Transcription
[0:00, guided meditation begins]
Taking a little time to settle into your meditation posture, just establishing a posture that's comfortable and has this quality of uprightness, of wakefulness, but also very much of openness, of softness, of receptivity. Beginning again by just checking into, feeling into the sensations of sitting. How does it feel, the sensations of contact with the floor, the legs on the floor, the feet on the floor? What does that feel like? Tuning in, becoming sensitive to the sensations of the backside on the cushion, on the bench, on the chair. Aware of the whole body, and just what it feels like to sit right now.
And when you feel ready, begin by tuning into the breath, being aware of the breath, if you like. Or if you know the loving-kindness practice, the mettā practice, you could tune into that, if you prefer, and begin that. And just taking a few minutes to settle in meditation, as you like.
There's no obligation to do this guided exploration, meditation that we're doing, so if you prefer, and you just want to stay with the breath or the loving-kindness practice, feel free. But if you like, when you feel ready, staying connected throughout this whole exploration, throughout the whole period, seeing if you can stay connected to the body, the whole body, and the sense of the body, and whatever feelings are moving through. And if you like, when you feel ready, calling to mind some situation where there is or has been some blame. Now, that blame might be of yourself, or it might be of another. It might have a lot of charge to it, or it might be a situation where it's actually not that charged. See what you feel okay to work with, what you feel is not too much for right now. Just call that whole situation to mind, with the feelings of blame.
And the first thing is really just to notice your feelings, notice what emotions arise in you right now in regard to that situation, in regard to that person, whether it's yourself or another -- the whole thing. All the complex of emotions. Noticing, if you can, feeling that in the body. Can they have some care right now, these emotions? Probably not easy, some of them. So a sense of holding these emotions, caring for them, caring for the feelings that are arising right now. Noticing, holding, caring. Not trying to change anything.
[9:56] So you may feel like you need to stay holding these emotions a little longer, or continue to hold them as you move through the exercise. As I said before, seeing if you can keep connected with the body and the emotions throughout, as we begin to reflect a little bit. So using the mind, but not losing the body, and not losing the emotions and the heart. Using the mind without losing the body and the heart. Seeing, when you're ready, if you can begin to open up the view of this incident, or whatever it was that happened or didn't happen. And begin to reflect. You're pondering, opening up to the broader confluence of conditions on which whatever happened or didn't happen depended. Opening up the view. Thinking differently, thinking outside of the box. Take your time. What have I missed by shrinking the view and blaming? What am I failing to take into account?
So the thinking mind here is in the service of kindness. It's melting a rigidity, melting something that has encrusted and solidified, prying it open. If it feels helpful, or if you feel stumped a little bit, or it's not really opening, you can go through those four permutations, the possibilities: (1) inner, present; (2) outer, present; (3) inner, past; and (4) outer, past. What conditions are hiding in those corners, coming from those directions, that have not been seen? Opening it up.
So open your eyes or shift posture if you need to. Find ways to make this work, to have it be alive, meaningful. Kindness and intelligence are working together here. Take a little break when you need to, rest the mind, come back. Be flexible. Whatever works for you. Opening out the constriction of view, the constricted way of looking. Noticing the feelings that arise, including them in the investigation. Very easily the mind comes to some thing or aspect or condition that it feels, "Well, that's me. Well, that is that other person." Is it possible to see that that, too (whatever it is, the intention or the thought), is dependent, was dependent on conditions? Looking closer, more penetratingly.
Notice how it feels. How does it feel when it's opened out, when the view is opening out? How does that feel to open out the view? So it's not abstract. It's not just mental.
So, beginning to wrap up, having another last look, and taking what you need, taking what understanding you need from this exploration. Letting that consolidate a little bit, this different view. And then returning, just to a sense of the present moment, an experience of the body and emotions in the present moment, right here, right now. And a sense of sitting in kindness with that, with whatever the experience is right now. Just connecting, and connecting with care to the present moment.
[22:16, guided meditation ends]
