This meditation starts with us observing the sensations of the body,
Noticing the contact between the body and the ground that's holding us,
And starting to release the tension.
First,
From the parts of the body that are touching the ground.
Then,
From the whole lower part of the body,
From the torso,
From our shoulders,
Upper arms,
Forearms,
Hands and fingers,
And finally,
Our face.
Then,
Allowing the breath to flow naturally,
And for a little while just enjoying the flow and the sensations that are accompanying it,
The sensations accompanying the natural movement of the breath throughout the body.
Then,
Also to prepare for the main part of this practice,
For a little while exploring our highest aspirations for meditation in general and for this session in particular,
And strengthening the passionate wish to fully uncover our potential.
And then,
With that as the foundation,
Just opening our awareness up and noticing everything that appears to awareness.
The first thing we can pay attention to are the things related to the five senses,
Including the sensations associated with our breathing,
Along with all the sounds and all the visual appearances and the smells and the tastes and other types of tactile sensations.
In being open to these experiences and in being aware of them,
What we do here in this practice is recognize these as appearances,
As something that appears to our awareness.
In observing these experiences and perceiving them as appearances,
We don't necessarily know whether all of these are real,
Valid,
True,
Long-lasting and so forth.
But what we do definitely know is that they do appear and that awareness cognizes them,
Knows them.
So,
With openness and curiosity,
We are observing the flow of these appearances with the recognition that these are appearances,
Appearances to awareness.
We then open it up a little bit to also recognize that our thoughts and mental images,
Along with stories and memories,
Are also appearances to awareness.
When our attention is being primarily caught by thoughts,
Images,
Memories and so forth,
We can observe those and recognize them as appearances,
Knowing these are the things that my awareness knows,
Perceives,
Cognizes.
And then,
With this recognition,
We simply enjoy this process of observation,
Accompanied by the recognition that it is all a play of appearances and awareness.
Awareness responds to appearances,
Sometimes assuming specific shades and flavors,
Appreciative or averse.
And then,
The objects of cognition themselves are these temporary,
Interdependent,
Interconnected,
Conditionally arising appearances.
This includes our self-referential thoughts,
Self-referential stories,
Our memories,
Our self-image.
All of these are also merely appearing to awareness.
So,
We can keep watching this overall flow for a little more.
Then,
For a little while,
Coming back to the appearances of the body,
Noticing them,
Observing them,
Simply to ground ourselves in the tactile sensations.
Then,
Mentally dedicating the energy of this practice and all of the insights to our highest aspirations.
And then,
Slowly introducing a tiny bit of movement to the body as we conclude this practice.
