Presence Academy guided meditation.
This is going to be an intermediate level.
We'll assume that there's some meditation experience already available.
Set up your seated posture,
Relaxed and yet upright and loose.
Really start off by making sure you're really grounded and settled into the base.
Bring all the attention and energy back inside the body and really settle.
And next notice the spacious quality of awareness all around.
And you can direct your attention to the edges of the room and even beyond and just feel the spaciousness that surrounds.
And then you might know that there are a variety of different meditation techniques and traditions.
Let's assume that the beginning stages of all of these different traditions are different styles in order to focus the attention,
Or what we call the concentration practice.
Whether it be breath,
Counting,
Whether it be repeated in mantra,
Focusing on an image,
Or scanning the body.
Many of these are just different style techniques in order to concentrate the attention,
Which is needed to quiet the mind and the system in order to open to greater advantages.
So for this one we're going to use the focusing on the breath and the sensations in the belly as our concentrator.
We'll start by just directing the attention,
Which again is like a flashlight,
Zoom in flashlight and direct this to the felt sense of the sensations in the belly.
Notice when the sensations in the inhale begin,
All the way through the full range of exhalation.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Inhaling,
Exhaling with intimate focused attention.
Complete absorption,
Everything else falls away that if you were to the degree to which intimate attention was so fascinated and focused on the lover,
Fully absorbed everything else falls away,
Directing that level of attention,
Allowing the sensations of the breath to be pleasurable.
Allowing to be exactly as they are.
Complete acceptance,
Relaxing around the sensations of the inhale,
Sensations of the exhale.
Feel the intense nods,
The Council is gently directed back.
The attention wanders gently directed back.
Music plays.
Gently come back.
You start to get dull or sleepy.
You notice the attention wandering.
You can think about intensifying your fascination.
Like you get even closer.
It's more beautiful.
It's more pleasurable.
What you're going to going for is continuous staying.
Like that you,
Your presence was on,
Your attention was unwavering.
More and more.
Closer and closer.
Eventually you might hit this place where it becomes automatic,
Effortless.
And if not,
That's okay too.
Allowing that to be as it is.
Coming back.
And again,
Coming back.
Music plays.
And eventually the breath may become effortless.
Like a subtle ripple.
Music plays.
Next we're going to progressively point out certain things.
See if from a higher vantage you can notice some of these things and relax them.
And if you hit any of these,
You get stuck.
Quite alright.
Just allow.
Without effort.
See if the pointing,
You can notice the pointing out instructions.
Allowing everything to be radically as it is.
See if you can notice the sense of self.
See if you find this is a solid object or whether awareness,
Greater awareness,
Notices the rising and fading in and out,
The transient sense of self.
Music plays.
And next.
See if awareness has a boundary to it.
And your attention to sense outwards.
Sideways,
Front,
Back,
All directions.
See if there's an edge to this.
Edge to awareness.
Music plays.
And then next instead of there being a you in here and everything out there,
As if you were flipping socks,
Folding socks and flipping them out.
See if you can't.
Flip the vantage.
Such that everything is arising inside of awareness.
Inside the larger field of awareness arises sensations.
Sounds.
Apparent sites.
All of this.
Temporarily arising.
Music plays.
Music plays.
Music plays.
And then next let's notice the empty or transient nature of everything arising in this larger field.
Notice how thought arises.
If it's not grasped onto,
It too floats away like a passing cloud.
The sound arises.
Even it's temporary.
A temporary noise in a larger field of awareness arising and falling away.
Like a passing cloud in the great vast sky of awareness.
And then you may or may not notice a feeling that all the forms within this spacious awareness may increasingly feel unified,
Seamless.
As sights or sounds or thoughts continue to arise,
Increasingly notice they're automatically transient.
Arising and passing away.
All part of the larger awareness.
A seamless field.
Like a vast ocean.
Seamless.
Unified.
Vast openness.
Perhaps all that's left is a camera.
An observer.
Watching.
If awareness notices that this camera too,
Even this witness arises in awareness.
No longer even an individual viewer.
Subject,
Object,
Merge into the great unified field.
Wide open.
Radically free.
Seamless.
Unified.
Everything arising in and of awareness.
Not too unified.
Love beyond concept.
Fabric of reality.
Open as the moment.
Awareness itself.
And as you're preparing to complete this meditation.
You may feel inspired to offer gratitude.
To know this depth of experience.
That you're being stabilized moment to moment.
And that from here,
Your life may be an increasing act of service.
Expression of love.
And you may want to dedicate this practice to someone or to some aspect of life itself.
