The Three Inspections - Morning Mindfulness

This meditation is an opportunity to challenge perceptions on the origin of experience. Through daily listening, your mind will expand and relax, making space for the unfolding of reality without the stressful gripping so typical of modern life.

Set to theta-wave music this meditation is meant to be listened to in the morning to begin your day with the right view.

Transcript

The three inspections. Allow your eyes to close. Take a moment here to honor this transition, This movement from the outer world to the inner world. You'll likely find one of two things that the eyes are either hard to settle down and the mind is slightly chaotic or that as soon as you shut the eyes, The mind reveals its dullness and its tired state and the eyes take on the form of sleeping eyes. Notice what's true for you right now and then combat either one by acknowledging that although you have closed the lids of the eyes, The eyes themselves should remain open. Attempt to feel as though the eyes turn around in their sockets, Moving from pointing outward to pointing inward and in that way they become organs of wisdom. And then relax any tension that you feel behind the forehead, Especially between the eyebrows and right at the center of the forehead, This seat of the ego. Surrendering this area of the body down into the physical form and out of the thinking space. If this feels difficult for you, You can take a moment here to begin to move the body just a little bit, Rocking at the shoulders and twisting the head and the neck. You may notice that the breath rhythm speeds up just a little bit as you do this and then take one deep inhale through the nose, Open your mouth, Exhale and let it out. Wrap out of the thinking mind and into the sensing body. Rest your attention at the base of the pelvis, The pelvic bowl and imagine that you are a strong and stable mountain, Committing to remain motionless throughout the practice. You may notice your breath rhythm here but make no attempt to interfere with it. Searching for this uncontrived space, Not trying to change anything but simply allowing yourself to be holy witness to whatever is. For a moment now, Direct your attention from the base of the pelvis to the space around the heart and simply allow yourself to notice this heart area as you bring to mind a sense of warmth and warm heartedness for your practice today. And try to make this feeling as genuine as possible. Perhaps feeling this warm hearted sense for you and the benefits that this practice will bring you and if you can expand a little further, Feeling a sense of warm heartedness for humanity and the benefits of practice for humanity's sake. And keeping this warm feeling inside of your mind and body, Take a moment in whatever way is right for you to acknowledge the magic and preciousness of your human life. And release those experiences and those instructions and return your awareness to the base of the pelvis as though you're seated at the bottom of a strong and stable motionless mountain. Keeping part of your attention aware of the movement and the sensation of breathing and part of your attention fixed on this area of the body, The bowl of the pelvis. The first inspection. Now begin to move your attention like a flashlight across your entire physical form, Both on the outside and on the inside. Look for any sensations, Physical sensations that you are feeling right now. These may be comfortable or uncomfortable sensations. I'm not asking you to look at either one or the other, But instead to acknowledge with clarity any and all sensations you're feeling and I say with clarity because I truly want you to look at them specifically. So perhaps the right foot feels some sort of sensation right now, A tingling or a pressure from being pushed against the floor. Be very specific with yourself as you explore the sensations that you are experiencing right now, Naming them inside of your mind. The first question I want you to ask yourself as you're inspecting the nature of the sensations in your body is where are these sensations coming from? Be very specific here. If you're noticing the pressure or the tingling of the right foot as it pushes into the floor, Ask yourself where does that pressure or tingling arise from? The second question I want you to ask yourself about this first inspection is what does it go? The third question I want you to ask yourself on this first inspection is when the sensation leaves where does it go? Be very specific. Stay with one sensation for a little while before moving on to another. Take a few moments now in silence to inspect your body fully looking at these sensations specifically and inspecting with these three questions. Where does the sensation come from? What does it look like once it has arisen? And where does it go when it ends? As we rise to Exhale. Exhale and let go of that inspection. Return your awareness to the base of the pelvis and allow your mind to rest with the sensation of breathing. Keeping your attention fixed in this area of the body, The pelvic bowl, And resting for a few moments like this. The second inspection. Bring your attention now to any thoughts inside of your mind. Be very clear as you look at them, Seeing the thought completely. Perhaps a thought about what you're going to have for dinner. A thought about what you think about the sensations in your body. Inspect the thought and look at it in a specific way. Resist no thoughts as you allow them all to be seen clearly. It may be the case that at first the thoughts begin to quiet themselves as you look, But as we give it just a few moments in silence, I assure you the thoughts will return. As they do, Try to see them all. Extract at least one specific thought from the thoughts that are currently inside of your mind and look at it in a very clear way and begin to ask yourself the same questions as in the first inspection. Looking specifically at this one thought, Where did it come from? What does it look like? And where does it go when it is no longer with you? Ask these questions and allow yourself to experience whatever comes in the form of answers. Take a few moments in silence to inspect fully one thought and then another as you ask these questions. Exhale and release the inspection. Bring your attention back to the rhythm and movement of the breath and the base of the pelvic bowl, Maintaining this motionless mountain-like experience with the body. Exhale and release the inspection. The third inspection. Bring your attention now to any emotions that you may be experiencing. If you're not experiencing any emotions in particular, Bring an emotion to mind that you've most recently experienced. Try to avoid the good or bad generic tellings of your emotion and be slightly more specific than that. Perhaps you feel confused, Fear, Uncertainty. Be very clear with yourself as you specifically label the emotions that you feel right now or have felt most recently. Now begin to apply these three questions to this inspection. As you look at specific emotions that you are experiencing right now or have experienced recently, Ask yourself the questions, Where did this emotion come from? What does it look like once it has arisen? And where does it go when it leaves? Repeat with these questions in silence as you inspect first one emotion and then another. Exhale and let go. Turning your attention to the sensation of yourself breathing and the base of your mountainous form at the bowl of the pelvis. Resist nothing. Force nothing away. Simply allow yourself to experience what is exactly as it is in this moment. Without allowing your eyes to move all over the place, Without allowing your vision to be very strongly directed outward, Allow your eyelids to gently open here and look out into the world. Keep this stable, Unmoving quality of your body and this attention focused at the base of your pelvis and on the sensation of yourself breathing, Allowing your vision to just simply rest as it looks outward. This is experience, Physical experience as you gently with your eyes resting and not moving from here to there, Look outwards. Ask yourself now the question, Where does experience come from? Ask, What does experience look like? Ask, When experience leaves, Where does it go? When experience leaves, Where does it go? Allow your eyelids to softly close again. There is no difference between the internal and the external. Everything is experience. Everything arises from nothing, Has no concrete independent form and goes nowhere when it leaves. This is great news. You don't have to release any attachments because there is nothing to attach to. You don't have to change any circumstances because there are no circumstances to change. You can simply allow life to be exactly as it is, Knowing the truth of where it comes from, What it looks like and where it goes. Breathe it in. Let it out. Breathe it in again, Let your breath get deeper, Stronger, Be awake, Be awake inside. Take one deep cleansing breath here, Your biggest inhalation yet and then open your mouth and let it out long and smooth and slow. Bring your lips back together. Allow your breath to resume its natural uninterrupted rhythm. Take as much time as you need here and when you feel ready, Open your eyes and go about your day.