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Guided Nondual Meditation by Michael Taft
Streamed on February 25 2022
I’m going to guide you thru a guided meditation this night. And this guided meditation is one thing we haven’t performed shortly, we’ve performed it earlier than however we haven’t performed it shortly. We’re going to do plenty of investigation, okay? So be ready to analyze with me this night. And I ask you plenty of questions and plenty of them are sort of odd. However keep in mind that the way in which to work with that is to really not try to search out the reply to the query in your ideas or by figuring it out or by, , searching for the precise reply or by memorizing, , trying into your reminiscence; however moderately simply immediately taking a look at your expertise. That’s how we do that, okay?
Meditation
So let’s start by setting our intention, tonight we’re going to meditate – why are you meditating? What’s the level? I need you to tune into that now for only a minute. I’ll be quiet when you do this and I’ll inject myself with some intravenous caffeine from this lovely PG Ideas black tea with some hemp milk. I’m not an enormous hemp milk fan however that’s what we’ve got within the fridge, in order that’s what’s in there. It’s not too unhealthy.
Good. In order that’s why you’re meditating. So keep in mind that, maintain that as a part of your intentionality, a part of the sensation of, , gathering your thoughts round why we’re doing this in order that it lets you be clear. Good. Subsequent let’s work on some useful resource stuff, proper? We wish to construct useful resource after we start meditating. So, first we’re going to do that by tuning into some gratitude. That’s what we’ve been doing for the previous few weeks, we’ve been performing some gratitude observe. So I’m going to provide you about three minutes to simply take into consideration stuff you’re grateful for and really feel grateful for them. It’s actually easy. Don’t take into consideration stuff you’re supposed to be glad about however don’t care about. Actually take into consideration stuff you truly do really feel grateful for and take into consideration them in a manner that brings up that feeling of gratitude, and also you’ll discover it begins melting your physique, armoring. It begins making your coronary heart open just a little bit, and that’s good. So we’re going to try this for a pair extra minutes and I’ll simply be quiet right here whereas all of us do this collectively.
Okay? Good. That’s our gratitude observe and that’s just a bit little bit of heat up. One other a part of the nice and cozy up is once more to visualise some useful resource once more. And so what we’re going to do tonight is, I need you to image a diamond; in no matter manner, that is completely free type. You do that in no matter manner works for you. I need you to image a diamond and this diamond is sort of a spherical diamond with triangular sides, proper? It’s basically a sphere, but it surely’s faceted and the sides are triangular and this diamond is glowing with a sort of very tender, very pleasant, bluish white gentle. Virtually just like the moon. Typically the moon, the complete moon particularly, can replicate pink or orange just a little bit, however generally it’s actually white blue in a manner that may be very, very, very nice. So an image of this massive, clear diamond sphere with this simply slight, very slight blue tint to it; just a bit little bit of blue. And this can be a illustration of our personal deepest, awake consciousness. Our personal bodhisattvahood, our Buddhahood, proper? We’re simply symbolizing it, we’re simply picturing it. And, I need you to simply really feel that this blue diamond, bluish, primarily clear, however simply barely bluish diamond sphere is radiating knowledge to you and also you’re feeling the knowledge. It’s radiating love, you are feeling the love, the super acceptance, proper? Love and acceptance, precisely the way in which you might be, it doesn’t want you to alter in any respect. It loves you precisely the way in which you might be. And moreover, really feel the playfulness and the spontaneity that’s current with this huge, clear diamond.
So I need you to simply sit with that for some time, picturing it and feeling these emotions of affection and acceptance and pleasure and knowledge. Really feel assured, daring and assured. The Buddhas are by no means shy, proper? They’re keen to alter the world and so there’s a sort of confidence that comes from this Buddha-nature and there’s a playfulness of spontaneity. It’s not afraid, so it may well play and it may well take probabilities. So actually, really feel that, really feel that power coming at you now in a really nice manner. We’re going to try this. We’re going to visualise that and really feel these energies for about 5 extra minutes.
Okay? Good. Now from right here, from this place, let’s start merely following the breath. Permitting the breath to easily do what it’s going to do. You don’t have to alter the breath in any manner and once more we’re going to comply with the breath in additional of an open consciousness type meditation. So loosen up, enable consciousness to be huge and spacious prefer it naturally is. Consciousness is already very broad, already huge, already spacious. We don’t must make it that manner, we simply tune into that facet of consciousness. And from that place, with the thoughts very broad, sitting possibly with our eyes open however with a tender gaze. Only a very, very broad consciousness, permitting the wave of the breath to easily come up and move, come up and move by consciousness, with out us essentially having to seize onto it or give attention to it. We’re simply conscious of it. That breath wave arising in consciousness and passing away in consciousness. I need you to stick with that now in a really mild and open manner.
Bear in mind consciousness is simply conscious naturally, that’s why it’s known as consciousness. And it’s conscious of this breath sensation within the physique, the breath feeling the physique, the physique increasing naturally with the incoming breath and contracting naturally with the outgoing breath. It’s conscious of that with none wrestle in any respect. With none want to love, focus or slim consideration, or something. It’s simply the extensive, open sea, the extensive, open sky of consciousness, noticing the wind of the breath passing by it with none massive deal.
Let your self unwind, let your self naturally simply let go. Let your self loosen up. Remembering that consciousness is each huge, it’s spacious, it’s relaxed but it surely’s additionally wakeful. It’s very brilliant and clear, it’s not sleepy, it’s not muddy. So we’re each very relaxed, very open and relaxed and on the identical time wakeful; very clear, very brilliant, all with none effort.
Okay? Good. Now what I’d such as you to do is to sink even deeper. Let go much more fully. Simply relaxation as consciousness, following the breath, simply comply with the breath with none effort. Bear in mind consciousness is conscious so it feels the breath transfer. Feeling the breath root transfer and simply let every thing else drop away. Let it drop away just like the chains once you’re leaving jail. Let it drop away, like… fully. Let it drop away totally. Let it drop away such as you’re letting go of the heaviest burden. Simply enable your self to simply be merely consciousness conscious of the breath wave, with out every other burdens.
Okay? Good. Now from this place of simply open, huge, spacious, clear, brilliant consciousness I need you to, proper now, simply look; if ideas are current, the place do ideas come from? I don’t need you to make use of your pondering to determine this out. I don’t need you to make use of your reminiscence, or your understanding of neuroscience, or your concepts in regards to the mind. I don’t need you to attempt to get the precise reply by figuring it out. All of that could be a mistake after we’re doing this kind of observe. As a substitute, I need you to simply look or pay attention or really feel or no matter. In your individual expertise, as consciousness, the place do ideas come from? The place do they arrive from? Look. Look now and maintain trying. Discover the place they arrive from. The place is the origin of thought? Look now.
Should you’re attempting to determine it out, cease doing that. Should you suppose you’ve solved it, maintain trying. Simply maintain trying in that place or listening or feeling or no matter. The place are ideas coming from? Are they..? Should you suppose you discovered it, look, or examine is the precise phrase; examine extra clearly, extra exactly. Proper now, look. The place do ideas originate?
Okay? Good. So that you’ve been trying immediately at the place ideas come from. Trace, what in the event that they don’t come from wherever, proper? You may discover that you simply’re having a tough time truly noticing the place they arrive from however, however possibly not. Let’s look now at, immediately, at the place ideas go to. So in the event that they’re, don’t generate ideas on goal, simply relaxation as open, spacious consciousness; noticing ideas arising and passing. However when the ideas move, watch the second of their passing. The place did they move to? The place do they go away to? The place’s the trash can in your thoughts, proper? The place is that precisely? Look now. Once more, don’t determine it out. Look now. In your individual expertise, examine. Discover the reply for your self.
The place are these ideas going to? Maintain trying, don’t simply be happy. Even when the reply is that they don’t appear to be going wherever, maintain watching that nowhere, so to talk, to which they disappear. It’s actually, actually attention-grabbing.
Okay? Good. Now you’ll have observed that it’s very tough to discover a place the place ideas come up from or a spot the place ideas go to. Very tough. We would even say it’s unfindable, proper? Now a associated query is, the place are ideas whereas they’re taking place? So, think about they come up and so they move however in between arising and passing – you’re having a thought, proper? There may be an expertise there, however the place is that have precisely? Don’t accept the reply ‘in my head’. I need you to actually discover immediately, the place are these ideas once they’re taking place? The place are these ideas? Look clearly now.
Glorious, okay. Now, after noticing the place ideas come up from and the place they occur after which the place they go to. Which, should you’re trying fastidiously you’ll discover you possibly can’t even discover the place they’re taking place. They’re taking place however they don’t appear to be taking place actually wherever. Then what I need you to look very clearly into, I need you to analyze – to whom are these ideas taking place? Who’s the listener of the ideas? Who’s the haver of the ideas? The speedy reply shall be ‘me’ or ‘my mind’, or one thing. However what does that even imply? I need you to look previous that straightforward reply into your individual expertise, proper now. Not your concepts about expertise, like should you simply maintain saying, “nicely it’s me and my mind.” I need you to look – who’s the haver of this thought? Who’s experiencing the thought? Look now, very, very fastidiously.
Maintain trying, actively trying on this restful, open area of consciousness that’s naturally awake, naturally conscious, naturally relaxed. What or who’s having these ideas? To whom are these ideas arising? What’s pondering? The place is it? Are you able to discover a thinker?
But it surely’s not simply ideas. There’s sounds coming in, there’s sight in case your eyes are open, there’s physique sensations. To whom is all this taking place? Who’s the knower of all these occasions, who, to whom is every thing arising? Look fastidiously now. What’s it that’s conscious of every thing? Should you simply say “me” or, “it’s my mind” or, “it’s my physique,” these are simply phrases. You gotta look. You gotta really feel it, you bought to analyze. Sense into it. To what, to whom is all expertise arising? Examine now, clearly. Look in your individual expertise, don’t settle for the simple solutions. Look. Look now.
Now, take a look at who’s doing any meditating. Who or what’s doing a meditation proper now? Once more simply pondering ‘me’ or ‘I’m’ or ‘my mind’ or ‘my physique’; that’s not a solution. You gotta look. Look now. Look clearly, who or what’s meditating? Who or what’s making an effort? Who or what’s attempting to see? Attempt to see. Attempt to see that. However who’s doing it? Look fastidiously you’ll discover one thing actually, actually attention-grabbing. Actually, actually attention-grabbing. Look.
Who or what’s meditating now? Look fastidiously, look deeply. Who’s doing something? Who’s experiencing something? Who’s pondering something? Who’s feeling something? Who’s listening to this guided meditation? Look now. Look clearly and thoroughly.
Good. Now from this place of huge, spacious consciousness that’s relaxed, that’s open, that’s relaxed, that’s awake. I need you to easily start to radiate out love and pleasure to all the universe. I need you to radiate out emotions of peace and kindness in the direction of the folks of Ukraine. I need you to radiate out love and understanding and kindness and compassion in the direction of transgender kids within the United, within the State within the U.S. of Florida and in addition Texas and in addition everywhere in the U.S. I need you to radiate out love and pleasure and kindness to the entire world. Peace to the entire world. Compassion to the entire world. Might everybody really feel the enjoyment of awakening, the candy kindness of compassion, the knowledge of awakening, the readability and confidence of the Buddha-mind. Radiate this out in all instructions now. Feeling the enjoyment, feeling the boldness, feeling the knowledge. Feeling this totally awake Buddha that you simply actually are, blessing the entire world, therapeutic the entire world. Bringing pleasure and playfulness and spontaneity and readability to all beings.
Dharma Speak
Okay? Good. Let’s let go of that now and I wish to discuss just a little bit about this sort of meditation that we’re doing, which is an inquiry type meditation, proper? We inquire. So we’re doing inquiry type meditation. I ask you a query, proper? Inquiry is completed with questions. I ask you a query and also you look.
And, as I discussed at first of the meditation and lots of occasions all through the meditation, I’ll simply repeat it once more right here – you possibly can’t do these sort of meditations by attempting to determine it out. If you end up attempting to determine it out, cease that, and return to simply investigating, simply trying. So the metaphor I at all times use for that is – it’s like The place’s Waldo. If in case you have a The place’s Waldo image and somebody says “the place’s Waldo?” That’s the inquiry query. You’ll be able to’t go to your reminiscence, I imply presumably you’ve by no means seen this one earlier than. You’ll be able to’t go to your reminiscence to search out out the place Waldo is. You’ll be able to’t use some sort of logic or reasoning or no matter to search out the place Waldo is. You simply must fucking look. And for some purpose this, for me, was actually onerous to know. As a substitute I might attempt to determine it out. I attempt to get the precise reply. And should you carry up what is an efficient reply, theoretically or philosophically, discover that doesn’t assist. You will have, you need to nonetheless do the method of trying and persevering with to look. And should you can’t discover Waldo you simply maintain trying and also you simply maintain trying and also you simply maintain trying. And, possibly, in some unspecified time in the future you possibly can say, “ I’ve checked out each sq. millimeter of this and there’s no Waldo on this image.” Properly, that’s an attention-grabbing reply, proper?
However you don’t know that from figuring it out and also you don’t know that out of your reminiscence. You don’t know that by some logical technique of reasoning. You understand that by trying, your self, at your individual expertise, proper now. That’s the way you do any sort of inquiry meditation, okay? I wish to prevent tens or lots of of 1000’s or 1000’s of hours of frustration of doing this incorrect. Right here’s the way you do it proper, okay? That’s the place you begin to actually get what these meditations are for and the way they work and what they’re about.
Now by way of after we’re searching for thought or we’re searching for the place they arrive, or the place they go, or the place they’re staying, so to talk. Or we much more deeply take a look at who’s having ideas, who’s even conscious of something, who’s doing the meditation. You understand, if I let you know the reply – I’ll let you know the reply – the reply is you possibly can’t discover any. You understand, there’s no place ideas are coming from. There’s not even a spot they’re going to. There’s not even a spot they’re situated once they’re taking place, proper? There’s no place. There’s no, there’s – ideas are taking place – everyone knows they’re there, so to talk. It’s an expertise. However you possibly can’t discover a place, and if it feels such as you’re discovering a spot, look extra intently, proper? However me telling you that and also you remembering that doesn’t actually assist. You gotta see it for your self.
And much more deeply, much more powerfully, much more importantly for actually beginning to get up, we take it even a step additional and we are saying – “who’s even pondering?” Discover the thinker. “Who’s even experiencing?” Discover the experiencer. “Who’s even doing a meditation?” Discover that doer. And, in fact, what’s the reply? The reply is, you possibly can’t discover one. Should you suppose you’ve discovered one, maintain trying. Look proper the place you suppose you discovered it and see you possibly can’t actually discover it. Once more, that doesn’t imply identical to, though you possibly can’t discover a place; ideas are taking place. They’re nonetheless taking place. And in the identical manner expertise remains to be taking place, you simply can’t discover an experiencer. Meditation remains to be taking place, you simply can’t discover a meditator. And if it’s not your expertise, should you’re like “no Michael, I discovered it.” Then I might say, “look extra intently – good – and look extra intently.” Look actually, actually intently.
You can find one thing very attention-grabbing, which is—you possibly can’t find it. And that’s known as unfindability; unfindability, non-locatability. And this unfindability is a side of vacancy, proper? It’s crucial to see this vacancy for your self, to see it for actual and to see it in your individual expertise again and again and over and again and again. Ultimately it sinks in in a really deep, vital manner. “Oh. Oh, there’s expertise, however there’s no experiencer, there’s ideas however there isn’t any thinker.” Proper? And even the ideas, even the experiences themselves in one other manner are completely different. They’re not objects, they’re not situated wherever. It is extremely, very attention-grabbing after we take a look at our personal expertise very deeply right here, which is what we do in inquiry meditation.
Now in different meditations on different Thursday nights you’ve seen me go very deeply into searching for vacancy, proper? And that’s known as vipashyana, we’re doing vipashyana, we’re searching for the vacancy. This inquiry meditation is simply one other manner of doing one thing – the identical factor – or if it’s not precisely the identical factor it’s one thing fairly comparable. It’s fairly comparable. It’s only a completely different manner of going about it.
And these inquiry meditations are beloved of sure traditions. For instance, Advaita Vedanta’s very into inquiry meditations. A number of the inquiry we did tonight is similar to Tibetan Buddhists colleges, like Mahamudra do this kind of inquiry and so they’re additionally associated to Zen. So plenty of traditions do that questioning. And, for some purpose some people really feel like that’s onerous to do, and if it’s onerous to do – nice – do vacancy observe, , vipashyana.
However for different folks there’s one thing very sort of oddly satisfying about asking a query and going and looking out and simply again and again seeing this very attention-grabbing factor, or these very attention-grabbing issues, proper? It begins to percolate up from beneath, it’s not a top-down factor. If it was a top-down factor it might simply be pondering, pondering, pondering. It’s not about pondering, it’s about expertise, proper? So – “oh it begins to return from the underside up” – and also you simply begin noticing your relationship to concepts, your relationship to expertise, your relationship to meditation. Even, to place it in a humorous manner, your relationship to your self begins to alter very drastically.
Okay? So I actually like these inquiry meditations. The college that’s the most into them is Rinzai Zen, proper? Zen from the Rinzai college as a result of there’s a whole gigantic manner of working with questions known as koan observe, proper? So everyone knows the thought of koans and most of us know not less than two koans. There’s one koan we’ve heard of which is, ‘what’s the sound of 1 hand clapping’? However that’s not the true koan, that’s sort of a foul translation. The true koan is ‘what’s the sound of 1 hand’. Right here’s – so take a look at my hand [holds closed fist up to view] – what’s the sound of that hand? What’s the sound of 1 hand? Discover that’s an inquiry query and should you attempt to determine that out it’s meant to shatter your psychological equipment. You’ll be able to’t determine that out. You must simply maintain listening. And that, proper, direct expertise. It’s not one thing from reminiscence, it’s not one thing you possibly can determine. You’ve simply received to maintain listening. After which one thing attention-grabbing occurs. And it’s not simply ‘the reply is, there isn’t any sound’. You’ve received, it’s an inquiry query. And it’s actually, actually attention-grabbing.
The opposite koan that most individuals have heard of is ‘Joshu’s Canine’, proper? So does a canine have Buddha-nature, or not? And the reply is ‘Mu’. Which implies, sort of, like, not. But it surely’s not a solution to the query, by way of like, an mental reply. The reply ‘Mu’ is extra like a cosmic, mystical sound or one thing. And in order that’s even deeper – though that’s the primary koan – it’s a really deep koan as a result of it simply introduces you to only a query you possibly can’t reply and you’ve got, and you need to reply it, proper? In order that’s the, in order that’s Renzai Zen. And that’s one other type of these inquiry questions. That’s the custom that in all probability goes the furthest with the thought of inquiry.
Zen additionally, the sort of inquiry the place we mentioned, “, who’s truly conscious of something proper now?” That’s in Zen. In lots of traditions that’s the core inquiry query. That’s a very powerful inquiry query there may be.
In Advaita Vedanta significantly the Vedanta, as taught by Ramana Maharshi, he says “the one meditation is who am I?” Which is one other manner of asking that very same inquiry query – who’s experiencing something proper now? Who’s conscious? It’s simply one other manner of asking who am I?
And that’s the core query. That’s the deepest inquiry query. You may simply maintain asking that query again and again in your meditation after which trying. However you’ll by no means determine it out. You’ll by no means arrive at a logical response. Fairly, you’ll truly see who or what’s trying – who – you’ll truly see who you might be. And that shall be an enormous shock. Trace – it isn’t who you suppose you might be.
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