Hello and welcome into this guided meditation.
My name is Yakov and today together we'll explore that sense of aliveness that is our true nature.
So to begin make yourself comfortable whether you're sitting on a chair or a cushion and feel the point of contact with the seat.
Now take a couple of deep breaths.
Feeling the breath wherever you can feel it most distinctly,
Whether it's at the tip of your nose or in rising and falling of your chest or abdomen.
Just pick a spot and stay there for a couple of breaths.
And now you can notice other sensations in your body.
It could be pleasant sensations or it could be unpleasant sensations.
But notice that all of those sensations articulate that space of consciousness where they appear.
So you may feel as though we actually feel our body,
But what we do feel are different sensations that occur in consciousness.
So unless we superimpose an image of body part,
We don't really feel our feet or our arms or our hands resting on our knees.
All we feel are different sensations of heat or cold pressure or tingling and they're constantly changing.
So we don't really feel our body.
What we really feel is that constantly changing cloud of sensations.
So just stay with the raw sensations of your body,
Whatever sensations appear.
And now notice that space in which they appear.
Notice that space behind your closed eyes,
That darkness that isn't quite dark.
Notice that all sensations that appear as the body,
They appear in this space of awareness.
And if a thought appears that thinks,
I feel feet or I feel hands,
I feel cold,
I feel warm.
Notice that that thought is also appearing in the same space of consciousness.
So let's explore that space in which all sensations and all thoughts appear.
That brilliant darkness behind our closed eyes.
So what we can definitely tell about it is that it's alive.
It is absolutely alive.
We may not know what is it.
And notice that that sense of aliveness precedes any experience we can have that we then call our life or our self.
That sense of aliveness is like a screen on which all the images of our mind or all the sensations of our body or perceptions of the world appear.
So it's like when we're watching a movie,
We forget about the screen.
We pay attention to the movie,
To the changing scenery or people on the screen.
But the movie is only possible because of the screen.
The screen makes it possible.
The same thing with our experience is that that sense of aliveness,
That shimmering darkness behind our closed eyes.
That is the screen of awareness that makes any other experience possible.
So when we think a thought,
That thought appears in that screen of awareness.
Or when we feel a feeling in the body,
That feeling is also appearing in the screen of awareness.
And when we hear a sound from the world outside,
That sound is also appearing in awareness.
So just stay with that feeling of aliveness.
Don't try to understand it.
Don't try to grasp it.
Just be with it.
Be it.
And if a thought rises up and you notice yourself being distracted and getting lost in a thought,
Just come back to noticing that sense of aliveness.
There's no need to judge yourself for being lost,
Because that would be just another moment of being lost.
And we can also notice that our thoughts appear in that same space of a life-aware presence.
That thoughts,
Images,
Or bits of language,
They appear and then they linger and then they disappear.
So there really is no problem with thought,
Unless we make it a problem.
It's constantly flowing.
It's changing,
Appearing and disappearing on that screen of awareness.
And notice what is left when a thought disappears.
And when we get lost in a thought and then we notice ourself being lost.
What happens to that thought?
Where does it go?
And what is left when it's gone?
Isn't it the same space of awareness in which other thoughts or sensations or perceptions appear?
Isn't it then the only constant that there is?
If sensations in the body are constantly changing,
And we feel heat and cold and pressure and tingling and other sensations,
And if we stay with the raw sensations of the body,
Other than projecting an image of the body with our eyes closed,
Isn't it like a cloud that's constantly shifting?
And what about the other sensations,
The sounds in the room or outside?
And the thoughts that appear and disappear,
Aren't they also constantly changing?
Then what remains?
What is always present?
What is it that allows those sensations of the body and sounds and thoughts to appear?
What is it that's giving them space?
Giving them life?
What is it that is the background of all of this?
What is the background of our experience of being alive?
Isn't it that space,
That brilliant darkness,
That alive awareness?
Just stay with that.
Thoughts don't define it.
Sensations in the body don't define it.
Sounds in the room or outside don't define it.
They're like images on the screen that seem to become the screen,
But never actually become the screen.
The screen gives them all their existence.
It is the space in which they appear,
But the screen itself never actually becomes the images.
When one image changes and another appears,
The screen is always there.
And in the same way when one sensation in the body changes and another appears,
Or one thought comes and goes and another comes,
It is that screen of our awareness that is giving them space and existence.
So stay with that feeling of aliveness.
Stay with that brilliant darkness behind your closed eyes.
Stay with that screen in which all sensations and perceptions and thoughts appear.
And when we stay with that darkness behind our closed eyes,
We can notice that it's not quite dark.
That there is this,
There's shimmering quality to it.
That it's,
It's luminous.
That is constantly changing,
Yet always remains the same.
That is not darkness that is the darkness of nothingness.
It is the darkness that is pregnant with possibility,
That is absolutely alive.
And that gives life to any other experience that we may have.
And if you want to meditate longer,
Feel free to do so.
And if you want to conclude,
Just stretch your body.
And you can go about your day.
And thank you for joining me in this exploration of our essential nature.
