A Meditation To Connecting With Our Experience

If we could be that aware, or even just a little bit more aware than we are? What if we could know just a little more often when emotions (like frustration) were happening...before we entered a meeting? Or when sensations (like hunger…or satiety) were happening, before we went for that second latte? Or when seeing was happening, before we drove right past a sunrise or skyline or a flock of geese, wheeling across the sky? How can we apply this idea of connecting in our law practice? How will this better serve our clients?

Transcript

So finding your meditation posture for today,

Whatever that is,

Whatever would most support your practice,

And sensing into the body,

Being here,

Right here in this present moment.

I love what Thuera Silas says,

She says,

Your body's right here,

Where's your mind?

So notice that the body is right here,

Present,

Always,

And where's the mind?

Bring the mind to the present moment,

And then taking a moment to get focused,

Bring the mind to the breath intentionally,

And just notice that breathing is happening.

See if you can follow the breath,

Maybe even counting,

In-breath,

Out-breath is one,

In-breath,

Two,

And when you get lost,

Which for me usually happens around three,

Come on back,

Start again.

And then once you feel relatively anchored,

Steady,

I want to invite you to open the awareness,

To be in an open awareness practice,

Which is where what's happening is just noticing contact.

If your eyes are closed,

That sense door may not be one that you work with,

Although there still may be contact of the eyes with an object like color,

And what about the ears?

Are the ears hearing a sound,

And can you notice that moment of contact,

Or is the nose smelling a smell,

Or are there thoughts,

And can you play with noticing the thoughts,

Noticing that the mind is aware of a thought without getting involved in the content of the thought,

Or the mind is aware of an emotion without getting swept away by the emotion?

Just noticing contact as it happens,

Moment by moment.

Contact the ancient mindfulness teachings say,

Listen,

Attend carefully,

And I will teach you the totality of things.

What is the totality?

It is simply the eye and sights,

The ear and sounds,

The nose and smells,

The tongue and tastes,

The body and sensations,

The mind and mind objects,

Which are thinking and emotion.

If anyone were to proclaim a totality,

Or you could say reality beyond this,

That person would be speaking of something outside their knowledge,

And Guy Armstrong at our retreat said we could consider this the opening bell,

The opening bell of practice.