The beauty of this practice is twofold.
First,
It is to help you journey within,
Perhaps in a way that is deeper than you have ever known.
This is because your skill practice in the seat of meditation,
Asana,
And the third limb of the yoga sutras,
In what allows of you to feel comfortable and at ease as you sit.
And as you hold your seated posture for any length of time,
Even as you may adjust your position to be more comfortable and perfectly still,
To go deeper in your ability to feel at ease and to be in the stillness of this meditation practice.
Mastering deep meditation also arises out of your ability to use breath and pranayama techniques to guide and direct your breath,
To soften it as needed,
To slow the breath,
To engage the life force energy,
To fuel the body through prana.
This is another tool and the fourth path of the classic yoga system written in the ancient scriptures of the sutras that gives importance to the ways in which we arrive at the practice of deep meditation.
You begin here with me as we journey deep into the space and time of the present,
To all that you are,
Into the experience of pure meditation,
Undistracted focus,
And the sense of time and space standing still as you are one with the present moment.
In this bliss meditation,
We journey together.
You can decide how trusting you will be of your ability to release expectations,
To let go of any negative thoughts or self-doubt,
And to believe that it is simply in applying the skills and techniques of each limb of the sutras that you will find your way to reveal moments of stillness and the practice of an experience of deep relaxation and presence in this moment and a blissful state of calm.
If you hold these four guiding principles,
Stillness,
Deep relaxation,
Presence in this moment,
And blissful calm as guiding prompts for your journey,
All will be revealed.
And then each time you sit or lie in a practice of deep meditation,
It becomes the journey you receive.
As I guide you,
I will refer to these four elements to remind you of what your experience shall be.
Stillness,
Deep relaxation,
Presence in this moment,
And blissful calm.
Thoughts will come and go.
Journey with me now as you hold focus on something,
One thing that lies within.
This is the practice of the fifth limb of Pratyahara and the ability to direct your mind and senses inward.
You may wish to close your eyes here,
If they are open,
To begin this practice.
Lean into the world within you.
Your eyes gently closed,
Your surroundings ideal for you to experience solace and comfort with yourself.
The practice of deep meditation is the awareness of being present.
That is all.
As you notice the mind or the senses move from where you have placed your inward gaze or focus,
Simply return here.
Enjoy the feeling of comfort and ease that you experience as you journey into yourself,
Into what you discover.
Allow your mind to be open.
Take in the experience as what helps guide you.
What is mastering deep meditation?
Is it something that we must study and practice most of our lives in solitude and stillness?
Yes,
It is the practice built upon each of the limbs of the sutras,
Including the discipline of self-mastery and the observance of living authentic and truthful and in abundance of harmony and peace.
As you live in your outer world with the desire to be loving-kindness,
Your inner world and the experiences of meditation become richer.
They fill you with exuberance,
Peace,
Joy,
And bliss because you are experiencing yourself whole,
As light and a loving being,
As patient,
Kind,
Generous in kind words and actions,
Helpful,
Honorable,
Upstanding.
And it is this and all of the beautiful ways that you can live and be that you practice daily what aligns you with the fervent and beautiful light of your soul.
To have an experience of deep meditation is to trust in the experience of your heart's wisdom,
Guiding you into the places of peace and love that fill your being.
Deep mastery of this is not sitting in meditation,
Although it could be.
It is the ability that you hold to focus the mind with ease and to direct your concentration,
Your dharana.
Dharana is translated as collection or concentration of the mind,
And as one-pointedness,
Here and for a time as you are witness to what you experience.
The life you live is notably the life in the outer world around you.
It is the vast and sacred inner world that gives you great comfort.
Know that you can journey inward to the space and time of the present,
For all of life is here before you.
One practice of this,
And to ensure the experience of deep meditation,
Is to allow yourself time to focus inward and to return to your point of focus whenever your mind or your senses become distracted.
I will be right here with you and doing the same for the next 10 minutes.
Guide your mind,
Your focus,
Onto a point or place within you.
Your heartbeat,
The center of your chest,
Your navel,
Your third eye,
Your spiritual eye,
Your breath,
The energy of love that fills your heart,
The energy of your crown chakra within the top of your head and just above.
Let yourself be here in the present moment as a witness,
An observer of everything.
The practice of Dhyana,
The seventh limb of the Sutras,
Defined in Sanskrit as meditation,
And in Hinduism as contemplation,
Is your guide to everything before you.
I will be here and will call you back when it is time.
For now,
Let the focus be of the vast world within you.
Be aware of the environment around you,
And yet allow your Dharana,
Your one pointed focus,
To be within and where you place it and unto what becomes your inner sanctuary.
Allow in the experiences of deep meditation.
Let these guide you into your ethereal being,
Your exquisite and blissful spiritual nature.
As you begin to find your way back together with me,
Perhaps you continue in stillness with your eyes closed for a little longer as you begin to experience your environment around you,
And then when you are ready to slowly bring subtle movement into your body to feel grounded with the earth within your physical nature and slowly to feel and know the essence,
The presence of this beautiful experience.
It already is a part of you.
When it feels right,
Open your eyes.
You may wish to sit a little longer,
Taking in the experience of deep meditation,
And to do this again,
To allow yourself to utilize all of the limbs of the sutras as your practice,
As your way in into deep meditation.
Thank you so much for joining me here.
This is Dorothy Sanori,
Juno.
Namaste.
