So when you're ready,
Gently close your eyes and settle yourself comfortably for meditation by finding a sustainable position of poise for yourself.
You might be sitting on a meditation mat or on a straight back chair,
But however you're sitting your spine should be elongated and yet relaxed.
Allow your hands to rest,
Palm upwards on your lap and remember that this is your time,
It's time for yourself rather than being time for anyone else's benefit.
So we might begin by connecting with the sensation of our breath moving through our nostrils.
We continue breathing in a slow steady rhythm.
We might imagine that as we breathe we're taking in delightful fragrance with each in-breath,
Perhaps like roses in full bloom or a freshly brewed pot of coffee or anything else that's pleasing for your senses.
You might notice how your breath expands your lungs,
Creating a subtle rising and falling movement.
And we allow this breath to nourish and soothe us.
From there we can imagine a wave of peace and relaxation washing over us as we invite our muscles to begin to relax throughout our body.
So we relax and release any pent-up tension in the muscles of our body,
Starting by relaxing the muscles of our face,
Whether it be our eyebrows,
Eyelids or the muscles of our jaw.
As any tension around our jaw we should avoid clenching our teeth together.
As for any other tensions we allow them to relax completely and we can just let go.
We continue relaxing down through our neck,
Our throat,
Down to our shoulders.
We let our arms hang effortlessly and allow our hands to feel soft and receptive,
Allowing the sense of relaxation to flow in and then flow further down into our body,
Whether it be our lower,
Mid or upper back.
Continuing on down,
Relax all the muscles of our torso,
Our internal organs,
Our belly,
Before allowing the muscles of our hips and our legs to relax as well.
Continuing on down into our legs,
Relaxing our knees,
Calves,
Around our ankles,
Down to our feet and our toes,
Allowing them all to relax completely until our entire body feels relaxed,
Almost to the point that we feel that our body is melting away into the atmosphere around us,
In the same way that sand might run through an hourglass or that an ice cube might melt away into nothing but water.
Sometimes having a picture in mind will help us with the relaxation process.
And having relaxed our body,
We can turn our attention inward,
Also to make sure that our state of mind is as relaxed as possible.
Often it's just a case of letting go of any thoughts or distractions still lingering in the mind,
Regrets from our past,
Plans for the future,
Remaining in the present moment.
If we still have any mental chatter,
We do our best to allow it to fade into the background.
While giving ourselves the time to slow down and reconnect with the deeper level of our body and mind,
While conjuring up inside ourselves a sense of happiness and joy.
And if such a feeling doesn't come naturally to us,
Then we might cast our mind back to a time in our lives when we did feel truly happy.
Reconnecting with that feeling and conjure up that feeling all over again in the here and now as if it were tiny particles of happiness and joy within ourselves,
Completely filling our body and mind.
And once we feel relaxed both in body and mind,
Now we can turn our attention inward in the normal way,
As if inside our body is just an empty space without any organs or tissues,
Muscles or bones,
Almost like a hollow space inside us.
And inside our mind we might conjure up a feeling of positive energy in our life or perhaps a feeling of empty space within us,
Filled with happiness and joy.
And within that empty space of our body,
We might remember back to that object that we imagined a few moments ago,
Perhaps something like the shining sun,
A star,
Maybe a diamond or a full moon,
Or perhaps the feeling as if such an object is present inside us and floating slowly downwards until it comes to rest somewhere round about the very centre of our body,
Somewhere on the level of our solar plexus,
Somewhere around the centre of our diaphragm.
In practice it can be anywhere within the space of our body which feels comfortable for us.
What's important is that if anything distracts our awareness away,
We bring our attention back to this central point each time,
And if that inner object disappears,
We can simply conjure up a new one,
And we continue by checking in at the centre of our body.
The way we apply our mind should be with the utmost gentleness,
Making sure we don't press tightly within our awareness.
All we need is the mental equivalent of something like a soft notch at the centre,
Checking in gently but firmly,
Touching with only a feather-light touch,
As little by little we become more and more familiar with what the word gentle can mean for the mind.
And it means being unhurried,
Taking as much time as is necessary,
And simply allowing our mind to slow down and become still,
Gradually accumulating a sense of peace energy within itself that can pave the way towards the real stillness of the mind.
If you find yourself distracted from time to time by thoughts,
You can merely acknowledge the activity of your mind and direct your attention back again to your centre.
The reality of meditation,
At least in the beginning,
Is that it's always going to be this gentle back and forth,
So pay attention to this process by which the mind gets distracted away from the centre,
Then are gently bringing it back again,
Until at a certain point bringing the mind back to the centre becomes like second nature.
The mind wandering will lead us unfazed and we remain persistent in bringing the mind back again and again,
Treating it with the same patience and gentleness that we might use to train a young puppy to come to heal.
In meditation you never have to push anything away,
You never have to try to control or fix your thoughts,
But if at any time during your meditation you realise the mind has wandered off or got caught up in thinking,
Don't regard it as a problem because that's just what it's used to doing,
But instead we give it something different,
We reintroduce it to the centre while continuing to observe at the centre,
Because each time our awareness connects extendedly at the centre,
It will allow us to dive deeper to where the true stillness and calm really is,
To where the true beauty of the mind is.
So remind yourself that there's nothing that you have to get right or perfect,
You simply remain curious and observe in the present moment.
It's about becoming familiar with the centre,
Observing its qualities,
And along the way it's as if we are creating a space between ourselves and our thoughts,
While tapping into that still and silent place between the thoughts,
If the thoughts do return we do our best to ignore them,
But if ignoring the thoughts proves ineffective we can always make use of that traditional mantra,
Hearing the sound of the words,
Samma arahang,
Samma arahang,
Samma arahang,
Coming up as if from the very centre of the body.
The more time we give to the mantra the more power it will have to overcome any thoughts in the mind,
And they'll start to lead us deeper toward a sense of purity in the mind as we feel those words resonating within every cell,
Every fibre of our being.
And in effect in any meditation we are constantly guiding our mind back to the present moment and back towards our true nature,
Inward beyond thought,
As we gradually build up a relationship with the centre of our body,
As we get to know the centre,
And in return the centre will guide us to the present moment,
The calm and the peace within,
Allowing us to become more and more aware of the space and silence inside our mind,
To the point that it becomes something tangible to us.
In the meantime we may be aware of thoughts or sounds or emotions,
And all we need to do is observe them while maintaining contact with the centre of the body,
Gradually building up familiarity with the centre.
In the meantime we need to maintain our sense of patience rather than asking ourselves why it's taking so long,
Or why the feeling isn't clear yet,
Or why the meditation proper hasn't kicked in yet.
Being patient in meditation can sometimes mean just sitting back and evaluating our meditation less frequently and less critically,
Simply enjoying the journey and appreciating the time that we've set aside for ourselves,
Because change in meditation can be slow in nature,
Rather like grass growing.
We can assume that as with any mindfulness practice,
Whether we see it or not,
Some sort of improvement is taking place over time,
Albeit slowly.
So we spend our time running less of a mental commentary,
While freeing up the mind to enjoy our meditation in the present moment more and more.
And for now we sit for a few more moments in silence,
Lightly and gently with our inner object at the centre of ourselves,
And the mantra too if it's necessary to reduce the thoughts,
Each to our own practice for a few more moments now in silence,
Until we come to the appropriate time.
Thank you.
Don't forget if the mind wanders off onto other things,
Each time we realise we simply bring our attention back again to the centre of the body as before.
The inner object disappears,
We can conjure up a new one,
And if it changes then we just follow it in its new form.
This constant optimisation of the mind requires a special sort of patience,
A special sort of continuity,
A continuity which is somehow inexorable and elemental,
Rather like the ocean itself that can spend eons breaking large rocks down into sand,
Simply by touching the land with surf wave upon wave.
In the same way in our meditation with the same unfailing gentleness and kindness,
We usher our attention back to the centre each time.
There's no shame in having the mind wander,
It's a natural feature of the mind which can happen to anyone.
If our mind should wander we simply check in again with the centre,
Or breathe the awareness back again to the centre of the body.
It's no big deal,
It's no real trouble.
There's no need to feel frustrated or disappointed with the mind.
And if we're distracted by thoughts we just acknowledge them without fighting back.
Eventually if we wait long enough then they will go away by themselves if we no longer take notice of them.
So eventually the mind becomes emptier little by little.
But even in the meantime the waiting already feels little by little more peaceful.
As we continue to remain inside our centre in this way for a few moments more,
We let the peaceful feeling and energy cleanse this empty mind of ours.
And even if the mind wavers we just accept it.
The more neutral we can be the more robust the quality of the inner energy will become.
Which is why the waiting mind is so precious.
Because without the waiting mind nobody can be successful in meditation.
Sometimes said that either all things or good things come to those who wait.
Since patience allows us to remain steadfast in the face of provocation or annoyance,
Misfortune or pain.
And in our meditation it can help us to overcome the restlessness or annoyance when confronted by delays.
But this typically only happens when the mind projects itself into the future or tries to elaborate the practice into something more than simple observation at the centre.
According to the ancient wisdom of the Patekara-sutta we shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future.
We should remain with whatever quality is in the present,
What we see right here right now.
So we continue to remain inside the centre in this way for a few more moments longer in silence until we come to time for some loving kindness meditation today.
We continue to maintain our mind at the centre of whatever inner experience we've built up for ourselves as a result of the meditation so far today.
Whether it's a sense of illumination on the inside,
A sense of wellbeing,
Perhaps inner imagery,
All of these things we can put down to a sense of peace energy within ourselves.
And if we're able to touch gently at the centre of that energy then it will melt away at the point of contact,
Spreading outwards from that point at our centre.
So for this last part of our meditation we can remain deep in the embrace of such strong deep peace energy at the centre of ourselves.
And we allow that peace energy to expand outwards from the centre until it extends to the whole of our body.
Perhaps growing beyond that,
Larger,
Wider,
Even beyond the boundaries of our own body.
And this can happen automatically in some meditations,
Perhaps on certain days when our meditation is going well.
For our experience today we just feel aware of that peace energy and its potential to radiate further outwards,
Making the body structure light and weightless,
As thin as threads of goswama or xifengos,
So light that it seems to become transparent.
That peace energy spreads outwards beyond our being,
And if there's a soft merging of inside and out,
We remain aware of such a gentle process of the merging,
While checking in at the centre,
Which remains full of that same peace energy.
And we remain at the centre in the deep peace at the middle of our body,
Basking in the flow of that radiant consciousness,
Almost as if it were bathed in golden light.
And we allow that feeling of peace and wonder to spread outwards around us into the world with good wishes for all living beings for a few more moments in silence now until we come to the appropriate time.
