The following is a guided meditation on the seven factors of awakening,
These beautiful mental qualities that when cultivated support peace and ease and ultimately support our freedom from suffering,
The suffering that can arise when the mind is caught in craving or wanting what we don't have.
These seven qualities are like a soothing balm for the mind and when these qualities are developed through practice they support greater presence,
Greater connectivity and more compassion for ourselves and for all beings.
These seven factors of awakening include mindfulness,
Investigation,
Energy,
Joy,
Tranquility,
Concentration and equanimity.
Mindfulness helps us stay aware of the present moment without judgment.
Investigation involves curiosity and discernment of reality.
Energy is the inner drive to cultivate these qualities.
Joy arises from seeing our spiritual progress.
Tranquility brings calmness to the mind and concentration unifies the mind and equanimity leads to balanced impartial insight.
Together these factors create a mind at peace.
So I invite you to find your meditation posture,
Whether that be sitting or lying down,
And coming into a posture that is both wakeful and relaxed and consciously putting aside any ongoing concerns,
Any worries or plans,
Letting go of what has already happened and just for the time of this meditation,
Inviting full presence,
Inviting mindfulness and you may have already connected with the breath.
So just finding that breath wherever it naturally calls you,
Could be at the nostrils or at the chest or the abdomen or nowhere in particular,
But just bringing awareness to the breath itself,
Noticing the in-breath and the out-breath and with each in-breath inviting this greater awareness and with each out-breath connecting more deeply with the breath.
And as you follow the breath in and out,
Bringing awareness to both the in-breath and the out-breath and now just invite you to let that awareness expand outward,
Bringing awareness to the entire torso,
Letting awareness flow down through the hips,
To the legs,
All the way to the bottoms of the feet and letting awareness spread to the shoulders and down the arms,
To the hands and all the way to the fingertips and letting awareness radiate up through the neck and the face and the sides of the head and the back of the head and the top of the head so that you come into this whole body awareness,
Breathing in this whole body awareness,
Breathing out,
Connecting with the body,
Yoking together the mind and body,
Relaxed,
Awake and by opening to this whole body we can begin to rest in this embodied awareness.
And as we rest here,
We have already brought mindfulness into this moment,
This first factor of awakening,
Turning to the body,
Turning to the present moment without judgment,
Resting in awareness.
And without losing this mindfulness,
We can arouse the second factor of awakening,
Which is investigation.
The question that invites investigation is,
How is it now?
So we arouse this curiosity and we deepen awareness and sustain the inquiry into the here and now,
Noticing what's arising in the mind,
In the body and sustaining this curiosity,
We're not asking why something is here,
We're simply being with whatever is here,
How is it now?
If there's something in particular that is arising as part of mental activity,
You might tune into the body to see how it is in the body.
If something's arising in the body,
A pleasant sensation or an unpleasant sensation,
You might notice what else is here.
Deepening our connection with our current experience is part of investigation.
And in order to sustain a sense of interest or curiosity,
We need a certain amount of energy,
Which brings us to the third factor of awakening,
Energy.
So just checking in with the energy in your own mind and body.
Does the energy feel balanced?
Just noticing,
Using that factor of mindfulness and the factor of investigation to check in with the energy.
And if you notice the energy feeling a bit imbalanced,
You might check in and see if it leans more toward a sluggishness,
A torpor.
And if so,
Without a lot of effort,
Just a gentle effort,
You might shift awareness to the in-breath.
This often has the effect of bringing wakefulness to the body.
Or if you find the energy being closer to restlessness or agitation,
Too much energy,
You can just shift awareness to the out-breath.
With each out-breath relaxing,
Opening,
Just experimenting as a way of inviting a balanced energy.
And if the energy is becoming more balanced,
Perhaps there's more sense of ease.
And with this balanced ease,
There is the possibility of joy arising,
The fourth awakening factor.
Joy can be subtle or strong,
Doesn't matter.
It can be very slight,
Very faint,
And it's okay to also offer it a little boost,
Like just turning the edges of the mouth up for a slight smile,
Or remembering your aspiration,
What brings you to your practice,
Or arousing gratitude for your practice and this path.
And then we let this joy settle into a much softer happiness,
The happiness of contentment.
In this moment,
The mind is absent of longing,
Absent of wanting or craving,
And we can be with the experience of contentment.
And just noticing the mind,
The heart,
The body,
As this contentment settles in.
And it's this happiness of contentment that ushers in the fifth awakening factor,
Tranquility.
Tranquility is this deep calming of the body and the mind.
And as this tranquility continues,
The conditions become ripe for the sixth awakening factor to arise,
Concentration,
Samadhi,
This unification of mind and body.
It can feel as if the mind and body are wrapped in a warm blanket,
Being held,
Solid,
Together,
Connected,
Unified.
And with this deep settling,
The conditions are set for the seventh factor of awakening to arise,
Equanimity.
Equanimity is this balanced,
Calm state of mind that can remain steady in the face of all of our ups and downs,
The gains and the losses,
The pleasures and the pains,
The successes and the failures.
With the mind imbued with equanimity,
There's a steadiness,
A balance.
And with all of the factors now aroused,
We rest in a mind that can see fully,
Dropping all reactivity.
Greater peace is cultivated.
We rest in a deep knowing,
This is how it is now,
And we can be with that.
Resting in a mind that is open and a heart that is connected to the world.
