Today we'll practice a meditation on luminosity,
On getting in touch with that which is already wakeful,
Already awakened within us,
Just needing to be found.
It's connected to the concept of Buddha nature in the Buddhist tradition,
Also connected to,
I think,
What would be called Christ consciousness,
Or Atman,
And many other concepts in many traditions.
And you don't have to be religious to practice this,
But this is where it comes from.
To begin with,
We're going to do what's called a vagal nurturing sequence.
And I'll have notes about this in this episode if you want to know more about where this comes from.
But basically,
We're going to use placements of the hands on different parts of the body to tune into the vagus nerve that gets us in touch with the rest and digest the calm and safety sense in our bodies.
Because when we can feel calm and safe,
We're much more likely to be in touch with the goodness within,
The wakened luminous mind within.
I always want to offer gratitude and respect to all the Buddhist teachers who have taught me,
Who have passed down teachings for millennia,
Really.
So as we all begin this meditation,
Let's take a moment to thank all of our spiritual ancestors,
Whether that's part of a religion or not,
Any and everyone who has helped us come to this spiritual path and offered us teachings and practices and inspiration on our path.
I'll offer three sounds of a bell.
And so we're actually beginning with a listening meditation just being present to this sound.
One.
So the first place the body looks for to find its safety is by listening.
So we're going to start by massaging our ears,
Rolling the outside edges,
Giving the lobes a little tug,
Maybe do this too.
Three times.
Can the way that we touch our ears already be an act of kindness,
Of wakefulness,
Of full presence?
Next,
Bring the hands to cup the eyes.
And so we want to be touching the bones around the eyes,
Not actually pressing the eyeballs.
And so giving our sense of sight some rest,
Because we also do a lot of scanning our environments,
Looking to try to find this safety.
And here we're just giving some rest to all the muscles in the eyes themselves.
Then let the hands slide down to hold the cheeks.
Maybe hold your jawbone,
Putting a little bit of weight of the head into the hands if that feels okay.
So again,
Giving the system a chance to feel some relief of not having to hold up the head quite so much,
Just for a few breaths.
Maybe the sense of someone who has cared for you well,
Putting their hand on your cheek.
And then letting the hands come over the heart.
One over one hand over the other.
And then letting the hands come down over the heart,
One palm over the other.
It's just enough pressure to feel the contact,
But not.
.
.
No harshness,
No pressing,
Just this contact.
What's it like to have your hands touch this heart space with some kindness,
Some tenderness,
Maybe some ease.
And then we move our hands down over the belly.
Maybe again,
One hand on top of the other,
You could have them sort of side by side.
And this is where we do our digestion.
And when we're in touch with this sense of calm and safety,
Then the body knows it's okay to rest and digest.
So right now we're just sending a little message into the gut saying it's okay to rest and digest.
Finally,
Letting the palms rest on the thighs.
So your palms are open up to the sky.
And see if there's anything you want to release or receive this open posture resting.
And so from here,
You're welcome to let your hands rest in any posture that is comfortable,
That you enjoy for sitting or lying or standing meditation.
Meeting this moment as it is with curiosity and wakefulness,
Balanced by kindness and ease.
We're going to be tuning into spaciousness,
And depending upon how things are today,
You may feel a lot or very little.
The thing is,
It doesn't matter.
You don't need to have a lot of a sense of spaciousness.
We're just going to find the little bits or the pockets as they appear.
And if not appear,
That's also fine.
It's the act of tuning in to look for them.
This restful,
Easeful presence.
That's important.
Noticing the breath moving in and out of the body.
You might hear the breath,
You might feel the sensations of chest and torso expanding and releasing.
Or you might just have a general sense of,
Yep,
Breathing's happening.
I don't need to bring tight attention to this.
In and out.
And at some point,
You might notice these little gaps between the in-breath and the out-breath.
What's it like to just notice these little bits of space?
And there may be other sensations in the body presenting themselves.
Spots of tightness,
Discomfort,
Spots of ease,
Or just that general hum of aliveness.
And can you also notice space in between sensations?
Maybe yes,
Maybe no.
But so often we get fixated on what is obvious,
And we don't notice the subtle everything else.
But everything arises and passes.
So as we notice the arising,
Can we also notice the passing?
The same goes with sounds.
This voice.
Perhaps neighbors walking upstairs,
Traffic outside,
The hum of a fridge,
Noticing sounds arising and passing,
And then the space between the sounds.
And in this kind of practice,
There are truly no distractions,
For there is nothing outside of this vast expanse of here and now.
So even the planning and worries and wondering,
Memories,
Anxiety,
The joy,
All of it arises and passes in this vast expanse of space,
Spaciousness,
And the mind.
Breath arises and fades away.
Sounds,
Sensations,
Arise and fade away into this bigger spaciousness.
And is it possible for this spaciousness to have some warmth or luminosity to it?
He told me to think about what that means too much.
Sometimes just a gentle smile on the lips might bring a sense of warmth and brightness into the mind.
And that's plenty.
Letting everything arise and fade away in this radiance of the mind.
Maybe a faint glow or a brightness.
Letting the mind be vast and luminous,
Even if just a little bit.
And in this sense,
The mind is like the sky.
There may be thick clouds of pain or tiredness,
Confusion,
Agitation or doubt.
And yet,
Behind those clouds,
The sky is still clear and so much bigger than the clouds.
The sun still shines.
Letting the mind be vast and luminous.
Letting the whole mind-body stream rest in this vast brightness.
Melt into this bright,
Radiant,
Warm spaciousness.
We're coming to the close of this practice.
And I'll invite another three sounds of the bell.
Can we allow listening to the sound of this bell again be part of the practice?
The sound of the bell arising and fading away in this vast,
Luminous,
Radiant mind.
The sound of the bell arising and fading away in this vast,
Luminous,
Radiant mind.
