Let's begin as always by settling the body in its natural state,
Imbued with the three qualities of relaxation,
Stillness and vigilance,
And round off this initial settling process by taking three slow deep breaths.
Then settle the respiration in its natural rhythm,
Uncontrolled,
Without preference,
Without intervention.
Then let your awareness descend into and permeate.
The field of tactile sensations defined by these tactile events of solidity,
Fluidity,
Temperature,
Motion,
Including the rippling effect of the breath,
Vibration,
Tingling,
All types of motion.
Settle your awareness in this field of tactile sensations and set your mind at ease without concern for the future or past,
Without hope or fear.
Attend to these sensations throughout the body without distraction,
Without being carried away into other sense fields or by discursive thoughts.
And to the best of your ability,
Attend to these tactile events without grasping,
Which is to say without preference,
Without identification,
Without grasping onto them as I or mine.
Simply be present with them as they come and go,
As they move about.
Rest in the stillness of awareness in the midst of the comings and goings of the tactile events arising within the space of the body.
In this way,
Settle your mind in ease,
In stillness,
And in vividness.
Settle your awareness in this field of tactile sensations and set your mind at ease without compassion.
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Especially take advantage of each out breath,
Relaxing more and more deeply,
And more and more distinctly,
Letting go of any involuntary thoughts that arise pertaining to the past,
Present,
Or future.
Rest your awareness in this non conceptual space of tactile events.
Relaxing through the out breath,
Relaxing into the in breath,
So that it flows in without effort.
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And now let's take a pause from the Shama to practice and take the very meaningful step of bringing to mind our most meaningful aspirations,
Our fundamental motivation for participating in this meditation retreat,
For engaging in the practice.
We may meditate for a myriad of reasons,
Some of them relatively superficial and others relatively deep and meaningful,
Profound.
Bring to mind now your highest,
Your most meaningful aspirations for yourself,
For your relationship with the world around you,
Your short-term and your long-term aspirations.
It is said quite truly,
I believe,
In the Buddhist tradition that the significance,
The meaning and the benefit of our activities is determined not only by the nature of the activities themselves but by the motivation that arouses them.
So a simple,
Seemingly trivial act of observing the sensations of the breath can become deeply meaningful and very beneficial by bringing to it a very meaningful and beneficial motivation.
So envision your own flourishing and what,
Over the long and short term,
You would love to benefit or realize as a result of such practice.
Okay.
And now in order to realize these aspirations,
Let's engage in the practice of shamatha,
More and more deeply cultivating the sense of ease in body and mind.
For a little while continuing the practice from yesterday,
Letting your awareness permeate the whole field of tactile sensations,
But taking special note of those sensations corresponding to the in and out breath.
That's right.
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