31-Day Meditation Challenge: Day 20

Welcome! This is the twentieth 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 video reviews the idea of gratitude and explains what a yogi is most grateful for is their existence as an individual, as that individuality allows them to perceive and adore life as "the most significant other".

Enjoy.

Transcript

All right,

What's up everybody?

Day 20 here we are Good to see you all um,

Okay,

So this is the second day where we're focusing on gratitude So we're gonna review the techniques we worked on yesterday Before that just answering a couple questions I've been getting about like the complexity and Intricacy of you know all the sub tasks that you're performing while you're meditating And just sort of to like outline them.

It's like you're managing your stillness.

You're managing your posture You're managing your breath.

You're trying to feel the seven directions of your breath You're interacting with your thought process and often my instructions involved like actively reshaping the thought process into like specific ideas but then there's this this other sort of instruction where you're being told to To avoid the thought process and really just feel the sensations of your body And all of that can become overwhelming I often think about the Hindu gods with like their multiple arms and that because they have all these arms They seem to multitask very well and manage with perfect sentience all the all the different Gears and mechanisms that are really involved in in existence that really operate by themselves so The simple answer is it will all become second nature if you continue to practice and and move through your confusion or insecurity or You know all of this but I think a more potent Analogy in Japan they have an art called Ikebana.

It's like the art of flower arrangements and The art is subtle.

So think of a bonsai tree,

Right?

So there's the bonsai tree It's grown and they just sort of snip one little branch of the bonsai tree Maybe two little branches and all of a sudden the innate Composition and and balance of that form with just a couple little snips comes comes to the surface and so in regards to all of this stuff all of that the Effort you think you're doing You know really all of those things are happening by themselves Anyways,

Are you controlling your stillness or are you just sitting down not moving?

Is your posture really taking that much effort or are you just sort of you know,

Sitting down with a little bit more strength?

In relationship to the mind it's like you're just guiding the mind into this into this new direction But it it it doesn't have to be perceived as sort of hauling your awareness up a hill It's just it's just a gentle sort of diversion Again,

You know if you really take a second to think about Ikebana and here's an orchid and just snipping one little leaf These processes are happening all the time and this is gonna feed into the fact that by the end of this month Hopefully you'll realize how simple all of this actually is But we just had to sort of like illuminate and define all the all the gears that are usually operating underneath or behind our awareness Cool,

So that's that it will get easier Second thing in relationship to like the specific lesson of Redirecting our attention to emotions way back in the beginning I said that a prerequisite for a successful meditative practice and that might mean like over your lifetime to develop these prerequisites is like a You know an instinctive tendency But you can also approach appreciate it as like every time you meditate you might want to sort of think about this to just build That etiquette but a prerequisite is seriously considering your humanity,

Right?

I think we tend to operate in in a numb a Sort of numbness and it's only with you know,

It's social events amazing movies celebratory,

You know celebrations that we are provoked into heightened emotional states But you know more often than not we're coasting in in a baseline And so just remembering just remembering that you are a fully-fledged human being with a world of emotions and and deep deep feelings and deep deep beliefs about the world and What you want and what you think life is just taking a second to consider that That's all that is necessary to take your meditative practice Especially this lesson of you know fixating on emotions to take this practice in this lesson up a notch So you are as you know,

But may not remember all the time.

You are a deep feeling fully-fledged emotional entity Cool that's done and so now What were we doing yesterday?

We were talking about?

Manifesting the experience of gratitude Through a specific mantra and the mantra was this will not last and you know you took it upon yourself to contemplate that and I Would love to know But I will not know you know what you what what was this,

You know,

This will not last But what was that to you now?

I'm gonna give you the best answer This is your existence.

This is reality itself reality itself will not last and By understanding that we start to really seed spirituality into our practice meditation from a yogic perspective is about developing your relationship to reality Reality as a conscious being reality is God and when you can start to do that and you might Force yourself by at least imagining that that this moment is very much alive very much aware of you as As much aware of you as you are of it This relationship building it is is the backbone of meditation is spirituality versus meditation just to sort of optimizing optimizing your persona and balancing folk balancing stress and increasing focus which is sort of a Shallow a shallow approach to this this ancient and and very meaningful art and so this will not last is This reality will not last the experience of separation the experience of your Individuality so that you can perceive the world from your own unique perspective will not last and upon death When the god yam which is the hindu god of death when yam welcomes you into his home and you unify You are forced into unity with the divine and everything turns black right just like all the colors turn black You're not gonna have the privilege of having a perspective and so it's like taking the time to consider even in this moment No one can see what you see.

No one can hear how you hear.

No one can feel what you feel That that is the thing to be,

You know,

You know devoted to and adore fundamentally It's like self right self is what we're worshiping as meditators and so just sort of like entangle that into the into the sentence this will not last Let it conjure gratitude and and yeah,

That's about it.

So let's get back into this As always good work everyone 20 days straight that is a monumental,

You know,

Monumental victory Okay So once you shut your eyes Immediately recognize and identify for yourself that you are meditating And Meditating and that specifically means you are internalizing yourself and Funneling your attention into the immediate reality of your body maybe your room but your body Your thought process And your emotions So And as I said yesterday This is all meditation has to be exactly what you're doing now The reason for such involved lessons The reason behind The world of philosophies that trails this simple practice is because eventually Our minds start to doubt the simplicity of this work And in the same way that we crave more from life we start to crave more from meditation that's the danger And so the philosophies and the techniques are there to quell that craving and that confusion But this is all it is But this is all it is And so the four fundamentals are stillness strong posture deep breathing and the pushing back of the mind To increase your experience of stillness Soften your muscles relax your jaw relax your shoulders relax your belly So nothing has to move you're not adjusting you're just softening muscles And in that this hum of euphoria This tranquilizing weight blankets your body And stillness starts to feel sweeter Notice that You You You You You You You You You You You You You You A second go-to technique Or detail in relationship to your breath is just slow it down more than you want to Breathe into the belly as you inhale always As you exhale the belly pulls in always Always breathing through the nose but slow it down And so your proclivity to breathe faster than you need to is evidence That your biology is wired to be anxious And that it takes a little bit of consciousness to lean into physical tranquility But it's not that much work Again you're just snipping one little branch off the bonsai tree And with that small adjustment the perfection of breath Comes to the surface And with that small adjustment the perfection of breath The perfection of breath comes to the surface Okay now You're physically established in your practice Mentally you're going to move between two intentions The first intention is to feel the tingling and buzzing inside the body Focus on a specific section maybe your forehead Maybe your face maybe your throat maybe your chest So that's the first instruction When the mind Wanders and it will I want you to think about gratitude By repeating the mantra this will not last And now we've defined This as existence itself We're all mortal But specifically the fact that we are an individual Within existence we are a drop in an ocean That is aware it's a drop And that individual consciousness That is the gift That is what we're worshipping that is what we're occupying When we meditate and that is what we are utilizing to shape our lives So this will not last the experience of self will not last And in that my unique perspective of this beautiful reality This miracle will not last And as you start to repeat those words and feel what they represent Come back to the tingling and buzzing in your body That is the most intimate Most personal and closest expression of this miracle reality And it feels good it's enlivening Okay let's all take a deep breath in together Slow breath out together slower than you want to You're either feeling or repeating the mantra this will not last And now we're going to take a deep breath in And now we're going to take a deep breath in And now we're going to take a deep breath in So this will not last Good work.

Enjoy yourselves.

Good work.

Good work.

Good work.

Good work.

Good work.

Good work.

Good work.

Good work.

Slow down the breath a little more.

It's not a big deal.

But through it the mind is relaxed.

Your experience of presence is immediately enriched.

And the opportunity to perform the tasks within this meditation are increased.

Feeling and repeating the mantra to conjure gratitude.

Again notice the catalyst to that increased ability came from the slowing down of your breath.

And now this is the puzzle.

You have to somehow intuit a way to increase your sincerity.

To feel more.

More gratitude for reality.

Whether that's opening up or letting down your guard.

You have to enliven that numbness.

One way of doing that is really committing to this idea of mortality.

Mortality is a truth.

And all truths,

And there are not many,

All truths provoke the divine.

The divine within each of us are the virtuous emotions that we all innately know are good.

It will make death right behind you and it will provoke that goodness.

You you you you you you you Appreciate that your mind understands there is more sincerity within you.

There is the possibility that you could feel more gratitude if the conditions were right.

Yet,

Access to that gratitude seems to be suspended.

So the time hasn't come where you have full authority to experience your wholeness.

But appreciating these limitations is a step forward in the right direction.

Again,

Slow down your breath.

Feel the body buzzing.

This will not last.

And savor whatever levels of gratitude you can conjure up.

You you you you And now abruptly end the mantra and actively listen to the space around you.

And feel that transition.

And from here,

Try to sense that your buzzing body and your thinking mind are also environments.

They are external to this position that you carve out through your practice.

What I'd like you to feel is that what you are grateful for,

What will not last,

Is this position.

And because of this position,

This limited individual position that you know as self,

It's the only thing you know.

You get to experience the world in the way that you experience the world.

And so that's taken for granted by virtually everyone.

But as you start to appreciate this relationship between self and world,

Consider now that that world,

Every star,

Every person,

Every piece of furniture,

Every flower,

That world is one thing.

And it is alive.

And it is aware.

Just as you are.

And so that might demand a leap of faith.

But this is the golden thread of spirituality.

Through this practice,

You start to forge a relationship with a living world.

Soften the body,

Slow down the breath.

At this point within your mind,

Repeat the word,

Namaste.

Namaste means that as I am aware of this inner space,

The marble of my individuality,

As I am aware of that,

I sense that individuality within the world.

And in this moment of perfect clarity and presence,

It is only my individuality in the world.

In this moment there are only two things.

Soul and the divine.

Atman and Brahman.

Now bring your hands to heart center very slowly.

Build your posture up slightly.

And so this is a gesture of reverence,

Devotion and acknowledgement.

But to what?

To reality.

Again,

It might take a leap of faith.

You might have to overcome rationality.

Again,

Namaste in the mind.

Thumb knuckles to third eye center.

And so in this moment,

Focus on the tingling sensation of your thumbs on your forehead per usual,

But understand through that what you're looking into now is your own little individuality,

Your own self.

And the clearer that position,

That experience is to you,

The more obvious reality becomes.

Press your thumbs a little bit more firmly into the forehead.

In that,

Increase your focus on that intensifying sensation.

And from there just contemplate and try to sense the awareness within it all.

The deep self.

In Sanskrit,

This is atman.

This is the soul.

Let's take one exhale here.

Hold your breath,

Release your wrist to your knees.

Tall spine.

Let's hold our breaths for as long as possible.

So you're building CO2.

In that your brain starts to wake up.

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

And again with your lungs full as you hold the breath,

Focus on the tingling and buzzing.

Namaste in the mind,

Not communicating to yourself but communicating to the idea of a singular,

Existent,

Conscious reality.

Everyone take a breath out.

With your next inhale,

Open your eyes,

Stay in a meditative state so I'm still meditating.

And as you look out into the world,

Into your room,

Your intellect immediately starts cutting things apart.

Wall,

Floor,

Couch,

Photos,

Books.

Try to see all of that as one thing.

One thing.

And so you're trying to override the intellect.

And again say namaste to that space as if it were listening,

As if it were conscious.

This is the magic of mysticism.

Reviews

Yet another good lesson. This will not last. Hands tingled a lot today. Thank you