We'll take a moment to find our comfortable meditation posture.
Maybe we're seated in a chair or on a mat or the floor or a cushion.
If we're lying down,
We're on our back,
Legs and arms extended,
Keeping those shoulders relaxed and those palms facing up towards the skies.
If we're on the edge of a chair,
We'll keep those feet flat on the floor.
Again,
Those shoulders relaxed and we can keep the hands in the lap or at the knees,
Those palms facing up towards the skies.
And if you're seated,
Sorry,
On the floor or on a cushion,
We can stay in lotus position or cross-legged,
And again,
Inviting the shoulders to relax and keeping those hands in the lap or at the knees,
Those palms facing up towards the skies.
And we can tune here into the breath.
And breathing out,
A deep inhale right to the top of the breath and we'll exhale,
Inviting the eyelids to close if that's comfortable for you,
If that's available to you.
Inhaling and exhaling,
And we want the breath to move freely,
And with each inhale,
Deepening the breath,
And with each exhale,
Relaxing the body,
And really tuning into the breath.
Maybe we hear it echoing through the body,
Knowing that at any point,
We can always come back here to the breath.
And as we find this place of stillness,
We'll tune into the sounds happening around us.
Maybe it's the hum of a fan,
Maybe a car driving by,
Maybe the ticking of a clock,
But we'll invite ourselves just to notice.
We don't need to label them as good or bad.
We don't even need to find a source for them.
We simply listen,
Just noticing that there is sound,
And then noticing that there is listening,
And we can further invite ourselves to dissolve that separation of there being a listener,
A separate I who is hearing the sound.
And maybe there is just hearing,
And no me listening,
May we find peace here in the simple act of hearing,
And maybe we can bring our awareness to any sensations in the body,
On the floor,
The earth,
Your seat,
Maybe we notice the feeling of our clothes or other materials against the skin,
Maybe the temperature of the air,
And maybe again we may notice the tendency to create that separate sense of I or me who is feeling these things.
Maybe we can invite ourselves to simply rest in the experiences of these sensations themselves.
Maybe we can experience the sensations and the feeling of them as if they are one.
And now let's bring our awareness to our thoughts,
Noticing whatever is present,
But maybe not following it.
Maybe again we can invite ourselves to witness that sense of I,
That sense of me that is thinking the thought.
Can we witness the thought without becoming it?
Can we simply be the space in which the thought appears and disappears?
And may we find peace here in this spaciousness,
In this awareness that is not the sound,
Not the sensation,
Not the thought.
And may we notice that this space,
This awareness is always here,
Witnessing all of these experiences,
But never defined by them.
It is simply a space,
Unowned.
It is the ground of our being and the truth of non-duality,
The truth that subject and object,
The experiencer and the experienced.
And we'll invite ourselves to the body,
To the earth,
To the seat beneath us.
Maybe bringing our awareness to the fingertips,
To the toes,
Offering a little wiggle if that's available to us,
Carrying this quiet spaciousness awareness with us,
And this knowing that the experience of non-duality is a reality to be touched deeply in every moment.
And as we come back here,
Just take your time,
Noticing anything we may be present of,
Anything that may be coming up for us,
And offering a new reflection if that's comfortable or available to you,
Even pausing to jot down new words,
Reflections that might come up for you.
I might offer one prompt,
Especially because our sessions are about engaged in Buddhism and hopefully being involved in change in the world around us.
I wonder if there are any thoughts around how non-duality,
How realizing the non-dual nature of our experiences might help us or support us in any of our change-making activities.
And I think we will close this practice now.
Maybe we can pause just in gratitude together,
Just inviting ourselves to be grateful for this time,
For this space,
For this community,
For the Sangha,
For Insight Timer,
For hosting us today,
For the teachings of non-duality,
And we can also invite in anything that we're grateful for today.
Thank you for being a part of this practice.
