Our meditation practice today comes from the Buddhist tradition in a practice called Big Sky Meditation.
And we begin as usual by finding a comfortable seat.
If sitting is not available for your body today,
Then lying down is an option.
But be aware that sitting is preferred to tell the mind to stay active.
And from your comfortable seat,
Begin by bringing your awareness into your body.
Notice any places that are asking to be stretched or rolled out.
And allow your posture to adjust,
Your body to move for a few seconds until you settle into a comfortable position.
And throughout this practice,
As well as any meditation or mindfulness practice,
We remain as still as possible,
Being mindful of the body.
So if you ever find yourself in pain,
Then please move.
If you're moving towards the edge of comfort into a place of discomfort,
Then you can gauge whether staying in that position,
Maybe challenging yourself for a few more seconds or moments,
Is a beneficial thing.
Or if you're crossing that line where the body just needs to move.
And be mindful of the difference between the signals from your body,
Which has its own intelligence,
And the signals from your ego or mind,
Which sometimes like to push past the intelligence of the body.
And in your comfortable seat,
With your eyes either closed or softly open,
Gazing at the earth,
We tap into this stillness and presence of the body as we begin to visualize a mountain.
And become aware of the solidity,
Presence,
And stillness of this mountain.
This mountain which appears to be unmoving and unchanging.
Which is still.
Grounded.
Solid.
Strong.
And immovable.
Day after day,
This mountain remains unchanged.
This mountain remains perfectly content in stillness.
And now imagine yourself as the mountain.
Your physical body as the mountain.
And feel yourself as still,
Present,
And content as this beautiful,
Strong,
Immovable mountain.
On top of this mountain,
Above the clouds,
Is a lake.
And this lake is perfectly pure.
Imagine the color of this lake in your mind.
And that on a clear day you can see all the way to the bottom.
The lake can change.
If there are storms,
If there is wind,
If there is snow,
Then the surface of the lake will shift to reflect those changes.
But the essence of the lake itself remains still.
The lake can be smooth or choppy.
But what you see in the lake is simply a reflection of what happens above in the sky.
And recognize the quality of the mind to be this lake.
Easily distracted by what it reflects from the outside world and from the patterning of your thoughts.
There can be storms,
Ripples,
Snow or ice.
Perhaps some days it is more full and some days it is more empty.
But the essence of the lake itself is pure and clear.
And the essence of mind itself is pure and clear.
And throughout all of these ripples,
Patterns,
Distractions,
The essence of the mind is unchanging.
And now shift your attention from this beautiful mountain lake to the sky itself.
The sky which is vast and endless.
Imagine this sky from the very top of the mountain.
Looking in every direction and seeing nothing but sky.
The sky can shift and change,
Clouds can come in,
Darkness falls,
Lightness comes.
And the sky remains vast,
Unchanging in its essence.
Underneath all of the movements of weather.
And recognize that this big sky is the essence of your mind.
The vastness,
The infiniteness.
And when thoughts come in,
They're just like clouds rolling through the sky.
And when emotions come,
They're just like weather patterns rolling in for a time and rolling away.
Beneath the mind,
Just as the sky,
Remains clear,
Vast.
And we'll sit for a few moments in this recognition of the essence of mind,
The pure sky mind.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And begin to come back,
Slowly bringing the awareness back into the body.
Take a deep breath in,
And a deep breath out.
And sitting in this awareness for a few moments,
Notice the effects of this practice throughout your physical body,
On the mind,
In the emotions,
And on a deeper level.
And we conclude our practice by becoming aware of the overall state of calmness and balance,
And an extension of gratitude toward yourself for this practice,
And toward anyone who has helped you to be here in this moment.
May you take this knowledge of the essence of mind off the mat and into your daily life.
Namaste.
