This is your time to relax so finding yourself in a comfortable position with an aligned spine and this quality of alignment brings to our meditation quality of presence.
And today we're practicing the practice of presence and we simply need to be here for this meditation.
So allowing yourself to relax down the shoulders,
Releasing any tension in the face,
Around the eyes,
The jaw,
Releasing and relaxing the neck and the shoulders,
Letting everything go.
We begin by inviting some bigger deeper breaths and then letting go of the breaths.
Letting go of everything,
Letting go of that tension,
Letting go of any thoughts.
And this is the practice of presence.
There's nowhere to go,
Nowhere to be.
We're simply here,
Simply present.
And there is no one object of focus.
We just allow ourselves to be allowing.
We allow ourselves to be open and present for whatever comes along.
We're simply here,
Witnessing,
Observing.
And anything can arise and pass.
We just let it arise and we let it pass through.
We just sit here,
Just being present.
And like a mirror,
We reflect anything that passes on our surface without any kind of holding on.
Sitting like the surface of a mirror,
With no judgment,
Just reflecting whatever comes and allowing it to come and go.
We just hold ourselves in the quality of this awareness.
This practice of presence is known by many names.
Shikan Taza is one of its names in Japan and this means nothing but only sitting.
Shikan Taza,
Nothing but only sitting.
All we have to do is be exactly as we are in this moment.
And in this moment,
We are we are providing a space,
A very open space in which absolutely anything can arise and pass.
We make no attempt to control this.
We just stay here in and with this spaciousness.
Another name for this practice is Mokko Sho.
Mokko means silent and Sho means illumination.
Mokko Sho,
Silent illumination.
Just present,
Just aware.
We're not resisting anything or clinging to anything or judging anything.
We're allowing things to be as they are.
No resistance,
Just allowing.
No clinging,
Just allowing.
Simply allowing.
Holding ourselves in this reflective quality,
This open quality of awareness.
Without judging or striving.
Not resisting,
Simply being.
We are simply present.
Thoughts are just thoughts.
We can just sit in this reflective quality and allow things to simply pass through.
We simply feel any emotion that arises or sensation in the body and we allow it,
Allow it to be as it is without turning away from it,
Without changing it into thought.
We're simply allowing,
Simply present.
The best use of this moment is to just be.
We just sit in this spaciousness.
Completely open,
No clinging on,
No tension.
We're simply present.
In these moments that we are mindful,
We are completely ourselves.
Totally open,
Reflective.
And if any tension arises or distraction,
We simply surrender back into this moment.
Nothing to do but to be here.
Alive,
Present in this silent illumination.
We come home to ourselves.
We are completely ourselves,
Absolutely perfect,
Just as we are.
Simply present.
Allowing life to flow freely.
Basking in this spaciousness.
Finding your breath now,
Finding your way back to the breath and diving deeply into the experience of this breath.
Allowing yourself to feel grateful for taking this time to look after yourself,
To meditate,
To sit in this quality of presence.
Allowing yourself to feel grateful for taking this time to look after yourself,
To meditate,
To sit in this quality of presence.
