Arriving in your seat,
Your comfortable seat where you can remain alert and not fall asleep.
Finding that sukhasana,
Your easeful pose where the spine is tall,
The shoulders,
The face totally relaxed,
Mentally preparing for a short meditation,
Moving through the five koshas,
Sheaths or yogic bodies.
Begin by noticing your seat,
Your sit bones.
Feel grounded,
Feel heavy in the body.
Noticing,
Watching,
Observing that the body can be both relaxed and steady.
You can experience on the physical level the state of steadiness and easefulness,
Both effort and ease.
We begin by observing the physical layer,
Anamaya kosha,
The food body,
The most dense,
The most gross being,
Gross matter that we can experience is the sensation of our skin,
Our bodies,
Our hearts beating,
Perhaps noticing tension or tightness.
Just be aware of the mechanism of having a physical body with your senses behind your closed eyes,
Aware of the flickers of light,
The sounds nearby and far away.
Observing the taste of your mouth,
Smells,
Just noticing the air on your skin,
The temperature of your room.
Be aware,
Be watchful,
Just observe,
Observe,
Observe.
Without judgment,
Without shame,
Without name,
Without blame,
We simply observe.
And then we allow the awareness to draw one layer more subtle,
More refined to our pranamaya kosha,
Our energetic body.
Noticing the prana flowing in,
Flowing out,
Without any effort,
Spontaneously that life energy flows in and flows out,
Aware of the quality of energy in your body.
No naming,
Simply aware.
Allow your awareness to shift one layer more subtle,
More refined to our manamaya kosha,
Mental and emotional bodies.
We can observe the quality of the thoughts,
We can observe the waves of emotion.
The practice of meditation is the practice of simply observing.
We don't cling on to the mental thoughts,
The inner emotions,
We just simply observe,
We just simply allow.
And the more refined the awareness becomes,
The more refined our meditation practice becomes,
The more we're able to discern which thoughts to welcome in,
Which thoughts to allow to fall away.
So watch,
Observe,
Notice this subtle body.
No pushing,
No forcing,
Just watching.
Allowing your awareness to shift,
To expand one layer more refined,
More subtle to your vyanamaya kosha,
Your wisdom body.
That inner spark,
That inner knowing,
What is it within me that knows?
It might be a little flicker,
A little ember in the pit of your stomach,
A quick pulse of the heart.
How can you begin to explore,
To welcome,
To get curious about that inner wisdom?
What is that within me that's beyond mental thought,
Beyond mental ideas,
Beliefs,
But rather some innate sense within me that knows?
It's there.
It might be covered by mental waves,
By emotional waves,
By circumstance,
But it's there within us all.
The practice of meditation is the practice of fanning that spark.
Vyanamaya kosha,
Your wisdom body.
And then we allow the awareness to move one layer,
Most refined,
Most subtle.
Fleeting in our reach for it is the anandamaya kosha,
Our bliss body,
Which is there both beyond and within this physical temporal mechanism that we all have.
It's that state of perfect equanimity,
That state which is the source of the wisdom.
It's the source of the thought,
The source of the energy of the life.
It's the very source of this body from which we all arise and from which we all return.
Whether a breath or a life,
The anandamaya kosha,
That bliss body is all permeating.
It's a state of being.
It's something to grasp onto with name,
With form,
But it's a place we reside.
Be in that.
Bask in that state of ananda,
Bliss,
Beyond happiness,
Beyond joy,
Pure existence,
Pure delight,
Pure beingness.
So as we peel back the layers from the physical to the most subtle,
Anandamaya kosha is there,
Permeating each layer,
Each sheath,
And yet it's covered.
So we are reminded why we practice,
We meditate,
Why we arrive in the true state and experience of yoga,
That state of anandamaya kosha,
That state of amaram,
That state of madhuram.
So from the seat,
From the sheath of anandamaya kosha,
Start to draw your awareness from the center through your wisdom body,
Your mental and emotional bodies,
Your pranic or energetic body,
And finally this physical body.
Feel yourself as one whole complete body.
You are here,
You are present,
You are alive,
And that ananda is permeating your whole existence.
So you can sit in that space a few minutes longer,
Or you can start to blink your eyes open,
Moving into your day,
Knowing that whatever you go,
Whatever you do,
Anandamaya kosha is your true nature.
Amaram ham,
Madhuram ham,
Om tatsat,
Heriyom,
Heriyom,
Heriyom.
