Guided Nondual Meditation with Michael Taft
Meditation
Let’s start, as at all times, by simply tuning in to the query: What’s it wish to be me proper now? So what’s it like? Really feel your physique, your feelings, discover your ideas, no matter else is happening within the ecosystem. Checking it out. It is a crucial level: no matter is occurring in there proper now, simply let that be okay proper now. We’re going to let go of the basic aggression towards ourselves, that consistently says we have to change our inside state. As a substitute, merely let no matter is occurring in there occur, simply the best way it’s proper now. Even when it isn’t that nice, or it’s tremendous nice and also you don’t need it to go away, ever. Only for now, for the size of the sit, let it’s nonetheless it’s. So let’s spend just a few moments tuning in to how it’s to be you proper now.
Now, simply tune in—this is sort of a poem or a temper factor—simply enable your self to meditate as if you’re the sky. Let your self be vast open, boundless, spacious, free; very vibrant and clear–unsleeping. That’s at all times a part of our expertise, so we’re simply tuning into that a part of our expertise that’s already like that already sky-like, already unsleeping, already vast open. So, even when you solely discover a bit trace of that, tune into it. We’re not tightening down or constricting, or making an attempt to make it completely different or make it massive. Simply discover the pure simple openness that’s already a part of our expertise. From the vast awakeness that’s a part of that openness, the intense, clear, crisp awakeness that’s already there, simply enable consciousness to tune into the rising and falling wave of the breath. It’s like this eternal openness, this open sky is conscious of the rising and falling wind of the breath. We’re not specializing in it, or microscopically or phenomenologically deconstructing it, we’re simply noticing that the breath is rising and falling, that’s all. Quite simple.
Simply permitting the breath to be the breath, and that that feels good, the physique likes to breathe. So there’s a background trace of pleasantness, of pleasure, or funktionslust, with this sense of how nice it’s to breathe. The sunshine wind of the breath, rising and falling throughout the sky of consciousness, vast open, unsleeping, sky of consciousness. Discover a very easy, pure sense of stillness that comes into the physique once we enable ourselves to be unsleeping and vast open; respiratory very simply. This isn’t stillness from rigidity or self-discipline, that is merely turning into relaxed sufficient that the physique is having fun with stillness, actually unfastened, open, relaxed stillness. Typically once we keep able to act or transfer, now we have a background stress. Right here we’re releasing that, settling in, merely sitting.
Good. Now, when you already know find out how to do alternate nostril respiratory, go forward and try this. If not, I’ll reveal. Put your proper thumb in your proper nostril, closing that nostril. Then breathe in by way of the left nostril. Then shut the left nostril with the center and ring finger, and breathe out by way of the best. Then reverse, inhaling the best nostril, closing the best, respiratory out the left. We’re going to do that for some time–about 5 minutes. You don’t need to do it when you don’t prefer it.
It is extremely good for balancing, opening, and getting the brightness of consciousness fairly a bit clearer. If in case you have been working towards this for some time, be at liberty to do longer exhales or breath holds, or something like that if you’re conversant with it. In any other case, merely do that back-and-forth respiratory. It helps when you sit up actual straight, with the again actually straight. We’re getting bilateral, bihemispheric stimulation doing this.
If you wish to mix this with a visualization, you possibly can, on the in-breath see the breath going into the stomach, see the breath and the stomach lighting up. On the out-breath, see the third eye lighting up. If you wish to mix it with a mantra, on the in-breath, say so-hum; on the out-breath, say han saha. It is a nondual mantra. The so-hum means “I’m he/she/it”; han saha is “That’s me.” We’re connecting with popping out of the sense of a restricted identification into the a lot bigger, groundless identification of empty consciousness itself. So-hum on the in-breath; han saha on the out-breath. Really feel additionally, apart from the balancing, soothing high quality of this, really feel additionally the way you sense the power physique a bit bit. Minimally, tingling, however typically, a larger sense of embodiment coming ahead.
Now, we began with an in-breath within the left nostril, so hold going till you do an out-breath on the left nostril. Then enable your self to complete the breath, and easily relaxation because the vast open sky of consciousness. Really feel, not solely the breath rising and falling but in addition, the energized physique and the vast, vast, unsleeping consciousness.
Once more, on this very open method, not focusing arduous or constricting the eye, simply be with the breath. Notably the sensation of the motion of the breath, in order that power high quality. If you’re delicate to it, you possibly can even really feel the power behind the breath, that sense of vibratory motion that’s virtually the supply of the breath. So, on this very relaxed, vast open, unsleeping, very open method, we’re simply following the breath, however now in a way more energized method. Feeling the buzzy/tingling/vibratory high quality, maybe all through numerous the physique, many areas of the physique. Let’s simply be with that for some time. Bringing vibrant clear consciousness with none tightness in consideration. See when you can discover, simply instantly–this isn’t a visualization, you aren’t imagining one thing–see when you can discover how that feeling, that high quality of power within the physique is definitely transferring the respiratory, it’s behind the respiratory.
We would consider our our bodies as being crammed with pumps and hoses and electrical wiring, and pulleys & levers–all of the metaphors about how the physique works, primarily based on our equipment and tools–however this sense of vibratory power is how the physique feels about itself once we tune into the power behind the respiratory. The physique begins to really feel actually good, to chill out and open. That is its native language, so to talk. So, it’s much less of us impinging and colonizing it with our concepts of how we consider it, and moderately feeling the way it feels about itself. Very pure, very relaxed. The physique begins to open to this fashion of seeing. If you’re delicate to this in any respect, you’ll really feel this power all all through your physique, limbs, face, torso. And as you tune into it, not specializing in it, simply stress-free into the open consciousness of it, it’ll begin to turn out to be extra apparent and even develop and broaden. Once we discover it much more clearly, much more deeply, we see that, to place it on this humorous approach of speaking, the power is behind the breath, and behind the power is groundless openness. Simply absolute spacious openness that has no backside, no floor. It’s simply vast open. Proper contained in the power is boundless house.
If you’re superb at noticing this, you could possibly observe how house bubbles forth with power, and the power turns into the in-breath, and the in-breath collapses again into power, collapses again into house because the outbreath. Not as a visualization, however a direct notion. You could even start to really feel how the whole physique, not simply the emotions of the breath, however all the emotions of the physique, are simply vast open, boundless house, exuberantly dancing, so to talk. Each sensation is just the colourful expression of this groundless openness. Very nice to note that.
In the event you work with this for some time, you’ll discover that it impacts the thoughts, the pondering course of. Identical to the emotions within the physique may be observed as power and vibration, if we try this sufficient, we begin to expertise ideas that approach. Not as cognitive data, they may begin to really feel like vibratory power flows, similar to the physique feels. It’ll begin to have an effect on how pondering is perceived. Arising ideas, as a substitute of being strings of cognitive data, will really feel like a wave of buzzy, tingly flowing power. Nonetheless pondering, however in a really completely different mode. And really clearly coming from the identical supply because the breath, the identical vacancy that’s vibrating and dancing its approach into being the breath, can be exuberantly expressing itself as flows of thought, which can be merely motion, power, change. We’re not analyzing them as linguistic or cognitive content material.
If that’s too arduous, simply stick with the physique and the breath. However when you can discover that ideas are merely flows of power as nicely, as a direct expertise, not a visualization or creativeness, simply tune into that. Give up into that, and see how that modifications the openness of consciousness to much more unrestricted, uncontained, very awake place.
If you end up getting sleepy, sit up, however hold going. This isn’t a sleepy time, however a really unsleeping time. Only a completely different mode of being unsleeping.
Discover how tuning into the vibratory high quality of thought, the stream of constantly altering thought power will are likely to dissolve the extra crystalline, inflexible, managed, and outlined elements of the thoughts, and begin to open up the playfulness, openness, non-linearity, vast open, unsleeping and easily spontaneously flowing.
If any a part of the physique begins clamping down or tightening up, simply discover how the breath power lets that open proper up. Not in a combating or struggling approach, simply merely stress-free and opening. Equally, if the thoughts begins clamping down, making an attempt to make sense, interpret, body, management, simply discover that the stream of thought power transferring and altering, transmogrifying constantly simply melts these makes an attempt, dissolves the management body, and lets a way of ease, spaciousness and spontaneity come into the thoughts. Very pure sense of vast openness. No want to regulate.
Groundless house itself is pondering. Bottomless openness with none boundary is respiratory. No matter that looks like, if that’s there, really feel the power behind that. The sensation of being any individual doing something in any respect, particularly respiratory, pondering, or doing a meditation, has some physique sensation parts, some emotional physique sensation parts, thought parts, all of that are already skilled as flows of power which can be then popping out of groundless vast openness. So see when you can discover that the sense of “I’m any individual doing one thing” has a vibratory energetic high quality behind it. You possibly can break it down into thought and feeling, however it is usually out there simply instantly. There’s the sensation of me being any individual doing one thing. Really feel the vibratory change, the power stream behind that. It might be simply out there, or it might be past your means proper now. If that’s the case, that’s okay, simply come again to one thing that’s simple to contact.
Discover the power behind any individual doing something in any respect. Then, as you will have most likely already intuited, discover the house out of which that’s arising. The huge, boundless openness that has no floor in any respect, completely vast open, out of which the expertise of “I’m any individual doing one thing” is arising. It’s actually fascinating, once we comprehend it, as a result of, after all, it isn’t that there isn’t a expertise of any individual doing one thing. Identical to, clearly we’re respiratory, we are able to really feel respiratory occurring, however it’s arising out of groundless openness, and clearly there are ideas occurring, however these, too, are arising out of groundless openness. They’re type of there however not there. In the identical approach, the sense of “I’m any individual doing one thing” is an apparent expertise that’s there, however can be stream, change, vibration, power, arising out of groundless house; arising out of nothing, basically. There, however not there. Extensive open, unsleeping. Steady stream of expertise.
You possibly can say that awakeness itself, house itself, is respiratory; house itself is pondering; house itself is turning into any individual who looks like they’re doing one thing. However by no means fixating there. Flowing again into power, again into boundless open awakeness with none floor in any respect; nowhere to land, no field to place it in. You could discover an exuberance, a type of background pleasure, a type of deep pleasantness that comes with simply letting this stream of expertise stream with out ever crystallizing into any specific factor. Repeatedly conscious of the groundless openness on the core of it, and but, the vivid and exuberant show of all expertise.
Discover if something does really feel caught, tight, contracted, dense, or crystallized, crimped, you possibly can simply discover the power high quality behind it, the vibratory stream of steady change behind and inside it. Not as a visualization, however as direct expertise. Then observe that stream of steady grow to be the huge house of wide-awake vast openness proper inside it. In order that even the factor that’s showing as tremendous dense or tight, dense, problematic, is, at its core, simply unsleeping vast openness, flowing with power and spontaneity into being what it’s expressing as. We don’t have to vary it. It doesn’t need to be unfastened and open. It may be as tight and bizarre and problematic because it needs, and be in complete contact with the open, spacious, unsleeping groundless wakefulness that’s its nature.
Even the room round you, the lights, colours, shapes, textures, colours, patterns, rhythms, you possibly can discover as the continual area of change, vibration, stream. Discover that it, too, is arising second by second from a type of exuberance of awake house with none floor in any respect. By no means caught, by no means crystallizing, by no means flattening. At all times fluid, spontaneous, playful, unsleeping, vast open, flowing. It has no boundary and no middle. Conscious, vast openness. By no means placing itself in a field or getting caught, a steady stream of spontaneity, of no matter is subsequent.
Excellent. Let’s finish the meditation there. Transfer and stretch; do what you could do.
Dharma Speak, Q&A
As I stated, we’re not making an attempt to visualise or think about power. I’m utilizing that phrase – power – not in a physics approach, however the feeling in your physique. The thought is that by tuning into that and following it, it’ll pull you right into a clearer sense of what’s really out there, what is occurring in expertise.
In the event you do the breath one, did anybody really feel numerous power of their physique while you did that? That may pull you right into a deep absorption. It begins to get stronger and stronger–however that’s not what we’re doing. We’re not making an attempt to enter an altered state. As a substitute, we are attempting to see what’s going on another way. We’re used to placing it right into a field and making it right into a factor and defining it in a sure approach. Once we try this, it may be helpful for every kind of issues, and that’s once we are visualizing, you might be experiencing extra of your concepts of what’s occurring moderately than what’s going on. The extra that you simply begin to make a factor out of expertise and resolve what’s occurring. You might be dreaming expertise into what you suppose it’s purported to be.
We’re kinda doing anti-visualization. As a substitute of imagining what is meant to be there, we’re tuning into expertise itself–not that you could ever have bare expertise. However, simply by working in such a approach we see the continual altering high quality, it brings in a special mode of expertise. If that’s simply out there, you possibly can discover the groundlessness. It’s an expertise, it’s not not there, however you possibly can’t discover a backside to it. It’s not coming from anyplace. In a deep sense, it’s nebulous, indefinable, and that’s fascinating. However, that’s not the one fascinating factor. It’s not that we simply need to go to the undefinable groundlessness and keep there, which a number of folks selected to do, and that’s cool, however that’s not all of what I’m displaying you. You possibly can see how that absolutely groundless, nebulous, undefined–no matter–comes again into being all the pieces. And while you see it that approach, all of the stuff that’s coming into expertise is tremendous awake, spontaneous, flowing. None of it’s caught, it’s not in a field. It brings the primordial undefinedness again into being, and that’s tasty, actually feels good, is gorgeous and contemporary.
One of many issues we do is our yogic respiratory; the alternate nostril respiratory, Anuloma Viloma, an historical method that has many advantages. One is that it begins making the vibratory high quality a bit clearer. One other is that it helps take you out of your rote patterns of thought, begins taking you out of the worn pathways of your thoughts and opens you as much as one thing completely different. It’s really, surprisingly good at that, only for doing one thing that’s actually mellow. It begins to make a few of these different experiences out there. And what’s fascinating is it’s taught in virtually each Yoga class. In the event you go to yoga in any respect, they’ll present you ways to try this, however they by no means actually. I don’t know. They’re simply cool. That’s some power, or like, that’s factor, or it’s gonna clear your chakras, or no matter. However it’s very, very uncommon that they’ll present you what you possibly can actually do with one thing like that. Even one thing actually easy like that. You possibly can work with it rather a lot. It’s very fascinating. It’s very highly effective. It comes from Tantrism or Vajrayana, which is an excellent highly effective approach of working, however numerous the background of understanding has been left behind, and is now utilized in a way more pedestrian approach, which doesn’t actually provide the keys to opening it up. So simply know that, although you possibly can study to do one thing like that throughout, studying to work with it’s typically not defined. We’re doing a bit little bit of that right here.
Are there experiences or something arising from folks on the market? Any questions, feedback, intense critiques?
Questioner 1: It appears to be that in a single a part of the apply it is rather energy-arousing, and one other half that’s utterly stress-free. I’m wondering find out how to navigate between the 2; Do I simply observe what feels good? Is there one thing else I can search for? stability it as a result of they’re so reverse.
Michael: That is the core of what meditation is: a stability of getting actually relaxed and getting actual awake. Usually now we have these two modes of being–tremendous relaxed however unconscious–being asleep–or being awake, however being very agitated and tense. These are the default modes of human expertise. What we’re doing is mixing the nice components of each. You possibly can think about [sound went out]. So, on this meditative course of, we’re getting extra deeply relaxed whereas being extra awake. Extra awake whereas being extra relaxed, and getting deeper and deeper into that. In order that’s what you might be describing – the good place, the stability between dullness and agitation.
However we’re doing one thing extra right here, as a result of that’s simply shamatha. We’re doing extra, which is the additional step of: now have a look at the vacancy high quality, the wide-openness, the spaciousness, nebulosity, undefinedness, groundlessness. However that’s only one route in meditation that leads you–to Advaita, to this actual transcendental place. And you’ll keep there, however don’t! That’s solely midway there so far as I’m involved. That’s cool how it’s spacious, it’s nebulous and undefined. However there generally is a sturdy behavior to show that into this pure land of unsleeping consciousness, and this entire world of expertise is someway polluting, or is a nonsense dream, and it’s simply my groundless unsleeping consciousness that’s the solely actuality. To me, that’s only a actual useless finish.
As a substitute, as a result of that’s one thing so apparent, so disembodied; there’s something else that’s staring you within the face, and that’s that vacancy is exuberant, it’s spontaneous, it’s crammed with power that wishes to come back again into being. It’s making all the pieces occur each second. You possibly can trip that again out, which is completely different from leisure and awakeness. It’s vacancy and kind, to make use of Buddhist terminology, or groundless vast openness and exuberant show. So, we at all times need to come again to that exuberant show additionally, that’s when it’s actually the total expertise of being alive as a substitute of placing your self into an vacancy gap.
Proper? So we’re taking part in forwards and backwards, from simply show, into the vibratory high quality of the show, which takes you into the openness, however as a substitute of simply hanging on the market, we really feel how the openness has power, and it brings you again into being, all the pieces is rendered all of the sudden, and that’s fascinating.
Questioner 1: These two qualities of the vacancy half and the exuberant power – to maneuver forwards and backwards? Or do you see it as from the vacancy comes the exuberance – a development, moderately than discovering a stability?
Michael: Each are completely cool methods to expertise issues, however finally it’s kinda simply all occurring. We are able to, for the sake of meditation/experiment/having enjoyable, you possibly can go into one or the opposite, or shuttle, or simply kinda relaxation. The excellence I’m making is that it’s all simply occurring on the similar time. So, we are able to simply sit with all of it occurring on the similar time. However, till you do the extremes forwards and backwards, forwards and backwards, it’s arduous to note it occurring abruptly.
Questioner 1: Excellent
Michael: Thanks to your query. Different stuff?
Questioner 2: Just a bit preamble to my query. Working with power, experiencing power behind emotions has helped me rather a lot with understanding equanimity. That’s been very fascinating; like attachment and anger all have an identical nature or worth now. However one factor that’s tough to work with is ennui; it’s kinda arduous to explain what it’s.
Michael: You’re in a roomful of Individuals, so let’s say “boredom.”
Questioner 2: Existential boredom, as I’ve skilled it in my life, is as “so what”–the state of “so what-ness.” It’s extra like an absence of worth.
Michael: Are you describing what we’d name melancholy?
Questioner 2: I don’t know the way it arises, it simply randomly comes up. There’s most likely some karmic storage, additionally all of the moments that I’ve skilled all through my entire life, whilst a child or teenager. So, once I need to work with this within the type of power, first, I sought the power behind it, however it’s difficult as a result of it questions even the unsleeping house, it questions all the pieces in type of worth. And second, with thought, it felt just like the power behind it was worry, like lack of worth or that means, however then I felt the sensation behind it was dying, there was no power in it. And so, the worry of dying, of lack of that means or power, as a result of there’s power in all the pieces.
Michael: Why would that be dangerous?
Questioner 2: Yeah, I don’t know. It feels dangerous. There isn’t any motivation to do something, there’s simply dying. There isn’t any worth.
Michael: Have you ever ever been capable of not do something?
Questioner 2: Umm…Type of.
Michael: However solely type of, proper, you’re nonetheless respiratory, getting as much as go to the toilet, you continue to find yourself sleeping. There’s really various doing in all of that “no purpose to do something.” And so it’s fascinating.
Questioner 2: Yeah, I feel it isn’t doing something helpful, in order that’s what the boredom is about. So, I used to be questioning if anybody else experiences this?
Michael: A number of folks expertise it. It’s highly effective. It’s a bit bit deeper of a spot, proper, while you begin noticing that? The secret is that whether it is actually so useless and all of that, why would that even matter? If it was actually useless, it wouldn’t matter to you that it felt that approach. However there’s nonetheless worry, there’s nonetheless “you don’t need it,” so there’s tons of that means wrapped up in it. As quickly as you discover that there’s valence there, then you might be out of it, or a minimum of doubtlessly out of it. So there’s that route, simply noticing: why does a few of this get to matter? If it actually didn’t matter, you wouldn’t care. So there’s some mattering there, and that’s one solution to work with it.
One other approach is to search out that worry. That’s some actually, massive, power–not some small power–that’s actually fascinating, and see the identical factor: it’s received all that spontaneity, depth, flowingnes, after which that’s already beginning to have the aliveness in it. Let your self really feel the worry. We do dying sangha in right here, which is arising right here on the weekend of Halloween. An enormous a part of that’s feeling the aliveness of that tremendous worry, proper? And disgust, disgrace, hatred, all that. So we’re not making an attempt to suppress that, deny it, make it go away or management it, however moderately, really feel the power of it, after which discover that that power is vast open groundless house, too, and tremendous awake. Then we are able to trip again even into the ennui and the flatness, and see that it has a brand new high quality. It’s probably not new, however we are able to discover the standard, that it’s really very alive. In order that’s the power approach in. That’s a few methods of working with it.
Questioner 2: Yeah, that is sensible. There are all types of peripheral energies and I can work with them. Thanks.
Questioner 3: Feeling like I’ve sense of touching into vacancy and coming again once we are working with power behind the physique, behind a way of self. I discover when I’ve open eyes within the room typically I get a touch round temporality and taking part in with {that a} bit. Visible phenomena are fascinating. I can discover the stream of change inside it, however I don’t have the sense of going right into a voidness and effulgently coming again out of it. A part of me is seeing that there’s an expectation that there must be blinking of phenomena or some perceptual distortion.
Michael: Do you will have any perceptual distortion in your visible area?
Questioner 2: Typically I get a bit fuzzy, depth of colours, the brightness can fluctuate.
Michael: For everybody, completely different sense gates are simpler to note these things in than others. For plenty of folks, exterior visible sight is the one that’s the most concrete. That is merely a approach of seeing, a approach of perceiving. Discover it within the different senses as strongly as you possibly can, after which work with the visible area. Over time, it’ll begin to reveal its openness. In the event you’ve accomplished approach too many experiments with humorous molecules, like many people have, it’s normally fairly fucking apparent. It’s simply consistently doing that. So, it simply relies upon. For some folks, the sound is tougher, for some, the physique sensations, however, work with those which can be simple first. That opens that approach of seeing, after which it begins to kinda infect the opposite sense gates.
One final query
Questioner 3: After I take into consideration the infinite potential of consciousness, there must be an infinite variety of prospects that would come out of it. After I sense my actuality, it’s at all times the identical form of set of issues. There’s a sample to being myself. So, what’s it that from all of the infinite house of infinite prospects is funneling it in direction of a particular set of outcomes, which is my expertise?
Michael: Certain. The reply is “I don’t fucking know.” It simply does that. Lets say habits, or samskaras, or your set of priors–I might provide you with a bunch of explanations, however, it’s all simply sewage popping out of my mouth in comparison with “that’s your expertise.” Then discover that as you begin to tune into the fluctuation and alter that’s there, it’ll begin to come again in numerous methods. Typically minor, typically main. It received’t be as caught.
Questioner 3: So you possibly can sense how the infinite potentiality is merging into one expertise.
Michael: That’s not what I stated. What I’m saying is that when you begin noticing your personal expertise, that potential increasingly typically, what comes ahead will probably be much less rote, much less recurring. Whereas, whether it is constantly out of sight, you’re kinda caught within the recurring. I hope that’s useful. I might give a bunch of explanations, however you might learn these anyplace, and I don’t suppose it helps that a lot, truthfully.
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