Being Free In This Moment

This is a talk that was recorded during a silent meditation retreat. Shane shares how to be free in this moment. These tips show you how to work with negative states in and out of formal meditation so that you can live a life of freedom.

Transcript

Ask yourself at this moment,

What are you experiencing?

That's a very general question.

But we can actually find a lot of truth in that question alone.

What are we experiencing?

We're hearing,

We're visualizing with the eyes closed,

We're smelling and tasting.

We're feeling our clothes against the skin on the cushion or chair.

These are the rudimentary aspects of life and what we're doing in this moment.

Most of us are doing a fair amount of thinking along with listening.

If we take it a little bit,

Maybe a step further,

Ask yourself what kind of state are you experiencing?

And don't be afraid to notice that it mixes with other states.

I mean,

Like there could be a combination of two or three different things happening.

We might feel content and excited and happy,

You know,

All these different labels that we can use.

There's different feelings or states such as inspiration.

Many times when we think of inspiration,

We immediately feel that that is our joy and our happiness,

To be inspired with life and what it has to offer.

So what state are we experiencing?

Now check and see if you notice how it has changed already.

From the first identification of it,

It has somehow changed,

Like the texture or the feeling or the mood or something.

As soon as we identify it,

That awareness alone changes it.

And that's true with everything.

So there's really nothing that we can really hang our hat on,

So to speak.

And when we realize that,

It's a little bit freer for us to know that any kind of state that we might be suffering,

As bad as it might be,

It's not going to last.

It'll change.

It's a real relief for a lot of people,

For a lot of different states.

But we also have to look at that the other way around.

If we think that this wonderful feeling of happiness and love is going to stay exactly the same as it is,

We'll actually be letting ourselves down.

So this is really a big part of acceptance,

That we must accept this changing and this constant flow in everything that it is.

And what that does is actually release us from a lot of duties.

We feel that things should be a certain way,

And perhaps we can provide that.

That we can't let down our guard because some different kind of state or negativity or something might come rushing in,

Which is just a lesson in itself.

So we just ask ourselves,

What are we experiencing?

Not even what state are we experiencing,

Whether it's good or bad or different kind of flavor.

But just what are we experiencing?

And in this non-judgmental awareness,

Just give ourselves a chance to even set aside the labeling,

The search for a word or a label that defines what we're experiencing.

So we're sitting in this open awareness,

And this is some people's definition of meditation.

And it's a wonderful place to be,

But for most of us our minds will just wander off if we try to sit in open awareness and enjoy it.

And so that's why we have to have that meditation object to come back to.

And that's the breath.

For most people it's the breath.

So we give ourselves permission to accept these ever-changing moods and emotions and feelings and sensations,

Because this is perhaps one of the most profound truths or insights that we can realize,

Is that everything is impermanent,

Constantly changing.

When we accept that,

We allow ourselves to step into it.

And to keep the mind from wandering off into thought or sometimes into fantasy,

We want to come back home,

And that means come back home to the breath or to our meditation object.

So we feel the breath someplace in the body,

We keep coming back to it.

The mind may wander off,

Most likely will,

And then wherever it wanders off to,

We just we touch that with our awareness.

And maybe there's insight arising,

Or maybe we're noticing a different state,

Maybe we're noticing a different feeling.

But all these things are really valuable tools,

But we don't want to dwell on them,

Because then we'll get thrown back into the everyday thought process that we've been doing all day long.

So we want to touch it with our awareness,

We want to notice the sensation,

Notice the feeling,

Notice the state,

Notice the teachings or the insights that are related to all of this,

Touch it with our awareness,

Accept it,

No judgment,

And come back to the breath.

Sometimes we'll notice that there's very interesting things that come up,

We might have a strong feeling of love for something or someone,

Something that we just want to hang on to and let it,

Just let it ride it out,

You know,

Until the end.

Although there's nothing wrong with that,

We have to be very keen and aware of what is all happening during that experience.

So we don't want to be very far away from the breath.

The breath is like,

Kind of like our flagpole in the windstorm.

There's a heavy wind,

And we don't want to get swept away,

We want to stay pretty close to that flagpole so we can hang on.

So we never want to be too far from the breath if possible,

And always feel like we can come back to it,

And always let it be a part of us.

It becomes very sweet,

Very friendly.

And allow the breath to be our tool to come into this presence,

This stillness,

And for some it's deep,

Deep concentration.

And just allow meditation to do its work.

Stay with the breath,

Feel the breath,

Every inhalation and exhalation,

Even the middle of the inhalation and the middle of the exhalation.

Give yourself permission to set aside the past and the future.

And understand what stands between you and being absolutely free in this moment.

And that's just simply the mind.

Reviews

Just what I was looking for.
Thank you so much.

Enjoyed this! Very soothing voice and like that you pause throughout. Also did a 35 min meditation of yours today and dozed off a couple of times on my deck! 😊

Thank you for your thoughts and insight. :-) Great meditation/talk.

Incredible meditation. I will use as often as possible.

A great talked paired with pleasant music and a wonderful message about using the breath to be present. I appreciated the idea that if we live in the past and dwell on it, we miss the present.

Good reminder 🙏✨

Make me think again! Grounding meditative thoughts and simple. Thanks.

Insightful 🙏🙏🙏

I found this excellent although occasionally distracted by the music. Thank you.

That was very very helpful. I particularly liked the concept of never being far away from the breath, and treating it like a power pole in a storm. Awesome. You have helped my practice considerably.
....... the music, please could you turn it down a little bit. Those of us who are older and are a little more challenged with hearing find the words harder to hear with the loud background music. Thank you. Namaste 😊🌈

Absolutely perfect and just what needed

This guided meditation is superb. Your voice is soothing and full of peace and compassion. Bo humbly you take us to a place of clarity and truth.
🙏🏻 Namaste 🙏🏻

Timely reminder delivered simply + gently 🙏 Thanks