Welcome to this meditation on choiceless awareness.
So by now we've had a lot of different practices that have a particular focus,
Usually have a specific anchor.
We had the breath and then there was body.
Then we focused on sounds and thoughts,
Images,
And also sensations of walking and moving.
In this choiceless awareness meditation,
It's a bit different in that there is no focus.
We're just noticing from moment to moment where the attention is drawn to.
It's almost as if we don't choose the experience,
But we let the experience choose us.
And there's no agenda,
So nothing is excluded from our awareness,
But we always have the possibility of coming back to an anchor at any point where we might get lost.
So if you haven't already,
Just begin by sitting in a position that you choose to sit for this meditation.
So perhaps it's on a chair with the soles of your feet on the floor,
Perhaps a cushion with your legs crossed,
Or perhaps you have a kneeling bench that you like to use.
So whatever it is,
Just coming to a sense of the body sitting here and kneeling here,
Feeling the weight of your body moving down and the height moving up,
Sitting here,
Grounded and tall,
Present and dignified.
And then when you're ready,
Becoming aware of your breath breathing and just spending a few moments,
A few breaths to really move up close to your breath,
To settle in just into the breath as it moves.
And perhaps even a sense of resting on the breath,
Resting on the rise and fall of the breath as it breathes.
And then when you're ready,
Letting the attention become more spacious.
It's almost if you are widening into the space around you and the breath is still there in the background,
But you can just let your awareness become aware of whatever is arising and whatever comes up in this moment.
Whether it's the breath or sounds,
Perhaps even thoughts,
Perhaps body sensations,
Whatever arises becomes the momentary object of your awareness.
And you just rest in that.
If you want to,
And if you find it helpful,
You can simply note the passing focus of your awareness.
The passing images and thoughts,
You might note them internally,
Such as planning or perhaps ickiness,
Sounds,
Stories,
Just becoming aware of whatever is here.
Whatever arises,
Whatever arises in your awareness without getting too lost,
Saying in a storyline.
So keeping a background awareness of the body sitting and the breath breathing.
So where is your mind?
Where is the attention going now?
This practice is all about not making a choice,
Perhaps not even judging that this is good and this is bad,
Not even your own practice.
Just resting in this moment,
Aware of whatever is arising.
Whatever is leaving.
Aware of what is here and aware of your response to what is here.
And when judgments arise,
Which it probably will,
Just being aware that this is a judgment or that's a thought.
So letting that come and go to and just coming back over and over to simply sitting.
Simply resting in this moment just as it is.
And sometimes you can ask yourself questions.
This might help to keep your practice alive and awake and curious.
So you can ask,
What is this?
Not so much to get an answer,
But just to investigate,
Be aware,
Open to possibility.
What is this?
And remembering that if at any point you find yourself lost,
No longer present,
No longer aware of the immediacy of your experience,
Or perhaps you have become overwhelmed with the storyline or emotion that has arisen,
Always remembering that you can come back.
You always have the anchor of the breath and the body to come back to.
Body sitting,
The breath breathing,
Contact with the anchor of the breath,
Contact with the ground,
And then at any point,
Having resettled yourself,
Having come back,
You can always return to more spacious,
Choiceless awareness.
So as we come to the end of this practice,
If you'd like to just continue practicing on your own in silence,
This method of no method,
Taking nothing personally,
Just experiencing coming and going with nothing to do,
Nowhere to go,
Just sitting and just aware.
R Surround.
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