Welcome to day 11.
Mindfulness of senses.
We are entering into the waxing gibbous phase and this is a time of growth.
The seed has sprouted and the sprout is getting stronger with each day.
The sprout is starting to pick up pace in its growth,
Which might be a reflection of how you feel in your meditation practice with the newfound awareness of breath,
Of your body,
Of emotions.
And now tuning in even more to the physical senses that we can notice in our bodies.
Now as I imagine you're picking up,
Mindfulness has several layers to it just like the moon has many phases.
And the first phase that we addressed was mindfulness of content.
How we direct our attention with loving awareness through feelings,
Breath,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
Sounds,
Experiences,
And how the environment around us is a part of the conversation around presence.
Now this next phase that we're entering into is to become aware of the process of experience.
In other words,
No matter what the content is,
Whatever the experience,
Joy or sorrow,
Praise or blame,
Gain or loss,
Sounds,
Sights,
People's actions,
Our own actions,
Everything ultimately is impermanent.
They rise and they fall.
They're ingraspable and we actually can't get them to stay.
I mean we can try.
We can rerun the moments in our minds but nothing can actually be repeated.
Nothing is the same over and over.
Every moment is unique and there's always something different and new for us to experience in this impermanence.
The simplest way to describe this is from a line from the Dhammapada and the Diamond Sutra.
Thus shall we think of this fleeting world,
A star at dawn,
A flash of light in a summer cloud,
An echo,
A rainbow,
A dream.
These experiences always come to an end and in the ending there's a level of emptiness that we can feel,
That we can notice.
And Rumi says it so beautifully,
They appear and then they're gone.
So let's go through our senses and simply notice what is here.
No matter the content,
Whatever the experience is,
Let's stay connected to the process of what we're experiencing by staying right with the senses of our bodies,
Right here,
Right now.
Let's begin our practice.
Take a few slow deep breaths.
How are you feeling today?
What is happening in your world today?
You'll hear three bells to begin and I'll ring three bells to close the meditation.
Perhaps you'd like to start your meditation with your eyes closed,
Maybe with your eyes open.
What are you called to today?
Today we are going to be continually checking in with your experience.
My words are simply a guide and you get to choose what's right for you.
So how do you want to begin?
With your eyes open or your eyes closed?
Regardless,
Tune into what you can see.
Breathe here.
Whether your eyes are open or closed,
What can you see?
How much can you notice?
Now there's an opportunity for us to shift our attention to what we can hear in our own minds and in the world outside of us.
The world of nature,
Noticing the world as it keeps spinning,
Keeps turning,
Keeps going.
And we are simply sitting still,
Noticing,
Listening,
Right now,
Listening now.
How do you know when you're listening to yourself?
What can you notice about this inner listening?
And then notice how you listen to nature in the world around you.
How are they the same?
How are they different?
Noticing how you listen,
Noticing how you hear just right now,
Just this moment right here.
This is the one moment that we have that we will never experience again.
Can you shift your attention to another sense,
Which is taste?
What do you taste right now?
Be with this sensation,
With this experience as you breathe.
Again,
Noticing your taste,
The taste in your mouth that's present,
And just staying with your senses.
What is it like to taste yourself in this moment?
Maybe it interests you to shift your attention to what you can smell.
How curious can you get about the smell of the air that you breathe,
And of how the air comes in and out of your nose,
Entering your nostrils,
Cool on the inhale and warm on the exhale,
Changed by your body,
By this breath,
By this moment,
This moment that will never be the same.
Can you be here for it,
Smelling this moment?
This moment.
Now,
If it feels comfortable for you,
I invite you to place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your heart,
And for the next several rounds of breath,
What can you feel?
How much can you feel just as your body rises and falls with the inhalations and the exhalations,
Staying connected to the felt sense of your body right here,
Right now?
What can you feel right now?
From the inside out,
See if you can bring a childlike curiosity as you explore how you feel.
May we breathe with the impermanence of each moment,
May we rest in the ungraspableness of this life,
And may we trust that we don't know,
And it's okay not to know.
How could we know?
This life is a mystery.
Can you stay open to the mystery as you breathe with your senses?
Sensing yourself,
Sensing the world and nature around you,
The line from the Dhammapada and the Diamond Sutra.
Thus,
Shall we think of this fleeting world,
A star at dawn,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud,
An echo,
A rainbow,
A dream.
A rainbow,
A dream.
Take a few more slow breaths with yourself,
Sensing all of your body,
Your eyes,
Your ears,
Your mouth,
Your nose,
Your senses with your feeling.
To be a human,
To be in the process of experience.
Thank you for being in this process of experience with me and with us in this mindfulness with the moon course.
It is truly a pleasure.
All right,
Sweet ones,
See you tomorrow.
