Meditation
As usual, we’ll do an hour-long guided meditation, and as usual, be at liberty to take part in the guided meditation, or not. It’s as much as you. Fairly often it starts out easy and gets harder. If it goes to a spot either that feels too hard, otherwise you don’t need to do it, just stay where you’re at. If I keep getting weirder and weirder, and at a certain point you’re, “Whoa, okay, that’s an excessive amount of!” You’ll be able to back up a little bit bit, and stay there. You’re answerable for your individual feeling good, okay?
Let’s begin, as usual, by just checking in with yourself. Go inside and just see the way you’re doing, or, as I normally say: ask yourself the query, “what’s it wish to be me without delay? Then look, feel, try how your emotions are doing, how your body’s doing, how your thoughts are doing, whatever else–how your astral council is doing. Just “what’s it wish to be you without delay? How is it getting in there?” Test it out, and nevertheless it’s going, just let that be okay. There’s not another place it is advisable to get to, or other things it is advisable to do, or something else that should be happening. Just let whatever’s happening be okay for now. For a minimum of the following hour, we’re letting go of the concept we must change how we’re. As an alternative, we’re allowing ourselves to be exactly what we’re like on this moment. Letting go of the elemental self-aggression of the concept nevertheless I’m without delay will not be correct. Only for now, let it’s correct. Whatever it’s like, even when it’s real uncomfortable, for now, it gets to be that way. It may possibly change, but we’re not judging it, trying to regulate it, attempting to make it into something it’s not.
Okay, good. Now, to the absolute best of your ability, just let your mind do whatever it’s going to do, and as an alternative occupy the space outside of your mind–the space that’s just like the sky. Thoughts can proceed doing whatever they’re doing, but we’re just not anxious about it. As an alternative, we’re resting with awareness just like the sky. We’re just allowing ourselves to note that there’s a naturally occurring a part of awareness that’s just wide open, very awake, very clear, and never involved within the considering mind. Just let yourself be just like the sky with none striving. This isn’t imagination, this isn’t attempting to make something occur. Just notice the a part of experience that’s wide open, shiny and clear, very spacious. There may be other parts that aren’t like that, but we’re just moving into inhabiting that zone of openness and awakeness and clarity, quite than being all gripped down contained in the considering part. That’ll probably just keep going, and we’re just going to let it toddle on its merry way, but we’re not involved with it. Notice that there’s nothing to do there. We’re simply resting as wide open sky-like mind, uninvolved with the considering process.
Now we’re going to do a combination of respiratory and mantra for a little bit while. The Mantra is a really very very very ancient one, time-honored. It goes “soham hansa” so everybody just say that out loud so I do know you bought it. “Soham hansa.” Excellent. Then we’re just going to do it silently, but that’s just actually linguistic. The words in Sanskrit mean “I’m he/ she or it.” It’s not specific in Sanskrit whether it’s male female or neuter: I’m she, she is me. What we’re talking about is “I’m the source of all consciousness, I’m awake awareness itself and awake awareness itself is me.” If we were in a theistic mode, let’s imagine I’m the goddess the goddess is me.
So, starting with respiratory into your belly, literally imagining that the air is coming into the belly on the in-breath. It’s “soham,” after which respiratory out the belly on the out-breath, with an actual sigh variety of a sense there, “soham hansa,” like that. You’re imagining the breath coming in slightly below the navel, actually entering the body through a hole slightly below the navel after which exiting out the identical spot, “soham hansa.” On that in-breath, on the “soham” feel the energy growing stronger, energy within the belly. On the out-breath, feel any tension leaving any, sense of constriction tightness tension gripping, crimping, all just releasing and opening and dissolving and vanishing. Then, on the in-breath, again, “so hum” — feeling that energy growing below the navel really strong. A way of shiny, clear, fresh, energy out-breath. All tension, all tightness, releasing, so let’s go along with that for a number of moments.
After all, that is all happening within the context of remaining because the wide open sky-like mind. We’re not getting all thinky about it. Thoughts may be happening, but we’re just not involved with that, we’re just being wide open awareness, respiratory in. Reciting the Mantra and respiratory out, feeling clearer and brighter on the in-breath an increasing number of relaxed on the out-breath. “soham” she is me, I’m he, he’s me, I’m awareness itself, awareness itself is me.
If you need to make that a little bit harder you can too see a shiny light within the spot where you’re respiratory in. If that’s hard, don’t do it, but when that’s a straightforward addition, go ahead and add that.
Good. Then we’re going to maneuver as much as the guts. Let’s do the identical thing. Not the physical heart on the left, however the energy heart right in the middle, the center of the body, but a little bit bit back. It’s not on the front of your chest, it’s way deep in there. Feel that air now respiratory within the chest, a gap of the guts, and energizing, much more energy. Again, if you happen to’re good at visualization, you possibly can see shiny light there. Then, on the out-breath, as an alternative of rest, it’s radiating energy to the entire body, into your feet, into your hands, into your legs and arms, into the torso, into the pinnacle, and, especially into the central channel. Respiratory in, opening the guts, energizing and opening the guts, respiratory out, feeling that energy flowing to the entire body and radiating even further out. Still doing the mantra, “soham hansa.” “Soham” on the in-breath.
If you need to go a little bit further with it, feel the energy radiating out, not simply to your whole body but to each other meditator within the room. Feel the energy of all the opposite meditators coming back to you, so that you just’re each giving and receiving this open-hearted strong shiny clear woke up loving energy. Remaining just like the sky, uninvolved in considering but wide open, clear, spacious, shiny. The center growing brighter and more awake, more open. The entire body lighting up with energy.
Excellent. Now move the visualization as much as the third eye. Respiratory right between the eyebrows, respiratory in through a hole within the third eye. But this time, as an alternative of rest or heart opening, we’re feeling wisdom and clarity within the third eye on the in-breath and on the out-breath, respiratory out tremendous openness, brightness to our entire being, into the entire world. When you end up involved in thought also on the out-breath, the mind just dissolves into space. Again, we are able to see that the third eye spot could be very shiny. Soham hansa. Really feel that wisdom, clarity, energy filling all of awareness. It is a sort of wisdom and knowing that is totally non-verbal and non-conceptual. it’s not ideas, not about anything. It’s direct “soham, hansa,” respiratory in through the brow and out through the brow. When you’re visual, then see a really beautiful shiny light there, perhaps almost blindingly shiny.
Excellent. Now let’s do the identical thing through the highest of your head. This time respiratory in enlightenment energy. Absolute awakening enlightenment energy all the way in which right down to the perineum at the bottom of the central channel. Respiratory in all the way in which right down to the perineum from a hole in the highest of your head. “Soham,” all the way in which down, that enlightenment energy filling your entire body, after which respiratory back out through the highest of the pinnacle, radiating enlightenment energy to each other person within the room and all Buddhas all over the place. Feel enlightenment energy on the in-breath coming from everyone else within the room and all Buddhas all over the place, all bodhisattvas all over the place.
We’re radiating and receiving enlightenment energy on the in-breath all the way in which down all the way in which down after which on the out-breath, just giving it away, utterly freely, utterly wantonly. Just giving all that enlightenment energy away to all beings. Feeling it also filling our own body. It’s not a mind thing, it’s a body thing, it’s a heart thing and awareness thing. May also fill the mind, but it surely’s not only the mind thing. Feel that total awakening, total enlightenment energy coming in after which flowing out, massively powerful, just utterly profligate. You’re just giving it away. Radiating and receiving awakening energy.
Good. Now let go of that entirely, and easily feel your body. On this case, body means your whole body including your head. Just feel the entire body and feel how every sensation within the body is solely a sort of vibration. If we live within the ideas in regards to the body, it’s going to feel every kind of solid and prefer it’s fabricated from bones and essentially like pipes and levers and wiring and so forth. But that’s within the mind. When you feel the body itself, outside of the mind, you only feel vibrating energy, buzzy, tingly, magnetic, electrical-type feelings. Sometimes unpleasant, like perhaps a little bit intense; sometimes very, very subtle, very sweet, very gentle; and all the things in between. Each sensation is a sort of buzzy tingly energy, vibratory. That’s not something you’re pretending or trying to visualise, that’s just what it appears like.
Notice that the entire body, every person sensation, the sensation of your entire body, is nothing aside from layer after layer of vibration. It could be very subtle, perhaps very gentle, perhaps not. Wherever it still appears to be solid, or stock, or heavy, or dense, just breathe into that spot as if there’s a hole there. Breathe right into it and breathe back out of it until you notice it’s nothing aside from vibration. Let go of any idea about what the body really is or really isn’t. That’s not what we’re doing here. We’re feeling what it appears like–vibration, plenty of vibration, vibration occurring within the wide open awake space of awareness. Awareness is aware of vibration. Vibration is happening inside awareness. A large open space of wide awakeness wherein vibrations are noticed.
With a number of clarity, you notice something quite interesting: that the vibration itself is none aside from awareness vibrating, the space of clear awakeness itself vibrates into being the body. The body itself is nothing aside from awake awareness and space exuberantly vibrating. The body itself is wide open space, wide awake, clear, shiny, wisdom, clarity, compassion. The deep experience of the body is vibration, but even deeper, much more clear, is the body is space, wide awake space, utterly clear, utterly exuberant. If there’s discomfort within the body, or pain, or something feels off, notice that that, too, is none aside from vibration, and the vibration itself is just the energy of awake space. Even the discomfort within the body is nothing aside from wide open wide awake space.
Look into whatever you think that essentially the most fucked up, gross a part of your body is, whatever you hate essentially the most about your body, or that you think that is disgusting, and sick and incorrect. Feel into that, not as an idea, feel into it, and spot that that too is nothing aside from wide awake space vibrating the exuberant expression of awakeness itself.
Good. Be at liberty to maintain working with that, or if you need to go a little bit deeper, and perhaps a little bit more difficult, notice now the thing we put aside earlier, the considering mind. See if you happen to can notice the thoughts within the mind, whether or not they’re visual, verbal, or some other sort of thought, as nothing aside from vibration, movement, change. The talk within the mind is only a sort of lullaby even if you happen to know what it means. It’s still just vibratory sound within the mind. Any images within the mind are only colours, shapes–but patterns, textures, moving through the mind–it’s all just vibration below the extent of meaning. It’s just vibration within the considering. Tune into that vibratory quality of thought. It’s simply motion. There’s no need ever to stop or interrupt that motion, or attempt to get it to be quieter. We just simply notice that it’s just a sort of lovely vibration, just a sort of lovely flow of energy, flow of activity. There’s no have to interrogate it for meaning but simply to only feel it’s almost a sort of body sensation of just energetic flow. When you feel that flow very clearly and deeply, you notice it doesn’t even come from the pinnacle. It originates rather more deeply within the body, and it’s only a flow of energy activity, and as a flow of energetic vibration, it actually feels sort of wonderful, kinda nice, no problem. Letting go of attempting to get into all of the meanings is totally relaxing, and as an alternative, it’s just like the mind is a hot tub with vibrating bubble jets which might be just repeatedly offering the soothing stream of energy activity.
Notice, much more deeply, that vibratory energy of the mind is solely what simply awake space exuberantly vibrating the mind into existence is–none aside from awake space itself. It’s unattainable to get caught within the flow of considering as a flow of energy since it’s just repeatedly pouring past–a stream of bubbles you could’t get caught up in. Very deeply we are able to notice it’s simply vibrating space, wide open boundless space. What’s there to get hooked on? What’s there to hook? There’s just wide awake space, vibrating with energy into all these various forms.
Now, if you need to be challenged a little bit more. When you’re okay with what we’re doing, stick with that, but when you need to be challenged a little bit more, look into essentially the most unpleasant, sickest, darkest, most fucked up, and gross a part of your mind–the part you’re afraid to even recognize, but you understand it’s there. See it clearly, the really bad thing. Then notice it’s not any different, it’s just vibrating flow of energy awareness, a stream of thought activity pouring forth from awake space and back into awake space, and never leaving awake space. Utterly wide awake, utterly primordially pure from beginningless time, primordially pure awakeness energy.
If there are some real problems you’ve been grinding, on real stuff that should be solved, that too is none aside from awake space vibrating. Bring that up now, bring up the issue now, and spot that the thoughts are nothing aside from awake space, nothing aside from vibration that’s primordially pure, utterly awake. Involution and evolution repeatedly trading forwards and backwards, not an issue, now just rest as vibrating space.
The person meditating is vibrating space of pure awakeness, the person you think that you’re who comes from somewhere and does stuff and has opinions and all that–nothing aside from wide awake vibrating space. The wide awakeness doesn’t come from anywhere, it’s just there. The sense of being anybody, doing something, just wide awake, primordially pure space, itself shining with sensible clarity.
Any sense of a floor, and even ground, and even Earth beneath you, just opening up into nothing but vibrating space. Nothing holding anything up, just vibrating space. Any sense of any partitions or limits in any respect–wide awake boundless space, boundaryless space.
Any sense that you just’re attempting to get somewhere–nothing but vibrating awakeness. From this view, bring up now, if you happen to feel like being challenged, bring up now the thing that’s incorrect with you that no one’s ever allowed to see, that you just really know deep down inside is fucked up. Notice that that, too, is wide awake shining shiny pure space itself: the space of pure awakening, and nothing but exuberant expression of pure awakening. Bring up those things which might be incorrect along with your partner–those, too, are nothing but vibrating wide open, wide awake, brilliantly clear beautiful expressions of boundless primordially pure space itself.
Now, just let the clarity and brilliance of this primordial awakeness just shine within the boundless limitless halls of space because it vibrates all things into existence and swallows them back again, and is rarely separate. Notice that there’s a lot energy that it’s just ridiculously playful, utterly spontaneous and free, dancing the world into being moment by moment, after which disappearing back again into itself moment by moment. Wild and free, utterly beautiful, giving all of it away.
As we end the meditation, notice that everybody around you is nothing aside from awake space vibrating into existence. The room around you–nothing aside from awake awareness vibrating into existence. The entire world repeatedly just an expression of awakeness itself vibrating into being, utterly full, never starting never ending.
We’ve a microphone for this a part of this system so if you need to speak just raise your hand and we’ll bring a microphone to you but keep in mind that we’re being live-casted onto the net so it’s not only the parents on this room. So anything anyone would really like to report about that or things coming up raise your hand, and let’s speak about it.
Be at liberty to face, but you don’t need to.
Questioner 1: Did the lights go up in intensity sooner or later throughout the meditation?
Michael: Nope. Did it appear to you want they modified intensity?
Questioner 1: It’s much brighter, yeah.
Michael: It’s very shiny and clear and wide awake, so it starts to look different sometimes. It’s not crucial, doesn’t at all times do this, but that’s cool. A number of times, if we’re still contained in the considering mind, still coming from the machinery of thought, that’s very lossy and it’s very frictiony, and tons of our clarity and energy is getting sure up and so it’s not available right, it’s just sort of within the friction of the gears, so to talk, and once we step outside that, there’s quite a bit more energy available for just noticing. So it could actually sometimes be the case that things get literally brighter and clearer, not at all times, but definitely one in every of the common effects that’s sort of cool. I feel it’s interesting for you that it just was sudden. Excellent, what else?
Questioner 2: Hey Michael, I used to be interested by what you meant by quieting the mind, since it felt like there is usually a definition of quieting the mind which is getting away from the considering mind. But you then also talked about being attentive to the buzzing of the thoughts so is that also a type of not quieting the mind? Are you able to make clear that?
Michael: Did I say the quiet the mind?
Questioner 2: You said, I feel, don’t quiet the mind. What did you mean by that?
Michael: I mean don’t attempt to stop considering. It’s a quite common misperception. In lots, not all, but plenty of meditation traditions, that is basically necessary to stop considering and other people get really focused on stopping the considering. But, you possibly can’t do that actually, and if you happen to attempt to do it directly, it backfires. We will calm the body down and calm the prana down, the mind will calm down. But then you will have the issue of what do you do the remaining of the day whilst you’re walking around and doing all your job. Are you going to do your job along with your mind all you understand squashed? So you possibly can’t really take that outside of a meditation hall that easily. Relatively, what we do is let the mind just be the mind and do its stuff, but we don’t engage. You’re not up inside it, not up within the mind. You’re just being the awake space, inside which the mind is happening, but you’re probably not being attentive to it, mainly. Eventually, once you get used to that you then can come back and spot the energy of it, and even get into it, without being caught up within the gears again. Does that make sense?
Questioner 2: Yes, thanks.
Michael: Then, for instance, you possibly can do work that takes a number of mental energy, you will have to think and so it’s not in some way like “oh, I used to be in my beautiful thought-free meditation and now I gotta go, now I’m bummed out I, gotta go work and think,” and that’s an issue or something. Relatively, your mind is just flowing and it’s capable of do this sort of work very easily and yet you’re not caught up–so no bummer in any respect. That’s the concept.
Questioner 3: Thanks Michael. While you’re talking about seeing things as awake space…
Michael: I’m saying it awake space. Be awake space: There’s no other thing to see the awake space.
Questioner 3: I’m having trouble with the purpose, I feel the awakeness of it’s so self-evident, however the conceptual mind kind of constructing it into an even bigger thing and–
Michael: Don’t make it into an even bigger thing. It’s the self-evident part I’m talking about.
Questioner 3: I realize it’s self-evident but it surely’s difficult to place down.
Michael: What knows that? Right? It’s so obvious.
Questioner 3: I’m saying it’s almost too obvious. My mental mind is saying it’s
self-evident, not that I’m perceiving it as self-evident.
Michael: Oh, that. Well, that’s different.
Questioner 3: Sorry, I misspoke.
Michael: Are you having any experience without delay?
Questioner 3: Yeah,
Michael: Okay, that. Is that awake?
Questioner 3: Yeah…
Michael: Well, is it or isn’t it?
Questioner 3: It’s, but…
Michael: But what?
Questioner 3: It’s just immediately the conceptual mind is like…okay but.
Michael: Don’t do this, or notice before it does it. So, try again, are you having an experience?
Questioner 3: Yeah.
Michael: That’s it. There’s no have to give it some thought. It’s right there, and even the thing that’s noticing the considering, that’s the awake space. Are you with me? Not conceptually, are you noticing it without delay?
Questioner 3: On some level, on some level.
Michael: rrrr. Outa here! [laughter]
Questioner 3: I’ll try
Michael: That was a complete fail. [laughter]. Notice how that feels. What’s noticing? There it’s. So, it’s actually you said, it’s too easy, too obvious. That’s an actual deeply traditional point. Most individuals have an issue not since it’s too hard, but since it’s too easy, and so they think it must be harder. In order that they keep missing it, since it’s like, no, it truly is that easy. Also they keep considering it couldn’t be that obvious, it have to be harder or more arcane, or more hidden, or something. In order that they miss it since it’s so obvious.
The thing you’re talking about is basically traditional, right? So what’s the deeply traditional answer is: No, it truly is that obvious, okay. Just there, it will not be more complicated than that, it’s not a special awareness, it’s just the attention, okay? Good job.
Questioner 4: Hey Michael. My query is, how does trauma make the awake space contract a lot? There’s a number of awake space, but in some way when there’s trauma even once I recognize I just feel like my whole face is vibrating, like very aggressively, and it sometimes loosens up or lightens up, but I just noticed that there’s just a number of vibration.
Michael: The very first thing I’m at all times going to say with a matter like that, I just need to say it: I’m not a therapist. I can’t offer you any trauma advice by way of that. I’m only a knucklehead, right, so don’t take heed to me. I’ll just say, all the things causes contraction. It’s just that trauma is an enormous contraction, and so we work with that slowly, since it’s really reactive, right, and so if you happen to go at it, it’s going to react really big, and really squeeze down. So you only be really gentle, really gentle, really gentle, don’t go at it. We’re very loving and spacious with it, okay? That’s the knucklehead version.
Questioner 4: No problem, thanks.
Michael: But it surely’s really necessary to not trigger it, right, so we go real gentle, real gentle. Excellent.
Questioner 5: This has to do with the poetics of what you’re mentioning.
Michael: Good. Thank God! Awake space, we’d like some Poetics. Not enough Poetics
Questioner 5: This was one in every of those rare sits where I felt like I used to be starting to note a little bit bit more what you’re consistently mentioning, and when that began to occur, there’s a way wherein it really seems very spacious, but there’s also a way wherein, it also felt like absolute spacelessness, prefer it had no extension in any respect.
Michael: Well, no one said how big vast is. No one made any comment in regards to the dimensions of boundlessness. It’s just boundless. Which accurately means we don’t know what the boundary is. It may be infinitely small, we just don’t know, right? So I’m using language really rigorously. It’d feel super huge, but it surely won’t, but we don’t know. It’s not a particular size.
Questioner 5: Yeah, that’s clarifying, and resonates because there’s a way wherein it seems as if it’s infinitely huge, and it seems as if it’s an infinitesimal spaceless point at the identical time.
Michael: When you go into any specific a part of my body or mind and also you drill down, tinier and tinier, it’s going to just get big in there or it may be tight–you don’t know. The entire idea is: quit defining the dimensions. That’s a box we put all the things in: What size is it? That is saying that you just don’t know what size it’s, and you possibly can’t know since it doesn’t have a size. Okay?
Questioner 5: Yeah, is sensible.
Michael: Excellent. So that you’re getting clearer and clearer, right, oh I assumed it was purported to be big but sometimes it seems small, right? That’s direct, so excellent.
Other stuff coming up on the market? Anybody think this just doesn’t make any fucking sense, I don’t know what he’s talking about. Between each query I get to have some Thai iced tea. That’s the reward.
Questioner 6: Hello. I even have had previous experiences where it felt like I went from contraction to absolute openness in a short time, and it was a really emotionally intense experience. Like getting rocketed into it, whereas how I’m feeling without delay I’d describe as equanimity plus plus.
Michael: Yeah, we went slow, right?
Questioner 6: Is that each one that’s the difference–it’s just how we entered?
Michael: It may possibly be really dramatic, in the common sense of that might be to only pop into there, after which oftentimes our response is contraction. But when we go slowly enough to sort of acclimatize, it’s like we’re doing kind of the other, coming up slowly from scuba diving, we’re just slowly acclimatizing to openness, after which we’re not reacting as much.
Questioner 6: Thanks.
Questioner 7: Hey. To start with, thanks. I even have a little bit of a wierd experience I would like to share and see if you happen to can riff on it. It’s something that I even have noticed happens just about each time I meditate. I feel like my awareness expands almost like a quilt is opening up, after which there’s like one point where it’s snagged, and it at all times appears like the identical spot on my back, barely to the left, as if that’s like a dead zone or something. I’m curious if that’s an experience that other people have, and if there’s like a special technique to work with that.
Michael: It won’t be specifically the lower back on the left for other people, but oftentimes there are spots like that somewhere that feel stuck or feel just like the constriction stays, and there’s tons of the way to work with it. But regardless of what, we’re going to note that, if all the things else is wide open, vibratory, awake, eventually, that it’s so all-pervading that if we glance back at that spot, it’s going to release. It’s very hard for one spot to remain reified like that if all the things else will not be reified. So you only keep allowing all the things else to be as open as possible, after which come back to that place.
However, there are actually 1000’s of other things you possibly can do, but most of them are going to are likely to reify it more, after which eventually you’ll speak in confidence to it. Do you think that it’s the case that all the things else within the universe is vibrating awake space but your lower back on the left isn’t?
Questioner 7: It feels that way, yeah, but I don’t think it’s the case, but..
Michael: Right, so let it feel nevertheless it feels, but, I mean it may very well be that’s where the aliens put the implant. We just set to work with that, but even that’s vibrating awake space, eventually you only keep looking, and don’t force anything. It’s not like I would like you to consider this for it to work. That is direct commentary. So in case your direct commentary is that it feels tight and constructed, okay. Take a look at what doesn’t feel that way, after which go from there. None of that is an idea about something you will have to consider in, it’s just describing how stuff looks if you happen to work with it in a certain way.
Questioner 7: Okay, thanks.
Michael: But I’ll say that’s pretty common, except in other spots. Thanks.
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