Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Christele guides a group through the opening of a full-day introductory meditation workshop as part of the Discovering Buddhism program. After settling the room and checking sound levels, she outlines the day’s agenda: a calming breathing and body-awareness meditation, refuge prayers, and a motivation reflection rooted in Buddhist ethics—emphasizing that sustainable practice requires an altruistic aim, not self-centred seeking. She then leads a detailed body-scan relaxation, systematically guiding participants to release tension from head to toes while cultivating clarity and compassion. She briefly summarises the three meditation types taught over the preceding four-week course (stabilising, analytical, and visualisation), stressing the foundational role of mindfulness and ethical conduct, and addresses practical questions about starting a personal practice—recommending a modest three-minute daily commitment rather than overambitious hour-long sits. The tone is warm, accessible, and pragmatic; suited to newcomers and practitioners taking their first structured retreat.
File metadata (for organising)
File: Christele – DB day session 1.mp3
UUID: 2ac98fa0-7e1a-45dd-b885-d937d14ffbf6
Teacher: Christele
Collection: How to Meditate (Christele)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Words: ~3,801
Yes. I should be. If it’s not loud enough, you can Okay. Let’s put the volume up. Are there a few missing now?
Hi. Okay, so we’re going to start. So welcome to how to meditate discovering Buddhism, day. Most of you were nearly all of you were here except you didn’t do the four weeks course. Okay.
That’s fine. Yeah. So this is the agenda for the day. So as you can see, it’s pretty really full on. So the morning session from ten o’clock to eleven o’clock, we’re going to do a small breathing exercise that we’ve already done at the first session just to bring our mind here at Buddha House and calm our mind.
And then we’re going do the motivation, the refuge prayer, and then we’re going to finish with mindfulness meditation using the body. We’ve already We’ve done this exercise before, so it’s really to calm the body and calm the mind so we’re ready for the rest of the day. And then we’re going to have a break at eleven o’clock for thirty minutes and then Geshe Pema Tsering will come and give a teaching. And if you’ve got any questions at the end that you’ve got, just, you know, ask him. He’s more than fully qualified to answer your question.
And then we’re going to have lunch from one to two, and then from two o’clock to three fifteen, we’re going to do a small summary of the three types of meditation that we went through over the past four weeks, which is a stabilizing meditation, analytical meditation and visualization meditation. And then, well, if we’ve got time, because I might change a little bit depending on how much time we’ve got left, going do meditation on the clarity of the mind, so that’s meditation. That’s got the mind as the object, and then a meditation on compassion, but I might change it to meditation on love, depending how we feel and how I feel. And then we’re going to have a break again for thirty minutes, and from three forty five to five o’clock we’re going to do counting the breath meditation, so it’s a mindfulness or stabilizing meditation using the breath as the object. So we’re going do that for about ten minutes, and then we’re going to go directly to another mindfulness meditation.
We’re actually going to observe our mind and we’re to guide you through that. So we’re going to look at all the feelings and the emotions that come up into the mind and what we can do with them. It’s been written by Venerable Jamyang. And then we’re going to do Śākyamūni Buddha visualization meditation that we’ve done, not the last session, the third session. And then dedication, of course.
Any questions regarding the agenda at this point? Yes, good idea, yes, thank you, yes. During the course of the day, I will guide you through the meditation posture. Again, we’re going to go through the seven points again. Okay, so if we’re all ready, we’re going to bring our mind here in the present at Buddha House.
So at the moment just sit comfortably. Just make sure that your back is straight but relaxed at this point. Your hands are in your lap, on your knees or thighs. Breathe a few times, deep in and out. Every time you breathe out, you let go of all the tension you all in your body and your mind.
Result and let go of everything that kept your mind busy today. Whatever has happened has happened. We can’t change anything from the past, so let it go. Result. And let go of all the worrying about the future.
We create our future with our actions that we do in the present moment. The best preparation for the future is to be mindful of the present moment. The more we can practice this, the more control we get. Breathe out and let go of all the tension that is still left. Tension in your body.
Tension in your mind. Allow yourself to be completely here at Buddha House, in the meditation hall, on your chair, on your cushion. Feel that there is no better place to be right now, that every part of your body and mind are happy to be here. And then just breathe. Breathe naturally and be aware of your body.
Now body, sit. If you notice that your mind is wandering off, bring it back gently to the body. Bring the mind back to the body. Let the mind rest on the movement of the breath. Every time you breathe out, you let go of more thoughts.
You breathe in, you just breathe in. Just breathe. Nothing Nothing else. No thoughts. No emotions.
No opinions. Just breathe. Your mind becomes more and more empty, and you enjoy the quiet space. And then allow yourself to come back to your body, to your senses, but keep your eyes closed. We’re going to set up the motivation for the day now.
Before each meditation session or listening to some teachings, it is important to check up on your thoughts, your motivation. Ask yourself, why do I want to meditate? What do I hope to achieve? Whatever your motivation, think it through clearly before proceeding with your meditation session. In Buddhism, we say that doing any Buddhist activity just for the happiness of this life alone is not good enough because this motivation is a cause for suffering in this or future life.
If we want our meditation to be the cause of a more stable, long lasting happiness, our motivation for engaging in the meditation is crucial. In Buddhism, we can set three types of motivation that are looking for happiness beyond this life, but also includes this life. The lesser of these three motivations is striving for the happiness of future life. Our actions, including our meditation, are motivated by the wish to achieve a higher rebirth. With this motivation, we create the causes for a good life with the opportunity to create the causes for a good life again and again.
The next motivation is striving for liberation from saṃsāra, our cyclic existence, cycle of birth and rebirth. For this, we have to recognize that the pleasures that we experience are not real pleasures in the sense that it is in the nature of suffering. So we strive for the bliss of liberation. The most supreme motivation is the highest striving for full enlightenment, to become a Buddha in order to be able to help all sentient beings. This is a bodhicitta motivation.
And this is a most supreme motivation. For these three types of motivations, we need to live in future life. So if it is difficult for some of you to accept past and future life, then just try to think that the only reason why you are here today is to benefit other sentient beings and that their happiness is of most importance to you. Lama Yeshe said, if you have a good meditation but don’t have bodhicitta, you will grasp at any little experience of bliss. Me, me, I want more, I want more.
Then the good experience disappears completely. Grasping is the greatest distraction to experience single-pointed awareness in meditation. And with it, we are always dedicated to our own happiness. Me, me, I’m miserable, I want to be happy. Therefore, I meditate.
Why it doesn’t work that way? For some reason, good meditation and its results, peacefulness, satisfaction and bliss just don’t come. So spend a few minutes to reflect on your motivation for being here today. And for those who would like to join me, we are going to recite the refuge prayers. I go for refuge till I’m enlightened.
To the Buddha, the Dharma and Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for a till I’m enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. For my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all beings.
I go for refuge till I’m enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly. For my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings? May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness? May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering? May all sentient beings be inseparable from happiness that is free from suffering.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment from friends and hatred from enemies. The stabilizing meditation that we’re going to do now. If you want to move over. You okay? You’re comfortable?
Or you need to wiggle a little bit? Yeah. I went too quickly. So the meditation we’re going to do is we’re going to use the body as an object. It’s really to calm the body.
We’re not going to end up with seven point posture. If you want to do it, you can, but just sit comfortably It’s really, as I said, to calm the body and to prepare it for the rest of the session. Ready. So in this one you can close your eyes, but if you feel that you fall asleep, please open them a little bit. I don’t want any snoring.
Well, okay, I won’t be angry, okay, if you do snore. All ready? So make sure that you sit in a comfortable position. You can also lie down if you prefer. Close your eyes.
And I’m going to ask you to focus your awareness, your mind on different parts of your body. Sweeping down through the body from the top of your head to your toes and fingers. As I mentioned, each part of the body, bring your attention there. Let your mind rest on that particular part of the body and consciously relax that part, letting go of any tension that you may have. Begin with your head.
Relax the top of your head. You can imagine that there is some space between the skin around your head and your skull. Then relax your forehead. Let go of any worry or wrinkle that you may have in your forehead. Let them disappear.
Then relax your eyes. Relax the muscles in your in the eyes. Allow a little bit of light to come into your eyes. Then relax your other muscles in your face, your nose, your cheek, your upper lip. Your lower lip, your chin.
Imagine that your face becomes soft and open. You are not afraid to be vulnerable, to show who you really are. Relax the sides of your head. Relax the back of your head. Then bring your awareness to your brain and relax your brain.
Let go of any worries or trouble that may be putting pressure on your brain. Let go of any tension inside of your head. Make your head light as opposed to heavy and dark. Then let your awareness travel down to your throat and neck. Relax the throat.
Give yourself permission to express your true nature, to show your softness and openness. I like to massage the back of the neck. Then let your awareness move down into your shoulders. Relax your shoulders. Let go of any burden and problem that you may be carrying on your shoulder.
Let your awareness continue to travel down through your back. First, relax the upper part of the back, your shoulder blades, the space in between your shoulder blades, Imagine that there is space between the shoulder blade and the rib cage. They are not completely fixated against the rib cage. Then relax the middle part of the back. Then go to the lower back.
Feel that you are okay the way you are and that you fully support that. Then bring your awareness up to your chest. Relax your chest. Make it soft. Then go inside of your chest and relax your lungs.
Make your chest so soft that you can imagine that air flows directly in and out of your lungs through your chest and your skin. Your heart. Relax your heart. Your stomach. Let any knot unwind.
Then let the awareness travel down through the center of your body, relaxing the internal organs, your liver, your kidneys, your pancreas, your spleen. Relax all the muscles. Relax all the organs within your abdomen, and release any tension that you may have there. And let your awareness continue to move downward and relax the muscles in your hips, your buttocks, the perineum. And let your awareness travel down through both legs.
Relax first the muscles in the upper part of the legs. Then relax the knees. And relax the calves. Relax the ankles, the feet, and the toes. You can imagine that your legs first become hollow tubes, allowing energy to flow without any hindrance, and eventually completely dissolving into light.
Finally, go to your arms, Bring your awareness to the top of your shoulders and let your awareness travel down both arms. Relaxing the muscle in the upper part of the arm. Bend the elbow. Bend the lower part of the arm. The wrist, and finally the hand and the finger.
Imagine again that they first become hollow tube, allowing energy to flow without any hindrance and eventually completely dissolving into light. We have gone through the entire body. Feel how every part is relaxed. Your body is light as opposed to heavy. And slowly, it feels like it is completely dissolving into light.
Allow that to happen as it is your true nature. Now allow your mind to come back to your body. Remember that we still have a gross body with a head, a chest, and a back, a stomach, arms, and legs. Feel this structure. Be present in this structure.
And when you feel ready, you can slowly open your eyes. I guess everybody’s calm now. It’s a very, very powerful meditation to really calm the body and take some time to get out of it sometimes. We still have fifteen minutes. So what I’m thinking to do is maybe go directly to the summary of stabilizing meditation like that for the second session.
We’ll have time to do more meditation because I wasn’t too sure that we’re going to be able to feel everything, so we could do that. Or if you got any questions, but maybe at this point, maybe not. So do you want a bit of time to come back or before we jump directly to no. I’m taking my time. That is that getting hot?
Or do you wanna turn off the air conditioning, or you’re all okay? Okay? Yeah. Okay. Sorry?
Yeah. I didn’t hear So, yeah, it’s going to be just a short summary. I’m not going to get into too much detail. If you do have a question, I mean, please, you’re welcome to ask, but, I mean, the best person to ask would be Geshe-la. he pays my salary after all anyway.
It is still walking, but I moved. Okay. So as I said earlier, we went through three types of meditation. We went through the stabilizing meditation or calm abiding meditation or mindfulness meditation. These are the same thing. And the analytical meditation or Vipassana meditation and the visualization meditation.
So I’m just going to talk about the stabilizing. Sun is very bright. I might move this way. It might be better for everybody too. Wait.
Is it Z or S? Okay. Well, I’ll put a Z. Okay? Is that okay?
Okay. But for all types of meditation, the three that I’ve said, in all cases it is very important to have a firm foundation in mindfulness and alertness. And these two, if you remember, they’re provided by the practice of morality. I don’t know if you remember, for mindfulness I gave you the example that if you’re driving a car and you need to be mindful that you do fifty kmh if you’re in the city, of course. So that’s the mindfulness, your mind stays on this object.
The alertness is when you’re going to go over fifty and this is alertness that’s going to flag it and it’s going to trigger mindfulness, so you’re going to come back onto the object. And the practice of morality, if you take the example of a soul, if your soul is fertile, if you’re going to plant a seed, it’s going to grow if you put the right condition. And this is morality. So the soil is morality. And if you plant a seed of, you know, wisdom and compassion, it’s going to grow.
If your soil is not fertile, this is not going to go. You’re going to go nowhere with your practice. Okay? So stabilizing meditation is a concentration practice. It’s a method for concentrating the mind.
At the moment, our mind is like, well, we can say muddy water. I don’t know if you remember the jar. I bought a jar with lots of grain of sand and at the moment it’s scattered everywhere. You know, we’ve got thoughts, we’ve got emotion, we’ve got feeling feeling and our mind is being everywhere. So what’s stabilizing meditation going to do?
It’s going to bring your mind under control. It’s also going to calm the mind. This is short term goal and it’s going to bring your mind into the present moment. What it’s going to do also is going to with all that, it’s going to prepare your mind for analytical meditation. Okay?
So but the long term goal of stabilizing meditation is to develop a very refined, focused level of awareness. And it’s going to bring clarity, wisdom and joy that we can’t even imagine at the moment. And that’s calm abiding. So how we do that, we There are four objects that we can use to concentrate our mind on. You’ve got the body, And also the feelings that arise within the body.
You’ve got the breath, which is very commonly used. We can concentrate on your abdomen or your nostril. And you’ve got also the mind, the mind itself. So on the spacious, clear aspect of the mind and also whatever arises in your mind, your thoughts, your emotions and also phenomena. And this is, for instance, visualization of the Buddha, a picture of the Buddha.
Okay. That was a short summary, as I said. But do you have any questions? Because we already went into detail, but, I mean, I thought that’d be good to just have a short summary to yeah? Okay.
Yeah. Okay. We’re going to do an ex we’re going to do an ex bit later where we’re going to count our breath. I mean, there’s different way different method you can use. You can concentrate on the feeling of the air going into your nostril, so when you breathe in, usually the air is cold, it means colder than when you breathe out, so you’re going to concentrate on this sensation here and this is all you’re going to do and when your mind goes away, you bring it back to here.
That’s what you need mindfulness and awareness to bring back the mind to the object. So you do that. Also, can do counting the breath. So one, one and then when you breathe again, two, two up to ten usually. And if you lose count, we go back to one.
So we’re going to do that this afternoon. We’re going to do this exercise here. And also you can just concentrate on the rising and falling of your abdomen and this is all you do. You come back every time. Every time your mind goes away, you come back And you can imagine that all the thoughts that come into your mind, they’re just clouds, you know, but your mind is clear.
So it’s just passing by. So you just watch them passing by and you come back to your object of meditation. But we’re going to do an exercise this afternoon and also on the clarity of the mind which is this object. Any more questions at this point? I’m going to talk about that this afternoon.
There’s a very good article that says that it’s from this teacher. He used to teach at Tārā Institute and he’s also a counselor and a psychologist and he works with people who suffer, who have got sick, basically, terminal illness. And he said you need to make fun with yourself when you meditate. That’s very important. You need to love yourself because otherwise you won’t be able to love other people.
So I’m going to read this article this afternoon. I can do it now if you want to be able to help you a little bit later. But three minutes is okay. I mean it’s better to start slowly and then build up on that, than you know starting fifteen minutes and after two weeks you go, I don’t want to meditate anymore. You look at your cushion and you don’t want to go.
So you know, go slowly. Three minutes is good, but set your goal. Know, it’s okay. I’m I’ll sit for three minutes. That’s what I’m going to do.
And you keep on. When you feel comfortable, you go, Okay, let’s try four minutes. And you build up on that slowly. I think it’s better than setting, you know, like, Okay, one hour. For fifteen minutes.
Yeah. But for the three minutes you managed to do it? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, if it works, I’ll keep on like that. Yeah.
If that works and then build up on that and then you’ll become sharper and sharper by doing that and you can build up on that. And it’s successful. That’s good and you feel better. So you feel like you want to come back to your meditation? Yeah, except when I’m not on the cushion and then I give myself a hard time about it.
We’re also going to talk about how in the West we repress things and that’s called attachment and aversion. So we’re actually going to do a meditation that Venerable Jamyang wrote that’s going to guide you through that attachment and aversion and look at them because, yeah, you attach to the result and you’ve got an aversion to all these thoughts. I three minutes I think that’s good. If you do it every day, think that’s very good. More productive than fifty minutes of you know, everywhere.
Any more questions? Okay. Well, it’s not any time for the break, why don’t we go for the break?