Streamed stay on Mar 24, 2022
Guided Nondual Meditation with Michael Taft
Introduction
Hey everyone! Welcome to tonight’s guided meditation, guided nondual meditation. Tonight we’re actually going to work on the nonduality with me, Michael Taft, coming to you reside from the Bay space of California, except you’re watching this at another time wherein case I’m not stay anymore, however welcome everybody. Let’s see, did I lower myself? Yeah, that’s what occurs while you shave. All proper, we’re going to dive in as regular. Why goof round? As a substitute, we’re going to only start meditating and tonight goes to be, I believe, a extremely highly effective one, fairly a robust meditation and hopefully, you’re prepared.
Meditation
So let’s start, what I would like you to do is take your seat and as regular, which means that you’re sitting along with your again upright. The highest of your head is type of being gently pulled upwards. Your backbone feels tremendous straight and good, like balanced in that spot the place you’re not placing in an excessive amount of effort to maintain it upright. In reality, in case your again is balanced in simply the suitable spot it would really feel nearly prefer it’s simply floating up. It actually helps to have your knees decrease than your hips if you happen to’re sitting down. You is also standing or laying down. All of those postures work. And you realize some individuals prefer to put their chins out like that after they meditate. So we wish to have our chin mildly tucked in order that the again of your neck is sweet and open, high of the top type of being, nearly elevated upwards. And this could really feel very nice.
From there what we wish to do is start with our opening visualization. This can be a means of sitting and tonight we’re going to take a seat like a mountain, okay. We’re going to take a seat like a mountain. We haven’t accomplished that shortly. What do I imply once I say we’re going to take a seat like a mountain? I imply we’re going to tune into our sense of groundedness, our sense of stability and actually a stability so full, that it’s, we name it immovability. The thought is that this mountain is so huge and so historic, it’s immovable. It can’t transfer in any means. So I would like you to tune in to sitting like a mountain. Think about in entrance of you proper now a common mountain, a mountain that’s unbelievably excessive we will’t even say how excessive, and that slopes down so vast that it’s simply extremely huge.
This mountain is cosmic in scale and this mountain has been right here since earlier than the start of time and it’s grounded. As I say it can’t, it doesn’t really feel knocked round by the winds of destiny. It doesn’t really feel prefer it’s some type of paper bag blown round by the breeze. It’s the other sensation. It feels rooted and steady and it has the sense like I say of cosmic vastness, but additionally of immovability. So I actually need you to see that mountain now and also you would possibly see it nearly like a type of an excellent Mount Fuji, proper? The place there’s a type of, this lovely slope to this, volcanic sides of the mountain. The cone has a beautiful slope to it, a gradual slope, and the edges are type of shimmering blue and the highest is that this sensible white shining within the excessive environment. So lovely, lovely mountain granting you this sense of stability, of immovability granting you boons, granting you a way of your personal cosmic immovability, your personal groundedness, your personal rootedness, your personal stability.
Image that very clearly. And now on an in-breath, I would like you to only take that mountain inside or to place it one other means, you dissolve and develop into the cosmic mountain of good immobility or immovability and that feels good to take a seat that means. It feels completely balanced as I say it feels rooted and steady. Your roots go all the way down to the core of the universe. Your high goes as much as the highest of the universe and your sides regularly swoop out to the far boundless, non-edges of the universe. So that is sitting like a mountain and so now from right here what I would like you to do is start to do sluggish, deep respiratory if that’s comfy for you. If it’s not that’s okay, breathe nonetheless you need.
However if you wish to you are able to do sluggish deep respiratory and with the sluggish deep respiratory, you’re doing lengthy exhales. The exhales are longer than the inhales. So we breathe in good and deep. I’m inhaling. I’m inhaling. My stomach’s increasing. After which on the exhale, respiratory out, respiratory out a really lengthy exhale until it feels prefer it needs to breathe in once more. After which good massive in-breath after which exhale, exhale, exhale actually lengthy sluggish out-breath, out-breath. Possibly, you realize, twice so long as the in-breath. One thing like that. Once more make this give you the results you want. Don’t make it uncomfortable. Make it an extremely good feeling, comfy, feeling in-breaths and out-breaths.
If you wish to, on that out-breath you are able to do ujjayi breath. So that you tighten that factor in your throat, the factor that makes your voice go from this sort of voice, to this sort of voice. That factor proper there and also you tighten that on the out-breath, so it makes you sound like Darth Vader, however it permits you to regulate that out-breath to permit it to be even slower and go even longer. Once more make certain it’s comfy, don’t get to the spot the place you’re yawning and needing extra air, have it give you the results you want. Okay so, and whereas we’re doing this on the in-breath you’re saying inhaling, inhaling and also you’re feeling that air increasing the physique, after which on the out-breath you’re saying respiratory out, respiratory out, respiratory out, respiratory out and feeling the air leaving the physique within the physique as a substitute of increasing it’s contracting. Okay so, in that contraction of the out-breath and simply actually actually really feel that and I would like you to pay particular consideration to the top of the out-breath. Simply discover it. Okay so let’s try this collectively for some time.
Good, so proceed respiratory and meditating on respiratory. Throughout this part, we are trying to chill out. This lengthy sluggish out-breath actually helps to down-regulate in order that we will really feel fairly a bit extra rest. But additionally the place, moreover stress-free we are trying to remain collected, keep targeted constantly on the sensation of the breath within the physique. And one factor that actually helps us to do this is to ensure we discover the top of the out-breath as a result of generally that out-breath will grasp there for a minute. Such as you get to the top of the out-breath and earlier than the start of the in-breath, there’s a while there the place the breath simply hangs there. And that’s a very easy spot to lose your focus, to lose your collectedness, to lose your stability. However bear in mind we’re meditating just like the cosmic mountain so we’re very steady. In order a part of that stability, we simply discover notably the top of the out-breath. So let’s preserve going with this.
Good, let’s add a mantra in right here, a traditional mantra for this sort of work. So on the in-breath, you say to your self “om” like “om” on the in-breath. After which at that spot the place the out-breath ends, or sorry the place the in-breath ends, you say “ah” like “ah what a aid, ah.” After which for the out-breath “hum.” After which we simply pause between, there’s no mantra between the top of the out-breath and the start of the in-breath. We’re simply noticing that spot notably. So in-breath, om, finish of the in-breath, ah, out-breath, hum. Now you’re not singing this out loud like I’m doing, you’re simply doing it mentally. In order that’s a mantra with three seed syllables, three syllables om ah hum.
Okay, om ah hum, what a stupendous mantra. That ah is simply completely good, completely letting go, whole rest. Okay good, now persevering with, what I would like you to do is to start the method referred to as dropping the ball. If you understand how to do it simply go forward, in any other case I’ll clarify tips on how to do it. So we’re imagining that the thoughts is sort of a hand and so each time your thoughts grabs on to one thing it’s just like the hand grabbing onto one thing. On this case, the picture is a ball like a rubber ball. And so when your thoughts grabs onto a thought or your thoughts grabs on to a sense, or your thoughts grabs on to one thing that’s taking place in your surroundings, you’re like grabbing onto it along with your hand. And what I would like you to do is if you happen to discover that occuring you simply chill out the hand and let the ball fall okay? In order that’s referred to as dropping the ball.
Now you’re not grabbing on objective, you retain the hand relaxed if you happen to can. But when the hand grabs on to one thing, it will get concerned in an argument in your thoughts along with your associate no matter. Oh geez, they stated this, and I stated that and in order that’s just like the hand grabbing and grabbing onto that ball. And so if you happen to discover that occuring, you simply chill out the hand and let the ball drop again and again and over okay? So we’re going to do that for some time right here. I’ll simply preserve going again and supplying you with additional directions, however that’s the entire instruction in a nutshell. When you discover you’re caught up in a thought, simply chill out and let the thought go okay. When you discover you’re caught up in something, simply chill out and let it go and are available again to easily resting, merely being. After I say relaxation I don’t imply sleeping. Simply merely being. Now it’s actually essential that you just don’t wrestle with this chill out and let go okay that’s it. Let’s go.
There’s a pair issues I ought to in all probability add right here. One is that you are able to do this with eyes open. In reality, it’s fairly a bit higher to do that along with your eyes open. If that’s actually uncomfortable for you then go forward and do it along with your eyes closed, however it’s higher with eyes open. It’s higher to only sit along with your eyes relaxed, open however relaxed, not specializing in something, specifically, your eyes are delicate, your gaze is delicate, however your eyes are open and also you’re not fixating. You’re not sticking them on a degree, you’re permitting them to maneuver and you’ll blink. And all that. Don’t do something bizarre along with your eyes. Identical to every other time when you might have your eyes open. So we’re not doing something unusual with them. It’s extra like while you gaze on the horizon or the type of factor the place you’re simply type of some bushes within the distance in a really normal means, very relaxed means, and so they’re very far-off. Your eyes are simply mild and open. in order that’s primary.
The opposite factor is, we’re not doing any particular respiratory anymore. When you’re persevering with to do this ujjayi breath and all that, you may simply let all that go now. And every time you discover the thoughts is caught in something, that hand has gripped a ball, then we simply chill out the thoughts, we chill out the hand and permit the ball to drop of its personal accord. We’re not struggling in any respect, we’re simply stress-free and letting issues go on their merry means. We’re not stopping them or controlling them, we’re simply now not concerned. Let’s proceed.
As I stated I don’t need you to wrestle with this in any respect. It’s not as if we’re like prying the fingers off the ball, okay. There’s no battle in any respect, zero battle taking place. It’s simply each time you discover you’re caught up, you simply chill out and relaxation. You simply open the hand and the ball falls out naturally. There’s no wrestle. It may be the case that, let’s say, you’re actually caught up in a thought, the great hand grabs proper again on, okay, simply chill out once more. If you need to chill out 100 occasions in a row, you’re simply stress-free. That’s nice. There’s no wrestle. There’s no sense of it being laborious, okay. Simply every time the thoughts contracts we simply chill out. Don’t battle.
One thing that’s type of fascinating about this meditation, is there’s no focus object. We’re not specializing in something. There’s nothing to focus on. That’s why this could typically be referred to as shamatha or meditation with out an object. There’s no focus object. Anytime we get caught up in one thing, we’re simply stress-free and permitting that one thing to drift away, so to talk, to hold by itself enterprise. However we aren’t partaking with it anymore. And after we let go we’re not coming again to our breath or coming again to another object that we’re specializing in, we’re simply coming again to sitting there relaxed, sitting there with the thoughts unclenched, with the thoughts relaxed. So don’t suppose that there’s one thing you’re alleged to deal with, somewhat if you end up specializing in something, chill out and simply open.
Every time the thoughts grabs onto one thing or will get caught up in one thing or contracts round one thing, we merely chill out and are available again to resting. After I say resting, bear in mind I don’t imply we come again to being asleep. I imply we come again to doing nothing however we’re vast, unsleeping. However when the thoughts will not be contracted round one thing and it’s relaxed, that’s typically simply referred to as consciousness or being conscious however not conscious of any explicit factor. Primary we’re not on the lookout for one thing to pay attention to and quantity two when it’s not any particular consciousness, it’s not an altered state, it’s the identical type of consciousness the place you’re simply probably not concerned with something, you’re simply very awake, alert and relaxed. Your thoughts is open and relaxed. It has that huge high quality so don’t make consciousness one thing particular.
It’s simply everytime you’re not caught up in something, everytime you drop the ball, that’s what’s then left. With out you doing something particular, that’s what’s left. You’re simply conscious now. You might be after all conscious while you’re caught up within the ball as nicely, however you may miss the vastness then, so after we drop the ball we simply come again to the attention that’s all the time current, with out doing something in any respect and it’s very very spacious, very free, very open.
Okay good, now similar to I don’t need you to wrestle to let go, I additionally don’t need you to hold on to the method of letting go such as you’re on the lookout for one thing to let go of or attempting to just be sure you’re dropping the ball. I would like you to drop that ball too. So hanging on to the concept you’re meditating, simply drop the ball. Hanging on to the concept you’re alleged to do it in a sure means and attempting to remain proper with it, simply drop the ball. Or attempting to remain targeted on whether or not you’re caught up in one thing or not, simply chill out, simply drop all that and easily return to the already current consciousness. It’s all the time there and simply relaxation, don’t wrestle, don’t battle, don’t even meditate. Simply drop the ball after which relaxation.
Nothing to do, nothing to vary, all the pieces already full, all the pieces good, simply the best way it’s. Anytime the thoughts contracts round an object, simply chill out, let it broaden again to its pure openness with none effort in any respect.
Superb. Now what I’d such as you to do is come again to this visualization of, or temper of being a mountain, sitting like a mountain, an immovable mountain. And I would like this mountain now to radiate to all of the corners of creation, to all of the corners of the universe, to radiate profound peace and stillness and profound kindness and openness and a profound sense of knowledge and caring. It’s radiating this out in all instructions, effortlessly, simply. Super sense of pleasure, an incredible sense of caring, a sense of openness, a sense of stillness and groundedness and peace. And let’s simply preserve beaming this in all instructions powerfully and superbly and with nice kindness and caring.
The mountain of consciousness can constantly radiate love and pleasure and stillness and kindness and knowledge and peace to the complete universe with out ever making any effort. Simply completely natura, open and free. Completely with out boundaries, completely with out limitations, completely full in itself, completely spontaneous and joyous.
Let’s let go of that now as we finish the meditation.
I would like you to be happy to maneuver and stretch. Have a drink of water. Permit your physique to really feel good and simply come again to the room. Come again to the youtube room. Permit your self to only really feel good in your physique and spot how that meditation has modified your expertise. So there’s a lot to say about this and I’m gonna simply assume you’ve watched and practiced together with many of those movies so I don’t must attempt to say all of it as a result of that will be not possible to jam it in right here throughout our little dharma discuss.
Dharma Speak
However I’ll say just a few issues and one is that you realize I educate this sort of nondual meditation all day lengthy, proper? That’s what I do all day and I do it on daily basis and I’ve been doing it for a protracted very long time, in addition to working towards it. And one thing that I discover fairly often is that once I describe what we’re doing, if I say you realize, I would like you to only discover, come again to the attention that’s already there or one thing like that. Simply be consciousness. Or if I say, god forbid, if I say you realize, discover the huge spacious consciousness that’s all the time current, it results in some fascinating confusions. And a part of them is simply, a part of it’s simply linguistic. We’re simply talking English and I’m attempting to talk in a really regular means in order that it doesn’t sound all jargony or that I’m utilizing weird language.
However after we use language like that like you realize, come again to consciousness or discover the attention that’s already there. It’s a extremely humorous means of speaking, truthfully regardless that it feels like regular English. It’s a humorous means of speaking within the sense that it’s not precisely correct, proper? It’s not precisely correct as a result of if I say come again to consciousness the query arises nicely who’s it that was away from consciousness? What was it that was gone from consciousness and what’s it that one way or the other returns, proper? That doesn’t even make sense as a result of if it was gone from consciousness there would simply be a clean, there’d be nothing.
So as a result of that’s what’s there when there’s no consciousness. There’s simply no expertise. So it will be such as you have been knocked out unconscious till you “got here again to consciousness” and it will be like waking up. However that’s probably not what’s taking place and that’s as a result of we’re by no means truly one way or the other gone from consciousness. It’s simply that we’re constricting down onto an object. We’re constricting our consideration all the way down to an object or I ought to say, once more language concern, I ought to say a seeming object, one thing that looks like an object, like a thought or a sense or one thing on this planet round us or no matter. Consciousness will get actually constricted and that’s what involves the fore of our expertise.
However actually after all it’s conscious the entire time and moreover, the huge half is there additionally the entire time. It’s simply type of bringing the tight half, the constricted half to the fore. Why is that this essential? As a result of what I don’t need you to do is say, I hear this loads, like I dropped the ball, after which I seemed for consciousness. Properly, my pal who’s trying, or what’s trying? That’s consciousness, proper? Consciousness is what’s trying. So it’s probably not the case that you just’re dropping the ball after which on the lookout for consciousness. When you’re conscious of a thought i.e a ball, if you happen to’re conscious of a ball, you’re conscious, due to consciousness. So the attention is all the time there. All that’s taking place is after we drop the constriction it’s returning to its already current, naturally huge, open state with out you doing something proper. It’s already conscious. So it’s not like we’ve to, you realize, make consciousness massive or come again and one way or the other attempt to see consciousness. All of that could be a confused mind-set and it simply makes it a lot tougher than it’s.
My pal Ken McLeod, writing in his guide, A trackless path, talks about his Tibetan instructor Kalu Rinpoche, whose complete instruction for this meditation was acknowledge and relaxation, or return and relaxation. And you’ll hear it’s the identical instruction. Simply discover that you just’re caught up and simply relaxation, proper, let go. Now, nowhere in that instruction does it say make some massive consciousness occur, or hunt round for some consciousness, with one thing else that’s not consciousness that’s attempting to find consciousness. I imply all of that simply confuses the difficulty. It makes you sound loopy while you say it.
Or as an instruction it will, you realize, it’s like no, there’s no one, there’s by no means anyone someplace outdoors of consciousness consciousness. That’s not attainable. It’s consciousness noticing itself. It’s not even itself as a result of that will indicate it was standing outdoors of itself trying again. That may’t occur. It’s already conscious of itself. We’re simply letting go of, type of like, these congealed balls, of constricted consideration. Okay, that’s it. You’re simply stress-free the tightness of the thoughts, simply letting it open and the attention is already there. It’s all the time been there. It by no means went away and there’s no one one way or the other outdoors of consciousness who has to search for this particular object referred to as consciousness. It’s not a particular object. It’s what’s taking place all day lengthy, it’s taking place. It’s how you realize there’s something, it’s how you realize you’re feeling a sure means, it’s how you realize you’re having a thought, it’s how you realize you suppose you’re even you. All that’s simply stuff taking place in consciousness.
Consciousness is previous to you, it’s previous to ideas, it’s previous to emotions, it’s prior even to the world. It’s simply there and it’s not a particular factor, it’s not a particular object, after all. It’s empty so it’s not even an object in any respect. Nevertheless it’s not particular, okay, so that you don’t must generate it. It’s all the time there. It’s all the time there. It’s all the time there. So after we’re not all caught up in one thing it simply makes it simpler to relaxation in that. That’s it.
Now one other factor I wish to point out, I’m attempting to not point out all the pieces, however one other factor I wish to point out, is that, discover no a part of this meditation says you need to have any explicit type of ideas. Or that you just like good ideas, completely satisfied ideas, peaceable ideas. We don’t care what sort of ideas you’re having, besides on the very finish after we ship out love and pleasure and so forth. However within the meditation, it doesn’t matter what the content material of your pondering is, since you’re not partaking with the content material of your thought. So it doesn’t matter what arises we’re simply letting go and stress-free and that stuff can preserve taking place, however you’re probably not partaking with it in any means. So don’t suppose you’re alleged to have a sure type of thought in the course of the dropping the ball half.
And quantity two and it is a massive one, individuals suppose the pondering has to cease. No, the pondering can do no matter it needs. It may be pondering away so long as you’re not engaged in it, you’re not pondering on objective, you’re not in there following a practice of thought. It’s simply following itself however you’re probably not listening to it proper. You’re simply coming again to resting and being open and letting go. So that you don’t must have particular classes of thought you realize and neither does thought must cease.
Now what’s fascinating is if you happen to do that a bunch, you’ll discover that after some time, you realize we sat for a very good hour, you might have seen that you just’re pondering did decelerate noticeably. And why is that? It’s as a result of pondering is sort of a flywheel, a extremely heavy flywheel. It retains going for some time however if you happen to’re not partaking with it, it’s such as you’re not giving vitality to the flywheel, you’re not ramping it again up, winding it again up, pushing it so it retains going. It’ll begin to wind down. For pondering to maintain going on a regular basis you’re continuously placing vitality into it, placing vitality and placing vitality into it. And after we drop the ball we’re not placing any extra vitality into it. We don’t care about it.
So it’s actually essential to grasp that I don’t need you to think about that you just’re alleged to cease pondering. And I don’t need you to think about that your ideas must be particular. Reasonably, I don’t need you to have interaction along with your ideas in any respect. Which means, I don’t care what they’re, I don’t care what number of there are. As a result of to care about that’s to have interaction with them. You’re simply letting go, you’re simply letting go. When you seize on once more, simply let go once more.
Okay one last item, I’ll give up haranguing you, like I stated I may in all probability discuss constantly for twenty-four hours about this however and by no means repeat myself, however one other factor is that, gosh there’s so many issues I wish to say right here. You’re not gonna attain some particular state. When you’re reaching a particular state, that’s not like an issue or a problem, however that’s not the aim. That’s simply an accident. It’ll come and similar to each different particular state, it’ll ultimately go. So that you would possibly end up actually experiencing numerous vitality like your physique begins actually having numerous vitality and that may really feel actually good, tremendous blissful, however that’s high quality. However it would additionally ultimately cease and that’s high quality too as a result of that’s not what we’re attempting to make occur.
You would possibly end up feeling all of your ideas will cease and your mind will simply really feel prefer it’s stopped. Identical to that. It simply stops. And simply sits there not pondering something. And that’s okay. Nice, that’s great however that’s not the aim, okay? That’s not what we’re attempting to make occur. We’re not attempting to cease that from taking place both, however that’s simply one other expertise. That’s a particular state. There’s different ones you will get into all types of bizarre altered states however none of that issues.
All that issues is that you just drop the ball. Even when that occurs, if you happen to get all into this vitality, simply preserve coming again to consciousness. Consciousness is resting and vitality’s taking place. Nice. Otherwise you get into like some tremendous, trippy altered notion zone. Every thing’s the world appears prefer it’s manufactured from waves or one thing. This occurs on a regular basis, you realize, so what? That’s not the aim. You simply come again. You drop the ball. Don’t actually give that have any vitality. However you’re not attempting to get away from it both, however you’re simply, okay that’s taking place. Come again to only resting as the attention you already are and all the time have been, proper? No, we don’t have interaction with particular states. Once we do that dropping the ball meditation, it’s the other of a particular state.
What’s a particular state? It’s particular. Meaning there’s different states that aren’t particular and so states come and go. They arrive and go, they arrive and go, however consciousness regardless that it’s empty, doesn’t come and go. It’s the other of particular. It’s probably the most normal factor you could possibly ever expertise. It’s expertise, so clearly, because the background, it’s probably the most normal attainable factor, so it’s the other of particular. So that you’re sitting right here dropping the ball and you’re feeling completely depressed and despondent and stuffed with despair, okay nicely, drop the ball. Relaxation. Consciousness is ok. You’re feeling tremendous pleasure and magic and dancing bunnies are you realize hopping round rainbows in your thoughts. Cool, drop the ball, simply relaxation as consciousness. Right here, as I say, you’re concerned in some type of massive battle in your thoughts along with your relationship associate or along with your work colleagues or no matter, okay nicely, simply drop the ball, come again to being consciousness.
It’s the identical transfer it doesn’t matter what. And I say being consciousness, however I don’t imply it’s an object proper. It’s not an object. I simply imply resting as consciousness, okay. It’s the only factor on this planet. As a substitute of involvement and thought and feeling the place you suppose you might be thought and feeling, we simply chill out out of that involvement, we chill out out of that constriction, we chill out out of the tightness, we let go, we open, we really feel relaxed and relaxed with no matter’s taking place okay.
That is the actual equanimity. The actual equanimity is, I’m simply relaxed and conscious it doesn’t matter what frame of mind or state of emotion or state of physique or no matter, okay. Doesn’t imply we don’t know what they’re. It doesn’t imply you may’t ultimately get in there and work with them and alter them, however it’s essential for us to appreciate that consciousness is ok proper now simply the best way it’s. We’re by no means going to vary consciousness. We’d change our pondering. We’d change our feeling. We’d change all types of stuff however we’re not going to vary consciousness. It already is full. It already is ideal. It already is what it’s. Discover that now. Drop in now. Drop the ball now.
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