Let us sacrifice our lives for the purpose ofstory good,
And make good sounds.
For the time being,
Let's seclude ourselves from the outside world.
Turning our attention very carefully,
Very steadily,
To this form,
To this body and mind.
Have the intention to stay here for this brief time,
Knowing that the intention is pure and has the purpose of well-being,
Which has the potential to spill out for the benefit of the world.
And so,
For now,
This is our world,
Just this body and mind.
Observe the posture.
Start with the points at which your body is in contact with the seat or floor or whatever you're resting upon.
Bring your attention right to those points and make sure you are happy with the balance that this pose is offering you.
You can move around a little,
Make little circles,
Tilt back and forth to test this stability.
As soon as it feels good enough to work for this session,
Settle into the center and let it be.
Begin to move up the body,
Letting that balance convey itself all the way up through the perfectly stacked spine,
Right to the top of the head,
Sitting with complete ease on top of the spine.
In some teachings,
These solid aspects of the body are referred to as the earth element.
If it's helpful,
You can use the image of earth to enhance the stability of your form.
Let the bone structure do its job of supporting the posture and allow the softer tissues of muscles and tendons,
Which aren't in use at present,
To be relaxed.
Allow your body to settle into a satisfactory state of balanced posture and then let it be,
Content that this is a stable and supportive pose for the duration of this sitting.
With the framework of our posture well established,
Let's bring our awareness to the rising and falling breath.
Beginning with anywhere the sensations of breathing are felt,
Rest your awareness there so that it stays alert to each moment of the rising breath and each moment of the falling breath.
Let the tone of the awareness be consistent but not grasping.
The image that is sometimes given is of a parent helping a toddler with her first steps.
The awareness hovers steadily but it also allows space for exploration and development.
Stay with the sensations of breathing in this way,
Steady,
Patient,
With care and presence.
As we settle into this awareness of breathing,
Allow more and more detail about the breath to come into awareness,
Including feelings of refreshment and ease which seem to be inherent in breathing itself.
Just from a physical standpoint,
The breath's function is literally to refresh our bodies,
A fact which is instantly apparent when we hold our breath for any length of time and then allow it to resume.
In this case,
We are looking from a more stable and subtle standpoint at how each breath carries with it a pleasant aspect,
An aspect which makes it easy to return to bring back our attention.
When we can see the breath in this way,
We become the recipient of an endless fount of potential well-being.
As long as we live,
The breath is an ever-present source of refreshment,
As well as a wise teacher in and of itself,
A source of stability to the skillful mind.
Using the same steady awareness combined with the refreshing feelings being generated,
Begin to open up into the rest of the body.
Let the boundaries dissolve between the felt sense of the breath and the rest of your form.
Spread the pleasant sensations with your awareness.
Use the breath as your guide to move awareness through your body,
Feeling free to use your imagination,
Giving your awareness the energy to flow in any pattern which seems to naturally flow from the breath.
Gradually saturate your entire body with awareness,
Holding the entire felt sense of the body from within.
This process is ongoing,
Especially at the outset,
And as long as we work with the breath,
Keeping ease and well-being as our intention will help prevent the task from being frustrating.
With consistency,
We may begin to glimpse new stages of stability and composure.
There may be feelings of tranquility,
Rapture,
Unity of body and mind.
To whatever extent that you feel settled and stable,
Allow the mind to rest on this supportive platform and become very broad.
Let your rooted,
Stable form be the foundation for a spacious mind.
Begin to open to the aspect of awareness which could be identified as the witness,
The consciousness which is aware of awareness,
Timeless,
Boundless,
Ever present,
Stable by its very nature.
Rest in this broad and easy awareness.
As we approach the end of the sitting,
Reflect on a moment from this meditation,
A concept,
Anything which rang true and was felt as useful at the time,
And resolve to remember.
The enhancement of right mindfulness is in this recollection of skillful means and our ability to conjure the powers within us to interact wisely with the world.
