Streamed survive Jun 15, 2023
Welcome everybody. Different crew—that is who shows up when Vibe Camp happens. How many individuals have sat rather a lot of their lives?—raise your hand. Okay, good. Normally, we sit here for an hour, and also you’re encouraged to stay really still. So, in the event you haven’t spent lots of time on a cushion, remaining still for an hour, chances are you’ll want to grab a chair. We’ll bring you a chair now, in the event you need one. Apart from that, I’m going to do a guided meditation, so I’ll be speaking rather a lot. You’re welcome to follow along, and also you’re also welcome to not follow along, and just do your personal sit within the group. That’s high-quality, too.
Let’s begin by simply moving in a circle like this—doesn’t should be like I’m doing it, just move in some form of nice circle. You’ll be able to go in two directions, different directions, in the event you want, but I need you to begin feeling how that feels. Feel your pelvis, feel your spine, feel how your shoulders and neck react. Let it’s loose, let it feel good. Don’t do it if it doesn’t feel good. I’m just tuned into that movement, and in the event you can tune into the—let’s call it energy—of the Earth, that’s form of sticking you to the cushion. And the way your spine is rising up from that, and just moving in a pleasant circle—really feel the way it feels in your pelvis, the way it feels within the diaphragm. Where’s the middle of the movement, and the way is it interacting with this energy of the earth—after all, gravity, but additionally greater than that.
And now, as usual, just make the circles smaller and smaller, smaller and smaller, smaller and smaller. Really feeling it, until you’re still doing a circle, but there’s almost no movement in any respect. Then, eventually, you form of can’t tell in the event you’re doing it or not, because there’s just the body’s natural movement of respiration and sitting there. Then, just let go of any sense in any respect that you simply’re moving on purpose, and as a substitute, just rest. But notice, there’s still some form of natural slight rhythm of movement there, heartbeat, respiration. Even the uprightness of the spine moves around a bit of bit, but no more circles, just sitting still.
From here, just tune in to yourself, into your personal experience, asking the query, metaphorically, what’s it prefer to be me immediately? Several folks still have their glasses on. Chances are you’ll want to take those off, you don’t should, but just in case you forgot they’re on, you would possibly. What’s it prefer to be me immediately? Check-in with yourself, your internal weather report: How’s the pondering mind? The sensation, emotional heart? The sensations within the body normally? The general mood, the general weather? Being very clear about it, not overly harsh, or overly pollyanna-ish, but simply as realistic about it as you may.
Just test it out, and regardless of whether it is rather positive or very difficult, or each, or simply something in between—possibly really neutral—come right into a place where you may let it’s exactly that way. You’re not dedicated to fighting it, or changing it, or holding on to it. You’re not dedicated to manipulating, controlling, you’re not dedicated to demonstrating fundamental aggression towards yourself—I have to change, I have to be different—but relatively, the alternative mood: fundamental acceptance. Nevertheless you’re immediately, let it simply be that way, without fighting it, and in the event you’re noticing that the way in which you’re immediately is fundamentally aggressive towards yourself, you’re going to simply accept that form of non-acceptance. Just notice that you would be able to let that be there, too, and have a deeper sense of openness and letting go, even with that there.
So let’s just sit together for a bit of while, opening, and letting things just be the way in which they’re. It is likely to be the best thing on the earth to simply let it’s the way in which it’s, but you would possibly find that you simply’re actually highly dedicated to getting in there and changing all of it. So, only for now, just drop that, and just let it’s the way in which it’s. Just remain relaxed and open, and really, very present with what your experience is. Very, very, present with experience.
Good. Let’s do a bit of little bit of anulom vilom together. That is alternate nostril respiration. In case you know tips on how to do it already, just go ahead and do it. For many who don’t know tips on how to do it, we’re going to cover one nostril—normally on the primary round—covering your right nostril together with your thumb. Just close the nostril, after which breathe in through the left nostril. Then close the left nostril together with your middle two fingers—or possibly you learned it with other two fingers—but close the left nostril, and breathe out the precise. Then breathe in the precise, close the nostril, breathe out the left. That’s one round, so that you breathe within the left, close the nostril, breathe out the precise, then breathe in the precise, close the nostril, breathe out the left. So that you’re all the time respiration out the alternative nostril from where you breathed in.
To start with, let’s do that in a really balanced way, so whatever your normal respiration is, somewhere that’s very comfortable for you, breathe in doing a count. I’ll just offer you an example, respiration in, one two three 4, close the nostril, respiration out one two three 4— or whatever rhythm feels good, but have it’s the identical variety of counts on the in-breath because the out-breath. Let this be very relaxed, very nice. No struggle—if it feels uncomfortable, don’t do it. Let this be just right for you. We’re gonna do that for some time—like five minutes, so just settle in.
This may be very calming and balancing for the mind. It balances the hemispheres, does a bilateral stimulation thing on the brain that may be very soothing, and brings up the parasympathetic nervous response. So just notice that that is tremendously calming. In case you’re counting to maintain the breaths of equal length you need to use numbers, or, if you ought to use seed syllables, you need to use on the in-breath and on the out-breath.
Proceed doing this. For many who’ve done a very good amount of pranayama up to now, or are in superb physical shape, you may add to this one variation. Definitely don’t do it if it’s uncomfortable in any respect, but, for instance, in case your count is 4 on the in-breath and 4 on the out-breath, breathe in 4, close the nostrils, after which just don’t breathe for 4, after which breathe out for 4. Then just stay within the out-breath holding the breath for 4. So the 2 holds are for 4 counts also. You’re not doing any locks, or anything, but just don’t breathe. Again, if that’s uncomfortable in any respect, just don’t do it. In case you find that you simply’re gasping for air, or anything like that, then don’t do it. Again, as you agree into this, you’ll notice yourself growing very, very relaxed, very balanced, and the overall level of activity within the brain will die way down. The mind activity follows breath activity, so especially through the pauses, as your breath is just paused, that’s gently leading the mind into pausing more often, also.
Excellent. End on an out-breath, through the left nostril, since we began respiration in through the left nostril, then just loosen up, and breathe easily. Settling into that more balanced, even, grounded state. Just feeling how that feels within the body, how that feels within the emotions, how that feels within the mind.
Once we’re doing just alternate nostrils that’s called anulom vilom, but once we add the breath holds, it’s more accurately called nadi shodhana, the cleansing of the energy channels. You’ll be able to just feel—it’s a really harmonizing, balancing, opening form of thing.
From there, just let your mind naturally and effortlessly notice its own openness, just like the sky. Just be the sky, wide open, not congealing, or crimping, or constricting around anything. Noticing the natural wave of the breath rising and falling, but mainly, just resting as wide openness, boundlessness. There’s an actual urge here to attempt to force the mind open or attempt to do some effortful thing to make it wider, or make it larger, but that’s not actually tips on how to do it. We just loosen up, and spot that once we’re not tightly constricting around an idea, or a sense, or a sensation, or a desire, once we’re not tightly constricted, the mind is just routinely broad, routinely wide.
So loosen up in such a way that the naturally, already existing, automatic sky-like mind is present. Then simply rest as that, noticing the breath wave, gently rising and falling. We’re probably not concentrating on it in any respect. It’s just there within the sky of boundless awareness. Notice how, because the mind is capable of rest in a comparatively less constricted state, the body as well can begin to loosen up and open a bit of more, releasing tension within the face. Like if you’ve a stuck scowl in your face, or some form of expression that you simply’re tightly holding, notice that you simply don’t should hold that expression. It may well, just of its own accord, just release. Any tension in your face can just loosen up, the upper and lower teeth aren’t touching, since the jaw is relaxed, and another voluntary tension that’s within the body can just release itself, into the openness of the sky-like mind that’s all the time present. Simply resting because the sky, boundless openness of awareness itself allowing the breath wave to rise and fall.
Begin to note if attention is being stimulated into grabbing onto pondering. Actually, pondering could be happening, that’s high-quality, but don’t let attention grab onto it, allow attention to be as broad as awareness, allow the eye to be just like the sky, almost not attention in any respect since it’s so broad. It’s wide awake, it’s very clear, it’s very sharp, nevertheless it’s incredibly broad. If it begins to constrict down and grab onto thought, just let that go, don’t grab on, or in the event you do grab on, just let go. We’re not engaging with pondering, neither are we fighting it, trying to regulate it, attempting to make it go away, judging it, or anything. Simply not engaging. Just push within the clutch and the motor of the mind can just run, nevertheless it’s not turning the wheels in any respect.
I invite you, as usual, to let go of all fidgeting. If it’s possible, don’t move your arms. Allow them to loosen up, come to a whole stillness. The more fidgeting of the body, the more fidgeting of the mind. We’re allowing it to simply come to a restful place, a relaxed, restful place.
Allowing the mind to be tremendously broad, tremendously spacious, tremendously boundless, notice, boundless just isn’t a size. It’s just and not using a boundary. Letting it’s boundless like that. Rest as that. Notice it takes no effort to be boundless, to be vast, to be open, that’s all the time there. Every thing else that’s normally occurring is a constriction of the mind inside that boundlessness. That’s what we’re used to doing. We’re just in a large open field, with an unlimited sky, and we’re all the time tightening down, taking a look at our little watch or smartphone, or whatever, and that’s so tight and so constricted, we forget that it’s happening on this wide, wide, wide open field with an incredible sky.
So, metaphorically here, I’m inviting you to set down all of the things that the mind engages with, and as a substitute, notice the wide open field that’s all the time there, after which just hand around in it. It’s such a relief, in spite of everything that tightness and tension, to simply be wide open—not scratching, not itching, fidgeting—allowing yourself, for once, to rest as open, brilliant, clear, awareness. Besides, the spaciousness of this awareness, it’s tremendously awake, brilliant and clear, very crisp, all the time wide awake. The mind can get muddy, or fuzzy, or sleepy, even unconscious, but the attention itself never does. It stays wide awake, it’s all the time brilliant.
Identical to we’re not engaging with thought, notice, in the event you’re engaging with a bunch of emotion—again, letting emotion be there—in actual fact, any emotion, regardless of how positive, regardless of how negative, regardless of how difficult, regardless of how easy—let it’s there. Don’t do anything with it in any respect, but don’t engage, either. Don’t get caught up in that whirlpool. Just let it do its thing, very naturally. It just does its thing, and the wide awakeness is totally aware of it, completely clear about it, but not engaged.
The vast boundless, wide awake sky, just rests because the sky. Birds undergo it, clouds undergo it, planes undergo it, spy balloons undergo it—it doesn’t care. It’s never disturbed, it’s wide open, it accepts all the pieces—wide awakeness welcomes anything. It’s utterly the right host, all the pieces, everyone seems to be welcome, but not grabbed onto, not constricted around. So, I’m not engaging with thought, not engaging with emotion, not engaging with nice or unpleasant body sensations—aware of all of that—and yet resting beyond it, as wide awakeness that may be very welcoming. Let’s rest there together for some time.
Good. Now, notice if, inside this brightly awake spaciousness, there’s anyone doing something, there’s a one who’s meditating, a one who has ideas and feelings, a one who likes this and doesn’t like that. Notice that that person is just more constrictedness inside the field of awareness. We don’t have to dissolve it, we don’t have to make it go away in any way. It may well be there being an individual, but notice, you don’t have to have interaction with that, either. That’s just one other thing happening within the sky. Be the sky, not the person.
There’s no aggression towards the person, again, we’re not attempting to say it doesn’t exist, or it has to go away, we’re just not living inside that sock puppet, like we normally do. So, let go of being the person meditating, being the person doing the exercise, being the person sitting within the room. That could be there, but don’t engage, be this wide open, spacious wakefulness, the thing that’s aware of the person. Not separate from the person, but neither wholly identified with it. We’re not separate from the thoughts, or separate from the sentiments, or separate from the sensations, or separate from the sock puppet, neither are we wholly identified as them. We’re not engaging it.
Notice, as time passes, and we’re not engaging with any of this activity, there may come a way of, like, well, what am I alleged to do? I’m just sitting here. After which we start grabbing on to those thoughts, after which we start having feelings about those thoughts, after which we’re all the way in which back into being the person doing something, and we’re re-engaged. So the reply is, you’re not alleged to do anything. Just let go of all that, and rest as this sky-like, wide awake, clarity. Be the openness and welcoming that you simply all the time, already are.
In case you’re asking yourself, how do I do this? By not doing anything. Not doing anything means not even engaging with the thought, not even engaging with the concept of being anyone doing something or not doing something. Rest because the thing that’s aware. It’s not a thing, but rest as the attention. Awareness doesn’t do anything.
I invite you to take this even further: Don’t engage with the sense of the world around you. Wide open, spacious wakeful, brilliant, clear, awareness is aware of it, after all we’re not suppressing it, or denying it, but neither are we engaging with it as an object. External sites, external sound, it’s all there, just don’t grab on. Rest as boundless, timeless, centerless, openness. We’re very used to pondering of ourselves as a solid being stuck in a three-dimensional world. That is the alternative of that. That is just vast openness that’s awake with none spatial referent. That is, in a way, the space that the world appears in, not the world. But additionally, not not the world. Remaining as restful and motionless—I invite you to rest, each mentally and physically. What a part of your experience, immediately, is just spacious wakefulness and nothing else? Rest in that.
Now, very gently, very slowly, in the event you wish, allow your eyes to be open, remaining focused very broadly, not narrowly, not looking at anything. Just as in the event you’re looking over the ocean on the horizon. Just notice the spaciousness of the visual field, that it’s wide, wide, wide, open. Notice the perimeters of the vision as much as the middle. Don’t narrowly give attention to anything, just let it’s very broad, very, very broad. You’re not taking a look at anything, you’re simply looking, simply seeing. Feel the spacious wakefulness within the visual sense, again, not engaging with any particular objects, yet seeing all the pieces. You don’t should stare, your eyes can move, in the event you want, and you may blink, it’s just that it’s wide open, without being particular.
Once that’s really comfortable, do the identical thing with external sound. Hear all of the sounds of the room as like an enormous field or ocean of sound, without zeroing in on any particular sound. Then rest, with the vision wide open like that, seeing your entire periphery and center of vision suddenly—the entire visual field suddenly. and hearing the entire soundscape suddenly. Wide open, welcoming all of it, tremendously awake. Notice once we engage the senses in this fashion, there isn’t a center, there’s no inside or outside, there’s no boundary in any respect. There’s just an unlimited field of experience. Any thoughts or body sensations are simply arising in the identical field as external sight, as external sound. Boundless freedom in wide awakeness, all the pieces included, nothing excluded. Engaging all the pieces, but nothing specifically.
Now ask yourself, and don’t answer from pondering, or memory, or reasoning, or rationalization, or the mind in any way, simply search for the reply. Where is the middle of this awareness? There is likely to be a middle to the visual field, but that’s different. Where’s the middle of awareness? Where is the attention itself coming from? It’s quite simple besides up the rational mind or the memory and be, like, well, it’s coming from the brain, but that doesn’t mean anything when it comes to your experience. I’m asking you, in experience, immediately, where is awareness coming from? Where is it? Is there a fountain of awareness that’s pouring out of? Where’s the fountain? Along with your eyes open, take a look at the farthest away a part of vision. Isn’t awareness there, too? Since you’re aware of it. Where’s the attention positioned?
Well, in the event you take a look at your personal experience, the attention is in all places. There’s no center to it in any respect. The seemingly furthest away a part of it’s just as aware because the seemingly closest a part of it. You’re used to telling yourself, well where the thoughts are, or where the emotions are, that’s where the attention is. And that’s true, it’s there, nevertheless it’s in all places else, too. Not as an idea, but just notice, there it’s. You aren’t a thing on the earth. All the world arises in you. With none effort, with none doing, wide open, wide awake, all of it arises inside you.
Notice that immediately—it’s not an idea, it’s an experience. Rest because the wide open, brilliant, clear, wide awake, awareness, that has all the time been here, that never changes, that never goes away, that doesn’t need you to make it stronger or higher or clearer, or to even find it. It’s the thing that’s looking. It’s never been lost. Rest as that now.
In case you don’t know tips on how to do it, stop attempting to do it. Just let go, and also you’re there. It’s probably the most obvious thing on the earth. So obvious that you think that it will possibly’t be that straightforward, nevertheless it is.
Thanks, okay. Let’s end the meditation there. Be at liberty to maneuver and stretch.
I desired to talk concerning the anulom vilom. The thought is, you’re alternating sides, and there are some details in there that we glossed over. In various traditions, they’re necessary, like which fingers you utilize, and possibly it’s meaningless, however the traditions are very particular about this, and likewise different. The way in which I learned it, you make your hand like that [open hand, fingers extended and separated], after which, for the precise nostril, use your thumb, after which, for the left nostril, use those two fingers [middle & ring fingers], like that.
Other traditions, for whatever reason, use those two fingers [ring & pinky], so that you’ll see it done like that, also. Now, to me this feels completely fucked up, because I’ve done many years of this, but I doubt it makes that much of a difference. But that’s the way it’s taught, so that you’re either like this or like that. It makes it very easy in the event you jam your elbow in there [close to chest], but you’re not alleged to do this. You could have it out like that [elbow out to the side]. It’s also super necessary that you simply never strain yourself doing any pranayama. It should all the time be super easy and relaxed. In case you’re straining, you’re going too far. The entire idea with pranayama is it’s a lifelong practice, so that you’re not in any hurry to do a hardcore version of it. You only slowly construct up over time. You don’t want it to be, like once you’re done, you’re, oh, God, I can finally take a breath. You probably did such a light version of it that once you let go, feel just high-quality.
So those are only a number of details about that, and there’s lots of science about it that is de facto interesting, and confirms much of the three 000 12 months old ideas about it. If you ought to get into a bit of little bit of the science there’s a recent bestseller by James Nestor, called Breath, that has rather a lot in there about it. It’s quite interesting. I used to work within the publishing industry. A few of these books nowadays, and the Breath book does this. It was actually twice as long, you may tell, somewhere in the course of it, it just stops. You’re in the course of all these ideas, and it just chops off that. You might tell somewhere, they’re like, it must be this many pages—so there’s some half of a book on the market, just on his desk somewhere. It’s just horrible. However the part that’s there to read is great. And in the event you’re fascinated about tons of science around respiration, it’s really fascinating, and really just because it was all the time said in many alternative cultures worldwide.
It’s very, superb for you, and it’s great for meditation, and there’s lots of science to back that up. In order that’s only one version of alternate nostril respiration we did—two different forms of it. We did just the alternate nostril respiration, very soothing, very regulating, but then, in the event you were to the hardcore part, you held your breath each at the top of the inhale and at the top of the exhale. That’s a bit of more intense, so only do this if it feels good, and if you ought to. I had you count the identical amount for the inhale, the hold, the exhale, and the hold, but you may make those holds rather a lot shorter, if that feels higher.
So, I encourage you to do this for five minutes or so before you’re meditating, since it really makes the entire thing much easier. So, that’s a bit of bit about that specific pranayama, normally in English called alternate nostril respiration. The true name is anulom vilom which implies something like alternate nostril respiration.
Good, so comments or questions on that, or the meditation or anything? Raise your hand and we are going to bring the microphone. Just reminding you that it’s not only the parents within the room, there’s an entire Web listening, so in the event you don’t want to present your name that’s cool.
The thing concerning the meditation is, from the very starting to the very end, I’m just encouraging you to rest as spacious awareness. That’s what’s really there, that’s what’s really there once we let go of particularizing anything. All the actual stuff is there also, and it’s not separate, someway that’s not different stuff. We’re not attempting to develop into a witness taking a look at that stuff, it’s all a part of this spacious awareness, however the habit is that we’re all the time narrowing down and particularizing, we’re spending lots of time grabbing onto stuff.
I used to be form of a precocious kid, and I remember being with my parents in Cape Cod in concerning the early 70s. I’m in middle school, and I find this book, and it was called Slaughterhouse Five, and I’m like, this just looks great, and my, mom who’s a librarian, and believed all books are good, regardless of what, was like, yes, you may buy that, and browse that. So I avidly read it after which read it about—and I’m not exaggerating—at the very least 15 more times. I assumed it was the best thing, and it form of is, but in there, there’s this image, because there are these time traveling aliens, and the time traveling totally timeless free in-time aliens, try to elucidate to other timeless aliens what a human being’s view is like.
It’s a very great long description, however the short version of it’s, the human is tied to a flat automobile on a railroad track, they usually can’t move their head and the railroad automobile can’t stop moving. But much more, even where they’re looking, there’s a welded steel viewer, and in order that they can only see one spot at a time, despite the fact that there’s all of time around them. In order that image has stayed with me all the way in which from Cape Cod within the early 70s.
It’s like there’s a thing there that may be very true, that we’re consistently narrowing down into our thoughts, and forgetting all this and narrowing down into feelings, and getting all caught in it, and forgetting all this. Although all that’s still there, and we’re even still aware of it, it’s like we’re tied to a railroad automobile on a railroad—we only allow ourselves to take a look at this narrow focus. And it seems, that gets really uncomfortable, and really tight, and really certain up, and really unpleasant. Then we attempt to fix it down inside itself, however the fix is to simply do not forget that there’s all this out here.
As an alternative, all of us think the answer is more of this, just different or higher than this, and it’s like, no, . Throw away the viewer, and get off the railroad automobile, and just remember there’s a , you don’t should invent it, it’s already there. Just quit trying so hard, loosen up and open, it’s right there. It’s nothing to do. Our culture is like, get down in there and do more of the tight thing, so we’re just really strongly habituated to that. So, over and all over again, I just invite you to loosen up and spot this sky-like thing that’s here on a regular basis. It’s not that this part is something different, that’s a part of the sky, so it’s not that we’re separate from that, but we don’t should just be that.
Considered one of the things that we’re all the time crimping down into is the sock puppet of our personality, which it’s there, it’s not not there, it’s an experience. But you don’t should be that every one the time, and also you don’t should force yourself inside that actually tight, tiny little, stinky sock puppet on a regular basis. It’s just not all there may be. But so many traditions are going to encourage you to throw it out or imply that it’s not there in any respect. You’ll be able to’t throw it out, and it’s there, and that’s high-quality, you simply don’t should be it, or be exclusively it. And, all the time the query is, well how do I not be it. That’s it, right there.
Questions, comments, reports, critiques? I all the time like a very good critique. Raise your hand if you ought to say anything.
Questioner 1: Thanks for the meditation.
Michael: Thanks for coming.
Questioner 1: My query is, lots of the way in which that it’s made sense for me to form of drop into the broader lens that you simply’re referring to. Someone once told me, just don’t be yourself, be the room that you simply’re in, and that made sense to me for whatever reason. I’ll be within the food market and it’ll feel hectic, and—just be the food market, and all the pieces gets easier. And in some unspecified time in the future during your meditation today, you said to drop even the food market.
Michael: Yes, and be the sky. It’s just a much bigger version of the identical instructions. How big is the sky?
Questioner 1: Possibly I misunderstood, because I assumed you said like drop the seeing and the hearing and just be awareness itself, independent..
Michael: After which I said, ..which is aware of all that, but isn’t being any of it.
Questioner 1: Okay, yeah that’s one in every of those things that my mind desires to get ahold of. I don’t think it’s gonna work.
Michael: You’ll be able to come up with it in that way through the mind, but, again, that’s engaging all of the pondering, and now you’re down contained in the tight constricted hole again. It’s not that you would be able to’t think—please think, but don’t engage it like that, just notice that. Even the thing that’s attempting to think is going on inside this sky.
Questioner 1: Okay, thanks.
Michael: Yep, thanks in your query. What else is occurring on the market?
Questioner 2: I would really like you to deal with this notion of the bottomlessness that I
feel.
Michael: Excellent, I’m so glad you are feeling that.
Questioner 2: …since the instructions are to loosen up, after which there’s the bottomlessness, which doesn’t feel relaxing.
Michael: Relaxing to what?
Questioner 2: Say again.
Michael: You said the bottomlessness doesn’t feel relaxing, and I said, relaxing to what? What doesn’t feel relaxed?
Questioner 2: Oh, so then I’m…
Michael: Right, yes. So I’ve answered this query for you up to now. What did I say? Do you remember?
Questioner 2: No.
Michael: Okay, each time someone brings up the bottomlessness and the proven fact that it’s uncomfortable, I all the time give the identical response. I say, good, I’m glad you’re experiencing that, because that’s getting it—the entire seeing, the entire feelings, the entire—there’s nothing underneath it—it’s completely fabricated, with no ground. And once you notice there’s no ground, at first it’s terrifying, or at the very least uncomfortable.
Why? Because there isn’t a ground, and so that you’re Wile E. Coyote off the cliff, and your paws are flailing within the air. But, unlike Wile E. Coyote, there’s no ground, so you may fall endlessly, but you’re not going to hit it—there’s no danger. In truth, once you fall far enough, and also you realize there’s no center, there’s no edge, there’s no ground, how is it even falling? It doesn’t mean anything to fall when there are not any boundaries, and no center, there’s no ground.
So, eventually, and it is likely to be a really short period of time, or an extended period of time, or anything in between. You only can’t be uncomfortable endlessly with something that isn’t harming you. You’ll just essentially get used to it. But then, it gets a lot better than that, because groundlessness is total freedom, it’s total openness. That thing that feels uncomfortable is that this little ball of constrictedness, nevertheless it’s happening, and even that is going on in a groundless freedom. The image is just like the little Shetland pony that’s never come out of a shed, and we open the door to the shed—that’s really scary—you will discover videos of this in all places. The Shetland pony is simply too afraid to get under this big sky, but eventually it walks out onto the paddock, and it starts gamboling around, it’s totally completely happy, it’s free.
But there’s that moment of, wow, that freedom is de facto scary. But you’ve seen the liberty, you’re seeing it so clearly. Since it’s scary, I do know you’re seeing it, so I’m, like—Yay, there’s a bit of Shetland pony there—go, run free. It’s right there. So, the groundlessness is the feature, not a bug, and all the pieces that’s occurring is a wild, exuberant, joyous expression of groundlessness. That is an expression of groundlessness—it’s all fireworks of groundlessness. Nothing could exist without that groundlessness, in order that is joy itself, but, once we’re used to being in our little shed, it’s scary at first. So come on out, the groundlessness is high-quality. I do know we’ve had this conversation before so, you’ve on a regular basis on the earth, but eventually…
Questioner 2: Okay, thanks.
Michael: What else?
Questioner 3: I’m curious in the event you could discuss tips on how to work with mental states which have positive feedback loops of agitation. I feel like I almost never capture this in formal sitting practice, but when I’m awake within the night, and want I used to be asleep, there could be very subtle levels of frustration that may increase, which then makes me feel more awake, which then—it’s more frustrating. Attempts to type of loosen up, or let go feel like—there’s a futility type of feeling in that relaxing, and having more openness and clarity can increase the clarity that there’s lots of agitation present.
Michael: Sure. What’s that agitation present inside?
Questioner 3: Boundless, wide open…
Michael: Do you think that the boundless, wide open, wide awakeness is in any way bothered by the agitation? Does the agitation shake boundlessness, or someway corrupt or debase it?
Questioner 3: I don’t know, it looks as if a very good query.
Michael: Yeah, good query to look into. I’d suggest that it will possibly’t, and so, specializing in the agitation, crimping down, now all you may see is agitation. And it’s an enormous problem in your microscope, but in the event you look up from the microscope, it’s a microscopic non-problem in the sector of this vastness. So there’s some agitation happening—great, the waves on this infinite ocean—even 100 foot, 100 meter waves on this infinite ocean, don’t hassle it. So the narrowness of the give attention to that’s making it seem gigantic.
But there may be one other thing, which is once you’re engaging in this sort of meditation where you’re non-controlling—letting go of the controller signifies that things which can be normally suppressed and denied and held under great tension—held down, are coming out—whoops. The strain is being released, so it’s telling you something about your psychology, which is, there’s some suppression and denial and control occurring, of stuff you don’t need to feel. So, the long range—and I’m not a therapist—I’m just talking as a meditation teacher. That may take some time, of just letting go, and letting the agitation come out before you’re not holding that so tight anymore.
Same thing at night. There are things that we don’t need to take into consideration, and so, through the day we are able to use our attention, our control, our supervisor a part of our mind, to not take into consideration that, with force. But, you then’re laying there at night, and that supervisor’s asleep, and so all of the little rats come out to play, and there’s nobody there to stuff them in a box. So, at the very least when it comes to meditation, the concept is, whilst you’re sitting there, allow that stuff to return out, let the agitation come out into this vast field to play in, where you’re not attempting to not experience it. Slightly, you’re welcoming the experience, even when it’s bad, it’s unpleasant experience, after which it won’t have a lot back pressure.
The guy who founded the San Francisco Zen Center was a Japanese Zen Roshi, Suzuki Roshi, who he used to say, people think that if you’ve a bunch of cattle and you ought to control them, you construct a fence around them. But really, the solution to control them is to have a field so big they will never leave it. That’s the precise idea—it’s just so wide open, there’s no boundary, so how can they ever escape? So, there’s no tension there, all right? Does it make sense?
Questioner 3: Yeah, totally, thanks.
Michael: Good, what’s up?
Questioner 4: Is it the identical with physical pain? What do you do once you meditate, and like today, it was so long, that you understand, so what do you?
Michael: It depends upon how much sitting you’ve done. In case you’re not used to sitting still that long, it will possibly be difficult, and chances are you’ll eventually just should move, and that’s okay. So what. But, over time, as your practice deepens, you learn that any form of pain, let’s say this type of pain, eventually, your legs are high-quality with sitting. But, there are different kinds of pain, such as you hurt your elbow, or something, it’s just in agony. It wouldn’t matter the way you were sitting, and so it’s the identical thing. We let the pain be there, and, in actual fact, we don’t resist it in any way, let it fill awareness, and it, paradoxically, will hurt much less. Still hurts, but much, much less, because we’re not resisting it. Resisting it actually makes it rather a lot worse.
Interestingly, as a meditation teacher, I’ve worked with people in extreme medical pain, like terrible medical pain, and this fashion of working—it takes time, you’ve to construct your practice as much as it, but with the ability to allow themselves to be all the way in which in the middle of the pain, the worst a part of the pain, and just relaxing there with it,
so dramatically changes their experience of pain that they—the people I work with, became dedicated meditators. It was very, very, helpful. But you simply should construct as much as it, and spot, emotional pain and physical pain are in the identical parts of the brain, it’s not different.
Okay, thanks in your questions. See you next week
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