To begin this practice,
We find a comfortable stationary position and then take some moments to descend into the body,
Noticing the sensations arising in the body,
Allowing our breath to move naturally,
And then combining the process of releasing all types of movement with each natural exhalation,
Releasing movement and releasing tension to whatever degrees available to us right now.
Finding ease,
Noticing the sensations and releasing tension in the area of our facial muscles,
Our shoulders,
Arms,
And then hands,
The entirety of the torso,
The pelvic floor,
The upper part of our legs,
Then the lower part,
And then the feet,
Our feet and toes,
Allowing our body to rest in this natural state of stillness,
Suffused with the qualities of ease and vigilance,
Where the body is not falling asleep but is supporting our practice,
Where the breath is moving freely and naturally,
And where each cycle of breathing can further soothe our mind,
Allowing us to further release all types of rumination,
All thoughts of the future,
All thoughts about the past,
Except for one thing that we can now consciously cultivate before going into the main part of this practice,
Consciously cultivating a positive motivation for this meditation by recalling our highest spiritual or psychological aspirations for meditation and contemplative life in general and for this specific practice,
Recalling those and dedicating our practice to those aspirations and goals,
And with that,
Bringing our awareness to the body once again,
Specifically to the sensations of the body,
Not to the mental image of it,
But to the raw and immediate tactile sensations arising in this somatic field,
Where we can experience different types of pressure and solidity,
Sensations associated with cohesion and liquidity,
Sensations associated with heat and coldness,
And finally,
Sensations associated with movement of different kinds.
And for a while,
To strengthen our ability to concentrate,
We focus on this entire bandwidth of sensations as they are arising in the here and now,
Breathing naturally and just observing the totality of these presently arising sensations.
The challenge here is to keep withdrawing our attention from anything that is not our primary object,
From everything other than these tactile sensations,
And that means that we're withdrawing our attention from different thoughts or mental images,
From desires and wishes,
From different expressions of our emotional energy,
Simply resting with the raw tactile sensations themselves in an unmediated manner,
To whatever degree that's possible right now,
And then to practice an element of insight associated with the so-called second sign of existence,
As it's described in Buddhism,
In some of its traditions.
We start actively discerning whether these sensations are inherently pleasurable,
Moment by moment,
Discerning whether there's anything inherently pleasurable in the fabric,
In the nature of the sensations themselves,
Which would help us understand whether they are indeed inherently satisfying from their own side.
So discerning that moment by moment,
In the corner of our mind,
As we keep observing the flow of sensations,
Or the dance of sensations,
Still breathing naturally,
Not allowing this process of inquiry to become a source of tension,
And instead,
With a restful and yet vigilant mind,
Checking moment by moment whether the sensations and therefore the body itself are satisfactory or satisfying in their nature.
With the same subliminal understanding that if indeed they're not always satisfying,
That means that there's always potential for disappointment,
Not getting what we want,
Discomfort,
And that means that part of their conventional nature is not being satisfying.
Exploring this with a level of curiosity for one more minute,
And then releasing the process of inquiry to simply rest with the sensations themselves,
Still holding our attention on them.
And then taking a few moments to dedicate the energy of this practice to our highest spiritual and psychological aspirations,
To strengthening the accumulation of wisdom that we need in order to be of benefit to ourselves and to others,
And to the state of complete freedom for all beings to go beyond suffering and its causes.
And then gently bringing our attention back to the body to introduce some movement to it,
Moving our fingers and toes,
Rocking back and forth perhaps,
And then slowly opening our eyes and inviting the bell.
