To start with,
We will have our mindfulness posture.
Try to be 5,
10,
15 percent more comfortable.
Ensure that your body is symmetrical.
However,
You choose to sit or recline today.
Allowing a gentle smile on your face.
And as you sink into your heart,
As you remain aware of the world outside,
Remain rooted in your heart.
As you become aware of your body and the breath,
See how already something inside you has started responding to this opportunity.
Try to sit quietly,
As quietly as you can.
And allow all the chattering of the mind to come and go through you.
Don't hook into any any mental activity.
And if you hook into any activity,
Know that it's well within your power to let it go.
So to start with today,
We'll do a short visualization practice.
Bring your awareness to your spine.
Bring your awareness to the very base of your spine and feel any sensation you may feel.
This lower back region.
And inch by inch,
Move upward.
Taking your own time,
And feel all the sensation as you move upward.
Taking your time,
Moving slowly,
Maybe up to your middle back.
Taking your time,
Moving upward,
Inch by inch.
Feeling sensation in this part of your body.
Moving upward.
When you feel the sensation in one part of your spine,
It's time to then move upward one inch.
And again exploring the sensation for a moment or two.
And then moving upward again.
Binding.
Again exploring the sensation here.
Confirming the sensation.
Then moving upward by an inch again.
You may be up to the part where your neck and your head connects to the very base of your head.
Taking your time if you're not there yet.
Continue to feel sensation in your spine.
And now see the extension of your spine and the sensation.
Moving into your head.
Your entire head.
Most importantly the top of your head where the brain is.
So now you are aware of your head,
The top of the head,
And the whole spine.
And see if you can visualize this.
It's a beam of white light.
Beam of white light extending from the base of your spine to the top of your head.
And imagining that this light source is connected to the earth below you.
It's also connected to the sky above you.
This white shaft of light is connecting you with the earth in the sky through your spine and head.
Like a pearl in necklace.
You're fully connected with the whole the sky,
With the earth,
And essentially yourself too.
And see yourself connected like this with the whole of this white shaft of light.
Continue to take nourishing breath and continue to breathe out the relaxing breath.
The in-breaths are nourishing you,
The out-breaths are relaxing you.
The cycle continues.
In-breath and out-breath and nourishment and relaxation.
And you're just watching this cycle.
The cycle of breath.
But the one that watches this cycle of breath is more than the breath.
So continue holding on to that more as you explore the visualization of the light,
The breath.
And throughout the meditation if you find that you got distracted then come back to this beam of light.
Come back the sensation in and around your spine.
Extend this shaft of light to your whole body and then see how it is connected to the whole.
And then let go of it and remain here.
Remain connected but without any effort.
There comes a point where you let go of this visualization.
Because it has done its trick.
When the train gets you to a station you let go of the train.
In the same way we let go of our visualization and we remain here as a whole,
As a witness.
Witness to the breath and witness to all the sensations.
They're coming and going but they're not disturbing you.
They're not defining you and you're not identifying with any of these sensations.
That doesn't mean we don't see,
We don't feel them.
We remain focused without effort to the witness.
Continue to be this vast expanded self.
The self that knows and the self that is.
The is-ness and the knowing.
The two essential aspects of this self.
Being and knowing.
That often is conjointed in many words that describes this being and knowing.
In our case,
We use the word awareness.
Aware means knowing and ness means being.
So continue to be this awareness.
Notice how the intelligence within you is very intuitively finding the meaning of my words.
So my words are really not important but what it indicates which is in you that is important.
So focus on that that is responding to my words without any effort understanding and pointing you to the right direction.
Confirm that intelligence.
Be that intelligence and see how that intelligence is always in action.
Prioritize abiding as this intelligence for this short period of our time together.
Then you can prioritize whatever comes to this intelligence.
For example an activity.
But for now,
What we're doing is that we're withdrawing our attention from what is coming onto this intelligence to the intelligence itself.
Letting go of all the shapes and colors and storylines that are trying to get your attention.
But right now you're prioritizing this intelligence that has been inherent in all your activities,
All your experiences.
And see how effortlessly you become this intelligence or rather you abide as this intelligence.
Because there is no becoming for this intelligence.
It was already here before we started the meditation and after we finished the meditation.
There are certain techniques that we may have used to more fully recognize and prioritize this intelligence.
Continue to remain here one breath at a time.
One breath at a time.
One experience at a time.
Did you notice that we never had to learn I am.
The word I am.
Very intuitively we knew that this is what I am.
Nobody really teaches us as to I am.
It all starts with I am this or I am that.
All our sentences starts with I am.
I am 50 years old.
I'm 10 years old.
I'm a male.
I'm not happy.
I'm a mother.
I'm a son.
But this I am that we always refer to the whole day every day is this intelligence that we refer to when we say I am.
So knowing and confirming that before we qualify I am with these or that we often forget what I am really essentially is in an experiential way.
So prioritize this I am.
Prioritize this awareness.
Prioritize this intelligence.
And sometimes words get too many and they all have different different meaning to us as per our culture and association with that word.
So sometimes people just call it this.
They say be as this.
So abiding in names like this has had been practiced in all great practices,
Religious practices,
Philosophical practices.
An open awareness that in mindfulness literature we call is also this the open awareness.
So love all the thoughts and sensations and disturbance and doubts and and all the patterns and shapes to come and go.
But you remain aware of this and see there is no experience that is that is not known by this.
In fact all experience inherently is known by this.
This is the medium in which all experiences are known arise.
For email to appear we need a screen.
Screen is a medium.
For hologram to appear we need space.
So space becomes the medium.
For anything to appear we need a medium in which the things may appear.
So all our experiences appear in this awareness unknown by this awareness.
And awareness is always before all our experiences.
When you sit quietly and watch yourself sometimes all kinds of things come up.
But do nothing about them.
Don't react to them as they have come so they will go by themselves.
All that matter is your awareness,
Your mindfulness.
Total awareness of oneself rather than one's mind,
Rather than the content of the mind.
Total awareness awareness of the one that is aware.
Continue to keep your mind open and quiet.
Continue to remain open and quiet to see what we are trying to do here without doing,
Without any effort.
Continue to keep quietly alert.
Continue to abide in your real nature.
Continue to relax.
Continue to watch the I am there is no attempt or effort needed and if there is any effort confirm that is also seen and known in this.
So let go of that effort.
Do not make being quiet into a task,
Task to be performed.
In fact,
There is nothing to practice.
There's nothing to know and just be yourself.
Let the true nature emerge and know that there is nothing to do.
Just be.
Do nothing.
Just be.
Continue to be aware and affectionate.
Keep very quiet and watch what comes up and see how it goes away.
Continue to be in a state in which you are aware of yourself but not of the world,
Not of the content of your awareness,
Of your mind,
But you are prioritizing yourself.
Continue to be this dispassionate observer.
You're shifting the emphasis from the superficial and changeful to the immutable and ever-present awareness Let things flow and continue to watch them flowing.
Remain totally aware of yourself not disappearing in yourself.
Continue to remain open and quiet.
Continue to relax and watch the I am just for a few more moments.
You can slowly now become aware of that light beam.
Light beam extending from the earth to sky and including your spine.
Continue to sense the sensation in and around your spine,
Your torso,
Your body and feel free to open your eyes.
Continue to sit like this if you prefer.
I hope to see you next week.
You're more than welcome to continue to sit like this.
You're welcome to log off if you prefer to.
Let no one confirm that that intelligence will always be active.
It's a matter of prioritization.
Thank you so much.
