Ocean of Insight

The mind is like an ocean... thoughts and emotions are like the waves churned up by the winds of agitation. Practice stopping the winds to let the ocean settle.

Transcript

Okay,

So the meditation we're going to do this morning is on insight.

And as we discussed,

The mind is like an ocean.

Thoughts and emotions are like waves on the ocean,

And winds of agitation blow across the ocean causing these afflictive emotions and thoughts.

If we can just cut off those winds of agitation,

The ocean settles.

And then we can look inside at the beauty.

We can dive into the ocean,

Dive into the mind,

And we can see things clearly.

We can have moments of insight.

We can also detach from whatever arises.

And in doing this,

We also give the mind a chance to settle.

We use this insight meditation to break free from the stories of our thoughts and our judgments.

And we just rest.

And in that resting,

Insight can grow.

So we sit in a comfortable meditation position.

Make sure that your back is reasonably straight.

Your hands either on your knees or in your lap.

And you can close your eyes.

If you're feeling sleepy,

You can just open them slightly.

So some of us have done the breath meditation.

The breath meditation is the anchor for mindfulness.

It helps us to stay in the present moment.

So when our mind wanders,

We then bring it back.

We use the mechanics of mindfulness to bring it back to the breath.

The breath then grounds us into this moment.

Our dear friend that keeps us alive,

We use it for our mindfulness anchor.

And as we sit here,

Be aware of your body,

Relax the body,

Relax the awareness.

Finding the breath in the body,

Noticing the subtle movements as you inhale and exhale.

Not having to change the breath too much.

Not expecting a deep breath,

But just a nice,

Even-paced breath.

Comfortable.

Placing your attention on the rising and falling of your tummy as you breathe.

Or your torso.

Just choose a particular point.

Just let it rest there as you breathe.

If your attention wanders,

Wanders around like a little puppy dog,

Gently bring that puppy dog back.

We don't beat the puppy.

We're kind to the puppy.

So don't be judgmental of this practice.

Just with compassion for yourself,

Come back to this moment,

Come back to the breath.

Don't let it die.

So now we've had a little bit of a chance to calm those winds of agitation,

Let the ocean of the mind settle and now we move into insight meditation.

So insight meditation we look directly at the mind using the mind as our object,

Staying with the breath actually coming back to the anchor but we're going to employ a labeling technique.

So as you are staying with your breath your mind starts to think certain thoughts and certain stories.

As this starts to happen I want you just to label thinking,

Thinking,

Thinking.

Then the mind settles back to the breath and until the next train of thoughts or stories,

Memories or fantasies,

As soon as whatever happens we catch it and we just label thinking.

We don't follow the story,

We don't get involved,

Our label,

Once it's placed on that thought see how it can just dissipate on its own quite naturally like clouds passing through the sky.

If a sensation arises in our bodies we don't get involved with it,

We just label it feeling,

Feeling,

Feeling.

If we hear a sound we just label that hearing,

Hearing.

We don't get involved with the sound,

If we hear a bird tweeting we don't try to analyze what type of bird could that be.

We just label the sound hearing,

Hearing.

So we have three labels,

Thinking,

Feeling and hearing.

Returning back to your breathing,

Focusing on your breath and whatever arises you just take your little post-it note label,

Attach it to whatever arises and return back to the breath in your own time.

Cool.

Where is your mind right now?

Has your level of stillness enabled you to see the arising?

The rising of thoughts,

Of sensations,

Of sounds.

Are you experiencing insight?

Or are you using your friend,

The dear breath,

Coming back into this present?

Where are your other thoughts?

The the the the the the the So now coming to the end of the practice.

Feeling gratitude for being able to spend this time meaningfully.

To be able to experience stillness and calm.

To strengthen that muscle of mindfulness.

And also just to have a little bit of insight.

To understand the mind's true nature.

And we learn how to detach from those thoughts and feelings and things that go on.

We're able to let go of things easier.

It enables us to really open up to more happiness and joy.

For more information visit www.

Mooji.

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Reviews

Gentle, kind and supportive. Love the pace and plenty of spacious pauses to help experience the mind’s work. Overall, this practice has a grounding and calming effect on me as I return to it again. Finally, I love the image of a post-it notes to label the mind’s activity; it worked for me really well.
Gratitude for your skillful guidance. Namaste.

such a powerful teaching, for myself and my chronic pain patients who catastrophise or feel anxious about pain. this teaches us all how to not judge our sensation and thoughts , and enables us to provide self comfort and improve our pain threshold, emotionally and physically. thank you

Love the labelling practice. Really helps to centre one's self and be okay with interruptions but not letting them control us.

Thank you, Mark...this was so amazing.

Great meditation with so much space to allow things to rise.

Really helped deepen my awareness

Excellent. Really liked the thinking, hearing, feeling. Helped me to focus. Nicely done. 🙏🏽

Wonderful as always 🙏🏽 Namaste

Very nice and peaceful. Returning bell was a little loud for me.

This was brilliant. The simple act of labeling with thinking, feeling or hearing, helped to reign me back in. Lots of space to center yourself at the beginning of the meditation before the practice which I also appreciated as I didn’t have to jump right into the core of the meditation. Well paced, with ample practice time. Namaste 🙏🏻🐝

Thank you, very grounding 🙏

Peaceful, love the insight focus ❤️

Loved the balance of talk and silence.

Superb. I am so glad I found this !!!! Thank you I will use it again ..... and try to find the facilitator on line if he is for more !!!!!!

Really enjoyed the guidance and advice on my meditation practice. New ways to visualize thoughts, feelings, sound, etc and to kindly & compassionately not let them interrupt my calm mind. Thank you!

Feel right a sleep, worked great

Thank you. It was helpful in stopping my rumination, and giving me more clarity. I will come back to this meditation.

I continue to come back to this teaching for it's good reminders.

Thinking, feeling and hearing, huh? Thanks for the post-it notes! It is so insightful!

Perfect to calm my thoughts - love the long silences. Thank you!