This is the first in the series on meditation with sound.
If you find this practice helpful then I invite you to make a donation.
Your offerings will supply the energy needed to make this series possible.
At the end of the session I'll make another reminder.
Thank you.
Welcome to this guided meditation session.
To do this practice it is best if you already have a meditation practice such as shamatha,
The development of peace,
Or meditation focused on the breath.
This practice using sound is a further enhancement of those kinds of mindfulness and awareness practices.
And the goal of our practice is to realize in this moment the basic nature of our mind which is a profound unchanging peace.
We are connecting to space which is unchanging and can accommodate everything.
I'll be using alchemy crystal singing balls which create soundscapes within which you can rest your attention.
They are harmonious,
Pure,
And pleasing sounds.
In many sound healing practices you are invited to lie down and bathe in the vibrations emanating from the balls and especially these days from your headphones with good quality speakers.
But here I invite you to meet the sound with some effort to meet the sound halfway.
And so take a good meditation posture with straight back eyes softly open,
Your heart open.
You will be fully engaged with your whole body,
Voice,
And mind.
This is enhancement of mindfulness awareness practice.
The focus on breathing and focus on sound are similar and the quality of being fully present does not change.
With sound there is more power involved however.
The sound is powerful and cuts through when we are fully present with it the agitation and busyness of our distraction.
It is I am disturbed,
Agitated,
Depressed,
Or anxious by that.
We are thinking a lot and maybe we don't even know we are thinking so much and the thinking causes disturbance,
Trouble,
Disharmony.
We are involved so much at the level of concepts and thinking mind.
We act out based on the disturbances of habits that we repeat over and over,
Time and again.
This meditation on sound cuts through that disharmony.
The sound is pure and harmonious,
Beautiful.
We connect to that sound.
There is a quality of awareness within the sound.
The sound is empty because when we try to fix on it it's already gone,
There's nothing there.
That sound is not separate from space.
Think for example of a crystal ball.
It is all that space in the ball that allows the sound to occur.
So rest your attention right within the sound.
You have to practice this and get used to it.
Then you have in one moment a glimpse of profound peace which you have not experienced before.
You haven't experienced it before because it is happening now,
In the nowness of the present.
Let's begin the practice.
Take a good upright posture and as the sound begins and the ball sing,
Sing the sound of ah with your voice,
Maybe harmonizing with the singing balls.
You can sing as loudly as you like,
Especially if no one else is around.
Keep coming back to the sound of your voice and of the music.
You might even dissolve the distinction between me,
My voice,
And the singing crystal balls.
You're identifying fully and completely with sound.
Then there is something else as well.
At the same time imagine that there is a white syllable ah at the top of your head,
Inside your head,
At the crown.
Imagine the syllable ah in whatever script you like.
The syllable ah emanates the sound and it radiates clear white light in all directions.
Hold your attention on that.
Then there is in addition another element.
Imagine that you are sitting under a clear deep blue sky without any clouds.
The whole environment is pristine and pure under a deep blue sky.
Practice all of these elements together as one,
As much as you can.
So that's the practice.
With the body take a good upright posture,
With the speech the sound of your voice and the bowls is heard,
And with your mind feel the syllable ah at the crown while you rest under the deep blue sky.
As you begin think of the thing most disturbing to you right now.
What is your greatest confusion?
It might be the pain of separation or feeling angry,
Anxious,
Depressed,
Or maybe even just cold or hungry.
Feel whatever it is in the body.
Bring it along into your practice.
Do not suppress or bottle up your disturbance.
It is included as part of the practice.
You mix it and blend it with the practice.
Then see what happens.
The disturbance can dissipate like clouds in the sky and you feel greater space,
Openness,
And peace.
Then the disturbance comes back again and again and because you are mixing it with space,
Because you are clearing the ground with your practice,
You feel even greater space.
In fact it is independence on our problems that we can realize the unchanging primordial space of mind.
We are not bypassing our problems but fully acknowledging them again and again and we connect to space again and again and again.
We feel our disturbances fully with good posture resting within the sounds that are heard while the white light of our radiates under the blue sky.
Come back from distraction and doubting mind again and again.
As the sound dissipates,
Sing mentally without any sound.
The sound of ah.
We'll do this for a few minutes and if you like you can pause the recording.
Now with your eyes looking straight out to the horizon,
Hold your posture and do not meditate on anything at all.
Just be open,
Spacious,
And relaxed.
You can pause the recording if you like.
Thank you for your attention to this practice.
Let's make the wish that whatever benefit we have derived from this practice of sound meditation may it go out to all beings who are as limitless as space is vast.
And may I practice again and again the meditations that bring the realization of profound unchanging peace and be of limitless benefit to this world.
Thank you.
If you enjoyed this practice and find it inspiring,
Please make a donation to support further meditation sessions like these.
Thank you very much.
