We begin the actual practice by assuming a comfortable stationary position,
Bringing our awareness into the domain of the body,
And observing the tactile sensations in the parts of the body that are currently in contact with the ground,
Mentally touching the earth with our awareness,
Acknowledging our contact with the earth with gratitude and appreciation,
And initiating the process of relaxation by performing an abbreviated body scan,
Starting with our feet and toes,
Moving on to our pelvic floor,
Our hands and fingers,
Our shoulders,
And our facial muscles,
Briefly revisiting our highest aspirations and goals for our contemplative life in general,
And powerfully orienting this practice towards the fulfillment of these goals,
Bringing the greatest possible benefit to ourselves and to all sentient beings,
And then bringing our awareness to the mind itself,
To the flow of mental events,
Which includes our thoughts,
Mental images,
Memories,
And so forth,
Observing this flow without distraction and without grasping,
In the spirit of open-minded curiosity for greater clarity and spaciousness,
For many people it would be helpful to keep the eyes at least partially open so that it doesn't feel like the mind is in the skull,
But rather the overall spaciousness of the mind can be experienced as we are observing the space of the mind and the appearances,
The phenomena,
The events arising within it,
And then to this process of observation and concentration we add the practice of discernment or insight,
And the question that we're exploring moment by moment empirically is,
Within these mental events,
Is there anything that makes them inherently me or mine?
Are they me?
Are they mine?
Or are they simply fluctuations of mental energy?
And then exploring this moment by moment,
Watching closely,
To discern,
Continuously watching and discerning,
Knowing that each moment of correct discernment,
Done on the basis of a truly relaxed and clear mental state,
Would slowly undo the knots of reification,
And therefore there's no rush,
There's no need to expect anything in particular,
We just need to observe and discern,
One moment after another,
One moment at a time,
Continuously discerning,
Are these mental events me and mine?
Or are they simply a dance of mental energy?
All while letting these mental events flow,
And also not holding the breath,
Not holding any tension in the body,
And then releasing the process of discernment to simply observe the flow of mental events,
But no longer asking any questions about it,
Just watching that flow,
And then coming back to the body to notice the sensations,
To ground ourselves there,
Mentally dedicating the energy of this practice to the highest aspirations with which we began.
May all these moments of mindfulness and wisdom contribute to the greatest possible benefit for all who live.
And then reintroducing some movement to the body by gently rocking back and forth,
Moving our fingers,
Reactivating the facial muscles,
And slowly concluding the meditation.
