Being In Silence - A Six Elements Meditation (12-11-20)

Effortlessly experience the depth of the present moment. By becoming aware of your self and of sound, experience being present within unlimited silence. Part of the Six Elements Meditation series. (Audio enhanced, March 2021.)

Transcript

I like to begin most of the meditations by starting with connecting to the body. It gives you time to adjust your posture and position, And to fully arrive with yourself and the body. The body is always in the present moment. So if you are aware of your body, You must be in the present also. And the first element of earth that I connect with the body, Brings me to pay particular attention to two things within the body. Firstly, That sensation of connection. So just checking in with all the parts of the body that are in contact with something. So my feet and the floor, My hands and my lap. I've been in connection with whatever you are sitting on right now. And in connection with my clothes. So spend a few moments really feeling that sensation of connection with the body. Those areas of contact. And the second thing I like to get in touch with, With the body and the element of earth, Is the feeling of the weight of the body. So sometimes that may feel like a heaviness, And sometimes it may feel like a lightness. Some parts of the body may feel heavier than others. But getting a sense of the weight of the whole body, And allowing the floor, The ground, To completely support the weight of your body right now. This is a great way to just to start to bring that feeling of release and letting go into the body. I don't have to hold my body where it is, But I can let those shoulders relax, Let that jaw relax. Allow the whole weight of the body to be held, Supported by the ground. So it is as if I am sinking into the present moment. And usually at this point I naturally become more aware of the breath, And begin to feel the breath in the body. The second element of air. So the idea is not to try and change the breath in any way. You don't have to breathe deeply or slowly, Just notice the rhythm of your breath. Feel the sensations of your breath in your body right now. Have that thought to really allow the breath into the body, Without holding back or restraining that breath at all. And really notice how that feels to allow the oxygen into the body. And with the out breath, Simply release the breath, Just let it go, Don't hold on to the breath at all. And really notice how that feels in the body to let go of the breath. So we spend a lot more time on those two elements, With the grounded and connected meditation. But we are going to move on now to the element of fire, And water, Just for a few moments. So this is about just checking in to your emotional state and to the mind, And just being aware of how you are feeling and what your thoughts are like. And again it is about accepting whatever you find. So don't try and change how you are feeling, Don't try and change your thoughts. Just allowing the fire of emotion to burn in the body as it is, Fueled by the breath. And allow your breath to flow freely, And do exactly the same with your thoughts, Allow your thoughts to flow freely through the body, Just like your breath. So flowing through your brain, Flowing through your mind, Just allowing one thought to come after the next. So really genuinely welcoming and allowing any thought to arise within your mind. Let it enter the mind just as you welcome the breath in your body, And let the thoughts go and flow through the mind, Just as you allow the breath out of the body. So accepting exactly how you feel right now, Allowing the breath and the thoughts to flow freely, And always the body present and connected. So this gives us our foundation, Our base, Just briefly connecting in with those first four elements. Earth, Air, Fire and water, Body, Breath, Emotions and thoughts. OK, But for this meditation we are going to spend more time on the fifth and the sixth elements, Light and sound. So beginning with light, The light of awareness. So the simplest way to approach this element is about really just allowing yourself to just be as you are, Being aware of how you are feeling right now, And just allowing yourself to have this time and this space just to be. There is nothing you need to do, Nowhere else you need to be. You are meant to be right here, Right now. Just enjoying your own presence, Your own aliveness. Just appreciate who you are, A living, Breathing, Conscious being. Letting go of all the complexity, All the transient things of life, Settling into that quiet and clear awareness. The self that is always there behind all your experiences, That light of awareness. So all the other elements, The body, The emotions, The thoughts, The breath, These are all experiences that happen within our awareness. So your self, Your pure awareness is the space within which all your experiences happen. Which is why we spend that time at the beginning to become aware of those things and to have that attitude, That approach of allowing them to flow freely. Because that brings us naturally closer to ourselves as awareness, As the space within which all these things happen. We allow them to flow freely, We don't attach or identify ourselves with them so much. Which leaves us free to just fall back into that sense of being, Open, Spacious awareness. Just relaxing back into that sense of being, Of presence, Effortless presence. Remembering not to try and stop anything, Don't try and stop the thoughts, Don't try and change your emotions, Allow your breath to be natural, Allow your body to be just as it is. Empty space doesn't try and change anything, It simply accommodates and holds everything within itself. So being like space. Present with everything and yet not touching, Not changing anything at all. So not thinking about attention and concentration, Not focusing on one thing or another, Just having that feeling of opening out, Wide, Broad, Open and spacious. And just naturally, Effortlessly noticing whatever is happening within your awareness. Space doesn't need to empty itself to be free and light and spacious. The very purpose of space is to have things within it. So we welcome and accept all our experiences that are happening within our awareness. We don't need them to stop to sense ourself, Our awareness. All our experiences actually show us and point to us what we truly are, Which is the experience air. Everything that we're aware of shows us that we are the awareness. If that all sounds a little strange or difficult to grasp, Remember in essence what we're doing is just allowing ourselves just to be ourselves, Allowing ourselves just to be present in this moment. That's all we're doing. Just being open to this moment and allowing ourselves to simply be here and now. So we're going to apply this idea of awareness to sounds, So to the second main part of this meditation. So I'd invite you now to actively listen, Be alert to all the sounds that you can hear in your environment right now. Remembering again to just feel like you're opening up your awareness. Not narrowing down to focus but opening up, Just seeing what's out there, What's around you, What can you hear. Be attentive but it's an attention without any tension, Open awareness. Listening to each moment, No two moments will have exactly the same combination of sounds. Maybe just imagine that you're listening for the very first time, Listening to sounds for the very first time. How precious that would be. So notice the most obvious sounds, The nearest or loudest sounds. Notice any continuous background sounds. Be open and alert to catching any occasional sounds. Now really allowing your awareness and your listening to really be open, Broad and wide. And see or listen for what the furthest, Most distant sound is that you may hear. Maybe there's a distant voice or occasional passing car. Just be open and listen, Just notice if there are any far away sounds, Be in front or behind you, Even above you. If there's nothing, That's fine too, Just patiently waiting to see if any distant sound does arrive. Remembering to always allow your thoughts to flow as freely as your breath. Allowing everything else that's happening in this moment just to be as it is. And just choosing to allow sounds to be in the foreground or the centre of your awareness. Allowing everything else to happen around that. Choosing to be inquisitive about sound, To really experience sound. So what I notice if I do give myself enough time and have that patience to be attentive and open to sense, Is I begin to get a sense of quietness, A sense of a silence. Particularly if I'm listening out for distant sounds. And it's not a quietness that needs the absence of other sounds. But it feels like an ever-present silence that was always there and will always be there. Whatever sounds come and go within that silence, Within that quietness. A sense of a silent space, An unlimited silent space, Within which all the other sounds come and go. Rising out of the silence, Falling back into the silence. So just allowing any and all the sounds that you can hear in your environment right now, Just allowing them to come and go. And just noticing if a sense of quietness, A sense of a space of silence arises within your awareness. And not looking for it, Not straining, Just by allowing sounds to come and go, And being open. So noticing sounds coming and going within silence. An example of our experiences coming and going within awareness. So that empty silent space. And that empty space that is our awareness. Allowing everything to happen within the space. Whether it's the sounds, Our free flowing thoughts, Our emotions, Our breath, The sensations of contact in the body. All these things of the present moment and of our experience happening within the space of our awareness, Within that silent space. Allowing ourselves just to be in that space. Just being in silence. Okay, So bringing the meditation to a close.

Reviews

Thank you Stephen. We’re exploring silence this week in my other mindfulness group. Thanks again 🙏✨💛😊🕊💫