Guided Nondual Meditation by Michael Taft
Streamed on March 3, 2022
So the very first thing I need you to do is simply bear in mind your intention. Why are you meditating? What are you doing right here? And let’s additionally simply set an intention for world peace, for peace on Earth and good will in direction of all beings. Not simply males, not simply even people, all beings, have peace on Earth; good will in direction of everybody. After which what I’d such as you to do is simply spend, let’s sink in proper right here to just a bit little bit of breath meditation, simply to sort of get us going. So I need you to, when you’ve taken your meditation posture, I need you to breathe usually and naturally and start to only observe the physique sensations of the in-breath after which observe the physique sensations of the out-breath. And if you wish to, you’ll be able to even use, like, a steady labeling that can assist you stick with it. Like ‘inhaling, inhaling, inhaling’, ‘respiration out, respiration out, respiration out’. Or no matter, so that you’re simply naturally respiration and you might be staying with the breath. So let’s get going there and we’ll try this for a short time after which we’ll unpack the remainder of the guided meditation collectively.
Okay? Superb. Now shifting alongside right here, what I need you to do is proceed in the identical approach on the in-breath, ‘inhaling, inhaling, inhaling’. You are feeling the breath sensation within the physique. You monitor all of it the best way to the underside of the in-breath. However then on the out-breath you’re simply dissolving out into area. You’re not monitoring something, you’re simply permitting the thoughts to only dissolve. All of the ideas to dissolve, all of the feelings to dissolve, all of the sense of time and area to dissolve, all of the sense of being anyone in any respect to dissolve into huge, awake area. So, very regular in-breath meditation, simply monitoring that in-breath however on the out-breath we simply – it’s virtually like we’re blowing. You’re not actually blowing, however within the exhale it’s virtually such as you’re exhaling the thoughts out into area and simply permitting it to develop into huge area on every out-breath, so let’s try this now.
Okay, good. Now let go of monitoring the in-breath and simply permit your self to relaxation as huge, spacious awakeness now, proper? We’re not making huge, spacious awakeness/huge, spacious consciousness be huge or be spacious or be awake or conscious; it already is all that. We’re simply not interrupting. We’re simply sitting again and permitting our nature as huge, spacious consciousness to acknowledge itself. So simply resting as huge, spacious consciousness, when you develop into concerned in pondering, simply drop that and allow them to dissolve. Don’t do something to them, simply let go. When you discover your self getting concerned in something simply chill out, let go. Let consciousness simply come again to its pure spaciousness, its pure awakeness, its already current knowledge and readability.
Once more if you end up selecting up ideas, simply chill out and drop them. You’re not making an attempt to cease them or not making an attempt to push them away however neither are you participating with them. So if you end up engaged, simply drop and are available again to being area. When you’ve, identical factor with feelings, if you end up wrapped up in emotion, simply let go. Come again to being area, the area you already are. You don’t want to visualise something. If you end up visualizing throughout this half, simply chill out. Come again to being area. There’s nothing to do. We’re simply coming again to our nature of area by merely stress-free.
On this place there’s nothing to do, there’s nothing to alter, the whole lot is good. Simply relaxation into, relaxation as, huge, spacious consciousness. Already awake, completely clear, totally full. Nothing to do and no doer.
Good, now we’re going to do some visualization. So, into this discipline of vacancy, into this discipline of simply empty awakeness, huge area; it’s simple to undertaking visualization as a result of there’s nothing in the best way. And what we’re going to visualise tonight is, going to begin out with, we’re going to fake that this awake consciousness is centered on the prime of our head, or type of in direction of the highest heart of your head. It’s after all not centered anyplace in any respect however for now I need you to think about that there’s a sort of a gorgeous white mild with perhaps a tinge of – very, very mild tinge of – purple shining, radiating within the prime, from the highest of the pinnacle, like a sphere of sunshine. And the sphere of sunshine is simply the middle of this complete acceptance, complete sense of loving presence. An actual deep, deep peace and full kindness and knowledge. So simply think about this whitish mild radiating like a gorgeous white solar on the prime of the pinnacle. And it’s radiating out full unconditional love, full kindness, deep, deep, deep sense of caring and compassion. And simply maintain visualizing that for now.
Simply think about that awake consciousness, the huge, spacious consciousness is like centered on the prime of your head. Once more, it has no heart. However think about for now that there’s a heart there and it’s composed of a shining white mild that’s simply radiating out in all instructions. A superb, lovely white mild of affection and kindness and caring and compassion. Deep, deep, deep knowledge shining in all instructions.
Good. Now let’s simply permit that heart of awake consciousness to only drop down into the middle of the pinnacle, okay? And now let’s image this as a golden yellow orb of radiating mild, radiating mild. Your physique, your bones, your muscle tissues; none of that’s in the best way. The orb of radiating yellow mild is there and this mild is the sunshine of religious knowledge. That is, if you need, you’ll be able to image all of the religious lecturers of all time there. Or no matter religious lecturers, particularly the good masters of the previous. They’re all situated there, shining this mild of knowledge, of jñana, of vidya, proper? So you’ll be able to both image this yellow, glowing orb by itself or you’ll be able to embrace the presence of those tremendously highly effective religious beings who’re wanting upon you with kindness and caring. Whole, complete acceptance of you simply the best way you might be, and radiating, beaming knowledge. Aiming knowledge and readability and confidence into your being. So it’s each inside you nevertheless it’s additionally radiating into you and radiating out into the world. And it’s full of each being who you think about to be, like, an woke up religious grasp; like a Buddha, like a bodhisattva. All of them you with kindness and caring.
So you could have observed we’re doing the mandala visualization however as a substitute of inserting the mandala round us horizontally in area we’re stacking the mandala up and down the central channel, the madhyanadi.
So typically we see these religious or knowledge figures as judgmental however right here they’re totally accepting of you simply the best way you might be. Totally in your facet, totally cheering you on, so to talk. You already know, supplying you with steerage that you simply require. Freely providing you all of the knowledge they’ve to present. And serving to to awaken your spirit to make clear your thoughts, to… and you may really feel the boldness and you may really feel the competence pouring into the system and radiating out with this yellow mild throughout.
Good. Now let’s permit that faux heart of awake consciousness to drop down proper into the middle of your chest, even behind the bodily coronary heart. Deep, deep, deep in your chest on the degree of the guts. Proper within the heart, in contrast to the guts. And I need you to image inexperienced mild now, a inexperienced sphere of gorgeous, emerald inexperienced mild. A really life giving coloration. The colour that makes you’re feeling enthusiastic and impressed and full of pleasure. And that is the place of our family members. So along with this radiating inexperienced mild of affection and belonging, that feeling of friendliness and togetherness and love and caring, I need you to image your dearest family members. Your loved ones, your folks, your animal companions; all of the beings who’re in your life whom you’re keen on and who love you. And movie them there within the coronary heart, once more. Gazing at you. Gazing at one another with complete acceptance; acceptance, actual friendliness. Friendliness on this case is that want to only join with others and be sort. And in addition you’re feeling mudita there, the sweetness, the sense that after they’re completely happy, you’re completely happy, after they smile, you smile. And I need you to only really feel that love pouring out from the awake consciousness heart within the coronary heart and pouring again in. Filling you with love, filling you with sweetness, filling you with friendliness. So it’s each radiating out and likewise radiating in on the identical time on this inexperienced mild on the degree of the guts.
Sustain the visualization and feeling the feelings. Don’t get misplaced in thought. Simply maintain feeling the friendliness, the sweetness, the love, the caring, the belonging, the acceptance; visualizing that radiating out and pouring again in constantly.
Good. Now once more let’s permit the obvious or imaginary heart of awake consciousness to drop down into the photo voltaic plexus area. This isn’t the stomach, the decrease dantian beneath the abdomen, that is above. You possibly can actually really feel like a photo voltaic, the photo voltaic plexus vitality. I need you to see this very vibrant, very sharp, very fiery pink mild there. Vivid pink mild. Extremely very important, extremely robust and in a approach it’s sharp. You possibly can even, although it’s this radiating pink mild from a sphere, it has a pointiness or a sharpness. And that is the vitality of safety. That is the vitality preserving us and others protected. That is each us preserving others protected and others preserving us protected, and even religious beings preserving us protected. So with this pink, fiery, pointy, fierce, intense pink mild; image any beings there that you simply consider as protectors. Protectors for you, protectors of the world. The world wants protectors actually unhealthy proper now. Think about the beings, they could even be the identical because the religious beings, they could even be the identical because the love beings. They don’t must be totally different. However the beings who’re fiercely defending the earth, fiercely defending you, fiercely defending different individuals, fiercely defending all of the beings of this earth and of this universe and who’re intensely conscious of the preciousness of every being and the dignity of every being and the the Aristocracy of every being and are devoted to preserving and defending them. So really feel that basically fiery, actually highly effective, actually lovely, sort, protecting vitality; the fierce, protecting vitality on this photo voltaic plexus space now.
Okay, excellent. And now from there let’s drop down once more. Drop down, drop down all the best way to the perineum, proper? So to the very base of your torso. And right here I need you to image deep blue, good deep blue, virtually indigo mild radiating out. Radiating out in all instructions from this heart of awake consciousness, all the best way down within the perineum. Really feel it glowing. Really feel it shining. This tremendously stabilizing, grounding, deep blue mild. That is the realm of assist. That is the vitality of useful resource and resilience and assist. That is the assist of all of the ancestors. That is the assist of the bodily world round us and the assist of the physique. Really feel this extremely structured, patterned, predictable and delightful, soothing blue mild radiating out and likewise pouring again in, on the base of the physique. Really feel the assist, really feel the groundedness. Really feel the sanity and humility and stability. Really feel the gravity and the earth itself.
Okay? Good. Now, what I need you to do is on the in-breath, I need you to image the breath coming in by the highest of your head, by that white mild. Shifting into the middle of your head with the yellow mild, coming down the middle of your backbone into the guts with the inexperienced mild. Into the stomach with the pink mild and into the perineum with the blue mild. After which on the out-breath it’s going the opposite approach, in by the perineum, up the backbone, by every of the facilities; blue then pink, then inexperienced then yellow, then white and out the highest of your head.
Okay? So it’s a humorous visualization. Power coming within the prime of the pinnacle, shifting by every of those facilities. Re-each of the facilities, persevering with to radiate and feeling that vitality. After which in by the underside of the backbone, arising, up, up, up by the backbone and out the highest of the pinnacle, okay? Proceed with that visualization now and actually really feel the vitality at every location. Don’t pause, don’t hit your breath however simply calmly really feel the heartbeat of every of these spheres of vitality, because the breath goes up and out after which again in and down.
Persevering with on that in-breath, the air goes by the highest of the pinnacle all the best way all the way down to the underside of the backbone after which now all the best way all the way down to the middle of the earth. After which that out-breath comes from the middle of the earth, all the best way again out by the highest of the pinnacle and out to the cosmos. So the in-breath really comes from all the cosmos, down by the highest of the pinnacle, all the best way all the way down to the middle of the earth. Really feel the middle of the earth. After which the out-breath from the middle of the earth, swooping up all the best way again up into the cosmos.
Okay? Good. Now let go of that and simply permit the white mild and the yellow mild to return down into the inexperienced mild on the coronary heart and collect there. So that every one three are shining now far more brightly, far more intensely. And permit the blue mild and the pink mild to return up and collect within the coronary heart, now shining far more intently. And all these lights collectively, after all, make white mild once more. So this was a superb, lovely, tremendously loving, tremendously smart, caring, compassionate mild. Shining within the coronary heart; mild of consciousness, mild of knowledge, mild of compassion, mild of affection, mild of complete acceptance, mild of peace and kindness, shining within the coronary heart. Really feel that very clearly. Shining within the coronary heart, radiating out in all instructions and pouring again in from all instructions too. Let this radiant love contact all beings in all places. Let this peace contact all beings in all places. Let this kindness contact all beings in all places. Let this knowledge contact all beings in all places.
Good. Now let go of all of the visualization and simply come again to resting as open, empty, spacious, clear awakeness. Awakeness that has at all times been there, that at all times is there. Whole readability and kindness that at all times is behind each expertise. This huge, spacious consciousness; simply relaxation there. No photos in any respect, no doing in any respect. If any doing comes up, simply let go, let go, let go. Merely relaxation because the huge, spacious consciousness you’ve at all times been.
Okay? Good. Very, excellent. All proper all people let’s finish the meditation there.
Dharma Discuss
And you’ll permit your self to maneuver and shake and wiggle and stretch. And simply permit your physique to do what it must do to really feel good. Enable your self a pleasant glass of water or some tea, or no matter fits you in the meanwhile. And simply discover how you’re feeling, how you’re feeling after doing this, we’ll name it a central channel visualization; the madhyanadi, the central channel visualization. We had been stacking the visualization that we usually do as a mandala. Once more, usually the mandala is round us in area, right here it was stacked up the central channel. It’s one other option to do it and a really highly effective option to do it.
I wish to remind you that, you recognize, awake consciousness, consciousness itself has no heart. It’s not coming from anyplace. It already is in all places. It’s non-local, it has no heart and it has no edge. It has no circumference, it has no boundary. So after we’re doing the visualization that it’s coming from the pinnacle, or that it’s within the heart of our head or that it’s on prime of the pinnacle or in our coronary heart, or no matter. I used to be fairly cautious to say a pair instances no less than that it’s fake or that it’s an imaginary heart. However I simply wish to re-emphasize that – that we’re picturing it as having a middle nevertheless it doesn’t actually have any heart. Or to place it in one other approach that’s equally true, let’s imagine it’s centered in all places and so in all places is the middle. That’s why we are able to visualize like that and have or not it’s highly effective.
You discover earlier than we began we did a sort of, we did awake consciousness or huge, spacious consciousness; vacancy meditation, proper? Simply dropping the whole lot. Simply letting the whole lot be. Simply letting awake consciousness, letting consciousness relaxation in itself. After which we did our complete visualization after which on the finish we got here again to only permitting consciousness to relaxation in itself with no visualization in any respect. And in order that’s how we try this. We sort of like, it’s virtually like metaphorically we’re simply erasing the blackboard, you recognize? I don’t find out about you however I went to high school when there have been actual blackboards that wrote with an precise chalk and you recognize we had these kinda material erasers, eraser blocks. And so you recognize earlier than you’re going to jot down one thing on the board you simply erase the whole lot that’s there and sort of return to that clean slate, the tabula rasa. And in a approach consciousness itself is the final word tabula rasa. It’s sort of the primordial, uncreated supply of all creations. So we return to that earlier than we start, proper? I had you do some stabilizing breath meditation first. However then we go into huge, spacious consciousness and basically wipe the blackboard clear, we erase the blackboard. And that offers us a gorgeous palette, or what’s the right phrase? The canvas, a gorgeous canvas upon which to – now I’m going to alter from the blackboard metaphor as a result of we’re utilizing colours. A phenomenal canvas upon which to color our visualization of those varied energies.
So in case you wish to go over that once more, we had been doing first—vitality of simply unconditional kindness, unconditional caring, love and so forth. And that’s simply consciousness itself. That was the white mild on the prime of the pinnacle.
Then within the head it was gold and yellow mild. And that was the knowledge, particularly the knowledge vitality of all of the religious lecturers.
After which we went to the guts which was inexperienced vitality. Inexperienced vitality of affection, of friendship, of neighborhood, of connectedness. In order that was the inexperienced.
After which we went all the way down to the photo voltaic plexus, sort of the higher stomach. That actual radiant, intense, pink protecting vitality. A lot of individuals report that after they do the mandala visualization, or on this case the central channel, one of many central channel visualizations, that pink vitality looks as if the one which’s essentially the most lacking or the toughest to get in contact with. And the thought there may be – a part of the kindness, a part of the caring that we’re discussing is taking care; taking good care of different beings like simply how you’ll defend a tiny animal otherwise you would defend somewhat child, or no matter. That sort of fierce safety, “hey I’m not gonna let any individual hurt this being.” Effectively, in the identical approach we now have religious protectors who really feel that approach about us. We have now energetic or, or imaginary, archetypal protectors who really feel that approach about all beings or the entire earth or the entire universe. That sort of like, “hey, we’re going to care for this factor and we’re going to truly use our vitality to guard it.” In order that’s that pink protecting vitality and if that feels weak for you or it was laborious to get in contact with then, that’s telling you one thing, proper? That’s, and actually this complete approach of visualizing will be considered sort of a, too robust a phrase is analysis, nevertheless it simply sort of reveals you the place perhaps issues are somewhat weak. And so when you, like many individuals, weren’t capable of tune into that protecting vitality so simply or it was not as obtainable, then I need you to spend further time desirous about what symbolizes safety; like ‘fierce, mama bear safety of the cubs’ sort of vitality for you. And to have the ability to image that and to really feel that, okay?
After which happening all the best way to the perineum, all the best way to the bottom of the backbone. All the best way to the sort of like, fundament of the physique. We have now that blue vitality and that’s the vitality of the muse, the groundedness. The sort of physicality of our being itself. It’s a beautiful indigo blue; deep, deep, blue mild. And you’re feeling that sort of structuring precept, the patterning precept, we even really feel the ancestors. So there’s an entire reference to demise there. And that one goes all the best way down. We may consider it as going all the best way down into the core of the earth. Similar to we are able to image the higher one, the sort of like, formless knowledge one, increasing out to contact all the universe.
And so you’ll be able to consider this visualization nevertheless you need. It may be sort of a Jungian psychological, a Jungian-esque psychological instrument. Or you recognize, relying by yourself private approach of regarding issues, you’ll be able to consider these as actual energies and actual refined beings and with Buddhas and bodhisattvas and varied deities concerned. So it’s, you’ll be able to take it nevertheless you wish to take it. However you’ll discover after doing the visualization that you simply really feel extra centered, extra alive. Issues are extra vibrant, extra 3D. And in addition there’s a sort of readability and your coronary heart is open. It’s very, very, crucial. Once more, I mentioned this through the meditation, however while you’re picturing these knowledge beings, no matter, whoever they could be. I don’t need you to ever consider them as being judgmental or like ‘oh, you’re a sinner or oh, you’re doing it improper, or no matter’. They’re by no means like that. That’s, that isn’t the vitality of a knowledge being. The vitality is – they’re in your facet. They actually love you and care about you they usually wish to aid you to develop in a extremely optimistic approach. They actually simply need the most effective for you. They need you, they need you to develop they usually need the most effective for everybody else, too. So it’s not like a zero-sum recreation. It’s not like, ‘oh, they need you to develop on the expense of the remainder of the world’. They need you to develop along with all different beings. So these are the sort of energies that I need you to image. When, particularly for the knowledge beings, the religious beings, the guides within the yellow mild within the head – we may have put it proper within the third eye if we needed to – a option to image them is actually in your facet. Not in some way judging you or discovering you falling brief, okay? In order that’s somewhat bit about that, somewhat bit about this visualization. Let me understand how that went for you.
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