Sitting with Impermanence

Okay,

So let's begin this meditation on impermanence by becoming aware of the impermanence of the sound of the bowl I'm about to ring,

Noticing how it changes from moment to moment.

Okay,

And as the sound of the bowl meets the ambient sounds in the room,

Let's see if we can keep up this awareness of moment to moment change with these more subtle sounds.

Seeing if we can perceive the sounds over and above kind of the labels we want to attribute to them,

Those fixed labels like ventilation,

Cars,

Movement,

Kind of transcending those and listen to the moment to moment quality of the sounds,

The fluctuations,

The subtleties.

And perhaps picking up even more subtle sounds that we haven't yet heard,

Become aware of,

And noticing the moment to moment subtle changes.

And then I'll invite you to kind of let the sounds be there,

But let them be in the background and shift your attention to your breathing.

And see if you can,

With the same kind of attunement to impermanence,

Notice that not only is the body already breathing,

But it just keeps breathing.

We don't even have to breathe,

The body is breathing itself.

It's a happening,

Just like the sounds were a happening.

Breathing is a happening,

It just keeps happening,

And it keeps changing.

So noticing the moment to moment subtle changes and fluctuations from the beginning of an in-breath,

The whole duration,

And noticing how it evolves all the way to its end,

And then how does it transition to the out-breath?

And how does the out-breath evolve?

And how does the out-breath end?

And how does it transition then back to an in-breath?

So just taking some time now to closely investigate with a lot of curiosity those subtle moment to moment changes.

In our breathing.

Thank you.

And I'll invite you now to focus exclusively on the inhalations,

And we'll pay very close attention to the duration of the inhalation.

By paying just very close attention,

I'll invite you to label this next inhalation as either shorter or longer than the previous one.

So if it appears to be identical,

See if you can look a little closer to the even more subtleties,

Seeing if you can identify this one as shorter or longer than the previous one.

See if you can let the body breathe itself without controlling the breath as much as possible,

And yet being just so aware of it that you can label it,

Be aware of its duration precisely.

And now I'll invite you to switch over to the out-breath.

So let the breath continue to be natural.

And your only task is to become subtly aware of it enough so that you can label each out-breath as longer or shorter in duration compared to the previous one.

Falaking.

And now seeing if you can broaden your awareness to be aware of both the inhalation and the exhalations and the transitions in between.

And kind of letting go of the labeling for now and just seeing if you can remain aware of the subtleties and moment to moment changes.

As you do that,

Also gradually expanding the zone where you're noticing that in your body and see if you can be aware of the body's whole breathing.

So noticing the impermanence of the breath and the whole body.

This constant exchange between the external environment and the internal environment.

And as you become more and more aware of the whole body,

I'll invite you to kind of let the breath recede to the background of your awareness,

Just like the sounds are still there but they're in the background,

They keep changing.

And now seeing if you can look through your body,

Different body sensations from head to toe and as you kind of explore the different body sensations,

See if you can catch moment to moment changes.

So it might be tingling that is evolving in certain parts of your feet or your legs.

Maybe changes in temperature on your skin,

More and less warm or cold.

Might be the fluctuations of some discomfort or pain in your body.

So just exploring the body and when you notice a sensation,

Staying there for a few seconds,

Seeing how things are changing in that area and then moving on to a different location in your body,

Seeing how things are changing there.

We're exploring the impermanence of body sensations.

Seeing all of this with a lot of curiosity and a lot of kindness towards what we're noticing.

As soon as we notice a sensation,

We stay there for a few seconds,

Notice the impermanence and then move to a different area.

As best as we can,

Just staying with the kind of raw,

Bare sensations in the body,

The tinglings,

The pressure,

The temperature,

The stinging,

The pulling,

The itching,

Those kinds of things.

We'll probably notice the more intense or obvious sensations first.

Once you've gone through those,

See if you can go like we did with the sounds to more subtle ones.

Asking yourself,

What else?

What else am I feeling in my body right now?

What else is going on?

And then exploring those hidden areas with the same curious and subtle attention.

I'm noticing the impermanence.

Just gradually noticing more and more that all of the sensations in the body right now are impermanent.

Maybe it's harder to see that in some places than others,

But maybe we're noticing that the closer we look,

The more we realize that the sensations keep changing,

Keep moving.

And so let's see if we can now let go of any specific area in the body and just be aware of the body as a whole,

Just sitting here.

And see if we can notice this kind of dynamic field of sensations throughout the whole body.

So even though the body appears to be fixed,

Solid,

And still from the outside,

We can sense from the inside that it's dynamic,

Ever-changing.

So just sitting with this dynamic,

Ever-changing field of sensations.

And as we do that,

Remembering the breath also,

So integrating the breath in the body,

It's just more sensations in the body.

And they keep changing also.

And let's see if we can include in the field of our awareness also the sounds that are outside of us,

But that are coming into contact with us from every direction.

And these also just keep fluctuating and changing.

So sitting with sounds,

With breathing,

And with body sensations.

And noticing impermanence from moment to moment.

Over the bowl.

Vamos a drills.

Vamos esqu garage.