So this morning I was thinking we might explore,
Or something I've been looking at a little bit this week is dream yoga and the idea that we can always look at this as in essence being in a dream.
Whether we're in an actual dream or whether we're in a waking dream.
And so to be constantly asking the question,
Is this a dream?
Is this a dream?
And with the intention eventually to be in a situation where you're asking that in actual dreams as well.
And that can facilitate things like lucid dreaming.
So I've been exploring that a little bit this week.
But the general idea behind that,
The general idea behind seeing that we're,
This is not as it seems to be,
Recognizing that this is not as it seems to be,
Can be helpful because we can get very caught up in this being what we think it is.
And it can only,
Like it's only ever what we think it is,
Because if you think of what our brain is,
Which is what's telling us what's going on,
It's stuck in a box,
Essentially,
The skull.
It doesn't actually have any access to the outside world.
All it has is information provided through electrical impulses from our senses.
And it interprets all of that and gives us a picture that is adequate and sufficient to get us through the world on a day to day basis,
Which is great.
But it means that whatever I consider to be my experience can only be an interpretation of my experience.
So that's helpful.
That's helpful.
In helping us recognize that things may not be as they seem to be.
And any opportunity to not be so sure of ourselves,
Not be so certain,
Can be helpful.
It can help us get through life a little more peacefully,
A little less anxiously,
Perhaps.
So let's investigate that kind of idea today with an invitation to really attempt to experience things from the perspective of the observer,
That which sees,
Rather than putting so much attention into what is seen.
And by seeing,
I mean whatever it is you're sensing.
So without further ado,
Let's find a nice awake posture and take a deep breath or two or three to settle in.
And just allowing attention to drop into the belly,
Noticing the belly rise and fall with each breath.
It's like a baby.
You ever see a baby breathing?
See their belly going up and down?
A relaxed breath.
A relaxed breath is going to be experienced in the belly.
And allowing relaxation throughout the body.
Starting with working our way down,
Top of the head,
Face,
Skull,
Neck.
Relax,
Relax,
Relax.
Shoulders,
The arms,
Chest,
Belly,
The back.
The hips,
Pelvis,
Legs,
And the feet.
It's relaxed.
Allowing relaxation,
Not forcing it,
Not making it happen.
Just settling into it.
And an invitation to explore what it is that makes you realize you exist.
There are thoughts,
There are sensations,
And all of this experience fluctuating throughout us.
But is that existence or is that happening within existence?
Explore the edges of your experience and see if there's something more consistent.
Something that perhaps holds all this experience.
Could that be a little closer to existence?
Perhaps a sense of aliveness.
Sense into that if it's available to you.
Notice its properties.
Is it,
Like your experience,
Something that continues to fluctuate?
That comes and goes?
Or is it always there?
Let it hold you.
Let it surround you.
Let it flow.
Let it flow through you.
Allow yourself,
If possible,
To experience this moment,
This experience,
From that perspective,
From the perspective of existence.
So all these fluctuations,
These thoughts,
These emotions,
These feelings,
These sensations can all move through it and exist.
But instead of being caught up in them,
Controlled by them,
Just experience them as they arise.
All as part of one continual flow of experience.
Looking from the outside in,
Sensing into the aliveness,
This felt sense of aliveness that joins us with existence,
This infinite sense of existence,
Existence that flows through everything like electricity,
Charging station for the soul.
If at any stage you find yourself lost in thought,
Drifting,
It's okay.
See if it's possible to return to what's holding those thoughts,
What contains them,
And experience those same thoughts from that space rather than from within the thought,
From without,
Noticing the difference in experience from existing within a thought to existing without the thought,
Outside of the thought,
In the thought small and controlled,
Outside the thought infinite.
Exploring this space,
Exploring the felt sense of aliveness,
And exploring experience as it arises,
But not from the perspective of experience,
Of the experience itself,
But from the perspective of the observer,
Of seeing the experience,
Seeing experiences arise and pass away,
Just like the breath,
Being held to any one experience,
Of being the servant to any one thought,
Just allowing them all to pass on through,
The thoughts,
The experiences,
The sensations,
The emotions,
The feelings,
Like a stream flowing by,
So rich,
And an invitation to return to this place again and again through the day,
Especially when things get uncomfortable,
When things get hard,
If even for a moment,
To be able to see it as just another experience flowing through,
If even for a moment.
Thank you for your practice.
