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Guided Meditation (64) Freedom as Things Pass

Good morning, everyone. Good day.

Welcome to this meditation, where you have the opportunity to meditate both with yourself and with a large community. The large community is meant to support us so that we are more inspired, more content to really sit here in our own direct experience. We know that there is a wide field of support, of mutuality, of companionship on this path, and that you are not alone.

Knowing you are not alone brings the willingness to put everything else aside the best you can to be right here—not so much with yourself, but with the experience that is immediate and current. I love the word "current" because it means both in the present moment and the current of a stream or a river. And so here we are in the current of time, in that little window of it that is always moving, always changing, always flowing, that we call the present moment.

So, please assume a meditation posture and close your eyes. Give some nice attention to the body to adjust the posture. It could be large adjustments or small adjustments. Just kind of get everything as best you can, lined up in harmony enough with what is available to you in your body, to support being here in the current of the present moment through the experience of the body.

Your body is always in the present moment. Your mind, in a sense, seemingly wanders. Often, thoughts about the past and future, and fantasy, mean it is not so grounded here in the present moment. So, here, bring the mind into harmony with the body, with your capacity for attention, and with awareness. It is not so much awareness brought to the body, but allowing for the awareness which is in the body.

Then, within this body, take a few long, slow, deep breaths to begin attuning yourself to the rhythm of breathing: the comings and goings of the in-breaths, the comings and goings of the out-breaths. Here, in this body breathing, is where you will be centered.

As you exhale, relaxing your body is a way to continue to center yourself here and now. Let your breathing return to normal.

From the inside of the body, notice where there is tension and holding in your body. It is almost as if you discover the awareness that is inside the tension. Gently, as you exhale, continue relaxing the body. Relax the belly. The more relaxed the belly is, the more it is part of the river of change, with no sensations frozen in time. The sensations of the belly just move, appear, and disappear. They flow by, making room for the next one.

Relaxing the shoulders—maybe a deep relaxation of the shoulders, the tops of the shoulders, the shoulder joints, down the arms. Feel the vitality, the pulse of life, and the energies that are a little bit freed up when the muscles are not held so tight.

Relax the muscles of the face, as if the face could sit back in an easy chair and just take a break and rest. Then, within this body, as part of this body, become aware of how the body experiences breathing—breathing in and breathing out.

Bring a little more careful attention to the breathing, so the awareness is more continuous with each inhale and each exhale. Stay, stay, stay right there with the whole length of the inhale, and notice how the sensations that come into play are changing during that length of time. Stay with the full length of the exhale and notice how there are changes in the sensations connected to exhaling. Not that you're leaning into it or staring at your breathing; rather, you are settling back, opening, allowing, and receiving the full length of the inhale and the full length of the exhale. It is the receiving of all the changes that come into play as you breathe.

Then notice the fact^[1] that some sensations pass away. The sensations of the inhale come to an end as we begin to exhale. Some of the sensations within an inhale pass away and come to an end before the end of the inhale. Just settle back, and without trying too much or straining, just receive. Appreciate how sensations pass away. And if they don't, don't worry about it. Just notice the ones that do pass, that are no longer here. They might return, but just notice their passing, or notice that they are now gone.

Without thinking or reflecting on it, you can also open your awareness more widely to be aware of any sensation and how it passes. Notice what comes to an end and passes away. Maybe it starts again, but just notice the passing of it, or notice the passing of our attention on it. Our attention is on one thing, and then it is pulled to something else. Appreciate all that is passing away, coming to an end.

As you notice that things are in the process of passing away, or as you notice they have passed away, appreciate that at those moments, it doesn't make sense to cling to anything. It doesn't make sense to depend on something which is fading away, which is gone. See if you can appreciate that openness, that non-clinging to it, and the freedom and space that it provides.

In and of itself, when things pass away, in the passing there can be a feeling of freedom, spaciousness, and peacefulness. Settle back into the flow of present moment experience, appreciating all the things that are passing: sounds, sensations, thoughts. Anything that changes also has a part of it that is passing away.

Chances are, the thoughts that you had at the beginning are not the same thoughts you have now. Those thoughts have passed away. Some of the sensations of your body that were current at the beginning of the meditation may no longer be current; something else is. What you were feeling has maybe changed; it is no longer here.

Appreciate the absence that is left behind when something disappears or is no longer present. Don't be in a hurry to fill^[2] the absence. Appreciate the openness, the spaciousness, and the freedom that comes when there is nothing there to cling to, to hold on to, or to resist, because it is no longer present.

And as we come to the end of the sitting, if you have some sense, some feeling for the openness or freedom that comes when something passes away, and how it doesn't make sense to cling to something which has passed away, is in the process of passing away, or will pass away—even if it is inconstant, as it comes and goes and comes and goes—its going can teach us the value of not holding on. We learn the value of not expecting, demanding, or wanting, but allowing it to pass and remaining open and free for the next thing to arise.

And if the next thing to arise is another person, as you go about your day and you meet a person, you communicate with a person, you think of a person—become aware of that person in the way of non-attachment, the way of openness and receptivity. The freedom that can come when we don't cling to what has passed away means that maybe we don't cling to what arises. We stay open, non-clinging, non-contentious, without need or demand.

And this can become our gift to others: that we receive them and know them without the filter of our attachments and our demands, expectations, biases, and prejudices. In the freedom that we learn, we meet people with an openness, a peacefulness.

Maybe this is one of the gifts that we can offer the world from our meditation practice. May it be that our meditation practice not only benefits ourselves, but it benefits others. Maybe at some point, it is even more valuable for us to meditate when we know we do it for the welfare and happiness of others. What a gift to be attentive, and aware, and present for others without any filters of attachment.

May all beings be happy. May all beings be safe. May all beings be peaceful. And may all beings everywhere be free.