Jack, my ten-year old son and I, were watching Weird Al Yankovic videos on YouTube like "Trapped in the Drive Thru" and just generally hanging out when a natural pause occurred.
"You wanna do a meditation?" I asked. "Sure," Jack responded.
A spontaneous guided meditation appeared that we both enjoyed. I've been interested in sensing what is most immediate and primary, what is closer than any sensation or thought. There are different words used to point to the immediacy and directness of the life that is here even prior to any sense perceptions or mind activity. Words like presence, being-ness, awareness.
So in this meditation Jack and I started with the realms of sensation and thought and then opened to the realm of simply being.
It went something like this, with huge open pauses between each sentence:
Listen to the sounds that are occurring now.
Can you hear the sound of your own breathing?
Can you feel the air touching your arms?
Notice whatever thoughts are appearing. Notice whatever feelings and emotions are present.
Now be aware of what is closest.
Can you feel your own presence?
Can you sense your own being?
Allow yourself to know fully the fact that you are here now.
When you feel your own life force here very clearly, you will notice something very interesting.
You will notice that now you can sense this same life force in everything else.
As you sense your own presence, look at the tree outside the window and feel its presence too. Trees are full of presence.
Feeling your own being, you can sense the being of another person.
Keep feeling the fact that you are here, and now sense the reality, the being, of everything in this room- the table, the walls, everything is full of presence.
Feel the life energy inside of you and at the same time feel the life energy of everything that is here.
This is oneness.
We were silent and still sitting next to each other on the couch for some time.
There was a sense of the mind slowing down, a sense of being alive, present, and real.
Then we went with Greg to see the new Steve Carrell comedy, "Dinner for Schmucks", which we thoroughly enjoyed. Now Jack is calling me so it's time to sign off. Hope you enjoyed sharing this meditation with us.
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Essence is everywhere, don't try to find it, just notice the fact that you are alive and aware right now.
Sensing the alive awareness that we are is easy, it just tends to be an underused ability in a mind-dominated civilization. For an instant, stop looking away from this moment into some kind of imagined superior moment. Don't make it hard, simply feel the life that you are now- the life that doesn't need improvement and that couldn't possibly be improved.
~
Gratitude for photo, from this link: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Assets/Environment/Sustainability/Green%2BTree%2BPic.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.eastgwillimbury.ca/Environment/10_Ways_to_Reduce_Greenhouse_Gases.htm&usg=__kAodJHRmoNrjwfIGFNu781Eluq4=&h=853&w=1280&sz=322&hl=en&start=150&sig2=nnj27xQ1YBjD9vFyCKQhYQ&tbnid=R3nvESuKiiIIwM:&tbnh=157&tbnw=209&ei=W6hUTOKoH8qAnwftjtSTBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtree%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D641%26tbs%3Disch:10,3758&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1050&vpy=214&dur=1259&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=210&ty=77&page=8&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:150&biw=1366&bih=641
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