Sitting with sound.
This is a formal practice where we use sound to anchor our attention to the present moment.
Sound is always in the present and is a powerful and natural support for meditation practice.
So we'll start and end this meditation with the sound of bells.
As with all meditations we recognize that we are not trying to get rid of anything at all.
Even the distractions and the thoughts that take us away from the present.
The moment we realize we have been distracted is a moment of mindfulness.
And we can congratulate ourselves by simply and without any criticism at all Escort our attention back to the support which in this practice is sound.
It doesn't matter how many times we find we're doing this.
This is the practice.
Now taking up your meditation posture.
Making sure you are sitting comfortably with your feet in good contact with the floor and your body feeling stable.
Lengthening your spine so that your back is straight.
Self-supporting but not stiff.
Letting your hands rest comfortably in your lap and lowering your gaze or closing your eyes.
Developing the sense of being mindful through the posture of your body being stable.
Balanced.
Alert yet comfortable with a sense of simple dignity.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
We are already here.
Noticing the weight of the body on the chair,
Seat or cushion.
Gently bringing the mind back to the body every time it wanders.
Releasing the weight of the body into the support of the chair more and more.
Dropping into the moment.
Coming home to the moment.
Coming home to the moment.
Just as it is.
And now opening our attention to sound that is all around us and within us.
Not searching for sound but receiving sounds almost as if we were a sound recorder.
Simply recording the raw sounds as they are.
The length of the sound.
The volume.
The tone.
The pitch.
Not naming the sounds or connecting them to a thought but simply tuning into the sounds as they arise.
Stay around for a while and then disappear.
Sounds in the distance.
Sounds close by.
Sounds coming from within our bodies.
Sounds overlapping other sounds.
The sounds.
The sound of my voice.
Sudden sounds.
And subtle sounds.
Noticing how sounds can change as they appear and disappear.
Noticing the sound of silence between the sounds and your reaction to the silence.
And bringing the mind back to sounds every time we become distracted by thoughts,
Physical sensations,
Emotions,
Anything at all.
Not criticizing ourselves because this is what will happen.
And noticing where our attention has been drawn away to and then letting go by kindly and firmly bringing our attention back to sound again.
And doing this patiently over and over every time it happens.
And so now for a while,
Leaving you to practice until the bell rings again indicating the end of the session.
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