Dhamma talk "far out meditation"
Brooke Brodack shares an illuminating Dhamma talk after three attempts to go live and meditate, choosing instead to speak from the heart about her meditation practice. She reflects on the challenges of finding guaranteed peaceful time as a lay person with family responsibilities, and how her dog's constant need for attention has become its own spiritual practice in radiating metta (loving-kindness).
The heart of the talk centers on a profound meditation experience she had that week -- one she has only experienced about ten times since she began meditating in 2013 after her first Vipassana retreat. Brooke describes a consciousness-expanding sensation where she goes from being grounded in her body to suddenly feeling her awareness expand outward, connecting with "all that is." She proposes this is where the 1960s hippie term "far out" originated -- not as slang, but as a genuine description of deep meditative states where you travel beyond ordinary awareness into what Vipassana calls "the field of panya."
Brooke also discusses the practical benefits of daily meditation: reducing unnecessary thoughts by fifty percent or more, breaking habitual mental cycles, and achieving what she calls "clear seeing" -- the ability to look at a curtain and simply see a beige curtain, without all the mental baggage attached to it.
Key Topics
- The origin of "far out" as a description of deep meditation experiences
- Vipassana meditation, the field of panya, and states of samadhi
- Balancing lay life responsibilities with a dedicated meditation practice
- The practical benefits of daily meditation: reduced mental chatter and clear seeing
- Radiating metta to anxious pets as spiritual practice
- Ten years of meditation practice since her first Vipassana retreat in 2013
Notable Moments
- [0:00] Explains she tried to meditate live three times before deciding on a Dhamma talk
- [3:20] "There's probably only been 10 times in my life since I began meditating in 2013"
- [5:21] Describes the "far out" experience: consciousness expanding beyond the body
- [6:33] "I can actually feel my being larger... it's a powerful and amazing sensation"
- [7:53] "Am I really going that far away from the known?"
- [11:34] "When I meditate, there are 50 percent less things that I need to do in my day"
- [13:05] The "clear seeing" example: looking at a curtain and just seeing a curtain