500 образов для медитации на шагах пути к просветлению, занятие 9

[Speaker 2]
IDIM number nine. Yeah, there's a very big tradition in the Lamrim that it's better if you have friends who are meditating, okay?

[Speaker 1]
They don't have to meditate together. But, you know, if you can talk, it's like yoga, you know. If all your friends are doing yoga, even just in their own home, it's easier to do yoga.

Because when you meet them, you talk about yoga, you complain together about yoga, you talk about yoga teachers, to avoid whose name starts with a K. And I'm still thinking of how to get out of the yoga class today. I think I have a very important meeting.

Anyway, if your friends are also meditating, then you will talk about it together, you will, you know, they will support you. That's why I put this photo, okay? It means they are supporting each other, okay?

Back-to-back.

[Speaker 2]
It means hang out with people who are meditators, get friends who are meditators. Then you can also experiment together, you know, you can say, is this working for you? And the guy says no.

And what do you do when you get tight chest, you know?

[Speaker 1]
Diamond Mountain is a really rich place to learn about tight chest anxiety during meditation. You can hear 50 different opinions, you know. Some people say rub butter here.

Some people say eat lots of popcorn.

[Speaker 2]
And it helps, okay? So it helps to have a community of people who are meditating together. And that's one of the qualities of a good meditation location, is a support group of people who are meditating.

Then, I don't know if you remember, those of you who were here for the first retreat nine years ago, but Pabongka told a story that there was a quotation from a Lama.

[Speaker 1]
It might be the Buddha, but he said, go into retreat with only your shadow. Go into retreat with your shadow. And then for a long time people misunderstood it and they said you should be alone.

You shouldn't meditate with other people. And then Pabongka got upset and he said, no, no. It means the opposite.

You should have a meditation friends who are always with you like your shadow. You see? And you should always try to, when you have a chance to meditate in a group with your friends, you should, like shadow.

So, you shouldn't be separated from friends who are meditating, okay? He got upset about that old interpretation, okay?