Good morning,
So for many years I would meditate,
My intention was to get somewhere,
And really what it was,
Is turning away from myself,
That's what I was doing,
That's what many of us do,
We meditate to subtly get away from ourselves,
Or to try and change ourselves,
Or at least that's part of the ingredients,
And that's what I was doing,
And it just didn't work,
It just dawned on me,
With the help of some good mentors,
That that wasn't the way forward,
That meditation is not about getting somewhere,
Not about a certain achievement or an attainment,
What they told me,
And one of them used a term,
The term was never turn away,
So really it's about never turning away from yourself,
Or not turning away from yourself,
Just turning towards,
And one of the terms I used for a long time after that was,
What's this,
I may not actually ask it explicitly,
What's this,
But what's this,
So there's a sensation or a sadness,
What's this,
Just feel it,
Just experience it,
The sound of a bus,
Just experience it,
Don't go anywhere,
You know that churning in the belly,
Just feel it,
Without the story,
Give up the chase,
Chasing an idea,
And that's what we do,
We chase ideas,
And I know this sort of approach,
It can be quite confronting,
Because the world is designed to distract us,
But at least for 20 minutes a day,
And as we go through these sessions,
We will more and more be able to just attend to what's here,
We're just attending,
Attending to what's here,
Not to get rid of it,
Not to change it,
Just attending,
So maybe that resonates,
Or never turn away,
Turning towards,
I remember reading Chogyam Trungpa,
A great Tibetan teacher,
Over 70 books,
He was a bit of a maverick,
But genius along with it,
He just said,
It's all about just feeling,
Just feeling what's here,
It's all about feeling what's here,
And that's it,
I think a better word is experiencing,
Feeling is just of the body,
What we mean is to just experience whatever is arising to the senses,
And seeing the stories,
The stories that do us in,
So let's have a session of never turn away,
See what's here,
Attending to what's here,
So you can close your eyes if you want to,
You can rest your gaze on a wall or a floor,
We're just asking ourselves,
So what's here,
There's something troubling you,
Just feel it in the body,
Maybe a tightness or a tension,
Just experience it,
Maybe a sadness or a shame,
Maybe a sense of feeling relaxed and centered,
What's this or what does it feel like,
Just feeling into whatever's there,
Feel the texture of this something,
Doing our best not to turn away,
If you do it's okay,
If you go into the world of thought on a little ride,
Just take a breath,
Then return back to the body,
Does it have a shape,
So you have to be curious now,
Maybe detect a color,
Which is being interested,
If you were to touch this,
Would it be hard or soft,
It is something,
Heaviness,
Whatever it is,
How does it feel from this point of view,
Maybe it feels tired,
Maybe it feels sad,
Maybe it feels scared or angry,
Just sense into it,
Let it reveal itself to you,
As you're just meeting this,
Just feeling into it,
It's all you need to do,
Just treating whatever it is with a little bit of kindness and attention,
So you can carry on with this if you wish,
You can just relax the attention,
You can be more expanded and feeling the whole body,
And just sitting in a more open awareness,
Start to notice some sound,
The sensations of the body,
Just allow yourself to relax,
Into your own presence,
Your own being,
Get carried away into thought,
It's okay,
Just release,
Relax back into the body,
And so we're going to bring this session to a close,
Just open your eyes if they're closed and have a little stretch,
Okay,
Thank you guys,
See you tomorrow,
Bye,
Bye,
Bye,
