MA 04 Meditation On True Relaxation

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This track is the Dharma-lite version of a guided meditation that works specifically with the crossover between meditation and sleep and tips to avoid 'forcing' the mind.

Transcript

So,

Start by finding a comfortable position for yourself in meditation.

You might sit cross-legged on a meditation mat,

With your right leg on your left leg,

Or you can sit on a straight back chair.

In either case,

Your right hand should rest on your left hand,

And the index finger of your right hand should touch against the thumb of your left hand,

With your hands resting palm upwards on your lap,

Lightly and gently.

And close your eyes very softly,

As if you were only half closing your eyes,

Similar to the way you might close your eyes to go to sleep.

Never squeeze your eyes closed,

And make sure there's no pressure around your eyes.

And fill your mind with a feeling of happiness and joy,

So that your mind feels refreshed,

Pure and clean on the inside,

Free of any sort of worries or anxieties whatsoever.

Let go of all these things,

Allow your mind to be empty,

And imagine that inside yourself is just an empty space,

Without any organs or tissues,

Without any muscles or bones.

Just like an empty cavity inside yourself,

A hollow space within you,

Empty rather like a crystal tube,

Or a diamond pipe,

Bright and clear inside yourself.

Once we understand the principles of meditation according to all we've learned,

We'll realize that there are pure inner elements within ourselves which can offer us solace and healing in life,

If we can reconnect with them.

But to reconnect we first need to refine our mind,

To make the mind as refined as those inner elements themselves.

The mind has to be as refined as the inner elements,

In order to perceive and experience them at first hand.

Thus the mind needs to be very refined indeed,

To be able to attain it,

Even to be able to see or feel those inner elements.

Therefore our job as a meditator is to refine the mind to a point where we can experience the subtle inner reality.

In our everyday life down to the present day we have been preoccupied with making our living,

Looking after our household and family,

And there have been things that have caused our mind to become coarse,

Because we have to use our mind to think,

Speak and take action.

Therefore the mind becomes coarse,

And once it's coarse it's unable to reach the pure inner elements within ourselves.

Everyday life habituates us to such coarseness of mind,

As a result of all the struggles,

Conflict and hardship we have to deal with in life.

This is how our mind becomes,

Because when we have to struggle,

When we have to have the words and actions to get by,

Sometimes we pick up the negative emotions from our colleagues at work,

Who are for the most part coarse of mind anyway.

Therefore when we come to meditate our mind becomes gross and coarse,

Because it's always caught up with all the thoughts of the workplace.

It's always appropriate to deal with coarse phenomena by coarse methodology.

If we're dealing with subtle things we have to use subtle methodology.

If we use methodology to fit the issue,

There is nothing we cannot improve.

We choose methodology appropriate to the issue we're dealing with.

Knowing that the mind is subtle,

We must use subtle methodology.

It's a methodology which is not the same as for the things in the outside world.

In the outside world we have to think,

But when dealing with the mind it's important that we don't think.

For the work of the outside world it's necessary to speak,

But for the inner work we say nothing.

For the work of the outside world it's necessary to move around,

But for the inner work it's necessary to remain still.

For meditation it's imperative that we don't attempt to think,

Speak or do anything.

We mustn't have any expectations about what we're going to see,

Because it's unlikely that we're just going to touch upon those pure inner elements by accident.

The mind needs to become subtle first.

Therefore for the period of our meditation we can forget about thinking,

Speaking or doing anything.

Simply allow the mind to remain in stillness at the centre of the body,

At the seventh base of the mind,

Which is located at the centre of our stomach,

About two finger breaths above the level of the navel,

In the centre of our body.

The centre of the body is particularly important because it's the only place in our body where the mind can stop.

It is the place where mind and body can come into balance.

It is aligned with the turning point of the deepest breath,

And it is the centre of wisdom in the body.

We must bring our mind,

Which normally wanders all over the place,

Back to this point at the centre of the body,

In a soft and gentle way,

Resting it there consistently,

Lightly and gently the whole of the time.

If we can rest our mind at the centre of the body in a light and gentle way,

We'll have the feeling of expansion inside ourselves.

Our eyes shouldn't stare down at our centre,

They should look straight ahead as they normally do,

Because they have nothing to do with the process of meditation.

We will have the feeling as if there is expansion and spaciousness inside ourselves,

Which gives us a feeling as if our body seems to melt away into the atmosphere around us.

Sometimes we may like to imagine a bright object at the centre of the body,

Such as a bright shining sun,

A full moon,

A star or a diamond at our centre.

But the way we imagine such an image should be in the same vein as already mentioned for resting the mind at the centre,

That is,

Gently,

Softly and continuously,

As if we were looking at a commonplace object such as a rose,

Something we don't bother to stare at,

But which we can just gaze at gently.

In fact it doesn't have to be a rose,

It could be any object which we are used to thinking of.

Whatever we choose,

We should imagine it continuously,

In a light and gentle way.

If we reach the perfect equilibrium in our meditation,

We will have a sense of lightness and expansion at the centre of the body.

We'll find that the inner experience expands outwards,

And this would be the right way of doing things.

However if we have a feeling in our meditation that something is blunt or stressed or narrow,

Then we shouldn't force ourselves to go further with meditation that feels like that.

Remember that you open your eyes and then close them to start all over again.

We have to approach our meditation gently,

Lightly and patiently,

With our mind at a standstill at the centre,

In a subtle and gentle way,

With our mind bright and clear at the centre.

In the beginning you may not see very much,

But that doesn't matter,

Because if our mind is simply at a standstill at the centre,

Before long we will have the feeling of lightness and expansion,

Bringing us a feeling of contentment in our meditation.

We'll feel that we'd like to stay with this feeling for a long,

Long time.

We won't have any feeling of boredom with our practice.

If you find that this is how your meditation is going,

Then there's no need to change your methodology.

There's no need to analyse or have a mental commentary on your practice.

Don't try to make the meditation happen,

But allow it to happen of its own accord.

Allow your mind to become peaceful by itself.

Don't try staring at the centre of your body,

And don't try using your eyes to see the object of meditation.

There's no need to analyse or reflect on what you're doing.

Just simply maintain your mind at the centre,

Gentle and in comfort.

And if you like,

You may repeat the sound of the mantra to yourself,

Samma Arahang.

You can repeat the mantra,

Or not repeat it as you wish.

If you find repeating it helps you,

It means that you can keep on repeating it over and over again to yourself,

Until your mind comes to a standstill at the centre.

Once your mind starts to come to a standstill,

Then the sound of Samma Arahang will die away by itself,

Almost as if you forgot to maintain it.

But if your mind is not still and wanders to other matters,

Then you need to keep up the mantra for a little bit longer.

But if your mind is no longer wandering and there are no more thoughts arising,

You can let the mantra die down,

And there's no need to maintain that mantra anymore.

Continue merely by maintaining your mind gently and in stillness at your centre.

Eventually,

Spontaneous brightness will arise by itself,

Continuously at the centre of the body,

As soon as your mind overcomes the five hindrances.

As for those who have seen brightness at their centre,

To the point that it remains in the mind,

Even though we might lie down to go to sleep at night,

Sometimes it feels that it will remain bright all night long,

Bringing us a feeling that we hardly need to sleep anymore.

Some people worry about this thinking that if they miss out on their sleep because of the inner brightness,

Before long,

Especially in the morning when they get up and have to go to work,

They will be worried that they have not had enough rest.

Because conventionally speaking we are told we need six or eight hours of sleep per night.

But when we have brightness inside keeping us awake at night,

There is no need to worry about the lack of sleep.

Being pale and washed out in the morning,

Or lacking confidence in decision making at work.

Conventional knowledge only works for conventional people.

It's only recommended that we need six or eight hours of sleep at night,

Because most people don't sleep very deeply.

They spend all night tossing and turning in their sleep,

Waking and going back to sleep again.

And their mind is not really resting when they're asleep.

In fact their six or eight hours of sleep actually don't involve very much rest for the mind at all.

But this is the norm for the majority of people.

But for us who know the secret of meditation,

The case is different.

Because the nervous system and the mind is already rested by the fact that meditation has relaxed us at a much deeper level.

Through our meditation we feel refreshed and sometimes,

Even though we meditate,

We may fall asleep for an hour or so in a night.

In fact that is ample for the mind that is subtle.

We'll wake up without feeling the need for additional rest.

We have to let go of our preconceived ideas about our sleep needs.

There's no need to worry about so-called conventional wisdom.

The level of refreshedness from sleeping with brightness inside is superior by a long way to sleeping with darkness inside.

If we close our eyes at night to brightness inside,

Then even a little rest counts for a lot.

We will be filled with joy and happiness the whole of the time.

The body adapting of its own accord.

It will demand only the bare necessities of rest.

Maybe two or three hours will be enough.

From inside it will feel ample.

Even as one is lying down to take one's rest,

For those with a basis of meditation experience,

There will be a sensation of one's consciousness being attracted through an expanding centre in our body.

Some may be afraid of that feeling.

Some may even try to resist the feeling and wake themselves up,

Because they are afraid of apparently falling down inside themselves as if going over a humpback bridge,

Or suddenly dropping like an aircraft in air turbulence.

In fact there is no need to resist the feeling.

On the contrary,

Such a feeling is a sign of progress in one's inner experience.

Sounds like our mind is being drawn inwardly towards the purer elements inside ourselves.

Rather like being drawn to a huge magnet down inside us.

We will be attracted inside and have a feeling,

Rather like we are moving even though we might be lying on a stationary bed.

But there's no danger in it at all.

Don't let such experiences put you off,

Because there's nothing to worry about.

If ever you come across such a sensation,

Just remain in the same position,

Because only good things will come of such an experience.

So you should go with the experience.

Is not everyone who has such a good experience in their meditation.

Of the 7.

6 billion people in the world,

It's only a handful who ever attain such an experience.

It shows that our mind is starting to become pure,

And that our self-training is beginning to give fruit.

In fact this is the nature of the mind when it becomes refined.

That it will attract us inwards towards a more refined dimension.

It doesn't make a difference if you are sitting in meditation or lying down,

If your mind is refined and focused at the centre to this point.

So don't let it bother you,

And don't let your eyes open when you come to this point,

Or try to resist the sensation.

You should play along,

Remaining impartial,

And not worrying where your consciousness is being attracted to,

Because in any case it's not going to harm you.

For harm to come to a person they have to be suffering from some sort of disease first.

We mustn't judge ourselves by the assumptions of conventional people.

However,

For those touching on such an experience,

You should be proud of yourself that your mind has become as refined to this point.

If your mind is not refined,

You have no way of reaching such an experience.

If your mind is not refined,

You will never experience inner brightness.

However,

Equipped with such inner brightness,

You will be able to relax more deeply than the majority of people,

And be able to sleep more deeply.

You will get more benefit after the short time you are asleep.

You will lie down at night with the feeling of expansion within yourself,

As the happiness inside is expanding and pervading throughout your body.

Equipped with a mind full of happiness,

You can maintain contentment whatever situation you find yourself in.

Thus,

With an accurate understanding of these issues,

You can make more efficient use of your meditation time.

You won't waste time trying to use force to make your meditation progress.

If the image is not clear to you,

Adjust the subtlety of your mind,

Rather than trying to adjust the clarity of the image directly.

But,

Whatever you have to see inside,

Whatever there is to see,

Just observe it without trying to interfere with it.

For anyone who is tired or sleepy or stressed,

Allow yourself to fall asleep in your meditation for a moment,

And when you wake up,

Continue with your meditation.

If you have an itch,

Then scratch.

If you have a lot of thoughts coming through your mind,

Open your eyes and close them again.

If you have aches or pains,

Then just change position.

Anyone who perseveres with meditation and makes it a habitual part of their daily practice,

Will be able to achieve success,

If not sooner than later.

And all of you eventually will be able to touch upon the transformative inner experiences which lie within before long.

So now each to their own meditation practice in silence for a few more moments now,

Until we come to the appropriate time.