This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Happy Hour: Putting Mental Proliferation (Papanca) Down Gently. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Happy Hour: Putting It Down Gently - Nikki Mirghafori

The following talk was given by Nikki Mirghafori at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on August 27, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Introduction

Hi, I'm Nikki, in Mountain View, California, welcoming you to this edition of Happy Hour. As is our tradition, we begin by saying hello and warming up the space with our goodwill, with our mettā¹ for one another.

(Greetings are shared from participants in Tofino, British Columbia; Los Gatos, California; Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas; Palo Alto and Santa Clara, California; San Diego, California; New Jersey; and a beach on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Participants on YouTube also join in.)

It's great to have everyone here. I'm going to transition now. The space has been warmed up with many greetings and hellos. For those who are new, please take a moment to look at the breakout room etiquette for how to be with one another and support one another. I am now changing the settings so that the space stays quiet for the meditation.

Guided Meditation

Hello everyone, and welcome to Happy Hour. It's lovely to be with you in this moment in time. I'm going to start leading the guided meditation without a dharma talk ahead of time; I'll say more about it afterward. So we'll just see where we end up on some topic about mettā and loving-kindness and its related practices.

I'd like to invite you to settle into your seat—in your chair, wherever you're sitting or standing, or even lying down if that's comfortable for you—and take a moment to really arrive. Arrive in your body. Arrive with the sacredness of this moment of being alive. Whatever has happened before, whatever is happening in this moment, letting go, releasing. Just landing with the simplicity of this body breathing, this miracle of this body breathing.

Letting go of thoughts, plans, stories—me, me, me, what I got done, what I didn't get done, what they said, what I said. Let go, let go, let go. Oh, dear mind, dear heart, it's endless. It's endless, but we can put it down and take refuge. So let's put it down together and take refuge. A moment of deep rest. We can only really rest, deeply rest, when we put down all the rigamarole of the stories. In Pali, the word is papañca². Papañca—just proliferation of the mind. Proliferation. Putting it down, putting it all down.

Deep rest.

And if you notice the mind has picked it up again, put it down again, gently, lovingly. Sweetheart, there's no profit, there's no benefit in picking it up right now. Like a dog that keeps picking up a dry bone, it just keeps picking it up, it's so used to it. But it's hollow. The bone has no benefit, no nourishment. Put the dry bone down, dear heart. Deep rest, an expression of care, love, mettā for ourselves.

It's helpful to connect with the breath in the body, because when we put the thoughts down, it's helpful to have something else to engage the mind and heart with. The idea is not to have a blank mind; that's very hard. That's not what this practice is about. But to connect with the breath, with the body sensations, the mind will become calm on its own. Put it down, put it down, put it down. Deep rest.

Relaxing the body, relaxing the mind, the heart. Connecting with the breath, the relaxed body, and putting it down. Whatever arises, just put it down. This is a very simple practice. Release. Put it down gently, lovingly, caringly. You can always pick it up later. Not now.

And let yourself notice the subtle delight of putting it down, the lightness that comes from releasing, putting things down. The heart feels lighter. Notice, maybe even a smile shows up on your face.

We can always pick it up later. We're just practicing, training our mind to be able to put things down, not be a slave to thoughts and ruminations, but to have more agency. Putting it down, releasing.

As you put down the ruminations, thoughts, and plans, maybe drop into your heart, into your body, a word like "yes." A sense of openness to life, to whatever is here right now. Yes. Or maybe the word that you want to drop in—not into your head but into your heart—is "thank you." Or just "thanks," or "gratitude." See what word feels like a wholesome seed to plant in your heart in this moment, when you've put everything else down, the busyness of the mind. Or maybe just "silence," "peace." Maybe the word is "peace" or "ease." Feel into it for yourself. Don't think so much; it's not about thinking. You just let it be.

Notice if the mind has become busy and it's time to remind yourself to put things down. Put it down, put it down. Empty yourself of thoughts and maybe plant a word like "peace" as you breathe in and breathe out.

As we turn to bring this sit to a close, let go one last time and rest. Let go and rest, picking it up again later and trusting that we're planting seeds of wholesomeness, training our minds and hearts for the sake of ourselves and others. Learning how to let go, release, put down is a necessary precursor to mettā, to kindness for ourselves. We need to make space. It's not just a precursor, but it is equivalent to kindness for ourselves, being kind, putting down what's not helpful at a given time. Mind training.

And trusting that our practice, in ways we don't quite understand, supports not just ourselves but others, all beings everywhere.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be free, including ourselves.

Everyone, thanks for your practice.

Happy Hour: Putting It Down Gently

So, I'm going to say a few words about our practice. First of all, thank you for your practice, everyone. Today's theme and practice was very simple. So simple, right? It's just putting it down. Putting thoughts, preoccupations, plans, papañca—this word in Pali, I love the sound of it, papañca. It sounds like "pops," proliferation. The word for proliferation. Putting it down. Putting it down ever so gently, lovingly, kindly.

And then, if it feels supportive, to drop in a word like "peace," or "thank you," or "yes," or just keep letting go. This sense of lightness and brightness that can come from putting things down is very nourishing. Ah, it feels like we've just loved ourselves. Like, "Oh, thank you, sweetie. Thanks for letting my mind be simple and free for this time."

So, papañca. One of you asked how to spell it. I'm going to enable the chat and send it to all of you. The word is P-A-P-A-N-C-A. It looks like a 'C', but the 'C' in Pali is pronounced as a 'CH', so the word is papañca. It doesn't mean "putting down"; it means "mental proliferation." So we put down papañca.

(Information about a survey is shared with the group.)

The world is imperfect, impermanent, impersonal. So alright, come back.

Now, I'd like to invite you to participate with one another in a small group practice. The invitation is: what came up? What came up when you tried to put these thoughts, memories, engagements, the papañca, the proliferation, down? Did you notice a sense of lightness? Did you plant a word? Did that bring more lightness or not? If you want to share a word or two, a sentence or two, about your practice, please share, and then the next person, and then the next person. Please don't comment on each other's practice or ask direct questions. Just be gentle and kind and caring. Be kind to yourself, be kind to each other, and keep the order of going round and round. If at any time challenges arise in groups, perhaps you can practice with kindness and compassion for yourself and the other people in the group. The order will be alphabetical. I'm going to create the breakout rooms now. Be kind to yourself, be kind to one another.

Reflections and Q&A

Welcome back, everyone. We have a few minutes for reflections about your practice, how the practice went, perhaps how the groups went, and how was your practice of showing up with kindness and compassion for one another and for yourselves. That's really what we're practicing here with one another: with patience, kindness, compassion.

Serena: I want some remedy for papañca. I think the papañca is a major hindrance in my own life. It does not help much. You know, you have a thought about something or you need to do something, and there's all this thinking that goes on about it. I really would like to have more freedom from papañca. It would really make my life a lot less painful and stressful.

Nikki: Thank you, Serena. I appreciate you clearly saying what a relief it would be to have less papañca. We know we have this proliferation, and sometimes we feel like a prisoner of our own mind. Like, "Enough already, please, can I just have some rest?"

So, how do we go about it? I appreciate this wholesome desire that you expressed. It is a training, like anything else. As the Buddha has said, "Whatever you frequently ponder and reflect upon becomes the inclination of your mind." In the Western, scientific way, we talk about neuroplasticity. If we keep thinking and ruminating about things, that becomes the pattern. It really comes back to a mind training.

The word sati³, or mindfulness, one translation is "to remember." So we just have to keep remembering. We find ourselves in the midst of the papañca and kindly remember, "Okay, sweetie, it's alright. Let's put it down. Let's come back to the body, let's come back to the mind." The beauty of it is that it works, both in the short term and in the long term. We're not resourceless in the face of it. It's really a pattern of our minds. In small moments and big moments, we just have to keep doing it over and over and over again.

It's really important to apply a featherweight touch, because if we try to hammer it, like, "Stop, papañca!" then it becomes a fight with ourselves. But just ever so gently—that's where mettā comes in. This gentleness of, "Okay, let's come back. This is not helpful. Do you really want to be thinking about this right now, sweetie? No, it's not helpful." So keep coming back. I promise you, it works. We're not helpless. It does work. Otherwise, we wouldn't be practicing this. So I really appreciate your wholesome desire. Hold on to that, because that intention will keep you practicing in this way. And it works. I can tell you that it's worked for me and for many, many students and practitioners.

Marie-Christine: I just wanted to ask you, is papañca the same as "monkey mind"?

Nikki: Not exactly, there are slight differences. The idea of "monkey mind" is that the nature of mind tends to jump from one topic to another. Monkey mind refers to the nature of the mind. But papañca is the word for the proliferation itself. So it's not the nature of the mind, but the word for proliferation. So maybe the better way to relate to them is: monkey mind likes to get lost in the forest of proliferation. How is that?

I love that word. When I learned papañca years and years ago, I just loved the sound of it. There would be times when my mind was proliferating, this thought and that thought, and it’s like, whoa. It's a near cousin of overwhelm, but not necessarily always.

Any other reflections? Did any of you, when I was inviting you to put it down, experience a lightness or delight? Like, "Ah, this feels nice, this feels a little lighter"?

Petro: Thank you, Nikki. I noticed how it was a practice of subtracting. That's how I felt. You're just subtracting from your experience. "No, don't go there, put it down." And the more you did it, I noticed, wow, it's already fairly quiet here and pleasant. So in a sense, you don't have to create the pleasantness or the quiet. It was just a practice of subtraction. You just subtract the papañca and the quiet is already there.

Nikki: That's great. I love how you described it as a practice of subtraction. When you subtract all the papañca, it's like, "Ah, it's quite sweet here. This is pleasant, it's peace." You don't even have to plant the words that I suggested. And also, what's really important in this practice is putting things down with gentleness, with kindness. You don't want to throw things down with hatred or frustration. It's like, "Oh, sweetheart, it's okay. I'm just going to put you down." That is the key. Putting things down with gentleness and care is where this ease comes from.

Claire: I use a technique that's different than the one you're describing. I don't put things down. I was trained at a Zendo many years ago to start by picking an object or an idea that I want to focus on, say, a rose. I picture the rose, and then of course my mind wanders off into papañca. But my assignment is to go back to the rose. I just keep going back, and slowly my mind stays there and there's no action going on anymore.

Nikki: So Claire, there are lots of different practices in Buddhism, lots of them. And this "putting down to release" is one of them. And going back to the object is another one. I appreciate the practice you're doing, but I want to keep tonight with this practice, the practice of putting down as subtraction. Thank you.

Adelia: To be honest, I felt the imprint of what I just put down. Perhaps those underlying feelings needed some care.

Nikki: Yes, thank you for raising that. If there are strong emotions and it's not just papañca, not just thoughts, but there's some emotion that needs care, then yes, putting them down may not be the appropriate thing to do. So caring for them is the appropriate thing to do. I appreciate the wisdom that you raised there. Absolutely.

Megan: Thank you so much for this practice. I think possibly you answered the question with Adelia, because when I put everything down, I felt incredible anger. And that felt true. It didn't feel like rumination, it felt true. And I'm also just not really sure how to take care of anger, but maybe that's a question for another time.

Nikki: I appreciate that. It's wonderful that you bring this forth, because this is what can happen. When we put other things down, perhaps then the clarity comes: "Oh, yeah, this needs care. Oh, there's anger, or there's sadness, or there's something else here that needs care." And that becomes clear, which is great.

And then working with anger, very briefly: allow the energy of it to move through. Not to be stuck with the story and the thought, but let yourself turn towards the energy. Let it move through, let it be experienced—not necessarily acted out upon, but let it move. Yes, sweetheart. And then bring compassion to it. There are different ways to work with it, but here in this container, work with it with compassion. "Sweetheart, this is painful, this is hard," because anger is like picking up a hot coal to throw at someone. Who gets hurt first? You do. So it's like, "Oh, sweetie, this is painful, this is hard." So, caring for the emotion, and then later allowing the wise action to arise.

Richard: I found myself thinking that letting go would trigger a defense. I was worried that I could be putting myself in danger if I dropped things. I didn't expect that reaction to your directions, but that was very surprising for me, that I considered it as putting myself in physical danger if I just dropped all my defenses.

Nikki: That's very interesting, and I appreciate that you said it was surprising to you. I also want to point out that putting down thoughts or papañca is not exactly the same as putting down defenses. So the mind already took a leap to "put down defenses" and then felt jarred. That's very interesting. To have compassion with curiosity. "Oh, sweetheart, what's happening here?" So I invite you to have more curiosity about that leap that your mind and heart took from putting down thoughts to putting down defenses and then feeling the rejection of, "No, there's something there that needs care." Does that make sense? To have some curiosity about this for yourself?

Richard: It's definitely a very intriguing kind of thing that came up. Because I consider myself as a person who's not that defensive and more open, yet there must be some level down there where there are limits to my openness.

Nikki: This is so great, Richard. I so appreciate your curiosity and openness in this. Like, "Wow, this is interesting. This human being, which I thought I knew pretty well... there's some things I'm still learning about this human being who is me." So great. Thank you so much for sharing.

So dear ones, we have come to the end of the happy hour. Thank you so much for your practice, thank you for sharing of yourself, cultivating your heart and your mind for the sake of all beings everywhere.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be free, including ourselves.