Let's close our eyes.
Make sure you're very comfortable.
Enough that you're not thinking about your body in any way.
That is,
You're not fidgeting.
You're not trying to fix your posture.
There's no pain or discomfort.
Essentially,
You're just relaxed.
Just like your body is relaxed.
Just take a moment and become aware of your breath.
Without manipulating it,
Just notice your breath.
Notice the inhales and exhales.
Without forcing anything.
Without trying anything.
Just like we are relaxed in the body,
We want to be relaxed in our breath as well.
Depending on what you had going on before this session,
It might take a little while for the breath to become relaxed.
And we are not in any hurry.
The goal of this session is not to reach its end.
It's not to get somewhere.
To let things be just the way they are.
Then let's become aware of what is happening in our minds.
Are we bombarded with a lot of thoughts?
Maybe not.
Either way,
Instead of being involved in our thoughts,
Can we look at them as clouds?
Clouds that are passing by.
Their shapes may be interesting,
May not be interesting.
They may seem personal,
May not be personal.
Either way,
They're just passing by.
In the sky of your mind,
These are just the clouds.
And notice we are not touching our thoughts.
We are not getting rid of them.
We are not negotiating with them.
We're just seeing them as they are in our own experience.
As something that arises and passes away.
Just like a cloud.
Many times there is a stiffness in our minds based on our ideas,
Ideologies,
Beliefs about things,
About other people,
About meditation,
Or about ourselves.
About who we are or who we are not.
If you notice any of this stiffness,
Let it also be a little darker cloud that passes away in the sky of your mind.
Your ideas about you or anyone else arises and passes away while you remain here.
And meditation is about you.
Only you.
And when I say you,
I mean the one that you call I.
We must be using this word so many times throughout the day.
I.
That is you.
Whereas everything else that sometimes we think is us is only arising and passing away.
Not because I'm saying it,
But because it's our experience right now.
And if you notice you're getting caught in indulging in any of these clouds,
Gently bring yourself back and let that cloud continue on its own.
Sometimes this relaxation might feel like boredom.
And then notice that this feeling is also like a cloud in the sky of our mind,
Appearing and then passing away,
Floating away from us and then disappearing.
Throughout the day we have some or the other agenda with our thoughts,
With our feelings,
With our body,
With our breath.
We're trying to control it,
Change it,
Fix it,
Manipulate it.
But right now we are not interested in any of that.
Neither are we pushing it away,
Suppressing it,
Dismissing it.
We're just not engaging with any of these clouds.
The thoughts,
The feelings,
The ideas.
They are the clouds floating in the sky of our minds.
We are not floating.
We are the one.
We are the container in which they are floating and drifting away.
Even my voice that you are hearing is appearing in the sky of your mind and then disappearing.
You are not the cloud,
But you are the sky in which all these clouds are appearing and disappearing.
And this is not something that we need to believe or refute.
We just need to see if any of my words are making sense experientially.
Just like the quality of the sky is the open,
Empty space in which clouds can appear and disappear.
We have the same quality of being open where all these clouds appear and disappear without affecting the sky in any way.
Every time you feel it,
If you feel being bombarded by thoughts,
Feelings,
Let's go back to our lab to test out if the sky is getting affected in any which way by any of the words,
Thoughts,
Images,
Ideas,
Feelings.
Or are they just appearing unsolicited and disappearing while you remain open to this play?
Thank you.
