Start in a comfortable position,
Spine straight.
Don't be rigid but don't be too relaxed.
Don't slump.
Bring your attention to the natural breath focused on the breath going through the nose.
You want to be relaxed yet alert.
Make an intention to stay in that position.
Experience the breath as it is.
You might be able to hear subtle breathing sounds.
Listen for any subtle sound of the breath.
When you are breathing in,
Notice that you're breathing in.
When you're breathing out,
Notice that you're breathing out.
Notice if you're controlling or contracting the breath in any way.
When your mind becomes aware of the breath,
Its tendency is to control it.
Allow it to move by itself.
Don't take a breath.
Let the body take the breath.
It's like waiting for waves to arise on the ocean.
Wait for the wave to arise and pass away.
Notice when the air is going in,
When it's going out.
In this meditation,
We're going to go deeper into the sensations within the nose area.
There may be obvious sensations,
Gross physical sensations,
But we want to observe the subtle as well.
The longer you can stay in contact with the breath uninterrupted,
The more subtle sensations you'll be able to observe.
Let the sensations change freely,
Tracking them moment by moment.
Don't miss any aspect or quality.
Here I mean any pattern associated with the breath.
The breath might be deep or it might be shallow.
There might be a large volume of air or a small volume.
There could be tingling in the nose.
There could be heat or maybe coolness,
Itching,
Pulsation.
The air going in might be cooler than the air going out or maybe there's more air going through one nostril than the other.
You feel the pulsation of the breath,
The pattern of the breath occurring through time.
Notice if that pattern is changing through time,
But be careful not to control.
Don't assume that you know what the next breath will be like.
Let your mind be a beginner's mind,
A curious mind,
A not knowing mind,
But an interested mind.
Don't look for anything special.
Let yourself come to stillness.
You can't do anything to come to stillness because doing is movement.
Just be.
Just observe the breath that is happening.
We are observing raw sensation,
Waves or vibration,
Flowing,
Expanding,
Contracting.
What we call energy or prana is not something esoteric.
It is subtle sensation arising and passing away.
It is sensation changing.
Rather than being interested in particular sensations,
We want to observe the pattern of change itself.
Subtle sensations and patterns of change are important to take us from the gross physical particular world to the subtle wave-like world or the world of energy.
Be okay with what is.
Surrender to what is,
But be aware of what is.
This is equanimity,
Having no preference of one sensation over another,
No preference about anything that is happening.
Attention and equanimity are the two fundamental aspects of practice.
Always being present and always surrendering.
Not judging,
Not reacting,
Not trying to escape from this moment,
Showing up fully in this moment,
Letting all sensations arise and pass away,
Not doing but simply being.
Being with the breath,
Intimately.
The longer you sit in presence without moving,
Without reacting,
More intense sensations may arise.
And the deeper your surrender must be.
And the more equanimity will be cultivated and the deeper the purification.
You you you you
