Come to rest in a posture that lets you be at ease.
Just relax.
Relax into this posture.
Relax into this body.
Into this moment.
Just let this moment come and be just as it is.
Just relax.
Right now there's nothing to do but be here.
Now bring your attention to an object of focus.
Any object will do,
Really.
But for this exercise we bring our attention to the breath as it comes in and out of the body.
The breath is always present,
Always available,
Always here to focus upon.
Just bring your attention to the breath as it comes into the body and as it goes out of the body.
You may feel the touch of the breath at the nostrils as it enters and leaves.
Or you may feel the abdomen rising and falling as the breath comes and goes.
Wherever you feel the sensations of breathing most clearly,
Just focus attention there.
Just follow those sensations.
Follow the breath as it comes and goes.
In and out.
In and out.
Just let it come.
Let it go.
And just follow it.
Just watch it.
Stay with it.
Hold it.
As the mind wanders,
Gently bring it back.
Bring it back to the breath.
As the mind wanders off again,
Gently bring it back and hold it here.
Hold it here on the breath.
As thoughts come,
Let them go and bring your focus back to the breath.
In and out.
In and out.
That's all there is to it.
It's simple,
Easy and complicated.
It's just like this.
The breath is just like this.
As we hold attention here on the breath,
Letting go of everything else.
We may notice the mind begins to calm.
It becomes still.
Clear.
At rest.
This is the practice of stilling the mind.
As the ability to keep focus on a single object grows,
The mind tends to become still.
As focus becomes stronger,
The mind becomes clear.
Spend some time doing this now,
Bringing attention again and again back to the breath as it comes and goes.
Keep bringing attention back.
Hold it here on the breath and allow the mind to become still.
Take as long as you need to develop this practice of stilling.
And when you're ready,
When you feel there is stillness,
Open your focus to encompass all of this body as it sits here and all of this mind as it happens.
Let your attention naturally come to rest on whatever is predominant.
Whether sensations in the body or impressions in the mind.
Whatever stands out most strongly,
Let your attention naturally rest on that.
And notice that those sensations,
Those impressions,
They come and they go.
They arise out of nothing and they return there.
Allow yourself to watch as those sensations,
Those impressions,
Come and go.
Whatever it is that is happening arises out of nothing and resolves itself into nothing.
Whatever it is that is happening comes out of nothing and goes back there.
Notice that.
Watch it all as it enters the scene and then leaves.
See if you can find the moment that something begins to arise.
And see if you can follow it right through to the end,
To the moment that it ceases.
See how everything that arises comes to an end.
It has a beginning.
It goes through changes.
And then it comes to an end.
Everything follows this pattern,
Whether it be physical sensations in the body,
Thoughts or impressions in the mind,
Emotions,
Feelings,
Fantasies,
Fears,
Pain,
Pleasure.
All of it comes and goes.
And all of it depends upon other things for its existence.
See how,
In that sense,
None of it is really real.
None of it lasts.
None of it has any true substance.
We can watch all of our experiences in this way.
We can watch as they arise,
As they stay for a while and undergo changes,
And as they inevitably come to an end.
This is the practice of seeing.
Seeing the transient,
Conditioned nature of all experiences.
Seeing how everything comes and goes.
And yet what remains is the knowing of that.
As all things arise and cease,
There is the knowing of that process.
There is the seeing of that.
If there is anything that we can claim to be,
It is that knowing.
It is that seeing.
And as we let go of trying to hold on to all things that arise and pass,
We can rest here simply being the knowing of all that arises.
Simply being the seeing of all experiences.
This is the level of being.
Get a sense of the taste of simply being.
The taste of just being this that knows as things come and go.
Simply being.
There's nothing to be and there's nothing to do.
There is simply being.
And some time savouring the flavour of being.
The simplicity of being.
The relief of simply being.
And know that when doing is called for,
We can approach that doing.
Informed by our practice of seeing.
Refreshed by the restorative taste of being.
Then,
Doing is a matter of choice.
A deliberate action in response to a need.
Rather than just the automated actions of anxiety or fear.
This kind of action is cleaner by far than the doing that comes out of habit.
And as long as you need resting in being.
And when you're ready,
Take a deep breath.
Open your eyes and bring the rejuvenating flavour of being into the rest of your day.
