Self-Inquiry Guided Meditation With Mantra

This is another guided meditation that was recorded live as a part of one of our meditation courses. Later the sound of nature and shakuhachi flute was added. Its a long one, almost 60minutes! Hope you will enjoy this as an offering for the long winter evenings. Merry Christmas.

Transcript

Gently closing your eyes.

Take one deeper,

Longer inhalation,

Exhalation.

And we will begin the practice by chanting Aum together.

We can chant 11 Aums since today is our mantra week.

And be relaxed really.

No need to count,

I will tell you when the last one is coming.

And let us withdraw the attention inwards.

Try to relax your abdominal muscles.

Before we start chanting,

Bring the attention towards the navel,

Feeling of that movement of the breath,

The abdominal gentle breathing.

And as we chant these sounds,

The Aum mantra,

Allow or direct this sound from the navel up to the top of your head.

So we will be aware how the resonance of the sound is rising from the navel to the top of the head.

So let's begin.

Take a deep inhalation.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

Aum.

And one more.

Aum.

Aum.

Feeling of your whole body,

From the toes to the top of the head.

And your being,

Your presence in your room.

With closed eyes visualize the exterior,

The external world,

That you can feel your being here.

For a few minutes we have time,

We have this opportunity to just stop everything else,

To postpone our plans or projects that we are involved in.

And relax.

Taking some time to calm the mind,

To relax the body.

And to shift from thinking to feeling,

From doing to being.

And so you feel your presence in this room here and now.

And then let us bring attention to this body.

Bring your attention to your face muscles.

In case some tensions are there,

Let us consciously release them.

Maybe the eyebrows can soften a bit more.

Allowing your cheeks to relax,

Your jaws,

As well as all muscles inside the mouth.

Then the shoulders,

Neck.

Feel your whole spinal column,

Your back muscles.

Relax.

Relax your back muscles and keep your spine straight upright at the same time.

Bring your attention to the collarbones,

Chest and the abdominal muscles,

So we may allow also there for some relaxation.

That you can feel the whole trunk of the body is a bit more relaxed.

It seems sometimes as suddenly there is more space inside the trunk of the body for the breath.

And then we bring attention to the legs,

Feet and toes.

The whole body.

From the toes to the top of your head,

Feel the whole body.

And the body is just a little bit more relaxed now.

Maybe that slight ease in the body makes it possible to keep the body still.

Just a tiny bit of relaxation,

If you can notice.

It helps to maintain easily the stillness of the body.

And just a few moments of stillness and combined with our full attention applied there to our trunk of the body works backwards,

It releases even more tensions from the body.

And then that feeling of stillness intensifies and so it goes.

Usually we come to a point that we don't feel that it is a restriction to be still,

But it is very nice to be still.

Like when you watch a little bird and you don't want to move to disturb him.

In the same way there is something very special awakening as if within us through stillness that we don't want to disturb.

And if we have overcome this first gross level so that it is more comfortable and easy to be still physically.

And we may feel right away the fruits of this effort which is turning into something more effortless.

That we go to the second more subtle level of our breath.

So we noticing,

We paying more attention to the breathing.

Nothing is changed,

Only the level of attention is greater towards the breathing than perhaps it was before.

And at the same time make sure you are not trying hard,

So you remain relaxed,

Motionless.

Just a bit more focused on the breath.

And we notice the body moving slightly with inhalations expanding and with exhalations contracting.

Imagine as if you sit back and just watch this oneness of your breath and body.

Peaceful breathing.

Relaxed and motionless body.

Our trunk of the body is expanding slightly.

And with each exhalation,

It's contracting.

And with each movement of the breath,

Slowly we draw the attention into the inner space.

So that the experience of this movement becomes more an experience from within the body.

And the breathing is like you sitting in the bubble or a balloon and that space is expanding or that bubble and contracting with the breath.

Now,

We'll go back.

See how pleasant it is?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ From that inner space,

As you're watching the breath of the body in this perfect oneness,

Let us also notice if any thoughts are just moving through this space,

Through the mind,

We may say.

♪♪ And there,

Too,

Let us remain just a witness,

A neutral observer or witness of whatever thoughts are arising.

Don't make an effort to try to create some thoughts.

I'm almost certain there are some.

Just let us look.

And at the same time,

You're not losing your awareness of the breath.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ At this point,

We are not analyzing the thoughts,

Only be a witness.

Just like you would be watching a cloud passing in the sky.

Remember,

Even the evaluation of the thought,

Putting it into category of a positive or negative or good or bad,

Favorable or something we want rather to hide,

This is also a thought.

It's a judgment,

And it's just another cloud that you notice and let it pass.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So we have our body that is sitting here.

It's breathing.

Relaxed.

Motionless.

♪♪ And some thoughts are moving,

Coming,

Going.

♪♪ And there is the one who is aware of all this,

Aware of this space,

The body,

The breath,

And the thoughts.

♪♪ ♪♪ And if we ask the question,

Who am I?

♪♪ Then the answer would be,

I am this one,

The witness.

♪♪ A conscious presence.

♪♪ The awareness.

♪♪ ♪♪ And the mantra that points towards this is the mantra SO HAM.

So we very gently,

Gradually,

Introduce these two words to our mind.

SO HAM.

Mentally repeating these two words,

SO with inhalation,

HAM with exhalation.

I am that.

Which that one?

The one that's not the object.

The one that is pointing the subject.

Perhaps the one who is aware even of the awareness switching between the body,

Breath,

And thoughts.

SO HAM.

And again,

Remain relaxed.

Let all the other thoughts to be there in that space.

But we simply put our attention only to these two words in conjunction with the breathing.

SO inhalation,

HAM exhalation.

Body expanding slightly with SO,

The inhalation.

Contracting,

Exhalation,

HAM.

♪♪♪ You may allow to awake in your mind this very subtle energy of being curious.

It's almost an excitement.

Like when we go on a new adventure we've never been.

So is the mantra taking us somewhere maybe we haven't been before.

♪♪♪ The more you pay attention,

Then the more it takes us,

But the journey is within,

Not outside.

♪♪♪ SO HAM.

♪♪♪ In case that some kind of disinterest in this appears at this moment in your mind,

Notice that to be just another cloud to let go of.

And return to the mantra.

And be sure that we are making the steps to the right direction now.

Every conscious repetition of the mantra,

Every conscious breath,

Every moment spent here and now is making a step within back to our inner home.

♪♪♪♪ Where the mind finds the peace,

The joy.

SO HAM.

♪♪♪♪ And remember,

Be relaxed.

Don't try too hard.

Even that feeling that it's hard,

Maybe that's another cloud,

A product of the mind.

We notice and let go.

♪♪♪♪♪ As we continue for the last few minutes with the awareness of the body,

Breath,

And the mantra,

We will take the attention into the center of the chest,

The heart center.

As if the mantra would be repeated from there.

Breath is felt there.

That space of the chest is experienced.

As if you have entered some inner,

Most sacred space of your own body where nobody else can come with you.

Nothing else from outside.

And yet,

It doesn't feel lonely at all.

Outside,

It's very alive.

Very familiar place.

Very intimate.

Just like when you put a head on the shoulder of your good friend.

Just like that,

We may feel the presence of something in our heart.

Something closer than anything out there.

So,

Um.

♪♪♪♪♪♪ ♪♪♪♪♪♪ ♪♪♪♪♪♪ ♪♪♪♪♪♪ Now we can let go of the mantra.

Let go of all efforts.

Let go of any distance.

Any separation.

Just total relaxation.

Resting within the tiny space of the heart.

Let the inner peace penetrate through and through.

Then it's almost impossible to feel any separation.

Only one.

One in all and all in one.

So,

Um.

That I am.

That I am.

♪♪♪♪♪♪♪ Become aware from that inner space,

The center of the chest,

Of the whole body.

Without leaving that space,

Just expand the awareness to the whole body.

And feel the floor beneath.

The air on the skin.

Your presence here in this room.

The sounds around you.

One slightly deeper inhalation,

Exhalation.

We will chant Om together three times.

And after three Oms,

The peace mantra,

Om Shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti.

Deep inhalation.

Om.

Om.

Om.

Om Shanti,

Shanti,

Shanti.

Slowly move your fingers.

Move your shoulders.

Move your head,

Your neck.

Take time,

Introduce some movements to your body and then we can rub the palms.

Place your warmer hands on the face.

Feel your face muscles,

Your eyelids,

Nose.

And open your eyes.

You can bend forward if you have space to relax your neck,

Relax your back muscles.

And slowly with the help of your hands,

Again come up.

Om.

Reviews

A nice methodology to this practice.

Thank you.

Ah. Lovely 🥰

Divine 💕🙏

Very relaxing ty 🙏

Fabulous!!

Thank you 🙏

Lovely and peaceful, thank you 😊🙏🏻

Wonderful

Beautiful. Peaceful. Awakening. Thank you and namaste

Really nice

Very peaceful and beautiful meditation 🙏🏼

🙏💗

Very beautiful Thankyou 🤍

Excellent 🙏