Meditation
Let’s start, as we at all times do, with checking in with what it’s wish to be you proper now. Simply go inside, and simply really feel the way you’re doing, how’s your physique feeling? How’s your feelings doing? What’s your thought realm like? and so forth. Tune in, and see, what it’s wish to be you proper now? The trick right here is to each be as clear and trustworthy as potential, whereas on the identical time simply letting it’s that manner. Nevertheless it’s, is simply how it’s. So, for now, simply tune in and see what that’s like.
Good. Discover the urge to alter it, the urge to manage it, the urge to disclaim, the urge to attempt to grasp on to it, perhaps the urge to, not directly, management management management, and see should you can, even when that urge is there, simply not take any motion. As a substitute, enable no matter you’re feeling wish to be that manner. Letting go, if just for a short while, of the basic aggression towards the way in which it’s.
Good. Now let’s do some mild breath work, just by on the in-breath, respiration naturally, however on the in-breath, feeling the sense of awakeness and readability and power coming into the stomach. Really feel power coming into the stomach, filling the stomach as you breathe, brightness, openness, readability. Then, on the out-breath, it radiates by way of the entire physique and out into house, in order that there’s a type of letting go into house on the out-breath. You’re constructing power and readability on the in-breath, feeling that within the stomach, after which on the out-breath it radiates out into spaciousness. Every in-breath bringing far more brightness and readability awakeness to expertise, and every out-breath that simply dissolves into house, bringing super openness, rest, launch, boundlessness. You may simply breathe naturally, however if you wish to make it a little bit extra highly effective, simply let that out-breath go on for a little bit longer than you usually would, in fact remaining comfy and with out pressure. With every out-breath, as you dissolve into house, noticing that any stress within the face relaxes, tightness and gripping within the shoulders releases, the stomach turns into gentle and open. The entire physique simply sinks now into a way more grounded and relaxed place.
Persevering with to really feel the power and spaciousness rising, and, for a few of you, it’s possible you’ll discover on the finish of that lengthy out-breath, it simply stays there for some time with out you intending for it to remain there. It’ll typically simply type of grasp there earlier than starting the in-breath, and see on the out-breath, as you dissolve into house, any reference to the thoughts with pondering, with attempting to do one thing, simply is totally launched. The thoughts itself simply dissolves into house simply utterly let’s go. In order that even when plenty of pondering is occurring, we’re not partaking in any respect with thought. We’re being the extensive open house, an enormous clear vibrant awakeness. Discover that that extensive awakeness is there with out you doing something in any respect. It’s not someway one thing you can also make occur or intrude with, it’s simply awake of its personal accord and its personal power.
If you wish to, you’ll be able to let go of any engagement with the respiration method, and easily relaxation because the awake openness, and see if it turns into obvious that this awake openness could be very steady. It’s not one thing you’re doing, and it’s not a type of consideration as a result of doing and a spotlight are unstable. Spacious awakeness is tremendously steady, and so we relaxation as spacious awakeness itself. Spacious awakeness shouldn’t be one thing you do along with your thoughts. The thoughts is one thing that the spacious awakeness does. Considering and doing and feeling are all downstream of this wide-awake openness.
Now, let this awakeness concentrate on all of physique sensation, simply feeling the entire physique, not solely the breath sensations, however all of the sensations, with out bearing down, simply permitting the sensations to come up in consciousness and see the vibratory high quality of the sensations. A few of it’s very apparent: it’s buzzy or tingly or rhythmic not directly. Different issues might at first appear extra stable, however as you enable consciousness to note them extra clearly, their vibratory nature turns into apparent as properly. Our picture of the physique could be very steady, our psychological picture of the physique sees it as levers and pulleys and pumps and electrical wires — all these metaphors. However after we simply tune into what the physique looks like, to the physique, it’s a bunch of vibration, a bunch of buzzy tingly vibratory stuff. So simply discover that now. When you solely discover it in a single little space, then simply discover that. Finally, you’ll see it’s each sensation, and it’s tremendously stress-free and opening and releasing and nice for the physique to be seen because it sees itself — on this vibratory energetic manner. It’s alive, it’s supple, it’s fluid, it’s flowing, it’s shifting, it’s made from power. As you loosen up even additional, and settle into this awakeness much more completely, the readability and brightness of awakeness. You’ll discover that the all of the buzzy, tingly, energetic high quality of the physique resolves into nothing aside from awake spaciousness. That may be a idea, however is one thing that the notice instantly “awares”. The physique itself is awake house, filled with power. See that clearly, not as an creativeness, not within the thoughts, however as one thing we’re instantly conscious of.
Excellent. Now, in the identical manner, look into the exercise of pondering. Not into the content material of the pondering, however the exercise of the pondering. Discover that it, too, is solely a type of vibratory motion. When you’re fairly relaxed, you’ll discover that as a substitute of 1 stream of thought there’s often many happening, all collectively as type of a broad spectrum of exercise. There’s simply plenty of vibration there, it’s simply stream of thought power. We don’t wish to attempt to interrupt this stream, or change the stream, or fear in regards to the content material of the stream, or attempt to change the content material or something like that. We merely tune into this power, this vibratory power of pondering. The extra this awakeness tunes into the vibratory power of pondering, the extra apparent it’s that, on a really delicate stage, this stream of thought power is nothing aside from awake house. It’s simply huge, boundless, awake house, vibrating as thought power. Again and again, discover this power of thought as merely vibrating awake house.
Now, you’ll be able to both stick with that, or if you wish to, you’ll be able to go along with me to one thing a little bit extra intense. However it’ll be intense, so should you’re feeling not up for that, unresourced or no matter, simply stick with doing what we’re doing now. If, however, you wish to dive into some emotional stuff, then, what I need you to do is to deliver up the sensation that you just’re actually attempting to keep away from on a regular basis. Regardless of the very worst feeling, emotionally, is, whether or not that’s disgrace or rage or despair, or no matter — I need you to deliver that up on function now. Keep in mind, you don’t have to do that. Solely do that should you resolve to go along with me right here. Deliver it up on function, simply give up resisting, and let it come up, and permit no matter ideas and pictures are required to make it actually come up strongly. That factor that you just spend all day attempting to keep away from feeling. Cease avoiding it, and simply let it occur. That begins to be comparatively robust. It’s fairly straightforward to note that, when it comes to the expertise of the emotion, not the ideas across the emotion, however the expertise of the emotion itself, is like power and vibration within the physique. There’s type of this intense power, relying on the type of emotion, it may very well be actually excessive frequency sharp power, or it may very well be actually low, heavy, power, however, it doesn’t matter what, it’s vibratory. You may really feel the vibration occurring on this awake house. See if you can also make it just a bit stronger, and really feel its vibratory, energetic qualities. As a substitute of getting caught within the psychological content material, really feel the bodily a part of it, the extraordinary power, after which, as earlier than, discover that this intense power, proper within the core of this tough, tough feeling, expressed as intense power, is nothing aside from awake house, vibrating house, boundless, openness, proper within the heart of the sensation. The sensation itself is only a type of actually highly effective power. If we don’t resist it, and we let it’s there utterly, and see it very clearly, we expertise it as awake house vibrating. It may even be refreshing, opening, stabilizing, grounding. Keep in mind to permit the psychological content material round it to even be skilled as awake house, extensive openness, boundless readability. You see that even this very tough emotion is nothing aside from extensive awakeness and boundless freedom itself, with out ever doing something to it. We’re not altering it, we’re not avoiding it, we’re not transmuting it, we’re not bypassing it, we’re going proper into it. I’m feeling it’s extensive open, extensive awakeness of super power.
It’s the other of avoidance, the other of sublimation, or repression, or bypassing—we’re assembly it utterly and going proper into it with no resistance.
Now, discover the room, the sunshine, the shapes, the colours, the textures, the patterns, sounds. We’ve realized to consider it, to mannequin it, to conceptualize it, as steady, however in expertise, it’s constantly shifting and altering, perhaps barely, perhaps lots.
Discover the expertise of the room, and the sound of the room, and the aspect of the room, the contents of the room. All that have is none aside from vibrating awake house, awake, boundless excessive power. Actually clear. It’s not simply nothing — there’s every kind of shapes and colours, and it’s additionally simply extensive open, awake house. When you discover, the room has extensive open vibrating house, and emotion as boundless open clear house, and thought power as a stream of extensive open clear spaciousness and boundlessness and openness, and the physique itself as awake vibrating house, with no boundary and no heart. Anything in any respect that arises, arises as an expertise as nothing aside from awake house. Then what else is there, however super openness, readability and power? There’s a way of unboundedness. That’s the feeling of freedom. There could also be an actual sense of deep pleasure or satisfaction at this super readability and power, completely unbounded, completely unconstricted, open, free, free. The enjoyment itself is, in fact, simply extra awake, vibrating spaciousness, and but it may be tremendously highly effective.
From right here, it’s straightforward to actually take pleasure in all of the arisings, shapes, colours, sounds, emotions, ideas. The super brightness and variation and enthusiasm of the show is tremendously attractive, lovely, scrumptious, wealthy. Discover the enjoyment that’s accessible from this vibrating house. It’s at all times there, deep, deep inside it. Simply the enjoyment of the liberty and the readability and the sweetness. It’s not someway merely trapped in a physique. It’s radiating out in all instructions and radiating again from all instructions, on a regular basis.
There’s a palpable sense of the super magnificence and enthusiasm of the world and being is at all times flowing, ever current, completely free.
Let’s finish the meditation there. Be at liberty to maneuver and stretch. If that you must go to the lavatory or no matter go forward and do this.
During the last like 35 years or one thing I’ve labored with this one Indian lady trainer who’s a standard Guru, and it’s actually frequent while you work together with her that you just type of get knocked into this very altered state. That may really feel alternative ways, however typically it looks like an ecstatic energized world of awake house, and then you definitely do this in a retreat for days and it will get turned up and turned up and sooner or later, inevitably, simply when that may get actually good, she would yell at me and be like, “Mahesh,” which is what she referred to as me, “Mahesh, go chop greens.” I’d need to rise up and go to the kitchen and with a very sharp knife, chop greens as quick as I may, popping out of that place. At first, I believed, that’s only a coincidence, after which after some time, after years of that, I noticed, she’s doing that on function, simply to be imply or simply to fuck with you. However, after some time, I noticed that contacting that sense of vibrating awake house is tremendous essential, tremendous deep, and significant and significant, however that’s not sufficient. It’s not nearly testing into a very nice house, however as a substitute, noticing that your complete common world remains to be there, and from that place of vibrating awake house, it’s extremely cool, lovely, wealthy, attention-grabbing, significant, deep, highly effective. Not simply someway erased by nothingness. Your job is to interact with it, however have interaction with it from awake house, not from some type of constricted little ball of being a character combating with all the pieces.
It’s actually attention-grabbing. The lesson that I type of bought beat into me, which is it’s essential to note awake openness, and it’s additionally then essential to re- have interaction actually strongly from there, and never simply Teletubby your manner by way of the day. As a substitute, doing stuff and noticing that that isn’t a contradiction. These two issues aren’t even separate, or they’re totally different, however they’re not separate. The whole lot is an exuberant expression of that energized awakeness, and never someway like bumming you’re excessive, bringing you down off your cloud. That’s simply not the thought. There can typically be an actual sense that there’s a particular world of consciousness and power, and that it’s completely totally different than this. It typically looks like that, oh, if I tune in, there’s a separate world of openness and power and sweetness and stillness, and that is all simply in the way in which of that. That’s not true — or it’s that that’s simply type of midway there. The remainder of the way in which there may be to note that this isn’t in the way in which in any respect. This isn’t any totally different than that, and interesting, partaking, partaking, partaking, is what that awake power desires to do. It doesn’t wish to disappear into its personal awakeness gap. It’s right here to do stuff and have interaction in and expertise and luxuriate in and create. That’s all it does is create. So, despite the fact that you realize it’s problematic to speak sequentially, I’ll discuss sequentially and say at first we’re all caught within the constricted, reified thingness of all the pieces. There’s no house and there’s little or no awakeness, seemingly, so the primary a part of our meditation is like prying our grubby tight little fist off of engagement with all of the stuff. Whenever you lastly acknowledge, after I loosen up and open and simply let go of all that stress, there’s simply awake house, and that’s it it’s vibrating, it’s intense, it’s awake, it’s spacious, and perhaps there’s nothing there.
However that’s half one, after which half two is, wait a minute, all that vibration is making all the pieces occur, it’s making colours, it’s making ideas, it’s making emotions, it’s making all the pieces occur, and that’s not dangerous, that’s superior! Now you’ll be able to truly come again and get into all of it as a result of, there’s no tightness, there’s no grabbing, there aren’t fingers to seize with and in a way. So lots of the teachings, you’ll discover out, there may be simply going to stage one. They’ll simply type of drop you off within the tremendous vacuum cave — and it’s a cool place, however they’re, like, there you go, take pleasure in your vacuum cave. It’s gratifying, nevertheless it’s a lifeless finish, it’s silly.
It’s, why have been you born? What’s incorrect with you? [laughter]- apart from Girl Pink!
Questioner 1: Final week I requested you, in order that’s like the character of thoughts, why are you positive you’re exhibiting up, and now you’re like, should you simply go to the cave, it’s Superman.
Michael: Right here’s what nature of thoughts is doing! Even should you work actually exhausting, and it may be sequential, and that’s high quality to get to that place. There’s extra to do, and it doesn’t even need to work that manner. You may by no means go away, you don’t need to dive to zero after which come again out. There can simply be instantly noticing again and again.
So what occurred on the market? What are your reviews? What are your questions, feedback?
We’ll deliver you a microphone and do not forget that it’s not only a microphone on this room. You will have a query manner again there.
Questioner 2: Howdy. Actually early, after I was beginning to enter into the vacuum cave,
I truly had a sensation in my throat that was like a tickle like I wanted to cough. If I’m at house, I simply cough, however in an area like this I began to panic and I used to be like yeah
Michael: It’s good to panic. [laughter]
Questioner 2: It was actually peaceable, there’s the cave, after which it was Doom. I believe my query is, is it price it to attempt to deconstruct a bodily sensation like that again into house?
Michael: it’s at all times price it, why not however, you would possibly simply cough, too. It simply relies upon.
Questioner 2: Good.
Michael: Generally, what if it’s tremendous intense ache you could’t simply cough out? It’s simply gonna be there. Your manner ahead may be, simply gotta go into that. So, you have got each strikes accessible, and typically you commute. Generally you go manner into one, different days you go into the opposite. It’s all attention-grabbing, nevertheless it’s useful to know the context.
Questioner 2: Yeah, thanks.
Questioner 3: Howdy, I used to be not blissed out, however I might like it should you may ship that for me one time. However what was actually cool is like in going by way of the feelings, one of many issues that was actually cool for me was truly the power of disassociation that was arising for me. To me, that’s an power, identical to any of the others, that I may comply with again, and would grow to be spacious. I used to be interested by your individual journey, expertise of enjoying with that, as a result of I believe it comes up lots for me.
Michael: Can you’re feeling your physique?
Questioner 3: yeah, yeah
Michael: So that you’re not dissociated, and earlier, have been you in a position to really feel your physique? Whenever you say power of dissociation I’m unsure precisely what you imply.
Questioner 3: What do I imply by it? There’s a manner by which I really feel in freeze mode, perhaps I’m truly exterior of my physique a little bit bit, is like what it looks like. It looks like I’m not totally in contact, and my mind, my thoughts, and my ideas, may be like, oh, you’re simply being very nonetheless proper now, however the power doesn’t transfer, it nearly feels frozen. The thoughts labels that as dangerous, so it’s looking for the opposite power that’s there.
Michael: When you can really feel the nonetheless frozen power, you’re not dissociated from it, as a result of
you’re feeling. Dissociation means you’ll be able to’t really feel it, so I might simply say, what if it’s okay that it’s nonetheless frozen? Simply verify that out. Let it do this factor, and perhaps it’s the case that our expertise of the physique may be a lot bigger than the bodily physique appears to be. That’s not an issue. It’s not like we’re essentially escaping something, it’s simply greater. That doesn’t imply dissociation can’t occur, however your description of it, you’re clear that it’s nonetheless frozen, so that you’re nonetheless in contact with it. So I might simply say, simply verify that out. Is it actually that also, that frozen? You realize rattling properly should you verify into it, that it’s not. That concept that it’s this stuff and that’s dangerous, that’s what’s main you astray there.
Questioner 3: Yeah, yeah. That’s dangerous is certainly within the unconscious, for positive.
Michael: There’s a manner that you are able to do this to dissociate however the steering I’m giving retains making that actually actually exhausting. You must strive, so don’t strive. I’m going to come back again again and again, okay. Does that assist? Good.
Questioner 4: Thanks. That was actually cool. I felt like there was stuff that’s been bothering me lots, that I simply felt it as vibration of awake house. I don’t assume I’ve ever actually felt that earlier than, and it type of deconstructed issues. I actually recognize it. My primary query is, what’s up after the cave?
Michael: That’s what I used to be saying. You may deconstruct it down to simply this awake house which could be very cool, however there’s nothing to do there. Which is, in a manner, okay, however there may be traditions that as a substitute of noticing the vibration there, are noticing the stillness, and need you to simply relaxation there and keep there. However, should you listen, it’s not nonetheless. It’s energized, and the minute you return into the power, it comes again into all this, however seen in an totally new manner, not as caught stuff, however actually exuberant rainbow power stream, proper? In order that’s what’s subsequent: Coming again in and noticing that each one the ideas are like that, all the sentiments are like that, all of the doing is like that. It’s wide-awake electrical energy that’s having enjoyable. It’s not simply sitting there. It would sit there for some time, however even that it’s vibrational, so it’s whole re-engagement, however with all of the knots labored out.
It’s like earlier than you have been attempting to bounce while you have been only one large cramp throughout, after which now the awake house takes you thru like a complete de-cramping– an actual therapeutic massage–the place all of the knots get labored out, and now you begin shifting and it’s a very totally different feeling. It’s deeper than that as a result of who’s even shifting at that time? It’s like that feeling while you’re in a complete dance stream, the place it’s simply house dancing. You’re not attempting to do one thing, so on this case, awake house is dancing the world into being an exercise. In order that’s what’s subsequent.
Questioner 4: Cool, thanks.
Questioner 5: Thanks once more for that. I’m unsure I’ve a lot of a query as a lot as I’m curious what your suggestions could be to this. Whenever you have been telling your story of while you’re we’re along with your trainer and or experiencing the quantity of Shakti that you just skilled together with her and so forth, one of many issues that got here to thoughts, as a result of I’ve skilled my very own model of that, was Shinzen as soon as speaking about there’s no have to ever go away samadhi, and so forth.
Michael: That’s the entire discuss I’m giving, is what it’s wish to not go away samadhi.
Questioner 4: There additionally appears to be on the opposite aspect of that coin which you highlighted in your story, that I may additionally relate to, was while you’re type of in simply being blasted with all that, then experiencing that inside your self, there is no such thing as a have to really feel the necessity to cling to that — both to hurry and chop some onions or take care of some cellphone calls or emails. It looks like we’re extra scattered. I gotta get again to that. I keep in mind you commented nearly a 12 months in the past after I got here again from the monastery, there may be that underlying belief and religion within the follow, and in your self, of what even when there’s all this, our personal nonsense, what’s beneath all of that, on a regular basis? I’m simply curious if there’s something you may need to say about that.
Michael. Simply that finally you discover that each one the exercise shouldn’t be someway taking you
out of your meditation. It’s the meditation, proper, it’s coming instantly out of the awake house, which you heard me say already, so I didn’t add something, however that’s that’s my response. At first it feels such as you’re being knocked out of your cave, and that simply means you didn’t get it, at the very least not deeply sufficient. Finally you acknowledge you’ll be able to’t get knocked out of it, as a result of it’s not a state, it’s not a particular, altered state. The awake house is at all times there, at all times, at all times, at all times, at all times.
Final query – or assertion or critique.
Questioner 5: It’s a really simple terminological query. That factor you’re attempting to level to, which you’ll be able to both have the there and again once more with the vacuum cave, or you’ll be able to simply discover it, is that what is named rigpa?
Michael: Awake house is rigpa. Technically, actually, rigpa is simply the Tibetan phrase for data–simply common data–like several type of data, however when it’s utilized in a Dzogchen context, it means awake house. Similar to the Sanskrit phrase for it could be vidya, which is simply data. So, it’s only a regular phrase being utilized in a very particular manner. If we have been doing that, we’d simply say, discover the awakeness. Why they name it data is, while you’re pointing at it like that, you’re figuring out it. It’s like that, not the data of that factor, nevertheless it doesn’t work that properly in English. Lately, it’s a lot clearer to simply say the awake house, awake spaciousness, or some individuals name it awake consciousness, you might say awake conscious house, that’s rigpa. What’s totally different is, it’s not simply simply consciousness, as a result of consciousness can nonetheless be that constricted, tight, clumped. Whenever you drop all that, you’re not grabbing on to something, then all that’s left is spacious awakeness. Then, finally you discover that even the clinching stuff was at all times proper, at all times consciousness, however unrecognized as such.
Thanks.
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