Dropping Into Calm Presence
We will explore tapping into the calm presence of awareness, using breath and sounds as supports to the practice. The purpose is to ground ourselves in the here and now. Then we explore how awareness is a backdrop for everything we experience. We will close with a poem: "The Way It Is."
Transcript
Welcome,
Everyone.
Today is February 16th,
2025.
Thank you for joining this Calm Clarity Portal,
The Cultivating Mindful Presence series.
My name is Bhuma Venkataraman.
I'm very happy to be here on this journey with you.
Thanks for tuning in,
Making time for this session today and connecting from all over the world.
So today's practice is titled Dropping into Calm Presence.
Dropping into Calm Presence.
As we come together in this community of practice today,
It's helpful to see this time as a nourishing time to give yourself positive energy,
To be in the journey of discovery and curiosity and open to the source of knowing,
Well-being,
And healing within you.
Cultivating Presence is about training attention,
Training to be mindful.
And mindfulness is non-judgmental awareness,
Where we move from the stories,
Embellishments,
Projections in the mind to the direct experience of life that is presenting in the here and now,
From a state of doing to a state of being.
Our mind has this tendency to be preoccupied with thoughts,
To get somewhere else,
Mostly in the future,
To be maybe planning,
Comparing,
Judging,
Or figuring out something.
When we do that,
We are lost.
We lose this moment here.
So we are training to be fully present and aware here and now,
So we can contact our aliveness to touch the core of a being.
And awareness is an inherent part of who we are.
Awareness is that effortless knowing with a calm clarity.
When we wake up from a thought,
We see the drama in our mind go,
And we can say,
Oh yeah,
Here we are,
Here,
Now.
And this is a pathway to presence.
This reinforces our coming back and being here,
The aliveness that's here.
Burmese teacher,
Ajahn Chah,
Called this effortless knowing quality of awareness,
Remembering the one who knows.
Remembering the one who knows.
Let's do a practice together.
We will explore tapping into the calm presence of awareness using breath and sounds as supports to the practice.
The purpose is to ground ourselves in the here and now,
And then explore how awareness is a backdrop for everything we experience.
How awareness is a backdrop for everything we experience.
And welcoming everyone here,
Let's begin.
Inviting yourself to the moment,
Finding a comfortable sitting position,
Seated tall that allows you to be alert,
Feeling your six bones firmly planted on the chair or any other surface you're sitting on,
And seated with ease.
No need to rush,
Take time to adjust your posture,
And start simply from where you are.
Closing your eyes,
If that feels okay to you,
Or leaving them open if you wish,
With a soft gaze,
And resting your hands in an easy and effortless way,
Letting curiosity be your touchstone.
Now gently inquire,
What motivates me to do this practice right now?
Why am I here today,
On February 16th,
2025,
In this session with everyone here?
See what bubbles up from within you,
Listening deeply to the moment with sincerity.
You might think to yourself,
May this practice help me to be fully present and aware,
Or whatever inspires you,
Whatever resonates with you,
Whatever you think is most important for you,
And sensing the benefits of this practice,
Rippling out to bring peace and healing to the entire world.
Now noticing your body,
Inviting the body to relax.
May the body relax.
Dropping into the body,
Contacting your wholeness,
Inviting your attention to be warm and gentle.
Now letting your attention scan through the body to relax obvious areas of physical tension.
Relax the forehead.
Soften the muscles around the eyes by just bringing gentle attention to the eyes,
Unhinging the jaws,
Softening the jaws,
Bringing a slight smile to the mouth,
Softening the mouth,
Relaxing the shoulders,
Letting them drop away from the ears,
Feeling the shoulders inside and out,
Opening with gentle awareness right here.
What sensations are here?
Noticing,
Feeling,
And letting them be.
Widening the field of aliveness now,
Letting your chest be wide open,
Feeling the abdomen,
Softening the belly by just bringing your gentle attention,
Softening your palms,
Feeling the space between your fingers,
Softening the soles of your feet.
Could you feel any tingling,
Pulsing,
Vibrations?
And if you feel nothing,
That's okay too.
Let everything be.
Now you might take three purposeful,
Slow,
Deep,
Long breaths,
Breathing in to the count of four or five and breathing out,
Relaxing to the count of four or five.
As I breathe in,
I calm the body.
As I breathe out,
I calm the mind,
Soothing the nervous system,
Releasing tension in the body with each out-breath.
Each out-breath,
A letting go,
A letting go,
And connecting with the space in you and around you,
Connecting with the universe.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Now,
Allowing your breath to be natural,
No deep breathing,
And stay with the awareness of breathing,
Breathing effortlessly.
How intimately can you feel the breath from the inside?
Knowing breathing is like this.
This is breathing,
Present,
Aware of breathing.
Stay with the awareness of the breath.
Right here,
Right now,
Riding the waves of the breath.
Where is your mind now?
You might notice the mind has drifted into thoughts or memories and you don't feel fully present anymore.
It's not a problem.
No need to worry.
Simply notice that and incline your mind to gratitude and curiosity and escort your mind back to the awareness of breathing,
Your practice.
Your breathing is your home base.
You don't have to clear your thoughts.
Simply notice them and come back to presence,
Coming back,
Being here.
This is homecoming to presence.
This is home.
Now,
Take a moment to open to sounds around you.
Could you identify sounds closest to you?
Could you identify sounds at the farthest edge of your awareness?
Could you hear my voice?
Letting the sounds in your space come to you as pure vibrations,
Effortlessly appearing in awareness.
Notice there is a receiving quality to listening.
You cannot do it by trying harder.
Receive the sounds here,
Now.
Is it possible to let go of anything good or bad about your experience?
Truly letting go of control of the sounds.
There is nothing to control.
The sounds are appearing and disappearing by themselves.
And if there is silence,
That is okay,
Too.
How deeply can you relax,
Letting sounds come and go?
Receiving the experience,
Relaxed yet alert.
Now,
Opening up the lens of your awareness,
Like zooming out with a camera.
Simply be present and aware in the moment to notice whatever is arising in your experience.
Bodily sensations,
Maybe pressure on the seat,
A tingling in the body,
Heat,
Cool,
Sounds in your space,
Thoughts moving in your mind.
Could you notice the changing experience,
Like waves in the ocean?
Bodily sensations are constantly changing.
So are thoughts,
Emotions.
They don't define you,
As all these experiences come and go like clouds.
But awareness is always present,
Like the open sky.
Rest in awareness now and let everything else flow through your mind.
Putting a welcome mat to everything that is arising in your experience.
Now,
Refreshing your practice,
Letting go a little bit more,
Softening your face,
Softening your forehead,
Bringing a slight smile to the mouth,
Gladdening your mind,
Softening your belly,
Relaxing,
Open to the sounds in your space,
Letting go of effort.
There is nothing to do.
Receive the moment,
Letting life be just as it is.
Awareness is always calm,
Always open,
Always tender and already present.
Simply rest with it.
Awake,
Present,
Here,
Now.
We will close with a poem by Lin Ungar.
The poem is called The Way It Is,
The Way It Is.
One morning you might wake up to realize that the knot in your stomach had loosened itself and slipped away,
And that the pit of unfulfilled longing in your heart had gradually,
And without your really noticing,
Been filled in,
Patched like a pothole,
Not quite the same as it was,
But good enough.
And in that moment,
It might occur to you that your life,
Though not the way you planned it,
And maybe not even entirely the way you wanted it,
Is nonetheless persistently,
Abundantly,
Miraculously,
Exactly the way it is.
And in that moment,
It might occur to you that your life,
Though not the way you planned it,
And maybe not even entirely the way you wanted it,
Is nonetheless persistently,
Abundantly,
Miraculously,
Exactly the way it is.
The way it is.
Now,
Bringing appreciation to yourself for doing this practice,
What are you noticing that you're thankful for?
How does that feel in your body?
Thanking this homecoming,
Thanking this practice,
Thanking everyone in this constellation,
And wishing well for all beings in this universe.
What we practice helps us grow stronger.
May this practice help you,
And through you,
May it heal all beings in this universe.
If you're close to your eyes,
You may open them now,
And come back to your surroundings.
Thank you,
And namaste.
