This 24-minute meditation will be a meditation on impermanence,
So please find yourself a comfortable position with your back straight.
You can be lying down or sitting in a cushion or a chair,
As long as you're comfortable and your back is straight.
And so relaxing into the body,
Feeling into the body.
And we'll start off with the body scan.
So just from the top of the head down to the bottom of your body,
In your own pace,
Just scanning through.
And if you come to any point of tension,
See if you can just loosen up there.
Relax.
Let's let our awareness land in our body,
Specifically where the body meets the floor,
The ground,
The cushion,
The earth element,
Solidity.
Let's just rest there,
Grounding our awareness.
And now before we start the main body of the practice,
Let's just take a moment to notice and remember that we've set these 24 minutes aside without any other responsibilities in the way.
So with that knowing,
Let's set the intention that we will apply ourself to the practice,
To the best of our ability,
Making that commitment to ourself.
And now to the main practice,
A meditation on impermanence,
The reality of change,
The reality of shifting,
The reality of nothing remaining.
For this meditation,
Allow the mind to wander wherever it wants to,
Whatever you prefer.
And just wherever your mind does wander,
See if you can just notice and pay attention to the reality of impermanence,
The experience of impermanence.
So as,
For example,
You listen to my voice,
Notice how as every moment passes by,
The sounds change,
The instructions change,
The silence,
Followed by sound,
Followed by more sound,
Followed by more silence.
Each word and intonation different from the last,
Unique,
But never remaining.
In this way,
Pay attention to your lived experience,
Whether it falls in the domain of sound or sight,
Maybe you're looking at your own mind,
Feelings in the body,
Smells and tastes,
Noticing how every experience does not last longer,
Even in a moment.
And at any point,
If you get distracted from the practice,
That's okay,
No problem,
It's part of the practice.
Let our first response to our recognition of distraction be to relax,
Trying to let go of the temptation to get frustrated or feel disappointed.
Let us relax,
Release whatever it is that's distracted us,
And return to the practice,
Our meditation on impermanence,
Paying attention to how each moment is different from the last,
No moment remaining,
Abiding.
Now together,
Let's go through all of our domains of experience,
Paying attention to each one.
Let's start with sound,
Bring all of your awareness to sound,
Just paying attention as sounds shift and change and stop and start,
Paying attention to silence that never fully remains,
Each sound arising,
Abiding for less than a moment,
And then ceasing,
Dissolving away and giving space to new sound,
New silence.
Let's now move to our tactile sensations,
Our tactile experience,
Feel into the body and just notice how in the body the feelings change,
Maybe comfort gives way to discomfort,
Maybe there's an itch,
If we watch the itch long enough,
Does it change?
The same with pain,
Is there any pain arising in our body right now?
Is it static,
Unchanging?
Or if we pay close attention,
Is it constantly shifting?
Let's move on to both taste and smell,
There's a good chance any sensations or experiences arising in this domain of awareness,
Very subtle right now,
But either way let's just pay attention and see if there's any subtleties that we can smell or taste and pay attention to them changing.
Let's move on to sight now,
The eyes open,
Paying attention to the shifting,
Changing nature of what appears to us through sight,
Maybe there's leaves blowing outside,
Or maybe we're in a really still environment and the reality of impermanence might elude us,
But if we pay close enough attention we'll notice as the earth rotates around the Sun,
The lighting changes,
As clouds pass in front of the Sun,
Lighting changes,
And even what appears to our eyes never lasts for a moment,
Each moment giving way to the next,
And now lastly we bring our awareness to our mind,
Maybe the easiest place to notice impermanence,
Watch our minds as our thoughts and feelings and emotions,
Imagery and memories that arise in the space of the mind,
Notice the ever changing,
Constant,
Shifting nature of the mind,
No moment of mind lasting more than a second.
Now let's let go of the object of meditation,
Being impermanence,
And dedicate this time together to our own well-being,
Knowing that the time that we've spent together now is meaningful and brings about clarity,
Stillness,
Relaxation,
Insight,
Feeling and knowing that this can only benefit us and only benefit those we come into contact with,
Recognizing the goodness of our practice.
