Six Inquiries for Embodying Your Essential Wholeness Unbreakable wholeness and its essential qualities such as ease,
Peace,
Joy,
Compassion and well-being exists innately within us all.
When we don't recognize our basic wholeness,
We'll always feel that something's amiss in our lives.
The feeling that something's amiss arises then to help us reorient to and re-embody our wholeness that we've forgotten.
Meditation which is grounded in the teachings of unqualified non-dualism are designed to reveal and help you embody your intrinsic wholeness that is ever-present,
Unchanging,
Indestructible and your birthright of health and well-being.
No matter the state of your body or mind,
Wholeness is something that you are innately.
It is this about yourself that's always whole,
Complete,
Flawless and harmonious,
That's never in need of healing,
Fixing or changing,
But simply recognizing.
From this perspective,
We're not living or engaging in meditation or healing practices to become whole.
We are living,
Meditating and practicing from our innate and already-present wholeness.
We just need to know how to recognize,
Remember and embody our wholeness as it's already the case.
With this understanding firmly in place,
We can then learn to interweave our felt sense of wholeness into every circumstance of daily life,
As well as when our body or mind may be in need of healing.
The gateway to recovering your underlying wholeness is through experiencing your simple feeling of being,
Which is a universal felt sense and non-verbal knowing that we all have within us.
Being is the quiet,
Ever-present background presence that's always within us,
But that can go unnoticed until it's directly pointed out.
Fortunately,
There are simple,
Exquisite pointers or messengers,
Natural visceral feelings within us that can help us recognize and embody our essential wholeness.
When you embody your wholeness,
You realize an ever-present,
Unchanging and indestructible inner resource that enables you to weather every challenging circumstance that life inevitably brings to your table.
So please join me now in experientially exploring six essential inquiries that have been handed down to us through the ancient teachings of meditation.
These inquiries help you recognize and directly experience your essential,
Unchanging and ever-present wholeness and unbreakable well-being that underlies true health,
True healing and true awakening.
These simple inquiries enable you to reclaim your inner and outer connectedness and realize the fullness of your human potential,
Where you feel empowered and in harmony with yourself,
Others,
And the entire universe during every step of your journey through life,
Experiencing your essential wholeness.
As you're beginning to rest into a comfortable standing,
Sitting,
Or lying down position,
Allow your senses to open to the environment around you,
Sounds that are present,
The touch of air on your skin,
Sensations where your body touches the surfaces that are providing support,
Your body breathing easily and comfortably,
Breathing in and out peace and well-being each breath,
Loosening,
Softening and releasing tightness and tension throughout your entire body and mind.
And notice thoughts you may be carrying with you into this present moment,
Noting and setting them aside,
Perhaps placing them in an imaginary folder where you can come back to them later if helpful,
And feeling yourself as a warm-hearted witnessing presence,
Unhook attention from your thinking mind,
Allowing your thoughts to drift away like clouds drifting away above you,
Your mind becoming calm and clear like a cloudless open and spacious sky,
Your body easing into the feeling of simply being and being at ease,
Quiet and calm.
And in this moment of simply being,
Allowing yourself to rest in the spacious openness of your heart,
With nothing to do and nowhere to be,
Simply being,
Allowing attention to wander about your body without trying to fix or change what you come upon,
Simply noticing and welcoming areas of sensation while noticing what spontaneously happens as you rest attention in these areas of the body,
In the hinges of your jaw,
Mouth,
Ears,
Skin of the face and nose,
Welcoming sensation around the eyes,
Forehead and scalp,
Back of the head and neck,
Shoulders,
Welcoming natural sensations of heaviness or lightness in the shoulders,
Arms,
Hands and fingers,
Both arms and shoulders at the same time as sensation,
Sensation throughout the torso and abdomen as breath comes in and goes out,
Abdomen gently expanding and releasing with each breath,
Welcoming sensation throughout the pelvis,
Sacrum and hips,
Legs and feet,
The natural sensations of heaviness or lightness throughout the legs,
Pelvis,
Torso,
Arms,
Neck and head.
And sense now the entire body as flows of sensation or energy,
The entire body a global field of shimmering sensation.
Unhooking from the thinking mind,
Allowing thoughts drifting away like clouds in the sky,
Resting now in this moment of simply being with nothing to do,
Nowhere to be,
Simply welcoming the ease of being,
Becoming more and more absorbed not just in but as this felt sense of being.
And feel your way into the following inquiries and your firsthand experience and response to each inquiry.
First inquiry,
As this feeling of simply being,
How might you describe your location as being?
Where is your innermost core center and your outermost border or boundary as being?
If helpful,
Feel yourself simultaneously out in front,
Behind,
Left,
Right,
Below,
Above,
Inside and outside as you're exploring this inquiry.
Where is your innermost center core and your outermost boundary as the felt sense of being?
Second inquiry,
As you're here resting in and as being,
What's happening to the thinking mind and thought?
Just noticing as you become more and more absorbed in and as the felt sense of being,
What effect does this have on the thinking mind and your sense of time?
Third inquiry,
Resting here as being,
As being,
Do you lack,
Need or want for anything?
As being,
Is there anything that you need to acquire that will make you any better as being or more complete than you already are as being?
Fourth inquiry,
As this felt sense of being,
Is this felt sense of being familiar or unfamiliar?
Is being something that you've always known or is being a new recognition?
And as being,
Is there anything that would make you feel any more connected to being than you already are as being,
Except to continue feeling your underlying essence of being?
Fifth inquiry,
As being,
Do you need any special circumstances in order to be?
Can you imagine abiding as being while walking around or talking,
Interacting or reading a book or resting?
Do you as being need special circumstances in order to be present or can you as being be present no matter what else may be present?
And as being,
Is there anything you need to do that by accomplishing it would make you as being any better or more whole than you already are as being?
Take a few moments allowing attention to roam about your body,
Noticing different thoughts,
Sensations,
Emotional tones.
Noticing,
Is it possible to sense being and an emotion?
Sense being and a thought.
Sense the sensation,
Sound,
Or any perception and the felt sense of being.
Sixth inquiry,
If someone else were to come to you and ask you,
What is this felt sense of being like?
What word or words would you use to describe to them this felt sense of being?
Take a few moments now to welcome words that arise spontaneously that you might use to describe to another the felt sense of being.
And take a few moments now to abide in and as this felt sense of being,
Unhooking from thoughts and the thinking mind,
Welcoming and nourishing the felt sense of being and the effect this has on the body and mind.
As you're resting here,
There's a further inquiry you could make,
Which is,
As being,
Have you and can you ever been hurt or harmed?
Can being ever be hurt or harmed?
Answering this from your felt sense of being,
Do you as being need any healing,
Fixing or changing?
Do you need anything that would make you any more complete and whole than you already are as being?
And continue nourishing this felt sense of being while I take you through descriptions that other have used to describe their felt sense of being while noticing if their descriptions resonate within you.
As being,
As I explore my innermost center and outermost part of the boundary,
I feel myself everywhere and nowhere specific,
Yet as a localized presence in and around my heart center.
I feel myself everywhere and nowhere specific,
Yet as a presence in and around my heart.
As I settle into being,
The thinking mind begins to slow down and sometimes even drops away,
And I find myself outside of time,
Simply being.
In this outside of time,
Spacious openness,
I find myself free of lack,
Need,
Or want,
Resting in what feels as a basic okayness.
I feel myself complete and okay just as I am,
As being.
And there's something about being that feels familiar,
Easily recognizable each time I sense myself as being.
And I don't need circumstances to be any different than they are in order to be.
I can be in the midst of a challenging circumstance,
And the feeling of being is still here as the ground from which I meet the situation.
And something about being feels complete,
Whole,
Unchanging and indestructible just as it is,
That it can never be hurt or harmed and is never in need of healing.
I can sense how it's ever present and that even when I forget to recognize being,
It remains in the background,
Ever ready to move into my foreground awareness.
And resting here as being,
I can feel its inherent qualities that spontaneously begin to arise,
Such as ease,
Peace,
Joy,
Well-being,
Love,
Compassion and kindness,
And the feeling of being deeply connected to myself and everything around me.
So take your time now,
Gently opening and closing your eyes as it feels right,
While continuing to feel and nourish your ground to being and well-being.
When it feels right,
Allow your eyes to remain open with a soft focus,
Welcoming the environment and sounds around you while resting here as being,
Inviting yourself to come fully back as being to your eyes open,
Fully awake state of everyday consciousness as you consider these inquiries once again.
As being,
Sense your innermost center and outermost border or boundary,
How as being you're everywhere and nowhere specific,
Yet an essence or presence that is experienced around the heart.
When you're simply being,
Notice what's happening to the thinking mind and your sense of time.
As being,
Do you want,
Need or lack for anything or can you feel as being how you're beyond lack,
Need and want,
Resting in your basic okayness?
As being,
Notice the familiarity,
The feeling of being and how it's always present,
Yet may go unrecognized at times.
And as being,
Notice being doesn't need special circumstances.
Being can be present along with whatever else is present.
And when you're ready,
Before moving back into your daily life,
Do take a few moments to set your intention to remember and nourish your felt sense of being little and often throughout your day,
Every day for the rest of your life.
