Awakening Advaita Vedanta Practice - 45 Minutes

Have you ever thought about what makes you, you? You enjoy meditation; but now, are at the point that you feel stuck in your practice? The rapid gains you made are now slowing down and you feel that you’re only getting better at watching your breath. Have you ever asked yourself the question ‘Who am I?’. We seldom do. Why would we need to? It’s obvious, isn’t it? Can you really be so sure? Social conditioning facilitates and perpetuates the illusion of separateness, which in itself likely represents, a requisite step in the evolution of human consciousness. This 45 minute practice draws upon the Advaita Vedanta principle of 'Neti neti' (Sanskrit ~ 'Not this, not this'). Who you are is indescribable, so this meditation uses this principle to examine your experience and analyse what you are not, so to eventually realise your true nature; the only thing that has remained unchanged, continuous and unperturbable in your entire experience.

Transcript

Welcome to this 45 minute guided meditation.

Please make sure you're sitting comfortably either on a chair or on the floor.

Have your back straight but not tense.

Your neck,

Back and abdomen should be aligned.

Have your eyes open and be aware of the visual perceptions in your field of vision.

Now take five deep breaths in as fully as possible through the nose then out as gently as possible through the mouth.

On the fifth breath gently close your eyes.

Feel the points of contact of your body against other surfaces,

Your arms against your chest,

Your hands on your laps,

Your fingers touching each other,

Your thighs and bottom against the floor,

Your feet touching the floor.

Move your awareness from the points of contact in the body to the external environment.

Recall the last visual perception you had.

See it clearly in the mind.

Now become aware of any sounds you hear.

Don't let them distract you,

Just be aware of them.

Notice any smells that might be present.

Notice how you were not aware of them beforehand.

Are they familiar or unfamiliar?

Notice any taste in the mouth.

Be aware of the taste but don't let it distract you.

Now feel the sensations that make up your body.

Move your awareness around different parts of your body and see how this awareness,

The attention,

Gives your body its solidity.

If a sensation feels unpleasant,

Don't dwell on it.

Similarly,

If a sensation feels pleasant or satisfying,

Just be aware of it and let it pass.

What feelings or emotions do you have at the moment?

Be aware of them but don't dwell on them.

See what a fleeting nature of feelings and emotions have.

Like thoughts,

Emotions come and go.

Let them arise and pass,

Holding onto and rejecting none,

Just being aware.

Now visualise yourself sitting.

Imagine a green beam of light over your head.

As this beam passes over your body,

It will bring awareness to that region of the body.

Just experience your body's sensations as they are.

You may feel some tingling or some warmth but this is normal.

Be aware of the external perceptions and internal body sensations as the beam moves its way down your head.

The beam now illuminates your eyes,

Nose,

Mouth and chin.

The light moves on down,

Illuminating your neck and your chest.

You feel the warm illumination around the top of your chest,

Upper back,

Your shoulders and upper arms.

As the light moves down,

You feel it give solidity to your forearms and your hands,

To your abdomen and lower back.

Though still,

You feel the solidity in your bottom,

Your thighs and your legs.

Finally,

The light illuminates your feet.

In this calm,

Take a moment to be grateful for all the things you've experienced in the day or the preceding day.

Big or small,

Take the opportunity to feel this gratitude.

This meditation,

Through your own direct experience,

Will show you what you are not.

Only then can you have the possibility of realising what you truly are.

No effort whatsoever is required for this practice.

We are just going to examine your experience through your own awareness.

If you have got to this stage in your meditation,

You will have begun to see the benefits that meditation has for you and those around you.

And those benefits are just going to get more fulfilling as its impact will have a greater effect on society.

Don't underestimate the power of this ancient practice.

You will have noticed that thoughts arise.

You will have been taught that when they arise to go back to the object of your meditation,

Whether that be your breath,

A mantra or beads.

In this meditation,

There is no object,

No anchor to go back to.

Just let your thoughts arise.

Let mental images arise.

Do they seem connected?

Are they related to this current situation?

Are they past events?

Are they thoughts about the future?

Just let them arise.

Are they coherent?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Mental images may also arise.

Allow them to arise.

See how sometimes there is not even any coherence or flow to the thoughts and images.

Is this you?

Your thoughts cannot be self aware.

You are not your thoughts.

Now rest back into gentle awareness,

Making no effort whatsoever other than to be aware of the next thought or mental image.

When a thought arises,

Simply ask the question,

To whom does this thought arise?

Do this now for the next few minutes.

If you find yourself getting lost in thought,

Just ask,

To whom does this thought arise?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

Do you want to reject them or are you clinging to them?

What do you think of when you think of your body?

You can see your body,

Feel perceptions in your skin and feel the internal sensations that make up the environment of your internal body.

Take a look now at these body sensations.

Where do you feel them?

Where do they feel the strongest?

Has your body always felt like this or is it constantly changing?

Have you ever known your body to feel exactly the same?

Has in the body scan,

See how awareness heightens sensations in areas where your attention is directed?

Do your body sensations have any continuity or are they discontinuous just like your thoughts?

See that you are not the body,

You are that which is aware of the body.

Rest back into gentle awareness,

Making no effort whatsoever other than to be aware of your body sensations.

If you are distracted by thoughts or when a thought arises,

Simply ask the question to whom does this thought arise?

Then rest back into gentle awareness of your body sensations.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Thank you.

If you are distracted by thoughts,

Ask the question to whom do these thoughts arise?

How should mindfulness arise?

Our emotions and body sensations are interlinked.

You'll be aware of how certain emotional states affect body sensations.

You may feel these sensations in your heart,

Abdomen,

Your head,

But with awareness you can separate the emotion from the body sensation.

What is your emotional state currently?

What are your body sensations right now?

Now just concentrate on your emotions and feelings.

See how your emotions change.

Their type,

Their intensity,

Their duration.

Have you ever had the experience of an emotion or feeling staying exactly the same?

Is it not true that looked carefully,

Not only does it change minute by minute but fluctuates every second?

How can an emotional state that has no consistency or pattern possibly be you?

You are not your feelings and emotions.

You are that which is aware of your feelings and emotions.

It is that awareness that gives continuity to your experience.

Rest back into gentle awareness,

Making no effort whatsoever other than to be aware of your feelings and emotions.

Whether good or bad,

Happy or sad,

Be aware of them.

Allow your feelings to arise and pass naturally.

The negative emotions are often the most beneficial.

Remember that you are using them to better yourself so you don't need to reject anything.

If you are distracted by thoughts or body sensations or even thoughts about body sensations,

Simply ask the question,

To whom does this thought arise or to whom do these sensations arise?

Then rest back into gentle awareness of your feelings and emotions.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Each time you find yourself lost in thought,

Just ask yourself the question,

To whom does this thought arise?

You are not your feelings and emotions.

You are that which is aware of your feelings and emotions.

Rest back into gentle awareness of your feelings and emotions.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

See how even that changes depending on where your attention is placed.

Any continuous sensation or perception will be entirely useless.

See that you are not for your sense perceptions,

You are that which is aware of your sense perceptions.

Now rest back into gentle awareness,

Making no effort whatsoever other than to be aware of your environment.

Does the darkness in your eyes vary?

Do you see lights or images?

Or the sounds that you hear?

Don't label them,

Just be aware of them.

Distracted by thoughts,

Emotions or body sensations.

Just ask,

To whom do these arise?

Then rest back into gentle awareness of the external environment and the perceptions on your skin.

Do this now for the next few minutes.

If uncomfortable body sensations distract you,

Simply ask the question,

To whom do these sensations arise?

Do this now for the next few minutes.

Let's slowly become more aware of your surroundings.

The sounds,

The smells,

The taste in your mouth.

Feel again the pressure on the floor or the chair against your bottom and your thighs.

Feel your feet again against the floor.

Become more aware of the environment around you as you feel the normal sensations return to your body and a sharper learness in your mind.

When you are ready,

Slowly open your eyes.

Reviews

Most excellent the timings were almost perfect, NAMASTE

Remarkable. Allowed me to withdraw fully into my Inner being and maintain full presence throughout. Many thanks.

That was a beautiful practice, I revisited this after some time and as my own practice has become more intense, I’ve noticed this was very perfect at this time, it seemed to go quickly, the feelings inside and around, the gentle observation of self-
Thank you- this has shown me how far my practice has evolved. You have a soothing voice.

Phenomenal 🙏

Lovely
Thank you

Zeer verhelderende meditatie. De muziek zou iets stiller mogen zijn. Dank! 🙏🕊️

What a journey back to myself ! I needed that

An advanced meditative technique that I found very interesting! I'll be doing this one again. Thank you and namaste!

I really enjoyed this today, l find your voice soothing and compassionate and the music is calming and non invasive ❤️

Nicely done. Thank you, Karen

An excellent journey traveling in the vehicle of awareness through the jungles of thoughts, cruising the roads and paths of body sensations, flying through the clouds of emotions and ending with a jaunt about the five senses…all this to experience what we are NOT and reminded that these all change while it is the awareness/“awaring” that we truly are.
My most memorable insight came in being aware that my awareness is currently associated with this physical body, showing it favor, but is not OF it.
I really loved this meditation and am grateful for the journey and its teachings.
😊Thank you!
🙏🏽

The music is too loud for these ears. Couldn’t keep my attention on your pleasant voice and interesting message.

A wonderful meditation. 🙏thankyou

Thank you, Namaste 🙏

wow! just what I needed! I think it is now one of my new favorites! thank you so much

A deep and challenging meditative contemplation, for those with previous experience. On a practical level and purely personally, I found the balance between the voice and music a little out of kilter, so that the guidance was at times difficult to hear.... so had numerous opportunities to ask "To whom does that thought belong?"! Grateful thanks and I'm sure your colleagues and patients benefit hugely from your dedication to practice.

Beautifully guided and paced meditation; thank you ✨

Was great. It would be good without music too if it's available.

Oh my! Fantastic. This is very similar to the 30 minute practice but even more centering. I know I'm in deep awareness when the time flies by. Thank you so much! More please.

Excellent meditation for self-enquiry. Got a bit distracted by the background music, but once again, who is the one that gets distracted.