MA 02L Meditation at the Center of the Body (live)

If you'd like to start by finding a comfortable position for yourself in meditation,

With your right hand on top of your left hand,

The index finger of your right hand touching against the thumb of your left hand,

With your hands,

Palm upwards on your lap,

Or you can adopt any looser variation of this position,

Which for you feels more comfortable still.

Ultimately we're trying to strike a balance between feeling alert but also relaxed.

And we adjust the position of our body so that our breathing and our circulation are as natural as possible,

Unimpeded.

We try to minimise any aches or pains that might interrupt the continuity of our attention.

And we start our meditation by relaxing every muscle of our body.

Sometimes we assume we're already relaxed,

But when we come to check we find that there are still places where attention lingers on.

So we scan down through our body,

Relaxing every muscle as we go,

Starting with the muscles of our forehead.

We relax our eyebrows and our eyelids,

And make sure our eyes are only very gently closed.

We never squeeze our eyes closed,

Thinking that it will help us to meditate better.

We close our eyes only very gently,

In much the same way we'd close our eyes to go to sleep.

And we never overlook the importance of closing our eyes gently,

Otherwise we can waste years of our time meditating without seeing any progress.

We allow the muscles of our face to relax,

Our neck,

Both of our shoulders,

Both arms,

Down to the tips of our fingers,

Relaxing them all completely.

We relax our chest,

Trunk and abdomen,

Both of our legs,

All the way down to the tips of our toes,

Until eventually all the way from the top of our head,

Right the way down to the tips of our toes,

Has no remaining part of our body with any sort of stress or tension anymore.

If we do notice any tension still lingering on,

Then we relax it as far as we can,

Because you'll find that if the body is properly relaxed,

You'll have a feeling as if it seems to melt away into the atmosphere around us.

We'll have no more physical concerns about our body anymore,

Allowing us to turn our attention instead to relaxing our state of mind.

The most convenient way to relax the mind is to forget temporarily about all the concerns with our everyday life.

We put aside any anxieties concerning responsibility,

Anything concerning work,

Friends,

Family,

Studies,

Or any other thing.

We try not to let our mind wander to thoughts of the past or plans for the future,

But keep our mind as far as possible in the present moment.

We keep our mind on the task in hand of relaxing the mind,

Of training and cultivating the mind in meditation,

For which we've set aside these precious few moments.

And what we might do is fill our mind with thoughts of happiness and joy,

Conjuring up a sense of spaciousness,

Radiance,

Lightness,

And refreshedness in the mind,

As if it were spacious like the ocean,

Radiant like the morning sun,

As light as a feather,

And refreshed like a flower bud in the early morning dew.

So we fill our mind with happiness and joy as if those tiny particles of happiness and joy completely filled our mind,

Leaving no space within the mind for any other sort of thought.

And when our mind feels completely relaxed,

Harmonized,

Unified,

And our body is completely relaxed too,

Very gently and using no effort at all,

We allow our attention to settle and to center itself to a point somewhere around about the middle of our stomach.

We allow our attention to settle itself to a point in the center of our stomach,

While maintaining our awareness there as continuously as we can,

For as long as we can,

Without letting our awareness wander anywhere else if we can help it.

We should choose a point at the center of ourselves which we feel that for us is the point of greatest contentment,

A point where we feel that we could rest the mind continuously without moving the mind anywhere else.

And having chosen the point,

We maintain our awareness there as continuously as we can,

For as long as we can.

And the actual way we keep the mind on track at the center of the body depends on our own personal disposition.

Some people like to keep the mind in place by visualizing a bright object there.

Other people prefer to keep the mind at the center of the body simply by observing whatever inner experience is already there to be seen at the center of the body.

If you find the visualization method is more appropriate,

Then imagine a bright object such as a shining sun,

A full moon,

Perhaps a star,

Or even a crystal wall,

As if that bright object,

Any one of those four,

Is floating at the center of your stomach.

And imagine the object as continuous as we can,

For as long as we can,

Without letting the mind wander anywhere else.

Imagining with a soft and gentle attention,

Attention so soft that it's like a bird feather,

Floating down to settle upon the surface of the water,

Floating down so lightly that it doesn't even break the surface of the water.

Such is the gentleness of the attention we need to imagine our bright object continuously at the center of ourselves.

And this would be the first way of imagining by visualizing a bright object.

The second possible way of engaging with the mind at the center of the body is simply by observing without imagining or visualizing anything.

Observing whatever there is to be seen at the center of the body.

If there is darkness to be observed,

Then we observe the darkness.

If there are shadows to be observed,

Then we observe the shadows.

If there are spontaneous images arising in the mind,

Then we observe those images.

If there's brightness to be observed,

Then we observe the brightness in brief.

We observe whatever there is to be seen,

But we observe continuously with a light and gentle attention,

Without entertaining any thoughts in the mind,

Without judging the things that we see,

Without any expectations,

Without becoming elated by the pleasing things that we see,

Without feeling disappointed by the displeasing things that we see.

Simply observing and nothing more,

In much the same way we would watch TV screen without trying to interfere with the program being shown.

In the same way we observe without trying to interfere or affect the things that we see in the mind.

And this is the second method by which we can maintain the mind at the center of the body.

Some people who try to imagine a bright object in the mind find they can't help but use too much effort.

They might end up with a feeling of tension across their eyebrows or maybe on their shoulders.

If you find you have such a tendency towards tension,

Then perhaps for you the method of observation is more suitable.

Or if you're the sort of person who finds that their mind wanders easily,

Or if you suffer from sleepiness,

Then perhaps for you the method of imagining a bright object would be the more suitable.

You should make use of the method that you find works best for you.

But whichever of the two techniques you choose,

The important thing is to rest the mind at the center of the body as continuously,

Evenly as you can with a light and gentle attention.

Never letting your attention wander anywhere else if you can help it.

Because with the continuity of effort,

Eventually the mind will become more subtle.

The images in the mind will become gradually more subtle too.

The feelings in the mind will become more refined.

But at the same time the number of thoughts in the mind will become gradually reduced until the mind can come to what's known as a standstill at the center of the body,

Which means that there's an absence of any further thought.

So cultivate the mind in its way using your chosen method,

Using your chosen object of meditation with a light and gentle attention,

As continuous as you can for as long as you can without letting the mind wander anywhere else.

The mind should wander,

You just bring it back each time.

If the inner object disappears you can conjure up a new one.

But if it changes then we just follow it in its new form.

We continue in this way for a few more moments now in silence until we come to the appropriate time.

You you you you you you you you you you We continue to keep our mind on track at the center of the body all the time,

Lightly,

Gently and continuously,

Bringing the mind back with wonders of,

Countering up a new inner object if the old one disappears.

We find that we're suffering from an excess of thoughts in the mind.

We can try our best to ignore them as far as possible,

Letting those thoughts die down into silence.

Do we find there's still a continuous stream of thoughts in the mind and we find those thoughts irritating?

Perhaps we can make use of that traditional mantra,

Hearing the sound of the words,

Samma,

Arahant,

Samma,

Arahant,

Samma,

Arahant,

Over and over again in the mind,

As if the source of the sound is down at the center of our body with the bright object.

We will continue to keep up that imaginary mantra for as long as it takes to pacify the thoughts in our mind.

And once the thoughts are stilled,

We can continue with our meditation in silence as we did before.

We continue in this way just for a few more moments now in silence until we come to the appropriate time.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

Arahant.

As we continue with our meditation,

We start to notice that our mind becomes more and more refined.

The more refined it is,

The more access we will have to refined and subtle things that lie within the mind.

Because our awareness can only have access to states of mind that are as subtle as the mind itself.

So to cultivate the refinement of the mind,

To cultivate the subtlety of the mind,

Using our right object or our observation skills,

All we need to do is to apply the mind as continuously as we can,

Or as long as we can,

Without letting the mind wander anywhere else.

Until eventually the mind will come gently to a standstill in an absence of thought at the center of the body,

Allowing the mind to go deeper inside,

Deeper into purity,

Deeper into brightness,

Deeper into the subconscious wisdom within the mind.

For a few more moments now in silence,

We cultivate our mind at a standstill at the center of ourselves,

Lightly,

Gently and continuously for a few more moments in silence,

Until we come to the appropriate time.