Reframing Difficulty as Opportunity

Speaker 1 0:01

Look at that . Pa-da-boom , pa-da-bang , done , wasn't it Difficult ? Who says difficult ? Raise your hand . Difficult or challenging ? Challenging Don't say difficult . Difficult , don't say difficult .

Speaker 1 0:31

I was talking to someone a little earlier today who had a challenging time at work and that it did a fantastic job , recognizing the fact that , despite being pinched between coworkers and supervisory power trip , they were able to change their mind and view the situation from a different angle , which then unbound them to a significant degree , perhaps , of their negativity of the experience . Why , pray tell , are we born here in this life if it didn't provide the fantastic opportunities of difficulty ? How are we to grow in a leisure , in a leisure floating on the ocean ? This life , every iota of it , every moment of it , there is a meaning , if you will , or a purpose , if you will , or a function , if you will . This life is a school . We are here for school and , just like in school , when you first show up the first day of class , what do you do ? You cry your eyes out . And when we show up for the first day of school , we cry our eyes out . And when we show up for first day of school , we cry our eyes out , hoping , wishing , wanting , clutching to the you know sleeve of mama . Mama loves you , but you gotta go to school , right . So every opportunity , but you gotta go to school , right . So every opportunity or every situation can be viewed as an opportunity to learn something . Otherwise one finds themselves late . Otherwise one finds themselves late at the tail end of life . And when we inspect our life , where was the learning process ? Where did it dwindle out ? I don't know who , john , what's his name ? Pesci , pesci , the actor , pesci , I think .

Speaker 1 3:58

He's in a movie with honors . Y'all seen that . It's about a Harvard student With Honors . Y'all seen that . It's about a Harvard student and he's writing his dissertation and Joe Pesci plays a bum and it's called With Honors , because I don't recall the details . But there's a kind of monologue by Joe Pesci , who's a bum , right , but a Harvard bum . That's what he says . And he says to the fella , or about the fella , something to the tune of May it graduate life with honors . That's just a splendid little line . May it graduate life with honors . Mmm , mmm , I keep talking , okay . Does anybody have a question ? Alright , alright , we left the family . The Jodes . We haven't touched base the Jodes . We haven't touched base with the Jodes . The Grapes of Wrath , the Jodes .

Speaker 1 5:31

The Jodes

Life as School: The Learning Process

Speaker 1 5:32

are at a wheat patch camp and when Winfield was brought into the toilets by his sister who wanted to show off the toilet , flushable toilet First time in their life they've seen a flushable toilet . And as she was demonstrating the toilet she flushed accidentally and they stood in paralysis of fear because they thought they broke it . And then they broke it and then they ran off . So the camp is cool , the best they've been . All of the Whovilles , as they were called , were shabby , and this was one of the better ran camps and they liked it . Were shabby and this was one of the better-ran camps and they liked it .

Speaker 1 6:29

And so one evening , as the sun is setting , the family is having dinner and just as they're coming to the end , ma hesitates before collecting the plates to wash them , and then she says . And then she says look at Winfield . All eyes gravitate to the little boy who's now obviously in flames of shame for a dozen or what she says . Look at his color , his twisting and kicking him asleep . The boy ain't got enough food . We only got but 12 potatoes , three days worth of flour and five days of grease . Now , mind you , they've been eating , as you know , fried dough , side meats , money spent long enough . No side meat , just fried dough . You make it like a dumpling thing and you just deep fry it , just anything to fill a stomach . No really nutritional spectrum there , just plugging up the hunger .

Speaker 1 7:52

And so she says , though none of you stand up , we've got to figure it out . None of you had a job since a month gone by . None of you had a job since the month gone by . Of course , as you know , they're trying and you're all scared to talk about it . So none of you get up until we figure it out . And Tom pulls his lip off his teeth and says but Ma , we've been looking . We can't even now drive further to look for jobs because we ain't got gas . But we've been looking . We knocked on every door , we asked everybody that we could . And weighs a man down when he go looking for something that he knows he ain't gonna get . And Ma with her Zen master thing , as you know she does , you ain't got the right . There is Ma with the Zen katana . You ain't got the right to feel down .

Speaker 1 9:09

This family is going under . We got to figure her out . Twelve potatoes , four days of grease , three days of flour . We got to figure her out . Pa chimes in . He's picking up his big fat , heavy thumbnail with the knife , picking the dirt out of it . He chimes in it's a good camp , ma , and the bathroom's good and the toilets ? They got toilets , ma ain't having them . Heaven , you can't eat toilets . It is the applicability of a single minded point . Don't you try and distract me with all the good , shiny things like a toilet . There's a more pressing thing that I tending to . This family's going under Rose of Sharon's due Soon . She's going to be laid up and so they get into the planning of where they can go , where they could try , and money . Short . Distance is long and somebody heard , or somebody's going to have a job . You know when the next crop comes in but can't wait . So it's the mage shark of the family .

Speaker 1 10:44

She stays quiet until time to

The Jodes Family and Facing Fear

Speaker 1 10:47

get everybody lined up and in line . She says you're just scared to talk about it , you just eat and then you disappear into the darkness . Every night you do the same thing . You're scared to talk about it , and so she forces obviously upon them some confrontation of a fear . Appear into the darkness Every night . You do the same thing . You're scared to talk about it , and so she forces obviously upon them some confrontation of a fear , facing of a thing , when the Buddha was practicing in the forest . He gives advice to fear .

Speaker 1 11:24

Now , we might not be meditating in a forest or living in a forest , there might not be a tiger . Well , your boss is a tiger , but other than that there might not be , other than that there might not be . And so he said there are three methods of meditation in general Sitting down meditation we call chason , lying down meditation , we call wason , and hengson is meditation in action , usually walking meditation . So they would have a lot of path and they would walk , turn around and walk just sort of . Not you walk off into the scenery , it's a meditation . You're not , you know , sniffing roses , you're focusing on the sensation of the feet , etc .

Speaker 1 12:18

So walking meditation , sitting meditation , lying down meditation . And he said sometimes he would sit in the forest now , forest , and dark forest at that . And he said when he would sit , a fear would come over him on account of a branch broken or on account of a sound . And he says , as I sat there and fear came over me , I brought to my mind the determination to not walk or not lay down . Now there's so much more there because the idea is . He doesn't say run away . Right , it says because the idea is , he doesn't say run away , it says because , see , you have to the Houdini fantastic ability of the mind to wiggle itself out under the pretext . So I'm sitting meditating , a fear comes over me .

Speaker 1 13:29

Now it's time for walking meditation . It wasn't time for walking meditation , but you might and you could sort of reason with yourself , as we frequently do . You tell yourself this is the right thing . Well , you know , walking meditation . Now one time for walking meditation . Why are you walking ? Right ? But the mind will do a lot of Houdini and , you know , will write a great dissertation and a paper on why you should switch the walking meditation . And so he said , if I were sitting , I would keep sitting until the fear subsided . If I was walking and while walking , a sound or a thought came and struck fear into my heart , I kept walking . I didn't sit down because , again , I was walking . But now I'm going to do sitting meditation . It's escaping right . Going to do sitting meditation . It's escaping right . Just like the family sitting after dinner . They eat and then the second opportunity , because they're all hungry . The second opportunity comes out . They scamper off into the dark of the night , in a sense Escaping . So this is no news . Mean , you know , we face your fear kind of thing .

Speaker 1 14:52

Do you recall when you were children , just a moment ago ? How , just a moment ago , how wonderful was the imagination of a child's mind , unencumbered , unbridled , just this wafting as it wanted to , wasn't it beautiful ? It's good , right , right , you sure ? You sure it's good ? Yes , why then , sometimes , as a child , we stay frozen because the place I want to go , the room I want to go into , is dark . And now I'm frozen in paralysis .

Speaker 1 15:44

On what account in the young child mind , what experience , what data , if you will , suggests that there in fact is a monster there ? The same imagination , so the same beautiful imagination that could conjure up these gorgeous , beautiful , whatevers , you know , beauty and awe and all these things . It's the same tool that imagines the horrible end at the claws of the . You know chupacabra that's in there . And so what is that ? Polarity of good and not good , without context , without good in relationship to what it begins to sort of dissolve , in a sense . So our fantastic ability to imagine is beautiful , lest you imagine the horrible . And so this is what the minds are capable of doing , untrained . They will go as they please and do as they please . They will plunge us into darkness , they will cripple and inhibit .

Speaker 1 17:25

It's fantastic and horrible simultaneously To have innately within such grand , grand power . It is a power , after all , because it even though we have the ability to view things

The Buddha's Advice on Fear

Speaker 1 17:58

logically . How much do we really view things logically ? How much of our views are illogical , ill-informed , or simply just I'm groundless , completely groundless . But I would just conjure up a thing in our mind that happens , don't it ? And so it's the same author . There's this splendid little saying A painter once a picture painted so horrible that he fainted .

Speaker 1 18:49

Have you heard that ? No , a picture once . A picture painted so horrible that he fainted . That's where we're at . Who's the painter ? And so I make , with the brush of the mind , whatever right . And the irony is that he made it so horrible that he fainted himself . He convinced himself to the point of , you know , just striking horror and terror , and fainting on account of the thing that he himself made . Isn't that insane , isn't that ? Could you call that worry ? Sorry , could you call that worry ? Yes , could you call that worry ? Yes , you could call that worry . And so , for those of you who don't know because I , but worry is a must .

Speaker 1 19:39

We've talked about worry a number of times . If we inspect worry We've talked about worry a number of times If we inspect worry , not just take it at face value , because the face value the representative hired by the worry industry trying to sell you their stock in their company , comes to your house and says well , you know , worry simply means you care , and he sells you that junk and they try to put it to work and it malfunctions every single time Because he's a crook . That salesman is a crook to say that worry means care . Folks , worry does not mean care . Worry means spinning the wheels , going nowhere .

Speaker 1 20:29

Think about if you had long , long time ago , when phones had minutes , right , you used to have a cell phone and then it had minutes , and when you ran out of minutes , you don't got a cell phone right now . Or if that's too far for the young folk , okay , you have no battery and you haven't the battery pack , battery bank . And now you're somewhere and you could use your phone to catch up on Twitter feed . Or you could use your phone to catch up on Twitter feed . Or you could use your phone to call emergency services because you're in the middle of a desert with hyenas and you're covered in honey and bacon I don't know what hyenas eat and the hyenas are like whoo-hoo , because that's how they talk , right , whoo-hoo . And so you work out your phone and you have okay , I have like one minute of battery life , right , and now you have a choice , right , how do you spend said battery ? How do you spend that energy ? How do you utilize this last few moments of your phone's battery life ?

Speaker 1 21:57

Clearly , surely you wouldn't find it so important to catch up on your Twitter thing or Instagram or the baffling longevity of LinkedIn , right , so you wouldn't be scrolling through Twitter . You would call emergency services . Yes , and in time there was voice . Everybody said yes , and I don't care if you have a microphone on up there on the TV screen , certainly you said yes . Please say yes . I hope you said yes , and I don't care if you have a microphone on up there on the TV screen , certainly you said yes . Please say yes . I hope you said yes , for crying out loud . Everybody said yes . Right , please , unless you want to take the last thing as a selfie with the hyena that you're posting , maybe . So you would utilize that energy , of that remaining energy , right to spend it on calling the emergency services . You wouldn't utilize it or squander that last bit on social media . And I'm not knocking social media , it's just an easy low-hanging fruit . This is the sutra of the hyena in the social media . If you want to look that up 84,000 sutras , 85 now .

Speaker 1 23:28

Worry is the same thing you have . On one hand , you have a limited energy . Let's say you're there in the desert , or you're there

The Painter and the Canvas

Speaker 1 23:38

and you have just this much energy in you , and the economy of this is what we're talking about . So now you have only this much energy left and now you could worry , aka scroll through twitter , because it's an absolute squander of energy , or you could utilize that last bit of energy to solution seeking or solution applying . Worry has never in the history of worry found the solution to anything that the worry was worried about . It's an utter and complete waste of resources . But because that fantastic advertisement campaign from the worry industry that made us believe that worry equates care , I care , that's why I worry . No , yes , I think there actually is a commercial . It's 10 am . Do you know where your kids are ? There you go 10 pm , 10 pm . They better be in school . Yes , right , so yes , that works .

Speaker 1 25:00

So the painter in this . There once was a painter , a picture painted so horrible that he fainted or something . It's the same brush . It's the same brush that paints the horrible , that paints the beautiful . It's the same brush with which we could paint the calmness and peace into our hearts , or the horror and the terrifying honey and bacon heinous , I don't know if you are so moved by my own words as I am .

Speaker 1 25:49

The power , this thing that is right here , right in front of us , within us , this thing that we use every single day , unbeknownst to us in a sense , because we are so caught up in this shadow play and this kind of puppetry , work of a thought arises and I'm worrying . And we just glance over the fact that worry does not in fact equal care , but we've been conditioned to think that way , so I care . That's why I worry . We never take a pause there and say wait a darn minute , does it ? And it don't , it doesn't , it's a squander of resources . And so this ability that we have to create , and it's boundless , bound temporarily only by our fixations , by our attachments , by our fears , by our this and that the canvas hasn't actually any borders . The canvas is infinite and we could paint infinitely .

Speaker 1 27:13

So Thus is the nature of the mind , and so why do we do meditation ? It's a kind of a skip and a jump and a long way away from maybe counting in your meditation practice . And then , ah , the gorgeous Picasso . I don't know , maybe not Picasso . I don't know , maybe you like Picasso . I'm just talking smack about people . So counting may seem like a has nothing to do with what I'm talking about . If counting is the meditation that let's say we're doing , or breathing , frankly , anything unless , because this is our thing , our mind then wants to , or tends to not everybody , but perhaps wants to be like , well then , why don't we sit in meditation and visualize , you know , bright , splendid sunsets ? You can . That's not meditation , but you can . That is relaxation or visualization , and it has its place , if that's what you want to do , in , really , we could say in meditation .

Speaker 1 28:47

The ability to hold the brush Is it an important ability ? Yes , of course it's an important ability . Hold the brush Is it an important ability ? Yes , yes , of course it's an important ability . Hold the brush , and we've talked about this , the traditional way of learning calligraphy . There's a certain way you hold the brush right . An instructor comes traditionally and flicks it , and if the brush falls out of your hand , you're punished those of you who remember those times of school punished . Or when you practice kumdo sword , right , the first thing is to hold the sword and the tip of the sword to remain steady . Don't think it's like first day of sword class and you're like you know , like in the movies . No , actually , first thing you even get a sword , you get a stick , but nonetheless you hold the tip of the stick steady . That's your practice , as here , holding the brush is the practice .

Speaker 1 29:44

Holding the brush means holding the mind , and so the meditation practice of holding the mind . Don't think about the brush . Got no paint . He gave me a crappy brush . He made me count . No , the brush itself is not Holding . It is important . If you're breathing , holding that . If you're counting , breathing , holding that . If you're counting , holding that . If I gave you another meditation method , holding that .

Speaker 1 30:17

That is holding the mind and not letting the mind go off here and go off there . Why ? What does it do when it does go off ? It's not so worrying . Yeah , what would you call that ? Does go off More than you . It's not so far from you . Yeah , what would you call that ? A renegade artist ? Yeah , right , my mind , my hand , my brush , and then somehow , all of a sudden , magically , the brush just does its own thing . Regurgitations of yesterdays and worries of tomorrows and such and such .

Speaker 1 30:52

Where am I in this transaction , when my life is being painted for me ? That's as a hostage situation . Somebody decided no , you know what , you get a frowny face . I'm going to paint you a frowny face and you're going to like it . Just give me my brush back . You

Worry vs. Care: The Economy of Energy

Speaker 1 31:11

whack them upside the head . I don't condone violence , it's an imaginary goal they deserve upside and you take back your brush with which to paint the colors of your life .

Speaker 1 31:24

What do you want to see ? What do you want it to be ? How do you want to feel ? Don't be sold by the multitude of industries that deprive you of the power that is yours . Ah , but that thing made me feel something . Dang it . That thing made me feel that . That thing made me . That thing forced upon me a mural that I never ordered . I have the power , I have the ability . I feel upset , I feel angry , I feel the thing . Was it Bob Ross ? I'm never going to put a little bit of a tree here and there are no mistakes . Ah , I'll make that into a bush . Happy accidents , happy accidents . There are no mistakes , only happy accidents . That means the possibility to paint over a mistake is available to me .

Speaker 1 32:36

I am the artist of my life , but sometimes ,

Holding the Brush: Meditation and Mind

Speaker 1 32:44

by an unknown entity , I'm smothered with a canvas of another painting , just holding like a pillow in the night , just cackles as it , just , you know , murderous . Don't you paint the life you want . You paint the feeling that you want . You paint the feeling that you want . You paint the thing that you want we have , because Prior to , let's say , getting angry or frustrated or sad or worried , or happy , for that matter , and joyous and whatever , prior to that , what was I ? Something else ? Right , I am now joyous . Prior to that I was furious . I am now furious . Prior to that I was joyous .

Speaker 1 33:47

And so this magically just applies to the past , then apply to the future . If I was a thing and I changed to another thing , it only follows that I could then change to yet another thing . Such is the nature , the impermanence of existence , of all existence . And so if I'm going to change , as change goes , I have a say how I want to change , if I want to change or don't want to change , or refuse , I'm going to stand my ground . I'm feeling pretty chill . Don't bring your high-octane attitude to me . I'm going to stand my ground . I'm feeling pretty chill . Don't bring your high-octane attitude to me . I'm going to remain to be chill .

Speaker 1 34:33

Aha , yes , aren't we supposed to let the changes just pass through us and be more attuned to the awareness that doesn't change . Do you want to be a backseat driver of your life ? Do I want to be a taxi driver ? Backseat driver , backseat driver , sorry , yeah , no , yeah , that's why each one of those . So it is a valid thing , right , when to apply that philosophy .

Speaker 1 35:11

So , even in the allowing of the changes , the things sort of pass through us in a sense , right . How much of it do we hold on to ? How much of it ? As they pass through , they take a part of me on their way out . It's the same ability to allow a passing through without part of me getting washed out . It's the same powerful ability of management of how that happens .

Speaker 1 35:47

So , yes , of course , we have no choice . Life is going to change . Every cell of the body is changing . Everything constantly , is in constant flux . What does that mean ? To allow the thing to pass ? Don't hold the thing . How do you hold the thing ? With your hand or with your mind or , in this example , with your brush , you nail the thing down as it passes .

Speaker 1 36:20

So the ability to allow the thing to flow through is a power , because how , like I said , how frequently the things flow and we hold on to the things that ought to be let go of and burning the flesh of my hands , holding on to some coals and so we need the other element , always paired with these things , is wisdom . Let's say you see this ball and it's red hot , do you touch it ? No , but let's say you see this ball and it's white , do you touch it ? It's white hot , more hotter than red hot . So what things we're going to hold , what things we're not going to hold ? That is the power of movement , of the power to let go . So it's the same thing utilization or creation of the power that's going to direct , and then , in that case , direct the flow .

Speaker 1 37:44

So , when you practice your meditation , acknowledge that what you are working with , a nuclear bomb , is powerful , right , who made it ? The brush made it . Somebody's brush made it , somebody's mind made it . It was born of the mind , somebody's mind made it . It was born of the mind , or born , yeah , I'm not going to get technical . It was born of observation of the world around us and you realization that which is , in a way , but this is kind of the same thing . We are , we have this capacity and how do we utilize it ? It's the same thing . What do you do with your brush ? What ?