Circle Of Presence - Self-Inquiry
Welcome to a half-hour guided meditation to discover who you are with no past and no future, no judgments. No images or projections. Come rest as your true essence with nothing to do and no one to be. Come home.
Transcript
Welcome everyone.
I invite you in to this guided meditation into your own self and to the circle of silence.
And for this meditation.
You can be standing,
Sitting,
Lying down,
Wherever you're comfortable.
And there will be stretches of time when my words will guide,
Followed by spaces of silence to really sense what is here.
So as you settle into your space,
Standing or sitting or lying down.
I invite you with your eyes open to gaze around the space that you're in.
Notice the colors,
The shapes,
The textures that surround you.
You may notice sounds flowing in and out of the space you're in.
In addition to my voice.
Just noticing.
Really good.
And you can sense with your hands,
If there's any surfaces that your hands fall on.
Perhaps a desk or a cushion,
Or your own thighs,
Legs.
And what does that feel like just to allow the hands to move over these surfaces,
Sensing the temperature and the texture.
Really good.
Then,
With your eyes open or your eyes closed.
I invite you to allow awareness to fall all the way down to the very bottoms of the feet.
That's right.
Sensing where the feet are resting on the surface beneath them.
Just noticing what that feels like.
Sensing the heels and the toes,
Or even the sides of the feet.
Really good.
And sensing any other parts of the body that are in contact with the surface below them.
Whether it's a chair or the floor,
Or a couch or a cushion.
Just noticing those places.
There may be a sense of pressure.
Giving yourself some time and space really to feel in.
That's really good.
Then notice again where the hands are resting.
What parts of the hands and fingers are in contact with what's below them.
What does it feel like just to notice that?
And what would it be like to sense these points of contact with the surfaces beneath them.
To sense the support of what's here.
The support underneath the feet,
Holding them up.
The support underneath the body.
The hands.
So you can feel how the body is held and cradled.
Supported.
That's right.
So in this moment there's actually nothing that you need to do.
As you are being held and cradled and supported by the ground and the earth beneath that.
By the chair,
Or the cushion,
Or the couch.
That's right.
And you can notice with this sense of support.
That's something let's go.
Just a little.
Opens and drops down.
As you feel.
This moving in and out.
Nothing you need to do.
Really good.
And I'm wondering,
From here,
What would it be like to imagine a circle surrounding you?
It may be close into the body or wide,
Far away.
It may have a color that it radiates.
It may be something you feel or something you imagine.
This circle right around you.
And as you feel sense or imagine this circle,
What would it be like to imagine just taking something from inside the circle and placing it outside?
So you can imagine that movement,
That gesture,
That feels like.
Really good.
And what if you can put just all the things that you were doing before you sat down for this meditation?
All of those can just be placed outside of the circle.
That's right.
And anything that you need to do later when this is done,
That also can be just placed right outside the circle for now.
It can be attended to later when we're done.
Right now it can be outside.
That's right.
And what if right now the entire past,
Anything that's ever happened before this moment,
Can just be placed right outside the circle.
That's it.
So any memories or ruminations?
All.
Just right outside the circle for now.
And any ideas of any kind of future,
Just for this moment,
Can be placed outside of the circle.
Just as an experiment.
That's right.
So no past,
No future.
Full permission to really just be here.
And what would it be like if there are any images or stories?
That you have of any ones that are called others.
These images and stories just get to be placed right outside of the circle.
And any images you have of your own self,
What you think you look like,
Just for right now,
That also can go outside of the circle.
And as you notice,
Perhaps sensations arise in the body from the position that you're in.
If there are any stories or any kind of resistance about these sensations that are just any judgment or movement to fix,
All of that,
Just as it arises,
Can move outside of the circle.
So the sensations can just have space to be as they are as they arise.
Okay.
Ho-la-good.
And if you notice that thoughts come in,
Perhaps doubts,
Am I doing this right?
Or worries?
Any kind of projections if they are coming back in?
No problem.
They can just be noticed and they can move outside of the circle.
So if there are any comparisons or judgments,
Those can just be noticed and they can just fall outside of the circle.
And if there's any resistance,
Anything that's being pushed against,
Contracted onto,
Can just be noticed and that can fall outside the circle.
Any expectations that can fall outside the circle?
Any strategies of being worthy or staying safe?
Strategies of being connected or in control?
That's right.
All of these can fall just outside the circle.
And even your own name can finally fall outside the circle.
And I'm curious what's here.
What's left?
When strategies and expectations,
Judgment and resistance,
Is all gone?
When there is no past and no future?
And there are no images of others or self?
And there is no name for any of it?
What's here?
What's always been here?
And then if you have full permission to rest here.
And from here I'm curious,
Does something start to want to move back into the circle?
Doubts or judgments?
Projections?
I don't know.
Or maybe nothing at all?
Just to notice.
How does that work that something comes back in?
And what if it's just not touched?
That's right.
What if there's really a choice here?
If it's not touched,
Does it just fall back outside the circle?
Really good.
And then I wonder what would it be like to invite back into the circle?
Something that needs to be done.
A task or a meal to cook.
A conversation to be had.
A job to do.
A role to play in this Leela,
This play of life.
And what if that is allowed back into the circle?
But all of the judgment and projection,
Strategy and control,
Resistance,
All of that stays outside.
All of that stays outside.
What would it be like for this role to be played from this pure essence of silence that is who you are?
No image.
No name.
What might it be like for this role to be played from here?
That's right.
And I invite you to anchor what has been experienced and realized here with either a touch on the body or an image of it or a symbol or even a sound,
A deep hum.
Whatever feels right to you.
An anchor so that the steep wisdom is right here for you every time you touch that part of the body or see that symbol or make that sound.
Be right here again and recognize that you've never left.
That you can never leave your own self.
So from here I invite you to once again notice the points of contact of the body with the surface beneath.
The feet,
The legs,
And the torso.
The hands can move across the surfaces beneath them.
Perhaps the texture of your clothes.
The hands can just move over any parts of the body that are calling out for touch.
And that's right,
Really good.
And what would it be like from here just to open your eyes and once again sense the space that you're in and perhaps notice that something has changed.
Something feels different.
Really good.
I invite you to take a deep breath in through the nose and hold it and blow it out.
Hmm.
And here is where we'll pause.
And then I invite you to notice as this meditation ends and perhaps you rise and move into this role that you play,
Just to notice,
Really has anything changed from what was discovered in this circle of presence that is who you are.
Thank you.
