Welcome to this guided meditation to let go into silence.
This practice will help you deepen in awareness,
Discharge old energy,
And simply abide in being.
If you're not sure yet exactly what that might mean,
It will become clearer as we practice.
My name is Beth and I'll be your guide.
You may practice with your eyes open or closed,
Whichever comes most naturally to you.
You may sit,
Stand,
Or even lie down.
Again,
Whichever feels most supportive in this moment.
Let's break down our concepts of meditation,
It looking a certain way or requiring a certain method,
And instead,
Just be present with our immediate experience,
The only experience that is happening now.
Let's begin our practice by feeling the body and becoming aware of sensation in it.
If a certain area of the body feels tense,
Notice that.
Feel free to shake off or stretch out the tension.
Let it go so that your body can settle.
Notice the flow of energy and sensations.
Notice that when you think of your nose,
Your attention goes there,
To your nose.
Watch as your attention moves from body part to body part.
Now allow your awareness to come to your seat or feet and feel the ground or your support.
Let the body be heavy.
Then,
Without thinking how,
Allow your arms and legs to discharge all the activities of the previous day,
Week,
Month,
And year.
Empty out as much as you are willing,
As much as is possible.
Free yourself of the memory of activity.
Now allow the breath to come to the forefront of your awareness.
Notice the sensations associated with breath.
Air flow and temperature.
The changing shape of the nostrils and the lungs.
The expansion of the chest,
Ribs,
And belly on the inhalation.
The deflation and contraction inward on the exhalation.
Allow the breath to slowly deepen and become more rhythmic.
Then let go into a natural breath.
The body and breath are part of our immediate experience.
So let them be there,
But now allow them both,
Body and breath,
To take a seat in the background of your awareness.
And let's turn our focus now to the mind.
What thoughts are present in it?
Are you trying to quiet your mind?
Do you have a sense of needing to get somewhere in your meditation?
Allow the mind to discharge all of its activity.
From today,
This past week,
This past month,
And the year.
Let the mind empty.
And as one thought is dropped,
Perhaps another takes its place.
It is okay.
There's nothing for you to do.
Just let go.
Let go and watch.
If a question arises,
Be openly curious.
For example,
What is mind?
Is mind thought or awareness of thought?
Is awareness in the mind?
Or is the mind in awareness?
Who is it that is thinking a thought?
Is it the same as the one aware of the thinking?
Now let's focus on the silence that is ever-present.
Every sound of life.
Nature.
Traffic.
Electronics.
Talking.
The silence is big enough to contain it all.
Dive.
Dive deep into this ocean of silence.
Let it cover your entire sense of self.
Let it fill you with its undisturbable,
Incorruptible peace.
Plunge ever deeper into the quiet as all sounds fade into the background.
Stay with the silence.
Abide in that silence.
Notice that there is no boundary to this quality of silence.
It is vast and expands in all directions to infinity.
Let this silence carry you away into a place beyond thoughts of meditation,
Beyond ideas of self,
Beyond everything.
Stay in the silence.
Abide in the silence.
Prepare now not to return from this state of openness and peace,
But to maintain it even as you open your eyes to either go about your day or as you rest into sleep.
Your body and mind can and will function efficiently and optimally even while you stay as you are in the field of no-thing.
Let go of the idea that meditation is something that starts and stops.
And so,
We dedicate now the merits of this practice to the Most Supreme and Sublime Enlightened Mind for the benefit of all.
May love prevail in all hearts and may all beings awaken to their true nature.
This state of being has no end.
Our practice together,
However,
Is now complete.
