Guided Nondual Meditation with Michael Taft
Streamed reside Dec 3, 2021
So, let’s start. We’re not going to do most of our common lead-in right now. I simply need you to arrange your posture and, as common, get your again good and upright, pleasantly upright. High of your head sort of feeling prefer it’s being pulled upwards in a extremely nice approach. Chin is tucked a bit and your entire physique relaxed. Okay. Face is relaxed, and so forth.
After which only for a second I need you to consider why are you meditating. Why are you meditating? What’s your function in studying to meditate and spending time meditating? And simply take into consideration that for a minute after which simply let that go into the ethers, simply launch that. We don’t need to preserve that in thoughts. We’re simply utilizing it to focus our consideration and bear in mind why we’re right here.
Okay, after which what I need you to do is to start to contact your respiration. After I say contact your respiration, I imply the physique sensations related to the respiration course of. So, you’ll be able to really feel the breath coming out and in of your nostril. You’ll be able to really feel the air transferring in your trachea. You’ll be able to really feel your chest increasing and contracting, rising and falling. You’ll be able to really feel your diaphragm pulling downwards on the in-breath, after which retracting backwards on the out-breath. You’ll be able to really feel your stomach area increasing and contracting, increasing and contracting with every breath.
Okay. So, you’ll be able to really feel all of that, or any of that. Nevertheless, right now, for the start a part of our meditation I’m going to recommend that you simply really feel all of that. So, really feel the breath coming in your nostril, taking place your trachea, increasing your chest, each in entrance and in again, and on the perimeters. The entire rib cage expands. Really feel that enlargement and contraction. After which, nonetheless on the in-breath your diaphragm pulls down in your stomach area, once more, each in entrance and in again. The stomach area expands after which on the out breath the stomach area contracts. The diaphragm retracts upwards, the rib cage contracts. Really feel the breath going out.
Okay, and so we’re doing full physique consciousness of respiration. Not merely breath in a single spot, however we’re conserving the eye comparatively broad, not tight slim, however comparatively broad. Feeling the breath coming in.The entire course of all the best way down, all the best way down, the total in-breath after which going again the total out-breath. And I need you to, at first, right here, actually make an effort to stick with each stage of the breath. So, you’re noticing the start of the in-breath, feeling the breath all through the in-breath, noticing all of it the best way to the underside, noticing the start of the out-breath, feeling the out-breath all the best way, all the best way, all the best way up, all the best way to the very finish of the out-breath. And actually just remember to discover the very finish of the out-breath. Actually ensure you discover that half. After which, come again to feeling all of the in-breath and all of the out-breath. Let’s do this collectively right here for a short while.
Keep in mind we’re attempting to get continuity of consideration on the breath, so we’re actually noticing every a part of that in-breath, and every a part of that out-breath, and never lacking any components. And when you discover within the cycle that there’s a sure spot the place it turns into straightforward to lose your consideration, then actually focus every cycle with additional intention on that half. So we preserve this good continuity of consideration going.
Okay. Good. Now we’ll swap to shamatha with out an object. So we had been simply utilizing the breath as an object now we’ll let go of the article and we simply–shamatha in the long run means peaceable stability, proper? So, we are able to have peaceable stability even with out utilizing a spotlight object to sort of borrow stability like that. So now, usually we might do that with our eyes open. You don’t need to, however usually we do the eyes open and we simply enable consciousness to relaxation in itself. And in order for you you’ll be able to discover the breath within the background, simply as sort of a really, very faint background hum, or no matter, however we’re not likely listening to it. Merely consciousness is resting very broad open and it’s not concerned with something. It’s not going after pondering it’s not going after feelings. Consciousness will not be going out to sights and sounds. They’re there, in fact, however we’re not likely listening to them. Moderately, consciousness is solely resting in itself, completely utterly relaxed, completely open, completely non-engaged, proper? So, merely shiny, clear, crisp, vivid consciousness resting in itself. If something comes up, you begin getting concerned in a thought, simply let go of it. Begin getting concerned in a sense? Let go of it, come again to easily this secure consciousness that could be very broad, discover that you simply don’t need to make consciousness broad, consciousness is already broad. You don’t make consciousness shiny and clear, it’s already shiny and clear, proper? It’s like that while you don’t do something in any respect with it. We are able to slim it and attempt to do stuff with it however we’re doing precisely the alternative now, doing nothing with consciousness, letting or not it’s naturally huge, naturally very broad, naturally relaxed and open, and uninvolved in something. That’s the essential half; if you end up grabbing onto one thing with consciousness, simply let go of that. That is tremendously enjoyable and open. There’s no effort concerned right here or let’s say little or no effort consciousness by itself merely rests in itself.
Merely resting in huge spacious consciousness, letting go of involvement with something that arises.
Okay. Good. Now we’re going to modify to a different sort of shamatha known as settling the thoughts in its pure state or taking the thoughts itself as the trail. So, remaining open-eyed with huge spacious consciousness, that huge stillness that’s naturally current. Now as a substitute of uninvolvement with something, we are able to simply discover ideas arising. Now, once more, we’re not getting concerned within the ideas. We’re not turning into the ideas. We’re not recognized with the ideas. We’re not fusing with the ideas. However as a substitute of simply focusing consciousness on itself, we’re truly permitting this huge house of consciousness to note, or pay attention to, the ideas as they come up.
And simply as earlier than we may discover that respiration was taking place, now we’re additionally noticing that pondering is occurring. And we are able to even know what the content material of the thought is, however we’re not getting fused with it. We’re not likely entering into the content material as a lot as simply noticing it’s there. That is fascinating, we’re not altering the contents of our thoughts in any respect, we’re simply letting the thoughts do what it does. However meditating on the thoughts naturally doing what it does. It’s very, very straightforward right here to get caught up within the ideas as a result of we’re simply letting them come into consciousness. So, don’t get caught within the ideas. It’s simply consciousness itself, in its personal open stillness, noticing ideas arising, not altering the ideas or interacting with the ideas, or being the ideas in any approach. Let’s do that now.
Consciousness is like house, it’s tremendously open, it’s tremendously huge. It’s totally different from house in that it’s conscious, it’s cognizant, it’s a sort of figuring out house, an conscious house. And so ideas are merely arising on this conscious house and the conscious house is conscious of the ideas. That’s it.
In a fashion of talking you might be that conscious house, you aren’t the ideas. So simply enable this conscious house to know the pondering with out being the pondering.
Okay. Good. Let’s let go of that now. That’s a really fascinating meditation as a result of in a approach we’re not likely altering our thoughts in any respect. With that final bit, the half that I name settling the thoughts in its pure state or taking the thoughts itself as path, that sort of shamatha, we’re not doing what a traditional meditation does. In a traditional shamatha meditation we’re both taking an object and attempting to coach the thoughts on that object in a approach that the thoughts settles down, or with shamatha with out an object we’re simply trying on the settled a part of the thoughts with out participating with any object. So we’re altering one thing concerning the thoughts sort of, however with this one we’re simply permitting your thoughts to be your thoughts, it’s simply pondering it’s regular ideas, and it’s having its regular feelings and all that however we’re altering the middle of our…we’re altering our house base. We’re altering the place we’re coming from. As an alternative of being the ideas and being the thinker we’re as a substitute “being the attention” and simply letting the pure no matter ideas come up. And so in a method we’re not altering the thoughts in any respect, we’re not altering the contents. In one other approach we’re shifting our foundation, we’re shifting our view, proper? We’re shifting the place we’re coming from, which is the actually essential half about awakening anyway, proper? It’s not that we modify the contents of the thoughts, however change whose thoughts, or what we even suppose the thoughts is. So with that we’re going to finish our temporary half hour of guided meditation right now.
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