So,
First let's just settle in in our posture,
The back upright around the spine,
The rest of the body relaxed around this upright spine,
And the shoulders kind of hang down a little bit,
The hands on the knees or the lap,
The eyes gently closed.
Relax the jaw and the neck a little bit.
I like to rock back and forth just a bit to kind of find that little sweet spot where I feel as comfortable as I'm going to get,
And then for the time being just let whatever thoughts are swirling around,
Plans for the rest of the day,
Memories of the week,
Just lay them down for the moment,
Just 15-20 minutes that we'll sit together,
And just bring your awareness first to the breath,
This coming and going of the oxygen-filled air that supports this body,
This amazing process,
The air in our lungs harvests the oxygen,
Hands it off to our blood,
And nourishes all our cells.
In turn we exhale and nourish the plant world,
The in and out of the breath,
The impermanence of each breath,
And as you're watching the breath,
As you're mindful of this body breathing,
Where do you notice it?
Could be the nostrils,
That little piece of skin,
Under the nose,
Upper lip,
Could be the rise and fall of the chest and abdomen with each breath.
As you notice where the breath is,
Think to yourself,
Now it's like this,
It's like this.
This concentration through mindfulness of breathing,
When developed and practiced,
Is both peaceful and unparalleled.
It banishes at once unprofitable thoughts as soon as they arise.
We use the breath as our home base,
A place to come back to when we lose concentration,
In difficult times,
On or off the cushion.
We can always go home to our breath,
It is always there for us.
Ever mindful we breathe in,
Ever mindful we breathe out.
Breathing in a deep breath,
Know I am breathing in a deep breath,
Breathing out a deep breath,
Know I am breathing out a deep breath.
Experiencing the whole breath and body,
I shall breathe in,
And I shall breathe out.
Calming the activity of the breath and body,
I shall breathe in,
And I shall breathe out.
As we sit here,
In this peaceful place,
In this sitting posture,
Resting on the cushion,
We understand this is the hub of our practice,
This whole body awareness.
We are simply knowing there is a body.
We can maintain this awareness through the four Satipatthanas and take it out into the world with us through our mindfulness,
Keeping the mindfulness of the body ever present.
Or when we lose it,
Coming back to it when we notice.
We contemplate the consciousness of consciousness this way.
One lives contemplating consciousness of consciousness,
Internally,
Externally,
And internally and externally.
We live unattached and cling to nothing in the world,
Thus we live contemplating the consciousness of consciousness.
Having overcome desire and grief,
We are eager,
Understanding,
And mindful.
We accomplish this as one sees themselves in a mirror.
You can contemplate your image,
But that is about all you can do with your reflection.
Observe it.
That is what we are attempting to do in this practice,
To be curious about our mind states,
To feel what each one feels like in the different situations.
Let your mind relax into these ideas and just experience them without judging or grasping.
The mind state of lust,
We know the consciousness of lust with lust,
The consciousness of lust without lust.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate lust,
When we are full of lust,
And when we contemplate lust when we are not lustful at all,
When we are content.
Now with hate,
We know the consciousness of hate with hate,
The consciousness of hate without hate.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate hate,
When we are full of hate,
And when we contemplate hate when we are not hateful at all,
When we are full of loving kindness and compassion.
Ignorance,
We know the consciousness of ignorance with ignorance,
The consciousness of ignorance without ignorance.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate ignorance,
When we are full of ignorance,
And when we contemplate ignorance when we are not ignorant at all,
When we are well informed and have greed.
We know the consciousness of greed with greed,
And the consciousness of greed without greed.
We are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate greed,
When we are full of greed,
And when we are not greedy at all,
When we are generous.
And now we move on to the higher states of mind.
These mind states are in relation to our meditation practice,
And the states of mind that come from continued application of these practices.
We know the consciousness of divine love and divine love,
Which comes from practicing the heart practices and keeping them deep in our heart mind,
The consciousness of divine love without divine love,
And divine love with divine love,
When we are feeling divine and not,
And when we are simply feeling neutral on this experience of mind.
We continue with the consciousness of mindfulness,
Of mindfulness,
The consciousness of mindfulness without mindfulness,
Then we are aware of the thoughts when we contemplate mindfulness when we are not mindful,
When we contemplate mindfulness when we are mindful,
Or when we are simply neutral on this experience of mind.
Finally we contemplate the consciousness of awakening,
Of awakening.
When we contemplate the consciousness of awakening without awakening,
We are aware of the thoughts.
When we contemplate awakening when we are not woke,
And when we contemplate awakening when we are simply neutral on this experience of mind.
One lives contemplating consciousness of consciousness,
Internally,
Externally,
And internally and externally.
We live unattached,
Uncling to nothing in the world.
Thus we live contemplating the consciousness of consciousness.
Having overcome desire and grief,
We are eager,
Understanding,
And mindful.
