Possession & Impermanence

Exploring impermanence within the realm of Buddhism, we reflect on the nature of possession, using the full-body, breath, and loved ones as points of focus. All levels of practice are welcome to this meditation.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Kanan Bracey and I am here to guide you through a special guided meditation.

Well,

To me they're all special.

But today we will be focusing on impermanence through the lens of possessiveness.

Possessiveness is something that I believe we all struggle with at some point or another in our lives,

Some more than others.

Many of us may over-identify with having a possessive nature,

For example.

And what we come to see is that this possessive quality comes from the fact of us not coming to grips that everything is impermanent.

Every tangible physical thing in this lifetime and most emotional or mental processes and experiences in this lifetime are completely impermanent.

And it comes from our failure to see that it is not permanent that causes us to suffer.

Impermanence doesn't make us suffer,

But our tendency to want impermanent things to be permanent causes us to suffer.

And in the same way,

The way that we relate to other people,

To jobs,

To ourselves,

To positive and negative qualities of wanting good things to stay and bad things to leave,

Is further exacerbated by thinking that we can have them permanently.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase,

You can't take it with you when you die or when you go to heaven or wherever you go off to.

And so,

With that being said,

And that being known that that's what we're working with today,

Getting ourselves into a nice,

Comfortable seated or lying posture.

And taking a moment to settle in whatever that means to you.

This is your time,

Your space to get comfortable,

Situated,

Alert and ready to practice.

Almost immediately,

Coming in contact with the breath.

Not moving the breath in any particular way,

But just letting it be as it is and watching the body inhale and exhale on its own accord.

Watching as we inhale,

The belly rises,

The chest may also lift.

That we as we exhale,

And that as we exhale,

The body contracts,

The air releases out of the body,

Either through the nose or through the mouth.

And the process begins again.

And we can learn from this breath that we don't even possess the air as it enters and exits our system.

It is constantly moving in and out of us,

Like the life force in our veins.

Notice if there is any point while you breathe that you feel you possess the air as it enters your lungs,

As it sits still,

Or even as it leaves the body.

Is there ever a moment when you own the air that has become breath?

No?

Again,

The question that we are exploring is,

Is there at any point a time in which you own the breath as it enters your body once air becoming breath or as it exits your body once breath becoming air or at the points at which you hold the breath or there is a suspension or a pause in the breathing cycle.

Next,

Is there ever a point in which you feel the breath slash air betrays you,

Disobeys you,

Does something of its own accord?

Perhaps you wanted the breath to be long and elegant and your body rushes the air in and out in a choppy sort of manner.

Is there ever a point at which you feel the air,

The atoms passing in and out of the body,

Have an autonomy of their own,

Disobey you,

Or flow in and out of their own accord?

Is there any process of the breathing cycle that you feel you cannot control?

You you Is there ever at any point a time that you feel owned or possessed by the air as it enters and exits your system?

And whatever answer arises,

How do you feel about that?

What is your response to that feeling?

And if so,

What part of you feels possessed?

Is it a fraction of the lung space,

Both lungs,

Your entire torso,

Your entire being?

If this feeling of possession is present,

Is it long-lasting,

Infinite,

Or is it momentary and fleeting?

Can you sense the very air that you breathe being in a sense life force,

Life energy entering this being,

Giving it power,

Giving it energy?

And can you see the breath as it exits this body as life force energy for other living beings?

A friend once told me that though it may seem that dogs and squirrels and humans and elephants and tigers and giraffes and penguins all have different lifespans,

That we all actually share about the same number of heartbeats in a lifetime.

Sure,

Some animals may beat faster or slower than others,

But we all usually round out at about the same number of heartbeats.

Now if that is true,

There may also be something to be said about the number of breaths that someone takes in their lifetime.

I am no scientist,

But I do know that as we sit here and as we breathe,

There is a limited number of breaths that we will take in this lifetime.

It's predetermined.

There's no way for me to possibly know.

But once we were not.

We did not exist.

We were not breathing.

We were not beating.

We were not thinking.

And we have been as such for the past X amount of years.

Now in this very moment,

We are beating,

Breathing,

Thinking,

Feeling.

And in the future,

We will do some some more.

But at some point,

Any sense of ownership we have of this body,

Whether we're thinking of it as a permanent ownership or possibly a lease of this body,

If you will,

We will give up.

And it's not our choice.

Much in the way as the air enters and exits the system,

So must the life force.

So must our connection to this body,

Our connection to this mind that we know and have come to know.

And as I continue to speak on this,

Just notice your body's reaction to what I'm saying.

Your own personal reactions.

Does it frighten you or scare you?

Do you find that you are at peace with this?

This is already information that you know.

And whatever it is,

Just taking a deep,

Gentle breath in,

Feeling that energy enter the system.

And as we exhale,

Knowing that this energy is for other life forms.

Now,

I'd like you to bring to mind someone that you love dearly.

Someone that you find easy to love or have had the least resistance to saying that you love.

This could even be an animal or plant.

But I'd like you to imagine them sitting in front of you in a similar position or lying next to you in a similar position.

If you'd like,

You can meet their gaze,

Hold their hand,

And still meeting their gaze.

Perhaps saying hello,

Allowing a smile to come to your lips and one to theirs.

I'd like you to ask yourself,

Is there any part of this person that I feel that I own or that I possess?

Letting go of any positive or negative judgment associated with that,

But truly,

Genuinely asking yourself,

Is there any part of this person's physical,

Mental,

Emotional,

Or spiritual entity that I feel I possess in this moment?

What does that do for me,

Whatever the answer is?

If the answer is yes,

Does it give you some sense of entitlement or power?

If the answer is no,

Do you feel more free,

More welcoming,

More accepting?

What's going on?

Has there ever been a time in which you felt that you possessed any part of this person?

And still with this person in front of you,

I'd like to to reimagine that time,

Seeing them,

The clothes that they were wearing,

The night or time of day that it was,

The environment around,

What emotions were being shared between the two of you or not.

If they were not physically in front of you,

What emotions you were experiencing,

What was contributing to your feeling of ownership or possession of this person?

Were you happy?

Were you satisfied with yourself?

Did you feel peaceful or blissful,

Even compassionate?

And bringing the eyes back to this person's gaze,

Noticing how you feel about them now,

And as we gaze into this person's eyes,

Knowing that they also fail to possess the air that inhabits and leaves their body,

That they fail to have complete possession of even the body that they are blessed to exist in and to experience this world with,

And that they,

No matter how they feel about it,

Cannot possess,

Own,

Or control any person's mental,

Physical,

Or emotional responses,

And that they ultimately cannot possess everything.

And with those truths being said,

Does that shift how you feel about them?

Do you feel more on the same vibrations and frequency,

That you two are equals,

Or that there's no comparison,

No need for the concept of equity?

Do you feel disillusioned,

Or that your perception has changed?

Giving this person a hug,

Or waving goodbye,

Or perhaps saying goodbye with a smile.

I'd like you to come back into this very body,

This very being.

Are we able to bring the body to mind,

Actually the entire being to mind,

With the knowledge that we will not be able to control,

Manipulate,

Possess this being,

This entity forever?

And that there are going to be some moments where we may lose complete concept of possession of this body,

This mind,

This spirit,

Whenever we're raging down the highway on I-10,

Or we're being swept away by the currents of today's troubles,

Whatever they may be.

When we fall helplessly and boundlessly in love with someone or something.

And that,

Can that be something that we grow to love about ourselves,

About the experience that we've been given?

Can we find gratitude that we were given the one in a trillion possibility of existing in this body as we do,

Of having the ability to think,

To feel,

To process,

To smile,

To laugh,

To hurt,

To empathize,

To be human in this time,

In this place,

On this planet,

Hurtling around the Sun,

Moving through space.

And as you gently open your eyes,

Coming to the end of this meditation,

You are going to see objects in front of you,

Probably.

Whatever room that you're in or space that you find yourself in,

At some point today you will feel that you have possession over something,

Someone,

Some faculty within you.

And I'd like you to simply notice when that happens,

When you feel that you own something,

Or that you possess something.

Not saying that it's right or wrong,

Not saying if it's true or not.

But simply notice whenever you feel,

I have possession over this,

Or I should have possession over this.

And maybe even write it down or journal about it,

Marking what it felt like,

If you would like that feeling to come back again,

If it felt good,

If it felt true.

And once more,

If you find that you are the type of person that has a possession problem,

And I'm putting fingers in quotations,

Then please rest knowing that many of us struggle with the same thing,

And the same desires,

And the same fallacies in our mind.

And that it's something that can be worked on,

It's something that can be practiced,

But the first step is to simply become aware of it.

The next question,

And then next rework it.

But I thought I'd give you these few tools for building that awareness.

So I hope this meditation was helpful.

I can't wait to hear what you think about it.

My information will be in the bio below.

I also accept donations if you feel so compelled.

I can't put a price on your experience of this meditation,

So whatever you feel like it is worth would be great.

And I just want you all to be happy.

Have a great day.

Okay,

I've talked for long enough now.

I am going to stop.

I love you all very much.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you 🙏🏾 some honest feedback: I love your meditations overall, but I find that there’s a lot of repetition and for a long period of time. And that some of them could be cut by 10 or more minutes and still get the same point and energy across. Just my opinion but again I like your style overall. 🙂 10/1/21

Thank you 🙏🏼 I hope many people will find this meditation.

Wow. That brought me to tears. Just feeling gratitude for what I have in this moment. I definitely have a “possession problem.” Thank you, sincerely.