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So I'm going to talk about the Jhanas.

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The stages of meditative absorption.

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And I want to kind of put them in context.

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So these stages of absorption are 
something that come from very

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ancient traditions. So this is sort of 
pre sectarian Buddhism

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from the Upanishads you know, 
long time ago.

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So a lot of modern Buddhism,
is now about insight meditation.

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There are still people teaching the Jhanas,

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And often these things 
are taught separately.

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As if there are practices for the Jhanas
and practices for insight meditation.

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Practices, for direct inquiry
or the non dual practices.

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And I see them all at 
a certain point converging

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and I want to kind of point
in that direction.

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That's where I'm going in this talk, and
I want to kind of make it clear that

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these are all facets of what unfolds,
when we start to really inquire

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or meditate, or whatever you want to call
this process we're engaged in here.

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And so this is part of the landscape
or part of the phenomena.

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And I'm going to go into the 
Theravada sort of framework

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of the Jhanas, just because it's 
very thorough and complete.

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But I don't consider it to be like a map.

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I don't considered to be definitive.

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People have awakenings without
encountering any of this stuff.

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But I think it can be helpful
for some people,

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especially when we're really going
into a meditation practice.

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You know, the Jhanas are really 
related to practice.

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So as we're cultivating concentration, 
attention, equanimity,

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there are these stages
that seem to unfold.

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So, we can also completely
forget about all this stuff.

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And as Dogen said, we just sit. 
Just sit and just be

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and we can end up awakening
through that path as well.

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So again, it always comes down to this
'Always being Buddha,

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always becoming Buddha'.

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This is a developmental process,
so it's unfolding through time.

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So it's pertaining to the self structure,

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but yet we can wake up
from the self structure at any time.

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So with these Jhanas in our practice,

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as we cultivate these meditation 
skills, then we can,

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jump into these different stages
of absorption more easily.

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So the more advanced
we are in our practice,

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the later the stages 
we can just jump into.

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So we don't have to go all 
through them in every sit.

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These are found in all different
traditions.

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So, Patanjali talks about these
in the Yoga Sutras,

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sometimes when people are talking
about stages of samadhi,

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they're talking about the Jhanas, 
basically. It's just different terminology

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But sometimes Samadhi is used to refer to
the final awakening or the final merging

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like Savikalpa or a Nirvikalpa.

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But other times they divide up all these 
different Samadhis, and when you get

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into that, then it's the same as these
stages of of Jhanas absorption.

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So I have Patanjali's teaching here,

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and even in Christianity, the Christian 
mystics have call it sometimes

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the Religious Ecstasies. So there are 
energetic unfolding in these Jhanas.

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So if you listen or read the works of
Saint Teresa of Avila or Saint John of

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the Cross or Saint Francis of Assisi, 
you find these

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these religious ecstasies
as they go deeper into prayer.

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And there are these different 
stages that unfold.

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And they don't all exactly correlate.
But you get a sense that

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it's the same landscape,
it's the same phenomena unfolding.

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So in Patanjali's teachings, and the
last three limbs of yoga

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are essentially what we're doing here in
this retreat. This is called Samyama,

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there is Dharana, which is concentration
Dhyana, which is the meditation,

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and then Samadhi which is sort of the
fruition of that practice.

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So what he says, as we spoke about 
previously, Dharana is the

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fixing of consciousness on one point,
or one region, which is concentration.

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So focusing on one point.

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Then Dhyana is the continuous flow of
attention towards the same point or region

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So that continuity through time
is the attention span.

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And then he says, when the object of
meditation engulfs the meditator appearing

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as the subject, self-awareness is lost.
and this is Samadhi.

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So you you become one
with the meditation object.

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So your your concentration and attention

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becomes so focused, so single
pointed, that the distinguishing,

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between subject and object falls away.
That duality falls away.

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So there's just the breath, 
and it's you essentially

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or there's just whatever that 
meditation object is.

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So this is pointing towards the Jhanas,
this absorption, meditative absorption,

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you becoming absorbed
in the meditation object.

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So the first Jhana is...

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you know, we start out in meditation
and we have the monkey mind,

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it's busy, and we have these 
hindrances that are coming up,

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which we've been talking about.

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And so the first, Jhana, is when that 
monkey mind is settling down,

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the hindrances are not a problem anymore.
We sort of move beyond the hindrances.

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And we're not necessarily continuously

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present with the meditation object, but
we're starting to really stick with it.

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And so the monkey mind is settled down,

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and we're generally 
staying with the object.

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So there's at this point, still 
thoughts arising from time to time,

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But generally you're you're doing 
something that really looks

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like meditation at this point.
You're actually sticking with it.

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And so there's what they call Piti, in 
Pali, starts to arise, which is an energy

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So the energy that was going into these
old patterns starts to become present.

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There's this feeling of of energy
and a generally feels good.

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It's it's a good feeling at this point.

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And so we start to go deeper and so the
Dukkah at the beginning,

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that unsatisfactoryness, because of the
hindrances, is starting to fall away.

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and then this satisfactoryness starts to
grow. So this is called Sukha.

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So we have Dukkha and Sukha. So this 
Sukha also sort of comes and goes as well.

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Sometimes it'll be there,
sometimes it isn't there.

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And so this is a really important point.

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A lot of people really stall out,
they get what Shinzen Young calls

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'Stuck in a good place'.

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So there is this satisfactoryness that comes.

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And what happens is we can start to play 
this game of sensation.

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So so with the hindrances, 
we can learn to surrender.

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We're not labeling our pain 
as pain anymore.

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We're just, being equanimous with what is.

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And then we find that it produces
this kind of bliss or satisfactoryness.

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And so we can start seeking that.

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So the so the good blissful feelings 
will be there and then they'll subside,

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and then we'll be craving
to get them back again.

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And, there's this game of sensation.

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So there's this subtle seeking in the mind
of wanting that state or that bliss.

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We don't progress beyond the second Jana

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until we really have no preference 
towards that Sukah.

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until we're willing to let 
that phenomena come and go.

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So, even that bliss that is born out 
of progress in our meditation,

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we're really surrendering, if that's 
coming, can just become

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another prison or another attachment.

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So we have to even let that go.

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And so the next stage, the third stage,
is really being equanimous.

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We're really being sort of grounded
in equanimity,

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having no preference of any phenomena
that's coming and going.

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And it's with this equanimity, if we 
can really be okay with whatever

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is coming up in our practice,
this equanimity kind of goes hand in hand

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with the next thing that arises, 
and that is true single pointedness.

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That's the true single pointedness, where
you're really there continuously

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with your meditation objects.
So there's there's no more break.

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So it's like what Patanjali was talking
about, that continuous attention

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that leads to Samadhi.

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So that will lead into the fourth Jhana,
which it's sort of characterized

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by this feeling that you 
can meditate forever.

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There's just this feeling that 
there's, total focus, total presence,

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just this this energy is present, 
because the energy now

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is single pointed, or 
the focus is single pointed.

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So that energy, all of that energy that's
normally going into the conditioned mind

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becomes present and it somehow supports
this single pointed presence

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with your meditation object.

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So this is the point at which that
that merging starts to happen

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or that Samadhi state happens.

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And I'm going to read,

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this is from the Buddha himself.

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This is on his night of enlightenment,
and he's he's talking about the Jhanas.

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He's talking about how he's going 
into the Jhanas.

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So he's at this point where he says

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'Tireless energy was aroused in me, and
unrelenting mindfulness was established.

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My body was tranquil and untroubled,
my mind concentrated and unified,

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quite secluded from central pleasures,
secluded from unwholesome states.

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I entered upon, and abided in the first 
Jhana, the second Jhana, the third Jhana,

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the fourth, and so on.

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So he talks about how .... 
This is his big sitting under the bodhi tree,

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really going for it. He had that
absolute determination.

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You know, the story goes that he
decided he was he was going to sit

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under that tree, until he got to the truth.

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Whatever happened,, he was going 
to be unrelenting in that.

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What really stands out to me is, you know,
unrelenting mindfulness was established,

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tireless energy was aroused.
So this is the Jhanas.

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So as we go deeper in our practice,
we have these capabilities,

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the attention, concentration, equanimity,
these literally get wired into this avatar

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It's like our baseline of meditative
capacity just gets increased

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as we progress through the Jhanas.

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So one of the things that is described in
the teachings of the mystics

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is , as we progress on the path, at every
stage there's this sort of dropping off

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of mind, and there's an increase in 
the benefit of that dropping off.

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So we go deeper into these feelings
of joy or energy or ecstasy, rapture.

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And the deeper we go, the more beautiful
these experiences are.

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And simultaneously, the more sticky
they are, because, when the real rapture

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starts to come, these non dual experiences
of being one with God,

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everything in our being 
wants to stay there.

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So to be equanimous with that as a
temporary state is is challenging,

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it's very challenging.

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So it's like the stakes get higher
as we go further with the Jhanas.

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It gets very difficult for the mind 
to not be attached.

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So in direct inquiry, we intend to 
directly experience our true nature.

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It's always in the now, we're not 
progressing through these different stages

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And when we awaken, we find a peace 
and a joy and happiness

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that is not contingent on
anything, on anything external.

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So in all of these Jhanas, all of the 
experiences that come and go are temporary

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They're all contingent on this practice 
that we're doing,

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This letting go, and this 
dropping off of mind.

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But eventually, when we go 
to the end of the Jhanas,

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you know, the first four Jhanas are 
what they call the material Jhanas,

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which are pretty equivalent to the
Salvikalpa Samadhi.

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Sometimes it's called 
'Samadhi with a seed'.

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So there's a seed of form, 
there's a seed of pattern there.

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So it's temporary.

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The pattern will grow back, basically.
The seed is still there.

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So they call those the material Jhanas.
Material having to do with form.

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And the Immaterial Jhanas, are when we
enter into that Savikalpa Samadhi state.

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So we merge with our meditation object,
then there can be the dropping away

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of the mind and body, and we enter
into the immaterial Jhanas.

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So there are four immaterial Jhanas,
and I'm not going to really talk

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about those, because they're,
not really good to talk about,

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they're best left for direct experience.

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But I'll just say what they are.

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So the first one is infinite space.

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There's a sense of infinite space,
and then that will drop away,

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and there's a sense that infinite
space is infinite consciousness.

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And that infinite consciousness drops away
into this even more subtle nothingness.

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And that nothingness drops away into what
they call neither perception,

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nor non-perception. So it's getting 
pretty abstract here.

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and you don't have to learn these things.

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These are just phenomena that unfold
naturally as a result of practice.

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And so hanging out in either perception
or non perception, then the final sort of

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realization in that Jhana progression is
what they call Nirodha Samāpatti,

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which is what the Buddha experienced.

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So it's a very rare phenomenon, where
the beings that enters into that,

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they're able to meditate for an insanely 
long periods of time,

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they go into essentially a meditative 
state for weeks,

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and basically burn off
all the rest of their karma.

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So nobody does that.

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So it's like very rare, but it's a
thing, you know.

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And some of the the great masters
have experienced that.

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So, the convergence is in that total 
dropping off of mind and body,

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is realizing what remains in that state.

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And no one can tell you what remains
in that state, and you have to realize it.

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So, this is where, the direct path

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and the Jana path converge
is in that final realization.

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They're both coming to the same place.

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So it ultimately doesn't really matter 
if you are just sitting,

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if you're just sitting, you're going to 
go through all this stuff anyway,

222
00:22:46,041 --> 00:22:50,500
whatever's in the unconscious, is 
going to present itself.

223
00:22:50,833 --> 00:22:55,966
Energy will be freed, these stages
of bliss, and all this stuff.

224
00:22:56,250 --> 00:23:00,905
And, some people experience it.
Really strong energy,

225
00:23:00,905 --> 00:23:04,958
and other people have different 
phenomena.

226
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:13,070
they have different 'letting gos' or,
different ways that

227
00:23:13,070 --> 00:23:19,056
letting go pattern will manifest
in experience.

228
00:23:23,588 --> 00:23:31,410
In Buddhism they call it the dry path, the
inside path, where you don't necessarily

229
00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:40,203
go through rapture and this unfolding 
of Kundalini and all this stuff.

230
00:23:40,375 --> 00:23:46,235
It's possible for this flip to happen in 
just a more direct way,

231
00:23:46,235 --> 00:23:48,333
without this unfolding.

232
00:23:48,333 --> 00:23:51,583
So it's kind of mysterious, 
I'm not sure why that is.

233
00:23:51,583 --> 00:24:00,416
Some people have all the bells
and whistles on their path,

234
00:24:00,416 --> 00:24:09,905
this whole unfolding of Jhanas,
and for other people it's not necessary.

235
00:24:11,708 --> 00:24:21,226
Yeah. So any questions about that
before we move on?

236
00:24:22,083 --> 00:24:24,000
[ Participant ]
I have a question about karma...

237
00:24:24,625 --> 00:24:39,456
( inaudible )

238
00:24:39,750 --> 00:24:43,904
[ DAN ] Yeah, but everything that we're
doing, all this purification of Samskaras,

239
00:24:43,904 --> 00:24:50,097
this is all, you could say, purifying or
becoming free of karma.

240
00:24:50,875 --> 00:24:53,375
Yeah, of course. Yeah.

241
00:24:53,375 --> 00:25:00,787
To me, it's all what we're doing, every
time we're seeing a big mind pattern

242
00:25:00,787 --> 00:25:07,883
and we're able to let it go, we're 
becoming free of that karma.

243
00:25:08,416 --> 00:25:14,750
And there's an interesting thing
with karma. For me,

244
00:25:14,750 --> 00:25:21,300
when we finally have that flip
to awareness, where we realize,

245
00:25:21,300 --> 00:25:28,041
I'm actually not this character that
is going through this whole process,

246
00:25:28,041 --> 00:25:34,916
the crazy thing is that awareness
was never bound at all by karma.

247
00:25:34,916 --> 00:25:37,083
It was never touched by karma.

248
00:25:37,083 --> 00:25:43,205
So yeah, the whole thing with karma
is kind of a red herring,

249
00:25:45,416 --> 00:25:49,791
it seems like there's something to do 
there, but yet when that flip happens,

250
00:25:49,791 --> 00:25:53,291
it's like a awareness was never bound
in the first place.

251
00:25:53,875 --> 00:25:59,250
So, who does karma belong to?
It belongs to the character.

252
00:25:59,250 --> 00:26:06,000
So it's kind of ridiculous, you know?
The whole worry about karma,

253
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:11,291
And there's this whole thing in Buddhism
about once returners

254
00:26:13,581 --> 00:26:17,125
coming back, and... Who comes back?

255
00:26:18,768 --> 00:26:21,916
It's all awareness playing hide and seek.
It's ONE awareness.

256
00:26:21,916 --> 00:26:27,508
So to me, it's a little bit of a non-issue,
you know?

257
00:26:28,703 --> 00:26:31,323
Yeah, yeah,

258
00:26:35,708 --> 00:26:39,666
[ Participant ]
( inaudible question )

259
00:26:41,083 --> 00:26:46,841
in our meditation practice more easily,
because we're like stuck in the retreat

260
00:26:46,841 --> 00:26:50,813
and, it's no escape for the 
mind, and all that

261
00:26:51,166 --> 00:26:56,875
And as, as the retreat progresses,
the mind is quieter and quieter,

262
00:26:56,875 --> 00:27:00,553
so it goes further in meditation.

263
00:27:00,750 --> 00:27:06,125
My question is, when we get out
of this retreat, like I meditate,

264
00:27:06,125 --> 00:27:09,518
each day for one hour.

265
00:27:09,518 --> 00:27:18,898
It is enough, is this depth, 
these profound experiences,

266
00:27:18,916 --> 00:27:26,249
can we just sit an hour a day and then,
all the rest of your life going on,

267
00:27:26,249 --> 00:27:28,111
where you have all your worries?

268
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,811
[Dan] Yeah. That's the question 
that always comes up.

269
00:27:33,875 --> 00:27:41,403
The truth is, and this is something 
we talk about all the time.

270
00:27:43,041 --> 00:27:49,009
You know, we have awakenings, we put 
ourselves in these conditions of no escape

271
00:27:49,009 --> 00:27:55,416
and then go back to life. And the truth is
it doesn't always get easier.

272
00:27:55,416 --> 00:28:01,916
Actually, we get very sensitized to the
patterns.

273
00:28:01,916 --> 00:28:05,416
We can see the patterns so clearly.

274
00:28:05,541 --> 00:28:09,875
When you know who you are, you know
you're not that conditioned mind.

275
00:28:10,208 --> 00:28:14,291
But yeah, there's still some scars
or so patterns in play,

276
00:28:14,291 --> 00:28:21,220
still the character goes back to life.

277
00:28:22,750 --> 00:28:27,416
so it becomes very, very clear that
those patterns are there,

278
00:28:27,416 --> 00:28:30,940
and we feel them, fully, when 
we go back to life.

279
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:37,035
So in some ways, I always say 
it's the beginning of a

280
00:28:37,035 --> 00:28:42,625
really accelerated purification process.

281
00:28:42,625 --> 00:28:47,890
And when we go back to life, because we
feel and see whatever is remaining

282
00:28:47,890 --> 00:28:54,351
to be purified it'll be more obvious, 
It'll come up more clearly.

283
00:28:55,041 --> 00:28:58,041
So but at the same time, like,

284
00:28:58,291 --> 00:29:01,291
you know, so the key for for coming

285
00:29:01,291 --> 00:29:04,333
to, you know, a practice like this

286
00:29:04,625 --> 00:29:09,500
and doing this and finding out the truth,
you know, that

287
00:29:09,875 --> 00:29:13,625
that conditioned mind
that was seeking and doing something

288
00:29:14,583 --> 00:29:17,000
isn't you and that it can't do it,

289
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,750
it has to drop away and essentially fail.

290
00:29:21,166 --> 00:29:24,083
So so the main difference

291
00:29:24,083 --> 00:29:27,458
is the end of seeking
you know, there's no more seeking.

292
00:29:27,458 --> 00:29:30,500
You don't need to be seeking anything
when you go back to life.

293
00:29:30,791 --> 00:29:32,291
You don't need to be

294
00:29:33,291 --> 00:29:34,375
searching for who you

295
00:29:34,375 --> 00:29:37,625
are because who you are
is always right here.

296
00:29:38,166 --> 00:29:41,708
You know, it's it's
got that fundamental delusion

297
00:29:41,708 --> 00:29:44,875
of the mind that it has to do something.

298
00:29:45,250 --> 00:29:50,250
You know, or, you know, that the
the piece that I'm feeling in this,

299
00:29:50,583 --> 00:29:56,166
you know, meditation retreat, you know,
the mind will always go, it's so sneaky.

300
00:29:56,333 --> 00:29:59,333
It will just say, how do I keep it?

301
00:29:59,458 --> 00:30:01,333
How do I hold onto it?

302
00:30:01,333 --> 00:30:05,666
You know, the mind is saying that always,
you know, like how do I hold it?

303
00:30:05,791 --> 00:30:07,500
How do I integrate it?

304
00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:08,083
You know?

305
00:30:08,083 --> 00:30:11,125
But that's the delusion of the mind,
right?

306
00:30:11,125 --> 00:30:13,083
Like the mind can't do it.

307
00:30:13,083 --> 00:30:16,333
There's nothing the mind needs to do.

308
00:30:16,500 --> 00:30:20,625
So we can we can go back into life and and

309
00:30:21,750 --> 00:30:24,666
operate the
same way we're operating in this retreat.

310
00:30:24,666 --> 00:30:26,250
Just let it happen.

311
00:30:26,250 --> 00:30:27,750
Just let it unfold.

312
00:30:27,750 --> 00:30:31,958
You know that that purification
is going to happen

313
00:30:31,958 --> 00:30:35,791
just by you being you just by being.

314
00:30:36,416 --> 00:30:38,666
Yeah, yeah,

315
00:30:38,666 --> 00:30:40,166
yeah,

316
00:30:40,166 --> 00:30:40,375
yeah.

317
00:30:40,375 --> 00:30:45,458
So, you know, the truth
is, it's it's not an easy ride always.

318
00:30:45,458 --> 00:30:49,250
You know, we we go back,
we fall, fall, and, you know,

319
00:30:49,333 --> 00:30:55,708
we get snagged over and over,
you know, we fall into a pattern,

320
00:30:55,791 --> 00:31:00,041
you know, we then, then we realize
who's falling into pattern or what's,

321
00:31:00,666 --> 00:31:06,500
what's happening and yeah, and it's and
this is part of that purification process.

322
00:31:06,500 --> 00:31:10,250
And, you know,
by coming back into being over and over,

323
00:31:10,250 --> 00:31:13,250
there's this purification that happens

324
00:31:13,333 --> 00:31:16,166
and eventually the outer life

325
00:31:16,166 --> 00:31:19,458
will, you know, will rearrange in

326
00:31:19,541 --> 00:31:24,208
as a reflection
of more true expression of who we are.

327
00:31:25,208 --> 00:31:26,250
Yeah.

328
00:31:26,250 --> 00:31:29,458
So the quest to change
the perspective is to know where you are.

329
00:31:30,791 --> 00:31:31,791
Just.

330
00:31:31,791 --> 00:31:33,833
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that.

331
00:31:33,833 --> 00:31:36,166
And that

332
00:31:36,166 --> 00:31:40,250
and that and that energy, you know,
that is alive as well.

333
00:31:40,250 --> 00:31:45,750
Like that sensitizes you to you know
like the, the, a lot of the,

334
00:31:45,916 --> 00:31:50,750
the big patterns that need to shift
in the outer world become so obvious

335
00:31:51,083 --> 00:31:55,833
that you can't put
you know you can't go back in that box

336
00:31:55,833 --> 00:31:59,458
right like the energy is is out now
and it's free

337
00:31:59,750 --> 00:32:05,125
so it's like it's really obvious
and so it's not even a choice anymore.

338
00:32:05,291 --> 00:32:09,291
You know, it's it's like the energy is is
has made the choice for you.

339
00:32:09,791 --> 00:32:11,583
Yeah.

340
00:32:11,583 --> 00:32:12,041
Thank you.

341
00:32:12,041 --> 00:32:14,708
It's very, very helpful.

342
00:32:14,708 --> 00:32:17,708
Extremely helpful.

343
00:32:18,666 --> 00:32:21,666
Thank you.

344
00:32:25,250 --> 00:32:28,083
You remembering your this

345
00:32:29,416 --> 00:32:33,000
film of your hand and my hands here.

346
00:32:33,375 --> 00:32:36,375
Yeah, yeah, about that.

347
00:32:36,833 --> 00:32:39,291
Because I was asking the same question.

348
00:32:39,291 --> 00:32:42,500
It's like, yeah, saying that is fine by me

349
00:32:42,833 --> 00:32:45,833
because everyone is like thinking
I'm asking,

350
00:32:46,708 --> 00:32:48,375
you know. Yeah.

351
00:32:48,375 --> 00:32:51,000
And as I remember that, I love that

352
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,000
the filmmakers of the story itself,

353
00:32:55,125 --> 00:32:58,125
the a disappointment or,

354
00:32:58,708 --> 00:33:01,166
you know, the the battle took in on that

355
00:33:01,166 --> 00:33:04,166
he went to the end in that game

356
00:33:04,250 --> 00:33:06,916
just didn't and

357
00:33:06,916 --> 00:33:09,916
didn't buying the piece
and all the other time

358
00:33:11,333 --> 00:33:16,666
like going right by that kind
you need to be in America

359
00:33:16,666 --> 00:33:21,500
you need to be in this piece
calls for it because

360
00:33:22,750 --> 00:33:24,291
you need to.

361
00:33:24,291 --> 00:33:27,291
You got them like in the end,

362
00:33:27,833 --> 00:33:29,541
because he wasn't a kid,

363
00:33:29,541 --> 00:33:33,708
because he was doing his lessons
in a normal life.

364
00:33:33,875 --> 00:33:37,375
Yeah. Yeah. That's, yeah. Where they can

365
00:33:38,833 --> 00:33:40,250
become like them.

366
00:33:40,250 --> 00:33:43,041
And is this the same question?

367
00:33:43,041 --> 00:33:45,000
So just sharing.

368
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:45,791
Yeah.

369
00:33:45,791 --> 00:33:48,875
This film's beautiful
and experience completely.

370
00:33:48,916 --> 00:33:50,250
And how could you have.

371
00:33:50,250 --> 00:33:52,375
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.

372
00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:53,083
Yeah.

373
00:33:53,083 --> 00:33:58,791
And explain completely this part of
being the, you know, the things.

374
00:34:00,083 --> 00:34:02,708
Yeah, yeah, that's it.

375
00:34:02,708 --> 00:34:03,291
That's it.

376
00:34:03,291 --> 00:34:06,541
So it's different for everyone,
you know, the that

377
00:34:07,416 --> 00:34:11,375
flowering of the, the lotus or whatever
you want to call it, you know, it's like

378
00:34:11,708 --> 00:34:17,250
he, he listen to that direction,
you know, he knew something in him

379
00:34:17,583 --> 00:34:23,000
was saying he had to go to America
and that was clear,

380
00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:26,875
That was his path and he he listened
he aligned with that energy.

381
00:34:27,375 --> 00:34:30,291
And and that's that is enlightenment.
Yeah.

382
00:34:30,291 --> 00:34:34,541
When we aligned with that inner direction
that, uh, yeah.

383
00:34:34,541 --> 00:34:36,208
Whereas for somebody else,

384
00:34:36,208 --> 00:34:40,500
maybe it is going in that cave, you know,
maybe that's their, their path, Right.

385
00:34:40,500 --> 00:34:45,666
So we just never know, you know,
or it could be absolutely anything,

386
00:34:45,875 --> 00:34:51,875
you know, it could be, you know,
being an artist where we, we, you express

387
00:34:51,875 --> 00:34:55,875
what's coming through in, you know,
or a musician or whatever, you know.

388
00:34:56,458 --> 00:34:57,458
Yeah.

389
00:34:57,458 --> 00:34:57,875
Yeah.

390
00:34:57,875 --> 00:35:01,250
So, yeah, it's just that willingness to

391
00:35:03,083 --> 00:35:06,833
just follow and trust that inner guidance.

392
00:35:07,250 --> 00:35:08,833
And it's so simple.

393
00:35:08,833 --> 00:35:11,208
It's just what excites us.

394
00:35:11,208 --> 00:35:12,625
That's all it is.

395
00:35:12,625 --> 00:35:15,625
You know, It's very childlike, really.

396
00:35:15,625 --> 00:35:20,958
It's not, you know, it's sometimes people,
you know, at the end of the retreat,

397
00:35:20,958 --> 00:35:24,041
they'll, they'll be like, okay,
I know who I am, but what's my purpose?

398
00:35:24,416 --> 00:35:28,291
You know, and, and, and it's it's like,
you know,

399
00:35:28,875 --> 00:35:32,166
that's
that's such a burden to have a purpose.

400
00:35:32,500 --> 00:35:35,333
You know,
it's like a projection into the future.

401
00:35:35,333 --> 00:35:36,708
Right. Again, that's the line.

402
00:35:36,708 --> 00:35:39,500
That's the trap of the mind. Like,
what's my purpose?

403
00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:43,625
Like what a what a heavy burden to have,

404
00:35:43,833 --> 00:35:46,916
like some mission
that you have to fulfill, you know?

405
00:35:46,916 --> 00:35:49,916
So to me, it's more like

406
00:35:49,958 --> 00:35:52,916
in, you know, like people, people
look at my,

407
00:35:52,916 --> 00:35:56,000
my website like a wake in the world dot
com and think, oh,

408
00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:00,000
you've got some big mission,
you know some big purpose or something.

409
00:36:00,416 --> 00:36:04,583
But it's that that moment to moment,
you know, following

410
00:36:04,583 --> 00:36:09,875
your excitement is is it, you know,
like Joseph Campbell said Yeah, yeah.

411
00:36:09,958 --> 00:36:11,791
Follow your bliss. That's it.

412
00:36:11,791 --> 00:36:12,166
Yeah.

413
00:36:12,166 --> 00:36:13,583
And it's, it's, it's

414
00:36:13,583 --> 00:36:17,375
very you know like a little kid doesn't,
doesn't say what's my purpose.

415
00:36:17,750 --> 00:36:21,625
You know, they don't they don't try
and figure out their mission in life.

416
00:36:21,625 --> 00:36:22,583
They just go and play

417
00:36:22,583 --> 00:36:26,000
with the next toy or,
you know, they're just excited naturally.

418
00:36:26,541 --> 00:36:30,583
And it's that that feeling
that is our compass.

419
00:36:31,208 --> 00:36:33,000
Yeah, they're all just kind of

420
00:36:34,208 --> 00:36:35,166
Joseph Campbell.

421
00:36:35,166 --> 00:36:35,541
Yeah.

422
00:36:35,541 --> 00:36:38,750
He, he, he's famous for that that phrase.

423
00:36:38,750 --> 00:36:41,750
Follow your bliss. Yeah.

424
00:36:42,041 --> 00:36:45,041
Yeah.

425
00:36:45,041 --> 00:36:46,833
Compass.

426
00:36:46,833 --> 00:36:48,791
Yeah,

427
00:36:48,791 --> 00:36:51,708
yeah.

428
00:36:51,708 --> 00:36:54,208
All right.

429
00:36:54,208 --> 00:36:57,291
So yeah, I will take a short break
and then

430
00:36:58,333 --> 00:36:59,500
come back for a meditation.