Mingyur Rinpoche joins the BHNN Guest Podcast, sharing a dharma talk exploring meditation, open awareness, making friends with your problems, and overcoming the monkey mind.
Born in 1975, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is a much-loved and accomplished Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher. From a young age, he was drawn to a life of contemplation. In addition to extensive training in the meditative and philosophical traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, Rinpoche has maintained a lifelong interest in Western science and psychology. Rinpoche currently teaches throughout the world, with centers on four continents. His candid and often humorous accounts of his own personal difficulties have endeared him to Buddhist and non-Buddhist students alike. Learn more about Rinpoche and find his worldwide teaching schedule at tergar.org.
Meditation & The Monkey Mind
Why does meditation—quieting our mind and resting in awareness—work? Following this question down to the root, Mingyur Rinpoche elucidates the necessity of meditation for helping us find happiness inside of ourselves, without depending on outside circumstances. Explaining how our monkey mind creates enticing and destructive thoughts and emotions, Mingyur lays a path to peace and happiness made possible by training the monkey mind through meditation practice.
“If you only depend your happiness on material phenomena, then your happiness is like the stock market—always up and down. Why is your happiness always up and down? Because of the monkey mind; never satisfied, always greedy, more and more.” – Mingyur Rinpoche
Caught up swinging from branch to branch? Master the relentless monkey mind, on Ep. 275 of Mindrollling
Making Friends With Your Problems (8:50)
Expressing how to apply meditation to troubles in our lives, Mingyur Rinpoche describes the practice of making friends with your problems. Recalling a scene of panic at a meditation retreat, Mingyur depicts how he transformed his panic from a nuisance, into a teacher and friend, through applied meditation. Saying, “Yes sir,” to your panic, turns it into a bad boss. Saying, “Hey, get out!” adds more panic. Making friends with your panic transforms it into an ally, putting you back in control of the monkey mind.
“The goal of meditation is to make the monkey mind calm, peaceful, and pliable. How? You have to make friends with the monkey mind. How? What would monkey mind like? A job—it’s very active! When you are aware of the breath, you are giving a job to the monkey mind. This way, you become boss, and the monkey mind is your employee.” – Mingyur Rinpoche
Make friends with the monkey mind, make friends with change. Join Ram Dass in an ethereal exploration of impermanence, on Ep. 64 of Here and Now
Open Awareness, Non Meditation, & Getting Lost (34:34)
After leading a simple meditation—breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth—Mingyur Rinpoche elucidates the inherently spacious power of open awareness and non-meditation. Resting in the state of open awareness, sometimes called child mind, allows clarity, presence, and here-ness. Through this lens, Rinpoche explores the drama of getting lost, compounded by the drama of meditation. Remember, when you come back from being lost in thought, you are already in lucid mindfulness—open awareness.
“First you get lost. The moment you come back, that’s it. Awareness is right there. You are in meditation. The moment you find out you are lost, the moment you come back, the moment you remember, you’re in meditation. At that time, you already have awareness, mindfulness.” – Mingyur Rinpoche
For an illuminating dive through his exciting journey through life, join Mingyur Rinpoche with Krishna Das and Raghu, on Ep. 289 of Mindrollling
Images via Olga Gauri and tergar.org