To start, please close your eyes to look within and begin looking at your mind… to observe what your mind is trying to do right now… Remembering that the mind can only think about doing stuff because it can’t actually do anything… So, what is your mind thinking about?… Is it reliving memories—trying to change the past?… Is it anxious about things it needs to do, worrying about what needs to change to get what it wants in the future?… Or is it focusing attention and judging what you are sensing about your current environment,.. or who and what distractions around you need to be changed to stop irritating the mind..: Is it tied up in knots, experiencing thoughts about trying to do or change stuff—frustrated from being trapped in psychological time where nothing can be changed because nothing is real?.. Whatever the mind is thinking about, it’s okay because there is nothing the mind can do to stop itself… These are all everyday thoughts that everyone experiences… No matter what your mind is trying to do, the only way to free the mind from its addiction to trying to do stuff—that it can’t do—is to observe and surrender the mind quietly… to let go of the thinking mind—in transcendence—to thoughtless self-awareness,.. and acknowledge your thoughts as nothing more than temporary experiences that will eventually fade away by calming your mind in the peacefulness of silent present awareness, as you gently guide your attention to start noticing your breathing.
Now, let’s shift our focus to the breath… Observe the natural rhythm of your inhales and exhales, whether through your nose or mouth… Feel the expansion and contraction of your lungs,.. and the movement of your chest and abdomen with each breath… Be aware that your breathing is happening independently, without the need for conscious thought… You are simply observing the life energy flowing through you… This breath, this life energy, connects you to everything in the universe, always in the present moment.
By focusing on your breath, you bring both your mind and body into the present moment… Your body, which is always in the present, has the power to calm the mind’s activity… In this state of mind, time loses its grip, and only silent awareness remains… This silent awareness, devoid of thought, has the power to dissolve the thinking mind, the ego, constructed from the past and living in fear of the future… Your true power, your Higher Power, resides in this eternal present moment.
When the mind is quiet, there is no movement of thought..; There is nowhere to go… When the mind does not want anything, there is nothing to do… When the mind is empty, the mind disappears… and only flowing life energy remains… When the mind is quiet and still and disappears, meditation happens,.. I become aware that I am not the mind overflowing with thoughts:.. my true Self is constant awareness in the eternal present moment, the infinite universal energy of Love.
This process of calming the mind to be still and disappear in the present moment is the way to begin understanding how the mind works… So, to better understand, let’s build a metaphor that we can use to help quiet the mind, for it to disappear, and allow a state of meditation to happen whenever we choose… Imagine yourself walking in a wide-open field on a sunny day… Looking up at the horizon, you notice and watch clouds float across a brilliant blue sky… Let’s imagine that those small, bright white clouds and some more significant, darker, multi-shaped clouds represent your internal experiences: your thoughts of images, memories, feelings and emotions, and sensations: perceptions of the external world that we construct from sight, sound, tastes, textures, and smells..; all of these internal and external ‘objective experiences’ represent the content that makes up our mind… Now, let’s imagine that the constant blue-sky background is our true Self, our natural awareness that never changes, and all of our ‘objective experiences’ are just clouds floating by.
Is it not calming to realize that every ‘objective experience,’ every thought, emotion, memory, sensation, or perception that arises as the mind is temporary—each one comes and goes… And like a cloud floating across the blue sky, it will change size, shape, and color and disappear with time… Even more calming is the understanding that the background of the blue sky is always present and never changes, whether it is calm or stormy or if the sun is shining or not..; Likewise, my true Self is always available: energized, naturally joyful, and peaceful, non-judgmentally observing my temporary ‘objective experiences’ as they change in complexity, importance, and urgency as life constantly evolves in every present moment.
A silent awareness of your thinking is critical to understanding how the mind works… This understanding leads to the wisdom of knowing the truth of undistorted reality that everything in life is temporary… When you remember, you are the blue-sky background of reality observing the temporary clouds passing by,.. you remember the truth that the mind can’t change the past and can’t control the future… Still, your true Self-awareness can embrace every experience, all the clouds that arise—as the mind—with Love,.. knowing that eternal Love, which never changes, is all that really exists,… Knowing everything else is temporary,.. your original innocence will lead you to do ‘what is’ required in the present moment—without thinking about it, but naturally, knowing the truth as life happens.
Finally, take the longest, deepest breath you’ve taken all day and return to this space where we are all connected in the same ever-present ‘Blue Sky’ awareness!
VAB 08-20-24
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