Metta & Investigation of the Body as Elements in Empty Space - Meditation

Here I am demonstrating an important and beautiful process, wherein we can incline the mind to peace and well-being through contemplating the body as elements

Transcript

Commencing another session,

Bringing a broad awareness,

Simply knowing the sitting posture,

Feeling the cushion underneath,

The pressure,

The weight,

Just aware of those physical feelings,

And aware of the legs,

The felt sense of the lower body,

In the sitting posture,

And sweeping the awareness up,

Aware of the lower abdomen,

And the stomach,

And the chest,

Including the back,

Aware of the lower back and the upper back,

And just broadly aware of that felt sense of the physical body,

And then including the shoulders and the arms,

And just training mindful awareness to be aware,

Knowing the sitting posture,

Knowing the feeling of the body,

And then including the face,

Ears,

The top of the head,

Relaxing any tension,

Particularly in the shoulders or in the face,

And just allowing the body to be as it is in the sitting meditation posture.

Bringing the awareness inwards a little,

Aware of the entire in-breath,

Nose,

Chest,

And abdomen as the breath passes in through the nose,

Down through the chest,

Into the abdomen area,

And knowing the physical feelings of the out-breath as the breath leaves abdomen,

Chest,

Nose.

For the first few minutes of sitting,

Sometimes counting is helpful,

If there's thinking.

We can gently note at the nose one,

At the chest two,

The abdomen three,

Breathing in,

Nose,

Chest,

Abdomen,

One,

Two,

Three,

Breathing out,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose,

Three,

Two,

One.

We note restraining the thinking mind,

And bringing the awareness to rest in the body in the present moment,

And knowing the entire in-breath,

One,

Two,

Three,

And the entire out-breath,

Three,

Two,

One.

When we train in establishing clear,

Natural awareness,

The practice of metta is very helpful in aiding us to put down any other latent attitudes that might affect the mind.

And also very relaxing,

The metta helps us to relax and dissolve tension,

And allow things to be as they are without controlling or contending.

While still aware of the breath,

Bringing the awareness to the heart area,

Now broadly aware of the breath,

Not looking at all of the details,

Just knowing that you're breathing in and knowing that you're breathing out,

Resting the awareness in the area of the heart,

And just offering an attitude of acceptance,

Whatever the experience is there,

Whatever the thoughts,

Affecting the mind,

Whatever feelings,

Whatever emotions,

Just offering a sense of acceptance,

However it is now,

Or that's the way it is,

It's okay.

Breathing in,

I offer an attitude of friendly acceptance to the experience of the body and the mind in this present moment,

Breathing out,

Putting down anything that isn't metta.

Breathing in,

May I be well,

Breathing out,

May I be happy.

Offering warmth,

Friendliness,

Goodwill,

Breathing in,

May I be well,

Breathing out,

May I be happy.

And so having relaxed,

Established awareness of the sitting posture,

Awareness of the breath,

And establishing an appropriate attitude,

Which is allowing things to be as they are.

Now we're going to train having a closer look at how things are in the body and mind.

Now we can use the buddho synonymous with this knowing,

Awareness,

Awake,

Aware,

Alert,

And breathing in,

Knowing the in-breath,

Buddho,

And breathing out,

Knowing the out-breath,

Doh.

And as we know the in-and-out breathing,

Knowing a feeling as a feeling,

And knowing the feelings of the in-breath,

Buddho,

And knowing the feelings of the out-breath,

Doh.

So now I'm going to do some investigation into the nature of the body,

Still broadly aware of the in-and-out breathing,

Moving the awareness to the top of the head,

And placing the attention on the hair,

And just noticing the qualities,

Many strands coming out of the skin,

But the hair itself is dry.

I'm trying to see this hair as one part,

And seeing it separately,

What's it like.

And acknowledging that this hair is composed of earth element,

If you were to cut off or shave off all your hair and place it on the ground,

Within not too long it would become dust,

Dirt.

I'm just aware of the nature of hair.

And then gently coming back to the in-and-out breathing,

And training in buddho,

Sharpening mindfulness that is aware of feelings as feelings,

And knowing the feelings of the entire in-breath and the entire out-breath,

Breathing in buddho,

Breathing out-breath.

As we've been listening to some of the teachings of Vajranananda,

Where he describes his insight practice,

He explains that when the mind clearly sees the elements in the body,

Or the body as elements,

Delusion drops away and the mind experiences tremendous peace.

So when we do these investigations,

We're just really interested to know the truth,

The truth of the body,

What is it really?

Aware of the in-breath buddho,

Aware of the out-breath dho.

And now bringing the awareness to the teeth,

Just placing the attention on the teeth in the mouth.

Still aware of the breathing in and out,

And broad awareness,

But placing the attention on the teeth,

And trying to see them as one part.

The mind separate the teeth,

The perception of the teeth,

And just holding that in awareness.

And bringing the mindful awareness to rest in that area,

Just knowing teeth.

And investigating the nature of teeth,

They're very hard.

They're like two rows of stones,

Hard white stones,

And just seeing that and knowing that and holding that in awareness.

And now coming back to the awareness of the breathing,

And knowing the feelings of the breathing,

Breathing in buddho,

Breathing out dho,

Awareness of the feelings of the natural breath.

And knowing one in-breath buddho,

Knowing one out-breath dho.

And sustaining present moment,

Clear awareness.

And now I ask you now to bring your awareness to the spine,

Backbone,

Just placing the attention in the core of this physical body.

Clear of the breath,

The broad awareness,

In and out breathing,

But placing the attention on the spine.

And just acknowledging the nature of the backbone,

Holding the body upright.

Many vertebrae interconnected from the tailbone up to the head,

A row of vertebrae,

Bone,

Hard white.

And aware that this is composed of minerals,

Calcium,

Earth element.

As with the teeth,

Backbone,

With hard earth element,

Like bigger stones or rocks placed on top of one another.

Aware of the backbone and clearly seeing the earth element nature of bone.

And then once again coming back to the in and out breathing,

Knowing it in more detail,

The beginning,

Middle and end of the breath,

Nose,

Chest,

Abdomen,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose.

Knowing the entire in breath,

Buddha,

And the entire out breath,

Dho.

And then once again coming back to the in breath,

Buddha,

And the entire out breath,

Dho.

And then once again coming back to the in breath,

Buddha,

And the entire out breath,

Dho.

And now I ask you once again to establish a broad sense of the entire body sitting,

Just aware,

Feelings on the skin,

And noticing those feelings under the buttocks,

Under the legs,

Under the ankles.

Knowing the feeling of the lower abdomen,

The lower back,

Stomach,

Middle back,

Chest,

Upper back,

Shoulders.

Including the arms and hands,

The neck,

Face and head.

Still broadly aware of the in and out breathing,

But knowing the body sitting.

I'm going to ask you now to consider the blood flowing in and around throughout the entire body.

Apparently most human beings have on average seven liters of blood.

And just trying to have a sense of the blood being pumped by the heart all around the body.

From the top of the head to the tips of the toes,

And down the arms,

Throughout all the vital organs,

And down the legs.

Pumped by the heart and flowing back to the heart.

And just holding the perception of the blood,

Try to see it as a separate part,

Just the perception of blood.

And exploring the nature,

Investigating what is the nature of blood.

This liquid that flows from the heart all throughout the body to its extremities and back.

And just noticing that this liquid,

About seven liters of liquid,

Red color,

Is a water element.

Aware of blood,

Knowing blood,

And seeing that blood is a water element.

And then returning the awareness to the breathing,

Knowing the natural feelings of the in and out breathing.

Nose,

Chest,

Abdomen,

Foot,

Abdomen,

Chest,

Nose,

Toe.

Mindfully aware,

Knowing the natural breath.

And then returning the awareness to the breathing,

Knowing the natural breath.

And then returning the awareness to the breathing,

Knowing the natural breath.

And once again,

I ask you to establish a broad awareness of the sitting posture,

And just knowing physical feelings,

The lower part of the body.

Noticing the lower abdomen,

Lower back,

The lower abdomen,

Lower back,

The lower abdomen,

Lower back,

The stomach area,

Middle area of the back,

The chest area,

Upper area of the back,

The shoulders,

Including the arms and hands,

Neck,

Face and head.

Still aware,

Broad awareness of the breathing.

I'd like to ask you now to just be aware of the space around the body,

In the immediate area around the body.

You can continue to use wood dough if it's helpful,

Aware of the in-breath foot,

Aware of the out-breath toe.

But here we're bringing this knowing awareness to know space,

Empty space.

So just feeling the space around the body.

And now include the space above your head to the ceiling,

Just holding it in awareness,

The perception of empty space around your body and above your head to the ceiling.

Breathing in wood,

Breathing out dough,

Knowing space.

And now try to get a sense of the space in the entire room,

Not placing attention upon any of the objects,

Any of the forms,

Just knowing space as far as it extends within these walls,

Beneath this ceiling.

Just aware of space.

Breathing in wood,

Breathing out dough,

Knowing empty space.

And now try to get a sense of the space in the entire room,

Just knowing space as far as it extends within these walls,

Beneath this ceiling.

And now I'd like you to consider the sky above the roof,

Just expanding the awareness of space.

What we call sky is actually empty space.

And whatever clouds may appear in the sky,

Water element moving around blown by wind,

Appearing and moving within empty space.

So just holding in awareness the perception of vast,

Empty space.

Breathing in wood,

Breathing out dough,

Aware of space element.

And now try to get a sense of the space in the entire room,

Just knowing space as far as it extends within these walls,

One in breath,

One out breath,

Occurring within vast,

Empty space.

But dough.

Aware of the space around the body,

Aware of the space above the head.

Aware of the space within the room.

Aware of the space outside and above the roof.

Stretching in all directions without limit.

Breathing in wood,

Breathing out dough.

Aware of space.

And then coming back to the broad awareness of the sitting posture,

The body sitting,

Meditation posture.

And turning to knowing the breath in more refined detail,

Nose chest abdomen,

Abdomen chest nose.

Knowing the natural physical feelings.

Breathing in wood,

Breathing out dough.

And you might notice that when you contemplate this body as being comprised of elements,

The sense of identification drops away,

And just the body,

Just elements,

Not me,

Not mine,

Not I.

And so when we contemplate in this way,

Often times it's much easier to practice breath awareness.

Just aware of one in breath and one out breath.

Not holding on to habitual ways of grasping,

Clinging.

Just the breath,

One in breath,

One out breath.

And then we notice the space within which the body exists.

We establish awareness on the perception of space and then allow that perception to become vast.

It's so much easier to see a thought as just a thought arising and ceasing in empty space.

Not I,

Not mine.

Thoughts arising like mist and ceasing,

Evaporating.

And moods can be seen like clouds.

However dark,

However light.

Staying for some time and passing away within empty space.

Aware of one in breath,

Put aware of one out breath,

Though.

As we investigate the nature of the body,

Contemplate truth,

Along this path of weakening delusion.

We have to be aware of conventional reality as we try to perceive and experience and know ultimate reality.

So body contemplation is always practiced in conjunction with metta,

Loving kindness.

We're not trying to destroy the self.

We're just trying to see it as a way that we grasp and cling.

And we notice the sense of freedom and space and peace if we don't grasp and cling in that way.

But until meditators have profound unshakable insights,

This sense of self will be something we have to work with.

And so on a conventional level,

We have loving kindness.

And we nourish our efforts with metta.

As we slowly train ourselves to grasp and cling less and train ourselves to see the body as just the body,

Elements as elements,

Feelings as feelings arising and ceasing,

And thoughts as just thoughts.

So for the last couple of minutes of the guided meditation,

Practicing metta if you like,

Breathing in,

May I be well,

Breathing out,

May I be happy.

If the mind is peaceful,

Enjoying a sense of space,

If you just like to rest the awareness,

That sense of space and stay with the buddho,

That's okay too.

Breathing in buddha,

Breathing out do.

May I be well,

May I be happy.

Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you in particular for the confirming explanation about healing compassion emotions regarding the conventional self vs emptiness in the (‘true/bodiless’) self. I’d been wondering about that lately. So thank you!🙏

As usual with his meditations, there is ample time to practice and explore.
It was nice to ground and lighten my body by exploring the earth and space and water within and without.
Mildly difficult/ abstract, but a good practice.
Meditation isn’t meant to be easy!

The exercise of spaciousness. So very grateful for that gift. Thank you.

What a great body awareness and spacial meditation, loved this, thank you, Namaste

Τhank you so much for your invaluable guidance.

A clear, relaxing inquiry into the nature of body & self and the spaciousness of being. Thank tou 🙏🏻💝

I feel a sense of calm I hold a vision of hair and teeth and bones (earth) and blood, emotion (water) thought, (air) yet every piece that seperates and takes form that is my self in expression is surrounded by space, is filled with space, at its core is space.
There was pain in the upper back that made it difficult to separate thought reminding me of the tether that holds me to the perceptions of how the experience of space, earth, water, air. Are experienced, perceived, by the presence that perceives. I felt I was breathed as I breath and a surrender that is available allowing the doing to unfold without my need to do anything but be.
This was beautiful
I am peaceful. I am calm. On this full moon day I see finding this practice as auspicious and an awareness that the truths revealed in this full moon window are simply the laws of space reflecting back my perceptions. Which are illusion in space. I will surrender expectations and vow to be more compassionate in the space I experience and observe.

What a wonderful contemplation of the body as elements! This space suit we live in:) Thank you Ajahn Achalo for a wonderful practice that brought true silence within! With gratitude and love , Seema

Thank you for these longer very insightful Meditations. Very grateful for the peace and happiness they help create.

Beautiful and transformative. Thank you so much Ajahn Achalo ❤🙏

Subtely challenging but when my mind stopped trying to float away, I enjoyed little pockets of peacefulness. I think I shall try 10 minutes of breathing at the beginning of this next time to get a steadier grounding ... it’s good intense 🤗

Thank you so much for this guided meditation. I got a tremendous amount from it, and will each time I return to it (which will be frequently).

Lovely! Thank you. This is one I will definitely return to again. A new favorite!

As always thank you

Really liked it

What an amazing meditation on the elements! Thank you! My personal favorite so far!

Thank you for leading a meditation that challenges my perceptions and opens me to accepting new states of being. This meditation was difficult in the best possible way, and I will be returning to it often.

Thankyou Dear Teacher for your skillful teaching's 🙇‍♀️💚🌺

My favorite . Love the guide about not trying to destroy self but reduce clinging and the grasping of self and treat self with Metta before liberation

Beautiful and powerful... To me at least :-) Much gratitude for sharing this meditation. May all beings be at peace.