[Store]
[Mind]
Now we come
to the 7th exercise of the Buddha. Recognizing the mental formation,
the feeling
that is painful.
The kind of feeling or emotions.
That feeling, that emotion
is based
on a seed here in the store consciousness.
When it is watered, it becomes a zone of energy here.
Sadness, or fear,
or anger.
So, the feeling is here as a mental formation.
[mental formation]
And when it is here, it is called a seed.
[seed]
A seed.
(Chinese).
Bija in Sanskrit.
[bīja]
Mental formation is (Chinese).
Citta samskara.
[citta samskara]
So when a 'bija' becomes a 'citta samskara',
and when it is a painful feeling,
the practice is not to allow that feeling to overwhelm you.
A good practitioner will know what to do and what not to do
when a painful feeling manifests itself.
She is familiar with the practice of mindful breathing, mindful walking.
The moment when the painful feeling arises,
she comes home to her mindful breathing,
and she touches the seed of mindfulness in her,
and invites the seed of mindfulness to come up
and to recognize the feeling.
The painful feeling is a zone of energy here.
We can call it 'energy number 1'.
[E1]
Energy one.
And the mindfulness generated by the practice of mindful breathing,
mindful walking,
can also be called a zone of energy created in mind conciousness.
Energy 2.
[E2]
Energy 2 is to recognize energy 1.
Breathing in, I'm aware of the anger in me.
Breathing in, I'm aware of the feeling of despair in me.
Painful, difficult to bear.
So, instead of having one kind of energy in mind consciousness,
you have two kinds of energy.
And the second kind is the fruit of your practice
of mindful breathing, mindful walking.
The second kind of energy is not there in order to fight the first,
because in Buddhist practice, there is no fighting,
there is no violence.
Mindfulness is you, but sorrow is you.
So mindfulness does not fight sorrow or fear.
The first thing that mindfulness has to do is to recognize.
Breathing in, I know that the feeling of despair is in me.
Breathing out, I smile to the energy of despair in me.
Recognizing, and not denying, not trying to run away.
It is very important. Recognizing.
In fact, the first function of mindfulness
is to be aware, to recognize.
'Oh, my dear little pain!
My painful feeling, I know you are there.
I will take good care of you'.
And then, you continue to practice
so that the energy of mindfulness continues to be generated.
And with that second energy you embrace the first energy.
Tenderly, tenderly.
With utmost non-violence.
It is like a mother holding her baby.
Baby-anger, baby-despair, baby-pain.
The mother is not trying to punish,
or to do violence to her baby.
The mother is there for the baby, because the baby needs her care.
So mindfulness is the mother, and the painful feeling is the baby.
You, as a practitioner,
every time a painful feeling is born,
you go home and take good care of your feeling
by the practice of mindfulness,
the energy of mindfulness generated by the practice of mindful breathing,
mindful walking.
No violence.
No effort to run away.
You have to be there for it.
It is the practice of love.
When your beloved one suffers,
you have to practice the third mantra:
'Darling, I know you suffer. That is why I'm here for you.'
This is exactly the practice, the third mantra.
'Darling, I know you suffer. That is why I'm here for you.'
That is mindfulness talking to the painful feeling.
If you can continue for a few minutes,
the energy 2 will begin to penetrate into the energy 1.
And there will be a transformation.
A relief, first there is a relief, and second, there is a transformation.
It is like a lotus flower in the morning, in the early morning.
It is still like this.
But if the sunshine continues to shine on it,
then a few hours later, the lotus will open to the sunshine.
That is the energy of the sunshine penetrating.
So the energy of mindfulness does not attack the energy of anger,
of fear.
But it embraces it and begins to penetrate into it.
Neutralizes it,
and then, you get a relief.
And with the element of looking deeply, vipassana,
there will be deep understanding of the nature of the feeling.
And you can liberate and transform it completely.
But the first step is to recognize, the second step is to embrace.
The third step is to bring a relief.
And only with the fourth step, with deep looking,
you can bring the insight in order to transform, untie the feeling.
First step, recognize.
[1. recognize]
Second step, embracing.
[2. embrace]
Third,
[3. relief]
bringing a relief. Fourth, transformation.
[4. transformation]
But in the 7th exercise,
the Buddha advises us to do the first thing only,
to become aware of the feeling.
And the second thing is to embrace it.
Because the work of transformation
needs some practice of looking deeply
that will be offered in the practice -
in the last four exercises.
Because in the last four exercises,
we practice looking deeply into the nature of reality.
If you have a copy of the book,
The Path of Emancipation,
you can use that book
to find out more about this kind of practice.
[Deer Park Monastery in the great hidden mountain]