Hello and welcome to this meditation on pacifying an anxious mind.
This meditation will start with a brief explanation,
Followed by a bell to start the guided meditation,
And a bell at the end to signify the end of this track.
We've all had moments where the mind has been quite busy.
Perhaps even in this moment your mind may be racing,
And it is quite common for this experience to take over all of your attention.
And you may have also heard of the saying,
You are not your mind.
And what this points to is that there is a wider recognition that notices your thoughts.
So rather than becoming identified with your mind and the contents of your thoughts,
You can simply rest back into this awareness that observes your thoughts.
So it creates more of a space.
This is a very simple exercise that we will do in this practice,
Where we turn our attention inwards,
And try to locate where the mind is.
And this very simple inward gaze,
Or backward facing step,
As is referred to in Zen,
Is the practice where we release the grip of the mind by seeing into its empty nature.
And with enough practice,
Even the identification with this emptiness will be let go of,
To see one's true nature.
But in any case,
This is a wonderful inquiry practice that we can use to quiet a busy mind dead in its tracks,
And pacify an anxious mind.
And before going into this meditation,
I will illustrate a dialogue between two Zen masters,
Which encapsulates this technique pretty well.
So these Zen masters are Bodhidharma,
Who was a 5th century monk,
Who was credited to bringing Buddhism from India to China,
Where it developed into Chan,
And later Zen.
And in this exchange,
He is speaking with his student,
Eke,
Who later succeeded him.
So the dialogue goes as follows.
Eke said to Bodhidharma,
My mind is anxious,
Please pacify it.
Bodhidharma replied,
Bring me your mind,
And I will pacify it.
Eke said,
Although I've sought it,
I cannot find it.
Bodhidharma replies,
There,
I have pacified your mind.
So this encapsulates this teaching pretty well,
Where when we try to look for our mind,
We can't really find it.
So let's begin.
Find a comfortable posture,
And take a moment and close your eyes.
In this moment,
You may observe your thoughts come and go on the screen of your awareness.
But as you bring more focus inwards,
See whether you can find your mind.
You may ask yourself,
Where is my mind exactly located?
Does your mind have a specific shape,
Or a color,
Or a boundary within you?
As you continue to look,
You may also ask yourself,
Where are my thoughts?
Do they have a specific location found in the body?
Do your thoughts have a specific shape,
Or a physical size,
Or boundary associated with it?
If your attention does wander off to different thought loops,
Actually start to pay more attention in this present moment,
And observe,
What am I actually looking at?
Does this thought loop,
Or story,
Or voice,
Have a specific location in the mind?
As you continue to search for your thoughts,
And for your mind,
If you observe any straining in the physical muscles,
Such as in the forehead,
Or in between the eyebrows,
Or elsewhere in the body,
Bring conscious control to relax these muscles.
Once again,
Start to look for your thoughts once more.
Notice what you're looking at inside,
In this present moment.
Does the object of your focus have a specific shape,
Or boundary,
Or characteristic,
That you can actually observe?
As we approach the end of this meditation,
As you go about your day,
Anytime you observe yourself getting lost in a stream of thoughts,
Simply take a moment to turn your attention inwards,
As you're doing now,
And try to find where your mind is,
Or where your thoughts are located.
This very simple search will cut you off from a stream of incessant thoughts,
And pacify an anxious mind.
Take a moment now to take a deep breath in,
And take a very slow and long deep breath out,
And you may now open your eyes.
Take in your surroundings.
Observe how you feel in this present moment,
Compared to the beginning of this practice,
And thank yourself for taking the time to practice meditation today.
Thank you.
