Nondual Guided Meditation by Michael Taft
Begin by settling into your meditation posture. As usual, you may stand, you may lay down, you may walk, but our typical posture goes to be seated. And should you’re on a meditation cushion be certain that it’s firm and high enough in order that your hips are well above your knees in order that it gives that nice slight forward tilt to your pelvis. So your whole lower back is curved in such a way that your spine lifts up. The highest of your head is nearly like being form of like, suspended from the sky. Your chin is barely tucked so your spine is sweet and upright and your remainder of your entire being is just relaxed.
And before we do anything too complicated, I just want you to examine in with yourself. Just allow awareness to note type of the general condition of your being, like how does it feel to be you right away. What’s occurring? And just tune in and permit whatever is occurring to simply be happening. Don’t try to alter or control it or judge it, or make yourself improper, or let it’s a part of the story of you in whatever way. Just tune in to whatever’s there and just notice the thoughts, the emotions, the state of your body, the state of your mind, the state of the room around you or whatever. Just tune in and take a pleasant deep breath and just let whatever’s there be whatever’s there. Right. We’re just tuning in for the moment. Checking it out. Totally non-judgmental, totally not feeling bad about whatever’s there. Not even trying to alter it, not even attempting to deny it or push it away. Let regardless of the condition of your being is, be the condition of your being right away. It’s totally tremendous. Okay, good.
Now, set your intention for the meditation, whatever that could be. Good. After which, let’s construct some resource together. And tonight we’re going to try this just by what we’ve been doing recently. We’ve been doing gratitude practice. So, I need you to simply bring up belongings you’re grateful for. Really take into consideration them. See them in your mind’s eye. After which feel the gratitude that’s arising even when it’s very subtle. Even when it’s very slight, but really notice that feeling of gratitude. Doesn’t must be big. This just isn’t about big. It’s about real. Stuff you genuinely, authentically feel grateful for. And we’re just going to do that for a number of minutes, just noticing our gratitude. Feeling our gratitude. And don’t veer from that. Keep coming back to the gratitude many times. And spot the way it starts to form of melt your heart and melt your armor and melt your being in a really, very nice way. So, let’s do some gratitude practice together now.
Okay, good. So, just feel that gratitude, feel the open-heartedness, and feel the dearth of defensiveness. And now let’s move into the major a part of the meditation. Starting with our unification practice, our collectedness practice, our integration practice, our settling, restful practice of shamatha with an object. And so what I’d such as you to do is solely allow yourself to rest as vast spacious awareness. Remember I say allow. I’m not saying attempt to make your attention or your awareness as big as possible. Actually, awareness is of course fast. It’s naturally the whole lot you’re aware of. And what we do, is we only form of give attention to the eye part that’s narrow, but just all I’m saying is just loosen up that. And spot that awareness is sort of a sphere that just goes in all directions. And it’s all the time like that. We don’t do anything to make it that way. So just rest as this vast spacious awareness.
After which notice the breath rising and falling, the breath rising and falling. And I need you to particularly notice the top of the in breath, the very last moment of that in breath after which the top of the out breath, the very last moment of the out breath. Really listen to those moments extra, right. After which stick with the breath all of the moments in between. And if it helps you should use a label like respiratory in, respiratory out, respiratory in and respiratory out. And where the top is the top of the in breath, at the top of the out breath. You possibly can do a pair other ways. But I need you to stick with this in a really open manner. You’re not specializing in the breath, you’re simply allowing those body sensations of respiratory to arise on this open awareness.
Should you wander away in thought, just come back. Just awareness can pay attention to thoughts and aware of respiratory at the identical time. Just allow that respiratory to turn into distinguished, the major thing in awareness.
It’s really very easy to permit the mind, allow awareness to easily be with the breath. We’re not straining, we’re not struggling, we’re just allowing, just allowing the breath to be clear in awareness.
Okay, good. Now we’re going to tonight switch directly into doing Vipashyana, but we’re going to form of parallel what we were doing with the breath. I need you to do Vipashyana on thoughts. So that you’re listening to the verbal thoughts in your head or observing the visual thoughts in your head. And also you’re noticing once they vanish. Identical to we notice the top of the out breath and the top of the in breath. Notice the top of every thought whether it’s visual or verbal. Notice that come to an end, come to an end, come to an end. You’re not pushing them to stop. Awareness is solely aware of the thoughts, but it surely’s particularly aware of the top of every little bit of thought. If you desire to you should use the Shinzen style label there of “gone” but in fact don’t label that label. But even without labels just notice the top of any little bit of thought.
If there’s no thoughts for some time that’s tremendous. Just rest as vast spacious awareness. After which if more thoughts arise those are only thoughts arising in vast spacious awareness. And awareness is aware of them arising and particularly aware of them passing.
Should you notice that focus got caught in a thought, just let go. Come back to simply allowing thoughts to arise in awareness. And awareness notices them coming and going without interfering with them or getting caught up in them in any way in any respect. You’re not following the thoughts. You’re just noticing them and once they’re gone, they’re gone.
Good. Now I need you to obviously notice the emptiness of the thoughts, which is that you understand here’s the vast spacious awareness aware of considering. However the thoughts are identical to dreams that go through awareness. Or they’re identical to images on a movie screen or sounds in a recording. They’re in nebulous, wispy, dreamlike. Okay. You possibly can’t get caught in them, because they’re just too very similar to gossamer, too very similar to rainbows or virtual. They only disappear. They’re empty.
It’s unimaginable to become involved with any thought or follow any thought, because they’re identical to vapor, mist, fog, that’s there for a bit while after which vanishes.
Good. Now what I’d such as you to do is let go of the Vipashyana and just come back to being the vast spacious awareness wherein the thoughts are arising. But now we’re not taking note of the thoughts in any respect. We’re not taking note of the breath in any respect. We’re allowing the vast spacious awareness to easily pay attention to itself, okay. Should you wonder the best way to pay attention to the attention you simply have a look at the thing that’s looking. It’s that straightforward. Just let the vast spacious awareness pay attention to its own awareness. Okay. That’s it and drop the whole lot else. If a thought comes up and also you begin to grab onto it, just let go. If the breath sensation comes up and also you begin to grab onto it just let go. We’re not pushing them away or anything, but we’re simply just resting as vast spacious awareness uninvolved with anything. Let’s try this together now.
There’s nothing to alter. There’s nothing to repair. There’s nothing to manage. There’s nothing to control. There’s nothing to make higher. There’s nothing improper in any respect. There’s nothing in any respect to do. Just rest as the attention that’s all the time there, uninvolved with anything, simply aware of its own awareness with none effort. Zero effort. Rest like that.
Okay good. Now with a bit effort I need you to simply fill the universe with the sense of gratitude. Feel the gratitude that you simply felt in the beginning of this meditation and just allow it to type of like naturally beam out from you in all directions. Allow that joy that comes up to simply radiate out in all directions all over the place to all beings. Allow a way of openness and caring and kindness to radiate out in all directions to all beings all over the place in all universes. And permit that sense of just stillness and the sense of spaciousness and the sense of there being good enough time to simply fill all beings all over the place in order that they feel blissful and joyous they usually feel healthy and powerful they usually feel secure and supported they usually feel a way of kindness and love and caring and belonging now.
All right, superb. That’s our short, but sweet guided meditation for this evening.
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