Hello and welcome to this Zen practice of presence meditation.
This is the fourth meditation of four as part of a Zen meditation and mindfulness eight-week course.
In this meditation we take the practice one step further.
We don't have a central point of awareness in the body at all.
The central point of awareness is presence itself.
This is the fourth and final meditation of the course.
You will do this meditation each day between week six and week eight.
As always you can either follow this guided recording each day or use it the first time and then do the practice alone going forward.
Completely up to you.
You should continue to commit to 25 minutes of meditation each day and spend five minutes writing in your meditation diary,
A few observations.
There are two analogies I like to use to explain this process taught to me by my Zen master.
I use both so hopefully it's clear and you can choose your preferred method.
The first one is to imagine that you are the boundless open sky.
Your thoughts are the clouds passing by in the sky.
You simply allow the clouds to pass through the sky.
You don't obsess over the clouds,
Cling on to them or make them stay.
You simply allow them to be,
Allow them to come and allow them to go and return to being the open sky.
I hope this makes sense.
Another way to approach it and this is my preferred method is to imagine you have a beautiful butterfly fly over and rest on the palm of your hand.
Now I'd imagine your first instinct wouldn't be to clench your fist.
You would simply allow the butterfly to rest for a while and allow it to fly away.
Think about the butterfly as your thoughts during your meditation.
Don't grab them,
Don't judge them and don't dwell on them for too long.
Just allow your thoughts to come and allow them to go.
Establish a strong upright posture for this meditation.
Sway a little side to side and sway forwards and back to find your center point.
Soften your eyes and either lower them or close your eyes completely.
Allow your body.
Firstly focus your attention on the breath.
The lowest part you can feel it in the body,
Usually in the belly.
Notice the effortless rise and fall of the breath.
When you feel ready and settled,
Release the awareness from the breath.
Allow your mind to expand.
Rather than having a fixed object to focus on,
We're establishing a broad field of awareness.
This is a very subtle practice.
Simply being present with whatever is rising,
Whatever it is that arises and passes.
Thoughts,
Memories,
Sights and sounds.
Whatever it is,
We simply provide the space in which it can unfold.
If you find your awareness attaching on to any of the passing things,
Pursuing trains of thought,
Whatever it might be,
Just notice as it immediately detaches.
I'll now leave you to continue your practice of presence.
Just allowing anything that arises to come and pass.
Being free,
Aware in this simple meditation,
Providing a space,
A very open space in which absolutely anything can arise and pass away.
No attempt to control it at all.
Sometimes this practice is very quiet and still.
Other times thoughts and feelings are abundant.
Don't worry,
Neither tells us how good our meditation is becoming.
Thoughts to come.
It's important to maintain an upright posture while still being relaxed in the body for this meditation.
Just being totally present as you do this practice,
Become more clear you are not your thoughts or feelings.
These things come and they go.
As long as you are aware,
Relaxed and present,
You are doing this meditation correctly.
Simple yet very profound.
Difficult memories or emotions may pop up in this meditation.
Simply sit with them without judgment and allow the healing to naturally take place.
If any of these memories or emotions do pop up,
Sometimes they may not.
Your mind is a clear blue sky.
Clouds,
Our thoughts pass through.
Simply allow them to come and let them go.
Continuing to allow anything that arises to come and pass.
Being free,
Aware,
Relaxed and present.
As we would a butterfly in the palm of our hands.
Allowing our thoughts to come and go.
Just a couple more minutes or so for this practice.
Anything to arise and pass away with no attempt to control it at all.
Start to come back into the body now as we conclude our practice.
Start to notice just where the breath is going in and out of the body.
How does the body feel after this meditation?
Slowly sway the body side to side.
Bring some movement back into the hands and feet.
Give them a little wiggle.
Have a good stretch if your body needs it.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Big love to you and have a beautiful day.
