace. Break_line: Does everyone follow that kind of…. and more and more it's like being a musician. You learn how to orchestrate what you need here and now. And many of you are at a point where you should start seeing your practice that way, as flexible, and as you giving yourself the interview, and deciding what you need at that point, if you like, check it, until you develop confidence, in your own judgment. End_time: 00:26:24
