How to Tap into Your Awareness | Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche | TED

So, I would like to discuss about meditation, but first of all, I'd like to ask you a very simple question. Can you see my hand? Yes. Yes, raise your hand. Okay. Can you hear me? Yes. Great. That is meditation. So finish. My tattoo is finished. Of course, I'm just kidding. But in a way, that is true. Why? What do you call the essence of meditation is awareness. And what is awareness knows what you're thinking, feeling, doing, seeing, hearing. That's all.

所以，我想要讨论一下冥想，但首先，我想问你一个非常简单的问题。你能看到我的手吗？是的。是的，请举手。好的。你能听到我的声音吗？是的。很好。这就是冥想。所以结束了。我的纹身完成了。当然，我只是开个玩笑。但在某种程度上，这是真的。为什么呢？冥想的本质是觉知。觉知知道你在想什么、感觉什么、做什么、看到什么、听到什么。就是这样。

So actually, meditation is very easy, but many people found difficult. Why they are true, misunderstandable meditation. So the first is many people think meditation means thing of nothing. Stop thinking. Concentration. Shh. I'm meditating. Keep quiet. So the more when you try to stop thinking, what happened? You will think more. So we will do a small experiment. Okay. Now, please don't think about pizza. No pizza. No pizza. What happened? Did you think about pizza? No. Yes, raise your hand. I know. So actually, we don't need to stop thinking. We just need to connect with awareness. And another misunderstandable meditation is what we call blazing out. Looking for peace, calm, joy, relax. The more you'll feel relaxed, then peace, calm, joy, relax, and run away. So let me share you my own experience.

实际上，冥想是非常简单的，但是很多人觉得很难。他们对冥想有了误解。首先，很多人认为冥想是什么都不去想，停止思考，专注。嘘，我在冥想。保持安静。但是当你试图停止思考时，会发生什么？你会越想得更多。所以我们来做个小实验。好的，现在请不要想着披萨。没有披萨。没有披萨。发生了什么？你有想到披萨吗？有的话，请举手。我明白了。实际上，我们不需要停止思考，我们只需要与自己的觉知连接起来。另一个常见的误解是我们追寻的平静、宁静、快乐、放松。你越追求放松，平静、宁静、快乐、放松就越会躲避你。所以让我分享一下我自己的经历。

When I was young, I had panic attacks. Although I was born in the right middle of the Himalayan mountain, the area, the village, wonderful, but panic followed me as like shadow. And I have so much fear for strangers. I cannot go out and meet people. And lot of storms in the Himalayan mountain, thunderstorm, snowstorm, these storms died me crazy. And when I was nine years old, I asked my father to teach me meditation. Luckily, he was a great meditation teacher. And the first thing, what he said is, don't try to fight with the panic. Don't try to get rid of panic. And actually he said, you don't have to. Why? Awareness is like sky in the mountain. And the panic is like storm in the mountain, like cloud. And no matter how storm, storm is, it doesn't change the nature of sky. So sky is always present, pure, calm. Similarly, our fundamental quality of my awareness is always present, pure, calm. But the problem is, we don't know how to connect with awareness. What we see only thought, emotion, that's all. So he said, there are three steps of practice to connect with awareness. The first one, we have to use an object, support to connect with awareness. So this is one of my first meditation techniques, what I learned from my father. So you can join and you can relax your muscles in your body. If you cannot relax, it's okay. Allow. And close your eyes. And please listen to sound. And when you hear the sound through ear and mind together, that is the meditation. And let panic come and go, let pizza come and go. And maybe two pizza, three pizza, ten pizzas. As long as if you remember the sound, you can have pizza.

当我年轻的时候，我有恐慌症。尽管我出生在喜马拉雅山的中间地带，那个地区、村庄都很美好，但恐慌像阴影一样跟随着我。我非常害怕陌生人, 不敢外出见人。而且在喜马拉雅山上有很多暴风雨、雷雨、暴风雪，这些风暴使我发疯。九岁那年，我向父亲请教如何冥想。幸运的是，他是一位很好的冥想导师。他首先告诉我不要试图与恐慌作斗争，也不要试图摆脱恐慌。实际上他说，你不需要去做这些。为什么呢？因为意识就像高山上的天空，恐慌就像山中的风暴，像云朵。无论风暴有多大，它都不会改变天空的本质。所以天空始终存在、纯净、宁静。同样地，我的意识的基本品质始终存在、纯净、宁静。但问题是，我们不知道如何与意识相连接。我们只看到思想、情绪，仅此而已。所以他说，要连接意识，有三个修行步骤。第一步，我们必须使用一个对象，作为连接意识的支持。这是我从父亲那里学到的第一个冥想技巧之一。所以你可以加入，放松身体的肌肉。如果你不能放松，也没关系，允许。闭上你的眼睛，去倾听声音。当你通过耳朵和心灵一起听到声音时，那就是冥想。让恐慌来去自由，让披萨来去自由。也许是两块披萨，三块披萨，十块披萨。只要你记得声音，你就可以有披萨。

Okay, how was it? Did you hear the sound? Yes, raise your hand. Great. That is the meditation. Very easy. Just hear. No, you don't have to do anything. So panic comes, let panic come and go, don't care, just listen to sound. Monkey mind comes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, let it come and go just listen to sound. So I did that. But I have big problem. The problem is lazy. I'm lazy boy. I love the idea of meditation, but I don't like the practice of meditation. So on and off like that for five years, when I was 13 years old, in India, there's traditional and three years of retreat going to start, I thought I should join this because good for my laziness.

好的，觉得怎么样？你听到声音了吗？是的，举手。很好，那就是冥想。非常简单，只需要聆听。不，你不需要做任何事情。所以惊慌来了，让它来去，不要在意，只需聆听声音。思绪来了，咿咿呀呀的，随它来去，只需聆听声音。所以我就这样做了。但我有个大问题，问题就是懒惰。我是个懒散的男孩。我喜欢冥想的理念，但对实践不太感兴趣。所以这五年来断断续续，当我13岁的时候，在印度有传统的三年闭关修行即将开始，我觉得我应该加入，因为对我的懒散有好处。

And I join the first month, wonderful, no lazy. Second month, lazy come back. Now what happened, my lazy and my panic, they two become good friends. The live in the retreat become disaster.

第一个月我加入时感觉棒极了，一点也不懒散。第二个月，懒散又回来了。现在发生了什么，我的懒散和紧张焦虑变成了好朋友。住在避难所里变得一团糟。

And I thought I should live, but I feel embarrassed to live because I told all my childhood friend that I can do the retreat, you know, I don't want to lose my face. But if I stay almost three years to go, then I thought, what should I do? In the end, I decided to learn how to live with the panic.

我曾经以为我应该活下去，但是我感到很尴尬活着，因为我告诉了我所有的童年朋友我能够逃避现实，你知道的，我不想丢脸。但是如果我再坚持三年，我在想，我应该怎么办呢？最后，我决定学会如何与恐慌共处。

So now we have the second step, what we call, actually we can meditate everywhere, anytime with anything. So you can meditate with the panic. How to do that? Just like listen to sound, when you listen to sound, sound becomes support for your meditation. Now you can watch panic. If you see the panic, great, what we call, when you see the river, your outer river, when you see the mountain, your outer mountain. So now awareness become more than panic, more than depression, stress, monkey mind, whatever, let them come, let them go. So that is the first benefit.

现在我们讲到第二步，实际上我们可以随时随地使用任何东西进行冥想。所以你可以用紧张来进行冥想。怎么做呢？就像聆听声音一样，当你聆听声音的时候，声音成为你冥想的支持。现在你可以观察紧张。如果你看到了紧张，太好了，我们称之为，当你看到河流时，你的外在河流，当你看到山脉时，你的外在山脉。所以现在意识超越了紧张、抑郁、压力、念念不忘等等，让它们来，让它们去。这是第一个好处。

And second benefit, what we call, there's a wisdom comes. So when you look at the panic, panic is not solid stone anymore. Panic become pieces, sensation here, frightened image, voice, background belief. And if you take one of these away, you cannot find panic. So what I call panic become like shaving foam, look like piece of rock, but inside full bubbles. Then three, what I call, this is acceptance, like self-kind, self-love, self-compassion. You let panic come and go, that's the real acceptance, isn't it? So three in one, awareness, love and compassion, wisdom, sometimes what I call, buy one, get true free. Big deal, right? And all this because of panic. So now panic become your teacher, your best friend.

第二个好处，我们称之为智慧。所以当你看到恐慌时，恐慌不再是坚硬的石头。恐慌变成了碎片，感觉在这里，惊恐的形象，声音，背后的信念。如果你把其中一个拿走，你就找不到恐慌了。所以我所说的恐慌就像剃须泡沫，看起来像块岩石，但里面充满了泡泡。然后第三个，我称之为接受，如同自我善待、自我爱和自我同情。你让恐慌来来去去，这才是真正的接受，不是吗？所以三合一，觉知，爱和同情，智慧。有时候我还称之为买一送二。大交易，对吧？所有这一切都是因为恐慌。所以现在恐慌成为了你的老师，你最好的朋友。

So I did this practice and in the end, me and my panic become very good friend and few weeks later, panic is gone. I miss my friend. And I finished my retreat, my retreat went very well. And after that, I have very eager to share this wonderful technique to the world.

所以我做了这个练习，最后，我和我的恐慌成为了非常好的朋友，几个星期后，恐慌就消失了。我想念我的朋友。我结束了我的疗法，疗法非常成功。之后，我非常渴望将这个神奇的技巧分享给全世界。

So I taught meditation many places, wrote few books, become best-seller. And then students and become a bit of your monasteries. Then what happened? Kind of new ego emerged with me. I thought, oh, I have to watch out this song. Then I decided to do something very special, what we call wandering retreat. Meaning you left everything behind, go on the street with nothing. So I decided to do that in 2011.

所以我在许多地方教授冥想，写了几本书，成为了畅销作家。然后学生们来到我一些寺庙。然后发生了什么事？一种新的自我出现在我身上。我意识到，哦，我必须小心这种感觉。于是我决定做一些非常特别的事情，我们称之为漫游闭关。这意味着你抛下一切，带着空无一物的街头。于是我决定在2011年这样做。

I left my monastery, my student, my wonderful, cozy bed, everything, and go on the street with only a few thousand Indian rubies. And that finished within a few weeks. I have the big food. And I got food poisoning, vomiting, diarrhea. I'm alone on the street. Now I'm going to die. Then I thought, why should I do? So now we have the third step, what we call open awareness meditation.

我离开了我的寺庙、我的学生、我美好、舒适的床，还有一切，只带着几千枚印度宝石走上了街头。可是这些宝石只够我用几个星期。我挨饿了。并且还得了食物中毒，呕吐和腹泻。我独自一人在街头。现在我将要死了。然后我想，我应该做什么呢？所以现在我们来到了第三步，即我们所称的敞开心识的冥想。

Awareness be with itself. Sky be with itself. Now no need to have support. Just be awareness itself. So I did this, that practice. Then what happened? My body become decating. I cannot see. I cannot hear. But my mind becomes so present, beyond free. And I was in that state for a few hours. Luckily, I didn't die. I come back.

意识与自身相伴。天空与自身相伴。现在不需要任何支持。只需成为纯粹的觉知。因此，我进行了那种修行。然后发生了什么？我的身体不再存在。我无法看见，也无法听见。但我的心灵变得异常清明，超越了束缚。我在那个状态中度过了几个小时。幸运的是，我没有死亡。我回来了。

So when I come back, the street become like my home. When I look at the tree, the tree become like tree of love. And wind blows to my face, become joyful experience. And the rest of my retreat went very well. I learned a lot from my retreat.

当我回来的时候，这条街变得像我的家一样。当我看着树，树就变得像爱的象征。风吹到我的脸上，变成了愉悦的体验。而我余下的静修时间过得非常好。我从中学到了很多东西。

So I like to share this open awareness meditation, but it is very difficult to explain. But I want to do something drama. And this is what I learned from my father. So what we call this matter is the crazy monkey mind, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

所以我想分享这个开放性觉知的冥想，但是很难解释清楚。但是我想做些戏剧性的东西。这是我从父亲那里学到的。所以我们把这种状况称为疯狂的猴子心智，blah blah blah，blah blah blah。

And the open awareness meditation means you don't have to do anything. Just be. That's all. When you don't need to meditate, there's sense of presence being, but not loss. Be free. Be present. Thank you very much.

开放的觉知冥想意味着你无需做任何事情，只需放松。就这样简单。当你不需要冥想时，有一种存在的感觉，而非丧失。自由地存在。感谢你。