We begin this practice by finding a comfortable stationary position,
Allowing our body to rest deeply,
And bringing our awareness to the parts of the body that are currently touching the ground.
And gradually releasing tension from all the main parts of the body,
Starting with our feet and toes.
Exploring our legs in general,
Releasing tension from our pelvic floor,
Exploring the sensations around our buttocks,
And then our lower abdomen and lower back.
Exploring the space of our torso,
The shoulders,
Upper arms,
Forearms,
And then hands and fingers.
Then revisiting the shoulders and exploring the sensations in our neck and throat.
And then the back of our head,
Our crown,
And our facial muscles.
Bringing our awareness to the entirety of the body,
Allowing our breath to move naturally,
Without any deliberate control from our side,
Continuing with the sensations of the body for a little while.
And then allowing our body to continue with the process of relaxation,
While our mind explores our highest aspirations for doing this practice and for doing insight practices in general.
What is the highest goal,
What is the highest vision here?
Establishing that motivation firmly in our mind and aspiring for the realization of these goals that would hopefully bring greater happiness,
Not just to ourselves,
But to all sentient beings.
And then to explore the actual mindfulness of phenomena,
We first remind ourselves of the fact that all the experiences we're having,
Sensory and mental,
All the so-called objects we cognize,
Sounds,
Thoughts,
Mental images,
And so forth,
Are appearances,
Appearances to awareness.
And so the first stage in this practice is just to observe these appearances,
Just to watch them as they appear in the sphere of our awareness.
And while observing,
We're also recognizing them as appearances,
As merely something that appears and is cognized.
So sensory experiences related to the body,
Mental experiences manifesting in the space of the mind,
All of these are appearances to our awareness.
And we can watch them as a stream,
As a flow.
Recognizing these appearances as equal displays of the holographic energy of the mind,
Recognizing them as equally interesting and equally transitory,
Through this recognition we can gradually become less reactive about these appearances and yet maintain a flow of curiosity and openness.
Even if a particular appearance catches our attention for a little while,
For example,
A sound or a thought,
A mental image or a story,
After recognizing that appearance as an appearance,
We can once again continue looking at the entire field of these experiences.
And here it's also helpful to remember that even our concept of ourselves as a person,
Our sense of identity,
Our sense of selfhood,
Is also an appearance.
And then,
To perform the insight part of this practice,
We add an element of inquiry,
An element of exploration or investigation.
In particular,
Checking moment by moment whether all of these appearances are transitory,
Impermanent,
Shifting and transforming every moment.
Is that the case?
So we're still watching the flow of appearances,
But with a little aspect of our mind,
With our faculty of discerning intelligence,
We are checking whether these appearances are shifting or not,
Changing or not changing.
So we are like a naturalist of experiences,
Curious,
Appreciative and yet discerning.
Then,
For a little while,
Switching back into just watching the flow of appearances,
Just resting in observation without that element of inquiry,
Noticing both the flow of appearances themselves and how our awareness shifts and changes,
Assuming different flavors depending on the object that we're engaging with and also depending on the preconditions,
The previous moments of our own awareness,
Our habits related to how we cognize each specific object and so forth.
And then,
Like a scientist or a naturalist,
Once again adding that discernment,
That investigation,
That inquiry.
Do these appearances shift?
And does my awareness shift and change?
Is there a quality of impermanence to it all?
Constant transformation.
Changing or not changing?
Shifting or not shifting?
We're checking this moment by moment.
Then,
Releasing the process of inquiry and coming back to our body,
Just to ground ourselves in its sensations,
In its current experiences.
Then,
Mentally dedicating the energy and the insights of this practice to our highest aspirations once again.
And then,
Slowly concluding the practice as we introduce some movement to the body,
Transitioning back to the space around us.
