So,
Again,
You know,
Finding your way back into a comfortable seated posture.
And as we begin to come into relationship with this unfolding of our sense experience,
Mind and body,
Just as we've been doing,
Being sensitive to the quality of intention that is going into directing the mind.
Always careful not to be too harsh,
Too forceful,
But also seeing that it does take energy to show up,
To keep showing up.
As all these phenomena change.
And just finding our way,
As usual,
Into whatever relationship feels most apparent in terms of receiving sounds,
Receiving visual impressions,
Smells and tastes,
Physical experience in the mind and heart.
And so just as we in previous days have learned to invite a sense of tenderness or warmth into the mind,
Heart that's receiving sounds,
Receiving body sensations,
In a way to soften that relationship in a way that can kind of undercut any tension we might be applying and find us in a softer,
More tender relationship with these experiences.
You can also see if there is any of this other quality of the heart available.
If there's any sense of what we might call equanimity,
A sense of acceptance,
Peace,
Maybe a flavor of calm,
But also a deeper okayness and stability of mind.
Sometimes it's just worth looking to see if that aspect of heart is available,
Just like we might do with loving kindness or compassion.
You don't have to go digging for it,
But just seeing if there's any sense of this cooler quality.
You can start to see that there is a way of exploring,
Attuning to that just as we might attune to another Brahma Vihara or to the presence or absence of energy,
Interest.
And so as we start to receive perhaps the stream of sound,
Of course we have been training the attention to explore the nature of the sound,
Receive the changing textures and tones.
In this case,
You might incline instead to just seeing if there's any way that the heart can receive whatever it's receiving,
The kind of acceptance.
These sounds are changing and flowing,
Some we may like or not like.
But a quality of the heart that receives them peacefully,
Without preference.
It's okay.
Some are loud and some are soft.
Some are pleasurable,
Some are grating.
We move away from the investigation and see if we can find some realm of this coolness of heart,
The stability of okayness,
Of peace with whatever is arising and passing at the ear door.
Don't need to get involved.
Just attuning to the part of the mind and heart that knows that it's okay,
No matter what happens in the realm of sound.
And of course we see that seeing is still happening,
Even with our eyes closed.
Color,
Shape,
Movement,
Form,
Light and dark.
Rather than get involved,
Rather than looking more closely,
We can attune to the quality of heart that's accepting of whatever arises in the visual field.
Seeing if there is any coolness,
Any peace,
Not disturbed by this changeability and flux.
And if so,
Feeling the relief of that coolness,
The refreshing quality of acceptance,
The laying down of the burden of needing things to be one way or another in the field of sight.
And this relief can permeate the mind and permeate the body.
This cool dark nourishment of acceptance.
Seeing the sensations throughout the body,
The hands,
The breath,
This wide range of physical experience that we know and are familiar with.
These realms of pleasure and pain unfolding according to nature,
Out of our immediate control.
And seeing if we can attune to that quality of acceptance,
Of knowing there's preference,
But also trusting there is an aspect of the mind that doesn't need things to be one way or another.
I trust the nature of the body arising and passing on its own,
According to conditions.
One can feel the sense,
Even subtle,
Of accepting these bodily sensations as they are.
Not needing to fight or struggle or manipulate or change.
Not even needing to investigate.
Just finding this cool well of the heart that can accept physical sensations as they are and be relieved in this equanimity.
Be nourished by this coolness.
One can feel a deepening faith in the release of the body,
Of the physical senses,
From the tightness of our preference.
Not needing any softening,
Any relaxation,
Any of this nourishment in the heart,
In the mind,
In the body.
Settling in slowly to this pool of equanimity.
And even the aspects of the mind that arise,
Thought,
Emotion,
Planning,
Memory,
All of these churning based on past conditions.
Can we find an aspect of the mind that is unperturbed by thought,
Not distressed by the natural unfolding of the mind itself?
The heart's acceptance of peace with whatever arises in the mind.
Not judging,
Not needing to figure it out or control.
Experience of the mind arising and passing based on conditions.
Realizing that there is a well,
A cave,
A coolness of the heart undisturbed by all this change that accepts the mind,
The body,
All the sense experiences arising and passing as they do,
Is nourished and strengthened by this acceptance,
Quenching our thirst for peace.
Of course we'll lose this thread,
But slowly we begin to trust that any sense experience,
Any phenomena that arises,
Can be folded back into the heart's ability to accept and be at peace.
Anything need be outside the heart's capacity for acceptance,
Release,
And relief.
