MA 18 Kindling Inner Light To Dispel Life's Darkness

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This track explains the importance of gentleness in resting your attention at the center of the body and how to touch upon more joy in life by re-engaging with the astral light arising from inside.

Transcript

So if you'd like to start by closing your eyes very gently, Close your eyes in the same way that you might like to close your eyes to go to sleep. So never squeezing your eyes closed, But closing your eyes gently in just the same way you might close them if you're about to go to sleep. So not squeezing your eyes closed, But just letting your upper and lower eyelashes touch gently together. And in accordance with this idea of making sure our body is relaxed for the first five minutes of every meditation, We take a few deep breaths to ourselves. Breathing into the full volume of our lungs, And then breathing slowly and smoothly out again. Once again we breathe the cool refreshing air from around us. And as we breathe out we may feel that we're letting go of any worries and concerns previously on our mind. Let it go with the out breath. And to make sure our body is as relaxed as it can be, We do what's known as a body scan, Which means scanning down through the whole of our body in our imagination to make sure each and every muscle is properly relaxed. So we start at the top of our head, Relaxing our eyebrows, Our forehead, Checking once again to make sure our eyes are only gently closed, Allowing the muscles of our face to become soft. Relaxing our jaw, Taking special care not to clench our teeth together. And we move on down to relax all the muscles of our neck, And let our shoulders drop to their natural height. Relaxing our arms, Our forearms, Hands and fingers, So that as our hands rest in our lap, They do so lightly and gently. Continuing on down we relax all the muscles of our torso, Chest, Trunk and across our belly. Relaxing both legs, All the way down to our feet and our toes. Until our body feels so relaxed that it's almost as if it seems to disappear into the atmosphere around us, So that we have no more worries about our body anymore, And we can turn our attention instead to relaxing our state of mind. And by our mind I mean the sense of warmth, Wellbeing, Inner space within us. It's also something which we spend about five minutes relaxing, Putting in a good frame of mind before we make a start on the meditation itself. So we put aside any worries or concerns in our lives, Like an unburdening. Bringing our awareness back within the space of our body and into the here and now, Not letting our awareness get caught up with any regrets from our past or any plans for the future, But staying in the present moment. Focusing on the task in hand. And we conjure up a sense of happiness and joy inside ourselves, Almost as if those tiny particles of happiness and joy were completely filling our body and mind. Until eventually we come to the point where there's no space left inside our body and mind not occupied by that sense of happiness and joy. If joy and happiness doesn't come naturally to you, You can cast your mind back to a time in your life when you felt truly happy. Focusing more on that feeling that it gave you, The warm fuzzy feeling on the inside, More than the actual situation. Allow the happiness and joy to grow and spread within yourself. When you feel relaxed both in body and in mind, Imagine that within the space of your body is just a hollow cavity, An empty space with no organs or tissues, Muscles or bones. And once again remember back to the bright object which you imagined a few moments ago, Maybe a bright sun shining in the sky, Yellow, Gold, Orange in colour, A full moon, A star, Maybe a diamond, Whatever comes easiest to you. And this time we allow that inner object to come within the space of our own body, Floating gently downwards within ourselves, Almost as if we were breathing it down to the point at the centre of our abdomen. Or as if we were gently swallowing the object down until it reaches the pit of our stomach. And once it reaches that place then we don't move it anywhere else, But we try to maintain it as continuously as we can, For as long as we can. If the mind wanders away we bring it back, The inner object disappears we think of a new one. And if the thoughts inundate the mind we do our best to ignore them, Or make use of the sound of that mantra I suggested, The words Samma Arahang. And giving those words as if they seem to come like a silent music from the centre of our body, For as long as it takes for the thoughts to become quieter and eventually disappear. Today as we are meditating we will reflect on how to touch upon more joy in life, By re-engaging with the astral light arising from the inside. Because sometimes life can be like a roller coaster, Sometimes there are good times, Sometimes there are bad. It's like when the sun is up, The world is bright, But when the sun goes down the world is left in darkness. But there is an art to living in darkness, And the wisdom of meditation teaches us very well how to make the most of life. In times of darkness meditation is an important tool, And is key to enjoying life in spite of the bad times. So we relocate our attention to the centre of the body, Somewhere inside the stomach, Within the abdomen. It's the same place where the in-breath stops for a moment, Before it turns around to come out again as an out-breath. For as long as we can maintain our awareness somewhere at the centre, As long as we can reconnect at that point, Then we touch upon a sense of inner peace automatically. And it's almost like a sense of homecoming for the mind, The mind that's normally pulled away to things around us, Gets to come back to a place where it can recharge and replenish itself. It's the place where the mind truly belongs, A place where the mind can rest from its wandering, And take the opportunity to be still for a change, Absorbing the sense of peace from the inside that is gradually and slowly increasing. A sense of peace is generated in spite of our doing nothing, Doing nothing more than keeping our mind still at the centre. When there are bad times in our lives, It's like the mind is blanketed by darkness. That inner darkness prevents and hinders the mind from shining through. At the same time, It tends to cause us to overlook any silver lining in our lives, To the point that positivity can't get through to the mind. That blanket of darkness renders the mind coarse and unyielding, It generates negative feeling in the mind, Whether it be anger, Depression, Boredom or despair. And the only definitive way to get out from under that blanket of darkness is by meditation. As we know from the wisdom of that meditation technique, The original nature of the mind is clarity, Purity, Radiance and a spherical appearance. But we lose contact with the mind's original pure nature when it gets blanketed by that darkness. But by practising meditation, We'll be able to restore the beauty, The clarity, The cleanliness and the spherical nature of the mind, Restoring it to its original essence. It's only by returning the attention to the centre point of the abdomen that this can be achieved to recover the brightness within again. According to the wisdom of meditation, This inner location is also said to be the spark of life. Every time we connect to that spark of life, We can reconnect to the brightness of the original mind. The brightness here will dispel the darkness blanketing our life. All we need to do is to let the inner light radiate through from the centre of our body, Spreading that brightness outwards until it dispels the blanket of darkness covering our mind and our lives. So we continue to maintain our attention gently at the original spark of light within ourselves for a few more moments in silence. Thank you. And as we practice further, We will become more and more aware of the presence of the mind. And as we practice further, We will become more adept at using the lightest of touch at the centre of the body, Allowing the brightness to shine forth naturally, Almost like the gentle click of a mouse button at just the right point on a computer screen. Those with the experience often recount feeling moved by the sense of inner light arising from within. But for newcomers, It's not so hard just to approximate to the same brightness by using thought and memory to start the mind on the right track, Creating an imaginary picture of light. This is how we can harness thought and memory to create an inner picture. So we conjure up a suitable picture, And by suitable, I mean thinking of or recalling an inner object that is bright by nature. If we recall candle light, Then we'll be able to perceive the glimmer of a candle flame at our centre. If we recall a star or a diamond, Then a star or a diamond will appear in tranquillity at the centre of ourselves. And with the inner picture will come a sense of joy and release which gradually grows within us as the spark of light starts to penetrate through the blanket of darkness in our lives. When we practice meditation, All we have to do is to let ourselves enjoy the feeling that accompanies the inner light, Something which, According to the wisdom of meditation, Is known as the light of wisdom. Once we gain access to the light of wisdom, Although the darkness of life may still be there, It will no longer cause us to suffer to the same extent. Life will seem brighter every hour of the day, Every minute, Every breath we take, As we gain that light of wisdom. Meditation is really the only way to access this transformation. This is the reason why we need to practice together peacefully in this way, Until we can meditate confidently on our own. To live in the brightness in spite of the darkness of life, The wisdom of meditation is essential and brings a sense of joy, Both by day and by night. Modern terminology might call it a coping strategy for leading your life out of darkness. So keep your mind on track at the centre of the body, By re-establishing it there again, Whenever it wanders. It's easy to assume the centre is helping us, When life feels bright and joyous. But if the shadows return, Don't wait until it's too late, Make the opportunity to rekindle the inner light by sitting down to do meditation as soon as you can. In this way, To enjoy life to the fullest, Enjoying meditation and enjoying life go hand in hand. In the meantime, We allow the astral light at the centre to continue transforming our life from within, As we continue to practice meditation for a few more moments in silence. In many respects, Meditation is like the other skills that we learn in life, Whether it be mastery of a sport or fluency in a new language. Practice makes perfect, And although we might be new to meditation today, Learning the technique for the first time and possibly coming across obstacles, For some or maybe beginners luck for others, It's useful to bear in mind that practice will help us to go further within the same length of time. The key to establishing the skill of meditation is regularity in our lives, And generally I recommend that everyone find at least 20 minutes to meditate each day. Sitting down at a time of the day which is convenient for you, A time when you're not too tired, When you still have a little bit of energy. Relaxing your body, Relaxing your mind, Focusing gently at your centre, While clearing the thoughts from your mind. If you can manage this for 20 minutes each day, Then there'll be a sense of well-being that builds up within yourself, That becomes tangible in the latter stages of your meditation practice. A warm fuzzy feeling on the inside that seems to stay with you, Even as you get up from your meditation to do other things, And that sense of well-being will still be with you as you do other things. Of course it will wear off after some time, But as you meditate more regularly, You get more hours of meditation under your belt, Then the sense of well-being will stay with you for longer, Be more robust, More resilient, Will stay with you in spite of the challenges that confront you in life, Until what's known as mindfulness develops in your waking life, In a way that's seamless with the well-being that you develop when you have your eyes closed to meditation, Until there's something that you can keep with you from the moment you wake up in the morning to the last thing at night. So apart from remembering the technique you've practiced today, I would encourage you to practice further on your own, In your own homes, On a regular basis. When you have questions, Then you can come back to the online group with hopefully some good answers, And also meditating along with others is a good source of inspiration and encouragement to keep us going, Even though we might be meditating physically on our own. So we continue to meditate in this way for a few more moments now in silence until we come to the appropriate time.