Guided Resting Meditation

A guided meditation on the nature of resting back without control as an expression of Being.

Transcript

I would like to share with you a guided meditation.

It's a type of meditation called resting meditation.

I spoke a little about it in a previous talk and it may be useful to listen to that if you have not heard it.

This guided meditation can be helpful for some initially to help orientate and become more comfortable with resting back into your own nature.

But after a while it won't be needed.

But if need be you can always come back to it at a later time.

You may find it's simply a matter of sitting in silence.

And the more you rest in and out of this silence the more at home you feel.

And if the word meditation does not suit you just call it an experiment in deep rest to see what happens when I just allow everything to be without trying to control or manipulate anything.

To start you can sit in a comfortable position so there's no strain to hold the body.

It's important you can feel that the body can rest without tension.

And you can have your eyes opened or closed for this meditation whichever suits you best.

Initially you just notice your breath without trying to change or label it.

You just notice its movement and the body adjusts and moves in unison the in and the out of the breath.

Also see how open you are to your sense of hearing.

Even if you're meditating in silence there will be subtle sounds in the environment.

Some birds singing,

Children playing in the distance,

The soft hum of a machine.

The distant traffic.

You don't need to focus in on any particular sound.

There's a receptive listening we could call global listening or total listening.

It's a type of listening you do in a very quiet environment.

It's a type of listening you do with your whole body.

Also notice how open you are to your sense of feeling and touch.

Is there a sense of heat to your body?

Or feel the weight of your body as it sits?

Or the soft rhythm of the heart?

There may be thoughts coming and going but like the sounds in the environment you're not concerned with them individually.

You're just resting back from all these movements,

But the subtle and the gross.

There may also be some pain in your body.

There may also be some pains or strains or heaviness in the body,

But these are fine for now.

There's room for all these phenomena.

For this meditation you're not trying to control anything.

Regardless how important or alluring a thought or feeling may be,

You just let them be for now.

This is not a time for finding or fixing,

Reflecting or planning the day.

You're just available to this resting back meditation,

Which is being without control.

Which is really letting go of the effort of the mind.

This resting back meditation is more of a non-doing than doing.

Most of the time we're so focused in on the activities of life.

The thoughts and feelings and objects.

But now you give yourself over to just being.

You're just being present with whatever arises,

Without agenda.

We all have this knowing feeling that we are,

That we exist.

You could call this knowing feeling,

I AM.

This I AM knowing feeling.

Is presence.

This I AM is there in every experience.

Its presence allows for the witnessing of all thoughts,

Feelings and activities.

That come and go.

For many people,

Most of the day this I AM-ness is identified with ideas or emotions or activities.

Such as,

I am busy,

I am sad,

I am an engineer.

But for now,

You honour your presence by simply being it.

Resting back from all the phenomena that comes and goes.

From all labels.

No struggle is needed.

Everything simply is as it is in this moment.

Experientially you may notice that there is a stillness to this presence.

An alive quietness that is not ruffled.

The more the stillness is appreciated,

The more it reveals its depth.

The stillness is not diminished by noises in the environment,

Or by a movement of thought.

It has a transparency to it that is not phased by the coming and going of objects.

If at any time the mind seems to get dominant,

Just return to the breath and the sense of inner body aliveness.

You could say it is a gateway to presence and it is always available.

We could say the mind is but a collection of thoughts that are identified with it through the power of belief.

But for this meditation,

You have no interest in running with the thoughts.

You are just resting back,

Being as you are without effort.

An emotional pattern may surface.

The body may sigh or move to make itself more comfortable.

The breath may get deeper or shallower.

No need to hold or control.

Whatever appears is welcomed as it is,

Even an unpleasant thought or tension in the body.

Allow all the freedom to unfold without worry,

Without the urge to pull towards or push away.

Any restlessness or mental agitation is freed by not wanting it to be other than it is.

They are passing phenomena.

You simply rest,

Rest back as you were.

You are experientially coming to see what happens when you are not trying,

When you deeply rest back from control.

Resting back from being the doer,

The controller and the meditator.

The more you rest back,

The more this presence reveals a unicity.

A sense of oneness,

Or different forms of phenomena are freed continually transform.

It is the same I Am that is present in every body,

Every form.

I call this presence the love of being.

When you really allow yourself to sink into this resting,

You may come to see that there is an open awareness that is desireless,

Where this conscious presence has its being.

You can confirm this for yourself,

That the more the sense of being the doer or controller diminishes,

The more openness is revealed.

An unboundedness is seen to permeate everything.

Even the thoughts or aches are surrounded by this openness.

They arise and fall in the openness that you are.

This is not about trying to understand intellectually,

But really just a matter of seeing yourself,

What happens when you rest back from the things that normally the I Am is identified with.

You are realising that I Am,

That I Am unencumbered by thoughts,

Feelings and sensations.

If at any time a question comes about,

Am I doing this right?

Recognise it as just a thought or idea,

Which has expectation and a sense of doership.

You though are just resting back.

You simply are.

No need to succeed and you cannot fail,

For there is no aim or end line.

You are just seeing the nature of being effortless.

Each moment is a deeper opportunity to rest into the stillness without expectation or analysis.

Into natural being and seeing the life that functions without effort.

As this stillness is revealed,

You can feel like a dissolution is taking place,

The sense of the controller or doer is awash in the ocean of calm presence.

Let yourself go into it.

All will still function as needs be.

This is coming to know yourself by being yourself,

Effortlessly and naturally.

This stillness,

This presence,

Does not resist or try to control life and is the core of what you are.

There is always the invitation to let go deeper into the stillness.

Thoughts may cease and this may highlight the stillness even more.

But even if there are some thoughts that are just an occurrence,

Nothing is lost.

Notice how you,

This presence,

Is a space where thoughts arise and fall in.

In a way you are prior to these thought movements as the still open space that allows all to be.

Also see how the body is located in this spaciousness within that presence.

You are confirming all of this for yourself,

Experientially,

As you simply rest back without control.

Being without control,

Presence without effort.

Reviews

This and the longer Resting Out of Control are my two absolute favorites on the whole app. They are both completely wonderful!

Superb for presence practice !

A lovely way to start my day. Thank you.

I have learned to live in the day, that was just so good for me. Thank you will.

Loved this relaxing meditation and added it to my bookmarks.

Very relaxing and gentle. Thank you

Wonderful voice, very soothing, easy to relax into meditation

Lovely, thank you.

Beautiful. One I will return to.

Very helpful and encouraging-thank you!

Simple and soothing without being simplistic. Good depth. Thank you.

I am feeling better now thanks

Excellent - your voice is soft and seductive to foiiow the invitation to rest in being without struggle or striving. Thank you so much. Definitely one to keep. Bookmark this now. A thousand blessings Will Brennan 🙏🌀

I loved this. Helped me to feel fully relaxed and just BE for this small period of time.

Truly loved this mediation. Soothing words softly spoken.

Truly wonderful content and calm tone of voice. I will use this again!