Hello,
And welcome to this guided meditation.
Today's session is about choiceless awareness,
And together we will explore what it means to simply be.
Without effort,
Without seeking a result,
Without trying to become something,
Or be or feel a certain way.
What happens when we allow ourselves to just exist?
And when you are ready,
Sit quietly.
Whether you are sitting on a chair or on the ground,
It doesn't matter.
Just allow your body to be comfortable.
There is no need to adjust or perfect anything here.
Just notice how your body feels in this moment.
Be aware of the contact your body makes with the chair,
The ground,
Or the air around you.
Notice how gravity keeps you anchored here.
Acknowledge the space that your body occupies in this moment.
Now,
You may gently close your eyes or keep them open,
But try and soften your gaze.
And allow yourself to simply listen.
Listen for sounds around you.
Perhaps there is a breeze,
A distant humming,
Or the movement of your own breath.
You are not trying to change these sounds,
Not trying to interpret or name them.
You are simply listening,
Without judgment,
Without any desire for the sounds to be other than what they are.
If an unfamiliar sound is present,
Let it remain unfamiliar.
And in the same way,
Begin to listen to your thoughts.
Notice them come and go,
Like the sound of the wind or a distant voice.
Most importantly,
Notice the space between your thoughts.
This space is something beautiful,
Completely untouched by thought.
It is in this space,
This gap,
Which thought arises.
See if you can be with this space,
This emptiness.
Can you observe the moment a thought arises within it?
Not with resistance,
Not with attachment,
But with acceptance.
There is no need to label the thoughts as good or bad,
Right or wrong.
Watch how your mind attempts to do this,
And be aware of that movement.
The act of watching is free from the judgment of the mind.
This watching is awareness.
It is like a mirror.
It reflects whatever is in front of it,
Without distortion.
As you continue to sit,
Notice how thoughts,
Sensations and emotions move through you.
Notice the desire to hold on to certain thoughts and to push others away.
But see also that this desire is just another movement of thought.
It is thought trying to identify itself,
Trying to label itself.
What happens when you do not follow that desire?
What remains?
Allow everything to be just as it is.
There is nothing to fix,
Nothing to achieve.
This is not a process of control,
Nor of concentration.
It is a process of seeing.
Just seeing.
Let us now turn our attention to the breath.
Do not force your breathing in any way.
Just notice the breath as it enters and leaves the body.
Wherever it feels strongest for you,
Perhaps in the gentle rise and fall of the stomach,
The expansion of the chest,
Or the flow of air entering and leaving your nostrils.
In the space of this simple observation,
Can you sense how everything is one movement?
The thoughts,
The breath,
The sounds,
The sensations.
Notice how they arise and pass away within this field of awareness.
And as they come and go,
As they move,
Awareness always remains.
There is no you here.
No I trying to control this experience.
Because you are this awareness.
There is only this stillness of seeing,
Of noticing.
And in that seeing,
The whole movement of life unfolds.
Remain in this seeing for a few more moments.
Feel the vastness of it.
How open and endless it is.
How it can hold absolutely everything within you and outside of you.
As we come to the end of this meditation,
Remember that this quality of awareness is always available to you.
It is not something confined to these few minutes of quiet.
It can be present at any moment.
While you're walking,
Talking to a friend,
Queuing in a store,
Or working at your desk.
Awareness is always there,
Waiting for you.
It is a space where life is simply unfolding,
Without the need to control.
And in this space,
You can see clearly,
Without fear,
Without conflict,
Just as you are seeing now.
And when you are ready,
Open your eyes gently.
And carry this sense of effortless awareness into the rest of your day.
