Introduction
We’re just gonna do very, very light stretching. If any of that is beyond your capability, which it probably is not going to be, but whether it is just don’t do it. Okay so, you’re answerable for your individual body. What I’m suggesting is that we start out by reaching up and even in your tiptoes just stretch out, pop up and really even stretch your fingers apart look up, look up, look up… And again, inside the capability of your body after which in the event you can come down and touch the ground, which today for some reason I can do almost my palms, but we’re not attempting to set any records. Just get a pleasant back stretch. Should you can bend one knee, get the stretch on the back of the opposite leg and the opposite knee get the stretch of the opposite leg… after which come up. Just rest here for a breath. Feel your body. Feels nice to place your hands forward sometimes. Just really, really, really gentle, relaxed. Okay, after which let’s do one over, so this arm travels down your leg, just see if we will get a pleasant stretch over here. Okay, again super easy, nothing, no big deal. Everybody attempt to go in the identical direction. And produce it back up again, just rest here, feel how you are feeling. After which lastly, do like considered one of these spins, so that you’re holding your pelvis on the opposite side to tug you around just a bit of bit, after which the opposite way. Give it a pleasant smile to this after which come back to center, just respiration and relaxing, nice and straightforward. Okay, that’s it, nothing hard.
Meditation
Okay, so just in case you wandered in here unintentionally, I’m Michael Taft, that is the Alembic. We’re gonna do a guided meditation. The guided meditation is gonna last for an hour. Now, the entire idea is you’re gonna be sitting meditating, not moving for an hour. So, the very very first thing I would like you to do is get your posture correct. And the right posture is: your body feels good. That’s an important thing: your body feels good. Secondly, you’re seated on considered one of the cushions or the chairs in such a way that your lower back is form of curved in–you’re not slumping or rounding, and if it’s worthwhile to have two cushions to make that occur, it’s totally price it. Because sitting for an hour attempting to hold your back up with intense muscle strain will not be going to feel good, whereas in the event you get the cushion right, your back just form of holds itself up with really light muscle tension. Okay so, we wish that spine almost floating upwards, a sense of identical to floating upwards. Okay, your chin is tucked a bit of bit so don’t have your chin stuck out. Don’t touch the microphone. Have your chin tucked a bit of bit after which every little thing else. So your spine is floating upwards, your chin is tucked in, every little thing else is utterly, completely, totally relaxed, arms are relaxed, shoulders are relaxed, belly, just let your belly hang open, and in fact, your legs and feet are relaxed. So every little thing else is just comfortable.
Okay, so you already know meditation and even, I might say awakening and even liberation is embodied, right? It’s embodied practice. So getting your body on this nice posture actually begins the method right there, it’s each alert and relaxed, which is the standard of woke up awareness, right? It’s incredibly awake, alert, clear, brilliant, crisp but additionally utterly at rest, utterly relaxed, utterly comfortable. So we’re placing our bodies in a posture that reflects that–each highly alert upright and at the identical time tremendously at rest, tremendously comfortable.
See in the event you can tune into that quality within the body, and in truth let’s just begin like we did last week with a self-check, just ask yourself what’s it wish to be me straight away? After which just check how’s your body feel? How’s your emotions doing? How’s your mind doing? How’s whatever else is in there doing? So what’s it wish to be me straight away? Just check and whatever comes up that’s completely wonderful, we’re gonna accept that completely, not trying to alter it, not trying to evaluate it, not trying to manage it. Whatever it’s wish to be straight away is totally–for a minimum of in the course of meditation–utterly okay, utterly wonderful, utterly and completely accepted just the way in which it’s.
Okay. Good, now tune into that sense of awareness that’s just spacious and open and straightforward. It’s not something you’re generating, it’s not something you’re scuffling with. Just whatever part it would only be, it would only appear to be a tiny a part of your mind nevertheless it’s just spacious and open and comfortable. And just tune into that for a moment, that form of skylike, vast, peaceful openness that’s concurrently at rest and wide awake. It’s the meaning of awake. And just hang with that for a moment, resting as this wide open easeful wakefulness. Perhaps there’s lots of the mind that’s busy pondering but that is outside of that, it’s just the part that’s awake and open and still.
Now we’re just going to do a temporary imagination exercise. I would like you to picture a vibrant sun, the sun within the sky a number of feet in front of you and possibly just barely above nevertheless it’s a stupendous golden radiant sun. Should you’re not good at picturing things just imagine it in whatever way you imagine it. It’s totally wonderful. It’s not about getting some form of perfect image. It’s evocative. We’re just attempting to get the sensation of it. So picture this beautiful golden sun, it’s spherical, it’s radiant. But I would like you to start noticing the opposite properties of this sun that are that it’s wide awake tremendously, tremendously awake, and it’s also fearless, absolutely without fear. Moreover, the sun is–this imaginary sun, just imagination exercises–utterly clever, it’s crammed with wisdom and confidence.
Picture it just getting stronger and brighter and radiating out this wisdom and confidence and awakeness and in addition kindness. It’s accepting. It’s loving. It’s very, very kind. And I would like you now–into that vast sky of the mind that you just found earlier–just with one breath bring this sun into the sky of your mind. Bring it within the imagination inside you and feel those properties of wisdom and clarity and fearlessness, confidence, kindness, even joy radiating out now from deep inside, deep inside the sky of your individual mind. And feel those properties filling your entire being. Now it is a visualization and that is an imagination exercise nevertheless it’s not only imaginary because these are the properties of your individual deepest already existing awakening.
And now you may let go of that visualization and just come back to the wide open, vast, empty sky of the mind and from there I would like you simply to note the absolutely natural rhythm of the
breath rising and falling. We don’t have to point attention in a pointy way on the breath, relatively the sensation of the breath within the body just rises within the sky of the mind, after which because the breath empties out that feeling passes within the sky of the mind and it rises in awareness with none effort because awareness is of course aware. After which that feeling of the breath passes out of awareness with none effort because awareness is already completely aware. So we’re just noticing the rising and falling wave of the breath with as little effort as possible, letting awareness do all of the work and just being with that breath wave.
The breath is identical to wind moving within the sky of the mind not disturbing the sky in any respect. this wakeful space, this knowing space of the mind is effortlessly aware of the breath no effort needed. Should you’re scrunching your brow and trying really hard to pay attention just let go
of that effort, just allow and open along with the breath. There are other body sensations arising in awareness, the sensation of the entire remainder of your body, notice that as well. Just more winds within the sky. Feeling of your butt on the cushion or chair, feeling of your legs and arms, feeling of the face–all just moving winds within the sky of the mind.
Should you’re getting drowsy keep in mind that awareness itself is rarely sleeping, never drained, at all times wide awake, brilliantly awake. If it’s worthwhile to or wish to; it’s wonderful to take a seat along with your eyes open. Just relaxed and open, not gazing at anything. All the sensation of the body, the entire body, just arising in awareness and passing away in awareness. Only a flow of activity, just wind within the sky…
See in the event you can notice directly, just in your individual experience, where these body sensations are arising from and where they’re passing away to. Should you allow awareness to concentrate on body sensation very, very directly, not going to memory or into cognition, or concept, you’ll notice that body sensations aren’t coming from anywhere, and so they’re not going anywhere, and in between they simply appear to be flows of activity. There are other winds within the sky; there’s the wind of thought, sky itself, the vast boundless sky of awareness will not be disturbed by thought in any way. The wind of thought can move through the sky with none problem. It doesn’t matter how much thought there’s, the sky of awareness is just effortlessly aware of the thought and totally uninvolved, totally unengaged. There’s a lot room in awareness, it’s so vast, it’s so boundless, no amount of pondering could ever disturb it. But neither does it grow to be involved. It simply is aware, notices the flow of thought without engaging, no need to alter it, no need to manage it, no need to evaluate it. But additionally no need to have interaction, just aware of it.
See in the event you can notice where these streams of thought come from or where they go to. Looking fastidiously awareness will notice that the thoughts aren’t coming from anywhere, nor do they disappear to anywhere, just wind moving through the sky.
Superb. Now notice if there’s any sense of doing something arising within the sky of awareness and passing away within the sky of awareness. A way of someone doing something or attempting to do or efforting, an agenda, a plan, a control…and just notice that that’s just arising in awareness and passing in awareness. It doesn’t come from anywhere. It doesn’t go anywhere. From beginningless time, this vast awake awareness has at all times been here with none effort. Now simply rest as that wakefulness itself, without doing anything in any respect, without becoming involved in anything in any respect, not doing, not controlling, not judging, simply resting in awakeness.
Nothing to alter in any respect, nothing to manage, nothing to make different than it already is.
Nothing to do in any respect. Just resting in being that’s at all times been there already completely perfect. Rest on this wakefulness you already at all times are. This vast sky of boundless, timeless awakening, crisp, clear, and brilliant now notices the sun rising again and in it the sun is radiant and effulgent and powerful, radiating out a form of tremendous peacefulness and joy in all directions. It radiates out kindness and love in all directions, radiates confidence and nobility in all directions. It radiates belonging and connection in all directions growing brighter and stronger and fuller with each breath, increasingly beautiful with each breath.
Let’s end the meditation there.
Dharma Talk/Q&A
Be at liberty to maneuver and stretch, allowing your body to feel good in whatever way that feels good.
If nothing else you may say you sat for an hour today that’s good.
If it’s worthwhile to use the restroom or whatever that’s wonderful otherwise I’m going to open the ground to
questions. So if there’s anything in your mind or a report about your sit bring that up now otherwise I’ll just start monologuing which I’m able to doing at any point. So raise your hand if you might have anything you’d wish to ask.
The thing about these instructions that I’m giving tonight and you already know throughout the weeks is that I’m not making–or I would like to say there’s a selected approach to take these instructions and that’s–I’m not making claims about reality or claims about how the world works or what’s on the market or anything like that. These are practice instructions. They’re a view. They’re a approach to sit, okay? And so if there’s any a part of your mind like–oh he said awareness has been there since beginningless time, how does that work? and does that fit with evolution? and like that form of thing–a minimum of while we’re practicing just throw that out because that’s not what that instruction–it’s just an example–but that’s not what that instruction is about. It’s not like a press release concerning the truth about how long awareness has been here. It’s a approach to practice. This can be a view to take a seat in whilst you’re practicing, right? And so they’re all like that, so in the event you end up, oh he’s–you already know we’re imagining this thing and that’s not likely–just take it on as a way of sitting, not as a way of understanding the universe or something, okay? And it becomes much much easier to work with.
Q: So I’ve done lots of guided meditations…
MT: What’s loads? What number of is loads?
Q: Perhaps like a number of hundred hours sitting in retreat.
MT: Great.
Q. Someone was giving a form of instruction.
MT: Good.
Q: I mostly found it hideous
MT: Good.
Q: This seems like an excellent word.
MT: And yet you had tons of of hours of them
in order that’s an interesting comment in your um…
Q: Perhaps it’s not that many possibly like 100. Generally, my experience is that if I like attempt to incline towards the way in which of seeing that they’re suggesting the entire system is identical to absolutely fuck that…
MT: Yeah.
Q: Sometimes I’m like that has happened nevertheless it prefer it’s not going to occur now. I feel prefer it has ever happened that like there’s like an instruction or identical to an image that’s being painted and it’s like, yes, okay, that is like accessible on this resonance now, but normally it’s somewhere between irrelevant and awful.
MT: Irrelevant in what way
Q: I’m not saying like irrelevant like indeed it’s bad and irrelevant, I mean like within the moment as I’m attempting to practice like I receive instruction and it’s like not available from the state that I’m in. Something like that.
MT: Because I might, you already know, a minimum of with an excellent guide to meditation it needs to be utterly relevant whether you may connect with it or not nevertheless it’s attempting to point to possibly probably the most relevant stuff.
Q: Yeah, I don’t mean relevant…
MT: No, I understand how you mean it. I’m just saying there’s a approach to take it that is perhaps different than the way in which you’re taking it.
Q: I’m unsure that I even have a like a concrete query. I’m attempting to like gesticulate in a matter…possibly my query is something like what’s up with that? What’s your experience event? What’s your advice for individuals who have that shape of experience? There’s a teacher that I’ve worked with who’s like, yeah I don’t know guided meditations, they’re like, it’s like a complete like funny, like I’m unsure about that. Some people seem to simply find them absolutely wonderful and like I proceed to be somewhat confused with this.
MT: Yeah, well I mean the simple advice is don’t do this. You recognize like there’s plenty of ways to meditate, in the event you don’t like that form of meditations don’t do it. And in the event you’re on this room and there’s a guided meditation or any room, and there’s a guide to meditation happening and also you’re not into it just ignore it. Sure, just do your individual meditation. That’s the simple answer. Truthfully, like hey you don’t like doing hot yoga? Do regular yoga. I mean you already know sure just
find something that works for you, relatively than struggling for tons of of you already know, like don’t struggle that tough. Nevertheless, whenever you–in order that’s the true answer don’t do it. Nevertheless, in the event you also ask what’s up with that? And I might say, I don’t know, but I believe that for many individuals, I don’t find out about your case, and I’m not likely commenting. I don’t know you, right? So I’m just saying on the whole the instructions are being heard after which there’s a layer of judgment and defense and control and so forth layer after layer of form of non-openness towards that and that’s normally the difficulty, okay? Which is wonderful and I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m saying that nonetheless–
to the extent one can drop that and just allow the instructions to form of go right in, it really works higher, okay? And that is perhaps a thing an individual can control or not, however the mood is just allowing, letting it are available in, trusting it, going with it, you don’t know what the aim of that guidance is
necessarily and so that you’re trusting it. And again, if that doesn’t work then okay try something else. Is that this making any sense to you?
Q: Sure. That was very comprehensive.
MT: I’ve achieved comprehensiveness for one query. This is great. Thanks.
Other stuff coming up?
So, it’s quite common–simply to proceed with what I used to be saying–it’s quite common to you already know
imagine that you just’re going to come back to a meditation course and get instruction i–I don’t know, just like the meaning of the universe, or how the world works, or what subtle beings exist, or what number of heavens and hells there are, or what’s the reality, or something like that. And definitely, previously, that will have been the role of this too. Spiritual type practices previously had many other roles than they do now, but a minimum of in my meditations I’m attempting to not do this but relatively just giving
meditation and structure that’s pointing to the things that may cause awakening to occur, or if that’s already occurred, to engender more of that and more that and more of that. So that they’re just practice instructions, like saying you already know now we’re going to stretch up on our tippy toes and touch the ceiling, okay? It’s identical to that, not any comment concerning the meaning of the ceiling or something. So it’s really vital to simply let go of all that here. Individuals who’ve worked with me for a very long time know that in the event you ask a matter like well, what’s really? I’ll just not answer it because I don’t know. Yes.
Q: Thanks.
MT: You’re welcome. Thanks for coming.
Q: So I don’t often do the type of form of ‘do-nothing’ meditation but I feel it’s pretty powerful for me and I used to be wondering–what I would love to do is like bring some flavor of the ‘do-nothing’ into like non-meditative like identical to going through life.
MT: Sure, so would everybody else. We’re not here simply to get good at meditating, right? It’s like we’re here to get good at life.
Q: But specifically wish to do nothing versus like often bringing my meditative state into the world there’s like a doing. I’m wondering if you might have guidance on that. The way in which I approach once I’m sitting is like notice the urge to do something and just form of let it bubble but on the planet often you need to act on the thing
MT: And possibly it is best to, you already know, it is best to act on the thing.
What do you’re thinking that I’m going to say? Just curious?
Q: Now that you just say that, possibly do nothing
MT: A very good guess but no, that’s not what I’m gonna say. But I like that guess. Why did we have a look at feelings within the body and thoughts and stuff before we checked out the doing part? And particularly remember I kept saying there’s still breath. I didn’t say this but you almost certainly noticed you were still respiration and still feeling your body whilst you were noticing that it’s just not coming from anywhere not going to anywhere and it’s just form of this experience. After which, once we were talking about pondering or once we were meditating on the thoughts just moving through awareness and so they’re not coming from anywhere and never going to anywhere, again there I definitely did say they’ll just occur. There may very well be as much pondering as you would like or as much as there’s, we’re not trying to alter it, not trying to manage it , not attempting to make them go away but we’re seeing them otherwise, right?
So now what do you’re thinking that I’m going to say about doing? There could be as much activity, like within the physical sense of doing, and noticing that the sense of a doer is just one other thing that comes from nowhere, goes to nowhere, and has no ground of any kind. In other words, the concept of doership is the thing I’m talking about not how much your body is moving.
Okay? So whenever you, you already know to place it in colloquial terms, right, regular English, it’s like yeah you’re washing the dishes but notice that that activity is just happening. Where is the activity coming from? Where is it going to? Are you able to discover a doer there? Or is it just happening? That’s the way you bring it into every little bit of your day, right? Yeah, is there like–am I working really hard straight away to reply the query? Or is it just answering itself because that just happens? That’s how you’re employed with it again and again and another time, okay? In order that sense of doership is a thing, that’s it’s an imaginary creation of your mind, and you’re employed hard to create that thing, and yet all it does is cause trouble, and if we just chill out and open you’ll notice every little thing gets kept away from this like irritating nugget of doership in there. Okay, in order that’s the way you do it. Now which may not be easy but that’s–you play with it over and another time, especially sitting in meditation, especially towards the tip of the meditation after you’ve noticed these various things, are you able to then notice that the meditation is just happening? It’s doing itself after which in the event you get to where that’s form of experientially form of familiar for you then try walking within the woods, or something it was very easy, and spot that very same thing–your legs just move, you already know the hearing and seeing of the woods just happens. Where’s this doer in there?
After which regularly, regularly, regularly do it into increasingly complex and difficult situations and truthfully in the long term it’s only a matter of trust. It’s only a matter of trust since you’ll see that every little thing happens, every little thing gets done, right? It’s like that line from the right? Where it says the Tao doesn’t do anything in any respect and yet every little thing gets done. That’s exactly that flavor, awareness doesn’t do anything in any respect, and yet every little thing gets done. The awake aware already enlightened buddha that you just already are and at all times have been doesn’t ever do anything and yet every little thing gets done. So you simply keep twiddling with it. Should you’re struggling stop it. Stop struggling. Just let it’s open. Let it do its thing. But a bit of bit at a time.
There was these guys, way back when people were within the origins of the axial age, and there’s all these monks and nuns that were attempting to work out easy methods to work with all these items. There have been groups who decided, okay you already know we’re going to not do anything. And so, but they literally they meant it physically. I’m just gonna not do anything. I’m just gonna lay there all day and that’s my vow. Never gonna do anything and in fact, that is involved with ideas of karma and since in the event you do something you accrue karma, so that you don’t wish to accrue karma, so don’t do anything. So try it sometime, it seems to be really hard to love not breathe and never eat and never take a shit, not ever move, not ever. It was quickly discovered to be totally hopeless, right? So long as you’re alive you’re doing stuff. But they found in the method something much, much, much, much, much deeper which is that the of doing is the difficulty not the doing.
The concept of who and what’s doing is the difficulty.
Okay, in order that’s the thing to take a look at. What seems like it’s doing something straight away? What’s that? Where is it exactly? I guarantee, in the event you look closely you can’t find it, it’s unfindable which is a synonym for empty, right? It’s empty.
Q: Concerning the the sense of doing, so there is no such thing as a doer, right? But sometimes what gets me out of meditation will not be necessarily a sound or something within the body because I can hold that in awareness a minimum of among the time, but this thing that’s most sticky is generally thoughts that take me right out, especially in guided meditations when thoughts like disagree with what I’m presupposed to be doing, straight away. And I can see that there’s a way of those usually are not like my thoughts, I’m not conjuring them up, it just happened. But that makes it worse because then I’m frustrated by the undeniable fact that those thoughts come up that…
MT: Are you frustrated straight away by the undeniable fact that you’re respiration? Are you frustrated by the undeniable fact that your kidneys are at work or that you already know your eyes work? Yes or no?
Q: I can’t say that I’m.
MT: Right, so why be frustrated by the undeniable fact that your brain is working? It’s just doing what it does. Okay, so we let it do its thing. Nevertheless if the thoughts are really sticky and so they keep grabbing attention like that then we do–you already know you’ve been within the Vast Sky Mind courses, so you already know what I mean once I say I would like you to simply do vipashyana on the emptiness of thought
over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, without end
until they’re not sticky.
Q: Vipashyana is frustrating, as well since it’s not I’m unsure where or easy methods to detect it and
the thoughts are only way too fast for the opposite part that’s attempting to do the vipashyana.
MT: So we do easier things like emotions and body sensation until we get really good at
deconstructing them. You recognize as your concentration gets higher something that previously seemed fast doesn’t seem quite so fast anymore, not since it has modified but because the standard of attention has improved, and because the quality of intention improves and improves those things that were really fast start going form of like this… and it and seeing the emptiness becomes easier and easier. So we just–if that’s all frustrating like that, it’s easy–we just back up. Do the sooner steps really thoroughly you already know and it would take some time to simply really thoroughly work with that. But it surely works, it’s not useless effort and so if it’s too hard with the
thoughts do it on emotions. If it’s too hard on emotions do it on just respiration, whatever it
takes to get to the place where the emptiness is evident.
Q: To me, it appears like I can do vipashyana on the emotions for instance at a special time once I’m calm enough or concentrated enough to do this but is that you already know like a fast hack that may get me out of the moment?
MT: The short hack is: be the sky through which the thoughts arise. What’s knowing the thoughts? And it would, you may should hear that after and just or you may should hear it dozens of times after which or you may should hear it a thousand times. I don’t know but eventually hearing me say, don’t be the thoughts be the thing that knows the thoughts, that’s it. It’s not a thing, but simply to speak in normal language, it’s then be the knower of the thoughts, okay? After which that’s the short hack. Then you definitely’re not in them because you may’t each be something and observe it. As soon as you’re observing it you’re now disentangled, right? So what’s knowing the pondering straight away? Come from there and suddenly they’re not sticky or they’re a minimum of less sticky. But you already know doing that I’m particularly slow and really silly it took me many years to have the ability to do this well, most individuals get it much much faster than that, so that you’ll probably get it quite a bit quicker. You’re still all frustrated yeah it’s like be the thing that’s aware of frustration straight away. The attention knows the frustration just that’s it indeed yeah in fact you’ll get it. You’ll get it. You’re putting within the time.
Sadly, we’re getting towards the place where we’ve got to finish our discussion this really is my favorite thing on the planet is hanging out and talking with you all. Just even coming here in any respect, I get identical to a joy bomb. I just love doing it. So thanks for being here and interacting in this manner. It’s really really fun and funky.
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