Hello,
This is Sumit Jain and welcome to day 3 of the 21 day meditation series.
And if you are listening to this,
You made it through the first two days.
And let's dive into day 3.
Most important thing about meditation is that you are comfortable.
And if you are comfortable,
You'll probably continue to do it.
And if you are not comfortable,
You will just stop.
So just get as comfortable as you possibly can by finding a chair or a couch,
A bed,
Maybe sit on the floor,
Whatever.
Just sit comfortably as you would like to.
Maybe you would like to sit crossed legs or maybe put your palms up or down on your laps.
Or maybe you'll just sit with your hands on your lap.
Whatever it feels comfortable,
Just do that.
The most common response that people have when they start to meditate is that they are aware of all the thoughts they are having.
And we have about 60 to 80 thousand thoughts every day.
It's one thought every 1.
2 seconds and they are coming.
And you won't stop them because you cannot stop them.
You are a receiver and they are floating through the ether,
Landing on you like impressions.
Every single moment,
Every single experience that you have makes an impression on your mind.
And so your thoughts are just pouring in,
Pouring in,
And pouring in.
So when we close our eyes and begin to meditate,
We realize how many thoughts we really have.
And the typical response or common responses for people to say,
What's going on?
Why am I having so many thoughts?
Do I have a monkey mind?
Or a chattering mind?
I have thoughts of the thoughts of the thoughts.
And yes,
You do.
And it's wonderful.
Because it simply shows that you're alive.
So let's keep that in the perspective.
Let's learn to embrace our thoughts.
Because we have a brain and we have thoughts.
So the next time you become aware that you're having thoughts,
Rather than viewing them as interruptions in your meditations or distractions in your meditation,
Just recognize them in your meditation.
It just says you're alive.
You're a living,
Breathing,
A thinking being.
And so thinking is part of that.
And thoughts are part of that.
So rather than beating yourself up or scolding yourself or just getting upset that you're having so many thoughts,
Which is a natural process,
Instead of that,
Gently drift back to whatever object of what attention is.
It might be a mantra.
It might be a sound or a visual thing.
Or it might be only our breath.
Whatever that object is,
We're going to use that object to disconnect from thoughts.
We're not going to stop them.
We're just going to divert them and drift our awareness to something else.
And then as you gently realize,
As you drift back and forth between that object and your thoughts,
Again that object and your thoughts,
Again back to the object.
Maybe to a sound that creates a thought and then back to the object.
And then maybe to a physical sensation.
Maybe to a scratching on your arm.
Again you will have a thought.
And then again you drift back to the object.
And all this process is meditation.
This gentle drifting back and forth is meditation.
So let's try a little thought meditation today.
Simply close your eyes.
Sit in a comfortable position.
And I'm going to say a word.
And you're going to think and have all the thoughts diverted on that word.
And you'll do that with your eyes closed.
And let the stream of thoughts be diverted to that word.
Ready?
The word is mango.
Mango.
And now just flow with it.
Good.
Okay.
You can stop thinking about mangoes now.
In fact,
Just stop and think of how far you've gone from that original thought that you had from the mango.
And this was only 30 seconds.
And how far did you go?
Did you think about yellow mangoes or green mangoes?
Did you think about mango jam?
Did you think about juice?
Did you think about picking mangoes from a tree or a supermarket?
Or did you think about your family members?
Or maybe you saw your grandmother making mango sauce or jam?
Or did you just drift away thinking about a meeting?
Or maybe you started thinking about some person or a relationship?
It's okay.
Because remember,
We have about one thought every 1.
2 seconds.
So in those 30 seconds,
You had 25 thoughts.
And that was not an interruption.
That was meditation.
So for now,
Let's just embrace our thoughts.
Let's own our thoughts.
We are not our thoughts.
We have thoughts.
We are not them.
And the reason your last thought was so far away from mangoes is because we have so many thoughts.
And then there's a space.
And then we have another thought.
If you see deeply,
Every thought has a beginning,
A middle,
And an end.
We have so many thoughts which have a beginning and a middle and an end.
And then there is a gap in between the space of stillness,
Of silence.
And then we have another thought.
And then there is that space,
That stillness,
That silence.
This space is where the birth of the next thought comes from.
This is the space of pure potentiality.
This is the space of infinite possibilities.
That is why your next thought could be anything.
And the thought after that,
Anything.
And the thought after that,
Anything also.
And with hundreds and thousands of people,
Having explored these 30 seconds with us,
With just the thought of a mango,
How many billions of individual thoughts did we have?
Thoughts are magnificent.
They weave a fabric of perspectives and perceptions.
But they are not who we are.
You are the gap.
You are that silence,
The stillness.
You are the space between those thoughts.
But rather than feeling the thoughts are invasive,
Rather than thinking that the thoughts are pounding you down or distracting you or frustrating you,
When you have a thought,
Just take a very deep breath in and exhale it.
And then simply drift back to the stillness and the silence.
So let's do that for a little bit.
Close your eyes.
Take a deep breath in.
And gently release.
And just think.
And when you find yourself going deeper and deeper and deeper into that thought,
Just take a deep breath in.
And release.
Release it into the ether,
Into the ozone.
And then simply just be.
You can look at your past.
And then move yourself to this very moment.
You can look into the future.
And again roll yourself back to this very moment.
Because in this moment there is no past,
There is no future.
Only this now.
This powerful,
Magnificent now.
So keep moving closer and closer from the past and the future.
Just do this now.
Okay.
You can just come back to this moment again.
How do you feel?
Were you able to experience anything?
Could you experience the transformational power of this moment,
This present moment?
Even for a millisecond,
If your body felt it,
Your connection to your deepest source,
Which is the stillness and the silence.
Did you feel that?
Just take a deep breath in again.
Gently release.
Let's seal this meditation by chanting Aum,
The universal sound.
Take a deep breath in.
Aum.
Aum.
When it feels comfortable,
Slowly open your eyes.
And look around to thousands of your meditating friends around the world who tapped into this present moment with you.
Enjoy this feeling and have an amazing day ahead.
This is Sumit wishing you peace.
Namaste.
Aum.
Aum.
