This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Guided Meditation: This Too Will Change; Eight Worldly Winds (5 of 5) Wisdom. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

Guided Meditation: This Too Will Change; Dharmette: Eight Worldly Winds (5 of 5) Wisdom - Gil Fronsdal

The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on August 09, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Hello everyone, and welcome. Welcome to a practice that is meant to place us in the middle of our lives and to see it through eyes of wisdom; to place it in the middle of our life and to see things clearly as they are. And so, in that call for seeing things as they are, there is a call for a certain kind of realism, a certain kind of honesty and truth about what's actually happening here and now. The emphasis for much of what Buddhism has to teach is to become wise about what we're experiencing here and now, at this time.

The city of wisdom, and the word paññā, the Pali word for wisdom¹—sometimes I think the way it's described and understood, it could maybe better be translated by the English word "insight," in that it's about seeing or understanding something that's right here. Certainly, there can be abstract wisdom that kind of encompasses many things we carry with us, but insight is something we do here and now.

There was a story I heard many years ago, a Sufi story about a person who goes to a Sufi master and says, "I have this ring, and can you engrave a piece of wisdom that's always going to be useful for me on the ring?" The Sufi master says, "Okay, come back next week." And the following week, the Sufi master had the ring ready, and on it, it said, "This too will pass."

In Buddhism, it's a little different, but it's related to that: this too will change. Anything that is an experience that touches our senses, that is something we can think—any thinking, any thought—this too will change. And so, these eight worldly winds, this too will change. There's something meant to be very profound about keeping this in mind. The Buddha emphasizes this over and over again: a wise person knows this too will change.

There are certain places in the world where I learned not to worry too much about the weather. When I lived in Hawaii, it changed quite quickly. There'd be torrential downpours that would last a minute or two, and then it would be 80 degrees outside and sunny. This too will change. When I lived in Tennessee, they said, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." This too will change.

The question is not whether you believe it or like that piece of wisdom, but the real wise way of relating to this piece of wisdom is: how does this wisdom, how does this understanding that this too will change, how is it beneficial for you? How does it support you? How does it benefit you? How is it nice for you? How does it free you? This too will change.

Guided Meditation: This Too Will Change

So, assume a meditation posture and take some time to notice what changes for you as you assume the meditation posture, as you tune into it, and maybe make small adjustments here and now.

To tune into your body, the position your body is in, adjusting it is a way of developing and entering into a living awareness of here and now.

And gently, not too much, just right, take some deeper breaths so that you feel in the inhale the expansion of the rib cage, maybe the swelling and filling of the belly, maybe the lifting of the shoulders.

And then relaxing on the exhale. And if it's comfortable, allow yourself to exhale longer than usual. In the part that's longer than usual, there's some way to drop deep inside the body for a deeper relaxation of the body.

And then, to let your breathing return to normal. And then notice what a simple, ordinary breath is for you. If you're controlling the breath in any way or it doesn't feel comfortable, that's okay. The emphasis is on knowing how you're breathing with an open mind, almost with a little bit of curiosity, not judging it or needing it to be any particular way.

Continuing for a few breaths with relaxing on the exhale, settling different parts of your body, releasing.

And then gently notice as the body breathes, it's a continual flow of change, changing movements, changing sensations.

Relaxing the thinking mind, relaxing the mind that strains to pay attention. Instead, allow the changing sensations of breathing, allow them to be sensed where there's no separation between sensing and sensation, where it's the body's experience of breathing, more than a mental exercise of looking or knowing. Resting with a changing flow of breathing.

And whatever happens during the meditation, gently understand that this too will change, where that understanding is a way of helping you relax around what is happening, be less reactive or caught or resistant. This too will change. Allowing whatever is there permission to be there, so in its own time it can change.

If you find yourself involved, caught, reactive—in a loving, caring way, remind yourself, "This too will change." The purpose of saying that, of remembering that, is to relax around what's happening here and now. Relax the reactivity, relax the holding or the resistance.

And then, as we come to the end of the sitting, to understand that the wisdom that "this too will change" is not meant to pass judgment or just to see the world in a particular way, but rather to help us not cling or resist or hold on to anything. To allow us to shift our relationship from one that can be understood as reactive to one that is responsive, from some of the wisest places within.

And one way to respond to this changing world, this changing world of our experience, is to meet it with love, all the different flavors of love. So if what changes is difficult for people, for yourself, meet it with compassion, with care. If what changes is a positive thing, meet it with appreciative joy, appreciation. If what happens in the world is neither suffering nor great, but just something happening, love can take the form of being friendly, kindness, goodwill. And if what happens in the world is difficult for us and we cannot intervene or do something about it, but we have to, against all our preferences, there has to be some acceptance of it or some not getting caught in it, love can take the form of equanimity. Where there's a love for others and ourselves, we don't allow ourselves to get worked up or caught or reactive in a way that interferes with the flow of open love, care, compassion.

This too will change. And in this changing world, may it be that this wisdom supports us to enter the world with a kind heart, with a friendly gaze, with a caring heart. May we go through the world not with hate, but with love. May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings everywhere be free.

Thank you.

Dharmette: Eight Worldly Winds (5 of 5) Wisdom

So hello everyone, and welcome to this last talk on the Eight Worldly Winds.² This is a kind of a summary or concluding talk about it. In the Buddhist teachings, the word "winds" is actually not in how he calls this. He calls it the Eight Worldly Dhammas, which in this context I like to translate as the eight worldly forces, or eight worldly processes. And he says in describing this that these eight worldly forces turn the world, and he repeats then, "The world turns on these eight forces."

And so what we're talking about here is the human world. And primarily in this human world, if we read the newspaper, if we look out across the globe and history and what people are doing, we see that a lot of the preoccupation, a lot of the reactivity and involvement people have in the world can be caught up in gain, greed for more, and loss, and the despair over losing wealth and losing our things and not succeeding to become wealthy.

Then, the world revolves around fame and disrepute, and not a few people have had their life destroyed in the very shallow fame of social media—the rise and fall of fame on Instagram and friends and Facebook. But for politicians and celebrities and all kinds of people, it's the pursuit of fame and despair when it's lost.

And then there's praise and blame. Some people live on that; their sense of self is based on what other people think, and so praise and blame is the pursuit.

And then there's pleasure and pain, comfort and discomfort, and forms of happiness and unhappiness. So being involved in that, these are what turns the world, the human world, keeps it going, keeps it spinning.

The Buddha is talking about this, but the emphasis is not on these worldly forces, but rather on our relationship to them. How do we relate to them? How do we live in these forces and these winds? Do we participate in them? Do we get involved in them? Are we caught in them? And the particular thing that the Buddha emphasizes is that a wise person knows that these forces, and all the things that come with them, are inconstant, that they will perish, that they're changing.

So this idea of knowing they're changing, reminding ourselves, so that when there is gain, know this too will change. And not a few people lose their wealth; not a few people find what they thought they had gained disappears. And as tragic or difficult as that is, there's something about knowing that that world is perishable, it's changeable, that we don't put all our eggs in that basket, so our happiness is 100% dependent on what we've gained. A house that burns down, a stock market that crashes, a wealth that is stolen—as tragic as those are, there's a way of reminding oneself, "Oh, this is changeable, this is perishable," so that they're not quite surprised by it. The point being not to have a judgment or a view about it, but what is the wisdom that allows us to keep our peace, to stay at ease, to not get despairing or crushed or so disappointed that we kind of just shrink away? Is there a way, is there wisdom that keeps us free? Is there wisdom that keeps us peaceful, wisdom that keeps us calm and wise and loving? This is one of the ones the Buddha offers. And so if you don't like it, you don't have to use it. But in terms of these worldly forces, to be reminded "this too will change."

And does that allow us a healthier relationship to the world, a better relationship with the world, a relationship where we can enter into the next moment freely? So to show up at your car and see that you have a flat tire, or two flat tires... "Oh, this too, tires change. This too is perishable." And now I've encountered this part of our world. Now how do I relate to this? To be reminded a little bit of that, does that take a little bit of the edge off the reactivity, the surprise, the sense of injustice, or that the world now is out against me? Is there a way of staying with a degree of ease or peace or well-being or calm in the face of all the changing natures of this world, especially for these eight worldly forces that are so much what people get caught in?

So that's the overview of these. Some people's lists of these eight worldly forces, instead of calling the first one gain and loss, will call it success and failure. This is another one that people often get caught in: the need for success. Maybe in a competitive world, our need for success and our identity is tied to being a successful person, and that if we fail, that somehow we're less than. I love stories of people who conventionally or in some ways fail, but it doesn't stop them; they continue with what they're doing. I love the story of people who have success but they don't kind of hold on to the success or wear it as a kind of a medallion to show people. They're happy with succeeding and then they go on to the next thing to do. They just love doing, they love being engaged, and the idea of holding on to something, even success, just doesn't have quite the interest than it is to engage and step into the world for the next thing in a full and open and clear way.

Praise and blame—these are not necessarily bad things. It's not a bad thing that people appreciate us; it's not a bad thing that people point out our faults and our mistakes. So is there a different way of relating to them? That with praise, we don't have to push it away, but we don't have to hold on to it. A new way of relating is to be open and allowing and make room for what is healthy and to ignore what is unhealthy and not be involved in it. Gain and loss—it's not a wrong thing to have gain, that we can appreciate the gain and we can be wise about the loss.

But the idea is to find our freedom. This is the central theme I've tried to get across this week: that with these eight worldly forces, there are better ways of living than tying our life to these things. And the Buddhist practice hopefully is showing us a better way of living, of being alive, that we have a very satisfying feeling of peace or calm or joy or happiness or freedom, lightness, that is an alternative to being caught or involved or depending on these eight worldly forces. It's not a matter of judging them or being critical of them, but rather it's a matter of not losing what's better, not sacrificing what's wiser and a freer and more loving, more caring way of being in the world, because we know that, we've learned that.

And so even though everything changes in some way, it doesn't mean that things are chaotic and random or that we are without preferences. There are things to have preferences for. Preference without attachment to peace, preference without attachment to a sense of well-being and joy, preference without attachment to being wise and caring, preference without attachment to being grounded and settled here at this moment so we can be present for this world, not reactive to it. To know that there's something better. One of the wisdom pieces that I've offered recently is the idea of "don't make it worse." At least don't make it worse. But if you know what's better, perhaps it's easier to avoid making it worse.

So thank you. I appreciate the chance to teach these teachings and I'll be back here on Monday. Some of you might be interested in coming with me on Sunday evening at 6 o'clock in California time. I'm going to be on Zoom at Spirit Rock to talk about my new book a little bit, Everything Is Practice. The book is a kind of a manual for doing Insight Retreats, like retreats at our retreat center. And so I'm going to use part of that evening to really talk about retreat practice itself, not my book. One of the great things that Spirit Rock does is offer a month-long retreat, and I'll talk a little bit about that month-long retreat and how wonderful it is. I taught it for many years, and sometimes I say that for people who are insight practitioners, that like for a Muslim, once a lifetime they're supposed to go to Mecca, I'd like to say that for insight practitioners, once a lifetime to do a month-long insight retreat. So, you'll find the information about it on the Spirit Rock website and also on IMC's homepage, under "What's New," there's a "Reflections from Gil" link to that if you're at all interested. So thank you.