Your Responsibility

We close our eyes when we meditate because we want to see clearly what’s going on in the mind. Years back, I was in Brazil, and someone said that they’d been told to meditate with their eyes open because you’re meditating for the sake of the world. Well, the world is going to go on without you. And however much we may want to change the ways of the world or improve the ways of the world, there’s a lot out there that resists change. In the meantime, the area where we really are responsible, i.e., our own minds, gets ignored.

So. Turn around and change your point of attention. Look here. See what you can do in here. Try to be sensitive to how the breath feels in the body and use that as your foundation.

We’ve been talking about developing a strong sense of the observer in your mind. The observer needs a safe place to stay, a good solid place to stay. Having the observer means that you have a sense of just being aware and you don’t get involved in the further discussions that the mind usually puts on things. You know they’re there, but you don’t have to get involved.

It’s like someone over in the corner of the room talking, but the conversation doesn’t have to involve you. Or even if they do mention you, you decide that I don’t care what that person says. I’ve got work I’ve got to do. Then just leave it there. Leave it there. This is a talent we need. It’s not the only talent we’re going to need as meditators, but it’s an important talent to develop so that you can see things clearly.

You can understand how something unskillful arises in the mind—and why it has its appeal—and how you can get past its appeal. You can see how skillful things arise in the mind and how you can encourage them. So you will be actively engaged, but there also has to be a part of the mind that can pull out.

It’s like being a boxer. You don’t always attack. Sometimes you have to defend yourself, and sometimes you have to pull away. So learn the skill of pulling away. It’s going to be your refuge in a lot of areas where you can’t make any changes. If the mind seems to be just running on its own without any input from you, well, let it run, but you don’t have to get involved. As you pull out, you begin to realize that a lot of what keeps things going on in the mind is the act of attention to them. So here, instead, you’re paying attention to the need to be clear and observant and not involved. Work on that.

If you provide safety for yourself in this way, the Buddha says you provide universal safety. No greed, aversion, and delusion comes up in your mind; you’re not spreading it out to the world. In that way, you protect the world. At least from your quarter they don’t have to fear any danger. And that’s quite an accomplishment right there. The way we listen to the news makes it seem like one person being virtuous, developing concentration and discernment, doesn’t really mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. But in the grand scheme of your things, it means an awful lot. Don’t let their values influence yours.

Remember the Buddha’s message is that what you’re doing right here, right now is very important, because you’ve been doing a lot of things for who knows how many eons, skillful and unskillful. If you don’t learn how to put a stop to that, it’s going to keep on going.

Where you do you stop it? You stop it right here.

So, first lesson: how to say No to the mind when it wants to get involved in things. Have a clear sense of being observant, being alert. This becomes the foundation for seeing a lot of things you wouldn’t see otherwise and being able to do a lot of things you wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.