Renate Seifarth: Gratitude as Result and Practice

Yesterday I spoke about freedom. By letting go of the last quote from Ajahn Jham, if you don't let go of it, you will be less satisfied if you let go of it, you will be more satisfied if you let go of it, you will be a fight in the world. This letting go also concerns the letting go of our forced actions. If we are trapped in our reactivities and automatisms, which we have seen today in a bit of a different way, the comfortable feeling comes here I will take care of it, the uncomfortable feeling comes here I will take it away immediately I have also called a form of fear here. The trapped being in our patterns we all have, certain patterns developed in the course of our lives. patterns that we react to, that we respond to and we are often trapped in it even if we want to change it because we notice that the pattern has to be re-enabled again or whatever, or to say no again and to listen to it. There are patterns of reactivities. So our freedom also concerns this pattern where we have certain forces that are patterns that are often lived here. And automatisms need a lot of attention, a lot of determination and then we can get out of these patterns to weaken them. Let's start with the things that we take personally. That was the last one I spoke yesterday and it's not always that obvious and there is also a place for it to take something personally. If I have pain, then I have pain and I should also call it that and if I have tooth pain then I should definitely have it I should have someone else personally take it in a certain way. But not in the sense why does this happen to me why I, why not that can't be anything. I have never eaten sweets in such a way. So I ate sweets I couldn't complain about it. But here it's all about taking it personally everything personally. If we let go of this different level then there is a inner freedom to act differently to act differently We get out of the forced actions but we will still act but we can look more closely and decide how we want to act. We know how to solve our patterns and maybe develop new helpful patterns and if I take everything personally then yes, then it will be a little easier not everyone who comes to us and talks to us in a certain way is always so exclusive that we give it to others that's always a mixture of different aspects. It's just a room because we have also written ourselves very closely in-between. As children we are still a little confused but that's pretty fast. As children we develop an idea of who they are and that's why we often carry old thought-takers around us who are both able to return to their childhood. So there we begin to sketch our identity and the course of life I told you briefly that I used to think my voice was so terrible that was one of the first three school years the second one I should stand up and sing especially like this without a blue light The pedagogy is bad, it's not possible but it was like that I stood up, sang and then stood still Yes, that's how it was then my voice was terrible for really very long time 30 plus years and such things happen in a tiny moment and then dig deep into it and yes, we find that very personal Of course, now you can't tell a little child if it's not personal, but that's too much but we can actually recognize that First of all, it was my interpretation and every other taste and even if my voice would be terrible it would make me stay and sing alone That's why I have to leave it to an identity I think it's not necessary to leave it and that's where freedom comes in We are simply equipped with what we are and we are like that in the sense of being even if we don't correspond to the certain idea So here, this freedom that arises where we can breathe where we can notice something can unfold in us and what unfolds in us is not so much freedom I can let it do what I want It's simply not meant with freedom You could also say that Freedom is understood by this difference what we understand below what we expect from it and here is the freedom in this white-and-white community of what I just told you And that's also clear At the same time, we experience a connection when we really don't just direct the attention to the inside That's what we often do here in meditation But we are kept from to direct the attention to the outside and then, at the last point to direct the attention to the inside and outside That's first of all unusual and it shouldn't feel like we are completely fixed on the other side and we are lost outside But what it feels like to recognize that the inside and outside doesn't really let us separate how we often draw this line on our mind, our cognitive mind We are much more in direct touch and in the mind, in the other part of the mind than we experience the inside That could be so much more experimental when we feel the chair I can say, ok, now I feel how the chair feels then my attention goes outside to the outside, to the chair and then I can feel how my legs feel on the chair the chair touches the attention in the body and then I can close my eyes to the image body and chair and just try to find this border line in the experience where my legs stop and where the chair starts It's very exciting because I have never managed to draw this border in the experience in my image, in my thinking I see it But when I feel it I can't do it No chance And this is one example just as with higher sounds are in and out Are they just or are they outside? I don't know What we see is in and out is what I see since the outside since we are in it You mirror yourself on my network, I'm sure and then you transform my brain, in a way I would also put my head down It's connected again and it's really there It's also phenomenal what the spirit has But when we give ourselves this experience then it becomes quite clear that in and out are not separated but we are interweaving above the connection that is deep simply not to be forgotten But there is the naturalness that we experience and see and try to avoid not only with us but also with others That's what we can also experience other suffering and we often in the heart we experience it ourselves we don't feel it we feel it we feel it, we are happy with it we share it It's a very important aspect of us people and the open heart and here we also experience this forbiddenness and completely by ourselves it becomes important to lay down inside as far as possible to avoid for us as well as for others That means that I want to live a ethical life with which is right And that's a corrective That's why we both also hear a few times of one coin with two sides One is the wisdom that lets us know that nobody is the other but is the recognition of our forbiddenness So that we when we experience freedom a freedom in which we are also connected and feel forbidden It's exciting when I read my notes that I just made and try to understand it and I will also take a nap One thing that we often find is the wisdom and the open heart It's not just one coin with two sides but we often come from one wisdom also into the other recognition into the other open heart I would like to read a poem by a Slavist Jan Boska and she also observes the past I didn't really notice that I didn't really notice that but one thing that we can discover is the fact that we are all constantly changing Fortunately, today we had a beautiful time and we were better than yesterday So we have this connection Nothing comes twice before even if we are different We get down to the world and die without a routine and while we are the most students of all we will not be able to sit in winter and summer No day will repeat itself because you press There are not two two repeated warm views as someone your name can be read by me yesterday I was a lot of roses open windows Today you are together I see the wall Oh no Rose? What is your rose? Is it your flower? Is it your stone? Were you afraid? Are you afraid of? Are you so you will go out You will forget so you are beautiful You are so you will go out The rope is in the law You will forget And the consequences So you are beautiful Just because everything comes and goes It's a unique we open ourselves deep for it, at least for you. And it is because of that everything is beautiful, even if it is not beautiful right now. It has a special feature in this uniqueness. If we are aware that everything is going to be not repeated again and again, then a deep appreciation for this moment can arise, just as it is. And this appreciation for a attitude and an experience of gratitude, very organic, a real gratitude, which flows spontaneously from the heart and which makes us alive. I have written a poem for four years, I would say, a beautiful poem by Otto, who died in Otto's life. He wrote it very late in the year, he found meditation at over 60. And I was impressed by it. I just read it before, something he wrote. As a daily exercise, I bring my awareness to my breathing today. We come and go, come and go. Follow the natural one and exhale, without influencing anything. One and out, one and out. Concentrate on my feet, my toes, move them a little, my hands, my fingers, my fingertips, keep on breathing, we come and go. Keep on my attention on other parts of my body, on my upper body, on my pelvis, on my back, on my back, on my spine, on my neck, on my head, on my left, on my right, on my brain, on my face, on my face, on my mouth, on my smile, smile all the way in. I feel my whole body, from the toes to the fingertips, to the billions of cells in my region. That's the time. Take my heart, thank you, I am always again how you heart my blood through my 88-year-old body. And that's what really bothered me, the responsibility that I had in my life through meditation. This gratitude to be on the way, this gratitude to have me on such a path, a gratitude for the teachers, a gratitude for life at any moment. This gratitude of yours brings something to a light, to inner light. So here is gratitude, nothing that makes us small. What as a reaction comes for I have received something, I say thank you, or I am not, no one helps me. That's also a gratitude where we feel a little smaller. But here it's not possible. We don't have to feel smaller, but here it's really about a gratitude that makes us start to shine and makes us big. Buddha once said, these two people find themselves in the world. Which two? Someone who shows as the first good, someone who is grateful for a love-worthyness. So that's really interesting. And the second one, I already mentioned it, but here is gratitude for a love-worthyness, a real gratitude. Why is it so difficult? Why is it so rare? Why does he think that? One can say that it needs courage and also needs a certain strength. To give this gratitude, to show this gratitude, we are a little more vulnerable than we are without it. But gratitude was very important to Buddha. He said that, because he was saying, that with gratitude many other good qualities can be produced. Here it's just like that. Buddha used these words from good and bad. But please, it's always so difficult. That's why we often talk about the help and the gratitude. We are always talking about the good and the bad. But it's the same with the I am not that. That I don't take it personally. That's how we bring it together. She knows, but I'll read it to you first. But let's be careful. The wise of bad people, I want to explain to you, the wise of good people, listens to them and listens to my words. What are your monks or your practitioners? The wise of bad people. The bad person is ungrateful and doesn't show himself for the good deeds of others. Because ungratefulness and lack of understanding are called for bad characters. And because of lack of understanding the basic of a bad person is formed. That's a nice and hard one. But he has a very direct way of saying that he wasn't the pedagogue and that he was used to being a monk today. Hands are almost closed. We have to stop it. But as I said, he can't take it personally. He can't take it personally. That's how we bring it together. The good person is ungrateful and doesn't show himself for the good deeds of others. Because ungratefulness and understanding are called for good characters. Ungratefulness and understanding form the basic of a good person. Before we go into the topic of guilt, and I can't imagine myself falling like this, let's take it to the meta-level. What happens when we are ungrateful? What happens at the moment of real gratitude? We leave a bit of our pride. That's always good. And with less grudge is also a form of pride and forgiveness. It's easy. We just give each other the moment we need each other. We are connected with each other. We see the good of the other. We give it to each other and show our identity. But we show it, which is also what we are. What we take out of our pride is also very central. Because it brings us together. It's something that separates us. And always when there is a connection, the Lord can flee. Then he can flee, he can flee to the meta-level. Then we are limited in our actions, our hard actions, our sins. These are different characters. Gratitude is one good sound, but it's incredibly important for our society. When we are grateful, it's hard for us to help each other. And we help each other. We help each other, even in our society. There is something that still calls us a social state. We are connected to each other, the ones who are weaker, who don't function as well as we do. We try to balance ourselves. We have so many beautiful institutions and so many are also very honest. We take care of each other. And that is so important for a peaceful, contented person. And I think we need this wisdom that it doesn't just cost a lot of material, but also brings an atmosphere to our society. And that has to do with sound. On the one hand, sound, on the other hand, being grateful for this situation. There are other things that I like to reflect on when I am grateful. I am very grateful, for example, for all the wonderful, very brave women, but also men, who have come to our society to have more rights, to have equal rights. And that is a huge difference to many other societies. I am incredibly grateful. Otherwise I can't sit here. I would never have been able to study and do everything. There are so many, many things that I am very grateful for, that we sometimes forget because they are so self-evident. And that doesn't mean that we are small but that we know each other and that we see the sea. There are so many, many other things that I always want to share with someone. That we want to be so bad, that we want to be so incomplete, that there are even so many things that we want to give up. So, about society, someone thought about that and that was somehow stylized or asked me by myself. But it was so collective, that it seemed like a good idea. You work and somehow you change. And in the end, you can't just do as much and make the other pages that you just have to do a little bit. Just to make sure that you read it, that you are up early and not so hard to get. And that is a great system. I was in many countries and many countries where it is not. You can't just sit outside. You can forget it. I think it's so funny. It's so imperfect, that you always have to re-create it. But the idea behind it is great. And in the end, we can't guarantee the wrong of our profit. We are happy about it. We will work in the near future. But there are so many things that are imperfect. How can you make it out of it? There is a person who is unfair. And you forget how beautiful it is to share it with each other and to be proud that we have discovered these tools. So, gratitude, when we feel this gratitude for our personal experiences and our societies that we live in or when we can come to this house and practice here, there can be so many things that we are aware of and that we are experiencing. Thankfulness is something that is also seen in many religions. Two quotes, or one quote, Martin Luther called it the essential Christian attitude. Thankfulness is the heart of the Gospel. But also in Islam I found that in the Koran the idea of gratitude is very central and people are always excited to become without gratitude. Or the Cicero, I have to say, gratitude is not only the greatest of all the saints, but also the mother of all others. I am very similar to the Buddha. Or, I have already heard of the brother David Stangurast, who is a very central Christian Christian man and who is also a very important practice for gratitude. And what comes to mind that we are not spontaneously feeling gratitude, but gratitude is also a form of practice or we can also do it as a practice. I was inspired by my teacher who in one lecture told me that he was so small and he was strolling in his own self-retreat where he would take a few minutes to become aware of what gratitude was for. Okay, so people thought they were also in a self-retreat for a week. And we were in America and thought, oh, I'll try it now. And I took a certain time point before I always did a very short negative reaction after the lunch. I always do it on the set, I practice the teacher or myself. I never do negative reactions, but I always do negative reactions. And I decided after the negative reaction to the reflection for about five minutes to turn on the reflection and to continue with it with a few seconds. So I was still in bed for a while, it was more comfortable. And I thought, okay, now the gratitude reflection is coming. And the first thing I noticed was that I didn't have any desire to do it. I thought, great. But despite that, my mom took us in. So, okay. Then I noticed a huge resistance and asked myself, why am I grateful? And I said, okay, that's not possible. Okay, what do we remember here? Then I came up with the idea and asked myself, why could I only be grateful hypothetically? That went better. So this hypothetical question allowed me to go into more space but there was no need for more. I had to be grateful for something. And then I just started because I still don't feel anything. And then I thought, no, what could I be grateful for? Then I could try many things out. I thought, well, okay, I could be grateful for doing many things on my own. And then my mom said, but everyone has that. Okay. Then I was out on my own. Then, oh, it's so nice the weather here, the sky is blue. It's blue every day. Okay. And I continued to do what I did the other day. And then I came back. Yes, that's really great. I'm grateful for the team always having such nice cashier for the small cashier. And they had really nice cashier there. And they also had cashier and they also had cashier so that we as practitioners actually could go there. Because there was always a private area. They were so short in front of the private area. They were still there. And then you could do the cashier meditation and always do the Steele meditation again. And the small cashier would look at these nectar coins and the porn with their flowers. Because there was no opportunity to put them in. Obviously you didn't want to put the nectar coins in. And that was interesting when I was missing that there was a real lightness. It was really and I thought, wow, great. And it was just like an inner stream. And you said, oh, it's so nice. Wonderful. Then I hacked it and I gave it to the passers-by. The next day, the same game. What was interesting was that the opponent was pretty self-conscious about this practice. It took a while but it was better. But in a while I was like, oh, I don't want to play anymore. And again, okay, now I have to get out of my financial situation. But eventually I noticed that there was always a time when I was actually grateful. And then I said, at that moment, that was really nice. That really touched me. And that also affected us with the fact that we were grateful. But if we