Easter Retreat 2015 - Following the Meditation after Talk 1

OK.  Thank you for meditating.  At the end of your weekend here I would like all of you to feel, ‘I know how to meditate.’  I want you to say, ‘Why do I meditate?  Because I want to have a good foundation.’  ‘Why do I meditate? Because I want to be a compassionate human being.’  ‘Why do I meditate?  Because I will learn to care about others, more than me only.’ 

So, first you have to think there are many reasons why I must meditate.  Then always know that when you learn to meditate, you are the one who is going to get the fullest benefit.  Nowadays professors can write many books but their ego can get carried away.  But there very few meditators because it’s not easy.   So I would like to make all of you very good, joyful meditators.   Not thinking, ‘Oh, meditation is something I don’t like because all this chaos is happening.’ 

So, if you are that sort of person, visualise who is trying to provoke the fighting, who is saying ‘come and fight, come and fight.’  You say, ‘No, I’m not going to fight, I’m not going to fight.’  Then your thought drops down.  If you think you need to fight, you will be the loser.  With meditation, whatever the emotion, thought or negativity you have, you must never think it is a problem.  But also you should not facilitate, or not engage with that.  Then, it will drop itself.  So, you should experiment with that.  This has very profound meaning, see?  This is like, if you want to win, don’t fight.  You want to lose, you fight.  So, it is something like this, ok?  That is why, in the world when they are fighting no one is the winner, everybody is the loser.  Buddha found methods, see?  You can only win when you see there is no one to fight.  And with no-one to fight, then you are liberated. 

Our afternoon session will be a question and answer session, so I can really help you all feel that meditation is much easier, that you don’t have to do anything.  Meditation is so profound because it’s the only way to bring this change in your life.  At least you will manage to bring that change in your life. 

Otherwise you will never, ever be able to say, ‘I am a completely fulfilled human being.’  Without meditation you will never have absolute certainty, confidence in your own self.  So meditation is necessary, doesn’t matter how painful it is.  But if you stop fighting, it is the easiest thing.  And if you truly understand there is no such thing as good or bad anymore, if none of these exist, why should we fight during meditation? 

I will teach you all how to meditate without being so fearful.  Why do you meditate?  Because this is going to make your life more meaningful.  And this is going to help human beings.  Our world will be a much better place. 

So we will do the dedication.  Enjoy yourself.  It is a very short weekend, there will be no major enlightenment or change while you’re here so I think you should start by learning to accept.  I walk every morning and I think, where else do you get such a beautiful environment?  I can see rolling hills.  I can see hardly any cars going by, there is no pollution.  When there is no cloud or rain there is blue sky.  But then you have to think that rain is really life-giving, because in Scotland if there is no rainfall for one year, we will be in a desert.  As you can see, this river dries out very fast.  But then we need to know, rain is also part of life.  So, when you learn to accept, cold is beautiful, warm is beautiful, raining is beautiful, not raining is beautiful, everything is beautiful, that’s how I feel, see?  That’s what you learn from Lama Yeshe.  Yes.  So, enjoy your stay here. 

And if you like to go up to the rolling hills, see the sheep or lambs, I speak to them.  I say, ‘I am sorry if I have ever eaten you.’  You should all take a vow not to eat other beings.  You should say, ‘I’m sorry, sheep and cows, I will never touch you.’  That would be a very honourable decision while you are here.  When you are in the town, you never see a sheep or a lamb or animal, so normally you get from the butchers.  But you can see they are also lifeforms.  You see these tiny beautiful lambs playing around, and when the lambs are taken away the mothers are crying.  For many days they call for their baby.  It’s so painful to watch.  I hope any of you will not touch anything to do with meat, and all these other lifeforms.  That’s called changing our lives, see?  Yes.  Good.  Thank you.  Enjoy yourself.