Look Inside

We look inside as we meditate. We close our eyes because the problem is inside. You look at the world outside—there are lots of problems out there, but the problem that weighs you down, and the problem you’re responsible for, is the one that comes from within. So we’re going to look within in order to solve that problem.

The problem is that we all want happiness, but so many things we do, say, or think, don’t lead to happiness. They lead to pain, stress, suffering. And we need to know why. As the Buddha says, it’s because of our ignorance. We don’t know what we’re doing. Or sometimes we do know what we’re doing, but we don’t know that it’s the wrong thing.

So you have to put the mind in a position where it can see its mistakes. Yet it doesn’t like to see its mistakes, even though it’s suffering from them. It tends to place the blame outside. But as you grow up and get more mature, then you realize, okay, the problem comes from within. So we get the mind still in order to put it in the right mood, in order to look within and see where its mistakes are. When the mind is quiet, then it can see itself more clearly.

So there’s a lot to be gained by simply being very quiet, at ease, and then being very observant.

Make sure that you stay right here, centered where the body and the mind meet at the breath. That way, you can check to see how the mind’s motions move the body, and how the body has an impact on the mind. As you get to see these things more clearly, you can begin to understand, “Okay, this is where I breathe in a way that’s not skillful. This is where I talk to myself in a way that’s not skillful. This is where I have images that I hold in mind, perceptions I hold in mind that are not skillful. And I can change.” That’s the important thing. You see that there’s an alternative.

All too many people say, “Well this is the only way I know how to do it.” Or, “This is just the way I do it.” And they hold on to that. You have to realize that your sense of “you” has all kinds of skillful and unskillful things inside. So you can’t let your idea of who you are and the kind of person you are limit the skillfulness you can develop.

There’s a lot of digging around to be done in here, a lot of things to figure out. But it’s good work, because when you solve this problem, you’ve solved the big problem in your life. And when you solve this problem, you’re also creating fewer problems for other people.

So this is not a selfish activity. It’s a very responsible activity that we’re doing here. So give it all your energy; give it all your time. Try to understand what you’re doing that’s not skillful and how you can change. That, the Buddha said, is one of his teachings that applies everywhere. When you apply it everywhere, you’ll see that the Buddha was right.