>>Rinpoche: Now I would like to share you a little bit about some meditation techniques.
What we call- there's two things: wisdom, wisdom and second is experience. Technique,
meditation technique. Should I tell you wisdom first or experience first? Direct meditation
experience first or the wisdom aspect first? Wisdom first, raise your hand...okay. Meditation
first raise your hand...okay. [laughing]
>>Rinpoche: Most people like wisdom. Okay. And this wisdom what we call "finding balance,
finding balance." So anything when you meditate first important is you have to know the balance.
Sometime what we call inner-balance. And the balance is not being too tight, not being
too loose. That's the balance. And this is the balance not only with meditation, also
important in your life in your daily life. And special here, you guys working in company,
Google, and in any work, any job you need balance. If you have balance, then you can
do much better. You can do easily, happy, and the effect and actually is more powerful,
more- effect, effective. You can achieve your goal more quick and more easy, okay.
The first I would like to show you some kind of like magic show...
>>audience member: hehehe
[everyone laughs]
>>Rinpoche: Would you like to learn some magic show?
>>audience member: Yes.
>>Rinpoche: No, no, no, not the magic but any way. Let's say, water here, yeah, water?
In order to drink this water, you need balance. So that's just a simple example. I'm saying
that balance, balance is important in daily life, yeah. Okay let's say there's three style,
three style, to drink this water. The first style is: OKAY! I have to drink this water.
Grrrr. WATER! Haha. Oh, water spill out. Whew! That's first style, yeah.
And the second style: Gosh, I have to drink this water, you know. I'm going to drink this
water, awe, yawn, maybe tomorrow. [laughter]
>>Rinpoche: I have to drink water you know, whew, the water, yawn, maybe next week. Next
week become next year. And that's the second style.
Now third style: Relax your hand, your arm, just relax, and then grab it. Grab the cup,
bring close to your mouth, and drink water. Mmm, that's a bubble water.
Three style, which one you like? [laughing]
Third style? How many of you like third style? First style? Second style? Why most of you
like third style?
>>female #1: inaudible
>>Rinpoche: Pardon?
>>female #1: It's efficient.
>>Rinpoche: Efficent?
>>female #1: Afficient.
>>Rinpoche: Afficient. Why first style, you don't like?
>>male #1: Stress.
>>Rinpoche: Stress. Too tight, yeah. There's a lot of extra effort, extra tensions. No
need, but then it's too tight. In order to reach your hand from here to here, need a
lot of effort, yeah. So too tight. So you cannot drink your tea, your water very well.
Second too loose, you know. Tomorrow, maybe next day. So you're not making any effort.
So you're not making any effort, there's no result. The third style: Relax, just relax,
you know, relax your arm, Don't grab it too tight, And I grab the cup and I drink, you
know. Bring close to your mouth. Yeah, this one "How to have balance" now.
[clears throat] The balance is you have to set in your mind
first. So it what we call "inner-balance". How to set this balance in your mind. First
important is- try your best- with anything, because we all have good potential. Everybody
has wisdom, capability, special talent-talent, skills, powers, love, compassion, maybe you're
not good at that but you're good at others. So everybody has good things, actually. Scientists
said, if we have ten qualities within us, one of them is a negative and nine of them
is positive. But what we see's only one negative, and we don't see nine good qualities. We just
deny nine good qualities and exaggerate one bad quality and make'em all. That's why it
very important to recognize, we all have good things within us.
Do you believe? Somehow yes, but you cannot recognize, yeah? Do you have love and compassion?
Everybody has that, should I introduce you? Your basic love, basic compassion. For example,
you come here, yeah. Why you come here?
>>female #2: Stressed out.
>>Rinpoche: [laughing] Stress out.
>>male #2: Because it's free.
>>Rinpoche: Pardon?
>>male #2: Because it's free.
>>Rinpoche: Because it's free.
[laughing loudly]
>>male #3: Because you need to learn to drink water.
>>Rinpoche: You want to drink water.
>>male #3: Gain wisdom.
>>Rinpoche: Gain wisdom. It's like, actually, you come here- Why? Looking for something,
yeah. To achieve your wish and your desire, your goal, and want to be happy. So, you all
come here looking for happiness. I don't know how much happiness you can get from here,
but anyway, you all want to achieve something. And so, wishing to be happy is love, basic
love. So everybody has this love and kind. You have love about yourself also. You want
to be happy, yeah, but we are not recognize. That's a problem. So very important to recognize,
and mature. How you say- mature, use it, recognize it. And you have compassion, because you don't
want to be suffer. You don't want to have problem, yeah? No? You don't want to have
obstacles. This wish to be free from problem suffering is compassion.
Wish to be happy is love and kindness. Everybody has this. This is small example. This is why,
try your best to use. Try your best to achieve your goal, try your best to use your knowledge,
capable of whatever, but your mind, don't be too tight on the result. Because you cannot
achieve everything what you want. You cannot success all the time 100%. You cannot loss
all the time 100%. So our life is like wave of the ocean, you know. Or another example,
our life is like stock market. Up and down. That's good, yeah? Our life is up and down,
that makes our life colorful. Otherwise, no suffering there's no happiness. The stock
markets goes up and down that's why it makes money, yeah? If stock market always flat,
always same, you can't make money. Do you? No, it's up and down that's why it's good
to-good to have business. Same with our life, up and down's good. See
important is to accept this. Accept life's up and downs, consequences, you know. I will
tell you one story, oh, two story. One is with the stock market and one is with the
lottery. Which one you like?
>>female #2: Lottery.
>>Rinpoche: Lottery, raise your hand. Stock Market, raise you hand. Okay. Lottery. Okay.
There's one old man, I have problem, sick, emergency. He have to go to hospital, emergency
hospital, and he have to stay there for a few days. And, actually, he had bought lottery,
you know lottery? And next day he win the lottery, but he don't know, because he's in
hospital. But his wife and children they know, and they're so happy and come to hospital
to share this good news to the father. And first they met doctor. And Doctor say oh,
don't tell this good news to your father, because of special type of disease, you know.
If you tell this to your father is too much excitement, over excitement, and he will die
right away. So don't tell this good news to your father. But the children doesn't believe
that, no, no, no. We should tell this our father, you know, good for him, you know,
and they have long discussion. In the end, they make decision that okay tell good news
to tell father, but who going to tell father? The doctor. But not directly first, try indirectly
and doctor see how things going, you know. And doctor went to his room and said different
things. Hello, you know, good morning. How was today, you know? And the doctor asked
him, did you bought lottery? The old man reply yes. Well, that's good. How you feel if you
win lottery? Doctor said well, I mean-Old man said well, that's nice, but I'm old man,
you know. If I win lottery nice, if I don't win lottery, okay. You know, it's no big deal
for me, you know. I'm happy and I'm happy with my life, you know. Doctor said no I don't
believe you. I think if you win lottery you have over excitement. Old man said no, no,
no, I'm serious, you know. Doctor say I don't believe that. And Old man say I'm serious.
If I win the lottery I will give you have half, you know.
[laughing] And doctor says no, no, no. I'm just kidding,
I'm just curious, you know. I'm just asking you. Old man say yes I'm serious, you know.
If I win I will give you half. And doctor say will you, it's true? Old man says yes.
Could you write it down? Doctor say yes of course. I mean the old man say yes of course.
And old man write down. It said: If I win lottery this time, I will give half to the
doctor. And he sign, everything. Give it to doctor. And doctor look at it, you know and
doctor was so happy and die right away. [loud laughing]
>>Rinpoche: And then old man thought, what happened here, you know? Push emergency button.
And all the nurse, you know, rush in to his room. And the children, they saw that they
thought wow our father has past away now. And they were comforting each other, you know.
They have regret. And one thought you-you say you have to tell your father, and they
say no-no you say. They complain each other and they come to room and their father is
okay, you know. But the doctor has past away. And then they tell this good news to father
and father was recovered, you know, and after few days later come back to home. Why? Because
the doctor is too tight, yeah. Too tight, too much concentration. So much grasping,
fixation mind. Too much attached to the money so he cannot enjoy to have lottery. How they
say- over 100 millions, you know. He could enjoy 50 millions. But the old man is more
accept the life situation, appreciate what he have, and he more accept impermanence,
changing, I'm okay. I have everything. I have good life. So he's not died, you know. Even
he-he heard the good news. He can enjoy the rest- the rest of money and then back to home.
So that's just simple example with the lottery. And now, if you try your best and you mind
don't be too tight on the result, then you can do much better. You can do better things,
you can have better result and easy for you. Small effort, you will have big result. Balance.
Okay. That's wisdom. Now finish. And the second next is the method. I would
like to teach you about meditation. So actually, what I taught this morning. I would like to
teach some meditation technique, you know. Sound, but we don't have much sound right
now. Before there were good sound, I thought it good for sound meditation here. But now
every body's gone, yeah. But we have- Do we have any other sound? Good. Air conditioning,
yeah? That's good. Okay. First, I'm going to ask you, can you hear
the sound? Listen, listen, check...hear? If so raise your hand. You can hear sound clear?
Clear, raise your hand. Great, that is meditation. Now you know how to meditate.
[laugh] Why? This meditation just listening to sound
that's all, you don't have to do any special thing. Mind, when you listen to sound, mind
and ear together, that's it. But you cannot listen too long, you forgot. Listen to sound
after a few seconds later you're in the where? In the office, worry about your job, or worry
about deadline. Want to go to sleep or want to go to the pizza shop eating pizza. Okay
come back, listen too sound, okay. Show time, any time. You're going to practice this.
First, please keep your spine straight and if you have back you-you can use chair as
support for your back. Just relax and please feel your body now. What we call mind and
body together. Just recognize that just realize that you have body. And feel sensations in
your body like gravity, weight, and light. Just relax your muscles, just relax, non-it.
Rest to 100%. Only 100% relaxed. Why I say not 200%? Because you just relax so you have
tension, tightness, pain is allowed, stress is allowed. Just relax. Now please listen
to sound.
You move to sound to sound, just listen to. People are chatting, sound of air conditioner,
or anything. [long meditative pause]
Okay, that's finished. How was it? Can you listen to sound? How many of you liked
the sound meditation? Raise your hand. Okay good. It's very easy, you just listen that's
all. No need have very strong concentration. Okay now next is. Yes.
>>male #4: I just naturally closed my eyes. Are you supposed to close your eyes when you
do that?
>>Rinpoche: With sound, yes close eyes. It's better. But this is, we're talking about formal
meditation, but you can apply meditation everywhere, anytime, it alright. If you practice sound
meditation while you're walking you have to open your eyes, yeah. While you work you can
do that, in the office, in the street, in the bus, in the car, everywhere. It's your
time anytime. And this is what we call "mental exercise". Scientists what they call "brain
fitness". Okay. Now next is with the breath.
How many of you like to learn breathing meditation? Okay. But there's one, another one is how
to connect with breath. So how to connect with breath first, breathing meditation first.
Pardon?
>>audience member: inaudible
>>Rinpoche: Connected with breath. Connected with breath first, raise your hand. Okay and
breathing meditation first, raise your hand. Okay, okay. How to connect with breath. Can
you bring your attention on your breath right now? See that you have breath or not. Do you
have breath? And you can check for half minutes, you know. Just-just connect with your breath,
you know. See that's your breath and just see the breath in and out for half minutes.
You don't have to meditate on your breath. And you- now you count your breath three times
and after you finish three times raise your hand.
[meditative pause] Great. You're already connected with your
breath right now. And now next is breathing meditation. Breathing Meditation is only breath,
okay. Don't let your mind go here and there. No Starbucks, no food in Google, no sour dough,
no pizza, no organic vegetables. Only breath. Don't listen to sound, don't go to the past.
Past history, go to future plan. Just now with the breath just concentrate one point
in this and no any other thought. Okay, I will say 1, 2, 3, and then you focus your
breath, okay? 1..., 2..., 2 1/2..., 3. Only breath.
[meditative pause]
Okay, finish now. How was it? Which one is easy? To connect breath easy or breathing
meditation more easy? Connects more easy? Just connect with your breaths more easy,
raise your hand. And breathing meditation's more easy, raise your hands. Only a few people,
you don't like meditation? Why you come here? Okay, now I will tell you my secret. Some
of you know already my secret, yeah. Should I tell you or... How many of you know my secret,
raise your hand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...not many. What is secret?
>male #5: You work for the Chinese Government.
[laughter]
>>Rinpoche: Many years. [laughter]
>>male #6: It was the same thing.
>>Rinpoche: They both is meditation. Or which one is the better?
The first one is meditation also. Just connect to your breath. Maybe that's more better than
second one. Because second one you're too tight. I make you too tight, you know. Only
breath. Don't let your mind around here and there, you know. No pizza, you know, no sour
dough, you know, only breath, you know, no any other talks, concentrate on your breath.
And you say breath. Oh dear, I have another thought what should I do? Please, no thought.
BREATH. Sour dough, no no. Breath. What should I do next, you know? Breath. You know, that's
why become more difficult. If you wanted more concentration, you cannot have more concentration,
yeah. Do we have here nice spot here, inside Google,
small dock, garden? Where? What do you call this name? No name, the bird with the dinosaur,
yeah. Well maybe I give you another example. I like Golden Gate Park, you know, near here.
And you want to spend there for whole day, bring a lot of sour dough, and you know, pizzas
or organic vegetables, you know. And a soon as you arrive there police car chasing after
you. Wowwow. There's four policemen come. They say you have special order for you. You
have to stay here for whole day. And we going to watch you. There's four policemen from
four directions are watching you and no smiling. Even you try to smile them they try to control,
you know. One time I was in London, London, you know? Huh, palace, big palace in London.
And there's guard, you know, with the hair, you know, and this fancy hat, you know. And
I went in front of him and I say hi, you know. The guard...
So if the police told you this, you have to stay here. Then what are you going to think?
You want to stay, or you don't want to stay? You don't want to stay, yeah? You don't want
to stay even five minutes. Even you eat organic vegetables, no taste, even pizza no taste.
But if police say you have to stay here, if police doesn't say you have to stay, if there's
no police you can enjoy for holiday. Same focus, no thought, concentration. Then you
can not have concentration. Actually, no need, just realize the breath in and out, in-out.
That's all. That's the meditation and what we call non-meditation. Meditation of non-meditation,
because it's naturally, you don't have to make a new one. And by doing this again and
again, then automatically your mind become calm and peaceful and pliable and workable.
Because normally what I call monkey mind, the crazy monkey mind, controlling you. You
don't know how to control the monkey mind. So now this meditation is giving training
to monkey mind. So if you say hello, listen to sound, who is boss? You are the boss. You
are telling monkey mind hey listen to sound and monkey mind also happy, because monkey
mind love job. So if you give job, monkey mind also happy and you are happy. Win-win
situation, you know. And traditional example is if you meditate then the goal of meditation
is become calm, peaceful, pliable. An example of that is now your mind is like
monkey and slowly it will transform into tame elephant. In reality it's impossible, yeah.
Monkey cannot transform into elephant, but for example it's possible because you can
use anything for the example. One time I was in India. Delhi, New Delhi.
I was walking in the park. I saw giant animals coming. Look, first time in my life seeing
elephant. Big almost one floor, maybe one and half floor, very big. Back of head there's
one tiny guy controlling elephant. Elephant, you know, taking how to say- bananas, apples,
people give them and they eat some give them money, and the elephant give money to this
tiny guy. So who is the guide of elephant? You awareness and the monkey mind become elephant
doesn't make unnecessary problem. It's become calm, peaceful and also powerful. Yeah, that's
finished and do you have any questions? Yes, you can ask.
>>female #4: ...can you tell us how to become friends with the panic?
>>Rinpoche: Panic?
>>female #4: Yes.
>>Rinpoche: Okay.
>>male # 7: Could you repeat the question?
>>Rinpoche: Repeat the question? She asked me that I in the period start I talk about
how to make friends with panic, because when I was young I have panic and I make friends
with my panic and my panic become one of my best friend. How to do that?
The style is right now you are using sound as support for meditation, yeah. Your breath
is support for your meditation. There's two things right now. And you have to do this
first, again and again. And slowly, slowly your gonna use other things as support for
meditation. Anything you see, smell, taste, physical sensation. And then you can do with
thought, and then rather you do with even emotions. Do we have thoughts?
>>male #8: I think so. [laughing]
>>Rinpoche: If you have thought raise your hand. Great. If you don't have thought raise
your hand. I don't have thought is also thought, yeah? Okay, should we have tried with thought?
Good. Please keep your meditation posture. And please watch your thoughts, thoughts same
as watching your breath. Be aware of sound. Same style, your breath come in and out, your
thought also come in and out. same as your breath just watch.
[meditative pause] Okay, how was it? Did you watch your thought?
And what is your experience? You can say... Pardon?
>>male #9: Wasn't as easy as [inaudible]
>>Rinpoche: Not easy as control breath and sound how?
>>male #9: ... I did not find it that easy [inaudible].
>>Rinpoche: Pardon?
>>male #9: I did not find it that easy at all.
>>Rinpoche: Oh, you cannot find easy because when you try to watch they're gone?
>>male #9: Yes, my thought go [inaudible].
>>Rinpoche: What I am thinking and try to make names, give it names, something like
that?
>>male #9: I have more thoughts when I trying not to have thoughts, avoid thoughts, but
I don't have thoughts now that I need them.
>>Rinpoche: To me there's more thoughts come out when you try to avoid thought, but not
when you need the thought the thought doesn't want to come? Okay, pardon?
male #9: Where's the thought?
Rinpoche: How many with this experience raise your hand. When you try to watch thought and
as soon as you watch they are gone. Raise your hand again. Great. Good. And this experience
we call "open awareness". When you try to watch them, they're just gone. You cannot
find them. What we call this experience almost like you're waiting in the bus stop and waiting
for bus. When bus will come? No bus. Oh, there one bus coming. You are so happy. Soon as
if you tried to enter the bus, the bus just left. Huh, no bus again. So you have your
thought, I need you. Please come now. Normally I have a lot of them, today what happened?
That's open awareness. You are not lost, too. You have awareness, but at the same time you
don't have any- you lost focus. But another thought pop up. Happy. But as soon as watch
it's gone. The watcher- who's watcher? The watcher's awareness.
And the second experience, how many of you can watch your thought? You can watch? Raise
your hand. Good. That's also very good meditation experience, because what we call this experience,
like watching television, very big screen. IMAX, 100 and what- 90? 190 degree of screen?
Very big, 3-dimension and what I call inner-television. There's words, image, bah, blah, blah, yadda,
yadda, yadda, many, many, many different. Oh, it's so nice. If you watch them, you are
already out of them. If you see the river that means you are out of river. If you fall
into river and carry by river you cannot see river. If you see a thought that means you're
out. You are watching television, you are not inside the television, you are not part
of program, you are watching it. Who's watching? Awareness watching. This is so you can be
with yourself, and this what I call inner television, and when ever you feel board watch
inner-television. And this is very, very good price, you know. Zero price, you know. You
don't have to buy this inner-television and you don't have to worry about monthly payments
for this inner-television. And whenever you want to go, this inner-television will follow
you. And no one can steal your inner-television. Thieves, no problem with thieves, you know.
But there's one problem. Should I tell you problem? The programs are quite old.
[laughter]
>>Rinpoche: You have old, boring programs comes again, again, again. Even you change
different channels they're all running same programs, but it's okay. Watch old, boring
program again, and again, and again. The result is different like playing football- soccer,
soccer. How many style to play soccer? Only one style? Or two style? Pardon?
>>male #10: three means that many...
>>Rinpoche: Many, many...50? huh, infinite. And in USA how many styles go to Olympic?
>>male #11: One style, we always lose.
[laughing]
>>Rinpoche: One style always lose. To swim how many style?
Six style they say, yeah. Front, right, left, back, jumping, I don't know. I have friend
they say, six or seven styles total. But anyway, it's like learning football. You have got
to learn football every day that you play football, yeah. If you style, you have to
choose one style first to master, yeah. So you have to repeat the style again and again.
So this year one style next year same style, but after ten year, each time you play results
are better, better, better. So watching old, same, boring program again and again, the
results different. The same, similar with emotion also. Watching thought the same style
with emotion, but first put it difficult, special ear you'll have, measure strong emotion,
you cannot watch, cause if you try to watch you feel overwhelm. Go back to sound, back
to breath. Okay.
>>Ming: Do you want one or two last question, okay.
>>Rinpoche: one or two last question, okay.
>>male #12: If everything in the external world can be used to help with meditation.
Why are there traditions [inaudible].
>>Rinpoche: Can be used as support for meditation, right. Can help for meditation.
>>male #12: [inaudible] why are there traditions about what you eat or whatever in monasteries
if they are staying away from modern world?
>>Rinpoche: -stricter in monasteries? -away for outer world? -why the mon-better? In general
there's many mentalities and many different ways, because you can meditate everywhere,
any time, but we are busy and lazy. It's like meditation wise you can, but personal wise
you cannot. Because too busy and lazy. So if you go to the special retreat and you can
put more effort to the meditate and spend all time, something like that. Yes.
>>male #13: Some people believe that like for chronic injuries that there's a mental
[inaudible] mental there's like a part of chronic injuries [inaudible].
>>Rinpoche: Mental...yes
>>male #13: Could you talk about some meditation techniques for like dealing with chronic injuries
to help as a tool in healing.
>>Rinpoche: Yeah, I think many people now are using meditation as too to recover mental
disease.
>>male #13: No, no, no, like physical problem like some people have back pain for a lot
of years [inaudible].
Rinpoche: Physical problem, right...oh...mmm mmm. That's not just like magic. You can meditate
now and tomorrow, boom- finish, no. But never-the-less it helps. For example, I'm guinea pig and
scientist put me inside machine and the put inject- kind of like chemical and it produce-
what you call this, blister, blister and then meditate. And say how you heal the blisters
and this is a dramatic result. The meditator heal the bli-blister much faster than people
who control diet and physical exercise, the control group. There's some kind of like-
when you meditate change in you're the cells and develop immune systems that really helps.
But also depends on what kind of problems. Actually it's good for the mental for the
mind. It's good. Can take on any problem as support for meditation. For example, I used
to be by panic and, but that's what we call natural suffering. Getting old, see, die,
these are natural suffering. So this is not easy to transform, but self-created suffering
can transform. The worst suffering for us, death and fear of death. Which one is more
painful? Fear of death. The fear of death is self-created suffering. Death is natural
suffering. That's why most suffering for us is self-created suffering, and that can liberate
by meditation. Thank you. [applause]