So we settle ourselves down for some meditation time.
Taking a few moments,
First of all,
To make sure our body is relaxed.
Closing our eyes gently and breathing deeply.
Taking to the full extent of our lungs and then breathing slowly and smoothly out again.
Once again breathing the refreshing air that has come to us at this time.
And as we breathe out,
Perhaps feeling that we're letting go of any of the previous worries or concerns we may have had.
We make sure all the muscles of our body are properly relaxed.
By doing what's known as a body scan.
Starting at the top of our head and scanning down through our body.
Relaxing each and every muscle as we go.
Relaxing our forehead,
Our eyebrows and eyelids.
Making sure the way we've closed our eyes is as gentle as possible.
Allowing the muscles of our face to become soft.
Relaxing our jaw,
Taking care not to clench our teeth together.
Relaxing our neck and shoulders,
If necessary allowing our shoulders to drop to their natural height.
Relaxing both arms,
Our forearms and then our hands and fingers.
Then relaxing the whole of our torso,
Chest,
Trunk and abdomen.
Taking special care of the muscles across our stomach.
And relaxing both the legs all the way down to our feet and our toes.
Until we feel satisfied that no remaining part of our body has any stress or tension anymore.
Almost to the point where our whole body seems to melt away into the atmosphere around us.
From there we turn our attention to relaxing the mind.
Which means turning our attention inward to the sense of warmth or well-being or of inner space.
Something which by any other name we might call our state of mind.
And we gather our attention back from all the possible distractions in the outside world.
So that is anything outside of the space of our body.
Gathering our attention back inside ourself.
Putting aside any worries or concerns on our mind.
And remaining in the present moment,
Keeping our attention on the task in hand.
Inside us conjuring up a sense of happiness and joy.
Perhaps casting our mind back to some happy time in our life.
Or even an occasion where we were able to help someone else but felt good about it on the inside of ourself.
That warm,
Fuzzy feeling that comes with an act of altruism.
Just thinking about the feeling will bring the same feeling back again.
And we allow that positive energy to grow and spread within us.
To the point that there's no space left inside us for any other sort of thought.
And when we feel relaxed both in body and in mind,
Very gently using no effort at all.
We imagine the whole of our body to be nothing but a hollow cavity.
Without any organs or tissues,
Muscles or bones.
Or if you prefer to think of the body as something like a transparent bubble with nothing on the inside.
We think back to whatever object of meditation works best for us.
It might be a picture as such as that of the sun shining brightly,
Yellow or golden colour.
Or it might be an object that we feel.
We know it's there by our sense of touch.
Almost like the sensation of a feather touching us.
And we relocate that object gently downwards,
Allowing it to float down within the space of our body.
Until it comes to rest somewhere around about the level of our diaphragm.
About two finger breaths above the level of our navel,
The centre of our body.
Or at the point of the deepest breath.
The point where the breath turns between the in-breath and the out-breath.
They're all the same point.
The way we find that place is by using our feeling.
If we feel it's right,
Then it generally is the right place already.
The exercise of meditation is about maintaining that sense of focus by means of our inner object.
At that deepest point of the breath,
In the centre of our diaphragm.
Or the seventh base of the mind as it's called in our Dhammakaya meditation technique.
We find our attention slipping away onto other things and each time we simply bring our attention back again.
Little by little we build up the habit in the mind.
Keeping the mind on track at the centre of the body.
If we have thoughts in the mind,
We do our best to ignore them.
At least not to elaborate on them.
And I'm sure one of those people who has so many thoughts that it's impossible even to not get entangled in them.
In which case you may need to make use of the traditional mantra.
Hearing the sound of words repeated over and over in the mind.
Such as the words Samma Arahang.
So the actual source of the words is down there at the centre of your body along with the inner object.
Samma Arahang.
Samma Arahang.
Samma Arahang.
Over and over again,
Lightly,
Gently and continuously.
With a special lightness of touch.
Attaining our inner object whether it's something we see or something we feel.
Always at the centre of whatever is there.
Even if it's darkness we can be at the centre of it.
But the important thing is the lightness of touch.
Continue to maintain our attention on track at the centre of the body.
Each to our own meditation for a few more moments in silence until we come to the appropriate time.
Thank you.
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Don't forget if your mind wanders away onto other things.
Each time you realise simply bring your attention back again to the centre of the body as before.
Bringing it back for as many times as it takes to become established,
To form a connection with the centre.
In a way that you can actually feel the connection.
If the thoughts return do your best to ignore them.
Make use of the mantra if ignoring them isn't working.
And always double check to make sure you're using only the very lightest of touch in the way you apply your mind at the centre.
