Hello dear friends.
Namaskar.
Shalom.
Om Shanti.
Welcome again to Aware Zen's guided meditations.
I'm Chris Kang and today I'd like to share with you another meditation which focuses more on the mind and its activity.
So what I like to guide you through today is a practice that I call Settling the Mind and Illuminating the Mind.
Settling and Illuminating the Mind.
So what we are going to do is to activate the factor of mindfulness,
The ability to pay attention quietly without judgment,
As well as to allow our minds to settle naturally within the space of experience.
So in this practice we are not trying to focus on something to try and get the mind to be quiet.
Rather we are allowing the mind to settle into its own space,
If you like.
The space of the mind within which all the thinking occurs.
So allowing thoughts to settle,
To come to a natural stillness within its background,
Its quiet luminous background,
Which we call the space of the mind.
And then all through this process to be observant,
To be awake,
To be aware within this entire process.
So that one is illuminating the thoughts that occur,
As well as the space within which these thoughts occur.
And just in that very natural way we can come to touch and experience the natural quietness,
The natural stillness,
And the natural spaciousness of this mind.
So that's what we will be practicing today.
I'd like to invite you all to sit in your meditation posture.
It's good to sit on a straight back chair with your feet flat on the floor,
Shoulder-width apart.
Allow your back to be straight but free of tension.
Rest your hands on your lap and simply allow your present moment experience to be as it is.
So as we begin this meditation,
Close your eyes,
Breathe naturally,
And let your whole being rest in this moment.
Being fully in the present,
Which is the only moment you can be alive.
The past is gone,
The future is yet to come.
Now is the knowing.
Now is the only moment we can be alive.
So let your whole body be relaxed but alert,
Still and upright.
Breathing gently in,
Breathing gently out.
Allow the mind to do whatever it likes.
Notice the activity of the mind.
Is there thinking?
Observe your thinking.
Observing thoughts like clouds floating in the sky.
You as silent witness,
Silent observer like the sky and your thoughts like the clouds that pass by and arise,
Abide,
And dissolve in that sky.
Do not be involved in the thoughts.
You are not interested in what the thoughts are.
Whether they are about this or that does not matter.
You're simply uninvolved,
Simply observing as the sky.
You are like the screen on which all your thoughts and images are appearing.
As the screen,
As the space of the mind,
You are aware,
You're alert,
You are relaxed.
And out of this screen,
Out of this space,
There are images and thoughts coming and going,
Rising and passing away.
No need to try and suppress your thoughts.
No need to resist them.
No need to get attached to them.
Simply allowing them to be as they are,
Rising and passing away.
If there are no thoughts,
Then simply notice the stillness.
If thoughts are there,
Simply notice that they are there.
No need to resist,
No need to react,
No need to retain.
Simply rest as the space of the mind that is knowing,
That is clear.
And as your thoughts subside,
Allow the stillness and spaciousness of the mind to come to the forefront.
Look into that space of the mind.
Does it have a shape?
Does it have a size?
Does it have any boundary?
Just looking and observing without thinking about it.
You are being in direct contact with this moment of reality,
The reality of your mental space,
The experience of your mind in itself,
Free from any ideas or conceptions.
Look directly.
Look immediately.
Look deeply.
When thoughts come,
Simply let them be.
See how they come,
How they abide,
And how they pass away.
From whence do they come?
And where do they go?
It's possible that through this basic inquiry,
This basic illumination of the activity of the mind,
The thoughts come to a natural stillness,
Natural quiet.
Be in that stillness without grasping,
Allowing it to be as it is,
And allowing the mind to think if it wants to think,
And remaining awake to every movement of thought.
So in this way,
Whether the mind is at rest,
Or whether the mind is moving,
There is clarity,
There is awareness.
Gently allow the eyes to open,
Gazing into the space in front of you,
Noticing the shapes and the colors in your visual space.
And if thoughts arise,
If images arise in your mind,
Notice the mental images in your mental space.
Notice how your mental space superimposes on the physical or visual space.
Notice the mental images superimposed on the visual images.
Just noticing these basic aspects of your sensory and mental experience,
With a mind that is clear,
Bright,
Knowing.
And in going deeper,
Realizing that this so called inner space,
Mental space,
And the visual space or physical space,
They are inseparable.
There is no real boundary.
There is only a seamlessness of experience,
A unified field of experiencing.
Any division or demarcation is created by your conceptualizing mind.
So restfully awake and aware in this field of experiencing,
With no need for the mind to be this way or that way,
But naturally awake,
Savoring the moments of quietness and stillness,
And being at ease during moments of movement and dynamism and thinking.
Whether the mind is at rest,
Or whether the mind is moving,
There is only wakefulness and ease.
So now,
Prepare to conclude this meditation by affirming from within the depths of your heart,
A positive,
A most positive aspiration,
Your heart's innermost and highest aspiration,
Which may be an aspiration for well-being,
For true happiness,
And thinking and affirming to yourself,
By the power of my meditation,
May I experience true and lasting happiness,
And may all beings,
My loved ones,
Family members,
And friends,
And all others that I encounter in my life,
May we all together experience true happiness,
Peace,
Joy.
May we all learn to rest and settle and illuminate our minds.
So with that,
You may conclude your meditation and rejoice,
Be happy.
So there you have it,
Meditation on settling and illuminating the mind.
May you all be well and be whole.
May you find natural,
Great peace in your practice.
Until next time,
At the well-zen,
Namaskar,
Shalom,
And om shanti.
Thank you all.
Thank you,
Dear friends.
