Welcome to this practice of silent illumination.
It's a beautiful ancient meditation practice and it's very formless,
Has no goal.
There isn't really a technique and it's not about striving or trying,
Needing or wanting.
It's really a practice of resting in this moment.
Not the one you wanted or the one you imagined but the one that's here right now.
So join me as we bring our body to stillness and allow it to settle.
Just stopping,
Pausing and inviting a softening and a relaxing of the body.
We're not trying to get anywhere.
We're instead coming home to what's already here.
So allow the body to be supported by whatever it is you're sitting on and feel into those contact points.
Make an exaggerated effort to let go.
See what it feels like to really let go.
What does it feel like to make the body heavy?
And if you're sitting,
Just allowing the spine to be upright but maintaining soft relaxation.
So let's notice what's already here.
Often in life we're moving quickly.
Thought is often dancing ahead into the future,
Imagining different scenarios,
Anticipating our life,
Fussing around with the business of our lives.
But to be in this moment requires none of that.
It's already here,
It's already present,
It's already presenting itself.
This is reality,
The richness of this moment.
Drop into the soundscape.
Tune in to this sense door of hearing.
What do you notice?
And we're not going towards sounds to work out what they are or whether we like them or dislike them.
That might happen but instead we're just resting in the moment that sound is heard.
We're resting in the actual experience of hearing,
The buzz of silence,
Different texture of sounds around you.
Some of them are familiar,
Very familiar,
But in this moment you're hearing them for the first time.
Maybe there's the distant hum of traffic,
Sound of nature,
Birdsong.
Some sounds appear quickly and are gone,
Some sounds are more consistent,
Constant.
This is a beautiful practice that you can do anywhere and anytime in your life.
When you're out and about,
When you find a quiet moment like this one,
Even in a conversation,
Listening to the world,
Your world,
Your experience.
It doesn't need anything else,
It doesn't need improving,
It's already here.
What about the body?
What about the landscape of the body?
There are those points where your body makes contact,
The chair,
The floor,
The bed.
Go to those,
Feel them,
Visit those places where surface meets flesh,
Presses,
Rests.
Very ordinary,
But real.
These ordinary sensations can provide a break from the worry of daily life.
Maybe you're worrying for the thousandth time about that particular problem.
What instead if you switch the attention to come into the body?
Is it any less worthy to feel your feet touching the earth?
Is it any less worthy to feel the weight of your body resting on the chair?
Is it any less worthy to feel your feet on the floor?
To feel your hands on your lap or your thighs?
Go to your hands right now and spend a bit of time with them,
Visiting the fingers and the thumbs.
Tingling,
Pressure,
Warmth,
Blood flow.
Tune in to the breathing,
Just recognize that there is an in-breath and there is an out-breath.
Simple,
Nothing more than that.
No need to change it,
Improve it,
Judge it or adjust the breath.
Just let it take care of itself,
But just recognize it's happening.
Much like the sounds around you.
Maybe you're breathing in and out through the nose or the mouth,
But notice the very soft and very subtle,
Tiny sensations or signature that the breath makes when it touches the body at the tip of the nose or the lips.
This is a moment of your life.
This meditation is inviting you to be experiencing your life as it's happening.
Right there,
Right on the point of experience unfolding.
Just like a record player has a needle on a stylus that is placed on the grooves of a vinyl record and it picks up the vibrations,
Transmits that through the speakers as sound,
As music and it's that point of the needle that is receiving that information and communicating it.
Allow this meditation to be the point of the needle of your life.
So,
Turn to this practice anytime,
Even just for a short period,
Just to check in with the soundscape,
The body scape,
Where your mind is,
Coming back to the actual experience of right now.
This moment,
Not the one that you wanted or the one you'd rather be having,
This one,
This one that's here.
Just resting in this open,
Silent awareness,
Nothing missing,
Nothing to fix,
Just this.
Giving yourself permission to stop,
To be no one,
To go nowhere,
To simply be.
And stay as long as you like and when you're ready,
Maybe you can set an intention for what it is you're about to do next.
Maybe approaching the rest of your day with just a little bit more slowness and care.
What's the rush?
What's the hurry?
This moment,
Always here,
Really offering itself to you.
Maybe bring some movement to the body,
Fingers,
Arms,
Have a stretch if you need to,
And continuing with your day.
