The 4 Fundamentals Of Meditation

Welcome all.

As was shared,

I've been committing a lot of time over the last decade at this point exploring this idea of meditation and it's becoming more and more refined and sort of specialized as my journey deepens.

And what I'm coming to grasp is that the heart of this,

Despite the the positive benefits of calm,

You know,

Increased sense of calm,

Decreased sense of stress,

Maybe capacity to optimize our character,

Our behavior,

The bullseye within the pursuit is this capacity to experience nothingness.

And that ability to even grasp the notion of nothingness and how it might manifest in our psyche and its effect on how we perceive the world in our immediate moment is,

It seems to be abstract and it seems to take us time as practitioners to really sort of wrap ourselves around it.

But as it starts to develop and if we target nothingness in our pursuit or in through our efforts,

The consequences,

The positive consequences we all hear and ultimately hope for,

Again stress reduction,

Positive affect,

Empathy,

Compassion,

Gratitude,

Love,

All of this,

They seem to grow that much stronger and that much more quickly.

And so what's involved in,

For me what I've discovered,

What's involved in accurately and successfully reaching towards nothingness is a fixation on the techniques of meditation versus a fixation on the effects.

And so I really spend a lot of my time bypassing the the loving compassion sort of work or the manifestation sort of work because in the end there's this seed of desire within that.

And most meditators,

You know,

Traditionally and historically sort of warn the practitioner,

The student,

To steer clear of desires despite how noble or warranted they might be because in the end they ultimately suspend us from the final experience.

And so just committing the the process,

The time we spend in stillness,

To these really basic techniques I find is on one hand fairly difficult because we have to suspend our wants but at the same time really simplifies the entire process.

And so these four fundamentals are stillness.

We have to be still.

We can't move our fingers.

We can't smack our lips.

We can't adjust our hips because in that there is the seed of again desire,

The desire to become more comfortable or to sit in a way that inspires us more.

And within that desire is the heart of dissatisfaction.

This moment isn't enough and therefore I want to change and I can change so I will change the situation.

And all of that sort of psychological nuance suspends the whole point which is can I embrace what is arising now thoroughly,

Completely,

And as literally as possible.

So stillness,

Super important and there's all sorts of positive stuff that comes out of stillness.

The second is the posturing when we are in stillness.

What is the the best way to sit?

And I found that it's sitting in a way that provokes confidence.

This pulls us back into sort of like the evolutionary conversation.

When we sit upright what we are telling ourselves and others is that you know we're a force to reckon with and in that our sympathetic nervous system is triggered.

And we sort of learn to tolerate and become more sensitive to that part of our nervous system that oozes out stress,

Oozes out,

Oozes out fear,

But also enables us to become more focused and alert and capable at the same time.

And a lot of our strife in life is what I found this the symptom of an unchecked sympathetic nervous system.

So by sitting really well and pronounced we learn to feel these signals and befriend these signals.

The third fundamental is deep breaths which is common enough and this pulls us into the other part of the nervous system the parasympathetic.

So the stillness stresses us out,

The posturing stresses us out,

Life the golden rule is to facilitate balance and our nervous systems have evolved through this golden rule so there is a counterpart.

And as we breathe deeply fundamentally we learn to trigger the parasympathetic side and we tell ourselves through our physiology that despite the intensity of this situation or the intensity in which we believe this situation is we can relax and the breathing becomes this really simple mechanism to slowly induce a sense of calm through the process.

And so the fourth the fourth fundamental is psychological and in that the most abstract and sort of the most difficult to wrap ourselves around but it is the negation of the intellect.

There is a couple definitions of yoga that I really appreciate and one is like a really famous sutra from a sage called Patanjali and it's yoga which is the unity between ourselves and the world this sense of connection is is facilitated by the restraint of the mind.

And so if we learn to to stop our thought process we will experience this unity and this isn't an on and off switch but it's it's a gradient and a spectrum and so the more successful we are suppressing our thoughts the more unity we will experience.

And the yogis is sort of diehards really sort of pushed the the absolute stilling of the mind.

And another definition slightly different the word they use is rahita and rahita is devoid so can I empty my mind of all of its thoughts and what I found is that these practices over their history have been watered down to accommodate royalty to accommodate the the villager and and now they're they're watered down enough to accommodate all of us but as they've been watered down and become more accessible its point has been sort of dissolved and when we really approach meditation now it's either to facilitate our desires noble and warranted as they are or it's just this idea of relaxing our thought process to calm down a little and while that's all good and beautiful there is a potential that I think is being overlooked and so by just playing these four games seriously all the all the positive benefits will arise but will push the practice into a new territory and and that's that's sort of it so with that we can spend the time just sort of breaking down the 30 minutes that we have to actually practice for each for each fundamental and slowly sort of build build them on top of each other so at the end of the process we'll see how these four fundamentals work in unison and have this huge territory of overlap and you'll see where that takes us cool sweet so with that happy you all are here let's get into a comfortable seated position and so right away if you're on like a couch I want you to sit at the edge of your couch so that you're you're not prone to like lay back down and rest your torso on the backing and so what you want to feel is your sit bones right these two bony protrusions underneath your glutes anchor into the lip of your couch and that's gonna force your hips into a posterior an anterior tilt you're gonna shift your hips forward okay cool so you're all sitting at the edge close your eyes relax your shoulders slow down your breath and so as technical as this process of meditation and the stilling of the mind can be at the same time it's deeply intuitive and I think it's so powerful to trust your own intuition and realize that this inner wilderness is yours to explore there is no danger here and the only limitations that might suspend your experience are of your own mind your own perception of those limitations so let's spend just a couple minutes intuitively connecting to our bodies feeling recognizing the thought process pushing the thoughts at a distance and generating this sense of internalization you the Tibetan word for meditation is gone and it simply means to become familiar with the mind and that can include anything from the effort of stealing thoughts to just contemplation and observation so right now as you steal your body which takes effort and second to second presence observe your thought process and notice that it is fragmented it is a loose tapestry of different opinions but through your stillness the mind becomes more obvious and apparent which suggests that you have already internalized which is the direction of this practice and at the most distant end of this internal direction is the experience of thoughtlessness which reveals the reality mystically of the soul Atman and those that touch this distant point come back renewed empowered connected to virtue connected to nobility connected to authenticity and so when that meditation becomes an announcement that I am no longer concerned with my environment the body included no longer preoccupied with the physical world around me and as a meditator I am making this statement to myself and that world that I am looking inside if we fidget we open our eyes we adjust our hips we wiggle our fingers or our toes that proves that we're still focused on the external still responding to the physical which is the opposite direction and so let's take a second and commit to stillness feel the effort it takes the presence it commands hear that voice in your head speaking through language and grammar and sentences I'm gonna be still I'm gonna be still I'm gonna be still now feel the reality of self-restraint the arrest of the body the suspension of physical reaction if discomfort arises if pain arises an itch on the nose a tingling in the fingertips slow down your breath calm down your nerves observe that sensation the more you observe it the less intolerable it will be okay three minutes here perfect stillness you you now notice as we work to retain our stillness the more subtle experiences of our body come to the surface the languaging and visions and emotions of the mind come to the surface through stillness we become increasingly more familiar with the nuances of our inner being nuances that are often left under the veil of unconsciousness you now the second fundamental is posturing we have to hold our bodies in a way that provokes our sympathetic nervous system provokes that very part of our nerves that oozes out fear oozes out stress but at the same time primes us to be alert enough to respond to the world quickly and efficiently and so very gradually smoothly tilt your hips a little more forward and feel the spine lift think about the way a tree grows now wherever you are I'd like you to rest your wrists on your knees slowly again mindful movement and then straighten your arms completely rotating your elbows straight down towards the floor spread your fingers wide your wrists are pressing into your knees and stretch the skin of your palm until you feel the little tingle of your top skin press your wrist into your knees a little more and feel that your arms become support beams for a lifting chest feel your hands and bring a random finger to each thumb shut your jaw press your tongue against the back of your two front teeth feel the jaw itself relax and lift your chest a little bit more so notice there are a couple thoughts that arise as you sit this way and one is why I don't want to it takes a little bit more energy I want to conserve my energy it seems unnecessary this mindless rejection of a simple physical pose is the symptom of our stress but at the same time as we sit this way and invest a little bit more energy into this posture we experience a spontaneous surge of confidence which reminds us of how much control we actually have so this is the positive stress of the sympathetic nervous system that prepares us to deal with the challenges of the world it's evolutionary the yogis felt this power that comes from within the body as Shakti and so now I want you to hold your stillness maintain this pronounced posture and consistently observe second to second to second that it empowers us it takes a little energy there might be a little anxiety but it empowers us and reminds us that we are in control three minutes here you you tilt your hips forward again lengthen your spine again broaden your chest again think about a bullfrog bloating up its body to either impress a mate or scare off a challenger the constitution of our nerves determines the caliber and quality of our thoughts you you you this heightened sense of presence confidence and alertness as a meditator we redirect that Shakti that power into the game of internalizing ourselves and renouncing the mind so we recommit to stillness we recommit to our pose stillness and posture are biologically stressors they provoke us so now we'll use our breathing to empower a sense of calm and while we're pulling ourselves into a healthy tension between both sides of our autonomic nervous system the fact that we're inducing balance leads to a peace despite that intensity so I'd like you to breathe into your belly and then into your chest slowly and as you inhale feel that your chest and belly expand forwards and backwards left and right side to side and up and down and so you grow in all directions as you exhale make sure to push every ounce of air out of your lungs and feel that the chest and belly recede from front to back and from left to right but maintain your length maintain your height so every breath in you grow taller every exhale you grow taller again the breath in swells through the torso forwards and backwards left and right and up and down as you exhale feel the torso and belly recede from front to back recede from side to side but unnaturally stay tall and now at this point start to feel the nuances of your breath the inhale comes with wakefulness and alertness the exhale comes with calm and heaviness for the next three minutes do your best to feel the experience of your breath notice the intellect very quickly becomes bored with the experience it thinks it knows what it feels like to breathe suspends your curiosity and prevents intimacy notice that quality of your thought process and then recommit to feeling you every breath in comes with wakefulness alertness there is the hint of speeding up every breath out comes with a heaviness a slowing down and a calm every inhale we take triggers in a very small way the sympathetic nervous system our fight-or-flight response as we pull in oxygen our body is naturally and inescapably preparing for something to do the exhale triggers the parasympathetic response the rest and digest calming response of our nerves every inhale is ritualized as a moment to touch shakti power and to reinvest that power into controlling ourselves every breath out is ritualized as shanti is peace and reminds us to surrender to what rises and before we get into the fourth fundamental quickly notice your stillness or your lack thereof notice your posture and that it provokes both anxiousness and confidence then slow down your breath the breath as a whole induces calm the inhale specifically induces confidence and alertness the exhale specifically empowers that same calm so you're organizing the body but despite that the mind tends to think as it always does to wander to reject experience and to react so what I'd like you to do for the remaining five minutes is hold your body and stillness hold your posture stabilize your breathing but put that into the background and every thought that sprouts up push it back by expressing your dis-concern as a thought of your legs rises push it back with the words I don't care right now as the thought of what time it is rises push it back with the words I don't care right now whether it's your finances the reality of the pandemic what you have to do later your opinions of the meditation your opinions of yourself while meditating every single thought like a fly buzzing around swatted away actively reject and so your mind should be very busy because there are many thoughts in each of our heads five minutes playing this game you you you you reject your opinions reject your urges reject your intellect your attempts of understanding or predicting everything the mind spews out what you should start to feel is a distance that your mind plays out in front of you slow down the breath you now very quickly shift yourself to listening hear the natural environment around you the buzz of your computer the sound of my voice the sound of your breath the world outside maintain the distance between you and your thoughts maintain your stillness and just listen you you you with every breath in your mind becomes a blooming flower opening to the experience of listening because of your stillness you're deeper within yourself and even your mind becomes the distant sound of the world your body becomes the distant sensations every exhale reminds you to stay where you are you you there are no goals here whether the future is positive or negative it has no effect on our relationship to this moment any hope for increased happiness or health pulls us away from the intimacy of this experience but it demands we keep our intellect at bay and keep our reactions arrested and so really quickly one more time just notice you are still managing stillness which pulls your awareness deeper into your body you're still managing your posture which empowers your mental awareness by triggering your nerves you're controlling your breath which softens your reactivity by triggering other nerves and the herculean task of keeping the mind at bay through this ambiguous effort of rejecting the mind and managing focus and from there the simple experience of listening to your rooms becomes enriching we're closer to that unity because the thought processes restrained the mind is emptied three more breaths you slow them down now here's the evidence bring your hands to heart center very mindfully manage the nuances and the subtlety of this space you've created just think about someone you love see their face smiling let memories come up and the evidence that you've made your way into a deeper zone of your being is the potency in which you feel this love our minds to focus on nothingness the most subtle smallest target we can perceive targets like love gratitude compassion hope become easy slow down your breath and as you become more aware of this innate love we are reminded that it is a part of us notice impatience build notice the mind creeping back in now bring your palms to touch something like a traditional prayer shape and then lift your thumb knuckles to your third eye Center so right where your forehead is broadening your chest lift your elbows so that your forearms would be parallel to the horizon really pronounced posture and this is more technique press your thumb knuckles into the skin of your forehead a little bit more your arms and shoulders should ignite and just focus on that little star of sensation and so like an archer learning to hit the bull's-eye focus all of your awareness on that particular point so much so that you forget about the time you lose track of the rest of your body see if you're able to do that and so this is the principal skill of a meditator this is the focus called dharana a single pointed mind if we focus like this on love our reality becomes love if we focus on this on fear our reality becomes fear it's a muscle let's take one more breath in focus as you exhale keep your posture let your hands float down to your knees keep your eyes closed and as you slowly open your eyes with a breath repeat in your mind I am no longer meditating as you open the eyes I'm no longer meditating and immediately by labeling a non meditative state which is called jagrap waking consciousness we are reminded of where we just were and realize through that contrast that we were actually somewhere which can evade us while we're actually in the experience cool good work everybody