31-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 11

Welcome! This is the eleventh lesson to a 31-Day Meditation Challenge recently recorded in July of 2020 entitled "Seek and Find Within." The audio recording is divided into an opening discourse and a guided meditation.

This lesson goes over INTERVAL MEDITATION. It's a technique that intentionally and frequently disrupts the experience of meditation. The intentional disruptions should aggravate you, which informs you of how intensely you crave inner stillness and silence.

Enjoy.

Transcript

All right,

Good evening everyone.

Good to see you all.

So day 11,

Excellent work into the double digits.

Let's get into this.

So today we're gonna introduce a new technique.

So this is the fourth technique you know that you're being introduced to in the course of this July challenge.

And so I just wanted to preface this practice with a little bit of you know sort of understanding about these techniques.

The idea of behind introducing you to these techniques and sort of designing this month through them is that you know meditation as a multi decade long practice.

You can utilize these techniques to bolster your ability to meditate and that these techniques while they are meditative aren't necessarily meditation.

And so the best analogy I could sort of you know conjure up is a musician practicing scales.

And so a musician will take the time you know every day to work their scales and work their transitions between chords,

But their ability to practice scales or to perform scales and to transition between chords isn't necessarily the full expression of their ability.

Their ability to fluently and freely sort of you know play their instrument or play a score or play a song.

That is the practice or the art.

And so whether it's you know taking the time to really commit to developing your stillness or your posture,

Taking the time to feel the seven directions of your breath,

Taking the time to hold your breath or chant to feel the vibration or the tingling or buzzing inside your body or taking the time you know which is what we're gonna do today of opening and closing your eyes throughout the duration of your practice.

All of these techniques or exercises will inform you on how to meditate more profoundly.

And I personally have a lot of definitions of what meditation is,

But you know in the context of what we're discussing now the definition I think that is most valuable is meditation is the absence of effort.

And so you want to think about that for a second.

Holding stillness at first takes effort,

Holding a straight spine takes effort,

Holding your breath takes effort,

Chanting and feeling the vibration takes effort,

Feeling the seven directions of your respiratory system all takes effort.

And so meditation is the absence of all that effort and in that sort of involves this this idea that meditation is also the absence of those techniques.

And you know that's something you're gonna have to figure out on your own.

But meditation is that it's the absence of effort and simultaneously meditation is the absence of unconsciousness.

And so fundamentally what this definition means is that you are doing nothing,

You're performing nothing,

You're applying yourself to nothing,

But at the same time awake to that openness.

And I think that is a really you know spot-on definition of what meditation could be.

And so these techniques are here to help you do just that.

Okay,

And so that's sort of the the preface of today's class.

Some other things I wanted to talk about especially in regards to the technique we're gonna focus on for the next three days.

We're gonna essentially open our eyes and close our eyes you know rhythmically throughout our practice and this is gonna create hopefully a a sort of building desire to just close your eyes.

Every time you open your eyes it's gonna feel like this distraction,

This burden,

And you're gonna hope to just sort of like close your eyes and meditate without without the you know the the instruction to break your practice.

And so it's gonna build this this this affinity for internalizing.

And so in that meditation is about internalizing the mind and one of my favorite sort of phrases or sutras in regards to the meditative practice is Vivekanam.

Viveka means spiritual discrimination.

I can tell the difference between this and that and in that difference I am compelled to stand within spirit.

So Vivekanam Sarvam Dukkham.

And what this means is spiritual practice,

The desire to meditate,

The desire to look into yourself usually emerges when Dukkham Vivekanam Sarvam Dukkham.

When Dukkham or suffering emerges.

When the world becomes boring or dull.

What was once bright and uplifting or fulfilling all of a sudden for you know no definitive reason becomes empty and hollow in that moment,

Right?

What most you know of society and culture would label as depression and you would sort of be fed pharmaceuticals to you know change your change your perception of what's going on.

And meditators ancient meditators say when that depression when that disinterest with the external emerges that is an initiation a step into maturity where your very being for whatever reason is compelling you to look away from that everything that's outside you and look into yourself.

And so the the best way of breaking the world into two and we all break the world into two in many ways good and bad right and wrong productive or unproductive helpful or dangerous.

We all break the world into duality.

One of the most productive ways of breaking the world into two is outside and inside.

And what you're gonna feel throughout this technique,

Which I call interval meditation is the the impulse the desire to actually internalize that there is a strong voice inside each of you.

This is why you're doing this meditative challenge whether you know it or not.

There's a strong voice within each of you that is saying the outside world isn't enough anymore.

The satisfaction of my senses isn't enough anymore.

The building up of my reputation isn't enough anymore.

I'm going to look somewhere else.

And this this feeling is called vaidhag or dispassion.

Vaidhag means to turn the world gray.

When the world turns gray we have to look in.

And so that's sort of the the premise behind this technique.

And so what is the technique?

What we're gonna do,

I'm gonna guide you through it a little bit at first but then you're gonna sort of coast into it on your own.

You're gonna take three deep steady breaths as you do eyes closed.

So inhale exhale one.

Inhale exhale two.

Inhale exhale three.

And then on that fourth breath you're gonna inhale open your eyes and just sort of break your practice and then exhale close your eyes.

And then after that you're gonna take two breaths eyes closed.

Inhale exhale one.

Inhale exhale two.

And then after that after those two breaths that third breath you're gonna inhale open your eyes and again break your practice.

At this point the opening of the eyes should feel,

You know,

Very disruptive to your experience.

Exhale close the eyes.

And then after that,

It's just one breath.

Deep steady patient breath in.

Eyes are closed.

Deep steady breath out.

Eyes closed.

And then again inhale open the eyes.

Disrupting your practice.

Exhale close the eyes.

And we're gonna we're gonna sort of move through this.

Three breaths.

Open the eyes.

Two breaths.

Open the eyes.

One breath.

Open the eyes.

I'm gonna do this for about 15 to 20 minutes.

And again the whole point behind this exercise is to one,

Give you a visceral sense of what what externalized awareness feels like when you're paying attention to your environment.

And in that established within your identity,

Your distraction,

Your impulses,

Your ambition.

And then simply by closing the eyes and internalizing the mind you sort of tap into this this sense of unbeing or spirit.

And so,

You know sort of juxtaposing the two directions of awareness so closely together and so rhythmically is really gonna enrich both.

Very much like putting a little salt in in cookie dough to sort of increase the sweetness of the pastry.

Okay,

So that's the first thing.

And the second thing is by juxtaposing the opening of the eyes and the closing of the eyes,

What you should really start to feel is this this urgency and this this sort of passion to just keep your eyes closed.

And what that's going to suggest to you is that you do have vita.

You do have this this dispassion that in some way you are tired of the circumstances of the world,

Tired of playing the games of identity,

Tired of reaching for material success or reputation.

And you know sort of acknowledging this fatigue with the rat race of identity and persona,

You know which all sort of feeds into the rat race of culture.

The the spirit within you,

The meditator within you,

And the yogi within you is going to be supported.

And you know the stronger the more strongly you associate to meditation or to being a meditator the stronger your practice will be.

Okay,

Cool.

So let's get into this day one.

So you're being introduced to interval meditation.

Okay,

Now I'm gonna guide you through it at first and then you're just gonna coast into it on your own.

Comfortable seated pose.

And just feel your wrists on your knees if you're sitting on the floor,

If you're on a chair more than likely it's the back of your hands.

Spread your fingers wide,

Very very wide.

Shut your jaw,

Tuck your chin in towards your throat to decompress the base of your skull.

And then soften your muscles on the bones.

We're gonna zip through the first three lessons.

Immediately notice your posture and that more than likely you don't sit with this sense of power.

You don't sit with this length.

You don't sit with this symmetry regularly.

And as you acknowledge this pronounced posture at the same time acknowledge your stillness,

That you're locked into the pose.

Fingers are still spread wide.

So just take a couple breaths.

Lesson one,

Stillness and posture.

Moving along,

Lesson two.

Seven directions of your inhales,

The seven directions of your exhales.

As you breathe in be sure to inflate your belly.

As you inhale the belly inflates.

And as you exhale the belly contracts into the spine.

As you breathe in feel your torso,

Chest and abdomen inflate forwards and backwards,

Left and right and up and down.

As you exhale feel your torso,

Your chest and abdomen shrink from front to back and from left to right.

But stay tall.

Last detail about these seven directions.

As you breathe in,

Inside your body,

Feel that your breath in the pattern of inhaling runs from your face,

Down into your chest.

Then you start to feel pressure in your belly.

Runs from the top down,

Down into the spine.

Down into your chest.

Then you start to feel pressure in your belly.

Runs from the top down.

And as you exhale the opposite is true.

First you feel the belly recede.

Then the chest contract and finally the breath moves through the throat,

Out the sinus cavity,

Out the nose.

So the fourth lesson,

The fourth technique is interval meditation.

It's important right now because so many of you are participating at the same time.

Follow my breathing cues as best as you can.

Forgive me if I'm a little shorter or a little longer than your natural breath but adjust your breathing at first to stay on time with me.

Let's all take a breath in and a breath out.

Starting now,

Three breaths with the eyes closed.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale a little more slowly.

Exhale a little more slowly.

That's three.

With an inhale open your eyes.

Notice meditation is broken.

It might be annoying or aggravating.

Exhale close the eyes.

Two breaths with the eyes closed.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale a little bit more slowly.

Exhale.

That's two.

Inhale open the eyes.

Disrupted.

Exhale close the eyes.

Returning.

Just one breath here as slowly as you can.

Inhale.

Exhale.

That's one.

Inhale open the eyes.

Disruption.

Exhale close the eyes.

Returning.

OK,

Next round.

Let's take three breaths.

Eyes closed.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Slow it down.

Inhale.

Exhale.

That's three.

Inhale open the eyes.

Disruption.

Exhale close the eyes.

Returning.

Two breaths.

Slow it down.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Again,

Slow it down.

Exhale.

That's two.

Inhale open the eyes.

Disruption.

Exhale close the eyes.

Returning.

Now just one breath.

Feel the seven directions.

A perfect breath.

Perfect focus.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale open the eyes.

Disruption.

Exhale close the eyes.

Returning.

Now on your own,

Move through this pattern.

Three breaths with the eyes closed.

Then inhale open,

Exhale closed.

Two breaths with the eyes closed.

Inhale open,

Exhale closed.

One breath with the eyes closed.

Inhale open,

Exhale closed.

Just move through the pattern until I tell you to stop.

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Do your best to focus on the sensation of your body as it rests in stillness.

This sensation is the literal expression of being.

At the same time,

Stay committed to the techniques of stillness,

Posture,

And the seven directions of the breath.

All of these techniques should enable you to feel the buzzing and tingling and vibrational experience of your body as it rests and exists.

But when the eyes open,

Pay close attention to that immediate experience of disconnection.

Disruption.

And round after round of disrupting the experience of being,

What should start to build up within your practice today is the understanding that you crave stillness.

You crave closing your eyes.

You crave internalizing and looking away from the outside.

This craving to look into yourself again is vairag,

Dispassion.

And it means that to you personally,

For whatever reason,

The world has somehow turned gray.

To meditators,

This is a great sign of maturity.

It means finally you are ready and willing and compelled to look away from the tangible,

Away from the physical.

All righty.

Now,

Whatever part of the pattern you are in,

Keep your eyes closed and just repeat that single breath in and out.

Perfect focus.

Perfect tension.

Perfect stillness.

Perfect posture.

A perfect breath.

And for the next five minutes,

Just repeat that perfect breath over and over again,

Replacing all thought with feeling.

All effort,

All action,

All doing with being.

Nothing to achieve,

But everything to feel.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

All right.

Just slow down your breath.

And try to feel that psychologically you have internalized yourself.

And because of that,

It should be very easy to empathize with the idea that you are within your being.

Your body should more obviously feel like a shell around you.

Your body and your mind should be felt to be playing out in front of you.

And these points of reference help underline your position as within.

So another definition of meditation is internalizing awareness.

The absence of effort,

The absence of unconsciousness,

And the internalizing of awareness.

So do nothing,

Remain awake,

And stay inside yourself.

And all I want you to appreciate today is that you are attracted to this direction.

And not everyone is.

I would say most people aren't.

But you are.

Now bring your hands to heart center.

Simultaneously encourage your posture.

And slow down your breath.

Increase your sincerity.

And feel with openness that yes,

In fact,

I am attracted to my inner space.

I am compelled to explore what yogis identify as self.

Lift your thumb knuckles to third eye center.

Always closing with technique.

Press your thumbs a bit more firmly into the skin of your forehead to exaggerate the sensations.

And notice that those sensations tingle.

Deepen your focus as best you can.

Take one more breath in,

Swelling into the belly and then the chest.

Deepen your focus.

As you exhale,

Continue focusing,

The belly draws in.

Hold your breath with empty lungs.

Release your wrists back to your knees.

Continue holding the breath.

Bring a random finger to each thumb.

Continue holding the breath.

And you need to inhale slowly through the nose and again hold the breath.

Holding posture,

Exhale mindfully through the nose.

With your next inhale,

Open your eyes and repeat in your head,

I am still meditating.

I am still within myself.

I am still awake.

I am still not applying effort,

Just being.

With the next exhale,

Close the eyes and again feel the magnetism of that inner space.

Again as you inhale,

Final time,

Open the eyes and repeat,

I am still meditating.

Still within myself.

Still awake.

Still being.

Reviews

This is an excellent course. I’m so happy to have found it. Techniques of meditation are explored that become a toolkit for a satisfying practice, like a musician practicing scales. Eben puts it together nicely. As a result, there is an increasing sense of direction and empowerment. This will be a course to revisit.

That was kind of intense but at the same time, very centering. It can be very easy to lose focus but this practice helps maintain the focus even with eyes open. I didn't feel anxious or anything, just calm and kept focusing on the breath. Good stuff, good techniques. Thank you! ☮️💖🙏