Hello,
Everyone.
Thank you for coming today.
It's wonderful to see you.
Welcome to session 10 of our 30-session Introduction to Meditation course.
Last week,
We began our Insight module.
And Insight goes hand-in-hand with calming and concentration.
These are the two main pillars of all contemplative meditation.
Each one balances the other and helps us maintain an even level of equanimity.
We learn calming first so we have access to resources to calm,
Ground,
And anchor us when anything that we're experiencing gets too intense.
Insight meditation in particular can sometimes,
Occasionally,
Not often,
But can occasionally,
Bring up intense feelings,
Sensations,
And thoughts,
Perhaps memories from the past we thought were resolved but have lingered deep in our subconscious.
If during any of these sessions on Insight,
Things get too intense,
Please let your exploration go and come back to breath and body until you feel stabilized again.
And only begin again if you want to.
So why is learning a method like Insight good?
Why did the Buddha teach it?
This Insight is what made Buddhist meditation different from yoga meditation,
For instance,
Which was really focused on breath and body particularly.
The Buddha added this Insight to it.
Why?
Because nothing in life is static or fixed and everything is constantly changing.
Sometimes this can be really overwhelming.
Knowing what makes us tick and how our mind works can be really valuable for us.
Joseph Campbell wrote in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces about this inner journey and this inner journey in Insight as part of the process of us becoming fully human.
He wrote,
The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.
We are constantly and ceaselessly experiencing events and assessing whether we like something or not like something.
Deciding if we want less of something or more of something.
We've been doing this since we took our very first breath.
It is so ingrained we almost are always doing it on autopilot through developed habitual behaviors.
Sometimes those are good and sometimes those can be really bad for us.
This wanting less or more is really driven by fear.
Fear of getting more of what we don't want or fear of getting less of what we do want.
Both begin with the same feeling,
Fear.
Fear is really a primal driver for humans.
Fear underlies the three poisons of greed,
Anger and ignorance which Buddha said is the cause of all of our suffering.
As infants and young children when we experienced discomfort and became fearful,
We learned that when we cry we get stuff.
It's like,
Oh wow,
People attend to me.
So I get food,
I get comfort,
I get a clean diaper,
I get dry clothes,
I get to take a nice nap.
This tendency to react through fear and crying and throwing a tantrum sometimes can be seen in our own reactions as adults.
Insight invites us to explore all these aspects of our mind.
Last session we started with sounds and thoughts.
This session we move into exploring our mind wandering sort of like the who,
What,
Where,
When and why of our mind.
Being aware of what our minds are doing uses the mental muscle of clarity or insight to observe what our minds are doing without judging or criticizing ourselves and recognizing and observing what is going on in our mind,
Body and around us in our environment.
With this awareness comes space.
The space to decide whether we want to do something or not.
To respond as we choose and not to just react.
Now absolutely everyone who meditates experiences their mind wandering.
It's completely normal.
At some point while we are meditating we snap back and think,
Oh,
I was supposed to be meditating.
It's easy to get down on yourself and think you're no good at it,
But it's the exact opposite.
The moment you realize you've become distracted and you pop out of your thoughts remembering you're meditating is a moment where you awaken.
And to quote one of my famous favorite sci-fi books,
Dune,
The sleeper has awoken.
That's the essence of meditation.
That's the essence of our Buddhist practice is we get distracted,
We wake up,
We realize we've been getting distracted and then we begin again to focus on what it was we were focusing on.
So being distracted is normal.
Realizing you become distracted is a great thing.
It's a wonderful moment of awakening.
Let's smile when we realize we become distracted.
Let's congratulate ourselves when we realize we become distracted and then begin again.
And each time we wake up,
We're slowly strengthening our clarity muscle.
As we do this,
Our mind fog begins to lift.
And again,
If any time during these sessions on insight,
Things get too intense,
Remember your breath and your body.
Come back to your breath.
Come back to your body until you feel stabilized.
And only if you want,
Begin again.
So what exactly does clarity mean?
Let's find out.
Enjoy the meditation.
Coming now to sit.
Entering into our meditation.
Setting your intention to be here,
Present and alert.
Taking a few moments to settle into your favorite meditation posture.
Perhaps wiggling in,
Rocking side to side,
Back and forth to find a nice,
Neutral,
Upright position.
Sitting as tall as you can with the least amount of effort.
Back straight,
Aligned,
Body relaxed.
Resilient in the balance between effort and ease.
Beginning with three deep,
Calming breaths.
Breathing in fully through your nose and exhaling completely through your mouth as you make a soft,
Sighing sound like a gentle breeze through the leaves of a tree.
With each breath,
Releasing any cares and worries that you might have.
Letting them slough away.
Softening your forehead,
Eyes,
Cheeks,
Jaw,
Mouth,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Hands.
Chest,
Lower back,
Belly,
Pelvis,
Groin,
Legs,
And feet.
With each out breath,
Releasing any tension,
Tightness,
Or holding.
Letting it melt away into the floor.
Bringing your awareness to the sensations of breathing.
Coming in close to whichever set of sensations is most vivid for you.
Breathing in.
I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out.
I know I am breathing out.
In.
Out.
Good.
Resting your awareness with your breath.
Just like any meditation.
And now adding on,
Allowing yourself to become curious about this thing,
Mind wandering.
Not trying to make your mind wander.
You're still focused on your breath.
But opening a background curiosity about where exactly your mind does go when it wanders.
Perhaps into image-rich daydreams.
Making to-do lists.
Past memories.
As you meditate,
Try to notice where your mind goes when it gets distracted.
When you notice you've become distracted,
Smile for noticing.
Feel good that you woke up.
Take a moment to note where your mind went.
And then ease your awareness back to breath and simply begin again.
Were you thinking about what you needed to do later?
Or maybe you were replaying past events?
Notice if your mind naturally goes to the future or the past or somewhere else.
When your mind wanders and you come back into awareness,
Is the clarity of waking up.
Every time you come back,
You're strengthening your clarity muscle.
Part of clarity is knowing what is going on in our mind.
What kind of thoughts does your mind like to produce?
Is there a pattern to it?
See if you can notice this without any judgments or criticisms.
And once you notice,
Smile and come back to breath and begin again.
Wonderful.
Now just relax.
Letting go of all effort and just float.
Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Nam Mu Myoho Renge Kyo Returning to breath.
Breathing in,
I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know I am breathing out.
In Out Breathing in,
Aware of my whole body.
Breathing out,
Calming my whole body.
Body Calm Breathing in,
Observing my mind.
Breathing out,
Calming my mind.
Mind Calm Mind Did you notice any patterns?
This kind of meditation practice is called insight meditation.
Insights into the nature of our own unique mind.
The key is learning to observe our mind without trying to control or change them.
Judge or criticize them.
Like we're wildlife researchers watching our minds in their natural habitat in order to learn more about them.
And here is the fun paradox.
Trying to observe our mind without changing it does change it.
Patterns of obsessive rumination can start to cool out.
We find more space.
More peace.
Slowly,
Gradually,
Beginning to emerge from your meditation.
Relaxing and releasing your meditation posture.
Wiggling your toes and your fingers.
Rubbing your legs and gently and slowly rocking side to side,
Back and forth.
Bringing a little motion back into your body,
Waking it up slowly.
And taking a deep breath in and as you do that,
Stretching your arms up high toward the ceiling and nice big stretch.
And lowering your arms and letting out a sigh.
Reaching behind to your lower back,
Giving your lower back a massage.
Perhaps a very gentle back bend into your hands as you massage your back.
Reaching behind to your lower belly and gently holding your lower belly.
Offering your phrases of metta beginning with,
I am well.
I am well.
Hands over your heart.
I am happy,
Loved and loving.
Crossing your arms,
Giving yourself a hug.
Lightly stroking down your arm from shoulder to elbow a few times as you repeat to yourself.
I am safe.
At home.
In my body.
With my breath.
Caressing your face,
Your forehead,
Your cheeks and jaw.
Through your hair,
Over your head,
Around to the back of your neck and pausing to give your neck and shoulders a massage.
Hands back to your heart.
And back to your belly.
Offering,
I am peaceful and at ease.
And thank yourself for giving yourself this gift of calming and awareness,
Clarity,
And coming together as a community to share it with each other.
And take these good feelings with you into the rest of your day,
Rest of your week.
Rubbing the palms of your hands together to warm them.
Lightly cupping them over your eyes.
With your next in-breath,
Opening your eyes into your hands.
And as you breathe out,
Lowering your hands,
Returning your awareness to the room around you.
Thank you.
