YAPSS
- Jul 18, 2022

Collection: Meditation - #6 Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche 'Power of Recognizing Awareness in Meditation"

[Transcript]

YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE 00:00

So thought, emotion, sensation, perception, everything can be in the awareness. So therefore, of course panic is one of them.

Panic is like hurricane. Right? So hurricane come from space, stay in the space, dissolve back into the space. Hurricane is changing but space cannot change. So panic come from the awareness, stay in awareness, dissolve into awareness, but awareness doesn't change. Panic is changing. Right?

So next time if you feel panic, bring awareness to the body and special for the sensation. So for the panic, there's sensation of... You know how to describe? (Laughs)

Familiar?

Great. So I don't have to tell you.

And when you feel angry, go back to the sensation – body sensation. When you feel worried, back to the body. When you feel depressed, same. And when you feel pleasant, same. Aware of pleasant.

So what happens by awareness, if you connect with awareness again and again. Automatically, negative emotion will purified. And your – what we call, we all have this basic goodness – our innate goodness – basic goodness will manifest. So if you connect more and more with awareness, compassion will manifest, clarity will manifest, joyful, non-conceptual mind, all the creativity – your innate talents – also will increase. Just aware and be aware.

The practices look like boring right? Be aware. Oh yeah, be aware. (Laughter) Be aware. What? Again be aware!? (Laughter) Today is be aware, tomorrow also be aware. Next month, be aware. (Laughter)

I come here to learn meditation for feeling – to have happiness, but this teacher's technique is be aware... (Laughter) Be aware... How can this be aware and the happiness connection you know? I cannot find connection between happiness and be aware. (Laughs)

Many people ask me a question, I come here to learn meditation to be happy, but you teach me boring stuff. (Laughter) Which is watch your breath. Be aware of your breath and sensation. Sometimes there's not good sensation, you know.

So the key point is, for example, when you see the river that means you're out of river, isn't it? If you fall into the river, carry by river, can you see river? You cannot see it. You kind of feeling you're falling, but you cannot see the river right? But when you see river that means you're out of river.

So when you see the panic, you are not become under control by panic. But panic still might be there – the symptoms still there. So when you see the river, you don't have to block the river isn't it? Let river continue. But for you okay, doesn't matter river is calm or clear, clean or dirty and what you called?

Turbulence.

It doesn't matter. But if you fall in the river, calm river is better. (Laughter) Dirty and turbulence, you know, not so good. And special river has balls, you know?

AUDIENCE MEMBER 04:55

Buoy.

YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE 04:58

Boulders? Buoy, danger.

And if river become waterfall. (Laughter) You die right? (Laughter)

So normally these negative emotions has a lot of influence for us. Positive emotion is better. Peace is good. Panic is no good because we are lost with it – we are one with it, we are one with this emotion – we are lost in the river, carry by river, so waterfall is not the good idea.

But if you seeing the river that means you're out of river. So then waterfall is great right? Many people, you know, take time off, ask boss to see their waterfall right? Spend a lot of money to see their waterfall. So you can see inner waterfall without spending too much money – for free, you know. So free inner waterfall.

Waterfall in...

So if you see the television, you are not in the television, [you're] outside television. (Laughter) Same like that. So then slowly slowly you can find this awareness everywhere. With thought, with feeling, with emotion, with sensation and you can see all this are coming in awareness, stay in awareness, dissolve into awareness.

Awareness is the basis – always there – and awareness is free, just like space.

(Source: https://youtu.be/ukTaodQfYRQ)

[YAPSS Takeaway]

The Power of Recognizing Awareness:

"When you see the river that means you're out of river, isn't it? If you fall into the river, carry by river, can you see river? You cannot see it. You kind of feeling you're falling, but you cannot see the river right? But when you see river that means you're out of river.