Hello and welcome.
Today's meditation is called Do Nothing,
Which of course is impossible to do,
And that's the point.
So we're going to set up conditions for awareness to meditate you,
Instead of you working so hard to meditate awareness.
To begin,
I invite you to find a seat,
To sit upright but relaxed,
As if your body knows how to balance without strain.
You can sit in this meditation with eyes open or closed.
If you keep the eyes open,
Just resting your gaze softly,
And we'll begin with a few easy breaths.
To begin,
Just notice where are you subtly trying to control.
Are you adjusting or controlling your breath?
Maybe tightening your jaw,
Holding your shoulders,
Or trying to manage your thoughts?
For a few minutes,
Let's soften these micro efforts,
Relaxing the jaw,
Loosening the belly.
Let the breath find its own rhythm.
If you catch yourself meditating correctly,
Smile.
That's effort too.
That's doing.
So just drop that doing,
Allowing everything to be as it is.
There are only two rules of this practice.
First,
We let whatever happens happen.
And second,
When we notice an intention to control our attention,
Drop that intention.
And that's all,
Nothing more.
So if your mind runs off into planning,
Allow it.
If it gets dull or dreamy,
Allow that.
If awareness sharpens into clarity,
Allow that.
Now notice what it feels like when the impulse to control arises.
Maybe you want to grab a thought and analyze it.
Maybe you want to drag your attention back to your breath.
Maybe you want to stop spacing out.
That's impulse,
And that's the doer.
So when you see it,
Simply let it go.
Dropping it doesn't mean pushing away.
It means you stop feeding it.
So each time an impulse to do comes,
Just set it down like a heavy bag.
You might notice long stretches where you forget the practice completely.
And that's fine.
When you wake up and notice,
Just smile inwardly and let go again.
At times,
You may feel like nothing is happening.
That's perfect.
At other times,
You may feel flooded with thoughts,
Emotions,
Or sensations.
Also perfect.
And both are just appearances.
What if for the rest of this meditation,
You trusted that nothing needs your management?
That the heart keeps beating,
The breath keeps flowing,
And awareness doesn't need a supervisor.
See if you can sense it now.
You're not the one meditating.
Meditation is happening to you.
Awareness itself is meditating.
Notice the freedom in that.
Nothing to construct,
Or to polish,
Or to improve.
Just the simplicity of being.
Even the impulse to understand,
This can be dropped.
Understanding will come later if it For now,
Just the play of awareness unfolding.
We'll bring it toward a close now.
I invite you to take a few deeper breaths.
If you've closed your eyes,
Opening the eyes slowly when you feel ready.
Look around the space.
Notice that everything has kept moving on its own.
Breath.
Sensations.
Awareness itself.
And as you re-enter your day,
Remember that sometimes the relief is to let life meditate you.
Thank you for sitting today.
