Meditation
Before we sit still, what does it feel like? what sort of movement does it intend to make? As usual, don’t stop, keep going, and what I would like you to do is regularly just come all the way down to moving your spine all the best way—head to tail. All the best way as much as your head, the entire spine moving, after which, regularly just make those motions smaller and smaller and smaller, until you possibly can’t tell in case you’re moving your spine or not. And once you possibly can’t tell, then just rest there. Perhaps you’re still moving and perhaps you’re not, but that feels very different than locking yourself in place.
Notice how there may be a way that it’s not clear whether it’s still moving or not. So long as the movement is tremendously small, is it ever the case that your body can actually be motionless? I don’t think so. You’re going to be adjusting your spine a bit bit, you’re going to be respiratory, after all, and that moves things around. A number of little changes within the body. But, for essentially the most part, by way of big motions, on purpose moving your hands, or anything like that, we’re not doing it.
You’re going to loosen up, and let go of any fidgeting as much as you possibly can. We’re not doing that in a decent, rigid way, but relatively a extremely relaxed way, where we just let go of tension to the purpose of a lot looseness and leisure within the muscles that it might take numerous effort to tighten them up enough to maneuver. And since we’re not making that effort, they only stay relaxed and motionless, like wet rags. So it’s a really nice, relaxed, open stillness. Just feel into that relaxed, open, stillness within the body, within the face, within the eyes, within the hands. And just let that stillness seep out into all areas of the body in order that there’s an actual sense of relaxed open ease. Notice how as we tune into that sense of relative stillness within the body that’s available for the wandering a part of the considering mind to settle in with. It begins to leap around less or less intensely and starts to only smooth out a bit bit, be a bit more relaxed and open within the considering.
And, only for a moment, look directly in your experience ask yourself: What’s having this experience? Don’t answer that query with an idea or a thought or an idea—even in case you know obviously it’s the precise answer, that’s the incorrect answer. Just look, feel: What’s even having this experience? For those who really look, what you’ll find is just awake presence. Inside that awake presence, there are thoughts, there are feelings, there’s the sense of a world—all of that, but all of that will not be what’s having the experience. There’s just awake presence, wherein the experience is arising, wide open, relaxed, crystal clear, absolutely pure awake presence. Outside of any considering, outside of any ideas of who I’m, or what I do, or what I’m about, or any of that. Totally, utterly, outside of that is solely presence, openness, awakeness, clarity. It often is the case that a lot of thoughts are happening, verbal thoughts, visual thoughts, every kind of thoughts. But to the extent you possibly can manage it, don’t engage with any of those thoughts in any respect. Just allow them to roll on by, and just rest on this open, awake, easy, presence.
To start with, it might probably really help to easily notice the physical sensation of respiratory. You don’t should track it, or count it, or tear it apart, together with your intense concentration or something—just in the only possible way, just feel the respiratory from outside the considering mind. Feel the respiratory from this space of presence. Let’s do this together for a bit while here. If, at any point, you end up back being involved with considering—ooh, that’s an interesting thought—just loosen up, open, let go. Remember, we’re not attempting to stop considering, or control considering, or suppress considering, or change considering, we’re just letting it run within the background, and never engaging in any respect. It’s not an issue in any respect, just don’t engage. For now, just sit in open presence and awakeness, feeling the breath. We’re not respiratory in any special way, we’re just feeling the breath.
When you’re not engaged in thought, you would possibly notice that it’s incredibly nice to easily sit outside the mind in open, clear, wakefulness. Respiration feels good, it’s an underrated joyous activity. The great a part of this, which can be the bad a part of this, is that, in case you’re not all lost in thought, you’ve gotten to experience what you’re actually feeling. The respiratory feels good, but perhaps there’s physical pain, perhaps there’s a giant emotional difficulty. Normally, we cope with those by considering ourselves into distraction from them, and here you’re just not allowing yourself to be caught up in thoughts, so there’s no distraction. In the long term, that’s a extremely good thing, that leads us much, much deeper into our own presence, our own being. But, at first it’s uncomfortable.
We’re not used to sitting with how we’re actually feeling, unengaged with thought, wide
open, easy presence, feeling the breath. We’re not likely concentrating on the breath, so feeling every thing else, too. Feeling your whole body. We’ve had people faint in here before, or should run to the restroom, so if, for any reason, you want to rise up and leave, you’re welcome to try this. Just do it in a way that you just don’t disturb everyone. Now, without trying to control your breath in any way, notice the tip of the out-breath, and just at the tip of the out-breath, just let your mind crumble.
For those who’re already resting in presence outside the mind, you won’t really notice anything different there, but in case you are inclined to get caught up within the thoughts, at the tip of the out-breath, that very last moment of the out-breath, just let the mind dissolve. That’s a really gentle release, it’s not a pushing, or destruction, or some sort of smashing. It’s simply the tip of every out-breath, just letting every thing go, just coming into wide awake presence, in case you’re not there the entire time already.
At the tip of every out-breath, just let go. For those who’re already staying, let go in between, then just let go much more deeply. Anything that feels stuck, anything that feels constricted, anyplace you’re hanging on, anyplace you’re velcroed, just let it go with none struggle. With no fight in any respect, just let go. Let go of personality, let go of self and world, let go of the room, just let go.
Without engaging the mind in any respect, search for what knows the breath. What’s aware of the breath? Find what’s aware of the breath. Just look. It’s not a puzzle to determine, it’s just something to search for. What knows this moment?
Excellent, now, if that’s working for you, keep just sitting inside open presence, not engaging with thought, feeling the breath. You don’t should ask the query anymore, just return to only feeling the breath in easy presence, unengaged with thought. If that’s quite easy for you, then move to the subsequent phase. This time we’re going to observe the arising of every thought, from the very very very first moment it arises. So we’re not engaging with it. In a way, we don’t care concerning the content in any respect, we’re just noticing the arising of a thought. Almost as in case you’re watching bubbles coming up from the underside of the aquarium. Just notice that first moment of the bubble coming up, after which just let it go—meaning, it might probably do whatever it wants. You’re not engaging, but just notice it arises, notice when it arises. Sitting as easy, wide awake, wide open space, tremendously clear, tremendously brilliant, effortless, simply watching the arising of thought without engaging with it in any respect.
If that’s too hard, in case you end up constantly engaging, then return and just feel the breath. Work the sphere that’s productive, wherever it’s actually feeling good, go there. If it appears like it’s working, so to talk.
Thoughts streams are inclined to are available in surges or waves but don’t attempt to predict it or become involved with it, just allow them to. Notice after they arise and so they’ll flow past, and also you don’t engage in any respect. Remembering to not suppress, or control, or attempt to shape, just notice. In a way, welcoming every thought, saying yes to all of the thought that’s arising, but not engaging with any of it. Isn’t it interesting, you can remain in presence, have a complete experience, that doesn’t involve being involved in thought in any respect. It’s very easy to sort of find yourself believing that we’re our thoughts.
But, here, you’re being outside of thought, and, without fascinated with it, but just looking, you possibly can ask yourself, What’s even considering without delay? Don’t go to thought to reply it, just look. What do you discover? What do you discover doing the considering? You possibly can’t find anything doing the considering. It’s just happening, so the concept that you, one way or the other, are your thoughts, otherwise you own your thoughts, or are liable for them—it’s just nonsense. They’re just happening. You might be what knows the thought. So, ask yourself, and, again, remember, don’t go to thought to reply it. What knows the thought? What knows the respiratory? What knows this experience without delay? After which, feel into it. Find it. It won’t be a thought, and it won’t even be a body sensation. What knows the thought and knows the body sensation? Feel your way into what knows, letting go of any picture of what knows, any concept of what knows, any memory of what you’re thinking that knows. Just come into the knowing itself, without delay. It’s a sort of wide open, wide awake, presence. It’s not tranced out, it’s not in some sort of special state. It may be, however it doesn’t should be. It it’s just simply present.
For those who feel into that knowingness, it’s got a sort of radiance, it’s energized, and the radiance is loving and joyous. Even when, in the traditional way of talking about our experience, we feel really really crappy, really shitty, this presence, this radiant presence, feels a sort of joy and love. Outside of thoughts, and even, paradoxically, outside of emotion, it feels joy and love, it’s radiant, it’s pure, it’s wide awake. Notice that because the breath rises and falls, this radiant wakefulness stays constant, as all of the thoughts come and go in burble by and burble by, this radiant wakefulness stays constant. Because the experience around us continues to unfold, this radiant, joyous, loving, presence is solely present. Allow that to easily rest in itself. It doesn’t have to do anything, it doesn’t need things to be any different. It says yes to all experience, utterly outside the mind.
To place that much more clearly, the mind is solely one among the numerous things present inside it. Feel that radiant presence because the radiant presence from the radiant presence inside radiant presence. Letting all have to struggle just fall away. Letting all striving, and grasping, and neediness, just drop away like heavy boulders, just falling off. Let all stories of any kind just fall away, and permit the loving aspect of this radiant present to be within the foreground, radiant presence to be within the foreground. Doesn’t should be love for anything or anyone specifically, it’s just a part of the radiance. It’s very, very, very, connected. It cares, it’s kind, it’s soft, it’s gentle, it understands. Just feel that a part of the radiant presence most clearly from inside the radiant presence.
Be the nice I Am that you just already are. Letting go of every thing else, and just feeling that radiant, loving, caring, kindness quality. Letting go of any involvement with thought, coming back to easy openness, radiant presence, profound kindness. For many individuals, it might probably seem as if the radiance is centered in the guts. But, really, in case you loosen up, and just come from experience, without engaging thought, you’ll notice the radiance is all over the place—it’s the sphere. The sector is radiant, the room is radiant, everyone’s radiant, space is radiant, it’s effulgent with love and kindness, and even a sort of Joy. It’s the enjoyment of openness.
Notice there’s nothing to do to generate that, or one way or the other construct it up. You simply loosen up, and it’s there. Don’t get caught up in thought, and it’s there. Chances are you’ll also notice the vertiginous void that’s also there, but you would possibly not. Notice every a part of experience, in all directions, is radiant, openness, radiant presence. Notice that intimacy of all experience. Nothing is actually separate, outside of stories, outside of concepts, outside of thoughts. Without doing anything in any respect, there’s radiant presence happening on a regular basis. With on a regular basis, allow the radiant presence again to note its own joy, its own love, which is already there, already present. Perhaps very quiet, perhaps quite strong—doesn’t matter, just notice it’s already there. It’s only the machinations of the mind that make it seem not there.
Now, again, look from this radiant presence, not from the mind, look from the radiant presence itself, which is wide awake—it’s wide awakeness. Allow that wide awakeness to see itself. What’s it? Look. Look deeply. What are you? What are you, really? What have you mostly been, really? What knows this moment? Wake as much as this moment, and stay there. Notice that the breath will not be separate from the radiant presence. Notice that even the thoughts aren’t separate from the radiant presence. Together with your eyes open, notice the room will not be separate from the radiant presence. No a part of experience is separate from this all the time already primordially pure, wide awake, wide open, loving, presence. Nothing will not be it.
Dharma Talk
Now, just never re-engage thought, and also you’re all set. Raise your hand in case you feel like you may sit at the very least for a couple of seconds at a time outside of thought in easy presence, even when it was just a pair seconds. Okay, almost everybody. It’s not that onerous in any respect, for at the very least a bit while. So, once I say, now, just do this eternally—don’t re-engage the thought—I’m serious, that’s all you bought to do, just don’t re-engage the considering. It doesn’t mean stop considering, you let the considering do your work, and stuff like that. It’ll do all of it of its own accord. It all the time has been doing it of its own accord, so you only let it do its thing.
Due to the best way we’re taught, and the best way we’re socialized, and perhaps something really deep even in our biology, we’ll are inclined to come back time and again to being involved within the thought, and much more, being identified—like, “that’s me.” And the identical with the emotions, the emotions I’m having about those thoughts, that’s me, too. In reality, we sort of define ourselves, without necessarily being conscious of it, as these complexes of thought and feeling. That’s what’s occurring for me, most of these thoughts, these sorts of feelings, that’s it.
But, you only saw, you possibly can sit there outside of those thoughts and feelings, and also you’re probably still feeling stuff, but you don’t should discover with it, and also you’re still perfectly present. In reality, you’re perhaps much more obviously present. So, in case you do this, even a bit bit, the inescapable conclusion is that you just’re not your thoughts and feelings. They’re happening, similar to the weather’s happening, like a stampede of untamed horses within the desert is going on. A number of stuff is going on, it’s beautiful, it’s powerful, it’s exquisite in all these ways, however it’s not necessarily yours. To place it one other way, if the thoughts and feelings are yours, then the moon is you, the stampeding wild horses are you, the lakes and rivers are you. It’s one or the opposite.
Are you able to notice, as you sit in easy presence, that the room is an element of that easy presence—it’s not one way or the other separate. And that each conscious being on this room is an element of that easy presence, they aren’t really separate on that level. You possibly can just directly notice it, so it’s not like some sort of thing you’ve gotten to imagine in, just notice it. But as soon as you begin to make that move of, like, okay I can sit in easy presence for a minute, but now I’ve got to come back back because I’ve got to cope with stuff, I’ve got to not forget my keys, and I’ve got to do my job, and never seem like an idiot, not be an area kid up stumbling into partitions, and saying that wild horses within the desert are me. People don’t like that in case you talk that way, higher not talk that way.
But, as I said, you’ll notice that that just takes care of itself. All of the thoughts have been considering on their very own this whole time—they’ll just keep considering and doing stuff. What’s essentially the most powerful solution to be creative—you’re going to give you a giant idea, you’ve got to resolve a giant problem—everyone knows the most effective solution to do it’s to only ignore it, and let the thing solve itself. It can—one morning you get up, and there it’s—the reply is there. It’s just solved. It doesn’t mean things aren’t effortful, when you’ve gotten to scrub the closet. It’s really painful—I’ve got to scrub, but that every one just does itself. The radiant wakefulness just is there, unperturbed by any of that, and, the truth is, the other—it’s not only neutral, it loves, it’s joyous. Again, it’s not normal joy—it’s not, “oh, I’m so completely happy cleansing the closet!” It’s almost just like the joy of being is there, even in something that’s very unpleasant, there’s still joy of being.
What’s interesting is that we just keep distracting ourselves from that time and again, by grabbing onto considering. Like I used to be occurring and on about last week, a lot of the grabbing into considering is simply because we don’t need to feel some difficult feelings. There’s no judgment there, I mean anybody pulls their hand away from a hot stove, so, after all, we don’t need to feel that stuff at first, but, eventually, you realize you’ve got to feel. It’s there to be felt. All the emotions you’ve ever distracted away from are still stored waiting so that you can feel them. They never actually just go away. You’re just kicking the can down the road.
Notice how beautiful it might probably be to think beautiful thoughts. There’s nothing incorrect with considering, it’s awesome. A few of the most exquisite human experiences are only pure considering, so it’s not that it’s forbidden, it’s just—don’t take that on as work, or as identity, or as who or what you’re. It’s simply one other beautiful experience, like watching the northern lights, or an eclipse, it’s just happening. Nothing incorrect with that, and it’s not that we’re some sort of special radiant awakeness that’s separate from feelings, and separate from thoughts, and separate from the world, and separate from our smelly bodies, and from the difficulties of earth. All of those things—the thoughts, the emotions, the bodies, all of the difficulties, all of the mountains, and rivers, and forests, but in addition toxic wastes, and horror and death—are all of the radiant expression of that awakeness. It’s not separate in any respect. It’s all that stuff. In the identical way, you’re thinking that that your awakeness is a thing that your body does, but your body is a thing that the awakeness does.
Q&A
So, I can babble on like this for a very long time. I feel really good without delay, so I’ll shut up at the very least a bit bit, and allow you to guys ask some questions, or, you don’t should ask questions, just confer with me. Reuben has perfected the art of bringing the microphone around. Keep in mind that this microphone is broadcasting live to the Web, so in case you don’t want your comments to be permanently a part of the Wayback machine, or whatever, then don’t make them.
Questioner 1: Hi. Tonight what you’re talking about looks like it’s going into
Sam Harris territory a bit bit.
Michael: I’m not saying anything political. [Laughter]
Questioner 1: I do know that, the opposite side of Sam, that we’re not necessarily driving
the automotive.
Michael: Yeah, but you may drive a automotive easily like this.
Questioner 1: But I’m talking concerning the sense wherein perhaps we’re sort of watching a movie. I don’t disagree with this, however it looks like you’re saying this thing goes to occur, and you possibly can watch it, and you possibly can be sad when the sad part comes up, and you possibly can be completely happy when the completely happy part comes up, and just take all of it in. There’s going to be each, but perhaps we’re not–I don’t need to use the term however the FW thing. Does that come into this?
Michael: Say something until I even have something to reply, just keep talking. Who’re you is the query.
Questioner 1: That’s me. I’m the query.
Michael: I could say, good, we’re done. There’s the doing stuff on the planet, which goes to maintain doing, which may include like, let’s go stop a genocide. Stuff like that. Let’s do this. Awake space does that too, it doesn’t just sit there and go, cool! genocide away, mother fuckers. No, after all, it does stuff, and it’s still just radiant awakeness. The concept that it equals passivity is a mistake.
Questioner 1: I don’t quite mean that. However the peace that we’re on will not be the motive force.
Michael: It’s constantly unfolding of its own accord and any concept that this—the small person—is the one doing anything is hilarious.
Questioner 1: Fascinating.
Michael: If I appeared to make an ontology there, I didn’t, I’m just talking about experience.
Questioner 1: Thanks.
Michael: Steadfastly, didn’t make an ontology.
Questioner 2: Hi, that was an incredible sit.
Michael: Thanks.
Questioner 2: Something that got here up, I used to be considering like thoughts appear to be sort of like Tinder, where a like Tinder, where it’s like there’s times where I’m really the small print and the images and all that, but then if I bring it back to presence, I keep swiping, and if I keep swiping and coming back. I don’t know, there was something there, I don’t know.
Michael: So, surely that is essentially the most noble, gracious, metaphor for awake awareness or thoughts I’ve ever heard.
Questioner 2: That’s what it appears like. I believe that’s probably why they designed it that way. My query is, I do that meditation with you each Thursday, how can it feel this fashion–outside of just with me, since it just hit different.
Michael: Well, you only did it, just keep doing that. I’m not attempting to be flippant. Step outside all that engagement with thought, and see the presence, after which just keep feeling the presence. That just brings you right in, and if it’s sort of too hard to leap start on your individual, then there’s loads of guided meditations and stuff either on my stuff or on various other platforms that sort of provide you with the jump start. The more you do it, the more clear it is going to be. So, as a substitute of being like a thing you’ve gotten to jump-start, you only notice—oh yeah—it’s more like you only recognize, I picked up all of the junk again. Just drop the junk, just drop it, that’s all you bought to do. But you sort of got to be a bit OCD about it.
Questioner 2: Yeah, I definitely use your meditations to jump-start this on training wheels. I appreciate that encouragement.
Michael: You’ve every thing you wish for that.
Questioner 2: Thanks.
Michael: So glad you got here up. Again, you don’t should have an issue, just whatever you must share.
Questioner 3: Hello, that is my first time with y’all.
Michael: Welcome.
Questioner 3: Thanks. There was a metaphor whenever you were asking the query that got here up in me, that woke up presence appears to be a automotive driving but with none electricity. The automotive is moving, and experience is going on, and we’re either the automotive itself, or within the automotive.
Michael: Okay. If we’re going to make use of that metaphor, then you definately are the sky, and the bottom, and the road, and the automotive, and every thing else—all of what’s happening.
Questioner 3: But, is there a top quality of presence where unengaged with the thoughts, it’s like there’s a turning on like on this metaphor, too, perhaps just like the sky will not be lighted in a roundabout way, or there appears to be an engagement with presence that’s a turning on and illuminating the thoughts themselves.
Michael: That’s the presence, the illumination is the presence. There’s no turning on—it’s all the time on. All that’s happening when it looks like it’s not is that you just’ve got your VR goggles on, and also you’re something else. Even that something else is the awakeness. So, again, just drop it for a minute, and see it’s already wide awake. We didn’t do anything to wake it up. All you probably did was not be involved within the dream. But even the thing that knows the dream is the awakeness, so it’s all the time just this slight letting go, this tiny letting go.
Questioner 3: Yeah, there was another thing that I desired to ask about. In my sit, there’s these two experiences…
Michael: There have been two wolves…
Questioner 3: There have been two wolves, and one among them was this sense of expansion outward. That state of feeling all things, just like the room, the people, sky, self. And the opposite one was this deep internal experience of similar to this thing. Is all of it present?
Michael: Just notice that nothing is expanding outward. It’s already knowing all that, and nothing is sort of going deep inside. It already knows all that, and that the deepest part inside and the furthest a part of the expansion already know one another. There’s no distance between them. All that concept of distance, and inside and out of doors—all that’s just framework, concepts. The knowing is similar in each places—it’s not even two places. The knowing is similar.
Questioner 3: Hmm. Thanks.
Michael: Okay, last query, last comment, last item.
Questioner 4: What number of thoughts do you’ve gotten per day?
Michael: As many as anybody else, just not being attentive to them.
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