So come into a comfortable seated position,
And simply begin by connecting with your own breathing process.
You can start by taking a few deep in and out breaths.
When we sit to meditate,
Generally things are stirred up.
We notice that.
We notice that it's often difficult to settle into calm,
Into peace,
Because we're caught in the momentum of doing.
Of becoming.
The mind racing ahead of itself into the future.
Constantly planning,
Worrying,
Imagining,
Mulling over the past.
What is it that can notice all this right now?
Just as I say these words and offer these pointers,
There is a bare awareness that is not meddling.
This awareness recognizes how things come and go.
No feeling,
No sight,
No sound is ever really the same.
Nothing is stagnant.
It may appear stagnant from time to time,
But actually it's in a constant flux and flow.
And it's only when we pick up something and try to hold it or push it away,
Or engage in that process of identifying something as me or mine,
That the problems and stress start.
But even when we're caught by this stress of pushing and pulling things in our experience,
Have you noticed that there is also something within you that is aware of that?
But it's often overlooked or devalued.
If we're searching for peace and insight in our meditation or in our lives generally,
We can only really do this when we start to recognize our own awareness.
The aspect of the mind which simply knows,
Which stands back and witnesses.
And even as things come and go and change,
The awareness stays the same.
The quiet knowing that we can take refuge in.
