Good morning meditators,
How are you doing today?
I hope you're super well,
I'm looking forward to meditating with you.
I thought today's topic could be loving your thoughts,
Which might be surprising.
As I think there's often a prevalent idea that meditation is about stopping your thoughts.
To me the idea of stopping your thoughts is not very productive.
We tend to find it leads only to frustration and the thoughts just build up against a wall and then suddenly explode over it.
And actually meditation is more something to do with understanding the mind rather than trying to block it.
Certainly through understanding the mind our relationship with thoughts changes.
And sometimes thoughts may completely cease of their own accord but not by force.
So loving your thoughts is today's topic.
If you've not joined us for meditation before then it would be wise to take a look on the website at the tips there before we begin which include something about posture.
Assuming you've had a look at those then hopefully you've found a position that works for you.
So let's begin.
We'll start by just letting the eyes close or letting the eyelids lower such that just a little light is coming in.
In doing so we're beginning the process of moving inwards relinquishing our tendency to be completely engaged only in that which appears to be outside us.
And we'll just watch the breath for a little while.
Watching the breath is a beautiful anchor for meditation.
It's always there.
You don't have to look far to find the breath and it's always here and now.
So if you're with the breath you're in this moment.
You're in tune with your body rhythms.
And bringing your attention to your breath even helps just in terms of soothing yourself a little.
We're not trying to do anything in particular to force our breath to slow down.
We're just bringing our awareness to that which is.
And so watching the breath being one with it.
Feeling how it feels to breathe.
Even relinquishing the idea that we are breathing and allowing it to be that we are being breathed in the body and the universe taking care of it all by themselves.
We're not making the decision to breathe.
It's just an irresistible function of body and universe.
And bringing our awareness to the body.
How does it feel right now?
Are there any tensions or stresses there?
Or is there a sense of joy and love?
Or maybe no relationship at all with the body?
Do you know it's there at all?
There's no right or wrong in this.
In fact it's a very deep and mysterious question.
Do we know the body's there at all?
And the only answer is that which is true for you right now.
If you know it's there,
Good,
You be with that.
If you know there's no such thing as body,
Good,
You be there with that.
If you know nothing at all,
Good,
You be there with that.
Unknowing,
Inconclusive,
Allowing inquiry to be the essence of the mind.
Open inquiry with no need for conclusion.
And if you simply love whatever your relationship with body is right now,
Then good,
Be there with that.
So watching the breath and being present,
Being there with our relationship with body,
We find ourselves settling into this awareness,
This inner spaciousness.
Witnessing is happening.
Allowing witnessing,
Innocent witnessing to happen.
We're even before the witness has arisen.
We are there,
Just being.
Nothing arises.
This may come and go.
There's no need to force them in any particular direction or just try to stop them.
There's no need to be afraid of them.
All that happens when a thought comes along is we either remain centered in ourself and see the thought come,
Enjoy it,
Love it,
Allow it to move on in its own time.
Or we find ourselves identified with the thought,
Feeling that something must be done,
Following the thought,
Adding to it,
Taking away from it and becoming so identified with it that we forget who we are and lose our groundedness.
And as such,
We become off balance.
Our nature is like a mountain and the thoughts come and go like clouds.
As many thoughts gather,
Just as clouds gather around the mountain.
Sometimes there are just a few.
Sometimes there are no clouds at all.
But in all cases,
We remain the mountain.
Simply still,
Strong,
Very attractive to clouds,
To thoughts.
To many things,
We're like a force of gravity,
Attractive power,
Just still collected in our self.
No part of us missing a wholeness.
Just being what we are.
If we were to identify with a cloud,
We may lose part of our identity as the cloud shifts on down the valley.
And off we go with it.
Suddenly we're torn.
A fragment with this cloud,
A fragment with that cloud.
Our identity broken up.
Our power divided.
Gravity weakened.
Our sense of self diminished.
And it's in those moments that ego starts to arise with different thoughts.
And it tries to present itself as strong and right.
Each thought having some small opinion,
One-sided opinion,
It needs to assert itself as right.
Because another opinion might have something else to say about it.
So identification happens.
Ego builds up.
When we remain identified as the mountain,
Unmoving and whole,
There is no need for exercising and flexing ego.
No need for being right.
No one-sided opinion.
This is there.
So with this being the case,
As thoughts come and go,
We can enjoy them.
There's no need to dismiss them,
To consider them a problem.
If we do become identified with them and lose our sense of self,
This is fine.
This is just something we learn from by experience.
Going back again to our centeredness.
When we realize something is uncomfortable or something is missing.
It's okay.
There's nothing wrong in it.
This is life.
By and by we are drawn more and more to meditation,
To the stillness of the self,
Which is beyond one-sided opinions and identifications,
Which has no use for desire and fear.
Which is beautiful and fulfilled.
Which has no need of going anywhere or being anything.
But just being,
Nothing,
Just being.
Thoughts come and go.
Emotions rise and fall.
Bodies are born and die.
Witnessing appears,
Disappears.
Being and not being.
That which is beyond definition,
Which we cannot conceive of.
Unmoving,
Unchanging.
Prevailing in our existence.
Under forgotten.
That is our nature.
We can reside there.
This is the unchanging truth.
Okay.
If you'd like to continue meditating a while longer,
Good.
And also good if you'd like to draw this meditation to a close now.
Making some small movements to bring the body around.
Letting the eyes open in your own time.
Thank you for sharing with me this meditation.
And I look forward to being with you again soon.
Okay my lovelies.
Bye bye for now.
Thanks for watching this video and keep sitting with me any time.
You you
