Practice observing the nature of mind.
You can practice this right in your bed lying down or in a comfortable seated posture.
The posture of meditation is important,
However,
For the topic of this course,
I have mostly practiced in my bed as soon as I wake.
As you begin to hear my words,
We attune to the field of support to all of those fully realized beings who have come before us,
Of many wisdom traditions,
Who had set the intention to explore the phenomena,
To illuminate the phenomena of mind and awareness fully.
May we be free to receive the benefits of their merit and their realizations as we have our own experience and as natural insight becomes available.
How mind arises and how mind falls away,
How one becomes entangled in the conditioning of mind,
How one comes to be a witness and be in touch with their true nature.
As you hear my words,
Simply notice your experience of being aware.
You could be aware of anything.
The space between my words,
The sound in the background,
A feeling,
A sensation or a tension,
A passing thought or even a judgment.
You could be in the field of heat or temperature or coolness.
You could be aware of anything.
And by the nature of something arising,
There is also some awareness there.
Allow this to become a flow of awareness.
You may notice the strain of your effort to be aware or the strain and confusion as physical sensations from wondering if you are doing this correctly.
You may notice the attempts to try using less effort or to relax more.
There might be a contraction or a tension accumulating from your efforts.
This is all the conditioning and the nature of mind.
You may notice that there are pleasant sensations or unpleasant sensations or an urge to shift or to move.
There is awareness arising simply with anything and everything that you are aware of.
The focus of this practice is not wondering so much if you are doing it right or wrong,
Even though that may be the nature of what you are experiencing.
Become aware of the invitation for the joy and the innocence of discovery.
Of simply being aware of noticing all the complexities,
The nature of self-identification,
Even the neuroticism of the mind.
You might notice a fascination with something that is happening within your internal experience,
One of the rise of pleasant sensations that comes with it.
Or on the contrary,
Something might be arising in your experience that is unwanted.
That might be followed by some notice of there being tension somewhere in the body or a pressure,
And that pressure may have a direction or a level of intensity.
The invitation is not to do this or to that,
But rather experience awareness of noticing where your awareness naturally goes.
Allow all of this to be a flow of awareness.
The awareness might be experienced on different levels.
There might be a curiosity happening simultaneous to the experience of just a sensation.
There may be awareness of one's own inner dialogue.
There may be awareness of,
Am I doing this right?
There may be awareness of the nature of the mind.
There may be awareness of the nature of mind.
What is happening naturally?
Trying to correct the mind or to keep it on track,
Or to focus more.
Those were not the instructions for this meditation.
But as you deepen and grow in your understanding of this practice,
It will become more clear.
At some point,
One might wonder who is experiencing,
What is experiencing this awareness?
If that happens naturally,
Then allow it to do so.
But for now,
There's no need to force yourself to explore it.
Unless of course you already are exploring it,
Or it is happening naturally.
There might be awareness of the nature of this practice.
You might notice the mind wandering to the future,
Following some thought,
This thought or other.
You might notice yourself trying to bring your mind back to this moment,
Or trying to follow my instructions and letting your mind just wander.
And somewhere in there,
There might be some frustration.
There's really no wrong way to practice this.
And yet,
Like a glass of muddy water,
If you don't keep stirring it,
It eventually begins to settle.
You activities quickly and efficiently start to underestimate the I'll share the words of Neosho Ken Rinpoche.
Rest in natural great peace,
This exhausted mind,
Beaten helplessly by karma and neurotic thoughts,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves on the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace,
This exhausted mind,
Beaten helplessly by karma and neurotic thoughts,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves on the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace,
This exhausted mind,
Beaten helplessly by karma and neurotic thoughts.
Rest in natural great peace,
This exhausted mind,
Beaten helplessly by karma and neurotic thoughts,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves on the infinite ocean of samsara.
And as we continue to observe the nature of mind,
Whether it be tranquil or pounding waves of neurotic thoughts,
Or return to this guided meditation on another day,
As you move throughout your day today,
And as you continue to practice,
You may have simple moments of just allowing awareness of whatever you are aware of,
Acknowledging the nature of your mind,
Having its experience.
