Sam explores how the mind's constant labeling distorts what we actually see, drawing on Krishnamurti's ideas about presence. He shows how mindfulness in everyday activities can reveal reality beyond our mental concepts.
But you can actually perceive more deeply without immediately attaching a mental label to your perceptions. And this is. I've quoted before the beautiful line from Krishnamurti who said, if you teach a child, the moment you teach a child the name of that bird, he will never see that bird again. And there's a deep truth in that, because what happens then in the mind? The concept obscures the reality. And so many humans are so full of conceptual thinking that they can no longer experience life, or they only experience life through the dense veil of their conceptual mind, which is a dreadful limitation and a dreadful burden. And then your life looks like. And you already. Whatever appears in your conscience, you already immediately interpret it according to your conditioning. You have an immediate opinion, and the opinion is the truth cannot be questioned. That's how it is. And you have a judgment for everybody you meet. In other words, a mental label. You never meet another human being. You only meet your concept of the other human being. And you think it's. That's who they are. It's not. So that's why. That's the matrix. You are asleep. You are a slave to your mind. So here you discover your ability, if you want to call it that. You don't need to label everything and figure out you perceive from a deeper level. Start with nature. Nature is easier than humans. Nature doesn't think so. It doesn't stimulate the mind. The tree doesn't think. There is a conscious presence there which assumes the tree form. But the tree has no conceptual thinking. At least I've never heard a tree think. When you stand by a tree and you look at the tree, you can actually sense how still it is and how deeply rooted in being the tree is. And some trees have been there for hundreds of years. If there were a sound associated with a tree, it will probably sound like. And also, if you look into the eyes of a dog that comes at you with its tail wagging, and you'll notice there's a moment when you can be free of thinking because the dog isn't thinking. The dog has no conceptual opinion of who you are. And so there's no judgment. And so it frees you for a moment from your mind. That's why people feel drawn. And they go. They don't realize it for three seconds or four, five. They're not thinking. They're just perceiving the dog. And you're looking into the dog's eyes and can sense the being of the dog. And that awakens their own being for a few seconds. But if you start to Live with a dog, it doesn't work. Or it may still work. But I have seen many dog owners, let's say they come back to the dog is you go into a store to buy something, the dog is in the car. When you get back to the car after five minutes, the dog greets you as if you had been away for a year. And some owners don't even acknowledge the greeting of the dog. But if they were a little bit more present, they could just go, I'm back. But they just go. They're too immersed in their mind to notice the joy of the dog, but don't depend on dogs. So practice, because you know, you had practice in all kinds of situations. The wonderful skill which really is a new state of consciousness of not naming. And even while you're doing things, not naming what you're doing, just do it and be the underlying presence for the doing. This could be anything. Washing your hands. Now, most people, while they wash their hands, they would not be naming that actual activity. They would not be saying, now I'm washing my hands. Some people actually mistake the presence practice for that. And they say, they think when they're saying, now I'm washing my hands, they're being present. But that's not quite it. No, mostly when they wash their hands, they are totally somewhere else in their mind. So occasionally, from time to time, use little activities and do not name what you're doing, but give it your attention without interpretation. And then you will sense either the warmth or the coolness of the water on your hands. You will sense the soap, you will smell the soap. And it is a pleasant experience. If you don't name it. It actually can be very still thing, an interval of stillness, making a cup of tea. There was a clip where we didn't get it from the Oprah. There's so many lovely Oprah shorts. We saw some last night. There's one where I think Oprah makes a cup of tea and it has some elements of presence in it. There you can. There's a moment the camera shows you, the kettle is beginning to boil. There's the teapot, teapot put in the tea or tea bag and you take the kettle. Making tea and being present while making tea, as in Japan under the influence of Zen, has developed into a kind of ritual, the tea making ritual. The real reason for it is to use it as a vehicle for presence. Sometimes people just master the externals of it. But it's very different when this is practiced by somebody who is truly present and somebody who has only mastered the externals of that and is actually still thinking while they're doing it. Little things. So there is. There's these passive sense perceptions. When you're driving, there's a red light. You stop and you look at the red light and you look at everything that's around you and take it in and you are the alert presence. And then the lights change. You gone. You could do it every time there's a red light. Great opportunity. Because what else are you going to do? Useless thinking. What can you think about at the red light? How dreadful it is that you have to stop, that you'd rather be somewhere else. Maybe that's a bumper sticker. Could be I'd rather be somewhere else. That would be an interesting bumper sticker. And for most people, that's a mind pattern, a deep mind pattern. Amazing. Imagine without knowing it, going through most of your life, 95%, 98%, with that mindset that basically tells you, I'd rather be somewhere else or doing something else. But unfortunately I'm here and I have to do this. Maybe one day I'll be somewhere else, but I won't have to do this. And I'll be with other people and not with these people. And living in another place, but not this place. And drive another car, not this one. So your deeper identity is there. Emerges more every time you practice not naming, when naming isn't required. Sam.
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