In this meditation,
I'm going to reconnect you back to what you already know,
But has been forgotten.
Something so obvious and simple.
And in the process,
You'll rediscover who or what you really are.
The more times you do this meditation,
The stronger that knowing will become,
Because you will have experienced what's true.
Ever since you were a child,
You have been believing yourself to be all the labels and ideas you've innocently picked up from others,
Or from your mind interpreting events.
You've lived as if these things are who you are,
And the world has reflected this back to confirm the ideas and beliefs that you're seeing the world through.
It's like wearing a tinted pair of glasses,
And the world can only ever be seen as the colour of the glasses.
Today,
I'm going to invite you to look without the glasses on.
So settle back and get comfy.
You don't need to be in any particular position or posture,
And I invite you to keep your eyes open.
Slowly start to notice what you can see around you.
Let your eyes travel around your space.
Move your head and have a good look.
Notice that if you look down,
You will see feet and legs and a body,
Along with other objects in the room.
Don't stop for too long on one object.
Simply scan the room and notice how seeing happens effortlessly.
Now,
Shift attention to your body.
Notice the sensation of your feet on the floor,
Or the feel of clothes on the skin.
Notice what the body feels like where it meets the chair or the bed.
Notice any areas of tension or discomfort,
Not with judgement,
But simply with curiosity.
Notice hot or cold sensations,
And anything else arising as attention is placed on the body.
Now,
I'd like you to bring awareness to what you can hear.
Beyond my voice,
What other sounds are there?
Perhaps trees blowing in the wind,
Birds singing,
Or traffic passing.
Notice how these sounds arise effortlessly,
How they are heard without effort or trying.
Now,
Bring attention to the inner narrator or thought.
Notice how while you were looking around,
Hearing and feeling,
There may have been this inner narrator analysing and explaining what was being seen,
Heard and felt.
Notice how these thoughts are effortlessly known,
How they appear and disappear.
How that inner voice is known to you.
Now,
I'd like you to imagine a painting.
It's made from millions of brushstrokes all combining together to make an image.
Consider how you could observe one brushstroke,
Or you could observe all brushstrokes together.
If you were to focus on one brushstroke,
You wouldn't see the whole picture.
The focus on a single brushstroke would exclude all other brushstrokes.
If you were to focus on all the brushstrokes together,
A clear picture would be observed.
So,
Going back to what you were hearing,
Seeing and feeling,
Notice how when I asked you to focus on one sense,
The others were excluded.
Much like focusing on an individual brushstroke,
The full picture is not seen.
So,
Now I invite you to zoom out.
To relax any focus on any one object,
Feeling,
Thought or sound.
Like when you're falling asleep and you are aware of sensations,
Sounds or thoughts,
But there is a sense of detachment from them.
Notice how all thoughts,
Sounds,
Sights and feelings are effortlessly known here and now.
All appearing and known to you.
You are simply aware.
You are effortless knowing.
Everything is arising in you,
Effortless awareness.
And then the focus zooms back in,
Typically onto thought and back into all the ideas and beliefs about who you are and what you have to do.
But now you've had an experience of what is true.
What is before those thoughts?
The truth of your being.
You are simply aware.
