Become aware of awareness itself,
Through the gentle enquiry,
Am I conscious of my current experience?
Go to the consciousness itself to answer that gentle enquiry.
Am I consciously aware of my current experience?
Become deeply interested in this consciousness,
And become less interested in the content of experience.
Just noticing with curiosity this awareness.
What is this awareness?
You can answer with absolute certainty that you are aware of your current experience.
What that experience is changes moment to moment,
But the awareness itself does not change.
It is ever present.
So let go of experience,
And just be the awareness.
Become aware of the sensations in the body,
But experience the sensations of the body from the place of pure awareness.
A sense of observing the body rather than being the body.
Perceive the sensations.
You are aware of the body.
For a moment,
Do not pilot or operate a body,
Just be of the body.
Notice the intensity,
The immediacy of these sensations.
Vivid.
And now become aware of the area outside of the body.
Not through the senses,
But through awareness itself.
We feel sensations within the body.
What does awareness feel outside of the body?
You will find a pure,
Clear absence of sensation.
An open and empty space.
Do not refer to the senses to try and create a map of an outside world.
Just regard all of the senses as something that happen within the body.
As though all the sense perceptions are just another bodily sensation contained within the singular organism of the body.
And leaving the body aside for a moment,
Just continually open awareness to the space outside of the body.
Do not refer to the mind to try and create any concepts,
But instead just experience the pure,
Blank,
Empty void.
And as best you can,
Try not to allow the mind to register a blank and then return to the body.
We are leaving the body aside completely now.
Instead refer only to your experience.
Experience this pure,
Empty void that is totally devoid of all sensations.
No sense perceptions,
No bodily sensations,
No thoughts,
No emotions.
It is simply empty space.
Through conscious awareness,
Be aware of that space.
The sensations within the body are dense and localized.
The area outside of the body is infinite,
Stretches on forever.
And just be in this infinite space.
No edges,
No defined limits.
Just the pure,
Open,
Empty,
Infinite space.
Nothing there.
Empty,
Peace,
Stillness.
You may find that you can experience this stillness for a brief glimpse and then find yourself snapping back into the body.
Do not be frustrated by this.
This is normal,
Part of the process.
When you notice that has happened,
Simply return to the empty space.
It's always going to be there.
A simple and gentle letting go of the experience of a body,
The experience of a mind,
And instead just being the pure conscious awareness of total emptiness.
There is no experience in the void.
You are aware of the absence of experience.
This is not the absence of awareness,
But the awareness of absence.
You can experience the fact there is nothing there.
If consciousness is limited to and constricted by the body,
How is it possible to be aware of this absence outside of the body?
Is experiencing the absence of experience an experience in itself or is it something else?
Stay outside of the body in this neutral space,
The space of total serenity,
Infinite peace,
Permanent stillness.
This empty space is not subject to change.
It is not at the mercy of time.
This empty space is not vulnerable to the limitations of the body and mind.
It is infinite,
Unlimited.
The space in which all things appear,
But itself does not appear.
This empty space did not begin.
It does not change and it cannot end.
It is always here.
Returning to bodily sensations,
Bringing awareness back to the experience of a body and mind.
See if it's possible to allow this empty space into the body and mind.
The very same conscious awareness that is aware of the void is also aware of bodily sensations,
Thoughts and emotions.
Draw no distinction between the two for a moment.
Just allow this pure empty space into the body and mind and find there is a stillness here.
This neutral,
Indifferent awareness flushes through the body,
Removing any tendency towards negativity,
Pain or discomfort.
Instead,
Just allow the body and mind to be fully at peace.
Knowing now that this empty space around the body is always available to you,
There will never be a time it's not.
In a moment,
We will be leaving the formal aspect of this meditation.
But even during daily activity and your normal life,
Even at times you would imagine that it's impossible to be aware of this emptiness.
Just see if it's possible just to occasionally edge closer to the pure,
Empty,
Ever peaceful space outside of that particular body and mind.
Thank you for doing this meditation with me today.
Take care,
Be well and stay present.
