Welcome,
And I hope that each one of you will come to find peace within yourself.
Today,
I'm going to talk about the difference between knowing and experiencing,
And this meditation is based on a live session I did recently,
And it was requested by members of my group.
I've done a lesson where I talked about a quote from the Matrix,
Where the main character Morpheus says to the character Neo,
There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
And I gave the example of a river,
And how you could go online and study maps and information from all over the world about a river,
And you could come to know every bridge on the river,
And every store that was close to the river,
And every canoe livery that was by the river,
But that you would never really know the river until you canoed it.
Today,
We're talking about the difference between knowing and experiencing things,
And these two ideas aren't just similar,
They're kind of like siblings.
They point to the same shift,
But from different angles.
Not knowing and walking the path are related.
Not knowing the path is like a conceptual understanding.
This is the part of your mind that says,
I understand mindfulness.
I know how presence works.
I've read about it,
And taught it,
And explained it.
It's a map.
It's the theory.
It's the story about the thing.
This is the same part of the mind that wants to know the river before stepping into it.
Walking the path is like direct experience.
This is the moment you actually feel the breath,
The moment you notice the warmth of your hands,
The moment you sense the river around your ankles.
It's not conceptual or intellectual.
It's not something you understand.
It's something you touch.
And that is the heart of not knowing,
Letting the moment reveal itself instead of trying to define it.
Now imagine you're standing by a wide,
Steady river.
You can study it if you want.
Its currents,
Its depth,
The way the light folds itself across the surface.
You can even name the little eddies and predict the bends and analyze the flow.
That's knowing.
But the river doesn't become any more itself because you understand it.
It doesn't widen or deepen in response to your insights.
It simply moves.
Because that's what rivers do.
Now imagine stepping into the water.
The moment your feet touch the current,
Something shifts.
The river is no longer an object you're observing.
It's a sensation moving around your ankles.
It's a temperature against your skin.
It's a sound that includes you.
This is experiencing.
In that moment,
The river teaches you without saying a word.
Not through concepts,
But through contact.
And here's the heart of the metaphor.
The river doesn't ask you to know it.
It asks you to feel where you are.
When you let go of the map,
The labels,
The explanations,
The need to get it,
You discover the river directly.
Not knowing becomes a kind of trust.
A willingness to let the water show you what it is,
Moment by moment,
Without forcing it into shape.
Close your eyes now and let's get in touch with our breath.
And it doesn't matter if you're sitting,
Standing,
Lying down,
Or kicked back in your favorite recliner.
The only thing that truly matters when you meditate is that you're comfortable and alert.
So as we start to settle in,
We're just breathing in and breathing out one breath at a time.
And then the next,
And then the next.
Let's scan our body.
Relax your face.
You're too tense.
Unfurl your brow and unclench your jaw.
Relax.
This is your time.
Relax your neck.
I roll mine around.
You can do whatever makes you happy.
Relax your shoulders.
These are places of tension in today's world with people bent over computers and phones and tablets.
Relax your arms and your hands.
Look for any tension in your chest and belly.
Relax your legs and your feet.
And as you begin to relax,
Let's focus even more on our breath.
Our breath is our anchor.
It's there for us in all moments.
When we're happy,
When we're sad,
When we're knowing,
And when we're experiencing.
And your breath is one of the few things in your entire life that you can exert some control over and make your life better.
Our breath is like a river as it flows in and flows out.
And if you have thoughts,
Just let them go.
They're like clouds in the sky or waves on a lake or leaves floating downstream in a river.
And the same goes for any sounds you might hear.
Just take this moment to settle.
Let your body settle into a position that's comfortable.
And allow your breath to arrive just as it is.
There's no need to control it.
Just notice that you are here.
And let the world soften around the edges.
Let yourself soften too.
Now imagine in your mind's eye that you're walking along a quiet path that leads to a river.
The air is gentle,
The light is soft,
And you can hear the sound of flowing water.
It reaches you before the river itself comes into view.
Now as you step closer,
The river reveals itself,
Wide and steady and unhurried.
Notice the way the surface moves,
The way the light plays across it,
The way the current continues without asking anything of you.
You're simply arriving,
Nothing to figure out,
Nothing to understand,
Just being here.
As you stand at the riverbank,
Notice how the mind naturally wants to name things.
The water is cool,
The current is strong,
The surface is shimmering.
This is the mind doing what it knows,
Trying to understand,
To categorize,
To make sense.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But for now,
See if you can let the river be exactly what it is,
Without needing to describe it.
Let your mind rest.
Let the river speak its own language.
Now imagine taking a slow step forward and stepping into the river.
Feel the temperature,
Feel the movement around your feet,
Feel the gentle pressure of the current.
This is the shift from knowing the river to experiencing the river.
Let the sensations come to you without naming them,
Just let the moment be the moment.
Now here I'm going to leave you for a minute so you can focus on your breath and on being in the river and then I'll be back.
Now we're still standing in the river.
Now try taking another step and the river rises up around your shins.
Another step and it comes up to your knees.
Another and your body is becoming part of the flow.
You're not observing from the outside anymore,
You're included.
Here in the water,
Notice how the river doesn't ask you to understand it,
It doesn't ask you to analyze the current or predict where the water will go next.
It simply invites you to feel and this is the heart of not knowing,
A gentle willingness to let the moment reveal itself without needing to define it.
Let the current move around you,
Let the sensations shift and change,
Let yourself be touched by the river without needing to grasp anything.
Not knowing isn't emptiness,
It's openness,
It's presence without pressure.
And if it feels right,
Imagine just for a moment,
Leaning back just enough to let the river support you and feel the buoyancy,
Feel the trust in letting the river hold your weight.
Feel the way the river carries you without effort on your part.
The moment carries us,
Awareness becomes effortless,
Experience becomes simple.
Let yourself float in that simplicity.
And when you're ready,
Imagine slowly standing again and walking back toward the riverbank.
Feel the water recede from your body,
The air meeting your skin again,
The ground beneath your feet,
But you are not leaving the experience behind,
You're bringing its quality with you,
The openness,
The softness,
The willingness to meet life without needing to know it first.
Now,
Take in one more deep breath through your nose and let it out through your mouth,
Letting out a sigh.
Feel your body here in the room,
Feel the steadiness beneath you,
Feel the quiet that remains and let this be your reminder.
You don't have to understand the river to feel it,
You don't have to understand the moment to live it.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes and come back into the room,
Wiggle your fingers and toes and stretch and feel how good it is to be alive,
How good it is to be here in this moment.
I hope this has been a beneficial and calming session for each and every one of you.
Till next time.
