00:00:11,477 --> 00:00:12,560 GELONG THUBTEN: Thank you.

Thank you.

So I'd like to start by talking about the concept of freedom.

I think the term "freedom," the concept of freedom,

is something that is very important to us.

We're very passionate in our search for freedom

and in our defense of our rights of freedom.

And we fought very hard for many centuries to achieve a certain

level of freedom, which in many ways has been achieved,

in many ways hasn't.

But what I'm interested in addressing

is the fact that even though we may have

a certain degree of external freedom in terms of how we live

our lives, in terms of how we dress, what we believe in,

what we do with our time, there's

a deeper aspect to freedom that I

think is more important, which is deep down in our minds,

how free are we.

So if we look at our mind and we see how often it does

things we don't want it to do--

often, our mind goes to places we don't want it to go--

thoughts, emotions, memories, worries.

So the mind is not behaving in a way we want it to behave.

And also, the opposite--

very often, our mind does things or goes to places

we don't want it to go to--

worries, obsessive planning, painful memories, reactions.

When we're sitting in a car stuck in traffic,

and then we find ourselves reacting negatively--

feeling impatient, feeling upset--

this is beyond our intellect, isn't it?

We don't plan that reaction.

Or when somebody says something to us that we don't like,

and we feel hurt, we feel upset.

We don't plan the reaction.

So in many ways, we are not in control of our minds.

And of course, you discover this really strongly

when you try to meditate.

Anybody who meditates discovers within five minutes, or five

seconds, the lack of control.

We're trying to sit there and focus on our breathing,

for example.

And within seconds, the mind is planning menus, or writing

emails, or plotting revenge.

I don't know.

The mind is going to places constantly.

So there's this lack of freedom, this lack of choice.

And then when it comes to happiness,

the same thing seems to be the case--

that we don't know how to choose happiness.

It's almost as if we have to hope

that happiness will choose us.

You know what I mean?

And also, our quest for happiness

is very much based on external things.

Very often, we think happiness will come from,

and then there's a whole list--

people, places, situations.

Happiness comes from those things.

And so then we are left hoping that we

can manipulate our life to a certain degrees

so that happiness will arise.

But of course, it's beyond our control.

And also, I think, for many people,

the definition of happiness is very much

based on a sensation, a kind of quick sensation,

almost like a buzz.

We have this kind of-- we want to get high.

We want to feel something.

Our idea of happiness is a sensation

that is triggered by something, and then we feel good.

And of course, the problem with that is it doesn't last.

So we feel good, then we feel bad.

It's very unstable.

So when our happiness depends on an external trigger,

then the problem is when the trigger is absent,

the happiness is absent.

And we're just, in a way, lurching from one

high to the next, looking for a buzz, looking for a sensation.

And so much of the way we construct our lives now

is based on that with our use of the internet, even

food, caffeine, different experiences.

We construct our life to give us these sensations that

make us feel good.

But the problem is the more we are hoping that happiness

will come to us from the outside,

the more we feel lacking inside.

In a way, we're telling ourselves

that we are deficient.

I need this.

I need that.

I need that.

Then I'll be happy.

So we're creating a feeling of lack,

that we lack that happiness.

We're creating a deficiency or sense of almost despair,

and this becomes very painful.

And then also, the wanting and the grasping and craving

that we experience becomes a habit that creates more

wanting, grasping, and craving.

So the wanting leads to more wanting,

and then we feel never satisfied,

because whatever we get isn't enough,

because we're perpetuating the habit of wanting.

So then we're jumping over the experience,

looking for the next thing.

So we feel this unsettled quality in our lives,

almost like a fear or a feeling of uncertainty.

And this feeds us to want more.

So it's a very vicious cycle.

And then all the things that we depend upon

for our happiness are, of course, impermanent.

They're subject to change.

So there's a feeling of uncertainty

because we're depending on the unreliable.

And we kind of know that.

We kind of know that everything we depend upon

for our happiness is unreliable because

of its changeable nature.

So we have two problems here.

We have the problem of endless wanting

and the problem of depending on the unreliable.

So this kind of happiness hasn't worked for us.

It hasn't given us peace.

It's just made us more exhausted, more frustrated.

And I think, through meditation training,

we can find a very different approach.

Basically, we're looking for something different--

happiness from the inside.

We're recognizing that happiness and suffering

are states of mind.

So of course, they are triggered by all kinds of situations.

But ultimately, they are mind states.

So if we're looking at our states of mind,

and then looking at the possibility

to transform those states of mind,

then that becomes very fruitful.

And then, of course, the problem starts up again,

because we start meditating looking for happiness.

So we're busy meditating, and then, again,

trying to get something, trying to feel something.

And this is the struggle for many people

in meditation, is they say, it's not

working because I don't feel anything.

I've been at this for this long.

When am I going to get high?

Where's the buzz?

00:08:03,810 --> 00:08:06,360 So we want the feeling because we're very conditions

to feel something.

We're in this culture of looking for a high.

And then we meditate and look for the same thing.

The cycle starts again of wanting, not getting,

feeling it's not enough.

So I think maybe we could redefine

our notion of happiness here.

And instead of looking for some kind of feeling or sensation--

which is very temporary, it comes and it goes--

instead of that, maybe we could discover a kind of peace

within ourselves where everything is OK.

Whether things are going well or not going well,

everything can be OK.

Because true happiness is a state of freedom

where our mind can feel calm and positive.

And when I say calm, I'm not talking about some kind

of tranquilized state.

Often when people hear about meditation and mindfulness,

they think, OK, this is about calming the mind.

So I'm going to really bring my stress down.

I'm really going to calm down.

And then what happens to people is

they think meditation means you're supposed to get rid

of all of your thoughts.

So they have this idea that the calm state is

an empty state, a blank state.

Calming the mind means stilling everything, stilling the mind.

And that again becomes a problem because we're

struggling to blank out our thoughts and emotions.

And we think of meditation a bit like going to sleep

or going into a coma, just going under.

It's not about going to sleep.

It's about waking up.

It's about being present, being conscious, being aware.

So then the thoughts and feelings and distractions

are actually part of the whole journey.

It's all about how you deal with those.

It's not about calming them down so there's nothing happening.

It's about being the observer, taking

the place of the observer, the one who is aware of the mind.

And the observer is happy.

The observer is free.

Let's think about it this way.

When you're experiencing unhappiness,

when you're experiencing sadness,

there's a part of you that knows you're unhappy.

And when you meditate, you become more identified

with that part that knows what the mind is doing.

And that part is not in the unhappiness.

That part is able to see it.

So that awareness is free.

And the more we can build our awareness,

the more freedom we can develop.

So I think it's important to stop seeing meditation

and mindfulness as a way of just getting rid of

or removing everything, but instead,

a way of becoming the observer of the mind.

And this is how we choose happiness.

Because when we can be the observer,

we can start to make choices.

Let's look at what happens to somebody in a meditation

session.

They are observing their breathing.

That's a very common technique-- focusing on your breathing.

And then, of course, within a few seconds,

the mind starts wandering.

And then the person starts punishing themselves

and saying, I'm a failure, I can't do this.

That's not right.

So instead of feeling like a failure

because our mind wandered, the other option

would be to simply notice that the mind wandered

and then return to the breath, gently

and compassionately returning to the breath.

This is actually the meaning of compassion,

is that you're not beating yourself up

for what your mind is doing.

And also, you're not trying to chase those thoughts

and make them different.

You're just letting them be how they are.

That's unconditional love.

You have a thought or a feeling.

It's OK the way it is.

You don't need to get rid of it.

You don't need more of it.

It's just fine.

That's compassion.

It's fine the way it is.

And then you return to the breath, and you carry on,

and then the mind goes again.

The mind escapes again.

The mind floats off into thoughts,

and you bring it back.

And this bringing it back again and again--

that's how we're exercising choice.

Because it was choiceless that our mind got distracted.

And now we're turning around and bringing it back to the breath.

We're making that choice.

I'm coming back here.

So through meditation training, we're

strengthening that power of choice.

And then as we meditate every day,

regularly, just like going to the gym,