Дебаты дьявола с ангелом, часть 9: Сделать невозможное возможным (2014, Феникс), занятие 1

[Speaker 1]
Cool. So I'd like to start with the meditation that we did this morning. So please get ready for meditation.

Even dogs. Back straight. Eyes closed.

Relax your forehead. Relax your eyelids. Relax the corners of your mouth.

Relax your fingers. Pull in your tummy slightly. Relax your shoulders.

And then slowly come to your breath. Watch your breath. Stay as still as a statue.

Don't move anything. Don't move your fingers. Don't move any muscles in your face.

Don't move your eyelids. And begin to watch your breath. And I'd like to ask that you think of a dream that you've had in your life.

Something that you would like to be. Or some relationship that you would like to have. Some goal that you have in your life.

For your whole life. But that at some point in your life, you decided it wasn't going to happen. That it wasn't possible.

That it just... You gave it a try. Or you had a strong wish that it would happen.

But life hasn't allowed it to happen yet. It's something you gave up on maybe not too long ago. If it suddenly happened, you'd still be happy.

But you don't really see that it's possible right now. It seems impossible. So we can have a new word called impossible.

And we all have several impossibles in our life. And I'd like you to pick one. A big impossible in your life.

Something you wanted to happen maybe when you were younger. But it hasn't happened and it doesn't look like it's going to happen. But you would still be really happy if it did happen.

So please pick one impossible in your life. Try to get it very clear. Try to imagine that it came true.

And you had a relationship with someone that you thought was impossible. Or you have a career or a job or... Like a talent to play music or something that you didn't think was possible.

Try to picture the impossible as coming true in your life. And try to see yourself in the middle of that impossible. Maybe you're with a certain person.

Or maybe you've reconciled with a certain person. Maybe you have a certain career that you wanted but you thought was impossible. So picture yourself as that impossible.

And I just gave a semi-serious example for myself. That I was imagining... Ten years ago I tried to do some ballet.

I had no idea how difficult it was. I've done some but... But I can't do most of the things that ballet people do.

At some point it wasn't like a big come down or something. It wasn't something I really expected to be able to do very well. I was just kind of enjoying it and having fun at it.

At some point in my mind I just decided there were certain things I wouldn't be able to do. So in my case I will pretend... Or I will visualize myself doing a very good job at ballet.

What normal ballet people do. And I will imagine that being real. Or this impossible dream coming true.

And becoming possible. So I'd like to ask that you just picture yourself in that situation or that dream. That you always wanted to be in.

But it never quite happens. Take a few moments and don't rush. We're having a good time out on a beautiful evening.

And just relax and fantasize about that dream coming true. And what would it feel like and what would it look like. We'll just relax for a few minutes.

And you go into some kind of reverie of your own. Let it be pleasant. Happy.

And then please I'd like you to think about all the things you would have to do to make that thing happen. So in my case I'd have to, I don't know, find a teacher and take a lot of classes. Which means I'd have to make impossible changes in my schedule.

To have the time to spend with that teacher. I'd have to eat healthy organic food all the time. Give up on cookies.

Eat a bunch of vitamins that strengthen my bones. Think of all the things you'd have to do to make your dream come true. Normally, if it's someone you're not getting along with, you'd have to send emails or text.

So you'd have to approach them through a friend. Or if it's a relationship you want, you'd have to sit down and explain it to the person more carefully than you did in the past. You'd have to try to arrange your life so you'd be bumping into this person.

Things like that. You might have to move to a different city. Think of all the things you'd have to do.

In the normal world. To have this thing happen. And because there are so many things and they're so difficult to do, that's actually why you haven't done it yet.

There are things that were out of your control. Not possible, given your situation in life. Imagine doing all the things you'd have to do to make your dream come true.

And just relax and don't get too tense about it. Just play with the idea of things you'd have to do that you're not really going to do. That you'd have to do if you wanted to make that dream come true.

Just go through some possibilities. Then please slowly come back to your breath. Watch your breath.

Connect with your breath. And then when you're ready, please open your eyes. Stretch.

Stretch your arms. So in my case, there was a long list of stuff I'd have to do. And it's all not possible.

That's why I can't do that thing. For me, time is really hard. I would never have time to drive to Phoenix and take classes from Bo every week.

I'd have to get all this stuff in my house. I think the hardest thing is I'd have to eat well, which is out of question. Stuff like that.

It's just all these things that I'd have to do to make that happen. That I was doing good ballet. I just don't have time and I don't have the means.

That's why it hasn't happened yet. And then you believe that. We believe that.

So if it was a relationship, in your heart, you've given it some kind of a try. Or you've flirted with the idea, you've played with the idea. Maybe if I got a hold of this person.

Maybe if I changed my hairdo. Maybe if I wore different clothes. Lived in a different place.

You go through, what do you call it? Possibilities or things you'd have to do. This text that we're studying, says that all of those reasons why something you'd like to do is impossible, are completely irrelevant.

So that's kind of... It's not like a change in attitude. It's not that by positive thinking, I could do ballet.

And you kind of sense that. I could think very positively, but I still wouldn't have time to do ballet. And I still wouldn't have a 20-year-old body.

There are just some things that we feel we can't change, or they're not going to work out. And you have your own list. But what this text is saying is that all of those things that you thought would enable you to make that dream come true, have nothing to do with that dream.

So, this text is proposing that we have a radically wrong view of the things in our life which are impossible, and which we think can happen, cannot happen. And if that's true, then, you know, maybe you could do what you want to do that's impossible. Okay?

And if you learned a new way of doing things, and a new way of seeing things, then, in theory, you could do what you want. Anything. Anything could be possible.

If I got one. So, you know, we went to the pen a hundred times, and my lama said 3,000 is good. And I'll just briefly talk about it.

And someday it'll strike you that, oh, wow, it'll be a big revelation. What's this thing? Pen.

Okay. Everybody else can go to sleep. Gelser can answer in public.

You know, if it's a small dog, not those big German shepherds came up here. And I said, you know, I waved this in front of them, they would bite it. So, who's right?

The dog or the human? If I put it here and all the humans leave and all the dogs leave, which one is it? If the human walks in, it becomes a?

If the dog walks in, it becomes a? If they both walk in together? It becomes both.

By the way, there are two parallel realities going on, but I'm not going to talk about that. So, can we say that the pen is coming from my mind? Then whatever impossible thing you have in your life that you've talked yourself into believing it's impossible, it's just like the pen, okay?

It would be coming from you. If it's coming from you, it's coming from a seed in your mind, okay? Then you don't have to manipulate outside objects in your world to make that thing happen.

I don't have to buy a ballet suit, and I don't have to find a teacher, and I don't have to find the time to do it or the money, and I don't have to try to get a teacher to move up to some obscure little town, and things that are not possible. If the pen is coming from me, then for me to do the impossible thing that I always wanted to do, then I just have to learn how to plant the seed, okay? And I don't know, it just sounds dumb or simple, or people get bored and they say, well you're just repeating the same thing over and over again.

And then they tell me I'm having trouble with my boyfriend. And I'm like, anyway. Okay, so, in this system, whatever your impossible was, it's coming from you, okay?

The impossible-ness is coming from you, okay? And you can change it to possible, just by planting the correct seed, alright? So, we're going to go do another meditation, and we're going to talk about the process by which you're going to plant the seed to make the impossible happen.

It's like, I have no intention of becoming a professional ballet dancer. You know, I don't want to. I would just like to feel...

I would like to do it, you know? I don't need to be on a stage or something. I would like to do it.

I'd like to have the bodily strength and the coordination. My king. Hola.

My name is... I would like to do that. I'd like to do that.

I'd like to be able to just walk out whenever I want to, every other week with no warm-up, you know, no training, and just run around like Maria. What's the other guy? Before that.

Nijinsky. I like Nijinsky. So, you know, I'd like to do that.

So, we're going to do a meditation where we go through the causes, a different set of causes for doing that thing. And by the way, these two sets of causes are contradictory, okay? If the second set of causes is correct, the first set of causes had nothing to do with becoming a ballet dancer, okay?

But we, all day long, we try to do things like that. All day long, we try to... we try to manipulate outside all day and get to do the things we want, okay?

So, we're going to meditate again. Get ready. Sit up straight.

Are we down yet? Yeah, okay, good. Sit up straight.

Close your eyes gently. Happily. It's such a beautiful evening, you know.

It's nice to not be stressed out about meditating. The three retreats are... Come gently and happily to your breath.

Watch your breath. Relax your face. Tuck in your tummy slightly and keep it there.

It's a slight tension of your stomach muscles. Relax your eyes. Don't let your face tense up.

And just watch your breath as if it's the only thing you have to do. Then please bring to mind clearly a vision of what you would like to happen. It could be a relationship.

It could be a position. It could be some talent you'd like to have. It could be some kind of inner peaceful state of mind.

You're going to be joyful constantly. Picture yourself as already happy. That's the first of four steps that we're going to use for a new way of getting the thing we gave up on already.

Secondly, try to think of someone in your life, you know, who wants something similar, very similar. In my case, someone who wants great health and strength and balance and can do yoga poses or dance poses that they would like to be able to do. And choose someone in your life that you know would like to have the same thing or a similar thing.

Step number three, imagine helping someone in the next week. Are you going to set up a meeting? Are you going to have to send an email or make a call?

Are you going to talk to them today in the break? Imagine, picture very clearly something you could do that's very concrete and has a certain day of the week and a certain time and a certain place. Make it real and don't waste your time.

Think of something practical that you can do even if it's not very big to help this person achieve the goal that they would like to achieve. And that's step number three. Slowly come back to your breath.

Watch your breath. Don't open your eyes. Watch your breath.

And you can slowly open your eyes. To help you not get sleepy if it's too late.