Meditation
So what I would like you to do to start with is, as you get into your meditation posture, I would like you to simply check in with the way you’re doing right away, okay? So it’s literally, the query is—how am I doing right away? And I would like you to ascertain in along with your thoughts and your emotions and your, just, regular body and be really, really honest. How am I doing right away? You realize: possibly I’m a nervous wreck, possibly I’m depressed, possibly I feel form of great, possibly I’m just neutral, possibly I’m skeptical, possibly I’m cynical, possibly I’m feeling all inspired, who knows? Or like, “oh god, my hip just hurts a lot that’s all I can notice.” Or possibly I’m just planning, planning, planning—all of it’s okay. So, no matter how, you realize, the outcomes of your check-in. Resolve right away that’s all nice just the best way it’s. Like, let or not it’s that way. Let’s say your mind is spinning with anxious planning and also you’re just stuffed with all these emotions which are really unpleasant and your body really hurts. Even under those conditions just really tune into how okay that’s—that’s just the best way it’s right away. And just let or not it’s that way, give it all of the room on the planet to simply be that way.
We’re not going to be aggressive towards our own state. So regardless of the state is that you just’re in, we’re going to be okay with that, welcome that, let or not it’s that way. Because adding aggression on top of that and trying to vary it, change it, change it is definitely just making it worse. So see if we will come right into a fundamentally welcoming, open mood towards whatever our state is right away. And let’s say you’re like, “no, I can’t welcome it, it’s too… I just hate it, I hate it, I can’t welcome this.” Okay, well welcome and for those who can’t welcome that, then welcome the very fact you can’t welcome even that. Get to the place where you might be fundamentally welcoming whatever is the present status.
Now let’s tune into our fundamental spaciousness. Fundamental, just notice a deep, deep, deep sense of spaciousness, openness just like the sky. The a part of your experience that’s identical to an empty, beautiful sky. And into that space we’re going to now use our metaphor. You realize, a pair weeks ago we were meditating as a goddess, and sometimes we meditate as a mountain. The image for tonight is—we’re going to meditate just like the ocean, okay? So I would like you to simply, into that vacant sky, picture, literally picture an ocean, with an infinitely distant horizon and no bottom. It’s just an unlimited, vast, vast ocean. And you’ll be able to either picture it or you’ll be able to feel it, feel like an ocean. Or simply in whatever way you imagine, be like an ocean. But this ocean does have some properties. This ocean is tremendously still. Like, on the very top, on the water, it may need currents and ripples and stuff. Nevertheless it’s so big and so deep that the majority of it’s just absolutely, perfectly still in a way that feels really good. It’s an open, relaxed stillness, so notice the stillness of the ocean. It’s also so deep and big that it’s very, very quiet. Again, way up on the surface there could also be just a standard amount of hubbub and noise but this can be a very, very deep ocean. Deep inside it, it’s very quiet.
Now this can be a very big ocean but it surely’s not empty, it’s got all types of life in it. It’s very alive, it’s very vibrant with life and energy and color and all that. And yet, the ocean itself isn’t bothered by any of that, in actual fact it welcomes it. No amount of movement or brightness or stuff occurring with the varied life forms ever bothers it. It really, really likes all that variety, all that beauty, all that life, all that energy, all that generativity and yet it isn’t disturbed by it in any way—simply welcomes it, loves it. So just sit as this still, silent, beautiful, peaceful ocean that’s stuffed with life, stuffed with energy, stuffed with variety and yet utterly unbothered, utterly unperturbed and imperturbable.
Now letting go of the image of the ocean. Stick with the qualities of stillness and silence, imperturbability, vibrancy and likewise vastness, tremendous vastness. And into this vastness, the one thing you’re noticing, you’re just resting as vast awareness. Notice the rising and falling of a single wave of breath. We’re probably not focusing hard on the breath with tight awareness. That is vast awareness that just notices this rising and falling wave of respiration. A really relaxed, open way, very easy. Awareness is already aware, it’s aware of the breath. So just let awareness effortlessly stick with the rising and falling breath.
As usual, for those who want a little bit bit more to listen to there, then just make sure that that awareness notices the tip of every in-breath and the tip of every out-breath. Don’t miss those moments.
This vast, open, clear, vivid awareness is totally awake, completely aware. Just resting in its own wakefulness without effort, noticing the rising and falling of the breath with total ease. Just the simplest thing on the planet.
Should you’re having trouble staying awake, just open your eyes and sit up; meditate along with your eyes open, normally solves the difficulty.
Excellent. Now let’s come back to the elemental sense of spaciousness: openness, fathomless, boundless, spaciousness. And see that very clearly, outside of mind, outside of feelings, outside of every part there’s just limitless halls of space in all directions. And from this place of tremendous spaciousness we’re going to do Giving and Receiving practice. Giving and Receiving practice goes like this: I’m going to start out with someone we all know and this vast spaciousness that has infinite room and infinite resource goes to breathe into itself all their problems, all their worries, all their difficulties, all their suffering, all their pain. Since it’s vast space, it’s not an issue, there’s good enough room. Vast space is not going to be disturbed. After which on the out-breath this infinite, vast resource gives back to that person kindness, love, caring, healing, support, beautifulness, whatever they need. And this works because we’re coming from vast space, so we don’t must worry. But be very specific, breathe into the vast space all, every last little bit of their problems, their suffering, their pain, their despair, their difficulties. And breathe back every part good, with holding back nothing, don’t keep some back, give it throughout. Because this infinite space has infinite resource. So, in-breath we’re taking it on, out-breath we’re giving back love, caring, kindness, joy, support, health, whatever they need, holding nothing back. So let’s work with this for a little bit while.
This works quite a bit higher if we actually imagine the suffering and difficulties that we’re taking over, very vividly. Either as, like, a visible or a physical sensation or a sound. Many individuals visualize some form of, like, black, gunk, like tar coming in or some form of pollution, or whatever. After which on the out-breath the healing will likely be like beautiful light or something lovely. So don’t do it in an abstract way as an idea, do it as a physical sensation or a visualization or something, so it’s more concrete—If you must you’ll be able to switch people.
Now again, on that in-breath really make it form of gross. You’re taking within the worst stuff on the planet, the pain, the suffering, the illness, the difficulties. But since it’s infinite space taking it in, it’s no problem. It’s not sticking anywhere, it’s not build up inside. Really see that very, very clearly. After which on that out-breath it’s just this beautiful wave. Nonetheless you picture a good looking light or beautiful wave of affection and kindness and caring and luxury and healing and joy, make that very vivid for yourself.
And really see it helping them, see it healing them and bringing them joy and remodeling. Don’t wander away in thought in regards to the person or about their life. Just keep with this quite simple practice.
Notice if there’s any a part of you that’s holding back or resisting or attempting to keep a boundary there and completely let go of that—give it throughout and be willing to take all of it on.
Good. Now let’s switch to doing this for the entire world as an alternative of just single individuals. Absorb all of the suffering of the entire world, all of the pain of each being in the entire world, all of the fear and anxiety and despair of each being in the entire world. Because we have now infinite space, this endless space, there’s good enough room, with tremendous room left over. It doesn’t even make a dent. Breathe all of it in as some form of gunk. Really feel it coming in after which breathe out this beautiful wave of healing and love and light-weight to the entire world—to each being in the entire world, every suffering child, every injured animal, every body in an inconceivable spot—the entire world. Take all of it in and provides out perfect relief, tremendous, loving relief.
Stick with it, keep the visualization going. On the in-breath, taking in all of the war, all of the starvation, all of the pollution, all of the abuse, all of the damage. Taking all of it into this vast, loving space, removing every last bit from all the universe. And respiration out perfect love, total kindness, caring, healing relief. It’s this wave of affection and light-weight, the entire universe. I’m touching every being, in all places. Stick with it very clearly.
Excellent. Now you might have overlooked one being in the entire universe, you would possibly have overlooked one, which was yourself. So now let’s do that same exercise for ourselves, taking in all our own pain, all our own suffering, all our own illness, all our own sadness, all our own troubles into this vast, infinite space where they simply vanish. And respiration back to ourselves this loving, kind, healing, joyous energized light, pure compassion.
Excellent. Now you’ll be able to let go of the Giving and Receiving and just come back to resting as basic space, easy, vast space of awareness. Awareness that could be very awake, alive, vivid, clear, boundless, timeless. And easily resting as that. We don’t must do anything to generate that awareness, it’s already there as a part of every moment of experience. So we simply rest as that.
If you desire to, if it feels good, you’ll be able to notice the rising and falling of the breath inside that awareness or just stick with being awareness itself. However the activity here is total rest, doing nothing in any respect and yet being wide awake.
Typically we do that part with our eyes open. You don’t must. You’ve gotten them open and possibly just form of gazing at the ground in front of you, probably not taking a look at anything.
Regardless of how much considering arises on this vast, boundless space, the space of awareness isn’t disturbed in any respect. It stays perfectly still. Regardless of how much emotional difficulty or physical pain arises on this space, awareness itself isn’t bothered or harmed in any way. This vast space of awareness isn’t something we create or generate, it’s already there from the very starting. I’d say we just must notice it, except what’s noticing. So we don’t even must notice it. It’s at all times there, all along in every experience.
What’s noticing right away?
What’s noticing right away?
Without delay?
Excellent. Let’s end the meditation there, be happy to, in the end, move and stretch.
Dharma Talk
So we did this practice called Giving and Receiving and it’s—(laughing on the flickering lights) are those blinking on or off or am I having a seizure? Yeah, okay—and it’s an unusual practice in that, you realize, you’d think the practice can be, “well, let’s eliminate all of the bad stuff inside us and breathe in love and light-weight,” and all that. And that’s, you realize, a way that lots of meditations go. And so that you’ll notice that this turns that whole thing on its head. And it, if we’re imagining that we’re, you realize, in our limited minds, in our limited bodies then that visualization may be a little bit uncomfortable, right? “Oh, I don’t want to absorb all this gunk.” And that’s why I discussed several times that what makes it work is that we’re coming from a spot of boundless space like an infinite sink, right? A lot room that regardless of how much you took in there would at all times still just be infinite room left over.
So, you realize, it’s really vital that we start out by really resting as infinite space and noticing that, or let’s say boundless space, limitless room, right? Where there’s just room to take all that in and it doesn’t, there’s nothing for it to stick with, right? If, to make use of this language, lets say we first noticed the emptiness of self, right? And so long as we’re coming from a spot of spaciousness, emptiness of self and so forth, then there’s good enough room for all that to are available in and it’s just not an issue. And in the identical way that vast, boundless space has limitless resource, so there’s enough love, there’s enough compassion, there’s enough kindness, there’s enough caring to present with none holding back and there’s at all times infinite left over.
So, we wish to make sure that whenever you start the practice and whenever you end the practice you come to a spot of real spaciousness. Because otherwise it may feel really unique. So we began there and ended there. One other thing is that, you realize: why are we doing this? If we’re talking about it in the normal way, it does actually, you realize, help people, help beings, help the world and so forth. But in a more mundane sense it totally breaks down that sense of egoic isolation, that sense of “I’ve got mine and I’m here in my little, you realize, coffin in a body bag and I’m protected, you realize, and everybody, I got my stuff, you realize.” And as an alternative it opens it up and breaks it down and we come more into, let’s say, unselfish, relational mode. And it’s really good at doing that. That’s a pair times I said, “notice for those who’re holding back and don’t hold back,” right? Because that’s the mood. You ought to just .
So possibly essentially the most difficult part is just sticking with the, you realize, concentration aspect of it, to maintain the visualization going. If we’re doing it form of full force or with, you realize, form of total engagement then we actually are visualizing. Or for those who’re not good at visual visualizing then somatic visualizing, like all this gunk coming in. And it may really be, like, repulsive. And so that you’ll feel yourself form of resisting it and it’s, like, it’s going to push you into that place of real spaciousness where it doesn’t matter how much of that is available in, it’s not disturbing. And in the identical way, you realize, the visualization of, let’s say light, or whatever, that felt like, that real joy and love and compassion and healing coming out, you realize? That may take lots of effort to do these, the visualization part. And so for those who get drained you’ll be able to at all times just come back to respiration as space for some time after which return into it, okay?
In order that’s the practice called Giving and Receiving. Often it’s referred to by a Tibetan name which is Tonglen which actually means ‘giving and receiving’ except reversed—‘receiving and giving’. And so that you’ll hear it known as Tonglen. But interestingly it’s not original, regardless that it’s very widely utilized in Tibet it’s initially, identical to most Vajrayana type practices, it’s originally from India. Probably the primary one who wrote about it was Atisha, a famous teacher from India who did each Mahayana and Vajrayana stuff, so it’s quite an ancient practice. And, you realize, hundreds of thousands of individuals have done this for at the very least a thousand years, so it has an extended history of practice. And so we all know that it really works and we understand it’s protected and we all know you can, you realize, like dig into this in a deep way and really get the advantages out of it, okay? And so it’s something that for those who’re used to, let’s say, metta practice this does something similar. It’s form of, see half of it’s kind of exactly metta practice after which the opposite half is that this kind of boundary breaking thing. But you’d use it in an identical way that you just might use metta practice. So for some people who can be your whole practice and that’s a superbly wonderful practice. For other people it’s something, let’s say you were on a retreat and also you were doing eight or ten hours of meditation a day, that may just be one practice.
Nevertheless it’s good to maintain it in there, it’s very powerful and likewise, like I say, it form of keeps, in a funny way, the energy of it keeps welcoming you into your vast, spacious nature, right? And if we were talking in Buddhist language we’d say it keeps welcoming you into your Buddha nature, right? Since it’s the Buddha nature that has that ability to heal the universe, that’s what it’s. And that mood of, like, I’ve got that confident, infinite resource, that’s bodhichitta, right? That’s the mood of the enlightened mind or the woke up mind. The thing that’s interesting is, that’s not something we create, that’s not something we generate, it’s not something we learn to construct or someway, like a flywheel that we just keep constructing the momentum on, or something like that. It’s totally not like that, it’s already here—it’s at all times been here. It’s just something that, after a whilst you notice more clearly in yourself, okay? In order that’s what we’re doing with Giving and Receiving. Any questions or comments about that? Reports?
Q&A
Michael: Yes, what’s your name?
Q: Laurel.
Michael: Laurel or Laura?
Q: Laurel.
Michael: Laurel. What’s occurring?
Q: I just wish to make sure that my brain, or I’m rocking around this. So it felt like I used to be within the soup and possibly channeling the soup but at no point was I the soup. I’m presupposed to be the soup, or I’m going for the sense of being that open energy. I’m not a lot channeling, I used to be really focused on channeling but that felt just like the body bag you were talking about and was disturbing a few of the time.
Michael: If I’m going along with your metaphor appropriately, it’s are the space?
Q: Yeah.
Michael: Yeah, just very boundless space. Stuff is likely to be coming into that space but there’s a lot room it doesn’t even affect it. After which love and kindness is coming out of that space. But again there’s a lot there it’s not emptying anything out, so we’re being the space, okay? Did that answer your query? Yeah?
What else? Was that terrible? Did you hate it? What form of experiences did you’ve? That is a great moment for sharing. Yes?
Q: I discovered it very interesting whenever you said towards the tip of the meditation to deal with yourself. That portion of the meditation felt very different, I felt my belly getting sticky because I used to be holding on to those, just like the stories that, you realize, defined me. Like I, yeah, oh I’m letting go of this pain, like, what am I?
Michael: So it’s going right towards the direct awakening thing, right? So that you see the way it’s not some form of fluffy practice we do off the side to be nice, to pretend to be nice people, or something. It’s really getting in there, right on the core of our own neurotic fixation.
Q: The more that I relaxed and softened, that it shifted into more open space. But one thing that I get hung up on within the meditation is the language that’s used.
Michael: English. You’re hung up on English?
Q: English. Like, “you notice the one who…” how did you say that?
Michael: I said, “Be the one who’s noticing.”
Q: Are you able to say that another way?
Michael: To begin with, what’s flawed with saying it that way?
Q: Nothing happens. There’s no movement, no openness.
Michael: And the way do you realize nothing happens? What’s the thing that—what knows that?
Q: It feels more like a considering than a being.
Michael: Okay, so right away—what knows that? Look. I don’t want you to know, I would like you to note.
Q: I don’t feel like I can notice.
Michael: Okay, how do you realize that you’re feeling that way? Something’s noticing it. This actually isn’t hard. Just do exactly what I’m asking. What you’re doing incorrectly is you’re searching your mind trying to search out a solution or a memory or an idea about it and as an alternative are you able to—are you having an experience right away, yes or no? Are you having an experience?
Q: Yeah.
Michael: Yeah, okay. What’s having that have?
Q: This experience or that one up to now?
Michael: Whatever’s happening right away.
Q: I’m noticing what you’re saying to me.
Michael: What’s noticing?
Q: [inaudible]
Michael: Yeah so just keep pointing at that. It’s not a brain, it’s not a body, it’s not a spot in space, it’s just this thing that’s aware. Or, and ‘thing’ isn’t even… there’s the word that I’d get hung up on. It’s not even a thing, it’s just aware. Lets say, to place it one other way, you realize, what’s experiencing right away?
Second Questioner: I feel if I’ll, make a rephrasing.
Michael: Oh, you’re going to rephrase it? What’s your name?
Q: I’m Sam.
Michael: You’re going to show today? Okay great, tell her. No please do, I’d love you to, go ahead.
Q: The rephrasing, I feel I heard this from Sam Harris, is to show attention on itself. Like, notice the way you’re being attentive after which, like, in kind of an easy for like, when he says to note what he’s experiencing, attempt to turn attention on to what’s giving attention.
Michael: Thanks for sharing that, nonetheless. Good. What else? We will open it as much as another questions on anything about meditation.
Hi, Tatiana. Just talk loud.
Q: Yeah, I feel like we’re having this, like, Buddhist discourse.
Michael: We don’t must, we will just have meditation discourse.
Q: Yeah for me what we just talked about, it’s form of like dropping the eye all together.
Michael: Can you really do this? Or are you contrasting attention and awareness?
Q: Well I assume you must define what attention is. Nevertheless it’s like I assume your attention becomes so broad it’s not attention in [inaudible] sense.
Michael: Yeah, if we imagine that focus must be like a focused a part of awareness then we’re moving attention further and further towards zero until it becomes—so it’s either total attention or total inattention but the attention part is fully there. That’s right.
Q: [inaudible]
Michael: Right, I’m having trouble hearing you. So I feel I got that though, you said there’s nothing that’s not in focus, right? Excellent.
But the purpose is that we are inclined to conceptualize ourselves, we make ourselves right into a conceptual object. So I’m at all times considering, like—oh, I’m a brain in a body and the brain is doing these items and there’s some eyes there and so the sight’s coming within the eyes, the brain should be picking up on that. After which that’s my experience. But notice that’s a bunch of ideas. I’m not saying it’s not true but that doesn’t matter, none of that’s your experience, that’s some shit you learned in class.
Your experience is that, there’s just experience. That was happening before you knew anything about brains or eyes or bodies or anything. The lights are only on. There’s an experience. And so that you don’t must know any of that other stuff for experience to directly notice itself. In truth, you bought to throw all that away for a second.
And regardless that the best way you were describing Sam Harris described saying it’s true—turn attention back on itself. And that’s a quite common and excellent way of talking about it. Even that, what happens is you begin having a mental idea of . And also you’ll get into this weird thing in your head of attempting to turn around. And in order that becomes problematic another way.
Experience is just awake. It already is having the experience of itself very, very directly, with none effort.
Close your eyes, everybody close their eyes. Now what we’re going to do is in a minute I’m going to say “open your eyes” and I would like you to open your eyes and spot what you see, okay?
Ready—open your eyes. Here’s my query: did you do anything whenever you opened your eyes, to see? Did you anything? Did you’ve to someway work out find out how to see right then or was the experience just suddenly present, okay? And that’s only one a part of it.
But that’s what all experience is like, you’re not doing anything in any respect, it’s just present. And whenever you let go of the concepts about it, like—oh, it’s in a brain and the brain is, you realize, inside this box of bone after which there’s skin stretched over it after which there’s some hair in there. It’s like, all of that’s just added layers of ideas. And without, for those who just drop those ideas, the experience feels boundless. And I don’t mean like—oh, I can see what’s happening under a certain rock on the far side of mars, or something. Just saying it feels boundless. It’s a really specific flavor whenever you’re letting go of all those concepts. You don’t must eliminate them, I’m not saying, like, unlearn anything. I’m just saying notice your experience directly and it’s very different than the form of conceptual cocoon we’re wrapping every part up in on a regular basis.
We were taking a look at this, like, sacred verse from a thousand years ago the opposite day and the image of that it gave was, such as you’re wrapped up in concepts, like a bug wrapped in or encased in its own spit. And I used to be like, okay, that is considered one of those metaphors that doesn’t really translate that well. So we’ve been searching for a greater metaphor however the just one I can consider is, and this might be a worse metaphor, but it surely’s like, just imagine being, you realize, covered in mattresses. You realize, like all only a pile. There’s lots between you and it. And all of it’s—that’s why the bug is in its own spit—you’re making those mattresses. And you’ll be able to just form of effortlessly let go of it and suddenly it’s just respiration the free air directly. It’s very, very, very straightforward and talking about it just makes it increasingly convoluted.
So only for a minute I would like you to simply drop it and spot that you just’re experiencing. So experience experiencing, right away—do it.
Okay, possibly now the brain snaps back and it starts fascinated with it. So do it again—just drop.
When you get used to it, it’s the simplest thing on the planet, yeah? It’s essentially the most obvious thing on the planet since it is experience itself. Nothing’s more obvious than experience itself.
Other comments or questions? Yes, what’s your name again?
Q: Jason. Yeah, I even have extreme leg pain.
Michael: So next time sit in a chair.
Q: Oh, okay.
Michael: Nobody requires you to take a seat on a mattress on a cushion. Just sit within the chair, that solves the entire problem. Does that make sense?
Q: Yes.
Michael: You are feeling okay about that? Okay. Otherwise, you realize, practice sitting on a cushion at home until you’ll be able to sit for an hour. It’s only a matter of getting used to it and I don’t mean getting used to extreme pain. I mean eventually your body adjusts and also you learn find out how to sit. But for those who’re not spending lots of time sitting like this but you’re spending lots of time in a chair, just sit within the chair. This doesn’t magically offer you more awareness, right? Does that help?
Q: Yes.
Michael: Good. Yes, what’s your name?
Q: Ethan. Thanks. Doing practicing online—on this kind of vast, open state of awareness, was really helpful to, form of. I noticed that it was easier to be equanimous about each phases of the practice.
Michael: That’s exactly what that’s presupposed to do, yeah. Right, it’s the—my famous—I even have some famous metaphors that, you realize, I patented and, you realize, to make use of them you’ve to pay me a fee. And considered one of them is, it’s just like the jar of hornets, okay? That’s, you’ll see that in all places, the jar of hornets. So if you’ve, like, 20 hornets in a jar and also you shake it up, you don’t wish to put your hand in that jar, right? But for those who, let’s say open the jar, you realize safely someway, and it’s in an enormous field, tons of of miles on the side. Now those self same 20 hornets, same thing exactly, 20 indignant hornets aren’t an issue anymore. Because there’s just a lot room, right? There’s just a lot room. After which imagine it’s not only 100 miles on the side, it’s a billion miles on the side. Are the hornets really an issue? Not likely, right? In order that’s the thought.
Yes, Allison?
Q: This was a very good day for me to be doing Tonglen. Sometimes after I start attempting to picture an individual there’s like a frenetic identification means of, like, who’s going to be the person? That nobody springs to mind, and that was not an issue today.
Michael: Yes, I noticed by your makeup.
Q: Yeah, I used to be totally, “Should I placed on mascara the primary day I got here back here?” Which was, looking back, I noticed in the primary five minutes of the sit, an error in judgment. At the very least you realize I used to be really present.
I had an interesting thing to occur towards the tip, after we did the piece of sending and taking with ourselves and went back into the attention mode, I noticed this thought pattern that I do know thoroughly and I’m often very reactive to, in myself. But I just noticed it on this very gentle way and I used to be like, “Hh yes, there it’s, doing that thing again.” And I don’t at all times have that gentle response to it. So it was just interesting to form of have that have right after doing that practice, and noticing how rather more compassion and space I had to supply myself right afterwards.
Michael: Absolutely right. More compassion, extra space to supply yourself, that’s the thought. In case your, you realize, heart is form of closed off and also you’re kind of armored up, this breaks open the armor. If, however, you’re form of too naked, you realize, and too sensitive and too open, it gives you lots more sense of resource with that. You realize, where it’s like, you don’t, you’re feeling such as you’re not quite so on the sting of, you realize, being overwhelmed, or whatever. In order that’s the thought, okay? Kati, you’re on.
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