1 00:00:00,031 --> 00:00:09,185 I understand that one should let go of the past, but I have difficulty understanding how to let go of the future altogether because of course one has to plan things. 2 00:00:16,477 --> 00:00:19,381 Well, the point is that you do the planning in the present moment. 3 00:00:22,947 --> 00:00:25,110 It's a bit misleading, you know, because 4 00:00:30,642 --> 00:00:32,747 You don't really want to give up the past. 5 00:00:35,092 --> 00:00:48,060 I guess the important distinction we have to make is between conventional reality and ultimate reality, or our life in the world and our life as a meditator. 6 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:52,810 Because from a meditative point of view, you take everything in the present moment. 7 00:00:52,850 --> 00:00:57,360 When you think about the past, you're actually thinking in the present moment, so you look at it as a thought. 8 00:00:58,502 --> 00:01:06,319 When you think about the future, when you plan about the future, all of the thoughts and emotions, they're all in the present moment, and so you take those as the meditation object. 9 00:01:08,408 --> 00:01:12,212 But on a conventional level, you're still doing planning and you're still remembering the past. 10 00:01:12,252 --> 00:01:13,974 Why is it even important to remember the past? 11 00:01:14,014 --> 00:01:16,777 Because otherwise you wouldn't be able to learn from your mistakes. 12 00:01:18,719 --> 00:01:24,385 You wouldn't be able to avoid things that are dangerous. 13 00:01:24,786 --> 00:01:28,890 If you saw an elephant coming, you'd be like, oh, well, forget about the past. 14 00:01:29,030 --> 00:01:36,458 Don't think about the fact that you've heard that elephants will kill you and so on, or whatever. 15 00:01:36,438 --> 00:01:41,323 If someone betrays you, then you know to avoid the person. 16 00:01:41,363 --> 00:01:46,309 Or if you find out that someone is a terrible, corrupt individual, then you have to remember that. 17 00:01:46,369 --> 00:01:47,250 You have to keep that in mind. 18 00:01:47,270 --> 00:01:49,372 You don't want to say, forgive and forget. 19 00:01:49,432 --> 00:01:51,634 Forgive, but don't ever forget. 20 00:01:51,674 --> 00:01:54,958 Because you'll get taken again. 21 00:01:54,978 --> 00:02:03,647 You'll fall into more suffering and more problems on a conventional level. 22 00:02:03,687 --> 00:02:06,090 And 23 00:02:10,255 --> 00:02:19,330 So to live in the world, and the more worldly pursuits you have, the more you'll have to keep in mind the past and the future and plan. 24 00:02:19,951 --> 00:02:26,442 The point is that from a meditator's, from a meditative point of view, 25 00:02:26,422 --> 00:02:33,471 But there's a more important task that needs to be done, and that is to see the activities clearly. 26 00:02:34,733 --> 00:02:39,579 And so when you're planning, the meditative side of you will take the present moment. 27 00:02:39,859 --> 00:02:46,928 When you're thinking about the future, the meditative side of you will take the present moment, will purify the thoughts. 28 00:02:49,085 --> 00:03:00,327 The actual teaching on letting go of the past and letting go of the future is only fully applicable for a full-time meditator. 29 00:03:00,367 --> 00:03:05,878 Someone who is in intensive meditation has no need to plan anything. 30 00:03:05,858 --> 00:03:09,245 and should get to the point where they have no planning. 31 00:03:09,446 --> 00:03:10,608 They have no need for planning. 32 00:03:11,490 --> 00:03:12,772 Very minimal planning. 33 00:03:12,833 --> 00:03:21,150 Like you might say, planning to go for food, or knowing that it's now the time to go for food, or so on. 34 00:03:21,130 --> 00:03:48,910 ideally there is no such planning and in fact we get meditators to stay in their room sometimes and we send them food so there's a knock on their door they don't even have to think about when food is going to come this sort of person does not need any sort of planning or any knowledge of the past either because from a meditator it's wrong to think that you need to know about the past and the future in terms of meditation now your question makes it clear 35 00:03:48,890 --> 00:03:51,274 that you're talking about worldly things. 36 00:03:51,836 --> 00:03:53,418 As a meditator you don't need to plan. 37 00:03:55,062 --> 00:04:00,271 But some people still think that as a meditator you have to be able to consider the past and the future. 38 00:04:00,933 --> 00:04:05,481 From a meditative point of view this is, from an insight point of view this is not correct. 39 00:04:05,461 --> 00:04:07,945 This is not useful. 40 00:04:08,445 --> 00:04:12,471 It's not useful to think about the past or to think about the future when you're meditating. 41 00:04:12,612 --> 00:04:19,502 Even in terms of thinking about why am I the way I am now or what will this lead to in the future. 42 00:04:19,562 --> 00:04:22,947 It's not the solution. 43 00:04:24,547 --> 00:04:39,501 in terms of insight meditation to worry about the results of bad deeds, for example, or to encourage yourself about the benefits of good deeds. 44 00:04:41,101 --> 00:04:51,202 It's not beneficial to say this suffering came from bad deeds, or this happiness came from good deeds, for example. 45 00:04:51,724 --> 00:04:56,173 These are not the meditative... 46 00:04:56,153 --> 00:04:58,597 practice or the meditative process. 47 00:04:58,877 --> 00:05:08,633 They can be useful for meditators, especially in the beginning when you need this kind of encouragement or when you need this kind of intellectual verification to get rid of your doubts, to spell your doubts. 48 00:05:09,074 --> 00:05:12,019 But the practice of meditation is to see things as they are. 49 00:05:12,059 --> 00:05:13,842 If you look at the Four Noble Truths, 50 00:05:13,822 --> 00:05:19,749 You don't practice them to understand the relationship between them. 51 00:05:20,770 --> 00:05:26,517 The relationship between them exists, you learn only one thing and that is what is suffering. 52 00:05:27,098 --> 00:05:30,662 You understand that the things that you cling to are actually suffering. 53 00:05:30,682 --> 00:05:34,086 You don't worry about the clinging aspect, you worry about the suffering aspect. 54 00:05:34,106 --> 00:05:35,948 When you learn that something is suffering, 55 00:05:35,928 --> 00:05:40,454 The second noble truth is not that you learn what is the cause of it. 56 00:05:40,935 --> 00:05:42,857 The second noble truth is that you give up the cause. 57 00:05:43,118 --> 00:05:44,139 You give up the craving. 58 00:05:44,660 --> 00:05:47,283 Once you see that something is suffering, you give up the craving for it. 59 00:05:47,303 --> 00:05:49,026 This is the cessation of suffering. 60 00:05:49,426 --> 00:05:54,653 The practice of seeing suffering is the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. 61 00:05:54,693 --> 00:05:55,795 These are the four noble truths. 62 00:05:56,215 --> 00:05:58,178 It's totally in the present moment. 63 00:05:58,198 --> 00:06:01,783 You don't ever need to consider cause and effect. 64 00:06:01,763 --> 00:06:19,688 Sorry, not don't ever, but the core of the practice is not the consideration of cause and effect, even though that can be useful on an intellectual level to do so. 65 00:06:19,668 --> 00:06:22,072 The actual practice is present moment. 66 00:06:22,132 --> 00:06:24,176 Now, your question is easier. 67 00:06:24,216 --> 00:06:25,138 It's dealing with planning. 68 00:06:25,919 --> 00:06:30,888 And I think I dealt with that just to see things on two different levels. 69 00:06:31,529 --> 00:06:43,110 And when you're planning to try to plan mindfully and thereby incorporate the two facets of your existence together so you're able to incorporate your meditation as best as possible. 70 00:06:43,090 --> 00:07:05,942 in your daily life and and I think it goes without saying that it will benefit your planning it will benefit your memories and so your your interactions with the past as well when you're mindful about these things even though you have to deal with both the past and the future on the conventional level until you become a monk and go and live in the forest 71 00:07:05,922 --> 00:07:28,960 even then you have to as long as you're still engaged in the world you still have to plan things you do it mindfully and you know that you're planning here in the present moment because planning is not a future thing planning is a preparing thing and doing something that is important to do here and now the other thing I would say just to add one more thing 72 00:07:30,695 --> 00:07:34,200 is that very little planning needs to be done as a meditator. 73 00:07:35,762 --> 00:07:37,665 Very little preparation needs to be done. 74 00:07:38,386 --> 00:07:40,769 Very little thought about the future needs to be made. 75 00:07:42,191 --> 00:07:46,998 It's an interesting aspect of wisdom that it just knows. 76 00:07:47,779 --> 00:07:48,820 It knows what is right. 77 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:50,863 It doesn't have to think about what is right. 78 00:07:50,843 --> 00:07:54,387 When you know what is right, it's instantaneous. 79 00:07:56,309 --> 00:08:02,455 The thinking process is more often than not just getting in the way. 80 00:08:03,316 --> 00:08:15,568 The answer that comes from clarity of mind, from mindfulness, is more often than not the correct one, or I might even say always the correct one. 81 00:08:18,569 --> 00:08:31,954 you do have to put some thought into things in terms of remembering things or on an intellectual level but the correct thing to say and to do is always 82 00:08:33,132 --> 00:08:34,434 accompanied with mindfulness. 83 00:08:36,197 --> 00:08:40,304 It's the mindfulness that's going to lead you to do and to say the correct thing. 84 00:08:40,324 --> 00:08:47,376 So even planning will become purified and will not be so much planning as it will be doing what is necessary. 85 00:08:47,496 --> 00:08:52,324 Okay, you need to fill this bag with things that are necessary for this situation? 86 00:08:52,404 --> 00:08:56,591 Okay, so you put everything in the bag and you know exactly what is necessary for this situation. 87 00:08:56,611 --> 00:08:57,773 It has nothing to do with 88 00:08:57,753 --> 00:08:58,915 thoughts about the future. 89 00:08:59,115 --> 00:09:00,577 Oh, what am I going to do when I get there? 90 00:09:00,617 --> 00:09:01,619 Where am I going to go? 91 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:08,069 It's applying a process to a problem. 92 00:09:08,670 --> 00:09:14,238 You have this problem that needs to be solved and it's the solution of the problem in the present moment. 93 00:09:14,779 --> 00:09:21,229 It becomes more like that for someone who is mindful, so it doesn't deal with worries or concerns about the future.