Day-0 QA - Online 10-day Retreat (Nov-3) with Delson Armstrong

Let's open up for questions. Who wants to start? You have to turn on a recording for us to be able to record it to the computer. Let's see here. The thing is, I don't think that's necessary for now, because what we're going to do is record it and make it available online so everybody can actually watch the video on YouTube. So I think that doesn't matter. Right, that's true. Yeah, yeah. I will say thank you. Thank you. So Delson, if I may, I have one question. In the Day Zero material, there's a lot of reference to the 6Rs. And at the same time, reading the suttas, we see the reference to the four right efforts.

So how do you see the relationship between the two? Yeah, you will see when you read Day One, which will be tomorrow, it'll give a little bit more in-depth explanation. But the 6Rs is really the modern version, if you will, of the four right efforts. So what that means is the four right efforts and the 6Rs are intertwined.

The process of the 6Rs, when you start with Recognize, aligns with the first right effort. So first of all, let me just go with the four right efforts. The first right effort is the preventing of unwholesome states from arising. That is your hindrances and your distractions. The second is abandoning presently arisen unwholesome states or hindrances. The third is to bring up your wholesome qualities of mind.

And the fourth is to maintain that wholesome quality of mind. So when you're using the 6R process, what happens is you see that the mind has gotten distracted and is no longer paying attention to the object of meditation. So when you see this and you recognize it, what you have done is you are preventing the distraction from further drawing your attention.

So you prevent any further distractions from arising when you recognize. When you release your attention, which means that you take your attention away from that distraction and bring it to the relaxing process, which is to relax the craving, the tension that is a result of the craving in both the mind and the body, you are using the second right effort, which is to abandon the unwholesome states of mind presently arisen.

And then when you come back to your smile, making sure that you are smiling, and come back to your object of meditation, or compassion, or whatever it might be, you are then bringing up the wholesome quality of mind. And then finally, as you return and stay with your object, you are maintaining that wholesome quality of mind. And then you repeat whenever necessary, whenever your mind gets distracted yet again.

I have a question. Yes. About the 6Rs. I'm wondering, when you have six steps and it's like one flow, once it rolls, the last step is repeat. Can you explain more how you see the repeat part, and how can I use it? In a sense, it's not always the best time to repeat the 6Rs. Maybe sometimes you just relax and release. Is it always the 6Rs, or do you sometimes... Sometimes you 5R, which means you don't have to repeat. Hello? I'm sorry, I have a problem with video. Is it only me? No, it's my connection probably. What I was saying is sometimes you just have to 5R, meaning you don't have to repeat, which means that so long as you are staying with your object of meditation, so long as you are with your object, your attention is on it, your awareness is on it, you don't have to repeat the 6Rs.

...distracted. And I've already said this to a few of you, which is that if you find that there are thoughts in the background of your mind while you have your awareness on the object of meditation, you don't have to 6R those. They will go away on their own, because they have no attention to feed them. But whenever your attention is no longer on your object, you 6R, and it's always the same steps, and it's a flow. As you said, it's all sort of one flow. It happens in about three or four seconds at the most. So as soon as you recognize you were distracted, you don't have to say it in your head, you don't have to verbalize, oh, I recognize. You already know that you got distracted. In knowing that you were distracted, that's recognition. That's recognizing. Then you come to putting your attention on the relaxing process of the 6R process. You have released your attention from the distraction and put your attention now on relaxing the tension in the mind and the body.

And so now you have already done the first two right efforts, which are the preventing and the abandoning, and now you are bringing up the wholesome state. You come to your smile, and you come back to the feeling of whatever it might be: metta, karuna, loving kindness, compassion, whatever it is. So it's always the same steps in progression, but the repeat is only insofar as whenever you get distracted again.

That's all. I have just a sort of technical question. From the resource materials, I see that we have some texts to read, some videos that we can watch. We have the interviews. We have this group sharing. Is there any guided meditation from you at any stage, or are we relying on the materials to guide our meditation?

So the materials, the suttas and the videos, are really to start to get an understanding of the different parts of the Eightfold Path. Once you start to see the materials, you'll see that you start off with what is known as effective choice and effective application. That's really talking about right intention and right effort. That's really the basis. The deeper you go into mindfulness, or effective observation, you go into samadhi, or what is the collectiveness. We don't like to use the word concentration. I would rather use collectiveness. And then you start to get into deeper subjects like karma and rebirth and consciousness. So these are materials to help you on your own self-directed meditation. I won't really be leading any kind of group meditation.

This is more of a path of self-discovery in your own time, and the amount of effort you put into it. My question relates to the four foundations of mindfulness, as in today's background material, under the chapter of wise awareness in that translation by... so the other four foundations. Now my question is, when we spoke this morning we spoke about the meditation object of joy. Is this one of these four foundations, or does it include all of them, since there is a feeling part of it, the body part of it, and so on, outside of the mind? So how is the relation between one meditation object versus the four foundations here? And the second part of it relates to that capital D of Dhamma. In the last one, maybe I'll come to that. Okay, yeah, yeah. It really depends upon the translations, but the way I see it is whenever you are utilizing the four foundations of mindfulness. So what are the four foundations of mindfulness? You said Bhante Ananda's translation.

And he likes to call it the four resting places of awareness. That's another way of looking at it, let's say. But really what this is, is first and foremost the body. Understanding how your body is feeling in any given moment. The sensations that are arising from the body are the second. Your mind or consciousness, they call it. I call it mindset.

And the reason I call it mindset is because a mindset can continually change, and it's a collection of thoughts that create a certain mindset. So when you get into the jhanas, each jhana is a particular kind of mindset, because it has different kinds of factors within each jhana. And then Dhamma is really phenomena. Any kind of phenomena related to the mind, whether it's thoughts or emotions, memories, whatever it might be, formations, things like that. So these are the four foundations of mindfulness.

When you are practicing the jhana practice, when you're practicing metta and you get into jhana, the way you know you are in jhana, first and foremost, is your mind is collected. So collectedness, or effective one of these four jhanas. First and foremost, going back to Dhamma, you have other aspects of it, which is to say you have phenomena related to the five hindrances. You are aware if there are any of these five hindrances in the mind, and anytime a hindrance is present, you are no longer in jhana. So this is how you are utilizing mindfulness: by seeing whether there is a hindrance present. You know, because when you're distracted, you know that there is a hindrance present there.

So then you use the 6Rs to come back. And as you're doing this, what you're doing is also starting to activate and balance the seven factors of awakening, which is also part of the Dhamma aspect of the four foundations of mindfulness. Now, when it comes to the seven factors of awakening, they start to be utilized more and more as you get higher into the process.

Into higher dimensions of perception, let's say, beyond the fourth jhana. But for the time being, all you should know, if you're starting on the path or you're still working with the first four jhanas, is that if your mind continues to stay with the object and you're not pushing, because if you push, what's going to happen is you're not utilizing mindfulness anymore. You're using too much effort. You're using too much one-pointed focus. In the observation of that, you are collectively being observant of the body, of the mind, of the sensations, and of the mental contents within the mind. Because it's an open awareness, let's say. So in the awareness of that, you are being attentive to the feeling, but you are also aware if there are any thoughts in the background, as I mentioned earlier.

Or if the mind is being distracted, and so on and so forth. So just to repeat for myself, the four resting places, or whatever you like to call them, are not just separate things, but they have been integrated in this one and the same observation process. Did I understand that right? Yeah, there are different ways of looking at it. On Day Two, actually, there will be an entire focus, so to speak, on the four foundations of mindfulness. So when you watch the video and you read the material, it'll go even more in-depth into it. And there are different ways of doing it. I mean, the two foremost suttas, which is number one, the Satipatthana Sutta from the Majjhima Nikaya, and the Mahasatipatthana Sutta, which is identical except for the expansion on the elaboration of the four noble truths. But you see that there are different ways you can, let's say, divide it into four categories, and just solely pay attention to what's happening in the body.

You can solely pay attention to what's happening in the mind or the sensory experiences that are arising. And in just the observation of it, in just the pure awareness without trying to control it, you will start to see insights into the body, into the mind, and the mental contents, because you start to see the impermanence of these things and that there's no controller there. You see that there is an emptiness of self in that. And it happens with continually being observant, continually being aware, continually being mindful. Whenever you do get distracted, you are utilizing the six R's. Primarily, that is the beginning of that mindfulness. So in day two there will be a deeper discussion on this, but for now just know that whenever you are in the jhana, whenever you are staying with your object of meditation with an open awareness that is being attentive but not focused, not too concentrated, you are basically practicing mindfulness. You are applying the full foundations of because, so long as you are openly aware, you can know that a hindrance has arisen or not.

Whereas if you focus too much, you're actually suppressing the hindrances. You're not able to know when or where and how you got distracted. No, you don't want to look for any kind of tension in the body. There was somebody who asked a question sometime earlier that when they do the relaxed step, for example, they don't necessarily find any tension in the body, and that's fine. You don't need to, because the relaxed step is not only letting go of the craving in the form of that tension, let's say, but also tranquilizing the bodily formations. That's the other aspect. That's something that is mentioned in the Anapanasati Sutta, which is that when you breathe in, whatever you're breathing in, long or short, you tranquilize the body in the formations.

So it's the tranquility, it's the tranquilizing of formations, that is the deeper effect of the relaxed step. So don't go and look for the tension. If you are aware of it and you see that it is there, you intend the relaxed step to let go of that tension, which is that craving. Distracted will release formations, will let go and relax the formations, no matter how subtle they are. Particularly when I want to fall asleep, I have to be... and then that's going to take me to switch to anapanasati. But like Bhante Vimalaramsi says, I apply the six R's. But is this okay for this retreat, to now then switch to anapanasati? I would say for this retreat you really want to just stay with the brahmaviharas, or with the tranquil mind, if you are at that point.

Okay. In terms of, if I understood correctly, because it kind of froze for a couple of seconds, you were utilizing the anapanasati for going to sleep, you said? Is that correct? Yes. Okay. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's a very tight degree. I'm sorry. Please say that again. I'm sorry. You dropped away. When I'm tired, it's difficult to radiate metta. So then I switch to anapanasati, applying the six R's. But for this retreat, only metta. Yeah, all metta. I think a sort of secondary practice, I wouldn't really call it a practice, but just a way of going to sleep, is maybe if you can come back to the quiet mind, let's say. Okay.

And just relax. Just use the relaxed step and nothing but the relaxed step, and that will definitely help you sleep. Thank you. I would like to ask about your recommendation on how to meditate, in a sense. Take a look at the clock, see, and then meditate as long as you feel you're going, as long as you like. But I'm wondering, sometimes, for example, if there's one hour of meditation and you feel you could do more, how much should you push? Or maybe if you get used to this one hour, you feel like it's enough, but sometimes I have a feeling I could do more if I push myself a little. I'm just afraid that I don't want to push too much, because then I get the tension.

So I wonder what would be your suggestion about timing, how to measure? Number one, I would say, sit for as long as you can. Maybe if you want to put an intention that you want to sit for an hour the first time, and then the next time sit for an hour and 10 minutes, an hour and 15 minutes. That's fine.

Secondly, I would say that if you have the inclination to sit for longer, that is always good. That is always suggested. If you want to sit for longer, I would suggest you do sit for longer. But in terms of pushing, it's not necessarily pushing. I always like to look at it in the way of, let's say, the mind. Maybe the body is like, I cannot stand it anymore, I don't want to meditate anymore, let's say. So you cajole the body and say, how about five more minutes? And let's see what happens for five more minutes. Likewise, if the mind is restless and says, no, I want to get out, and I don't want to meditate anymore.

In the same way, you can cajole the mind and say, how about five more minutes? Let's see what happens for five more minutes. Treat the mind like a little child and say, just five more minutes. Let's see what happens. The mind won't be pushing, but in fact, it'll just be saying, okay, and accept it, and then you can continue on with your meditation.

I think we have time for a couple more questions. I have a question. Yes. How do we apply this meditation? Can you repeat the question, please? Because the internet was not stable. How do we apply this meditation when we are not doing formal sitting or walking meditation? Okay. And you said when you're with family? During this retreat. During the retreat, and if you're with family, right? Yeah, or you're eating or doing chores or other work. Yeah. You can bring loving-kindness into your chores. You can bring loving-kindness into eating your food. You can bring loving-kindness in your speech. You can bring loving-kindness in your interaction with family and friends.

You do this where you have an intention from the beginning of the day that I'm going to be loving and kind, or I'm going to be compassionate, and you set that intention. The easier it is for you to then come and sit and stay with that feeling, it provides a very good foundation. But the more you're able to cultivate loving-kindness in a way that you can bring it to your daily activities, so you can do things with a smile, you can do your chores with a smile, you can do your chores with compassion, radiating. If you feel like, when you're walking on the street, let's say you need to go grocery shopping and you meet people, you can send them loving-kindness as you cross their path.

And so the more you do this, the more in tune, the more in touch you become with the feeling, and the easier it is for you to stay with it and generate it in the beginning of your sitting practice. Thank you. I'll ask a question if no one else wants to. I want to bring it into my daily life, and right now I have a lot of little things. I've gone through a transition and I have a lot of technical difficulties in my job because of certain things getting everything to work correctly, and so I'm just sitting here thinking, okay, I can, in the past I've always done forgiveness with those things, but I'm thinking, you know, I could do compassion with all that stuff too, and I didn't know if you had any other thoughts about that. It seems like there's a lot of complications in my life. They're not disturbing me too badly, but any input on any of that would be great. Yeah, so number one, this is also a great way, whatever activity you're doing, to start to develop the foundations of mindfulness.

And so what I mean by that is you can start to slow things down in whatever you're doing and really, really slow your mind down, and really bring it back to the present, bring it back to the awareness of what you're doing with your mind, what you're doing with the body, what you're doing in the way of the sensory experiences that are arising in whatever activity you're doing related to your work. And so instead, you flip the switch. You don't want to come at it from where, if things are not working out, pay attention to where your mind is and how your mind responds to it. Accordingly, if the mind, let's say, has aversion to it, you apply the six R's and then bring in your choice of compassion, loving-kindness or forgiveness.

But consider everything that you're doing in this retreat, whatever it may be, as a way to develop the practice through the four foundations of mindfulness and through practicing the six R's continuously. So anytime there is a situation that might not be going your way, things that are coming in the way of resistance, and you know, things like that, you want to be able to practice mindfulness in that. You want to slow things down, you want to relax, and this is something you will read about tomorrow, which is this idea of react versus respond, which means a reaction is really reflection.

It's just the old part of our brain suddenly reacting and going into this sort of fight or flight mode, and then bringing up anxiety and stress, and then that brings up a lot of different thoughts about the thing that we're doing, and so on and so forth. And then this creates a lot of mental proliferation and obviously a lot of suffering, mental suffering.

But if you respond, which is to say you pause, relax, slow things down, and then allow the mind to take some time to come up with a response that comes from reflection, that comes from understanding, that comes from compassion. So that also means that if you decide and choose to bring in forgiveness or compassion, you are actually responding, because you have allowed the mind the space to take a pause and say, wait, there's a hindrance arising here. An unwholesome state of mind is arising here. So what you're doing effectively is using mindfulness to see that this is the kind of mind state that might be arising, and then replacing it through the six R's process with a more wholesome state of mind while applying mindfulness.

So it really works all together. It's just different parts of the puzzle, let's say, and they all come together and culminate in every moment if you do it right. Thank you. I think, unless anyone has a question, we can end today's session here. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all. Have a great day and keep smiling. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.