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And would guess, lets just guess work, that far more children do it than we ever find out about.

And unfortunately as grown-ups they dont get near it again, so they cant repeat it then.

It seems to be quite a natural thing to do.

And its, as said, possible for anyone.

This internal confidence which arises because of being happy without outer conditions has quite wide reaching effects in our daily life.

We dont go searching so much for things that can make us happy on the contrary.

Compassion impels to try and make others happy.

Not through the wrong way of flattery or just agreeing to whatever somebody is saying, but by trying also to help along this path to find that same happiness.

The search for happiness which is in-bred in every living being has, so to say, found a stage.

Its not complete, but it has found a stage where the outer world out there does not seem so enticing anymore.

And when it doesnt seem so enticing anymore, it cant be so disappointing.

The self-confidence means that one is self-reliant for ones own happiness, for ones own well-being.

Totally self-reliant without expecting that others have a part in it, if they do.

If theyre helpful in loving, thats great.

But if they dont, it doesnt matter because something is within which is already taking care of that.

Although the first one appears very interesting, one has never had it before, it becomes pretty uninteresting after having had it for ten or twelve times because its just, well, its pleasant, but its still quite physical.

And when one has that the first time, thats also very surprising, but also that becomes quite normal.

It has a sweetness in it, a feeling of sweetness.

It has a feeling of having found something, but its still a bit exciting.

The first one is still quite exciting, has a bit of excitement in it.

And the second one still has that feeling of excitement in it.

Ill read out what the Buddha, similarly that the Buddha gave for it.

Great King, suppose there were a deep lake whose waters welled up from below.

It would have no inlet for water from east-west north or south, nor would it be refilled from time to time with showers of rain.

Yet a current of cool water welling up from within the lake would drench, steep, saturate and suffuse the whole lake so that there would be no part of that entire lake, which is not suffused with the cool water.

In the same way Great King, the meditator drenches, steep, saturates and suffuses his body with the rapture and happiness born of concentration so that theres no part of the entire body which is not suffused by this rapture and happiness.

That there is no inlet for water from east-west north or south, nor could it be refilled from the showers of rain.

There is no outside input into making the person happy.

And then theres this cool water which wells up from within, the joy which wells up from within.

If these states arise first or second, either way, and theyre only mild and only very local in one spot, its necessary to enlarge them.

If the joy is apparently only in one spot, to enlarge it all over.

It may be a quick movement, but it can also be a slow gradual movement off the mind to enlarge that.

When one is concentrated enough to get into second jhana, one is also concentrated enough to do that.

The same applies to the first jhana, when the pleasant feeling should be only localized in one spot, sometimes only hands or some place like that, to enlarge it so that the whole body is involved.

Now obviously an emotion is not something that is body-based, but on the other hand, it is the only measure of limitation that we have about ourselves.

So this is where we drench and suffuse.

The first four of the jhanas are called the rupa jhanas.

Rupa means corporality, or physical, so thats translated as to the fine material meditative absorptions.

But its important to know because the first four have aspects which we actually know and are familiar with only in a much less concentrated manner, and the quality is by no means as great, and also they have to arise from outside conditions.

So we all know pleasant sensations, pleasant touch sensations, we all know those.

But they are due to an outside source, and also their lens, the lasting of them, is determined because of the sense contact, whereas here the lens is only determined through our concentration.

As long as we want to stay on it, well stay on it.

The quality of it, of the pleasant sensation that we know in ordinary life and the delightful sensation that we know in the meditation is also different.

Because this is not caused by an outside agent, it is sweeter.

But because this is not caused through any outside happening, but just comes well from inside, it has far more purity in it.

And also we do not have that dependency on anything.

So we dont have to keep it, we dont have to hanker after it, because we recognize the fact that we have it within.

And that makes it a much purer experience.

So although these first four jhanas are states which we are familiar with, and thats why theyre called the material ones, but the fine material ones, they are of a different quality.

It is interesting that very often people go from the first to the third and are not aware of the second.

Not everybody, but happens quite frequently.

Because this joy is this happiness that was mentioned already as the antidote against restlessness and worry.

If we want to have peacefulness within, which is the opposite of restlessness and the opposite of worry, we do have to have the ability to arouse joy within without having to look for any agent.

The dependency which we have as long as we use our senses is a feeling of insecurity.

Thats why the biggest buildings are usually owned by insurance companies.

Were always looking for something thats going to ensure our safety.

We dont have to pay a penny for it.

The reason we cant get at it is because we think too much.

Not only too much, but we judge.

We have negativity in our thinking.

We have discrimination between what we like and what we dont like.

In other words, we have duality thinking.

What want and what dont want, what like and what dont like.

What Im going to have and what Im not going to have and what he has

and she has and so on and so on.

The less we have of that in our daily living, the easier it is to get at this.

We cannot possibly put it in.

We need the peace and quiet and the happiness of knowing were on the right path in order to get to that concentration.

If you remember, the last section before the Buddha started talking about the jhanas was about the fact that we are so happy because were sitting there without the hindrances.

And when the mind becomes happy like that, then theres rapture and then there is peacefulness in the mind

and then we can start getting concentrated.

So the less we get them, lets allow the mind to get upset, to get worried, to have plans, to go by its memories, to have all these ideas that we can conjure up, the less we allow that, the easiest to get at it.

Eventually, we have to have a pathway which will get us there always.

Thats why at the end of the meditation, either when the mind is no longer concentrated or when the meditation time is over, its necessary to first see that this tool is impermanent and then recap.

What did do to get there Eventually, the recap is no longer necessary because we know exactly how to get there, but to see that its impermanent is always necessary.

Because it is also important to know that all the jhanas, as desirable as they may be, are all worldly states.

They are not transcending the world yet.

Although they help us to do this, because each one brings insight, it hasnt happened yet.

They show us the way, they explain the way quite clearly, but it has to happen.

Therefore, we have to know that they too are impermanent.

While we may know it, we have to actually experience it while they are slowly dissipating.

And therefore its necessary that it should the bell go while one is still in it, not to open the eyes immediately.

But to slowly become aware of the dissipation of that state, even though it may have a residual effect, it still isnt as strong anymore as it was.

Were all there already, where we want to be.

We just dont know about it.

Its just that we havent noticed it.

One could compare that to watching It looks so real, doesnt it

And while we look at it and think its so real, we become quite engrossed in whats going on there on the movie screen.

But in reality, its just a moving picture which has been put on a screen, which is always as whether we know it or not.

So the reality is always there, whether we pay attention or not, doesnt make any difference.

And by the same token, the reality of inner joy is always within us, whether we know it or not, makes no difference.

If we have too much other stuff within, we wont know it.

If we can, let go of a lot of the stuff that were carrying around and which is nothing but a heavy burden, then we will notice that this is there.

And having noticed it once, one should be able to get at it again.

Because this counteract, restlessness and worry so effectively, we need to stay on it for a little while.

As soon as it has arisen, the mind may fall off it again, but we can bring it right back and stay with it for some time.

If we have done it many times, we will know exactly where and how to find it.

And having found it to enjoy it, be suffused by it, drenched by it.

Again, the mind will know quite clearly that that too is still a bit exciting.

And that ones really looking for peace.