Path Of Creator Videos

[Transcript]

Hi, I'm Jonny John.

So, let's continue talking about how to address the suffering states of the mind so that we do not have to experience them again.

In the last video we learnt that to make any progress on such a journey will require us to develop the Knowing of The Self—To know ourselves, knowing how our minds work at the level of our own experience.

So how do we develop that Knowing?

Of how that world inside work?

That world that we live with day in and day out?

Do we have to spend time contemplating and thinking about who we are, how our minds work?

No, it's actually the complete opposite.

It may surprise you but the Knowing of The Self is developed with a Still Mind, with an Observing Mind rather than a Thinking mind.

Now it may seem counter-intuitive to develop Knowing without using the mind to think, so let me give you an analogy to understand this better

Perhaps you’re going to a job interview. You can use your mind to analyze, worry and imagine what might happen. But this is unnecessary. Because if you want to know the truth of what will happen, you simply go towards the experience and simply observe.

And likewise, this is how you develop the Knowing of The Self— through simply observing what is happening inside. Then, you will know the reactions behind your actions, the ideas behind your thoughts, how everything begins, how everything ends.

Now for the mind to be in a state of observation will require us to develop Stillness, the state of putting the thinking aside.

When there is Stillness in the mind, we will naturally become more aware Of what is happening in the world inside in every moment. And this will accelerate the Knowing.

So Stillness is powerful. But, it can sound Boring - to a Chaotic Mind.

And how many of our minds are Chaotic?

It's common these days for our minds to be filled with stress, worries, unfulfilled desires and so forth.

The thought of turning these thoughts off even just for a second can feel disturbing to a Mind which is so used to Chaos.

So the mind will challenge us each time when we try to introduce Stillness inside.

Let me share with you a personal story.

When I was young, I used to be hyperactive. I can never sit or stay still in one place and I always needed to be doing something in every moment whist doing something else. You could say I had a condition worse than ADHD.

So the first time I did meditation, of sitting on the ground doing nothing...it was the most painful experience ever!

One minute of closing my eyes and doing nothing, I was sweating. 2 minutes in, I was close to death...3 minutes, I died, in 4 minutes I was beyond death....and I could only do 5 minutes...

That's how chaotic my mind used to be!

And it took me years, many many to develop Stillness. And I'm glad I did because now I can sit there and do nothing without experiencing that painful feeling of impatience inside.

Now I no longer have to struggle to get to sleep at night. It used to take me 2 hours of rolling around before I could get to sleep, sometimes even 3 because my mind was just so wild.

Having developed Stillness, I no longer feel tired throughout the day. My creativity has also improved because I'm more aware of what's happening inside in every moment.

Stillness thus is Powerful for the body and mind.

And it creates Knowing.

To use an analogy, Our Consciousness is like an Ocean and the thoughts are like the waves. The more thoughts there are, the rougher the waves will be, and the harder it will be for us to see our reflection on the surface of the water.

It is only when the Mind is Still, that the waves will settle; we will be able to see our reflections, we will also be able to see beyond the surface to know its depths.

And the more the ocean is still, the easier it becomes for us to detect the waves and the cause of them.

By descending into Stillness, that is how we find the cause of Unstillness, so we can address our sufferings at the deepest level of the mind.

So, developing Stillness marks the beginning of the journey of transforming the Suffering states of mind because Stillness Creates Knowing.

And this is the part of the journey that most people will abandon.

Overcome it!

So how do we practice Stillness?

Stillness can be practised simply by doing less throughout the day, by resting more, taking more breaks, by doing less stimulating things.

Easy to say but hard to do!

Practices such as meditation and yoga can help one greatly to develop Stillness.

I highly recommend it.

Again, easy to say but hard to do.

On your journey of developing Stillness, the mind will continually try to convince you to give up, again and again

Overcome it!

It will eventually surrender when it slowly realizes just how powerful and peaceful Stillness can be!

So in conclusion, developing Stillness is how we develop the Knowing of the deeper cause of our Sufferings.

In the next video, we will talk about what Suffering really is.

-Jonny John Liu

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