31-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 28

All right,

Good evening everyone.

Day 28 of our practice,

So very close to the finish line.

Today is the third day in which we are going to discuss and explore this concept of nothingness.

And so the way I interact with these philosophies,

And I take them word by word,

And I want to share this to support your relationship to them.

And so I find that the most powerful way to recognize these concepts,

Which these ancient practitioners essentially worshipped,

You know,

Very close to the way,

Very close to the way in which they worshipped the gods themselves,

Is I take the time to try and see these philosophies outside and sort of like waking life.

And so I was at dinner today walking around sort of the the downtown area,

And in my head I'm reflecting on nothingness because that's the theme we're focusing on.

And I'm watching couples and families and groups of people walk by.

And so nothingness is a highly abstract concept.

It does not exist in the physical world,

Right?

Even the space between you and your screen is filled with substance.

It's obviously filled with atoms,

And it's filled with with radiation,

And it's it's being sort of moved by gravity.

And so there are forces even within the invisible.

And so how can we actually take the time to consider nothingness as a real construct?

And so I'm watching people walk by and I'm just imagining,

What if the person that is sort of,

You know,

This person involved in this couple,

What if they just disappear,

No longer exist?

And so this is sort of playing out in the way a fantasy would.

But if they disappeared,

I can immediately appreciate that in their absence,

Through their absence,

Their presence is so meaningful that instead of nothingness,

There's this fully realized,

Fully manifest organism,

A person sharing life,

Sharing time,

Sharing emotion,

Sharing thought,

Sharing identity with their significant other,

With their friend.

And in that,

Just within my own head,

Comparing them to their non-existence,

Their manifest existence becomes a miracle.

And so this is the value point of learning to understand nothingness and comparing anything you choose to to its own absence is in that moment of comparison,

In that real feeling,

The miracle of that things,

That chosen things,

Innate beauty,

Innate divinity becomes very,

Very obvious.

Okay.

And so this is how I play out the philosophies in the real world and it helps me understand them a bit more deeply.

Now for us to move forward with this idea I think it's important to consider what the herald of nothingness is and the herald of nothingness is death.

So the Yogis appreciate that when an individual overcomes the fear of death,

And this is this is sort of a virtue of a meditator,

It's called Abhinavish,

When they overcome the fear of death and in that overcome the fear of nothingness,

They see life's innate beauty.

And this is entwined in the philosophy this will not last.

You are considering the reality of mortality and the reality of sort of eventual demise and in that moment of really appreciating it,

Again the miracle of the manifest experience sort of surges forth.

And so in today's class what we're gonna focus on is the death of technique.

And this is sort of a momentous momentous mark in a meditator's journey.

The Buddhists refer to it as first the student learns Buddha and then a student learns no Buddha.

And so when you're sitting today I just like you to consider that you are not meditating,

You're literally just sitting down.

Whether you're focused or distracted,

Whether you're breathing deeply or slowly,

It's not a technique,

It's it's not a thing to do.

You're just sitting there and that in itself is meaningful.

And if you can really sort of obliterate your idea that there is a technique to this and sit freely and intuitively with with the simplicity of just being you'll find you'll find a I think a new joy,

A new depth to your work.

So let's get right to it today.

Just sit down.

And close your eyes.

Breathe well.

Nothingness.

Nothingness.

In Sanskrit the term is Shunya.

It refers to the absence of the manifest,

The absence of things,

And the absence of ambition,

The absence of the will and the need to survive,

Grow,

And evolve.

And Shunya,

Nothingness,

And void,

They do not exist in the material world.

Because every square inch of this entire universe is jam-packed with creation.

And so just think about that for a moment.

There is no pocket corner,

No secret crevice in this entire universe that harbors nothingness.

And so where does it exist?

We are in the deepest waters of meditative thought.

And if we learn to swim well and fearlessly in these waters,

We will touch unique potential within this practice.

The Zen master EQ shares that nothingness is the delicacy of delicacies.

Nothingness is the unique privilege of a very strong mind that is capable of lifting and beholding the deepest of thoughts.

And so we have to approach this concept of Shunya inch by inch.

Let's take our practice and apply this concept to our practice specifically.

For the first bit of your practice today,

As your mind scans your techniques,

Intervene with the idea that you are doing something,

That you are practicing all the things you've learned over this month,

And replace it with the idea that you are doing nothing.

You're just sitting down.

Your eyes are just closed.

Your lungs are breathing by themselves.

If the mind wanders,

It wanders.

When it wanders back,

It wanders back.

Nothing is being done.

And as you consider that and hopefully feel that,

Understand that that is a death.

A death of performance.

A death of striving.

A death of technicality.

And there is a sweetness to that death.

That is the delicacy of nothingness because it allows us to see what is manifest,

What is actualized for what it is.

Let's all take a deep breath in and a slow breath out.

You you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you only to wake yourself up where is nothingness if it doesn't exist in the material world and the philosophical answer is within you adjacent to entwined with or synonymous with the soul Atman the perfect center of your subjective existence which is the only existence and so notice that your body is still there performing itself your cells are still metabolizing moving digesting your lungs are still breathing your blood is still flowing nothing is changed and your mind is still performing itself bouncing between distraction and dissatisfaction between judgment and awareness between presence and distraction the world is still performing the world yet you are waking up to a stillness and you are waking up to an absence a quiet inexplicable but obvious into a meditator prostrates and inches towards this nothingness again reconnect to your practice and obliterate the idea that you're doing anything at all you're just sitting down you you you you you you you you the game is staying awake to the unraveling staying conscious while undoing finding that perfect tipping point where the mind is not overwhelmed with nothingness so much that it becomes unconscious meditation is both a process and an experience but if you ask a specialist what that process is neti neti not this not this meditation is not stillness meditation is not your stable breathing meditation is not a focused mind meditation is not the consequence of peace it is not the capacity to see life as a miracle then what is it it's nothing and when we can sit firmly and awake in that nothingness everything else becomes more beautiful so notice that now externalize your mind listen to your environment let your awareness sprint outwardly and playfully when we find that center position we no longer compare life to its opposite we no longer compare our circumstances or the details of our moments against the fantasies of better versions or the dread of lesser versions of themselves we see them for what they are incomparable and so shounia the void supports us in collapsing duality and experiencing singularity non-dualism advaita which you might be experiencing now as evidence through an increase in gratitude an increase in appreciation an increase in the sensorial experience the artistry and aesthetic of your existence breathe to savor it slow down the breath not because it's a technique but because it helps you savor the incomparable moment so now slowly bring your hands to heart center increase your sincerity increase your studentship by listening back to the first lesson why do we meditate because even in a moment as curated towards peace as this more than likely within your mind there is suffering there is stress there is impatience there is confusion there is expectation and so we meditate to find an answer to that little thorn we find in the center of our awareness why do we meditate because deep down we don't know who we are or why we are and we know even less about the world and the third reason is because for whatever reason there is a hunch that the solution to that suffering and the answers to those mysteries exists more within us than outside us when the solution of nothingness can be understood we can let go of our attachment to the body our judgment over our thoughts and in that see all of it the sources of this suffering the sources of this confusion see all of it as a miracle as well there is a detachment a great disassociation a gap that can be recognized and so try to sense that this is a little death when we are no longer our bodies no longer our curious or our ignorant minds what can die and so in closing what am i neti neti not whatever i think i am so thumb knuckles to third eye center and so just technique again there is technique there is no technique that is duality feel your thumbs pressing into the skin of your forehead focus intensely on those sensations with an exhale hold your breath for as long as possible releasing your wrist to your knees straightening the spine rebuilding your posture when you need to inhale slowly through the nose and again hold your breath so when you start breathing normally just enjoy and savor the buzzing aliveness that comes from this breath technique and in that heightened sense of physical wakefulness look back into yourself the void back to the nicha quote if you look long enough into that void you'll find that it stares back to the yogis what stares back is something like a peach pit it's real and it's there to the buddhist what stares back is somehow nothingness the center of an orange when the segments are separated with your next inhale open your eyes i'm no longer meditating the void the empty bowl is immediately filled with the experience of life i'm no longer meditating