When we sit, it’s like a cup of water that’s been shaken. It takes a while for it to become still. Only then will we be clean and calm. In spiritual practice, if we could receive initiation and immediately enter samadhi to become a Buddha, then we wouldn’t need to meditate every day. Even if, on the day of initiation, we can enter samadhi and become a Buddha, after we go home, we still have to interact with others, and they will also pollute us a little bit. Our mind still records those kinds of impressions, different impressions. Therefore, when we sit to meditate, those impressions will not go away immediately. […]
(When I meditate, my mind keeps being distracted; when will it stop wandering?) (She said that when she meditates, distracting thoughts keep emerging. Distracting thoughts. In such case, when will these distracting thoughts end?) They will if you sit longer. There’ll be no distracting thoughts when you go into samadhi. If not in samadhi, there’ll be distracting thoughts. So, she should sit until she enters samadhi, then they’ll be gone. Never mind about those distracting thoughts. Keep reciting the Five Holy Names, and stay focused here. And then they will be gone. Sit longer. There will definitely be a time when you enter samadhi. After sit down, probably in the first 20 minutes, most people don’t enter samadhi and have lots of distracting thoughts. After 20 or 40 minutes, your mind will be more stable. Tell her that it’s alright. Just continue to meditate. It’ll get better before you know it. It’ll be OK later. Otherwise, you’ll also go into samadhi during sleep. During that time, Master will bring you up to learn things. At that time, there are no more distracting thoughts. You definitely will progress. Every day, meditate according to your time. Progress or not, just continue meditating. One day, you’ll know.
Because we work the whole day, communicate and associate with people, and will inevitably be affected. Therefore, when we sit, it’s like a cup of water that’s been shaken. It takes a while for it to become still. Only then will we be clean and calm. In spiritual practice, if we could receive initiation and immediately enter samadhi to become a Buddha, then we wouldn’t need to meditate every day. Even if, on the day of initiation, we can enter samadhi and become a Buddha, after we go home, we still have to interact with others, and they will also pollute us a little bit. Our mind still records those kinds of impressions, different impressions. Therefore, when we sit to meditate, those impressions will not go away immediately. (I’m sorry.) Where are you? I said that even if, on the day of initiation, we meditate very well and enter samadhi, when we get out of meditation and go home, we still have to interact with others. Then, their impressions and troubles will influence our mind, and it doesn’t… when we meditate, it will not go away immediately. Is the translation OK? (Yes.) Lucky, lucky. Yes.
Here first, no? You, no? OK, first. (I see a lot of fear…) Louder. (I see a lot of fear in myself…) (When you meditate?) (No, usually. Can meditation make it go away?) (Does it go away when you meditate?) (Yes. I see a lot of fear inside me, and if I meditate... Normally, usually, I do.) (She often does. When she’s not meditating, she often sees horrible situations. And also, there is… She feels terrible fear. So she asks: Can meditation solve this problem?) Yes, yes. It’s the karma from previous lives. What kind of horrible things does she see? (I have a lot of fears, and I’ve been struggling quite a bit with them. It’s fear of many different things. Not just one thing.) (She says it’s very difficult things in the previous years. But there are various kinds of objects…) (I felt very anxious at the time.)
It’s previous experiences, right? (So, you had an experience in the past,) Her own experiences? (and it manifests itself in different ways?) (Yes, I had a lot of anxiety before that, but after something happened, I became even more anxious.) (She said it happened before.) (My fear is about some object or maybe multiple objects.) (She said she used to have fears. But after a few years, something happened. Many objects became scary. She’s often frightened of them.) Are you translating it correctly? (I don’t understand. She’s… I don’t know what she meant. I cannot make sense of it at all. She’s rather…) You ask her again clearly. (Say it again, exactly, because I didn’t understand properly.) (On a daily basis I have a lot of fear about something. I’m afraid, anxious.) (What causes it?) (Anxiety? I don’t know exactly. It’s a lot of different things every day…) (She just feels anxious.) (Anyway, she often has fears.) Tell her to remember to recite the Five Holy Names all the time. If there’s no one around, she can recite out loud every day for about half an hour or an hour. When there are no uninitiated people around. If fellow initiates have time or live nearby, they can recite together with her. After a while, it’ll be OK. If she feels threatened at night, leave a light on, a small lamp on the outside. And sleep with that in the background. OK?
(When I meditate, I notice that my knees and ankles hurt a lot. I feel a lot of pain.) (Your knees and ankles hurt a lot?) (Yes.) (When he meditates, he feels pain in his knees.) With crossed legs, right? (It happens even when I am just sitting comfortably.) (What then?) (My knees hurt a lot, even if I’m just doing it in a normal position.) Is it because of crossing the legs? (So?) (I mean, I know it can be better with time, but I was wondering if there is any way to solve it faster...) (When meditating, he feels pain here and here also. He wishes to solve the problem of pain quickly. He wants to know what he can do.) I was asking if he crossed his legs to meditate or not. (Ah, sorry. Do you meditate in the lotus position?) (Yes.) (Yes.) Then tell him no need to cross his legs. Just sitting on a chair will be OK.
(Even when I’m sitting on a chair, my legs feel a little bit empty. I think it’s slightly abnormal. It happens during meditation, not so much when I’m not meditating.) (He said that sitting on a chair to meditate is a little bit… kind of an uncomfortable feeling. He often… in daily life, he also feels this way.) Then the problem might be with him. He has to see a doctor. If it’s not because of meditation, if it’s normally there, he has to go to a doctor. (However, I don’t feel anything’s wrong when I’m working.) (What?) (When I’m working, I’m fine.) (It’s alright when he works, but when he meditates or when he’s not working…) Then, tell him to keep working and stop meditating.
You tell him maybe it’s because he’s not used to crossing his legs. After sitting for a while, the legs would get numb or sore. Many people are like that. If he’s not used to it, he doesn’t have to cross legs. He can sit on a chair and meditate. It’s alright if it’s just feeling numb. Numbness or pain, it’s OK. It happens to many people. If he endures it and sits for a while, it’ll be gone. Because when we meditate, it’s similar to dying. The soul slowly moves from… All… our vital energy, our spiritual energy, is slowly collected, and then it goes out. Therefore, if you’re not used to it, the process takes some time. It happens slowly and gradually, and it hurts. After getting used to it, just close your eyes, and you’re gone. You’re gone in no time at all – no more slowly, bit by bit. Then, it’s alright for the body to remain there. It doesn’t feel pain.
OK. Yeah. (When I’m doing Quan Quang [the inner Heavenly Light meditation], there’s a really big circle, and its color keeps changing. Is that abnormal?) (You see a circle?) (Yes, and it keeps happening in different ways, three or four different ways, not just one way. So I was wondering if that’s normal and if it’s OK to keep doing it.) (He said that when he meditates on the [inner Heavenly] Light, a very big circle appears in front of him. And there are three or four colors that keep showing up. Is it OK? It’s always like that.) Is it not OK? What does he think? Does he think it’s OK or not? Stupid. Stupid question. How do you say “idiot” in Korean? This, this one. OK. Never mind.
Photo Caption: SOME THING HAS 2 BEAUTIFY THE UNSIGHTLY PART!
