This morning's meditation will be a guided practice,
Shifting from the focus on breath and body to begin with another doorway of mindfulness,
Attention to sound.
Let yourself sit,
Continue to sit as you are,
Settled and still.
And for this time,
Bring your attention to the doorway of the ear.
And begin to notice the words as they arise and as they vanish.
And notice as well the soft sounds in the room.
Notice the sound of the bells that arise.
And relax into hearing,
Allowing distant sounds to come and go.
Bells.
Bells.
And like the breath which arises out of emptiness appears and then vanishes,
So too the sounds appear.
Experienced for a moment and then pass away.
Bells.
Bells.
And as you listen,
Relax and open.
Let yourself sense or feel in any way you can,
That your mind is not limited to the size of your head.
Feel,
Imagine,
Sense that your mind is vast like the sky,
As big as this room and even bigger,
Open and spacious.
And the sounds that you hear,
These words appearing and disappearing,
The distant sounds,
The soft sounds in the room,
All arise and pass like clouds or bubbles in the vast sky of mind.
No inside,
No outside.
Just openness,
Awareness itself,
Vast like the sky.
And in distance,
Sounds appear and move through one dimension of the sky.
Bells arise.
Bells.
Bells.
Bells.
Relax into vastness,
Openness without any borders.
Rest in the sky-like nature of your own mind.
No inside or outside.
Words appear and disappear.
Sounds in the room arise and pass like clouds,
Like bubbles,
Leaving no trace.
Bells.
To know the truth,
Look directly into the nature of mind itself.
In its true state,
Mind is transparent,
Vast as the sky,
Timeless,
Containing all things,
Yet not limited by them.
Wakefulness itself,
Pure,
Clear.
Rest in the vast space and let each of the sounds appear like a cloud and dissolve,
Leaving the space open and empty,
Silent.
Bells.
Bells.
And as you let your eyes open,
Sense the vastness with sights appearing within it.
And let yourself also extend the field of love to all those around you.
You can even look around a little bit at the beings appearing in this vastness and field of love.
