Let's settle the body in its natural state,
Imbued with the three qualities of relaxation,
Stillness and vigilance,
And intermittently throughout the session,
Check up,
Just to see that tension is not mounted,
For example,
In the shoulders or the face,
Especially around the eyes,
And if you see that there is constriction there,
Release it immediately.
Settle the body in its natural state,
Then relax so deeply into the respiration that it flows unimpededly as if you were deep asleep,
Egoless breathing.
Let your awareness settle in the body,
Permeate this whole field of the body,
Gently,
Passively,
But clearly aware of whatever tactile sensations arise within this field.
And I'll suggest the ambience,
The quality of awareness that you may bring to this practice.
Imagine you've been saving up for a long time,
Hard at work,
Saving up for a week-long vacation in some tropical resort,
Like Tahiti,
And finally you've arrived,
And everything is perfect,
And you get your air mattress,
You blow it up,
You're out into the ocean beyond the surf,
Where there's just a very gentle swell,
There's a wave gently rolling in,
But out there beyond the surf,
And you lie there on your back on this air mattress,
And you've arrived,
It's vacation time,
And you don't want to miss a minute of it.
You don't want to fall asleep.
You can fall asleep back home,
You're going to be just thoroughly present,
Just the utter deliciousness of being able to relax completely in the warmth of the sun,
Experience the gentle undulation of the rise and fall of the water,
And utterly,
Utterly relax,
And yet maintaining your mindfulness,
Without a care in the world,
In a similar way,
Let your awareness just rest utterly in this field of tactile sensations,
Attending to the rise and fall,
The undulation of the in and out breath,
Utterly at ease,
And yet mindfully present,
And returning to the metaphor,
Let's imagine that after a while of just utterly resting there,
Lying on your back,
You get curious about what lies beneath the surface of the water,
So you put on a face mask,
A snorkel,
Roll over onto your belly while lying on the air mattress,
And dip your head under the water,
While breathing very normally,
Naturally,
And gaze into this wonderland beneath the depths of the water,
Crystal clear,
Seeing the coral,
Schools of fish.
You may be still very centrally aware of the rise and fall of the air mattress,
With each wave coming in,
But you're also quite vividly aware of what's arising there in the water.
In a similar fashion now in this practice,
Of course you remain in the same posture,
But while retaining this awareness of the in and out breath,
The sensations correlated with that arising in the body,
You may now turn your attention somewhat over to the space of the mind,
As the breath flows in and out,
What type of thoughts,
Images,
And so on,
Are arising in the space of the mind.
You continue to relax with each out breath,
But now not banishing thoughts,
Just letting them be,
And releasing any grasping,
Any stickiness pertaining to these thoughts,
Images,
Memories.
Arousing your attention with the inhalation,
Relaxing with the exhalation,
Aware of the sensations in the body,
But also aware of the thoughts arising and passing,
Whatever mental events are taking place.
Just letting them be,
Without distraction,
Without grasping.
Let's return to the metaphor.
Imagine now that you find this wonderful scene beneath the surface of the water so fascinating.
You want to look a bit more carefully.
Give that your primary attention.
Immerse yourself in it more.
Imagine you slip off the air mattress,
But holding just one hand onto it,
A point of orientation.
So just holding onto,
Resting your hand on the air mattress,
But now your body immersed in the water,
Your face beneath the surface,
Breathing normally.
So now primarily aware of what's occurring there in the depths of the water,
Peripherally aware of the rise and fall of the air mattress with each incoming swell.
In a similar fashion now,
Returning to the meditation,
Let your eyes be at least partially open,
Your gaze vacant.
Maintain a peripheral awareness of the in and out flow of the breath.
Just a point of orientation,
A point to get grounded.
Return the main force of your awareness now,
Your mindfulness to the space of the mind,
And whatever arises within it.
Observe whatever arises and passes within the space of the mind,
Without distraction,
So relaxed that you're not caught up in the thoughts.
Again,
Like the old grandpa or the old grandma,
Watching children play,
Other children play.
Attentive but not reactive.
With each out-breath you may continue just to relax more and more deeply.
With each in-breath,
Attend a bit more closely.
Finally,
To return to the metaphor,
Imagine you find the events arising within the space of the water so intriguing,
And you feel now so at ease,
Knowing that you won't sink,
That you release your handhold on the air mattress,
And you allow yourself simply to float.
Float on the surface of the water while your face is immersed,
Breathing normally,
With now your full attention given to this seascape beneath the surface.
In a similar fashion now,
To the best of your ability,
Turn your full attention to the space of the mind and its contents.
This is where we give the attention,
But the eyes being open,
Visual impressions come in.
The ears being open,
We hear sounds,
Tactile sensations arise to the tactile sense.
For all these sensory impressions that come in,
Simply let them be.
And if there are mental reactions,
I like,
I don't like,
Perhaps mental images catalyzed by what we hear,
Give your attention to these mental events that are arising in response to the sensory impressions,
And simply observe them,
The desires,
The emotions,
The mental images,
The thoughts.
If you feel on occasion perturbed or disturbed by the sounds coming from the environment,
Observe the perturbation,
Observe the disagreeable feeling,
And just let it be,
Observing whatever arises within this space,
Without distraction,
Without grasping.
So this is good preparation for practicing at home and in other non-ideal environments that are not perfectly quiet.
Let the sensory impressions arise,
But keep your attention fixed.
And how is the mind responding?
What is arising from moment to moment in the space of the mind?
Let's continue practicing now in silence.
