So then we begin our actual meditation on the mind.
Start with getting your position comfortable,
Upright,
The back straight,
Shoulders back.
Head slightly looking down,
The eyes open in this meditation.
You can blink as much as you need and don't focus on anything but keep the eyes open.
Tongue against the top of the mouth and the hands on the knees or right on the left with the thumbs touching.
And then begin with those deeper breaths,
Especially using the out breath to calm the mind,
Calm the body.
Take one more long breath in,
Long breath out.
And then we set our intention.
Why are we here doing this practice?
We try and take the focus off just ourselves and think of others as well.
Wishing them to be happy,
Wishing them to be free of suffering,
We do this practice for the benefit of every single living being.
And then bringing the attention into the present moment.
Let everything else go,
Let the past go,
Don't be in the future.
And begin by gently bringing your attention to your breathing.
And for the first couple of minutes just be there with your breath going in and your breath going out.
Let your mind mix with the breath.
Just be there.
And now gradually and gently we shift our attention from the breathing onto the mind itself,
The awareness,
That clear sense of being aware.
Situated more in the chest area of the body,
Not the thoughts and feelings and emotions but the simple sense of awareness which is underneath them.
Use those examples as a clear dawn sky,
A clear lake,
Or the sensation at the level of the eyes.
Those are examples,
Use those examples to get a sense of your clear sense of awareness.
Just being here,
Of being alive,
Of being there in the room where you are.
As best as you can get an idea of that,
Connect with that.
And now letting everything else go,
Just take that as your object of attention and focus on that clear level of awareness.
Let that be all there is,
Just focus on that and keep your attention there.
Each time you get lost in thoughts or ideas or feelings in the mind,
Each time you allow yourself to be taken away by the superficial level of the mind,
Just notice,
Let what it is go,
Let the thought or feeling go.
It's not where you need to be now.
And gently bring yourself back to that clear sense of awareness and just focus on that.
Just be there,
Resting your attention with that.
Last couple of minutes,
Re-establish your attention,
Refresh your mind,
Let go of where you don't need to be.
With gentle effort,
Using your mindfulness,
Keep yourself there,
Focusing just on your awareness,
Just on that clear nature of being here,
Of being alive,
Of being aware.
And we finish by dedicating our practice,
The fruits of our practice.
May that lead to freedom from problems and suffering for ourselves and all other living beings.
And may it be the cause to lead ourselves and all others into true,
Complete happiness.
Thank you for your practice.
