Stillness In Meditation - Episode 11

Episode 11 of the Nature of Meditation podcast explores Stillness in Meditation.

Nature of Meditation monthly podcast is an exploration of the nature of silent meditation practice. Produced by Ayla Michelle at The Therapy Garden, a BAMBA accredited, registered and supervised mindfulness teacher.

Transcript

Hello, My name is Michelle and welcome to episode 11 on stillness in meditation and in daily life. We're here to meet our experience in the present moment from a place of inner stillness, A place of absorption where there's no separation between subject and object, Where there's no separation between the subject of, The topic of this episode stillness and your lived experience of stillness. So let's start with a five minute meditation practice, Find a place to sit comfortably where you won't be disturbed and you yourself will know when your body is settled in a comfortable posture in which it can be still and there's no right way to sit in meditation. The right way to sit in meditation is the way that is most comfortable for your body with its present condition and capacity at this time. So let's sit together now for five minutes in silence and allowing your body to settle in its own way and in its own time, Allowing your energy to drop downwards into the ground using the force of gravity, The weight of gravity to help one become more still. So I'm going to be silent now for five minutes and try my best to become more aware, To become more calm, Composed and still. Coming back to the episode teaching, Feeling a bit more aware, More present and more still. I'd like to link this episode 11 on stillness in meditation back to the previous episode 9 on grounding in meditation, Where I introduced the term shamatha, A Buddhist term, To help describe the practice of calming and grounding the body, Heart and mind. In this episode on stillness in meditation, I'm introducing the term, The Buddhist term samadhi, Because it refers to the outcome of shamatha, Shamatha being collectedness or calmness, Composure and grounding. So the outcome of those states of being is samadhi. The resulting state of consciousness, That's a deep and profound absorption, Sometimes described as unified mind, Or I could even use the term oneness if that's not too spiritual or religious. In absorbed states of consciousness, Such as samadhi, The meditator is at one with the object of meditation and loses their sense of a separate individual self. No longer experiencing from their individual ego, But from their true nature that is interconnected to everything and is empty of a separate self in an absorbed experience of interbeing. So the meditator in the state of samadhi is no longer meeting their moment-to-moment experience. The meditators are being the experience itself, Having become one with objects and phenomena of heart and mind. There are many different terms used in various schools of Buddhism for this absorptive state of consciousness, Such as silent illumination, Radiant light, Precious mirror. And like I said in episode 9 on grounding in meditation where I spoke about shamatha, For me the term concentration is not a good translation of these meditation terms. Because for me concentration is too tense and implies effort and no one can deliberately or willfully achieve a state of composure or a state of absorption. Any willful effort or forced focus of attention is not meditation and it cannot bring composure, Stillness or absorption. There's no way to force unification of mind to happen by voluntary control. As meditation is a natural state of consciousness and state of being, And it's also a skill that can be learned. So states of consciousness such as samadhi, Absorption, Are states that the heart and mind does naturally because it likes them and enjoys them and finds them nourishing. So they're not experienced through any particular effort, But through yielding into a natural state of being. So experiencing from a place of inner stillness is a yielding or surrender to the movements of mind that want to grasp experience and construct and fix an identity. Movements of mind that want to reify and make the self more concrete and real. Movements of mind that deny and suppress and avoid what supposedly is not the self. Rather than allowing things to be as they are and accepting everything. So in the practice of meditation, It's surrendering our movements of identity making, Story making, The story of yourself and your life. And we're unbothered by this constant flow of selfing and we become absorbed in natural states of consciousness and being. Stillness in meditation, As I'm explaining it here in this episode, Is the end of the movements of the mind. In meditation, We stop following the striving and grasping movements on the surface individual level or layer of the mind, Of the heart and mind. Because the striving and grasping is coming from the heart as well as the mind. Attraction, Aversion, Desiring and avoiding. So in meditation, By stopping striving and grasping, I mean the end of the individual ego as the centre of your meditation. And as the centre of the universe. For most people, The striving and grasping movements of the mind in constructing an identity for oneself, These movements happen automatically and unconsciously. The person's awareness is completely sucked into and involved in, You could also say absorbed in, The movements on the surface individual layer of the mind. And that becomes their reality. That becomes the matrix of their individual self, Made up of social and cultural identity, Codes, Norms, Beliefs. Made up of their hopes and fears, Cravings and aversions, Their wheel of samsara. So the practice of meditation is to relinquish or surrender the individual surface layer of the heart-mind. So that we can experience fresh discoveries of what's here and now, As new experience in the present moment. Experiencing the present moment without the overlay of the individual self, Without any reaction, Discrimination or judgement. We experience each moment without reactivity, Without judgement and include everything just as it is, Positive or negative. And there is no positive or negative, Because the thinking mind is not labelling, Not categorising, Not judging. So no evaluation or assessment is made of anything, It just is what it is. So in meditation we have the possibility to experience without the mental and emotional movements of desiring, Wanting, Expecting, Thinking, Interpreting, Judging, Labelling. Without naming, Categorising, Avoiding or resisting, Without any of the movements of meaning-making, Meaning-making by the heart and the mind. That creates movements going forward and movements going backwards and also movements going up and down, All sorts of dynamic movements of the psyche, Of the mind. So in meditation we experience present moment without the movements of the mind, Movements of mind that create division, Separation and identity. In meditation we can have fresh new experiences in the present moment that we don't need to get involved with and that don't stick to us. We don't need to create a meaning and we're not thinking about our experience at all, We're just experiencing it. So our experience can come and go freely and nothing is held on to or carried over and nothing becomes a trauma. And just in pure experience we can experience this absorption with things or unification between subject and object. I've spoken about this metaphor before several times and I'd like to use it very clearly and carefully again here to help us understand unification of mind. And it's the metaphor of the waves on the surface of the ocean, As the ego surface individual layer of the mind, Sometimes thought of as the skin in psychology. That surface level barrier between the inner individual and the outer collective. And then deeper, Broader, Wider, The vast collective psyche of the ocean. So I tend to use the word mind for the individual and the word psyche for the collective, For the collective. I was going to say mind but let's just say for the collective psyche. The deep, Still, Dark, Silent bottom of the ocean. A place of stillness where one experiences the collective consciousness, The collective psyche, Not the individual mind. So meditation is to experience the deeper oceanic stillness of the collective psyche where one is no longer thinking about things, No longer using the discursive surface individual layer of mind. In truth, Thinking is probably what people are doing in some of their meditation practice. But there's also the possibility that they're able to just be experiencing in an absorbed state of consciousness. Not forever or permanently absorbed in the collective, Or I could use the term absorbed in emptiness, Empty of the separate self. Because the surface individual mind cannot go away permanently. Absorption and stillness and emptiness are provisional and instrumental. And they cannot be, These states of being cannot be maintained for long periods of time. But if you're open to experiencing the depths and vastness of the collective psyche, If you're open to experiencing without the individual self, Therefore being empty of the individual self. Then you experience the stillness, Silence and peace of the collective psyche, Of absorption in the collective psyche. So the oceanic collective psyche in Western psychology and spirituality is referred to as the soul. The soul being a collective phenomenon, The soul is not an individual phenomenon. And in Zen Buddhism, We use the term Buddha nature or true nature. And again, That implies and suggests that it's not an individual phenomenon. It's a connection and absorption with the things around you. So in meditation, There's a dissolution of the obscurations that veil this inherent true nature. There's a dissolving of the obstructions that veil one's soul. So absorption, The state of consciousness that is absorption, In such states of consciousness, Attention is not directed to any specific object or phenomena. Our awareness, Our conscious awareness, Just shows up spontaneously and is available to everything. So when a phenomena arises and manifests itself in the mind, It is perceived through depth. It's perceived through the psyche, Which makes its interconnected, Interdependent, Collective nature felt and experienced and sensed. So instead of one's attention leaning into a particular object of awareness, As soon as the mind and the object meet, The attention and the object, Instead of that meeting, The contact immediately fades and there's no fixed, Independent existence. Whatever's perceived just presents itself as it is and there's no involvement or attachment to any individual, Separate consciousness of mind. There's no involvement or attachment because of absorption, Because the psyche within and the psyche without are one. And the same thing. So I am the book, I am the curtain, I am the light, I'm not separate from any object or phenomena. There's no individual, Separate me to be thought of, To be imagined. There's no individual, Separate me to be experienced or known in the state of absorption. Phenomena naturally appear and disappear in and out of the field of awareness when consciousness detects another phenomena or object to perceive and experience in seamlessness. So there's no thought to move one's attention, There's no thought of a beginning and an end, It's just a seamless flow of consciousness, Collective consciousness. So in meditation we are aware of the movements on the surface, Individual level of the mind. They're always going to be there to some degree or other. And yes, A highly experienced meditation practitioner will experience the movements of the individual mind less so than a beginner who may experience the individual mind quite a lot during their meditation practice. But I'd like to suggest that if you're listening to this episode and learning that you know the individual mind is there busy with its movements, Then just having that knowledge is sufficient to let go of the individual surface level of the mind. And you don't need to worry about when you will let go, How, Why or if you will ever let go. Whatever the story is, It's not important. So in meditation we experience both the movements of mind on the surface and we can also experience the stillness of the collective mind in the deeper, Broader, Vaster levels of the psyche. So I'd like to introduce the term non-dualistic. In a non-dualistic, Unified way, Movement and stillness are one and they don't have to be diametrically opposed or separate from each other. It doesn't have to be one or the other. In unification of mind, Everything is okay. Experiencing movement is no better or worse than experiencing stillness. Experiencing stillness is no better or worse than experiencing movement. Unification is the non-dual, True nature of the heart, Mind and body. Unification of individual and collective is the true human condition. And we all have the possibility to meet all conditions and circumstances from a unified place of inner stillness. Okay, That's a lot of theory there. I tried to edit it as much as possible. So let's turn now briefly to the practice of meditation. And maybe I'll talk a little bit first about the ways, Everyday life ways, We can get to know our inner stillness, Get to know absorbed states of unification. Because stillness doesn't have to be something special or mysterious or mystical, Out of reach. It can be every day, Every moment life. It doesn't have to be a formal, Special practice. Our daily life is a great way to practice meditation, To practice stillness and absorption. For example, When you're focusing on something, That's you gathering and stilling your mind. So focusing is the practice of shamatha, Gathering, Grounding, Stilling the mind. And as the mind focuses, More stillness arises as you collect the mind. And collecting the mind is the path into the collective psyche. And samadhi, Unification of mind, Doesn't have to only arise in formal sitting meditation practice. Samadhi, Unification of mind is a trainable skill. And this training can begin on an everyday, Very modest level. For example, One of the everyday skills you can use at home to help you gather your mind, To calm your mind, Is self-soothing. So self-soothing is a psychological term. And it's the capacity to create ease and calm for yourself and to regulate your nervous system. And this is something anybody can learn to do, Just knowing what calms you and what helps you find your bearings. That in itself is a shamatha and samadhi practice. Knowing how to calm yourself when agitated or in the grip of powerful emotions or fantasies or desires. And we can find an array of many unification skills, Such as noticing what's happening. So you're becoming present. Becoming present is a form of becoming more unified with what is there, With what is present. Becoming present, We come to what is, And we can become what is. We can become absorbed in the present moment. And there are many other everyday skills, Such as orientating oneself, Resourcing oneself. I could go through a long list of psychological skills that everybody uses in their everyday life to help themselves calm, Soothe and still themselves. So it's worth remembering that informal samadhi and shamatha are simply skills to be present, Be calm, Be still. That one practices informally and formally. So let's sit in stillness for a few moments now. And we can notice the movements on the surface individual layer of our mind without worrying about it or thinking about it. Just noticing what's there and what's not there. And if you like, If it helps you, You can focus on noticing the movements of your breathing in your body. So we're noticing movements, And we're also noticing any spaciousness around, Within and without the movements. So by noticing stillness and spaciousness, We're culting a mind that's spacious and not spacey. We're not cultivating movement of mind that happens naturally without us worrying about it. So experiencing, Witnessing non-judgmentally. So coming to the close of this episode on stillness. And I will look forward to creating the next episode for you to share more with you next month. Bye for now.