Guided Meditation: Investigation and Freedom

This is an AI-generated transcript from auto-generated subtitles for the video Guided Meditation: Investigation and Freedom. It likely contains inaccuracies, especially with speaker attribution if there are multiple speakers.

The following talk was given by Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on March 03, 2021. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Guided Meditation: Investigation and Freedom

Good morning, good day, good evening, hello everyone. And here we are to do this morning meditation together. A little bit of the topic or theme of this session of mindfulness meditation is what's called investigation or exploration, a process of discovery. As one of the Seven Factors of Awakening^[1], it's sometimes said to be the most important one for the purpose of awakening, for the purpose of freedom.

There's something about choosing to explore, to discover, to investigate what our experience is, which is an expression or a manifestation of freedom. No matter how difficult something might be, to choose to take another look at this, to step towards it to see it better—or sometimes we step away from it to get a better view of it—it's always to discover, to see, to investigate.

When we do that, we're not a victim of experience. When we do that, we're not under the control of experiences around us, within us. When we do that, our attention is not being hijacked by our hindrances^[2] or our neuroses or our fears, whatever it might be. And so, this ability to decide, "Okay, what is this? What is this experience I'm having?" and not to answer that question with words, not to answer that question with an explanation, but to answer it with a clear seeing. To answer it with a clear perception, feeling for what's happening.

So, taking a meditation posture. In some sense, this expression of freedom, which is to take a good look, begins with caring for your posture. Choosing to use this wonderful resource of attention to scan through your posture and to make small adjustments that not only help you be more settled and more relaxed, but also a little bit more alert. Physically alert, ready to discover, ready to see what's here.

And then to take a few moments to discover your own breathing. Without doing any different breathing, just notice how it is for you to be breathing. To explore it, to feel it. And as you do so, maybe you can notice a difference between being entangled with your breathing, wanting it to be different or being concerned about it, and simply discovering it. Simply becoming familiar: "Oh, this is how it is now." Without being for or against, without being analytical or having preferences, just discover in its own way how the breathing is.

Having done so, now take a few long, slow, deep breaths as a way of establishing yourself in this body, here and now. And then, as you exhale—a long exhale—relaxing, settling in, releasing yourself from the tensions of the body.

Then let your breathing return to normal. It's useful to release and relax the holdings of the body as you exhale. Often enough, the tensions and holdings of our body give a kind of pressure to the mind to keep thinking about things, being preoccupied. As we relax the body, there is less of that pressure to think. Softening the face around the eyes, softening around the shoulders. Releasing the shoulders, maybe adjusting your hands a little, or elbows, so the whole arm is a little bit more at ease. And perhaps softening the belly.

Then settling into your body, breathing in whatever way breathing is most compelling, easiest, or most pleasant for you to attend to. In the belly, in the chest, or the nostrils, wherever it might be. And then very simply choose to be with your breathing. Discover how it actually is now, distinct from how you want it to be. In a sense, to explore it, to discover it, to investigate it. Feeling the freedom in that choice, that you're exercising your ability to direct your attention, to discover and feel and get to know it better.

Noticing the difference between the bodily experience of inhaling and exhaling. Noticing a difference between the experiences of breathing where there's some tightness or constriction, and where there's some looseness and releasing. To investigate it, to explore it, means to feel it on its own terms. Step towards it to just get to know it better, without it needing to be different, without trying to fix it. Just know: constriction here, looseness here.

Discovering a little bit what it's like for you to be aware of your breathing. What it's like for you to explore, investigate the experience of breathing. Not to make anything right or wrong, but how is it for you to discover with the kind of discovery of a naturalist? Simply discovering something in nature, patiently observing it as a natural phenomenon. Noticing how you are in relationship to mindfulness or breathing as a natural phenomenon. If there's resistance or reluctance, eagerness, if there's straining or complacency, whatever it might be, discover it, notice it, and let it be that simple.

The simpler the discovery is, the more freedom there is. Freedom to let things just be as they are, freedom from our internal reactions to things. Just being aware, discovering, seeing. And then returning to the breathing. Maybe seeing how simple the discovery can be. Just discovery, just seeing. Not seeing anything special or hidden, but just how it appears, just how it shows itself to you.

If you get lost in thought, that's just another natural phenomenon. And you, the naturalist studying it, seeing it: "This is how it is." And then settling back into your breathing. A silent discovery, a silent investigation of breathing, where there's an intimacy or a clarity about the different sensations that come into play as you breathe. Follow along to observe the distinct sensations of breathing in and breathing out. Distinct sensations of the beginning, middle, and end of the inhale; beginning, middle, and end of the exhale. Discovering your breathing.

Very easily, with ease, maybe you can feel the freedom, the independence that you bring to your experience by choosing to discover it. To see it more fully, more clearly, without it needing to be anything different.

Even when our thinking is pleasant, if we get preoccupied and lost in thought, there is also a loss of freedom. But to wake up our capacity to discover what's happening here is to enact our freedom. Asking the question, "What's happening here?" is not to be answered per se, but to encourage taking a gentle, clear look. What is happening here? Just seeing and feeling. Just what's obvious; no need to think or probe, just discover what is showing itself to us now.

To investigate does not need to involve a contraction or a tightening of attention or the mind. It's more useful to have it involve an opening and expansion of attention, of awareness, of a mind that's open and receptive. And it's possible to let this investigation factor come to its fullness in simply being mindful of the breathing. Breathing with greater intimacy and clarity, discovering the obvious experiences of breathing in and breathing out, with clarity and distinctions, with a quiet mind—a mind that gets quieter the more we discover.

So to bring this sitting to an end. To use your freedom and investigation, your ability to discover, be open, be available to you; see if you can use it to have that freedom of openness, of discovery for others. To allow them to be as they are because you are free.

And I see that you could hear my phone calls with my wife [Laughter], so perhaps you can hold all this in investigation and freedom, and simple discovery of how it is. And in doing so, may all beings be free. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be safe. And may all beings everywhere be happy.