So today I thought we would look at the third foundation,
Which is the mind.
This is from the Sutta,
Which of course is a text from Buddhism.
I don't often refer to Buddhism,
And there are many reasons for that.
And one I think is because people are often concerned that it's a religion.
I don't see these teachings as necessarily being religious.
I think there's some real wisdom in them,
And there's a lot we can learn from them.
And that's why I sometimes am drawn to things like this.
And so I'll share this for you because it's fairly short.
So,
And how does a mendicant meditate,
Observing an aspect of the mind?
It's when a mendicant understands mind with greed as mind with greed,
And mind without greed as mind without greed.
They understand mind with hate as mind with hate,
And mind without hate as mind without hate.
They understand mind with delusion as mind with delusion,
And mind without delusion as mind without delusion.
They know constricted mind as constricted mind,
And scattered mind as scattered mind.
They know expansive mind as expansive mind,
And unexpansive mind as unexpansive mind.
They know mind that is not supreme as mind that is not supreme,
And mind that is supreme as mind that is supreme.
They know mind immersed in somebody as mind immersed in somebody,
And mind not immersed in somebody as mind not immersed in somebody.
They know freed mind as freed mind,
And unfreed mind as unfreed mind.
And so they meditate,
Observing an aspect of the mind internally,
Externally,
And both internally and externally.
They meditate observing the mind as liable to originate,
As liable to vanish,
And as liable to both originate and vanish.
All mindfulness is established that the mind exists to the extent necessary for knowledge and mindfulness.
They meditate independent,
Not grasping at anything in the world.
That's how a mendicant meditates,
By observing an aspect of the mind.
So the point here is that the mind can be many,
Many,
Many,
Many things.
And quite often with these practices,
When we're experiencing certain things,
We think,
Ah,
Yes,
I have this.
And then when we're experiencing certain other things,
It's like,
Oh,
The practice isn't working.
The point is not for the mind to be any particular way,
But for us to be able to see the mind as it is.
So that's what we'll be doing today in this practice.
Just seeing the mind as it is,
Whatever's present,
Allowing.
So I invite you to settle into your posture for today,
An awake posture,
Aligned with gravity.
You may want to do this with a deep breath or two,
An invitation just to settle in with relaxation,
A relaxed approach,
Relaxing into what is present.
If there is tension,
Relaxing into the tension and around the tension,
But not trying to change the tension.
If it changes,
It changes.
That's okay.
Relaxing into whatever is present.
And that includes your mind state,
Relaxing into that,
Relaxing into an expansive mind state or an un-expansive mind state,
Relaxing into a scattered mind state or an unscattered mind state,
And seeing it as it is,
Not trying to change it.
If the mind is busy,
The mind is busy.
Can you see that the mind is busy?
If the mind is quiet,
Can you see that the mind is quiet?
You be with this,
Noticing any resistance that arises,
Notice anywhere where you try to change the way things are,
And just remain cognizant of that rather than trying to change that as well.
Don't resist the resistance,
Don't change the changing.
Noticing the difference between being caught up in a mind state and being able to see the mind state,
A different perspective.
Endeavour to be in the space that sees the mind state.
And when you find yourself caught up in the mind state,
Don't resist being caught up in the mind state,
Just change your perspective.
Don't resist the mind state either,
Whatever it is.
Noticing mind states shift,
Move,
Change,
Noticing their impermanence,
Their inconstancy,
And not attaching to any particular mind state.
Instead,
Just seeing them,
Seeing them arise,
Seeing them pass away.
Noticing,
Perhaps,
That the space of seeing has quite different properties than the mind states.
Noticing the constancy of the space of seeing,
Maybe the aliveness of the space of seeing.
The space that sees may have an element of expansiveness about it.
Noticing that when we are caught in a mind state,
Any mind state,
That we're held to that space.
It's often quite small,
Constricted,
And it becomes our whole world,
That it's just a bubble.
And when we see the mind state,
See it arise,
See it transform,
Well,
That's quite a different space.
Here's a little trick.
If you notice commentary,
Commentary about particular mind states or whatever,
Then perhaps that commentary is just another aspect of mind,
Another mind state.
Can you see that which comments?
Can that be seen?
That which sees does not speak,
For it is silent,
It is still,
Observing the movements of mind.
Noticing if there is any striving,
Grasping,
Efforting,
Recognize that as another state of mind,
Just relaxing into this,
Seeing the fluctuations while being the stillness.
Noticing,
Perhaps,
Any impact that observing the fluctuations of mind has on the mind itself.
When you don't engage with it,
When you don't resist within it,
When you don't try to change the way it is,
What happens?
Allowing attention to drop now,
Drop into body,
Form,
Groundedness,
Sensing into your connection with earth,
With ground,
Feeling that,
Feeling your body as a whole,
Solidity,
Feet,
Belly,
Hands,
Shoulders,
All connected,
Sensing into head and face and forehead and top of the head.
And with as much ease as possible,
Still allow yourself to come out of this practice while still maintaining that sense of stillness.
Thank you for your practice.
