How can we use meditation to deal with old trauma from our childhood?
The goal of meditation, or the benefit of meditation,
is that your state of mind becomes peaceful, pliable, and workable.
Your mind becomes workable and pliable.
You develop clarity.
And you develop a sense of calm and peace.
But you're not dull, you know. You're clear.
That's why...
That's the benefit of meditation.
But if you want to use your meditation —
especially with some problems, to deal with old trauma,
or something like that —
then you have to use meditation
and try to join it with wisdom.
Or join it with analytical meditation.
Something like that.
Because, in order to deal with old trauma,
first you have to know how it started,
and what it is affecting now.
And then meditation, and this problem…
You have to… how to say?
In order to shoot an arrow, you need a target, yeah?
That's why the target and the arrow,
you know…
The arrow hits the target.
Meditation is like you're developing your skill with arrows.
You have a nice bow and arrows, and you know how to shoot very well.
But you use the arrows in order to do what?
You have many, many different targets.
And to use the target -
the target is the old trauma, the problem -
you have to know the target,
and you have to know how to deal with the target.
That's why sometimes it's good to talk to a psychologist, also,
or go to psychotherapy.
Especially, if you learn meditation…
Of course, in general, meditation is good for everything.
But if you want to put special focus on a specific problem,
in order to develop really good benefit -
and also you might be a little bit busy and lazy.
If you're a lazy and busy meditator,
then you need some help, from psychology or psychotherapy.
Meditation and psychotheraphy together are good!
Especially for lazy and busy meditators.
But if you really concentrate on meditation,
it actually helps with everything.
But...
To try psychotherapy,
or even to take some medicine is OK.
Some people think, "Oh, I don't want to take
"any medicine, and I don't want to try psychotherapy."
Not all cases are like that.
Sometimes taking medicine can be good.
There's what we call,
in Tibetan Buddhism, "horse and rider."
Your body is like a horse, and the mind is like a rider.
So you can control the horse through the rider.
It's also possible.
This means that through meditation you can control you physical body.
Or you can control the horse.
And the horse can control the rider. That's also possible.
The horse is calm and nice. Even if the rider is crazy,
the horse can be nice, you know.
That helps the rider.
The best is if both work together.
The rider and horse work together.
The physical body is like the horse,
and the mind is like the rider.
So, for the physical body to take medicine,
receive treatments, or whatever.
And the mind is meditating, and you're transforming your mind.
When these are joined together, that's the best!
OK.