We begin this practice by finding a comfortable stationary position,
Adjusting all the parts of the body in a way that would support relaxation,
Stillness,
And vigilance,
Allowing our breath to move naturally,
Without any control from our side,
Without any attempts to make the breath more shallow or more deep,
More slow or more fast.
Instead,
Allowing ourselves to release all types of physical tension and all deliberate physical activity with each new exhalation.
And then taking a moment to establish a truly positive,
Truly vast,
Truly profound motivation for this practice by revisiting our highest spiritual or psychological aspirations.
Establishing a motivation for this practice that would lead us to greater levels of sanity,
Clarity,
And wisdom with regards to the true nature of our mind,
And all that,
So that we can bring more benefit,
More happiness,
More freedom to all sentient beings.
And then with that as our foundation,
We prepare ourselves for the practice of observing the mind,
And for that we can keep our eyes partially or fully open,
Making sure there's at least a little bit of light coming through to support the quality of clarity and spaciousness that we need for this practice.
And then,
Orienting our awareness,
Our attention,
Towards the domain of mental phenomena.
And to go there,
To observe the space of the mind,
We can first use an artificial thought or image,
If we wish.
For example,
Imagining an apple,
Or thinking this is the mind,
And just holding that mental event in the sphere of our awareness,
Before allowing it to dissolve.
And then,
Holding our attention right there,
In the space of the mind,
Observing the space of the mind,
And whatever's arising within it.
Thoughts,
Images,
Memories,
Desires,
Impulses,
Emotional reactions.
Or sometimes just the space itself,
When none of those specific expressions of mental energy seem to be present.
Still breathing naturally,
Making sure the breath is flowing,
That we're not trying to force concentration by holding the breath artificially.
And,
With our body still deeply relaxed,
Observing the flow of mental energy,
The sequencing of mental events in the space of the mind.
Doing that according to the instruction of without distraction,
Without grasping.
Without distraction means that we're not losing ourselves in mental stories.
We're not fueling them,
Not pouring more energy into them,
But rather recognizing them for what they are,
When they do arise.
And then we continue with the overall observation.
Without grasping means that we're not losing ourselves in the subjective mental phenomena,
Desires,
Impulses,
Emotional responses.
When they arise,
We take a gentle step back to observe them,
Instead of following them to their referent point,
The object of desire,
The object of the emotional response,
And so forth.
And if at any point we find ourselves lost in the sensory objects,
The tactile sensations,
The sounds around us,
And so forth,
We gently bring our awareness back to the space of the mind,
With renewed interest.
Then,
To switch into the mode of insight practice,
In which we will explore the quality of impermanence or permanence with regards to the mind,
Changeability or non-changeability,
We continue observing the flow of mental events and the space of the mind itself.
But with a small part of our mind,
We continuously inquire,
Are these mental events and the space behind them constantly changing?
Do they have the nature of changeability?
This is not a philosophical inquiry,
And so we're checking to see if our experience of mental phenomena changes moment by moment.
So if conceptual answers like,
The space of the mind never changes,
It's beyond any change,
Come up in our awareness,
We simply observe them as new expressions of mental energy.
And with a corner of our mind,
We continuously check,
Is there change happening with regards to these mental phenomena?
Each moment of active discernment with regards to this question slowly slowly takes away the different types of grasping and reification that might form a deep habit for us.
And so we continuously observe with curiosity,
With no expectations,
And with patience,
Still continuously checking,
Permanent or impermanent,
Changing or not changing,
While observing the flow of mental phenomena.
And then releasing the process of inquiry,
No longer checking,
And simply observing the flow of mental events,
The space of the mind and whatever is arising in it.
Then bringing our attention back to the body with all of its tactile experiences,
And with an attitude of patient curiosity,
Observing the sensations associated with the breath,
Grounding our awareness there,
And then mentally dedicating the energy of this practice to,
Once again,
Our highest aspirations.
And then introducing some movement to the body,
Gently concluding the practice,
And inviting the bell.
