MA 30 Valuing Those Hard-Won Moments Of Meditation

Meditation from the Thai Theravada tradition following a modernized interpretation of Boran Kammatthana. This track explains the importance of resting the attention at the center of the body without any trace of force, with a sense of openness and allowing things to happen on their own.

Transcript

So you like to start by finding a comfortable position for yourself in meditation. Finding a position of poise by which you feel you could sit for a long long time without having to move around too much. Hands resting, Palm upwards on your lap. Because you have a very upright posture. And close your eyes very gently, In much the same way you might close your eyes to go to sleep. Start by taking a few deep breaths to yourself. Breathing in to the full extent of your lungs. Before breathing slowly and smoothly out again. So again you can breathe in the cool refreshing air from around you. And as you breathe out you may feel that you're letting go of any worries and concerns at the same time. From there we take a few moments to make sure all the muscles of our body are properly relaxed. Starting at the top of our head and working our way gradually down, Relaxing all the muscles as we go. So we start by relaxing our eyebrows and our eyelids. Once again making sure our eyes are only very gently closed. In much the same way we might close them to go to sleep. As for the muscles of our face, We allow them to become soft. Perhaps smiling slightly to ourselves. But taking care that our jaw is relaxed and that we're not clenching our teeth together. From there we relax the muscles of our neck. Our shoulders are tense, We allow them to drop to their natural height. Before relaxing our arms, Forearms, Hands and fingers. So that as our hands rest in our lap they seem to do so only very lightly. From there we relax all the muscles of our torso, Our chest, Trunk and abdomen. Relaxing both of our legs, All the way down to our feet and our toes. So that eventually all the way from the top of our head, Right the way down to the tips of our toes, There'd be no remaining part of our body with any sort of stress or tension anymore. If we do notice any tension remaining we do our best to relax it as far as possible. To leave us with the sensation that the whole of our body seems to melt away into the atmosphere around us. Leaving no sense of discomfort in our body anymore. So that we can turn our attention inwards. Inwards to the sensation of warmth, Wellbeing and spaciousness on the inside. Something which by any other name we could call our state of mind. It's also something that needs to be relaxed further to pave the way for the meditation ahead. The usual way that we relax our state of mind is by letting go of all the normal things that we tend to worry about in our lives. Whether it be thoughts of work, Friends, Family or studies. We put these things on one side at least for the time that we're meditating together. If you do have particular things which seem rather important to think about, Put them on one side for now. With the thought that you can always come back to them later. Also we let go of our regrets about the past and our plans about the future. And where that leaves us is in the present moment with the task in hand which is a space in our lives that we have created for ourself only by taking a great deal of trouble. It's not very often that we get to recharge the batteries of our mind. It's only in such a place together with a meditation group that we can really focus on making sure our mind is properly relaxed. So we try to make the most of this opportunity. Bringing our mind back from a thousand different things in the outside world to a single place of stillness on the inside. It's almost as if on the inside there is a sense of peace somewhere at the centre of our being which was probably there all along, Which up till now we fail to notice. But as we bring our mind back from the outer distractions we engage with this inner feeling more and more. To a point where the whole sense of peace on the inside seems to pervade the whole of our being. To the point where there is no space left in our mind for any other sort of thought. When we feel relaxed and refreshed both in body and in mind, Very gently using no effort at all, We imagine that the inside of our body is just an empty space. A hollow cavity without any organs or tissues, Muscles or bones. Or as if the whole of our body had been transformed somehow into a sort of transparent bubble with nothing on the inside. And inside this empty space of our body, Again very gently without rushing the process at all, We remember back to that picture of the bright shining sun from a few moments ago. Maybe yellow or red in colour, Orange or white. But this time instead of appearing in the sky, The bright sun appears within the space of our body, Shining with a cool clear light. A light which is soft, Perhaps similar to that of the full moon rather than the sun itself. In the beginning the actual picture may not be very clear to us, But we accept it anyway. Even if it's rather vague. Holding that image in our mind as continuously as we can, For as long as we can. Trying to avoid letting the mind spin off onto any other distractions. If however we do notice that the mind has become distracted, Perhaps by external noise, As soon as we realise we simply bring it gently back again to the centre of the body as before. If the inner object disappears, We can always think of a new one. And apart from that we just maintain the object as continuously as we can, For as long as we can. The other possible problem that may come up in the meditation is an excess of thought. For many people the stream of thoughts in the mind is almost continuous. It is hard to find a single break in the thoughts to give ourselves that sense of peace and quiet. In such a case to open up a space between the thoughts in the mind, We make use of something called a mantra, Which is basically a word that we repeat to ourselves silently, As if we hear the sound of it coming up from the centre of our right object. The traditional mantra for this meditation method is the words Sammah Arahang, Sammah Arahang, Sammah Arahang. And we hear the sound of those words coming up as if like a silent music from the centre of ourselves, From the centre of the right object, Over and over again, Gently encouraging the mind to become free of thought, While at the same time linking our awareness more closely with this point in the centre of the body. It's also worth mentioning that we need to be as gentle as possible with the mind as we are meditating. Any trace of force, Any temptation to rush, Should be put on one side, Something which is not helpful for our meditation progress. What we need to use in the meditation is a sense of lightness, A sense of openness, And allowing things to happen on their own, Rather than feeling that we have to create experiences in the mind. So now for a few more moments in silence we cultivate our attention at the centre of the body, Keeping it on target with our bright object at our centre, Silently repeating to ourselves the sound of the mantra Sammah Arahang as well, For as long as there are remaining thoughts in the mind. So now each to their own practice in silence for a few more moments now, Until we come to the appropriate time. Thank you. Sammah Arahang, Sammah Arahang, Sammah Arahang, Over and over again, Lightly, Gently, Continuously. Emanating from the centre of your body, Keeping your mind on target, Remaining with the inner image, Which is the focus for your mind. Your attention wanders off to the things around you, You simply bring it back again to that central point each time you realise. If the inner image disappears, You can think of a new one. But if the inner object changes, There's no need to change it back again to what it was before. You simply follow it in its new form, Observing from your centre, Lightly, Gently and continuously. Continue in this way for a few more moments in silence, Until we come to the appropriate time.