D:
I've
found that if I'm too serious, for example, when I just started practicing
and it was time to meditate, I used to say, "Oh, oh! It's time
to meditate!" my mind felt kind of stressful. But if I think, "Ah!
It's time to see God!" and recite the Holy Names and concentrate,
then it goes smoothly.
M:
That's right! Yes. Make it like a pleasure.
It is a pleasure!
D:
I
even apply this to my work. For example, when I feel exhausted because
of my work, I feel too tired, and have no more energy, but then I ask
myself where the energy comes from, and remind myself that it comes
from the universal source, not from my body, then I suddenly feel myself
filled with an inexhaustible strength. I don't feel tired, and even
if I do, I still recover quickly. Therefore, I think we have two choices;
either we choose this humble "I" and are very limited, or
simply think, "I'm nothing. I'm nobody. It's the universal power
that does things." This way I feel very good. I see no problem.
M:
Yes. That's right. When we sit, we should relax.
That's right. We should thank God for giving us time to rest. The other
yoga schools usually refer to meditation as "a time to relax."
Nowadays, if you read newspapers or magazines, the regular ones, you'll
find them mentioning meditation, or when they talk about how to live
longer and healthier, they'll somehow mention that we must find time
to "relax," rest or meditate. They do mention meditation.
Meditation
is very popular now. They don't say "meditate to find God,"
but "meditate to relax, to become healthier, feel better, live
longer and be successful." That is, to be successful in every aspect,
we must choose a time during the day to rest, not to sleep, but to meditate,
or breathe in, breathe out, or whatever. Everyone knows about it now
because science has proven it. If we choose a time during the day to
rest or meditate, our bodies become healthier. One of the best methods
is meditation; that is, choosing a time to meditate every day. Now all
the magazines, even the lousy ones, mention this. Meditation has been
accepted by science and people worldwide. So don't make it sound so
painful, like "Oh God! I have to meditate now; otherwise, I can't
attend group meditation, or the contact person will say this and that."
It's not like that. It's good for you.
It's
a time for you to treasure. We've worked all day, busily taking care
of the world and others. So whenever we meditate, that's a time for
us. We must love ourselves first - love others but also love ourselves.
Whenever we meditate, at that time we concentrate all the treasure onto
ourselves alone in order to nourish our body and mind. It's not because
I say this and that that you have to mediate enough otherwise this and
that will happen. No. It's very good for you. The most precious time
for you since the moment you were born and until you die is meditation
time. It's the best thing you do for yourselves. No one can give it
to you; only you can give it to yourselves. It's the best thing that
you can do for yourselves - meditation. While you do it for yourselves,
others will naturally benefit as well. Your family, relatives, dogs
and cats will also benefit. Trees and flowers will benefit too. I've
already told you this.
So
when we meditate, the people and all the things around us benefit but
we're the ones who benefit the most. It's the best thing that you can
do for yourselves, the best medicine to nourish your bodies, the strongest
energy to nurture your brain, the best book to develop your wisdom.
No matter how beautiful a car you have, how big a pearl you get, and
no matter how expensive they are, they're not as precious as the time
you spend meditating for yourselves. That's the most precious gem in
the whole universe that you can offer to yourselves. Like one initiate
said, meditation is resting, nourishing ourselves, bringing in all the
precious jewelry to beautify you. Who wouldn't want that? When our mind
hears "precious gem" it says, "OK!" or "rest,"
it says, "OK. I like it. I don't like work. Relax, man! OK, I'm
ready." It's just the brain.
Our
brain only knows how to discriminate between "good" and "bad,"
"black" and "white." Work is a problem, or "job,"
"Oh, no!" It's been working all day already. "No. No.
No." But if you say, "OK, let's take a break," then it's
OK. Our mind knows what "good" or "bad," "resting"
or "working hard" means. So whatever we say, it understands
that way. We must teach it. Also, the cells in our body all listen to
us. If you say it's good, then it's OK and if you say it's bad, it thinks
so as well. Therefore, Buddha said, "All things are created by
the mind." Our mind we must create; we must speak good things,
think good things, and then we'll change the negative to the positive.
We teach the cells in our own bodies to think positively. Whatever good
you think or speak, your mind, your body, and the millions and billions
of cells in your body all listen to it immediately. That's why I say
you're your own master. You don't need me, but you've forgotten how
to teach yourselves.
All
day long you've been dragged down by the negative power, listening to
bad stuff, and then repeating this trash in your head. Whatever your
mind hears, you let it think that way. Therefore, I've told you, "Don't
listen to bad things, don't think bad things and don't speak bad things."
That's purifying your actions, speech and thoughts. If you hear anything
bad, stop and toss it out. If you've already heard it, then tell your
mind, "That's not true. She's wrong. Don't listen to her."
We tell ourselves so our mind understands "Ah! These things are
false information. Toss them out. Trash them." Because if we accept
it, our mind will think this information is OK so it'll record it, and
later it will spit it out. All the good and bad things in our lives
are created by us. We say good things and our mind takes them and thinks,
"OK! It's good." We speak bad things, and our mind hears them
and thinks, "OK! It's bad." So, who else is our master but
we ourselves?
For
example, when you want to drink, is it you who tells your hands to get
the water, or do you ask your neighbor to tell your hands to get it
for you? And when you're hungry, is it your mind that tells you to look
for food? Isn't it you who gives the order? And when you want to go
to work, you must either look for a bus or drive a car yourselves to
the office. We're our own boss in everything. Thus, we should direct
ourselves with a positive perspective, in virtue and goodness, so that
our lives will become better each day. The bad things that happen in
our lives are all created by ourselves - if they weren't now then they
were in the past. We put them in here, but we forget to cleanse them
out, and thus they come back to harm us later. Therefore, don't blame
anyone. From now on, whatever bad things you hear, you must tell yourselves
immediately that this information is not true, is negative, is not good
and not beneficial to anyone or ourselves. Stop it. You must get rid
of it immediately. When you go home, at night, recite the Holy Names
to cleanse it out. And in the morning, pocket a big reserve before you
go out. Therefore, you should meditate in the morning, and at night,
when you come home, if there's some leftover garbage in your pocket
from outside, meditate to cleanse it out. The more you cleanse yourselves
the better; the more surplus in your pocket the better; so that when
you run into some garbage, you can cleanse yourselves right then so
there's no need to carry it home with you.
