Mountain Meditation

A meditation where we sit and visualise and embody the qualities of a mountain.
Everything on and around it is in constant change: people and animals come and go, the weather, the seasons, and yet the mountain stays the same.
Feel into its strength, calm, solidity... what can you learn from embodying a mountain?

Transcript

Mountain Meditation Begin by finding a comfortable seated position, Which is neither so comfortable that you're likely to fall asleep, Or so uncomfortable that you're likely to find that a constant distraction. It helps to be quite upright, With your eyes closed, Notice the feel of the chair beneath and behind you, And the sensation of your feet on the floor. Your hands can rest comfortably in your lap, Either palms up or down, Whichever is most comfortable, So really paying attention to your breathing, Noticing each in-breath and each out-breath, Not trying to change your breathing in any way, Just noticing the way it is, Not trying to make your breath deeper or to change its pace, Allow it to flow easily and effortlessly at its own pace, Letting your body be still, Peaceful, Nobody wanting anything, Nobody needing anything, Just a sense of completeness and wholeness if possible. Just breathing, Being with your breath, From the in-breath through to the out-breath, Watching the rise and fall of the stomach. And now begin to bring into your awareness the image of a beautiful mountain, It could be one that you know or are familiar with, Or alternatively you could let your imagination create a beautiful mountain for you. Some people are very visual and others are less so. If you can't get an image of a mountain in mind, Then just think about one or get a sense of a strong majestic mountain in mind, Feeling its overall shape, Its lofty peak, Or peaks high into the sky. The large base rooted in the bedrock of the earth's crust, Its steep or gently sloping sides, Notice how massive it is, How solid, How unmoving, How beautiful, Whether from afar or up close. Maybe your mountain has snow blanketed across its top and trees reaching down to the base. It could have rugged granite sides. There might be streams and waterfalls cascading down the slopes. There may be one peak or a series of peaks, Or with meadows or high lakes. Observing it, Noting its qualities. When you feel ready, See if you can bring the mountain into your own body sitting here, So that your body and the mountain in your mind's eye become one as you sit here. You share in the massiveness and the stillness and majesty of the mountain. You become the mountain. Grounded in the sitting posture, Your head becomes the lofty peak, Supported by the rest of your body and enjoying a panoramic view. Your shoulders and arms become the sides of the mountain. Your buttocks and legs, The solid base, Rooted to the cushion of your chair. Experiencing in your body a sense of uplift from deep within your pelvis and spine. With each breath, As you continue sitting, Becoming a little more of a breathing mountain, Alive and vital. Yet unwavering in your inner stillness. Completely what you are, Beyond words and thought. A centred, Grounded, Unmoving presence. As you sit here, Become aware of the fact that as the sun travels across the sky, The light and shadows and colours are changing virtually moment by moment in the mountain's stillness. And the surface teems with life and activity. Streams, Melting snow, Waterfalls, Plants and wildlife. As the mountain sits, Seeing and feeling how night follows day and day follows night. The bright warming sun followed by the cool night studded with stars. And the gradual dawning of a new day. Through it all, The mountain just sits. Experiencing change in each moment. Constantly changing, Yet always just being itself. It remains still as the seasons flow into one another. And as the weather changes moment by moment and day by day. Calmness, Abiding all change. In summer, There's no snow on the mountain except perhaps for the very peaks. Or in crags shielded from direct sunlight. In the autumn, The mountain may wear a coat of brilliant fire colours. In winter, A blanket of snow and ice. In any season, It may find itself at times enshrouded in clouds or fog. Or pelted by freezing rain. People may come to see the mountain and comment on how beautiful it is. Or how it's not a good day to see the mountain. That it's too cloudy or rainy. Foggy or dark. None of this matters to the mountain, Which remains at all times its essential self. Clouds may come and clouds may go. Tourists may like it or not. The mountain's magnificence and beauty are not changed one bit by whether people see it or not. Seen or unseen. In sun or clouds. In the warm or freezing cold. Day or night. It just sits. Being itself. At times visited by violent storms. Buffeted by snow and rain. And winds of unthinkable magnitude. Through it all, The mountain sits. Spring comes. Trees leaf out. Flowers bloom in the high meadows and slopes. Birds sing in the trees once again. Streams overflow with the waters of melting snow. Through it all, The mountain continues to sit. Unmoved by the weather. By what happens on its surface. By the world of appearances. Remaining its essential self. Through the seasons. The changing weather. The activity ebbing and flowing on its surface. In the same way, As we sit in meditation we can learn to experience the mountain. We can embody the same central, Unwavering stillness and groundedness in the face of everything that changes in our own lives. Over seconds. Over hours. Over years. In our lives and in our meditation practice we experience constantly the changing nature of mind and body and of the outer world. We have our own periods of light and darkness. Activity and inactivity. Our moments of colour and our moments of drabness. It's true that we experience storms of varying intensity and violence in the outer world and in our own minds and bodies. Buffeted by high winds, By cold and rain. We endure periods of darkness and pain. As well as the moments of joy and uplift. Even our appearance changes constantly. Experiencing a weather of its own. By becoming the mountain in our meditation practice, We can link up with its strength and stability. And adopt them for our own. We can use its energies to support our energy to encounter each moment with mindfulness and equanimity and clarity. It may help us to see that our thoughts and our feelings, Our preoccupations, Our emotional storms and crises, Even the things that happen to us, Are very much like the weather on the mountain. We tend to take it all personally. But its strongest characteristic is impersonal. The weather of our own lives is not to be ignored or denied. It's to be encountered, Honoured, Felt, Known for what it is, And held in awareness. And in holding it in this way, We come to know a deeper silence and stillness and wisdom. Mountains have this to teach us, And much more if we can let it in. So if you can find you resonate in some way with the strength and stability of the mountain in your sitting, It may be helpful to use it from time to time in your meditation practice to remind you of what it means to sit mindfully with resolve and with wakefulness in true stillness. So in the time that remains, Continuing to sustain the mountain meditation on your own in silence, Moment by moment.