'명상'에 해당되는 글 7건

Moment to Moment

When it comes to meditation, there are many that are attracted to complicated theories and techniques, or to the mystical traditions from where they came.

But to live life moment to moment is enough.

So, this is a really tricky one for the mind to believe or understand.

I think especially when the mind is very busy, or we’re overwhelmed by challenging emotions, we may think that by focusing on the breath or a visualization is perhaps not quite enough.

We need something more.

The mind is really busy, or the emotions are really overwhelming.

But the truth is, it doesn’t really matter what the technique is, as long as the intention is to be present with an open mind, kind heart, then that is enough.

It might be something as simple as just watching or feeling the breath rise and fall, just following that movement, that’s enough.

The training is more to do with noticing when the mind’s wandered off, being conscious of that, aware of that.

In that moment, acknowledging it and letting it go.

If we can do that, then even the simplest of techniques can help us to experience the true benefits of practice.

So, just take a moment now to get comfortable.

We’re going to begin with the eyes open, just taking a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And as you breathe out, just gently closing the eyes.

And in closing the eyes, becoming more aware of the physical senses.

Noticing the sensation of weight, of contact, just pressing down.

Noticing the different sounds around you.

So, just settling in to that space, and noticing how the body feels.

Whether there’s a sense of heaviness or lightness in the body.

Now, as you sit there, as you pause for a moment, just allow your attention to rest on the breath, that rising and falling sensation.

Doesn’t matter where you feel the movement.

Just following that rising and falling sensation.

You can place your hand on your stomach if you find it easier.

So, every time the mind wanders off, realizing it’s wandered and just gently bringing the attention back again to that rising and falling sensation.

And then just bringing the attention back now into the body, that feeling of contact, feeling of weight, the body pressing down.

Just starting to notice the space around you again, any sounds, any smells.

And then when you feel ready, in your own time, just gently opening the eyes again.

Many are attracted to the theories and techniques of meditation, or its mystical traditions. But to live life, moment to moment, is enough.

Awareness is the Goal

Meditation is not about thinking or not thinking.

After all, we can have moments of no thought and yet still experience anger for example.

Far more powerful is to be at ease no matter what the mind is doing.

So it’s probably one of the biggest preconceptions of meditation.

It tends to follow us on our journey as well.

We tend to get stuck in this idea that if we’re not experiencing thought that’s good meditation.

And if we are experiencing thought that’s bad meditation, or not meditation at all.

But if we come back to the idea of sitting on the side of the road and watching the traffic, the thoughts go by.

As long as we hold our place on the side of the road, as long as we don’t engage, get involved in the storyline of the traffic, then it doesn’t really matter whether there’s one car passing or many cars passing by.

For sure it might sometimes feel more pleasant when there are fewer cars on the road.

But in terms of the process of meditation and understanding the mind, understanding our thinking and our feeling, our relationship with the world around us, it really doesn’t matter.

So hopefully that lightens the pressure and brings about a sense of freedom.

As long as we maintain awareness, it really doesn’t matter how many thought there are in the mind.

So just take a moment now to get comfortable.

We’re going to begin with the eyes open, just taking a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose and our through the mouth.

And as you breathe out, just gently closing the eyes.

And in closing the eyes, becoming more aware of the physical senses.

Noticing the sensation of weight, of contact, just pressing down.

Noticing the different sounds around you.

So just settling into that space and noticing how the body feels whether there’s a sense of heaviness or lightness in the body.

Now as you sit there, as you pause for a moment, just allow your attention to rest on the breath, that rising and falling sensation.

It doesn't matter where you feel the movement, just following that rising and falling sensation.

You can place your hand on your stomach if you find it easier.

So every time the mind wanders off, realizing it’s wondered, and just gently bringing the attention back again to that rising and falling sensation.

And then just bringing the attention back now into the body, that feeling of contact, feeling of weight, of the body pressing down, just starting to notice the space around you again, any sounds, any smells.

And then when you feel ready, in your own time, just gently opening the eyes again.

The goal isn’t to be without thoughts. The goal is to be without a goal.

The Breath

We might imagine that focusing on the breath is a beginner’s technique, that it is a means to an end, and yet it’s an end in itself.

Everything we need, we can discover by following the breath.

So there are many different meditation techniques that exist.

And they can be tempting when we’re following the breath to think that maybe there is something else out there that’s going to be a little bit quicker or a little bit easier.

Perhaps this’s going to move things on a little faster.

But the truth is, the breath is not only one of the most reliable anchors for meditation, it’s also one of those things that will carry us along the entire journey.

Sure, we can go on and learn other techniques but we don’t need to.

We don’t have to.

If we know how to watch the breath in the right way, then that’s enough.

We have it as an anchor to come back to when we realize we have been distracted.

We have it as a place of focus to deepen our concentration.

We may also have as a means of letting go, understanding that with each and every out breath we learn to let go.

So rather than thinking of it as a beginner’s technique, instead thinking of it as an integral part of every meditation technique that will sustain you on your journey from beginning to end.

So just taking a moment to settle both the body and the mind, we’ll start with the eyes open, and when you’re ready, taking a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth.

And as you exhale this time, gently closing the eyes, and just starting to notice the body.

In particular that feeling of weight, the body pressing down, perhaps the feet on the floor, and the hands and the arms just resting on the legs.

Starting to notice the different sounds around you.

Allowing sounds to come and go without thinking about them, just noticing the different sound.

And then bringing the attention back to the body, noticing if there’s any sense of restlessness or stillness in the body.

Again, not thinking about it, just noticing.

I’m noticing how the breath is behaving today.

So whether the breath is a long or short, deep, or shallow.

Just following the movement, place your hand on the stomach if you find it easier.

Just resting the mind on that sensation.

And now just letting go of the focus, bringing the attention back to the body, back to that feeling of weight, of contact, back to the sounds around you.

And when you’re ready, just gently open the eyes again.

Everything we need can be discovered by following the breath

Knowing the mind

Neither chasing nor indulging, neither fleeing nor resisting, sitting at ease with whatever arises, we come to know the mind as it is.

So sometimes when thoughts arise in meditation, we might feel that they’re important, that they’re significant in some way.

So we feel the need to chase after them, to get involved in them.

Or we see them as something that we somehow need to work out, overcome, or banish from the mind in some way.

But as long as we’re involved in an activity, then there’s a sense of movement, either a movement chasing after or a movement to resist or defend.

And that movement, every movement, takes us away from this moment right now, not only from being present and aware of what’s arising in our mind or in the world around us, but also movement away from peace of mind.

So letting go of that movement, we come back to the present.

So just take a moment now to get comfortable.

We’re going to begin with the eyes open.

Just taking a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And as you breathe out, just gently closing the eyes.

And then closing the eyes, becoming more aware of the physical senses, noticing the sensation of weight, of contact, just pressing down.

Noticing the different sounds around you.

So just settling into that space, noticing how the body feels.

Whether there’s a sense of heaviness or lightness in the body.

Now as you sit there, as you pause for a moment, just allow your attention to rest on the breath, that rising and falling sensation.

Doesn’t matter where you feel the movement.

Just following that rising and falling sensation.

You can place your hand on your stomach if you find it easier.

So every time the mind wanders off, realizing it’s wandered and just gently bringing the attention back again to that rising and falling sensation.

And then just bringing the attention back now into the body, that feeling of contact, feeling of weight of the body pressing down.

Just starting to notice the space around you again.

Any sounds, any smells.

And then when you feel ready, in your own time, just gently opening the eyes again.

It’s when we sit at ease with what arises in the mind that we come to know it as it is.

Knowing Ourselves

Sometimes in not knowing ourselves fully we rely on the opinions of others, who also may not know themselves.

Much better to take the time to experience and understand ourselves directly.

So, of course it’s different for all of us, but very often I feel there is this temptation to rely too much on the opinion of others when it comes to how we perceive ourselves.

Ultimately we are as we are, and any opinion is subjective.

But more often than not, it’s in not having a clear and direct understanding of our own uniqueness, wonder, beauty, however you like to think about it, that we instead turn outwards and we start to listen to others.

And the irony is that, very often, those people don’t necessarily have a lot of clarity about themselves, nevermind other people.

So it’s really important that we take the time to really witness ourselves as we are, to witness the mind as it is, listening less to all the clutter, the dialogue going on around us, and instead, witnessing firsthand who we are, what we are, what we’re about.

So this time, when we step out of the busyness of life and we pause to meditate, it’s not just about finding a greater sense of calm, a greater sense of clarity.

It’s really coming to know ourselves as we are in this moment.

So just taking a moment to get comfortable, eyes open, a nice self-focus, and when you’re ready, just starting with a big deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And with the next out breath, just gently closing the eyes.

In closing the eyes, just becoming more aware of the different senses, feeling the weight of the body pressing down, the contact between the body and the seat or the floor beneath you, feeling the weight of the hands and the arms, just resting on the legs or in your lap, just taking the moment to notice the different sounds around you, just allowing the sounds to come and go.

And as you sit there, inevitably the mind will wander, but just bringing the attention back to the body, and just starting to notice how the body feels right now, and more particularly how the breath and the body feel, so that rising and falling sensation, noticing where in the body you feel that movement.

Remember, every time the mind wanders off, realizing it’s wandered, and the just coming back to the movement of the breath.

And then slowly becoming more aware again of the body, that feeling of contact, of weight, becoming more aware of the space around you, the sounds, any smells, just taking a moment, and then when you feel ready, just gently opening the eyes again.

Sometimes in not knowing ourselves fully we rely on the opinions of others, who also may not know themselves.

Just Breathe

Watching the breath is not something we need to reserve for our meditation alone, it’s with us wherever we go, an anchor for our focus, a place to rest our mind, ever present until it’s not.

So as long as we’re alive, our breath is with us.

It’s an object of constant focus that we can come back to again and again.

And of course it’s a useful obstacle within our meditation, and that helps develop some familiarity of resting with the breath, but it’s also there throughout our day, and very often in coming back to the breath, we reestablish that quality of mind, that feeling of being more present.

So as much as possible, whether we’re engaged in strong physical exercise or whether we’re simply sitting down relaxing, every now and again just checking in with the breath, noticing what it’s doing and noticing how it feels, not thinking about it but simply being present with the sensation.

So just taking a moment to get comfortable, eyes open, a nice soft focus.

And when you’re ready, just starting with a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And with the next out breath, just gently closing the eyes.

In closing the eyes, just becoming more aware of the different senses, feeling the weight of the body pressing down, the contact between the body and the seat or the floor beneath you, feeling the weight of the hands and the arms just resting on the legs or in your lap.

Just taking a moment to notice the different sounds around you, just allowing the sounds to come and go.

And as you sit there, inevitably the mind will wander, but just bringing the attention back to the body, and just starting to notice how the body feels right now, and more particularly, how the breath and the body feel, so that rising and falling sensation, noticing where in the body you feel that movement.

Remember, every time the mind wanders off, realizing it’s wandered and just coming back to the movement of the breath.

And then slowly becoming more aware again of the body, that feeling of contact, of weight, becoming more aware of the space around you, the sounds, any smells, just taking a moment, and then when you feel ready, just gently opening the eyes again.

So long as we’re alive, our breath is with us.