My name is Gerald Blomheim.
I wrote and recorded this podcast episode for you.
Resting in the Flow of Experience A quote from Siddhartha by Harman Hesser But of all the secrets of the river He today only saw one This one touched his soul He saw this water ran and ran Incessantly it ran And was nevertheless always there Was always at all times the same And yet knew in every moment Great be he who would grasp this Understand this He understood and grasped it not Only felt some idea of it stirring A distant memory Divine voices Make yourself comfortable Feel the position of your body And connect with the ground Pay attention to the length And depth of your breaths Notice how each breath is unique Always different from the previous one Feel the body breathing effortlessly by itself Without our conscious involvement The autonomic nervous system is always active Regulating our blood pressure,
Heart rate,
And breathing frequency Relax into this experience Be aware of your whole body As sensations and thoughts arise and dissolve Recognise their impermanence They are constantly changing Varying in intensity And appearing in different places Allow yourself to experience them Notice that the physical components of the body Are also in flux We shed our skin Our nails and hair grow We digest our food and drink Some neural connections are strengthened While others weaken Slow down Notice that a thought is just a fleeting,
Neutral appearance in the field of consciousness It arises and lingers We remember,
Regret,
Or anticipate something Then the thought disappears to where it came from When thoughts appear as stories They capture our attention If we can detach from the stories We can see that they too Just come and go Without leaving a trace Direct your attention to thoughts And welcome them like clouds Passing across the sky of the mind Can you recall thoughts you had a year ago?
Back then they seemed so important But today they're mere memories Every thought shares this fate Open yourself to the present moment Remain mindful and present for everything that arises Let everything happen naturally If your attention wanders Open yourself again to the wide panorama of experience Imagine yourself sitting beside a gently flowing stream Imagine leaves drifting on the surface Try to let thoughts float as leaves on the stream And let them drift by Repeat this with other thoughts and feelings Both pleasant,
Painful,
And neutral ones If thoughts momentarily cease Simply observe the stream flowing at its own pace Sooner or later thinking starts again Just let thoughts come and float away At their own pace If you have joyful thoughts Imagine them as a leaf And let them float by If your mind criticizes you with thoughts like This is silly,
Or I'm not doing this well Place those thoughts on a leaf And let them pass If a leaf gets stuck Allow it to hang around until it's ready to continue to float onwards Should painful emotions arise Accept them And allow them as leaves to drift by Your body,
Thoughts,
And feelings are constantly changing They move within the awareness that was born into your body And will leave it at death To awaken is to know that you are awareness itself You are that which experiences everything Consciousness and love welcome everything as it is We experience consciousness as the life force Can you recognize it?
Can you feel the flow of life energy?
Perhaps you're noticing a gentle touch And mild warmth Can you merge with it?
Notice a feeling of deep love rising within you Do you sense freedom?
Well-being?
And that you are love itself?
Recognize that behind thoughts There is a smile Love and peace Imagine sharing this love with your surroundings And with the whole world May all beings be happy And live in peace and harmony together
