Welcome to the meditation From Outer Searching to Inner Recognition Introduction In our lives we have learnt to look outward towards objects,
Possessions,
Achievements,
The senses,
Experiences and relationships.
All in the belief that they will bring some level of peace,
Satisfaction and contentment.
From Seeking Outwardly None of these expectations can be filled from one that is observing outwardly.
They come from recognising an awareness that has always been here,
Silently within,
Quietly present beneath all change,
Beyond the senses,
Experiencing,
Perceiving and one's points of view.
In this meditation we will shift focus,
Now turning our attention inwardly,
Away from an outer restless search to that of a quiet presence of our true inseparable awareness.
To begin with,
Find a quiet place.
Now sit comfortably,
Either on a cushion on the floor or in a chair.
Place your hands in your lap,
Keep your spine straight,
Your head upright and relax your shoulders.
Now take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in through your nose.
A long,
Deep inhalation.
Then at the top of the breath,
Pause for a moment.
Then exhale slowly through the nose,
Keeping the mouth closed.
And at the bottom of the breath,
Pause again before you next inhale.
Now allow this rhythm of breathing to become totally relaxing.
Settling into the body,
Grounding one's presence and softening one's outlook.
In this meditation there is nothing to reach for.
Nothing will be gained and all that is required of you is to simply be here,
Be still,
Remain relaxed and open.
Part One.
Recognising the Outer Search.
All that is required of you is simply to be here,
Still,
Relaxed and remain open.
Part One.
Recognising the Outer Search.
So much of life is lived in the pursuit of something.
We seek through relationships,
Possessions,
Achievements and even spiritual practices.
Reaching,
Seeking and striving.
All in an endeavour to find understanding,
Satisfaction,
Contentment,
Love or fulfilment.
All are efforts external to ourselves,
Our outer search.
Now allow yourself now just to gently notice this pattern of seeking in your life.
It is not to judge it,
It is just simply to be present,
To feel in what it has been and what it is.
Just to sense this part of your life.
Sense the movement of desires,
Of wanting,
Of becoming and a sense of hopelessness and dissatisfaction that one can feel.
Notice how this reaching outward never fully completes itself.
There is no lasting destination.
Each grasp brings only temporary satisfaction,
Temporary relief before the inner cry,
Before the inner restlessness commences once again.
Rest here now through a few breaths to come back to this recognition in your own life.
One's outer searching is endless.
Ask yourself,
What has it brought after all these years?
Are you fulfilled?
Satisfied?
Do you feel complete?
Have you noticed in all of this that there is something that has not moved regardless of all of one's outer activities?
There is a presence.
This has always been here with you.
Quiet and still.
Inconspicuous.
A background to all.
The witness to all.
Part 2.
Turning Inward Bring your attention now from the outer world of sensing,
Experiencing,
Objects,
The body.
Bring your attention back into the quiet subjectivity of your own deep awareness.
Sitting now relaxed,
Take a moment to be aware of the sensations of the body.
What is happening around you?
Sounds appearing in a space around you?
Thoughts arising?
Then falling away,
One after another?
All of these are objects of your awareness.
Changing,
Coming and going.
Yet the bigger picture and the most important question and where your answer lies is what is it that knows all of what we have just described?
What is it that knows them all?
That is aware of this body,
This breath,
These thoughts,
These emotions and these experiences.
Rest for a moment in your meditation here.
To know,
To recognize perhaps for the first time that the one that is aware,
That is the witness of all is the abiding sense of the infinite you.
The impersonal you.
The unborn you.
This is not the you of a body-mind identity.
But the greater you of self-awareness.
There is no need to seek this awareness.
It is already here.
Beyond the noise of the mind.
It's closer than close.
And it has never been absent in your life.
This self-awareness is the greater mind of your natural presence.
Some call it pure mind.
This presence is the greater part of yourself.
Greater than all thinking.
All experiences.
All that you have so far perceived in your life.
Rest a while here in this recognition of your own natural presence.
Your own self-awareness.
Whenever the distracted mind drifts away gently return one's focus to the still,
Calm and vast presence of one's formless,
Spacious,
One's presence of pure knowing.
Part Three.
Resting in stillness.
Once again,
Come back to the relaxed rhythm of your breath.
Any thoughts,
Let them rise and fall like undulating waves rolling across an ocean.
Until they fade away.
Returning your stillness to the vast expanse of the ocean itself.
Remain as this vast ocean.
This infinite presence of silence.
Calmness.
Clarity.
As this vast stillness,
There is nothing to grasp.
Nothing to know.
There's nothing objective that draws your attention.
Everything is open,
Free and spacious.
There is nothing that needs your focus in this emptiness.
It simply is your state of presence.
Boundless.
Notice here how peaceful one's pure awareness is by its very nature.
This peace does not depend on anything in the outer world.
It does not arise from seeking,
From wanting,
From learning,
From practicing,
From experiencing,
From the senses.
It simply is what it is.
Your own calm,
Clear seeing.
One's own vast,
Inner,
Boundless,
Spacious presence.
Sit for a moment as you breathe.
Rest deeply into this inner recognition.
Recognize that stillness is not something that is found or realized.
It is the self-recognition of your own timeless nature.
One's own presence of pure awareness.
Recognize stillness is not something that is found or realized.
It is the self-recognition of your own timeless nature.
One's own grounded presence of pure,
Inseparable awareness.
Now,
As we begin to close this meditation,
Take a few long,
Deep breaths.
Bring your focus back into the body,
Into the room where you are sitting.
Move your fingers,
Your toes,
Move your shoulders and come back into the body.
Remain aware of that which has been the witness of all of these words,
These breaths,
These inner movements in this meditation exercise.
By recognizing the inner peace that you have returned to,
That you have recognized once again,
Your natural home of pure,
Inseparable awareness.
Now,
Before you return to your day,
Consider these questions.
In what ways do I find myself searching outwardly for satisfaction,
For a sense of completion?
What happens when I pause the search and rest in this now,
My pure awareness?
How might my daily life shift now in recognizing that peace is already here?
It is nowhere else.
It is the essential part of pure awareness.
Now,
Take this whole meditation lightly as an invitation.
An invitation to come back into the recognition of your own still,
Pure awareness.
And as you do so,
It will continue to unfold naturally.
Now,
When you are ready,
Open your eyes and return here,
Fully present.
Now,
Recognizing that the outer search is not where satisfaction lies.
One's self-recognition is the inner awareness of one's pure presence.
