While it is not the ultimate goal of meditation to have stillness of mind,
Sometimes called no thought,
Stillness of mind can be a platform for deep insights.
No source of mind can make possible a seeing that is not available in the same way when the mind is busy with its activities of discrimination,
Naming and judging.
So building on the previous meditation,
I want to offer you the skill,
The practice of stillness of mind,
A method for working with that,
For touching that even if only for moments at a time.
Tuning into the body,
The body,
A field of sensations in continual flux and inviting relaxation,
And a surrendering to the weight of the body,
Like a stone snugly settled on the earth.
And within this field of body sensations,
Noticing the breath in its coming and going,
And tuning into those sensations of the breath in whatever way they're showing up.
And for this practice,
I invite you to amplify the exhalation,
Meaning intentionally exhale as fully as possible.
Knowing so not with a strain,
But a gentle completion,
Thorough completion of the exhalation.
Feeling the flow of the breath,
Completing the exhalation.
And then beginning to include the eyes resting on the chosen object.
And we're going to aim for touching moments of naked and direct seeing without any thought or any internal dialogue between awareness and this direct naked seeing.
Primarily this is simply intending to let the thinking mind relax into quiet.
That's a softening of the brain,
Intending the release of thought.
Something that be enhanced by synchronizing the complete exhalation and that thorough letting go of the internal dialogue as if alphabet soup was being carried away on a stream.
With each complete exhalation,
Relaxing brain and mind into a moment of stillness and seeing the object with thoughtless awareness.
Any concludeings about your ability to do this is truly just another thought that you can let go of on the exhalation.
Now,
I thought it was a little bit extensively available to you.
Complete exhaling,
Fully relaxing the mind into a moment of no thought,
Just seeing.
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Allowing yourself to relax into that space after the complete meditation.
Complete exhaling.
Allowing yourself to be present in that thoughtless awareness.
Trusting it.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Stillness is the mind fully relaxed.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
And if you like now,
Opening up the visual field so that you're not focusing just on one point,
But you just have an open view of whatever's in front of you.
Letting the eyes be soft and not focused anywhere in particular.
Allowing the various colors and shapes to present themselves in the visual field.
And again practicing this skill of stillness of mind.
Another way to name this is training and having no opinion,
No evaluation.
Letting the exhalation carry away any tension of body or mind.
Surrendering into natural stillness and just seeing.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
If you're feeling fear in the body as you approach the horizon of stillness,
Being with that fear.
Being with that fear,
But not believing this stillness is something to be afraid of.
Simply relaxing the mind down to its clear steady state.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Intending to release thought,
The primary factor in mental stillness.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
Allowing yourself to be present in that space after the complete meditation.
And now if you like,
I invite you to release the intention for stillness and just return to the simplicity of direct seeing and perhaps noticing a change in relationship with thinking mind and not focusing on stopping it.
Very steady seeing.
Very steady seeing.
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